Heart of Ice: [CYOApocalypse]

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Heart of Ice: [CYOApocalypse]

Ratatozsk: Mar 6, 2007; Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

Welcome to Heart of Ice! This is the 5th book in the Virtual Reality Adventure Series, a mid 90's CYOA series unique in the absence of random elements. Earlier installments in the series include Green Blood, Down Among the Deadmen, Coils of Hate, and Necklace of Skulls. But preamble aside, this is a damned good gamebook.

THE LAST THREE CENTURIES posted:

In 2023, worsening conditions in the world's climate led to the first Global Economic Conference. It was agreed to implement measures intended to reverse industrial damage to the ecology and replenish the ozone layer. By 2031, an array of weather control satellites were in orbit. For added efficiency, and as a mark of worldwide co-operation, these were placed under the control of a supercomputer network called Gaia: the Global Artificial Intelligence Array. The Earth�s climate began to show steady improvement.

The first hint of disaster came early in 2037, when Gaia shut down inexplicably for a period of seventeen minutes. Normal operation was resumed but the system continued to suffer �glitches�. One such glitch resulted in Paris being subjected to a two-day heat wave of such intensity that the pavements cracked. After several months, the fault was identified. A computer virus had been introduced into Gaia by unknown means. The system�s designer began programming an antivirus but died before his work was complete. The crisis grew throughout that year until finally, following the death of five thousand people in a flash flood along the Bangladesh coastline, the Gaia project was officially denounced. Unfortunately it was no longer possible to shut it down.

By the mid twenty-first century, global weather conditions were in chaos owing to Gaia�s sporadic operation. Ice sheets advanced further each year. Australia was subject to virtually constant torrential rain. The centre of Asia had become an arid wasteland. The political situation reflected the ravages of the climate, with wars flaring continually around the globe. Late in 2054, computer scientists in London tried to hack into Gaia and locate the replicating viruses in the program. Gaia, detecting this, interpreted the action as an attack on its program and retaliated by taking over a range of defense networks which allowed it to launch a nuclear strike. London was completely destroyed.

By the end of the century Gaia had routed itself into all major computer networks, taking control of weather, communications and weapons systems all across the planet. Periods of lucidity and hospitable climate were interspersed with hurricanes and arctic blizzards. The US President gave an interview in which he likened Gaia to a living entity: �She was intended as mankind�s protective mother, but this �mother� has gone mad.� Spiralling decline in the world�s fortunes left much of humanity on the brink of extinction. The population fell rapidly until only a few million people remained scattered around the globe � mostly in cities where food could still be artificially produced.

It is now the year 2300. The rich stand aloof, disporting themselves with forced gaiety and waiting for the end. The poor inhabit jostling slums where disease is rife and law is unknown. Between the cities, the land lies under a blanket of snow and ice. No-one expects humanity to last another century. This is truly �the end of history�. Now choose your character for the adventure.

In the VRA series, several character classes are available. The post-apocalyptic cyber future does change things a bit from our previous fantastical adventures.

CHOOSE ONE OF THESE CHARACTERS posted:

The Explorer

Skills: CLOSE COMBAT, LORE, STREETWISE, SURVIVAL
Profile: Others might mourn the collapse of civilization, but for you it only opens up new areas of mystery in the world.
Life Points: 10
Money: 30 scads

The Bounty Hunter
Skills: CUNNING, PILOTING, SHOOTING, STREETWISE
Profile: Times are hard and the strong prey upon the weak. It is left to the likes of you to enforce the law.
Life Points: 10
Possessions: Barysal gun (6 charges)
Money: 30 scads

The Spy
Skills: AGILITY, CYBERNETICS, ROGUERY, STREETWISE
Profile: Even as the world dies a slow death, governments vie with one another for the wealth and power that remain. You steal secrets and trade them to the highest bidder.
Life Points: 10
Money: 30 scads

The Trader
Skills: ESP, LORE, SHOOTING, STREETWISE
Profile: Few dare cross the icy wastes between cities, so a daring adventurer can make a tidy profit.
Life Points: 10 Possessions: Barysal gun (6 charges); psionic focus
Money: 30 scads

The Visionary
Skills: CLOSE COMBAT, CUNNING, ESP, PARADOXING
Profile: Cursed with second sight, you know that mankind has no future unless something is done to save the world.
Life Points: 10
Possessions: Psionic focus
Money: 30 scads

The Scientist
Skills: CYBERNETICS, LORE, PILOTING, SURVIVAL
Profile: Most people understand nothing of the machines created by their ancestors, but you've learned that knowledge is power.
Life Points: 10 Money: 30 scads

The Mutant
Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, PARADOXING, ROGUERY
Profile: Born with strange powers, you are more than human. Others would kill you if they knew your secret.
Life Points: 10
Possessions: Psionic focus
Money: 30 scads

The option is again present to create your own character by selecting 4 skills, but we'll skip this option for simplicity's sake.

THE SKILLS posted:

AGILITY
The ability to perform acrobatic feats, run, climb, balance and leap. A character with this skill is nimble and dexterous.

CLOSE COMBAT
The use of a range of martial arts incorporating elements of karate, ju-jitsu and t'ai-chi.

CUNNING
The ability to think on your feet and devise clever ploys for getting out of trouble. Useful in countless situations.

