Bloodstone: Gods and Monsters

 

I like the sentiment, but could you express it in just three words?

         

In the first session of Bloodstone, Danat McLagh ignominiously fled his home with four companions while his clan, the Asarene dwarves, were slaughtered by goblin-like "taldor." With a general goal of uniting the dwarven clans against this threat, the party went north to Haraza, where Torongo, chief of the Tanar clan, wanted us to bring a bunch of dwarven artifacts back to him in exchange for his support: a magic scarab, brooch, mitre, scepter, golden bowl, orb, crown, whistle, and Death Mask of Rohrkhad.

    

As we begin this session, the party is leaving Haraza to visit the Morin dwarves in the city of Kafari to the south. Those are the two major dwarf clans, but there are reports of minor tribes in the "wastes of northern Tarq." I don't know if we need their support or not. On the way to Kafari, we find a guy teaching "Trading," but I decline to spend money and time on it.

        

Arriving at Kafari.

     

Fighting a couple of miscellaneous combats on the way--more on combat in a bit--we eventually come to Kafari and begin our typical exploration pattern. Key notes:

   

NPCs talk of an ancient temple in the southwest corner of town filled with ancient "half-dead." But when we enter the building, we find a pretty temple to Ziphanu, the God of Air. The altar has a word: FURBIMBOR on it. I assume that, as in the Candle games, we'll use this word to wake up the god. He's rumored to be imprisoned in Hataan to the west. Rolg at the bar in Tulara knows more. 

          

This series knows how to stick to a theme, however odd.

       

• In the tavern, Emmera thinks the rivalry between Morin and Tamar dwarves is so toxic that not even Khamalkhad can unite them.

• Also in the tavern, Olga is looking for her husband, Atun. 

• A cook named Re tells me that when dwarves die, they go to the home of their god, Rohrkhad, who was banished when he imprisoned the other gods. Some "crazy old man up north" is said to have been to his castle.

• There's a school that teaches gemcutting, plus a gemcutter who needs help. There's a weapon shop, an inn, a wizard's retreat for those with spellbooks to memorize spells, and a place to learn archery. I don't do anything with any of them.

• A kid tells me about an old temple to the south.

• A dwarf named Shedara says that she once saw a fine platinum lyre in the hands of a traveling minstrel. If I ever meet him, I should ask him for the "Lay of the Death Mask."

• A man named Horatio sells musical instruments in his shop. I do want to explore music in this game, but none of my existing characters have much skill. 

      

Which one will lead to the most annoying and pedantic discussion of the number of strings?

       

• Notama tells me that Dablak, God of the Earth, is buried deep in central Tarq.

• Smorqa, the Mystic of Kafari, suggests I seek certain "wise people" to aid me with totems and tiles. Tiles are the key to instant teleportation. I should ask loremasters about COMBINATIONS.

• A trader named Ensule sells sealskins, which will let me cross rivers. I buy six, depleting most of my money.

        

Later: I guess they work.

       

• The Morin chief lives in a hut to the southeast of town, but I need to know his name before I can enter. It's late in the session before I finally find a dwarf named Pleitan, who gives me the name as RAKAN. He also tells me where I can find a magic orb buried in the Temple of Ziphanu.

• I meet Rakan in his house. He wants the same list of treasures as Torongo! I'm not sure what to do if I want both their support. Give half to one and half to the other?

       

There isn't a lot of variance in these dwarf names.

      

• On a later visit to the tavern, I find a wizard named Maxon. He tells me that all the best wizards have names that start with "M," and he gives me the teleportal combination to Asarene. Finally, he offers to join the party, and I accept. He comes with the "Chalta" book and lots of spells from other books memorized.

   

Shortly after leaving Kafari, I find a patch of Sermin mushrooms south of the city. I pick a few, taking care to leave some still growing. South of that, I find an "ominous gateway" that leads me to a dungeon with a very long, spiraling corridor. I try to explore it, but in the first room I enter, I fight some undead called "thamalques." Like undead in the other Candle games, they spring back to life in the round after they've been slain if you don't cast "Restsoul." I only have a couple of those memorized. I go back outside and memorize more (they're part of the Gimlai spell totem that came with Danat), but when I enter again, I get slaughtered by crossbow-wielding "dimelfs" in a different room. I decide to return to this dungeon when I am stronger and better-resourced, particularly with enough Nifts to avoid damage from attacks.

       

Slaughtered by the drow's less intelligent cousins.

     

Random combats in the wilderness replenish my gold. I start taking notes as to the game's original monsters and their special attacks. If I'm lucky, I fight monsters like taldor and pennari who have only physical attacks in melee range. I'm able to kill them with crossbows before they even reach us. More dangerous are magic-using creatures like taldormages. I've been reloading after each death because the party only came with about 5 "Resurrection" spells, and we have no way to get more until we buy the appropriate totem.   

      

An enemy approaches in the wilderness.

