Dead of Night

Background - 

East Germany, Winter 1989.  The two operatives meet up on the corner of a dark street.  

Operative 1 "Is it done?"

Operative 2 "Yes, the guy will give out the wrong instructions and the wall will open."

Operative 1 "Excellent, with the wall down the path will be open and we can go home."

Just then another figure appears wearing a trench coat and a wide brimmed hat.  They are trying to look inconspicuous but stick out like a sore thumb.  The two operatives share a glance and sigh.

Trench Coat Man "Hello gents, sorry for running late."

With a flourish he removes his fake moustache and glasses, revealing a mustache and glasses that are real but actually look worse than the fake he just removed."

Trench Coat Man "It is me, Ian!  Long time no see Jim and Stephen, how have you been?"

Jim "Well when you told us back at Games Workshop you had a mission for us, I thought you meant write a book."

Stephen "Yes!  The last thing I thought we would be doing is going undercover to try and bring down Communism!"

Jim "What did that have to do with you anyway?"

Ian "They do not like Communism in Puffin, can't sell books.  Hence having the two of you out here to undermine it.  If the wall goes we can sell more Fighting Fantasy out here.  Speaking of which how is it going?"

Jim "Its all set, tonight the Politburo spokesman will tell the press that travel through the wall is open."

Stephen "After that the masses will leave and the whole system will collapse."

Ian digs into his large trench coat pocket and passes them a package each.  "Excellent, time to leave then.  Everything you need is contained in those for your new identities.  Should get you back into the West before it all kicks off, just one thing..."

Jim "What?"

Ian "I believe you have something for me?  Something that Puffin said you would provide in exchange for the travel papers?"

Stephen turns around and removes a loose brick from the building they are standing next to.  He pulls out a package of his own and hands it to Ian.  "Its all there, the manuscript for Dead of Night."

Ian "Excellent, safe travels gentlemen."  With that he puts his disguise back on and all three turn and walk off in different directions.

Later that week at Puffin HQ.  Phillipa is watching the news as the Berlin wall is being torn down.  She picks up her desk phone and presses one of the buttons.  

Philippa "Its Done."

Dead of Night came out November 1989 and is a collaboration between Jim Bambra and Stephen Hand.  We have seen collabs a lot in the early part of the series but both are new authors to the franchise.  I have seen Jim's name before as part of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and the Enemy Within but I have not come across Stephen Hand before.  Always interesting to see what new authors bring to the franchise.  I understand they both worked at Games Workshop before teaming up after leaving to write this book (after the pitches for their own gamebook did not get far).  This is a brand new one to me.  The cover is not setting off any memories at all.  I do not remember even seeing it before which is really rare!  

Covers - 

Not the biggest fan of this cover.  I get its meant to be a Demon appearing from the depths and the trees and land are buckling before it.  But to me it just looks like you have disturbed him in the bath.  The lava looks like his bubble bath and on the right it looks more like he is moving aside a shower curtain than smashing aside a tree.  I like the colours and the idea, just not a fan of the execution. 

Premise - 

We start in bed but unable to sleep, watching the shadows in the candle light (maybe put the light out if you can't sleep).  The shadows then change to become a silhouette of a toad creature and two humanoid shapes writhe in torment at its feet.  Unfortunately I recognise them as my parents.  Ok I already have a question.  How do I know the silhouettes of the shadows are my parents?  I must really know my parents.  Maybe they have a unique feature like a giant nose?  But I do recognise the toad, its Myurr, one of the demon lords and my arch foe!  Wait I have an arch foe already?!

My brother was slain by demons (noooo Pete!) when we were out in the fields.  Ripped apart by one flying down from the sky.  The village priest Branner came running and saved me before it could kill me as well.  Since then I have waged my own war against all demon kind.  I vowed to become a demon Hunter and at Pete's funeral a ghost appeared and spoke to Branner, who then arranged for me to study at the Sacred Citadel of the Templers at Royal Lendle.  Wait Royal Lendle?  Was that not in Elden Ring?

Since then I have slain many Demons inhabiting the mountains of the Witchtooth line.  In fact I have thwarted the plans of Myurr multiple times. But my fear was always he would try and get revenge on me by attacking my parents.  

It looks like those fears have come to pass as the shadows once again change and I see my home village of Crowford in a thick mist.  The apparition of Myurr and my parents hangs over the village.  The demon is smiling and my parents are pleading for help.  This is some shadow show!

A gust of wind blows out the candle and everything is dark, I relight it and prepare to head home at daybreak.

I ride north through Gallantaria and enter my homeland (I was still at the Citadel) and try and convince myself I was just seeing things.  But just in case I prepare by cataloguing what I know of Myurr.  He is renowned for his subtle and devious schemes and in his earthly form can appear as a giant toad or an innocent young boy.  I once confronted Myurr himself after he had possessed the Kings advisor and was fomenting rebellion in the kingdom by implementing repressive measures on the peasants.  I could see through his disguise and saved the day.  

Myurr hates me deeply and I think to myself if he has my parents I will need all the aid I can get.  Branner has since passed away but the new priest should be able to help.  Also Sharleena is a seer who lives in Crowford and can summon and speak to spirits.  She has helped me before in the past and if demons are involved then her aid will be invaluable.

I am almost home and will know if I just saw shadows or reality.