CYBERNETICS
The ability to program and operate computers, almost a forgotten science in the apocalyptic world of the 23rd century.

ESP
The ability to sense danger and read other people's minds. You must possess a psionic focus to use this skill.

LORE
A combination of history, legend and general knowledge which gives you a good basis for dealing with the unknown.

PARADOXING
The ability to mentally affect the normal laws of nature. A slower and less reliable technique than ESP, but with sometimes miraculous effects. You must possess a psionic focus to use this skill.

PILOTING
The ability to handle virtually any vehicle from an air-sled up to a space shuttle.

ROGUERY
Stealth and espionage skills: picking pockets, opening locks, and skulking unseen in the shadows.

SHOOTING
Expertise with long-range weaponry. You must possess a charged barysal gun to use this skill.

STREETWISE
With this skill you are never at a loss in cities. What others see as the squalor and menace of narrow neon-lit streets is opportunity to you.

SURVIVAL
A talent which enables you to cope in desolate and uninhabited regions: forests, deserts, swamps and mountain peaks.

Some options the same, some new and very different from past choices.

Prologue posted:

The Etruscan Inn lies in the shadow of the Apennine Mountains, beside a frozen waterfall, sheltered from the wind by a high ridge of bare black rock. You stand at a long window and gaze out towards the mountains. Dusk is melting the sharp outlines of the crags, filling the valleys with blue gloom. The moon glimmers faintly under racing black clouds. Later this evening there will be more snow.

Turning from the window, you let the curtain fall back and make your way across the dingy room. Travelers sit at the sides, noisily gambling and sipping hard liquor the color of fire. Many are hunters and traders from the plains which slope down from here to the Ligurian Sea. Others may have been here much longer: thin old men and women who found meager employment. The Etruscan Inn is a famous stop-over for those who undertake the perilous Apennine crossing. If a few such, gazing up at the ice-capped peaks, found their spirits daunted and chose to stay, who can blame them? You sometimes wonder yourself why you bother to press on across the world in the teeth of such hardship and poverty.

The story of how the inn came to be here is a strange one, even for these bizarre times. The building was originally an air cruiser which crashed in the mountains two hundred years ago. An ancestor of the present innkeeper turned the wreckage into a hostelry for wayfarers. The power unit had not been damaged in the crash, so the inn has electricity � a rarity in the modern world. Even better, several of the air cruiser�s careteks were salvaged. These are robots which continually clean and repair the structure, sturdily carrying out the tasks they were programmed to do centuries ago.

Pushing aside a drape, you step into another room. On the wall, a screen flickers with scenes from an old film. The innkeeper is sitting with a few others at the back, loudly commenting on the action. You step over a caretek which resembles a long metal cockroach. It extends polishing pads to clean the floor where you were standing. Propping yourself against the wall, you watch the film for a few minutes, but the innkeeper�s shouts and jeers are impossible to ignore. When you complain, he only gives a great gusting laugh and says, �There�s no point in getting interested in any film that appears on this screen. The video link comes from a satellite connected to Gaia, who changes channels as the whim strikes her. Sometimes I have seen newsreel footage over a century old. At other times there are films, musical shows, or documentaries. But I have yet to see the end of any program. There � !� He points at the screen and, turning, you see that the film has been replaced by a blizzard of grey static.

�Turn it off, can�t you?� growls a man from the adjacent room. �Some of us would like to get to sleep.�

�Turn it off, you say?� The innkeeper bellows with laughter at this. �It hasn�t been off in all the time I�ve been alive. It can�t be turned off. Not unless Gaia decides to take pity on us and give us a few hours� peace.�

An angrily florid-faced man stamps through from the other room and glowers at the screen, which has now changed to show a weather report for the coming month. �Preposterous!� he snarls in outrage. �It says New York will be having thunderstorms. There has been no rain in New York for years. It is buried under half a mile of ice!�

The innkeeper only chuckles and goes about his chores. �Don�t blame me,� he says. �Everyone knows Gaia is mad.�

The man whose rest was disturbed glares after him and protests: �If you can�t turn it off, why not smash the screen? It only shows gibberish anyhow.�

Seeing the man step forward as if to do just that, the innkeeper wags a finger at him. �I�d advise you to leave it as it is. Stick wads of wool in your ears if the noise disturbs you. But if you smash the screen, the careteks will spend the whole night repairing it and none of us will get any sleep, what with their scuttling about and the clattering of spare parts.�

Hearing this, the man throws up his arms in exasperation and, gathering his blankets, stomps off to sleep at the far end of the inn.
Night falls. The drunken roistering turns to low murmurs, then snores. You huddle on your own bedding and listen to the moaning of the wind outside the fuselage. Tomorrow you have to set out again into the cold. It is not a pleasant prospect.

From the adjacent room you can hear the screen crackling with incessant babble. There is part of a game show probably taped before your great-grandfather was born, followed by clips from science fiction films of the twenty-first century. You are thirsty and you cannot sleep. Ignoring the mumbled complaints of the people stretched out around you, you get up and step over them, moving through to the room where the screen is.

You sit down. Maybe a half hour of random videos will cure your insomnia. Then the screen changes. It is a news report from the year 2095. The main item concerns the crash of an air cruiser in the Apennine mountains. You sit forward in your seat, intrigued. Pictures taken from the air reveal the broken tangle of wreckage that was later repaired to form this inn.

