Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 29


When I ring the bell in CHOICE #33, a man "wearing a colorful djellaba" with a scimitar on his side appears.  He tells me to come in, and the narration suggests his accent is fake.  It's Peter in disguise!  "What in the world is he doing here in Morocco dressed in this crazy djellaba?"  I'd ask about the scimitar.  I doubt many Arabs or Berbers in Morocco carried scimitars in 1982 or 2006.  Peter only puts his finger to his lips as a gesture for me to keep quiet when I ask him what he's doing in Morocco.  He takes me through a dark secret passage to a "room filled with seventeen people".  They are a diverse group of ethnicities and ages.  


"Standing in the center are two figures cloaked in white robes.  Before them is a box.  In the box are the Jewels of Nabooti!  One of the people is Lucy.  The other, the African man named Molotawa.


'Welcome.  You have passed the test.  You are courageous and dedicated.  We offer you membership in the International Tribe of Nabooti.  This is an honor few people ever hear of-fewer still receive.  Step forward, please.'


As you step forward, you realize that your life has changed forever.  You are part of a worldwide organization fighting for world peace.  Good luck.  The End".


Instead of promoting peace in a flamboyant Senegalese resort, we meet in an anonymous building in Morocco.


EDIT:  Nabooti is also not a nomadic Sahel tribe in this ending.


Results So Far


6 Good Endings

9 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

5 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 30


Now we've learned that the secret of the "special phone number" is that it is NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN.  RA Montgomery is the one author who would hang a rifle on the wall and then never have any character fire it.  Let's bring the plainclothes detective in CHOICE #32.


This man is "small, thin, nervous-looking" Raoul Thierry of the "smuggling and international crime division of the French Sûreté".  (Hooray for the US International Keyboard for letting me type Sûreté!)  Raoul asks in CHOICE #34 whether I want to take a gun.  Chances are something bad would happen if I bring a weapon, so let's do that.


"Guns are trouble.  Certainly a gun can be useful if you are attacked, but it may invite violence.  You have chosen to take this weapon.  Be warned, it is dangerous!"  Aren't weapons dangerous by definition?


Raoul says that I should meet with the African People's Federation, a group of "politicians, writers, philosophers, and exiles" from various sub-Saharan African countries.  CHOICE #35 is whether to do this or go to Morocco.


"Seventeen floors above the city of Paris is a room in a new skyscraper.  It looks out on Notre Dame.  One person, an African man named Patrice, sits by a large desk.  He does not smile.  He to chairs and you and Raoul sit.  Then he speaks in a slow and precise fashion.


'The jewels are safe.  You may give up the search.  Here is proof.'  He hands you a cable from Peter and Lucy.  It reads:


RETURN BOSTON.  ALL WELL.  SEARCH OVER.  P & L.  The End".


The mere act of taking a gun from Raoul Thierry is what lets me meet a secret group of African intellectuals.  This also keeps the Jewels of Nabooti safe because Peter and Lucy did something without our involvement?


Is Patrice named after the Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba?


Results So Far


7 Good Endings

9 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

5 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 31


Going to Morocco in CHOICE #35 means Peter and Lucy are there.  They were told I would be killed if they didn't come.  Someone pushed an envelope under Lucy's door with 2 Moroccan addresses.  CHOICE #36 is to either go with Lucy and Raoul to the 1st address, or take Peter and Raoul to the 2nd.  It's time for Let's Make a Deal, the Choose Your Own Adventure game where you get no clues whatsoever about which decision is correct. 


Behind Door #1:


"You, Lucy, and Raoul arrive at the address, and all three of you look at one another with fear and excitement.  You are met by a giant in a flowing gray and brown robe.  He glares at you and pushes you into the shop.  Before you can do anything, the three of you are handcuffed and gagged. 


'You will be held as hostages for the Jewels of Nabooti.  We set a six-day time period.  Then it is off with your heads.'  Five days pass.  No word.  This is the middle of the sixth day.  The End".


The "moral" of CHOICE #36 is that taking a GIRL with you to an anonymous address means Death.  Bringing a BOY to an anonymous address means a Good Ending, as I'll show in the next post.


So much for the guns Raoul and I brought!


Results So Far


7 Good Endings

10 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

5 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 32


Bringing Peter instead of Lucy to the 2nd address in CHOICE #36 means the Jewels of Nabooti are safe, because this branch is rather sexist.  (It's not like Peter has any talents suitable for a thriller that Lucy doesn't.)