Playthrough - 

Right let's check out the rules.  As you would expect by now, Skill, Stamina and Luck are all as you would expect.  But we do get a new stat - Evil!  

We do not roll any dice for Evil, it starts automatically at zero.  So of course it will go over the initial value as it will increase over the adventure if you do, well, evil things.  

A slightly more in depth look at evil.  As a templar I am bound to uphold the values of honour, benevolence and forgiveness.  But I am not obliged to show these virtue when dealing with enemies.  But if I ever act in a manner befitting a servant of Chaos (such as ruthlessly killing an undeserving opponent) then I will attract the taint of evil.  So far I have managed to avoid any fall from grace but with my enemies concentrating their efforts, I now stand a greater chance of being corrupted.  It will sometimes feel like a restraint acting this way but such is the path for followers of Light.

But its not that simple.  During previous escapades I have come to learn that sometimes you must fight fire with fire.  Some Demons are immune to holy devices but vulnerable to dark magic and foul artifacts.  So do you use these and increase your evil score?  Up to you.  But every so often you will need to test your evil.  Instructions on how to do this will be provided at the time.  

Here is the most exciting part though.  Very much like Midnight Rogue, we have talents that I have acquired through years of intensive training.  But we only get to choose 3 from the list - 

Banish Undead -    The power to repel or destroy certain Undead creatures.

Dark Veil -             Cast a magic aura to make yourself invisible to most evil beings.  However this is a                                   trick learnt from demons so it will increase your Evil score.  Veil is an anagram of                                   evil after all and some powerful evil creatures could even use it against you.

Heal -                     Heal various wounds and illnesses, but can only be used on other people, not                                           yourself except in times of great peril.

Holy Circle -          With chalk or charcoal or even finger in the dirt, draw a circle that most demons will                                not be able to enter. 

Meditation -           Takes time and needs absolute calm.  Commune with your deities to receive                                           guidance in the form of a vision or message.  It can also restores stamina and luck.                                    But if you are interrupted it could be disastrous.

Sense Demon -       You may experience a slight tingling when Demons (even disguised ones) come                                       withing twenty feet of you.  Spidey sense!

Speak Demon -      Can read and understood words spoken in the Demon tongue.

Hmm only three you say.  Well I am taking the spidey sense for sure!  Where the tingle happens will remain secret.  I like Heal, I think it fits the character of the holy templar.  Yes I can not use it on me but I am sure I can save a few people at least with it.  Banish Undead I leave as I think ill just fight them.  Dark Veil is far too evil for my sensibilities and I do not like the risk associated with Meditation.  So its Speak Demon or Holy Circle.  I think Speak Demon would be more useful but Holy Circle fits the build better so I go for that.

Equipment wise we are loaded up!  Sometimes on these adventured I feel like Solid Snake trying to procure on site.  But not so this time!  Our sword gets its own name!  Nightbane!  Even though its got a great name, it does not give me any bonus over any of the random swords I have used in other adventures.  

I also do not wear any armour, instead I have hooded flowing robes of the order and a skull cap, very fetching!  

We start with 5 provisions this time.  Those templars are a bit more stingy with their food!  But no limits on when to eat other than outside of battle or how many you can have at once.

10 gold coins so I am not a poor beggar either which makes a change!  But I also have a silver cross (Fighting Fantasy religious figures also fans of the cross, not sure who got crucified though) and three vials of holy water.  I actually feel like a proper templar who is actually qualified to fight this threat!

Oh and I have a white stallion horse called Godsfire, sounds awesome but you know my feelings on horses.

We also get a handy map!

We also get a Words of Warning section.  Never take anything for granted when Demons are concerned, they are clever and treacherous beyond belief.  They will try and weave me into complex schemes and fool you into helping their plans.  They can also turn your own strengths against you.  Trust only yourself.  Be careful about using special talents as some of my opponents already know of them and will find ways to turn them against me.  Got it, Don't trust anyone.  I am Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Skill - 7

Stamina - 18

Luck - 12

Evil - 0 

Sigh, it happened.  That's what I get for talking about it last time but its the dreaded skill 7.  Got all my cool equipment and I end up being more Gillberg than Goldberg.

What are the chances this guy is actually dead?

Down in the vale below we can see Crowford.  I feel a chill of unease and pull my cloak closer as Godsfire walks on.  The feeling increases as I see the gibbet containing the remains of a highwayman.  Apparently in my youth I use to take a shortcut through the fields instead.  I used to find my parents working there but with the mist it is more likely they would be in the tavern.  Do I want to take the road under the gibbet or take a short cut?  Well I would take a shortcut normally but that scarecrow in the distance looks just as foreboding so I stick the the main road.  I mean come on, imagine if you did meet your parents in the field?  Turn to 400, they were fine all along.

The gibbet is not in a good state.  Its at the point of collapse and is described as more rust than metal.  Of course the skeleton is laughing at me.  It knows who I am and is calling me pathetic and saying I am too late.  Do I want to hit it with my sword or race on?  Well it is stuck in there so jokes on him. We move on.

Right enough there is nothing the Skeleton can do but continue to laugh and hurl more insults as Godsfire steps out from underneath it.  I do feel the icy fingers of evil on my spine but that is all, just a feeling.