Suddenly the picture changes. �In another item today,� says the announcer�s voice, �scientists studying the meteor that fell in Egypt last month say that it may be the oldest object in the universe. These pictures show the safety suits that are needed to approach the meteor, which emits radiation of a type never previously identified.�

The scene flickers to a date months later. A reporter is standing at a roadside, an armored truck blazing in the background. �Terrorists of the sect known as the Volentine Watchers today seized the mysterious meteor as it was being transported to Cairo for further tests. The terrorists, who worship the meteor which they call the Heart of Volent, have yet to issue a statement.�

The screen crackles again, becoming a rich green color with the outline of the world�s continents in red � the continents as they looked before the sea-level fell and the polar caps crept down to cover them.

A warm feminine voice speaks: �The Heart of Volent remained in the hands of the cultists for twenty years. They founded the city of Du-En in the Sahara and learned how to tap the Heart�s power, which they used to devastating effect in the Paradox War. Later Du-En suffered civil war and became abandoned. I have now completed analysis of the scientific tests carried out before the Heart was seized by the cultists. These are my findings. If a sentient creature were to make direct physical contact with the Heart, this would release the full energy stored within. The effect would be to activate that creature�s total psychic potential. In effect they would gain ultimate power over their surroundings. This has been a communication from Gaia. Thank you for your attention.�

The screen goes blank and silent for a moment, then starts to show a cartoon. You hardly notice it. You are too awestruck by the realization that you have just heard the voice of Gaia.

What she said begins to sink in. Ultimate power... It lies somewhere in the ruined city of Du-En, across the Saharan Ice Wastes. Suddenly wary, you look at the sleeping forms stretched out around the room. Did anyone else hear Gaia�s broadcast? You listen to the snores, the drone of slow regular breathing. No one shows any sign of being awake. Plunged in thought, you return to your blanket and stretch out, but now sleep is even harder to come by. When you finally doze off just a few hours before dawn, your dreams are filled with images of the strange meteor from space and the power that it contains.

Will you go to Du-En and seek the Heart? Are you tempted by a power that could change the whole world?

If so, turn to 1.

Dare we? Probably. While this pends, toss in a vote on character class!

# ? Jan 4, 2016 06:05

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 20, 2024 17:23

Ratatozsk: Mar 6, 2007; Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

On the offchance you don't know how to CYOA (or aren't familiar with some of the minutiae of this series), here it is.

HOW TO PLAY THE ADVENTURE posted:

All you will need to play Heart of Ice is a Character Sheet on which you can make notes. The Character Sheet shows your adventuring persona and will keep track of:

Skills
You begin with four skills chosen from a list of twelve. Life Points You begin with 10 Life Points. If they ever reach zero you are dead.

Possessions
You may begin with some possessions if you pick skills that require them. Other possessions are acquired during the game. You cannot carry more than eight possessions at one time. If you are at your limit and come across something else you want, you will need to drop a possession (by crossing it off your Character Sheet) before you can pick up the new item.

Money
The currency of the 23rd century is the scad. You begin the adventure with 30 scads. (There is no limit to how much money you can carry as it is stored on a data card.)

Codewords
Record codewords on your Character Sheet when you are told to. These �remember� what you have done earlier in the adventure.

# ? Jan 4, 2016 06:05

CirclMastr: Jul 4, 2010

The Trader seems to have a good skill set.

# ? Jan 4, 2016 06:41

Thuryl: Mar 14, 2007; My postillion has been struck by lightning.

Scientist sounds like it has a useful combination of skills for surviving in an apocalyptic wasteland world watched over by a deranged AI.

# ? Jan 4, 2016 06:47

Tuxedo Ted: Apr 24, 2007

Let's go with the Mutant. Kinda well-rounded, and some psionic junk included! Seriously, I want to paradox the crap out of something.

# ? Jan 4, 2016 07:21

Odysseus S. Grant: Oct 12, 2011; Cats is the oldest and strongest emotion
of mankind

Bounty Hunter could be fun.

# ? Jan 4, 2016 08:53

dscruffy1: Nov 22, 2007; Look out!; Nap Ghost

I was gonna go with spy but Mutant sounds pretty similar and I can't want to paradox the poo poo out of some fools.

Also is there an option for if we're not daring enough to chase down the heart? Because I only see the one option.

# ? Jan 4, 2016 13:44

Sylphosaurus: Sep 6, 2007

Let's go with the Mutant, although you'd think that the Visionary would be a bigger freak, considering that he can use both ESP and Paradox.

# ? Jan 4, 2016 20:03

Ratatozsk: Mar 6, 2007; Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

: In the grim and distant future, there is only style. MUTANT style!

Page 1 posted:

You are packed and ready to leave the inn at dawn. Cold grey light seeps in through the row of dusty portholes at the side of the common room. Making your way to the door, you find the innkeeper polishing the antique Formica desk. Seeing you set your pack down beside the door, he comes over and kicks away one of the careteks which had its metal body pressed down across the door-sill.

�You�re lucky having those,� you say, pushing the door open a crack to take a breath of fresh icy air.

