Fighting Fantasy – The
Forest of Doom Part 1
In the words of Whitesnake,
here I go again on my own.
Only the mad or brave would
willingly risk a journey in to the Darkwood Forest, yet it is here I go. In search of the legendary Hammer of
Stonebridge sought by the Dwarfs to save their village against an ancient
enmity of Trolls ready to destroy it I must make my way.
I begin this journey much
like that in Firetop Mountain and in truth wonder if this character isn’t
perhaps related to the other as my stats rolls are extremely good. With a starting Skill of 12, Stamina of 20
and a Luck of 12 I’m pretty much looking to be guaranteed to pass most of my
checks except against the toughest or most unavoidable obstacles. I begin with a Potion of Stamina again, ten
provisions and my trusty leather armor, sword, lantern and backpack. I begin the story a lone adventurer always
seeking fortune and glory when one night while I sleep I hear a noise in the
bushes. I discover a fatally wounded
Dwarf who had apparently been on his way to a Wizards tower to seek aid in
finding a legendary Dwarf hammer inside the Forest of Doom! He claimed he needed it to save his people
and a party had set out to find it but was accosted on the way and killed. He gives me what gold he has (30 pieces) and
a map before begging that I seek the Wizards aid and complete his quest to save
his people. Deciding this could be a
lucrative prospect I feel obliged to take up the mantle of the fallen and
pursue his quest as my own.
The next day I gather my
things and make my way following the map to the Wizards tower on the southern
edge of the forest. The tower is set
back in the woods some ways of the path but I finally find a large beautiful
wooden tower that blends in with the trees.
I ring the bell and after waiting some time an eye slot opens in the
odor and an old voice asks my business here.
I tell him of my quest and he accepts my reasoning inviting me in to
browse his wares. Money is money after
all. I am given the option to attack the
old man, but I feel there isn’t any sense in starting the book off as a
criminal rather than a hero. I follow
him up the tower stairs to a room filled with books, potions and weapons/armors
all around. He explains that while he is
a skilled enchanter that his enchantments are only good for one use which is
why his items are priced so cheaply, which I find to indeed be the case. I purchase a Fire Capsule, nose Filters, Rope
of Climbing, Ring of Light, Boots of Leaping, Holy water, Potion of Plant
Control, Potion of Insect Control and two vials Poison Antidote. Making small talk as a I shop he tells me the
myth behind the hammer I seek and give me the information that the hammer was
separated into two pieces, the bronze hammer head and the ebony stone handle
and taken by goblins.
Having prepared myself as
best I can and retaining 5 gold pieces for myself I leave and make my way into
the darkness of the forest. The canopy
is thick and blocks most of the light so while I can see I constantly find
myself stumbling over knotted tree roots.
I reach my first point of choice an east/west junction and (as in almost
all my adventures) I choose to go west towards where the sun will set as that
should give me the most traveling time.
I pass a northward path and continue west until the bath itself curves
north. I heard that way but not long
after the turn I hear to the west a man in pain and investigate. A man is stuck in an animal trap and together
we force it open to free him. He thanks
me an explains that he and his brother were in the forest but got separated and
he stepped in this trap. He thanks me
graciously for my assistance, I offer to let him travel with me but he states
that he knows the way out of the forest south and is sure that his brother will
meet him there so takes his leave. Not
long after I discover that I’ve been pickpocketed. I could have lost a magic item if I hadn’t
chosen to keep that pittance of gold which is now missing. Good choice on my part.
I head north again and
shortly thereafter come upon a small goblinoid creature sitting on a log
tossing a black (almost ebony) stick in the air. The luck seems to be with me and I approach
hailing him. However, as I near the
glamour falls away and the small creature changes shape into a much larger
human sized lizard man with sharp teeth who attacks me. He puts up a good fight but I best him
eventually. Sadly, the stick was also an
illusion and I will not be rewarded for my efforts so I continue north. I pass an eastward path, an old beautiful
carved wooden chair and eventually enter a small clearing where I am charged by
a wild boar. I kill the beast easily and
examine the carcass to find a gold nose ring that I take as its worth roughly
10 gold. I hear hunting horns and
expecting that I might upset some hunters or perhaps animal owners I leave
north again. I reach an east/west
junction again and head west as is my habit where I find a small hut of wood
and mud. Inside is an extremely brawny
man who is friendly and quite proud of his muscles. He challenges me to an arm wrestling match if
I’d like to wager. Given my exceptional
skill this game I accept and put up the gold nose ring against a vial of Dust
of Levitation from him. It takes a bit
but I do best him. Dejected but a man of
his word he gives me my prize and wishes me a good journey. I leave back to the main path and head north.
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| Werewolf, 3rd one. Sometimes these old arts are, well... interesting. |
Eventually I reach a
riverbank. To my let are stairs that
lead down the side of a waterfall and to the right where the water is calmer
there is a boat tied up to a small jetty.
I choose to walk rather then trust a boat and end up plummeting over the
falls and so follow the stairs. At the
bottom, the path leads behind the falls where I find a stone table and chair
but nothing else of interest until a fish man comes out of the water and
attacks me with a trident. A fish is no
challenge for me and I slay him easily and leave north again out of behind the
waterfall and back up to the other side of the river. Upon reaching the other side the sun has
nearly set and I decide to camp for the night.
I’m awakened later to the sounds of snuffling and movement. I prepare myself for anything and I receive
into my sight a werewolf. He puts up an
admirable fight but I eventually dispatch him as I plan to do all creatures who
bar my way.
The path leads into a gorge
where after some time as the walls reach higher on the sides I become nervous
and rightly so as I fall into a pit trap lined with wooden spikes. I manage luckily avoid the spikes but it is
still a long fall and I’m bruised though not skewered. With no rope and no prospect of climbing the
smooth sides I use my Boots of Leaping and escape the trap. I’ve no desire to meet who put the trap there
so I continue on my way. Near the end of
the gorge I find a sword jutting out of a stone. I give a few hefty tugs and the sword slides
free. Though not magical it is of
exceptional craftsmanship and easily bests my old sword (+2 to my Skill) so I
take it with me. Finally, after some
more northward travel out of the gorge and back into the forest proper I reach
yet another east/west junction atop a hill.
Ahead of me is more forest but from my vantage I can see the Dwarf village
on the other side of those trees. I feel
that this is an ideal time to take a break.
To Be Continued…
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