I enter Crowford but it is a proper silent hill mist.  Even Godsfire is getting upset by it and I have to nudge him forward.  Through the haze I can see people fleeing from me, slamming doors shut and locking them.  One women runs out to snatch up a child before fleeing from me into a nearby cottage.  I rush to my parents house and call out to them but there is no answer.  The house is empty.  Do I want to go to the tavern to look for them or go past the local priest?  Well the introduction did say the priest should be a source of help so lets go there first.

As I approach the church I hear soul rending screams coming from the misty graveyard.  Nothing comes of them though as I knock on the door.  I hear a bar being removed before the priest opens it and hurries me inside as he puts the bar back in place.  He introduces himself as Anson and he tells me that my parents were found dead in their home three days ago.  Turn to 400.  Hold on!  He continues by saying at least we thought they were your parents.  Anson is no longer so sure.  Their appearance had been strange as the flesh was tight over the bones and their eyes shone with an unholy light.  How can you tell if a light is holy or unholy?  Did they teach that at the Citadel?  Curiosity got the better of Anson and today he opened the grave and found their places had been taken by foul demons!  Ever since they were buried the evil miasma has hung over the village destroying crops and killing wildlife.  Every night at sunset the screams begin and he implores me to help put an end to this nightmare.  Do I want to open the grave?  Use Sense Demon, or just leave the village?  Well leaving sounds hilarious but I am meant to not do evil things and I have Sense Demon so lets use it.

There is a strong presence coming from the grave so I know it can not possibly be my parents.  I can go and get a spade from the church or leave.   Skill 7 means I really want to leave but I fear leaving my home village in such a state will not be good for my Evil score.  I fetch the spade.

Mum?

Anson gives me a spade and lets me out of the church.  Of course the screams are getting louder.  Suddenly the soil erupts and the two creatures pictured reach for my throat.  Do I have banish Undead?  Nope.

Through my studies I recognise these two are blight demons, servants of Myurr and carriers of death and decay.  More worrying, skill 9 and 8 (although stamina is low at 4 and 6) but I wonder if I have just killed myself with the first combat.  But wait I am asked to test my luck first and as its max so of course pass.  With one mighty sweep of the spade I hack off both of their heads in one go!  I do not get the option to throw my sword, Nightbane, away and keep the shovel which is clearly better.  It needs a suitable holy name, suggestions in the comments please.

The blight demons fall back into the grave and dissolve in a puddle of green slime.  With their death the mist clears and Crowford is saved.  In the sludge is an iron tube which I retrieve.  In it is a map with a marked cave.  It says captives held here.  The cave is situated in the hilly area, east of the road to Weddonbridge.  If I get the option to look for a cave turn to page 150.  Nice, the village is saved, we have a hidden reference and did not lose any stamina.  I decide to look elsewhere for my parents.  

My character makes the decision to visit Sharleena the Seer for some advice.  After a few hours of travel on the main road I enter the Glaydon Forest.  The sound of birdsong cheers me up and I start making good progress.  The sun then begins to set and nightfall is coming when I get to the track that leads into the Horned Hills and Sharleena's cottage.  It is then I hear a wagon approaching from the North.  Will I ride forward to meet it or head to the hills.  Well I doubt the demons would be going about in a wagon so I will check it out.

I draw my sword just in case and find an old wagon with a shabby horse.  Two terrified peasants are in the front while I hear groans of pain from the back.  They beg to be let past as demons have taken everything they have already.   I sheathe my sword and move closer.  They explain their village was attacked by demons and the whole North is full of them.  One of them has been wounded and they ask for help.  Do you have the Heal talent?  Yes I do!

Climbing onto the back of the wagon I find an old peasant women who has been bitten on the arm which has turned septic.  As I do my healing thing they tell me it was moon demons that attacked their village of Weddonbridge.  Most of the people were butchered but they escaped.  Others are still there, trapped in the hall in the main square as it is the only safe place.  Once the old women is healed I take out my map and see Weddonbridge is on the westerly road.  If demons are attacking there my parents may be there as well, I decide I have no time to visit Sharleena and bid the peasants farewell and head North.  Ok wait a minute, that's a bit of a stretch to assume my parents are there as demons are attacking, Sharleena would still have been worth a visit!  And the peasants did not even say thanks!

So, what we doing here boys?

The clouds block out the moon but I am still able to follow the road by night.  I hear thunder but press on and arrive at a crossroads.  I can just make out the village mob when a flash of lightning shows them lowering something into a freshly dug hole underneath the post.  I can stop and investigate or head to Weddonbridge, Colton on the Marsh or Astonbury.  Lets just check this group out first.

When they hear my horse they all face me with weapons out but once they see who I am they relax.  Their leader says that they have travelled from Oakhill to bury Calbert, who was a young scholar who took his own life.  Suicides need to be buried beneath a crossed roads so they do not rise as a creature of the night.  Wow dark stuff Fighting Fantasy.   They ask if I will help and perform priestly functions on the ceremony.  Would be rude not to, do not want that Evil score going up.  

As I perform said rites we hear scratching coming from the coffin lid.  The villagers start getting nervous and I try and rush though the ceremony.  However, I am not fast enough and the coffin disintegrates in a shower of splinters as Calbert the Vampire explodes out.  Do I fight, run away or think of something else?  Well at Skill 7 fighting's out and fleeing will not be great for the evil score.  I do have a cross in my backpack so hopefully the something else option is that.