The innkeeper grunts as he watches the caretek reorient itself and glide away across the floor. �They are a mixed blessing, since they insist on trying to repair the inn to the form it had originally. This door is a feature that I added myself, more convenient than the hatchway at the back of the fuselage. But if I leave it unattended for more than a few hours at a time, those wretched careteks always try to weld it shut.�

You smile to show that you sympathize. �I�d be grateful for some advice. I�m now travelling on to the Sahara. What is the best route?�

The innkeeper flings the door wide, ignoring the curses that erupt from his customers at the sudden intrusion of cold air. Gazing across the expanse of dazzling white snow, he says, �The most obvious course would take you to Venis, where you could board the ferry for Kahira, and yet...� He rubs his hands, blowing out a long furl of steam in the chill air. �Myself, I�d be tempted to go instead through the Lyonesse jungle, just to savor a bit of warmth in this frigid world. Thence across the Jib-and-Halter and the Atlas Mountains � unless you stumbled across the ruins of lost Marsay, of course, in which case you might even find a tube tunnel to take you straight to the Sahara.�

Thanking the innkeeper for his advice, you indicate that you are ready to pay your bill. He looks at you in surprise and points to a small dapper man in a grey-trimmed white snowsuit. �Your friend there has already paid.�

At this, the small man comes over and extends his hand, smiling broadly. �Hello. My name is Kyle Boche. I believe we�re travelling in the same direction.�

If you accept Kyle Boche as your companion on the road, turn to 23.
If you tell him that you prefer to travel alone, turn to 45.

: Taking you on as a companion could put a Kylbosh on this entire excursion before it starts!

: ...

: You don't have a sidekick yet.

: drat. Left to wither with my own puns.

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'X' Sherman the Mutant

Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, PARADOXING, ROGUERY

Life Points: 10

Scads: 30

Possessions: Psionic Focus

Codewords:

Kills: Embracer, a guard, an Infernal Machine and the tiny man inside it, a pointy-toothed native, Ejada, the Moon Dog, Skarvench, our credibility as a tactician, any chance of furthering whatever the gently caress kind of relationship we had with Lucie, some unlucky guard, an enormous ceiling spider, a particularly punitive yet otherwise non-descript Judain, the physical manifestation of Hate, a nightcrawler, a particularly bulbous cactus, Necklace of Skulls, a necklace of skulls

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!'d, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land, lightly dragon'd, tree'd from a great height x2, Countless Swords of the Westermen'd, gale'd, yardam'd, rack'd, pulp'd, flatten'd, eat'd (nobley), rubble'd, cul-de-sac'd, what-once-used-to-be-the-harbor'd, three magical bodyguards'd, orgy'd, bitter life-sucking cold'd, cascade of rubble'd, cold'd, celestial darkness'd

# ? Jan 6, 2016 08:06

CirclMastr: Jul 4, 2010

Clearly we need a companion for pun times ahead.

# ? Jan 6, 2016 08:45

Comstar: Apr 20, 2007; Are you happy now?

We must gather our party before adventuring forth.

# ? Jan 6, 2016 10:12

SatansOnion: Dec 12, 2011

Jay needs someone around to savor all this comedy gold he's spinning!

# ? Jan 6, 2016 11:30

Anticheese: Feb 13, 2008; $60,000,000 sexbot

Don't take him! What if he finds out we're a mutant? :ohdear:

# ? Jan 6, 2016 12:52

dscruffy1: Nov 22, 2007; Look out!; Nap Ghost

I can't leave without my buddy ~~Superfly~~ Kyle Boche.

# ? Jan 6, 2016 18:03

Cathode Raymond: Dec 30, 2015; My antenna is telling me that you're probably wrong about this.; Soiled Meat

Take that rear end in a top hat with you

When do we get to paradox?

# ? Jan 6, 2016 18:27

Ratatozsk: Mar 6, 2007; Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

Page 23 posted:

�I overheard you say you were bound for the Saharan Ice Wastes,� says Boche. �My own journey takes me in that direction.�

As you set off together through the deep drifts of snow, Boche takes your arm and points to a row of black wooden posts. �That is the road to Venis. We can catch the ferry from there to Kahira.�

If you agree to go east to Venis, turn to 200.
If you�d rather go west through the Lyonesse jungle, as the innkeeper recommended, turn to 177.

: Funny lookin' fella, aren't ya?

Aren't he? Taking submissions for a 50x50 picture of our post-apocalypticompanion.

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'X' Sherman the Mutant

Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, PARADOXING, ROGUERY

Life Points: 10

Scads: 30

Possessions: Psionic Focus

Codewords:

Kills: Embracer, a guard, an Infernal Machine and the tiny man inside it, a pointy-toothed native, Ejada, the Moon Dog, Skarvench, our credibility as a tactician, any chance of furthering whatever the gently caress kind of relationship we had with Lucie, some unlucky guard, an enormous ceiling spider, a particularly punitive yet otherwise non-descript Judain, the physical manifestation of Hate, a nightcrawler, a particularly bulbous cactus, Necklace of Skulls, a necklace of skulls

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!'d, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land, lightly dragon'd, tree'd from a great height x2, Countless Swords of the Westermen'd, gale'd, yardam'd, rack'd, pulp'd, flatten'd, eat'd (nobley), rubble'd, cul-de-sac'd, what-once-used-to-be-the-harbor'd, three magical bodyguards'd, orgy'd, bitter life-sucking cold'd, cascade of rubble'd, cold'd, celestial darkness'd

# ? Jan 7, 2016 05:10

km2: Jul 27, 2012

Ratatozsk posted:

: Funny lookin' fella, aren't ya?