"Peter, what do you think this is all about?'  Peter doesn't answer but gives a grin and a shrug of the shoulders.  Raoul is anxious to go.  When you arrive at the address, you are surprised to see that it is a small palace on the outskirts of Tangiers.  Guards with dogs surround the palace.  You are immediately allowed to enter.  You stroll down long marble halls lined with fountains.  Your footsteps echo as you are led deeper and deeper into the palace.


You are in a large room.  Eleven people stand around the small table.  On the table is a three-foot-long curved sword with four jewels in the hilt.  They are the Jewels of Nabooti.  The sword glows with a mysterious light.  It rises off the table, glides through the air, and comes to rest in your hand.


You are the new guardian of the Jewels of Nabooti.  The chosen leader for peace and justice.  The End".


No drawings for any of today's endings so far.  I become a guardian of a jewel-encrusted sword, with no idea what that means in practice.  And the CHOICE #34 gun is still never used.  Unless it's the opposite of the Causality Smoother Rifle from The Strange Physics of the Heisenberg Heidelberg Laboratory.  The Montgomery Causality Rifle changes timelines instead of preserving them.


Results So Far


8 Good Endings

10 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

5 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 33


Raoul doesn't like it when I refuse the gun in CHOICE #34.  He tells me to begin with lunch in a Left Bank restaurant in Paris named Albert's because "It is always best to begin difficult tasks without the burden of hunger".  On the check, I find this note:


LEAVE BY THE BACK DOOR.  TURN LEFT AT RUE PELICAN, RIGHT AT RUE FUGERE.  WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE CONTACTED.  RG


I'm alone because Raoul has to wash his hands.  CHOICE #37 is whether to obey the note or wait for Raoul.  Ignoring the obvious way to advance the plot is a Bad Ending.


"Raoul reappears behind you.  He drops a small packet into your lap.  You look at each other in dismay.  Inside are the Jewels of Nabooti.  But they've been crushed into small shards, now worthless both as priceless gems and the repository of magical power.  The End".


At least the fingernail-less man can't get them now, right?


Results So Far


8 Good Endings

10 Deaths

3 Bad Non-Death Endings

5 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 34


A piece of paper comes out of a car window, saying GO TO THE EIFFEL TOWER.  TAKE THE ELEVATOR TO THE TOP.  RG.


"Should you do this?  You don't know who these people are.  It's like a treasure hunt, but the results could spell D-E-A-T-H".  Isn't the Eiffel Tower too conspicuous for murder?  CHOICE #38 is whether to follow up on this clue or go back to Raoul.  The 2nd option is another pointless "give up the quest" Neutral Ending.  For this post, I'll quote the Eiffel Tower ending instead.


"Once atop the Eiffel Tower you look out on the beautiful city of Paris.  In the slanting light of late afternoon it sparkles like a thousand jewels.  The sun is reflected from panes of glass.  They shimmer like radiant gems for a minute, then the sun dips lower.  The Jewels of Nabooti were finally about beauty and peace.  And beauty is all around us-if we just look and really see.  The End".


"He learned almost too late that man is a feeling creature, and because of it, the greatest in the universe".  I wouldn't be surprised if RA Montgomery wrote the ending for It Conquered the World.  The Jewels of Nabooti are really a metaphor for how pretty Paris looks in the afternoon?


Results So Far


9 Good Endings

10 Deaths

3 Bad Non-Death Endings

5 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 35


The Neutral Ending for CHOICE #38 is more filler.


"Playing it safe, aren't you?  Double back, seek Raoul, but in the end, give up the chase for these fabled gems.  You will never find them.  TOO BAD.  The End".


But there are no Jewels of Nabooti, because it's really a "poetic" expression about Paris.


Results So Far


9 Good Endings

10 Deaths

3 Bad Non-Death Endings

6 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 36


In CHOICE #30, I'll go with the woman and the "muscular midget".  Two men in business suits tell me "Follow us.  Be quiet".  Flight "Alpha Omega, 234" lands in Morocco without any more drama.  Once in Tangier, the dread feels like waiting for a dentist appointment according to the narration.  A limousine takes me to the "Medina", or Tangier's inner city. 


A blind woman is a beggar here.  Unlike most beggars, she thinks spitting at my feet is the way to get money.  But this person may be neither blind nor a beggar.  She winks at me, and the narration hints that I should give her the ivory from Paris.  CHOICE #39 is whether to do so.


Ignoring hints are a leading cause of Death.  A man with a French accent says "Don't move.  We will take care of everything", then hauls me aboard a speedboat headed to the Pillars of Hercules. 