This is indeed exactly what I do and Calbert burns his hands on the pure silver cross.  He crashes back into the coffins remains and and cringes like a beaten cur.  As I hold him at bay with the cross, a quick thinking peasant drives a wooden stake into his heart.  Add 1 luck point!

As Calbert's flesh melts from his bones the peasants fill in the grave (I did not get the option to use my shovel to help) and they at least say thanks and I get the same options on where to head next.  I opt for Weddonbridge since that's where the demons are attacking and the secret cave is that way.

As I travel West the thunderstorm breaks and the rain starts coming down heavily.  I am now soaked through to my skin, thoroughly miserable and in need of shelter.  I get asked if I have a parchment that tells me of a cave nearby.  I do indeed!

The trail is hidden in the undergrowth but using the map from the blight demons I am able to find it.  I have to dismount and lead Godsfire up the hillside and keep slipping.  Eventually we make it and the cave has a strange red glow from within.  Which is never a good sign.  Do you have the Dark Veil talent?  Nope.

Dad?

No its not my parents, its a flying skull with red eyes that shoot lasers.  Before I am attacked I see the cave is completely empty with no other exits and figure out this was all an elaborate trap.  I was meant to find the parchment and follow it!  I have to test my luck which I pass.

I dive for the floor and the beams shoot harmlessly over me.  Do I want to run back to the road or keep fighting.  Yeah I am Skill 7, its time to run.  

I am not punished in any way for running.  Although I am more annoyed that I did not get to stay in the nice dry cave.  Instead we come to a roadside shrine, do I want to offer my prayers or continue to look for a way out of the rain?  Well I think my character would pray so I do that.  Maybe pray for some shelter.  

I do not have meditation so nothing really happens and we keep going.  The rain turns the road into a quagmire and I have to dismount and lead Godsfire by the bridle all night.  All night!  As I reach Weddonbridge I see winged creatures fliting across the road and dark shapes in the trees.  I can smell the evil.  Unfortunately so can Godsfire and he bolts off into the woods.  I decide I have no chance of finding him in the dark so check out the village.  A large stone building in the village square has a light shining and I am standing next to an open doorway to a wooden house.  I decide to go to the square as the travelers I met said that was the only safe place.

As I race through the rain towards the building, gargoyle like moon demons sweep towards me, hunting in packs.  I knock desperately on the wooden door as one lands on my back.  Others have surrounded me and I swing my sword at them but can not reach the one on my back.  The door suddenly opens and I fall through it.  Test your luck.  I pass.  I have had to test my luck a few times and not thrown a dice in combat yet, maybe the high luck score was better for me!

The villagers quickly slay the demon and drag it off my back.  Two villagers bar the door again and a small weasely looing man helps me to my feet.  He introduces himself as Romond, the headman of the village.  For the last three nights they have been attacked by these moon demons.  Many have been slain by them but a few families escaped but they do not know if they made it to safety or not.  More demons keep coming and now they have no choice but to try and flee south when morning comes.  But first they need to make it through the night.  I know from my research that moon demons can not enter the real world so there must be a great rift between the dimensions.  Also they can not stand daylight so in the morning they will need to return to their own plane.  Do I want to help the villagers or sneak out the back door to look for my parents?  I had better help.

I am immediately put in charge and I position the villagers to defend the doors and windows of the building.  As we wait I hear scratching from above and fear they are trying to get in through the roof.  Romond points me towards the ladder in a dark corner and I head up, pushing open the trapdoor.  I discover that some of the tiles have already been clawed away and it will not be long before they get in and can smash their way through the trap door.  Do you have a holy amulet?  Nope.  Ok so I have to use one of my holy water vials but its a skill test....

Snake eyes!  What a throw!  Just as I manage to seal the trapdoor a moon demon gets me and its my first fight.  Skill 7 stamina 6.  Should be ok.  He hits me twice before I take him down.

Meanwhile downstairs, things have escalated.

Now that the trapdoor is secure I climb back down the ladder.  All is quite apart from the sound of the rain.  Too quite.  A crash of thunder and then all the doors and windows burst in as the frenzied demons pour through.  The villagers fight hard but are pushed back.  Do you have Holy Circle or Meditate?  Yes I do (who would meditate in this situation?).  

The villagers all run over into my holy circle and the moon demons attempt to storm it.  The first one that tries though is engulfed in a bright blue flame.  The rest of the demons hold back, wary.  They decide to wait for my powers to wane.

But before that can happen the sun comes up and all the demons disappear.  Dawn breaks and the rain stops and bright sunlight pours into the hall.  The villagers all cheer and celebrate and I get 1 luck point back.  Romond asks me to come south with them but I must go north to continue my search.

As I go north (no mention if I found Godsfire, stupid horse) I see the carnage wrought by the moon demon army.  There must be something driving them on  and that something must be destroyed.  After a couple of hours I start to feel the toll of the previous nights action and realise I have not slept since I got to Crowford.  I stop and huddle under some trees and I am very hungry.  I must eat a meal or lose 2 stamina points. Well normally I would take that and then use the provision to restore 4 when I lose more stamina.  Odd choice.  But as the moon demon took 4 stamina from me earlier I eat now.  Does not say if I get the usual 4 stamina back.  I feel it means that you have to sacrifice a meal or lose 2 but as its not written I decide to give myself back the 4 stamina.  Late afternoon comes by and I feel much more refreshed and head up the road.  Two miles on I hear the flapping of giant wings off the road but I can not see what it is due to the ridge.  Do I want to draw my sword or go and hide.  Skill 7 says hide.