Aren't he? Taking submissions for a 50x50 picture of our post-apocalypticompanion.

# ? Jan 7, 2016 06:18

CirclMastr: Jul 4, 2010

Innkeepers always give the best advice. I think a Lyonesse might eat us in the jungle, though.

# ? Jan 7, 2016 08:09

SatansOnion: Dec 12, 2011

Ratatozsk posted:

: Funny lookin' fella, aren't ya?

Aren't he? Taking submissions for a 50x50 picture of our post-apocalypticompanion.

And you know what? I want to see what a post-apocalyptic jungle looks like.

# ? Jan 7, 2016 11:16

pokie: Apr 27, 2008; IT HAPPENED!

SatansOnion posted:

And you know what? I want to see what a post-apocalyptic jungle looks like.

Sure, let's do this.

# ? Jan 7, 2016 21:04

Ratatozsk: Mar 6, 2007; Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

Page 177 posted:

Boche is not enthusiastic. �The Lyonesse region is infested with malefactors and noctambules,� he avers. �We would be at great risk. Also, the Atlas Mountains are a daunting obstacle. As your partner in this venture, I strongly urge you to reconsider.�

He is obviously not willing to accompany you if you insist on heading west.

If you do so anyway, turn to 221.
If you change your mind and take the road to Venis, turn to 200.

# ? Jan 8, 2016 05:59

CirclMastr: Jul 4, 2010

Insist on being killed immediately.

# ? Jan 8, 2016 06:09

Tuxedo Ted: Apr 24, 2007

Yeah, let's see if he has some nefarious plan for us on that boat or not. Insist on the western route.

# ? Jan 8, 2016 07:08

pokie: Apr 27, 2008; IT HAPPENED!

Insist

What's the point of giving us an option followed by an immediate, "are you sure?" Come on, I want to die now.

# ? Jan 9, 2016 02:24

Ratatozsk: Mar 6, 2007; Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

: Suck it, Boche!

Page 221 posted:

As you travel west, the bitter cold begins to ease. Instead of wild blizzards, you find yourself trudging through flurries of soft sleet. After several days you see a harsh light on the horizon. Ahead looms an arc of sunlight slanting through a wide gulf in the clouds. Even when night falls, the light keeps blazing down. An old weather satellite far out in space, misdirected by Gaia�s freakish whims, bathes the landscape in endless sun. These are the steaming swamps and jungles of Lyonesse.

On the northern fringes of the region, you have heard that men exploit the fertile farmland to support the old city of Lyon. To the south, the warm waters mean plentiful fish. But no one inhabits the interior of Lyonesse, which is the stalking ground of mutated beasts and carnivorous fungi.

You press on undaunted, pleased to be able to shrug off your thick furs as you leave the icy wasteland behind and enter the lush dank morass. Foliage like ships� sails blots out much of the sky, leaving you plunged in green gloom despite the ceaseless daylight. Extravagant blooms with jewel-like colors exude a mingle of musky scents. Creepers stretch in nets between the black trees. Ferns form high banks across your path. Off in the distance, the chittering and screeching of jungle animals seem unreal after so many days with only the wind�s howl in your ears. Here there is no night or day. When tiredness becomes too much, you slump sweat-soaked beside a fallen log and roll your clothing up to make a pillow. The succulent jungle whispers lull you off to sleep.

~~If you have ESP and a psionic focus, turn to 30.~~
If you have AGILITY, turn to 53.
If neither, turn to 75.

Page 53 posted:

A rustling in the leaf canopy directly overhead warns you of danger. You open your eyes in time to see a narrow wedge-shaped head snaking down from the branches, its wide pink mouth lined with teeth like needles.

You react instantly, flipping backwards over the log an instant before the jaws strike. The creature rears back, spitting out soil and twigs, head bobbing on a long grey cable of neck, and lunges again. You slip aside, snatch up your belongings, and race off through the trees.

Turn to 228.

Page 228 posted:

Crashing through a thicket of glossy green fronds, you are brought up short by an astounding sight. A majestic ruined city spreads off into the jungle in front of you, seeming to shimmer in the haze of eternal tree-filtered sunlight. Some of the buildings have been choked by vegetation, grappled to destruction by cables of vine, walls uprooted by inexorable growth and carpeted with moss. But other towers still stand gleaming, bright glass and polished steel glorious in the dappled green-gold light. Those must be the buildings still cleaned and maintained by careteks, the diligent robot janitors left by the ancients.

You skirt the perimeter of the city, stumbling and staggering from sheer awe, like a blind man suddenly given the gift of vision. It can only be the remnants of old Marsay, the mythic place lost for two centuries. A bee as big as a child�s fist goes careering cumbersomely past your ear, legs sprawling like a helicopter�s skids, and disappears into a vast buzzing hive in the eaves of a crumbled house. Birds sit pecking at lichen-stained girders, sparing you only a disdainful glance. You feel like an intruder here.

A barren patch of ground lies ahead, about fifty paces across, forming an avenue towards the intact area of the city.