"The surf roars in and crashes on the beaches just below the jutting cliffs called the Pillars of Hercules.  The crash of waves is not only on the beach!  The crew members yell, 'Watch out, look out for that wave!'  But they have forgotten the treacherous rollers of the Atlantic that pound the shores of Africa.  The boat rolls violently and is tossed up into the air by a giant wave.  You cry out, 'Helllp-HELLLP!'


The boat smashes to pieces in the milk-white surf.  All hands are lost.  The End".


I don't mind this ending.  You should already know that something bad would happen by not giving the "blind" woman the ivory, and it's interesting to see villains bungle their schemes and get you killed by accident.


Results So Far


9 Good Endings

11 Deaths

3 Bad Non-Death Endings

6 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 37


When I give the "blind" woman the ivory in CHOICE #39, she shouts "AIEEE!" and summons "two short, wiry men in hooded robes".  They speak English and say they're my friends.  They take me with them through the Medina in Tangier to an old bearded man smoking a water pipe.  He seems to be the rug merchant, and he tells me to look in my coat pocket for the Jewels of Nabooti.  CHOICE #40 is whether to do that, or run away.


The final Death occurs if you disobey him.


"You pretend to fumble in your pocket, while you look for an escape route.  The old man sees through your ruse.  He stamps the ground and kicks angrily.  You dash for a rear door and burst through.  The door leads to a beautiful courtyard garden containing a calm dark pool filled with lotus flowers.  A fat greasy man on the other side of the pool is sharpening scimitars on an old stone wheel.  He takes one unsmiling look, grabs a knife and walks toward you.


What the heck, you think.  That pool is looking pretty good!  You take a running leap and dive in, much to the fat man's surprise.  He tries to motion you to stop.  You ignore him and turn to swim, when you notice a pair of eyes just above the surface coming toward you.  Crocodile.  More eyes converge on you as you thrash to escape the oncoming open jaws.  Too late.  The End".


In a later gamebook like Creepy House, the narration wants you to anticipate your Death by aquatic reptile.  If you're playing a 1980s CYOA, it's just one of many Deaths.


According to RA Montgomery, everyone in Morocco has a scimitar.


Results So Far


9 Good Endings

12 Deaths

3 Bad Non-Death Endings

6 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Finale


The bearded man in CHOICE #40 is telling the truth about the Jewels of Nabooti being in my coat pocket.


"INCREDIBLE!  There in the coat pocket are the Jewels of Nabooti!  How did they get there?  Who put them there?  But that is not important.  There they are, bright, incredible, powerful, mysterious.  The old man smiles, takes them from your hand before you can do a thing, and says,


'You have done well in returning the Jewels of Nabooti to their rightful owners.  Blessings will befall you.  Your life will be rich with friends and adventure.  Do not wonder how they came to you.  It is all in the magic of the jewels.  You were their messenger and helper.  We thank you.'


As the old man speaks you see him change form.  He becomes younger, taller, and glows with a gentle gold radiance.  You did the right thing.  He is their king.  The leader.  The source of good.  The End".


Continuity?  Explanations?  Who needs those? 


The Lost Jewels of Nabooti is one of the worst English CYOAs I've reviewed.  Results of CHOICEs are often arbitrary and random, which kills the tension of the 1980s travel thriller plot.  The worst example is CHOICE #36, where going with Lucy means Death and going with Peter means victory.  Nabooti lacks the humor of some of Montgomery's sillier installments like House of Danger or Prisoner of the Ant People.  (Listen to a podcast of people playing Prisoner of the Ant People and giving voices to the bickering NPC companions.  It's a treat.)


It's the La Isla de los Dodos sort of bad CYOA, instead of following the example of the interminable repetitive 22 Minutos:  Tibicenas or the tame "Danger" on Dolphin Island.  Although at least the dodo book had more interesting endings rather than "you abandon the quest with minor variations".


Before moving on to another CYOA in the RA Montgomery box set, I may either do another You Say Which Way or finally get around to El Elfo de las Nieves, the final Jaime Blanch Queral book in my Kindle collection.


Final Results


10 Good Endings

12 Deaths

3 Bad Non-Death Endings

6 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!


My ending count may be slightly inaccurate because the book says there are 38 endings.  *Checks*  Apparently there are 2 ways to the page 80 Death where you fall through the floor.  You can reach it via CHOICE #22 or #33.  Either the flowchart on the back is wrong, or there's a misprint in the book somewhere, because there's nothing indicating different routes converging like this.