I leap into a ditch covered by brambles and need to test my luck which I pass.

At last a bit of warmth!

A huge winged elemental beast appears flying at terrific speed.  It is clearly some powerful magic spell.  It sniffs the air and flies off again.  Before I get up though I find a leather packet with a provision in it.  As I set off once more night falls so I seek shelter in a small ruined tower.  I build a fire but something is not right, looking out into the woods is a ghost.  Do you have Banish Undead?  Nope.  So its either flee or crouch and wait to see what the ghost does.  Going by the illustration is does not look like a spooky ghost so lets see.

Turns out it is the ghost of Sharleena the Seer!  Her words fill me with dread.  I have been murdered, a spirit demon.  I have struggled to come here.  We are puppets in the master plan.  I offer you a link in the chain.  The pool of Dunningham.  She then is blow away by the wind.  I shed a tear and damm Myurr for all the sorrow he is causing me.  I then go to sleep and reach Axmoor early the next day.

It has not gone well here.  The River Merton is clogged with all manner of pollutants oozing out of the village sewers.  The woodland is all blasted, leaving a barren smoking landscape and nearly all of the village buildings are ruined.  As I use the bridge to cross the river a number of tentacles rise up and start to collapse the bridge.  Test your luck.

Thank goodness for that high luck roll.  As I am flung forward I land on the far side and do a duck and roll and shout parkour, so I take no damage.  The tentacles pull the bridge into the river and I run into the centre of the village, hoping to confront the source of evil.

Greta Thunberg will not be happy!

The centre of the village has been flattened to make way for this monstrosity.  The factory is belching out smoke but the worst part is that the building itself is made up of organic matter.  On closer inspection it seems to be slime covered worm like joints with fibrous links with some bone mixed in.  The smoke is blotting out all sunlight and killing all life around it.  This bears all the hallmarks of Myurr so I decide it must be stopped or die in the attempt.  Do I want to try the massive iron door or the smoking hole in front of me?  I really do not want to try the hole but my low skill gives me the fear if I try the front door and get into a fight.  Sneaky option it is.

Standing over the hole I see that its a semi organic tube and must be connected to the main building.  Its about five foot wide so plenty room but I can not see the bottom for the steam. It makes my eyes water but its not the same black smog coming out of the factory.  Some throbbing veins give me hand holds.  Into the factory sphincter I go.

My hand holds are warm and throbbing....this has taken a turn.  As I make my way down a green gas shoots at me and I have to yet again test me luck and I pass.  I manage to hold my breath just in time and avoid the fart.  At around twenty feet I reach the bottom and come face to face with a valve that is opening and closing at regular intervals and seems to be the source of the gas.  But their is also a small opening you can crawl into.  Well if the valve is the source of the gas I think that would be poor choice.  Not often crawling down the even smaller arse tunnel is the better option.

I am told I made the right choice as behind me the valve opens and releases a gout of deadly gas.  As I crawl in the dark the throbbing tunnel is making me queasy.  After minutes that seem like hours I emerge into a corridor of the main building.  As I extricate myself from the passage like a giant poo, it seals behind me with no sign it was ever there.  Two passages to chose from.  The right is warm and wide.  Left narrow and damp.  Well right sounds better but you know the rules, left it is!

As I fear its going to be a dead end I emerge into a dungeon.  The room is slimy with pulsating membranous walls.  Dozens of prisoners are held in cages watched by two demon servants.  Do you have Dark Veil?  Nope.

They use their strong hands to fight me and I must fight both at the same time.  One is skill 8 and one is skill 7.  However if I win two attack rounds in a row I automatically will defeat one.  This is just as well as I pull it off while taking a bit of battering.  Eventually they are down and I tuck into 3 meals.

As they collapse into mouldering bones I find a set of keys in the remains and use them to open all the cages.  But none of them make a move to escape despite my prodding.  They tell me that the monstrosity they inhabit is alive and they are to be fed to its furnace.  Its influence holds them in place and they can not leave while it is still alive.  I leave them by the only exit.  The corridor gets bigger and brighter and I spot some stairs leading to a wooden hatch.  I can take a look or keep going.  You know we will have look!  (Hope someone out there got the tiktok reference).

Up the hatch I found myself in a shorter corridor.  A closed door to my right but to my left is an archway with an open door beyond it letting in sunlight.  However there are three demons that way and all have red eyes which tells me they have telepathic link to Myurr.  I know I always say go left but I do not fancy another combat so I sneak through the other door.

That very much looks like a power source to me!

Its not only the above scene we see with demonic servants working some machines.  There are also some herding a train of humans into a living furnace.  The furnace looks live a huge worms mouth with teeth.  My head is picturing dune as I have never seen a worms mouth in real life!  The crystal of the pedestal is a deathstone.  This answers my questions as I know it is a land blight being grown by the crystal itself.  The gas is basically terraforming the land for demons to inhabit.  It is clear Myurr is planning an invasion but I do not know how he plans to get thousands of demons onto the earthly plane to make the invasion permanent.  Now do I deal with the worm furnace and try and save the prisoners or deal with the death stone?  I feel the stone is the beating heart of all this, so if I take out the stone, everything else will be die, including the worm furnace.  Maybe.