If you follow it, turn to 271.
If you would rather press on into the jungle, turn to 292.

: Sweet Cal Phoenix that's a big bee!

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'X' Sherman the Mutant

Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, PARADOXING, ROGUERY

Life Points: 10

Scads: 30

Possessions: Psionic Focus

Codewords:

Kills: Embracer, a guard, an Infernal Machine and the tiny man inside it, a pointy-toothed native, Ejada, the Moon Dog, Skarvench, our credibility as a tactician, any chance of furthering whatever the gently caress kind of relationship we had with Lucie, some unlucky guard, an enormous ceiling spider, a particularly punitive yet otherwise non-descript Judain, the physical manifestation of Hate, a nightcrawler, a particularly bulbous cactus, Necklace of Skulls, a necklace of skulls

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!'d, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land, lightly dragon'd, tree'd from a great height x2, Countless Swords of the Westermen'd, gale'd, yardam'd, rack'd, pulp'd, flatten'd, eat'd (nobley), rubble'd, cul-de-sac'd, what-once-used-to-be-the-harbor'd, three magical bodyguards'd, orgy'd, bitter life-sucking cold'd, cascade of rubble'd, cold'd, celestial darkness'd

# ? Jan 9, 2016 07:08

CirclMastr: Jul 4, 2010

Lost cities have loot, right? Follow that bee!

# ? Jan 9, 2016 07:17

Comstar: Apr 20, 2007; Are you happy now?

Into the lost city.

# ? Jan 9, 2016 07:47

Ratatozsk: Mar 6, 2007; Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

Page 271 posted:

A man emerges from a low building and stands in a wary posture as he watches you approach. He licks his lips nervously and shifts his grip on the shovel he is holding, but your impression is that he is nervous rather than hostile. When you smile and hold out your hand, he relaxes with a shrug and tosses the shovel aside, introducing himself as Portrin Fax. He is a loose-limbed fellow, slender as a starved mantis, with fretfully pursed lips and wet blinking eyes.

His dwelling is paved with umber and grey tiles and shows signs of having once been a transit terminal of some kind. The air is cool. Panels along the side wall shed a brisk white light. The only items of furniture are rickety frameworks of wood with ragged furs stretched over them. Fax waves you to what he describes as a chair and pours drinks. You take the mug he offers, wincing at the powerful fumes. �My own liquor,� he explains. �I brew it by mixing herbs into a tank of cleaning fluid.�

You pour the drink away when he isn�t looking. �You live alone here?�

He sits, folds his arms, only to leap up and stride around the room. Company clearly makes him nervous. �A hermit, that�s old Fax,� he says. �In the outside world I was a misfit, but here I live like the Sun King. The city has generators which supply light and keep the air cooled.� He giggles. �Who would dream, in this time of the fimbulwinter, that a man might wish for a cool breath of air? But here in Lyonesse it is necessary.�

~~If you have LORE, turn to 313.~~
If not, turn to 356.

356 posted:

Portrin Fax provides you with a makeshift couch and you drift gratefully off to sleep, bone weary after your long trek through the steaming swamplands.

It seems only a moment later that he is shaking you awake. As you open your eyes, he jumps back and gives a jittery laugh. �Morning,� he says.

You yawn and stretch. The air inside the building feels almost chill in comparison to the sweltering heat outside. �Morning? How can you tell?�

Fax points to a clock on the wall, above an archway leading to a staircase that descends underground. �There is one indicator. Also, although the sun never sets here, it does move across the sky. Indeed, at times I have thought to see two suns.�

�No doubt the �second sun� is an orbiting mirror, aligned so as to focus the sunlight on this region.�

If you ask Fax to show you where he gets his food, turn to 378.
If you want to ask first about the barren patch of ground you discovered leading to his dwelling, turn to 399.
If you decide to leave now and press on westwards, turn to 420.

: Just the Fax, man.

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'X' Sherman the Mutant

Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, PARADOXING, ROGUERY

Life Points: 10

Scads: 30

Possessions: Psionic Focus

Codewords:

Kills: Embracer, a guard, an Infernal Machine and the tiny man inside it, a pointy-toothed native, Ejada, the Moon Dog, Skarvench, our credibility as a tactician, any chance of furthering whatever the gently caress kind of relationship we had with Lucie, some unlucky guard, an enormous ceiling spider, a particularly punitive yet otherwise non-descript Judain, the physical manifestation of Hate, a nightcrawler, a particularly bulbous cactus, Necklace of Skulls, a necklace of skulls

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!'d, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land, lightly dragon'd, tree'd from a great height x2, Countless Swords of the Westermen'd, gale'd, yardam'd, rack'd, pulp'd, flatten'd, eat'd (nobley), rubble'd, cul-de-sac'd, what-once-used-to-be-the-harbor'd, three magical bodyguards'd, orgy'd, bitter life-sucking cold'd, cascade of rubble'd, cold'd, celestial darkness'd

# ? Jan 10, 2016 04:13

Darkest Auer: Dec 30, 2006; They're silly; Ramrod XTreme

Ask about the food.

# ? Jan 10, 2016 06:33

Thuryl: Mar 14, 2007; My postillion has been struck by lightning.

Yeah, food seems like the most useful option.