       

Notes on monsters:

    

• Taldor: Basic brutes, like goblins. Melee attacks only.
• Pennari: Dogs that accompany taldor. Melee attacks only.
• Hightaldor: Strong taldor. But still just melee attacks.
• Taldormage: Very dangerous. Cast spells like "Shatter" from afar.
• Tlatol: Taldor companions.
• Thamalque: Undead of some sort. Physical attacks only.
• Dimelf: Shoot with crossbows. Play on "dark elf"? 
• Bazards: Giant green lizards. 

        

Archery skill goes up from shooting a taldor.

    

The next port of call we reach, moving clockwise around the map, was the city of Tulara, still part of the Morin clan domain. Findings:

     

• A casino. I lose two rolls for small amounts and decide not to waste my money there.

• A metalsmith. He needs help and offers to pay 20 gold per day. I say what the heck and assign Volni, who has the highest skill in this art, to work with him. Even if I don't leave him here, we'll make 20 gold if we're in town for only one day, and I know I'll spend at least a day passing time in the tavern to see who shows up at different hours.

        

The series continues to allow some poor characters to work as wage slaves to support the party.

       

• Manteki has the Belfon totem for sale for 2,525, about 1,000 more than I have. I mark the hut for later return. 

• An armorer. I buy some leather for Maxon, who didn't come with any.

• A trader sells shovels, ropes, and picks. I think I'm all set there.

• A small temple has an altar with the word PLISTICAL on it. It's probably the secret word for waking up Dablak, the earth god, who lies in the ruins of Delqafi (information I got elsewhere).

     

"Let's get . . . plistical."

        

• Rolg shows up in the tavern at 19:00. He tells me about the land of Hataan, west of Tulara. The ruins with the Temple of Ziphanu are in a field, surrounded by a forest, east of a bridge, south of Rulaan, the female barbarian city.

        

Rolg tells me about the ruins of Hataan.

     

• Numerous NPCs tell me the lands to the west are overrun with dangerous monsters.

• I finally find a herb shop but can barely afford anything.

• There's a tailor, but none of my characters have any tailoring skill. Also a gemseller and a guy offering music lessons.

• A dwarf named Frozo upbraids us for killing "innocent monsters with families and children."

     

Always nice to get the liberal perspective.

     

• In the loremaster's hut, I get two teleportal combinations. Researching TALDOR, I learn they were created by Palelil, evil brother of Rohrkhad. Rohrkhad couldn't undo their creation, but he made it so when the taldor got drunk, they'd tell anyone anything. Unfortunately, even Maxon doesn't have enough "Research" skill to research the DEATH Mask of Rohrkhad, and I'm not sure how to develop this skill.

       

How do you suppose this translates in real terms? How much skill do you need to read things on stone tablets?

     

A warrior named Enric offers to join the party in the tavern, and I take him, filling the hole that Volni left. He's stronger than Volni but lacks Volni's magic. I decide to keep him for the time being and let Volni continue to work, mostly because I can't figure out how to temporarily park a party member in this town. If anyone had skill in tailoring, I could do it there, but there's otherwise no place to "assign" a party member temporarily in order to shuffle another one in. Since I need so many things that cost money, it strikes me that it might be more advantageous to keep a slot permanently open and put one of my other characters to work in one of the other towns.

      

I can believe a "Musical" skill that low. I once saw Enric Palazo absolutely butcher the national anthem.

     

As I contemplate that, I also contemplate our next steps. At this point, we've explored maybe the southeast tenth of the main continent. We have a lot of leads, but I'm hesitant to depart from what we might call the "tri-cities" area until we're better resourced--weapons, armor, mushrooms, bolts, spells. I think I might spend what I have on what I can afford, then try that dungeon a second time.

    

Miscellaneous notes:

    

• If I ever understood the reason for having a "Greet" command separate from "Talk," I've forgotten it.

• The game bifurcates NPCs into named ones, who always offer ADVICE or OTHER (enter your own keywords) as defaults, and unnamed ones, who offer NEWS, WEATHER, and PEOPLE. WEATHER never produces anything interesting. NEWS seems to pick from a databank of rumors. ADVICE often leads to other keywords, but NEWS never does.

• For a game that has so many input options--keyboard, mouse, and arrowing around to commands and hitting ENTER--I manage to flub whatever I'm trying to do a lot. I remember commenting on this several times in the Candle games. I can't put my finger on exactly what's wrong--on paper, this is just the type of interface I'm always demanding--but I'm constantly finding myself in sub-menus that I didn't mean to visit or on the verge of doing something like dismissing a party member or reloading a game, when I never meant to get anywhere near those options.

• As with the Candle games, my colorblindness doesn't work well with icons as small and detailed as this. I'm constantly talking to inanimate objects thinking that they're NPCs.

 

       

I'm having quite a bit of fun with this one. This approach is exactly what I enjoy: A distant goal, lots of lore to keep track of, a growing "to do" list, and a strong economy (at least for now). The poison pill of the Candle series has always been character development, and I sense some of the same potential problems here. I'll talk more about that next time.

   

Time so far: 7 hours