The demon servants break into mass panic, they know the demon stalker (that's me) is among them.  They should be getting telepathic commands from Myurr but apparently he is preoccupied somewhere else.  This allows me to walk up to the source of the corruption and I am bathed in a black aura.  It is here I am asked to make my first evil test of the game.  As I still have a score of zero I automatically pass.

Sweating as I fight the corruption I am about to pass out when the stone gives up.  My inherent goodness has won out.  The only thing that can shatter a death stone is the seven deadly words of Akkarra.  Using this dangerous black art could kill me.  But the only other option is to flee the building.  But I thought it was life or death?  With that in mind I decide to go for it.

Certain conditions, coupled with the power of good over evil will determine my success of the desperate magic.  I ignore the chaos and speak the words.  In game I am given a list and each has points against it.

Have a Cross                        1

Each vial of holy water        1

Speak Demon                       1 

Holy Circle                           2

Sealing the worm mouth      2

Turned a red dial                  4

Turned a blue dial                2

Turned a green dial              1

So I have a cross and two vials of holy water for 3 points.  I have Holy Circle so that's me up to 5.  Unfortunately I have not encountered any dials so that is a big chunk missing.   Now roll two dice.  8, which is higher, which can not be good.

As I am pronouncing the sixth word, I realise my protections are inadequate.  As I stumble over the crucial syllables time and space distort beyond reckoning and whatever happens next I do not know as I am not on earth to see it.  

Notable Encounters -

Tim Curry from Legend kills Sharleena

You can go and visit Sharleena the Seer.  But no matter what you do she is going to end up dead.  How this happens is up to you though.  For example you can be there when she does her summoning, listen to the demon (hope you took speak demon) and then he lashes out.  Or far more hilariously just sit in the other room and ignore her screams as all hell is breaking lose until the door is smashed into splinters.  You can protect yourself from the demon with holy circle but he just burns the hut down around you, forcing you to flee.  

This is a local tavern for local people.

The Hanged Man Tavern is quite interesting as well.  You can talk to the patrons that range from a crazy drunk to a chaos warrior sent to kill you.  The real fun though comes at night.  You see the innkeeper has been drugging the drinks and selling the people to the local necromancer for his experiments.  A half orc arrives with a cart to take them. Hope you wake up in time!

You can also get a lift from some nice riverboat folks.  Grumont and his two sons plus an old lady.  As you can imagine there is problems on the water as well and one of the sons falls in and needs rescued.  If you do you get your money back, fortune read with an important clue and some food.  Or you could just watch him drown of course.  Hopefully you fend off the tentacles at the wharf or you will have to watch them and their boat get crushed.

Listen to these guys, nothing good happens in Astonbury!

These gents tell you that Astonbusy has the plague so stay out. They are very much correct of course and good luck surviving it.  Godsfire certainly does not.  But that is still the better option for the horse as the other direction leads him to being eaten by zombies.

Team evil game planning.

Magrad the Necromancer is currently making life miserable for the inhabitants of Colton-on-the-Marsh.  Undead roam the causeways and the people live in fear.  Whatever you do, do not ask the people about him. They will think you are in cahoots and will lynch you.  Magrad is working with Myurr and th Necromancer's finger prints are everywhere.  If its not stealing people from the Hanged Man then its sending winged elementals to catch you and drop you in the marsh.  If you do make it into his decrepit windmill he is pretty easy to take care of as long as you avoid his bolts of magic.  

Even people that keep the cosmic balance need to eat.

Like Zodak from He-Man we have a type of cosmic keepers of balance.  You need both good and evil to balance each other out.  And when one is in the ascendancy these guys step in to help the other.  Slight problem now though.  Myurr has convinced them good is in the ascendancy and they are helping him!  So it is up to you to persuade then that Myurr is lying and get the help you need.  Otherwise you get sent to a netherworld prison which is just a horrible maze.  

When you are in Dunningham there is a tower with a baleful red eye at the top looking around.  Sound familair?

Welcome to Dunningham!

Now to be fair, this Sauron is not in the books.  This was Peter Jackson's interpretation for the films. Which came out after Dead of Night.  So the idea was here first.  Wish it had an illustration in the book.  Just make sure to set it on fire before you leave.

I say this one as notable, but do not take that to mean it was good.  In fact its the worst part of the book.  When you make it into Myurr's tower you go through a teleportation maze.  Which is nothing more than pick a random door, you end up in this coloured room, now pick another random door.  Its awful and seems to be just be pot luck.  And because you teleport you can not map it like a physical map and use the direction references to work it out.

Defend the Farm!

In contrast when you help a farmer and his family protect their farm against some undead horseman, things are rather excellent.  You have to use the map to position yourself and the family and which area they defend, where to place your cross etc.  Then its a case of rolling some dice to see where all the skeleton attackers appear.  It is very atmospheric as you know the attack is coming and you are waiting after sunset for it to come.

A bit of time travelling!

Yep, you can even go back in time to your brothers funeral.  Just be really careful with who you talk to and don't cause a time loop!  However it very cleverly links back to the introduction where you saw Branner talking to a ghost and then decided to help you become a Templar.  It was only bloody you! 

Artwork - 

Martin McKenna is back again, still ridiculously young.  But my word he knocks it out of the park in this one.  This is as good as Iain McCaig who you know is my god tier artist for Fighting Fantasy.