# ? Jan 11, 2016 00:35

Ratatozsk: Mar 6, 2007; Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

Page 378 posted:

Fax leads you down the stairway. At the bottom lies a wide circular hall with various tunnels leading off it. A sign above each tunnel proclaims the destinations available. You read them with a feeling of melancholy: New York, Moscow, Edinburgh... Most of these places are now buried under a kilometer of ice.

Fax shows you a food machine set into the wall. �Most of the buttons no longer work, but the �Skudge Bar� is nutritious.� He presses a button, the machine hums, and a moment later a foil-wrapped block drops out of a slot. Unwrapping it, you find a chewy fudge which surprises you in having a savoury taste. You can stock up with as many of these as you wish, noting them as food packs among your possessions. Each counts as one item.

~~If you have CYBERNETICS, turn to 9.~~
If you decide to explore the tunnels, turn to 439.
If you would rather bid Fax farewell and continue on your journey now, turn to 420.

: Skudgalicious!

We have a limit of 8 items (I've kinda ignored this for past adventures), so we'll top off here. I'll take it as a given that nobody wants to discard our focus.

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'X' Sherman the Mutant

Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, PARADOXING, ROGUERY

Life Points: 10

Scads: 30

Possessions: Psionic Focus, Skudge Bars x7

Codewords:

Kills: Embracer, a guard, an Infernal Machine and the tiny man inside it, a pointy-toothed native, Ejada, the Moon Dog, Skarvench, our credibility as a tactician, any chance of furthering whatever the gently caress kind of relationship we had with Lucie, some unlucky guard, an enormous ceiling spider, a particularly punitive yet otherwise non-descript Judain, the physical manifestation of Hate, a nightcrawler, a particularly bulbous cactus, Necklace of Skulls, a necklace of skulls

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!'d, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land, lightly dragon'd, tree'd from a great height x2, Countless Swords of the Westermen'd, gale'd, yardam'd, rack'd, pulp'd, flatten'd, eat'd (nobley), rubble'd, cul-de-sac'd, what-once-used-to-be-the-harbor'd, three magical bodyguards'd, orgy'd, bitter life-sucking cold'd, cascade of rubble'd, cold'd, celestial darkness'd

# ? Jan 12, 2016 01:59

Thuryl: Mar 14, 2007; My postillion has been struck by lightning.

I'm not sure what exactly we stand to gain by messing around in abandoned intercontinental subway tunnels, but hey, let's explore anyway.

# ? Jan 12, 2016 02:20

CirclMastr: Jul 4, 2010

Tunnels are probably full of hags. Let's continue our journey.

# ? Jan 12, 2016 03:45

Ajon: Aug 8, 2007; 'VRROOOMMM!!!' roared the car. 'SPRUITS!' said gramma.

Maybe we'll find some ghouls or super mutants in the tunnels.

# ? Jan 12, 2016 10:28

Ratatozsk: Mar 6, 2007; Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

Page 439 posted:

The tunnel echoes stonily to your footsteps. At the far end it widens into a long foyer with open doors at intervals along the opposite wall. You step through into a cylindrical chamber with a glass window at one end. The chamber is lined with seats. It takes you a moment before you realize you are inside a subway carriage. Fax watches from the door, wringing his hands in agitation as you explore the carriage. The motilator, encased inside a brass cylinder at the front, senses your approach and activates, speaking in a chiming voice: �Please specify your required destination.�

Questioning the motilator, you consult a map which it projects onto the front window of the carriage. The subway has an intercontinental range, but most of the terminuses are now either inactive or destroyed. Nevertheless there are several destinations which are still marked as in service, and any of them would bring you closer to your goal.

If you decide to travel by the subway, turn to 212.

Page 212 posted:
The motilator registers your destination by flashing a light on the map. A chime sounds, warning that the doors are about to close. Fax steps back and raises his hand to wave. You watch his lean figure recede along the platform as the carriage gathers speed. The lights of the station dwindle into the distance of the tunnel. You are on your way� where?

To Kahira (turn to 50), to Karthag (turn to 124), to Tarabul (turn to 31) or to Giza (turn to 74)?

If you return to the surface and continue your journey on foot, turn to 420.

And here's the map I've slacked on sharing so far. For reference, Kahira is where Boche wanted to go, and the innkeeper had mentioned the possibility of the tube station in Marsay that could take us as far as the Sahara.

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'X' Sherman the Mutant

Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, PARADOXING, ROGUERY

Life Points: 10

Scads: 30

Possessions: Psionic Focus, Skudge Bars x7

Codewords:

Kills: Embracer, a guard, an Infernal Machine and the tiny man inside it, a pointy-toothed native, Ejada, the Moon Dog, Skarvench, our credibility as a tactician, any chance of furthering whatever the gently caress kind of relationship we had with Lucie, some unlucky guard, an enormous ceiling spider, a particularly punitive yet otherwise non-descript Judain, the physical manifestation of Hate, a nightcrawler, a particularly bulbous cactus, Necklace of Skulls, a necklace of skulls

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!'d, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land, lightly dragon'd, tree'd from a great height x2, Countless Swords of the Westermen'd, gale'd, yardam'd, rack'd, pulp'd, flatten'd, eat'd (nobley), rubble'd, cul-de-sac'd, what-once-used-to-be-the-harbor'd, three magical bodyguards'd, orgy'd, bitter life-sucking cold'd, cascade of rubble'd, cold'd, celestial darkness'd

# ? Jan 13, 2016 03:18

Thuryl: Mar 14, 2007; My postillion has been struck by lightning.

Tarabul is closest to our destination, but considering how previous books have gone, skipping too much content might turn out badly for us later on. Let's try Karthag.

# ? Jan 13, 2016 08:06

AJ_Impy: Jun 17, 2007; SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?; Yam Slacker

And furthermore, Karthag must be ~~destroyed~~ visited.

# ? Jan 13, 2016 09:51

Ratatozsk: Mar 6, 2007; Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

Page 124 posted:

The carriage rushes on into the darkness of the tunnel. You wait for almost two hours, and then you start to feel the carriage slowing down. It enters a station and glides to a halt, but there is a delay before the doors open. �Karthag station is damaged,� explains the motilator�s calm electronic voice. �You are recommended to select an alternative destination.�

Through the window, you can see that the station has caved in. Huge chunks of shattered concrete litter the platform, with twisted metal cables extending from them like torn arteries from a heart. It is sheer luck that the tunnel itself was not blocked, otherwise you would have ended your journey with a severe jolt, to say the least.

What now?

If you disembark here, turn to 146.
Or you can take the subway back to Marsay, and from there head on to Kahira (turn to 50), to Tarabul (turn to 31), to Giza (turn to 74), or even resume your journey on foot (turn to 420).

We would like to Karthag.

Page 146 posted:

You explore the corridors leading off the platform, but all are blocked by rubble. There is no way of reaching the surface from here. As you return to the carriage, though, you notice a small partition in the wall. It is labelled as an air vent. You remove the grating and peer up the darkened shaft. A waft of rich loamy air drifts down. The shaft is intended for careteks servicing the ventilation ducts, but at a pinch you might be able to squeeze up it � if you�re not bothered by claustrophobia.

If you venture up the shaft, turn to 168.
Otherwise you must take the subway back to Marsay, from where you can proceed to Kahira (turn to 50), to Tarabul (turn to 31), or to Giza (turn to 74), or resume your journey on foot (turn to 420).

: I WOULD LIKE TO KARTHAG PLEASE!

Page 168 posted:

After some squirming, you manage to wedge yourself into the shaft and begin a slow ascent. You are in total darkness. Minutes crawl by, and the air grows stifling as you climb. At last, with the sweat pouring off your body, you are on the verge of giving up when you detect a nimbus of grey light from just above. You struggle towards it, cramming your body around a twist in the shaft. A heady aroma hangs in the air here, sweet as greenwood.

You emerge into a larger space at the junction of several ducts. As your eyes adjust to the faint light trickling down from above, you make out a human shape in the gloom. He is hanging like a puppet, entangled in a thick mass of fleshy creepers dangling from the top of the shaft. You approach and touch his shoulder. His head lolls back slowly, falls off, and strikes the floor with a hollow clatter.

You cannot stifle a gasp of horror. You step back, only to find a taut vine cable wound around your ankle. Another brushes your face, gropes with abrupt vitality, and seizes your throat in a firm grip. The creepers are alive and predatory. You struggle, grappling with the vine at your neck to no avail. It is tightening, squeezing your windpipe. Your pulse pounds inside your ears with a dull roar.

Do you have a canister of vine killer?

~~If so, turn to 190.~~

If not, there is nothing you can do to free yourself and you will slowly strangle to death in the grip of the mutant plant.

Death: Weed killerd

We could have gotten the vine kill from Fax by asking other questions. We can go that route and press on here, or elect another destination. Let's hear your thoughts!

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'X' Sherman the Mutant

Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, PARADOXING, ROGUERY

Life Points: 10

Scads: 30

Possessions: Psionic Focus, Skudge Bars x7

Codewords:

Kills: Embracer, a guard, an Infernal Machine and the tiny man inside it, a pointy-toothed native, Ejada, the Moon Dog, Skarvench, our credibility as a tactician, any chance of furthering whatever the gently caress kind of relationship we had with Lucie, some unlucky guard, an enormous ceiling spider, a particularly punitive yet otherwise non-descript Judain, the physical manifestation of Hate, a nightcrawler, a particularly bulbous cactus, Necklace of Skulls, a necklace of skulls

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!'d, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land, lightly dragon'd, tree'd from a great height x2, Countless Swords of the Westermen'd, gale'd, yardam'd, rack'd, pulp'd, flatten'd, eat'd (nobley), rubble'd, cul-de-sac'd, what-once-used-to-be-the-harbor'd, three magical bodyguards'd, orgy'd, bitter life-sucking cold'd, cascade of rubble'd, cold'd, celestial darkness'd, mutant plant'd

# ? Jan 14, 2016 03:41

Thuryl: Mar 14, 2007; My postillion has been struck by lightning.

Hmm. Yeah, let's get the vine killer. I'm guessing it comes from asking about the barren ground?

# ? Jan 14, 2016 07:33

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 20, 2024 17:23

AJ_Impy: Jun 17, 2007; SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?; Yam Slacker

Concur, short videos-b-gone.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 08:29

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Heart of Ice: [CYOApocalypse]

«‹›8 »