From my walkthrough the Blight Demons are exceptional.  The peasants burying the vampire and the factory are also good.  And the Moon Demon attack is also superb.  Not a bad piece in the book, not even average, all really good.

Keeping the balance.  Not sure you can do that in 2026.

 

Your brothers ghost.  Or is it.....

Be nice to this guy, even if he is a bit weird.

The Heart of the operation.

Team balance will give you a sword.  Yes it is currently stabbed into a toad.

No this is not my map of Chasms of Malice, it is the Netherworld Prison.

Think you have seen the last of Magrad?  Think Again.

A spooky castle!

My favorite is the approach to the Windmill.  So atmospheric!

I also enjoy the Abomination but I need to keep some of the art back for the other sections!

Big Bad - 

Finally!  Mum and Dad!

Myurr is a bit different where he is not a far off threat and I am sent to get him, we already have history.  Yes he is still trying to take over the world but his master plan involves me directly.  The whole point of taking my parents was not just a personal vendetta.  He needed me to come into his lair voluntarily for he needs to use my soul to open up a permanent gateway to the demon world. Apparently he could not do this by force and I had to come of my own free will. So this was all an elaborate set up.  Or would have been if I had not died in his factory.  Does this mean I won by stopping his plan?

Myurr is a four limbed demon so he gets to attack twice.  At Skill 14!  His stamina is 25 as well so even skill 12 monsters with demon slaying swords will have a tough time.  You get the offer to use Dark Veil which hilariously just puts you straight under his control.  Only if you have a magic sword can you harm him and only one of your attacks counts, the second attack is just you trying to block.  You can throw some holy water at him which stops him attacking that round but if you hit him with it then it will take off a d6 of stamina from him.  

There is a third option each round, dodge him and destroy one of the artifacts.  If you get the wrong one though he properly mauls you.  But when you get the correct item its a straight up Evil test.  And even then it could go wrong without the correct item to protect you.  You can get a bit of a victory.  Myurr is banished and the world saved but you die.  But of course if you pass the Evil test and survive the end then he is finally defeated.

I do like Myurr.  He is not a one paragraph bad guy.  You feel his presence throughout the book from the very start.  He is constantly sending his minions against you and you can see the awful effect his invasion is having on each town you come across.  

Menagerie - 

Its a very limited pallet for this section.  Pretty much just lots of different demon types, lots of undead and some angry humans.  Humans come in the angry villager type.  Demons in the Blight, Spirit, Moon and Great variety.

We do get to see an Armored Ogre and Orcs in Sauron's camp.  Sorry I mean Dunningham. 

No ordinary Shapeshifter, its a demonic Shapeshifter!

The Horned Skeleton is the last challenge before Myurr. 

This lot love menacing farms.

Believe it or not this is the Necromancer! 

The abomination is an excellent monster.  It is the result of the Moon Demon Mage resurrecting Magrand the Necromancer.  Instead of a mindless undead he still has his own thoughts.  Plus tentacles of course!  You do not want to get to this stage though.  He will just grab your cross and then for the fight he appears skill 6 and you think no problem.  But after two rounds of combat he juices up to skill 10.  And if he ever wins by 5 points or more in a single round its all over.

Entertaining Deaths - 

Oh boy, there are some absolutely brutal ways to go in this book, including but not limited to - 

Politely ignoring the blockade at Astonbury.  The men shoot you full of arrows as you walk past.

Sneaking past the Astonbury blockade and immediately dying from the demon plague.

Not getting your sword up in time as an Orc uses his dagger to crunch through your skull.

Asking for Magrand in Colton-on-the-Marsh.  A village mob appears and hang you.

Pushing deeper into the marshes.  A gas pocket knocks you out and when you come to you are sucked into the bog.

Galloping Godsfire into a black magical barrier, it is like hurtling full force into a blazing mountain and we both perish instantly.

Getting hit in the head by a giant bladed pendulum. 

Escaping through the back door during the Moon Demon attack in Weddonbridge.  The Moon Demons catch you and rip you to shreds.

Trying to meditate during a Moon Demon attack.  

Getting caught in an abomination's tentacles.  You are dragged towards it as the top of its head clamps down on you like a guillotine.

Trying to jump back onto a boat after being attacked by tentacles.  You fall in the water and they drag you down to drown you.  

Succumbing to the power of the death stone.  Within three months you are serving a Snake Demon master as a Lieutenant of an Orcish raiding party.

Finding yourself in an Orc encampment and attacked by hundreds of Orcs at once.

Wading into a demon pond.  A mound of sludge crashes down on you and you are dissolved.

Using Sense Demon to check if the giant greater demon in front of you is in fact a demon.  It is a Demon and kills you while you are taking the time to find out.

Reading the writing that says welcome to the tower of Myurr.  You age rapidly and your teeth all fall out just before you die.

Playing an instrument in the demonic pandemonium.  You play it forever.

Going for the magic demon protecting armour.  Its a trick and instead you get stabbed by knives.

Your brother ghost appears and tells you the way to Myurr is through the tower window.  If you follow his advice you tumble to the ground to your death. 

Trying to talk to your past self at your brothers funeral.  You cause a rift in time and get stuck in a loop watching the funeral. 

My favorite though is - 

Getting gassed by a giant fart in a demonic sphincter.   

Pete's Corner - 

"John told me I died in the introduction."

Final Thoughts - 

Yeah this was good, in fact I would say great.  Not perfect though.  But a very enjoyable entry in the series.  The overall story flows well for me.  The arc of saving your parents, Myurr's machinations against you and how the corruption gets worse the further you go is very well put together.  I like how each village feels unique and plays out as its own mini adventure while also tying into the main story.  The progression goes from helping fight off demons and undead to taking on Myurr's lieutenant Necromancer to stopping the demons terraforming the land.  

And the stakes being personal was a nice change.  Yes, Myurr is still trying to take over the world but for you that is secondary to saving your parents.  And he is not an evil wizard (although demons have been done before) which is also a nice difference.  The world seems very much alive with many people coming and going, from the villagers in your own home area deciding that everything that is happening is your fault to the farms of Stanford being under attack.  

But my favorite part is Myurr's games.  He is trying to play you the whole time.  To plant the map on the demons, knowing that when you kill them you will find it and lead you direct to the cave is clever.  But to use a hidden reference to do it, bravo. 

The authors do a great job in setting the scene.  I love the dark horror feel they went for.  It does not feel like a standard fantasy setting, by placing it in the Old World they could set up their own land.  Gallantaria is now one of my favorites.  The dark and despair and desperation really shines through.  This is probably coloured by my love of Warhammers grimdark atmosphere.  This feels more like a Games Workshop product.  

From my playthrough I really enjoyed the siege of the moon demons and the demon factory.  But I would say all the encounters in the various villages are well written and fun.  And each different enough from each other.  The problems only surface for me after you get past Dunningham.  No problem with the greater demon encounter from the cover but the house that warps you back to the start I was not a fan of.  Not so much of the idea, or the idea of balance, but by the awful prison he puts you in.  Which is a death sentence as you only get two goes and getting the wrong door before its game over.  Just the design felt like wasted paragraphs to me.  

But this is no where near as bad as the travesty of Myurr's tower.  Instead of getting a mini dungeon crawl with the same level of writing and encounters as one of the villages, its just a multi coloured maze.  I hate a maze, and its made worse that its not a real maze as they use the excuse of teleporting to avoid having to connect things so its a pain to map.  Its a yellow room, which door?  Its a blue room, which door?  Repeat, Repeat.  Not only does this stick out as a sore thumb in a book of great writing, its really boring.  But this is meant to be near the final climax.  Honestly its so bad its criminal and just takes you right out of the atmosphere.  

As much as I do not really care for the cover, it was a good scene choice just poor execution, the rest of the art I absolutely loved.  There is not a bad piece in here and I am struggling to pick my favorite as there is so much choice.  It just fits the atmosphere and tone of the adventure so well.  Good luck to whomever is coming next after this one!

Now Midnight Rogue is one of my all time favorites so when I saw a similar skills list I got very excited.  All are useful in their own way and adds some replay value to the book to see what certain options do, but I never felt locked out by not having the correct one (which can happen in Midnight).  But I would argue some are certainly more useful than others, for me Holy Circle is a must.  I do not feel Heal was really worth it.  Speak Demon would be really useful a few times as well but their is a instant death trap to try and balance it.  Meditation is very good as well and the risk of using it in the wrong place is negligible as it should be really, really, really obvious its a bad idea to use it in certain situations.  Dark Veil looks the most fun though, I would pick that next time.  But is it worth the Evil trade off?  Not sure it is.

Speaking of Evil, not a bad new stat.  It kind of forces you to play the way your character would.  You are not really just you like normal, you are a famous demon hunter.  So you should pick the good option.  It forces you to engage in scenarios rather than just avoiding them and going onto the next village.  But those options are still there.  Yes you can play as a dick, but it will catch up with you in the end.  I do not mind it as with my low skill playthrough it forced me into situations I would normally try to avoid and I am glad it did.

That leads me onto the difficulty.  I can not believe that Skill 7 did not kill me!  The book felt really well balanced for low skill which I applaud.  That does not mean it is easy though.  There are still plenty traps and luck and good decisions required to get through.  But combat is very reasonable and you can even get a demon slaying sword to boost it (if you play right).  A high skill character might find it a bit easy though, but still I do not feel this is one you can brute force.  Its not a collect every random thing in sight book either.  Some just help make a situation easier, but you need the sword or Branners ring from the past to help survive at the end but their is still a chance if you roll low.

I never hear Myurr mentioned in Fighting Fantasy bad guys but I like him.  His fingerprints are everywhere and he is also manipulating you the whole way.  Schemes within schemes.  Its not a straight out fight at the end either with plenty of options.  Its not Balthus Dire good but its still a fun end sequence.  Maybe he does not get the love as he is not an evil wizard?

Mechanically this was all laid out well for me with the interconnecting villages but their looks to be an infinite loop between Stanford and Axmoor.  Its obviously not meant as their is no mechanic to say you have visited before. 

I almost made an entertaining deaths section just for the horse, Godsfire.  That made me giggle.

This book is top tier (at least with the criteria I use to rank), as the story is great, writing is great, mechanics are fine and interesting and the art is the best.  I just wish all those wasted paragraphs with the teleport maze were instead used to build up the final tower.  That just pulls it down a bit for me, and because it is unavoidable and near the climax it makes it worse.  Needs a better cover as well!  But if you have not come across this one yet I highly recommend it!

Score - 8 out of 10.