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Post by thisisbill on Sept 6, 2004 2:59:01 GMT
When you are given the highway, the river, or the graveyard of ancients as your final paths towards Holmgard, which do you choose and why? What can you get out of each, which is easiest, which is coolest, etc...?
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Post by Oiseau on Sept 6, 2004 6:30:04 GMT
I always took the graveyard when I played these books in my youth, just because of the creepy factor, and the fact that you could get precious gems (although I'm unaware of any actual use for them later on).
The river is meant to be the easiest path, I do believe, but you gain nothing much by following it. You may get a chance to explore an abandoned boat, which contains one or two generic items.
The road, although straightforward, is for the lucky people, as you get an unavoidable 50/50 chance of dying (spotted and run down by a pack of Doom Wolves, if I recall correctly). For some reason, I never discovered this until I read through the books in my adult years, analyzing every path -- and boy did I think that was unfair! ^_^
So take the river ... There's really nothing to gain in the graveyard, although it is the coolest path.
The Oiseau
P.S. Does anyone know how come a super-evil graveyard exists right next to the capital of Sommerlund? Kind of weird when you think about it.
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Post by Thomas Wolmer on Sept 6, 2004 7:47:03 GMT
The road, although straightforward, is for the lucky people, as you get an unavoidable 50/50 chance of dying (spotted and run down by a pack of Doom Wolves, if I recall correctly). For some reason, I never discovered this until I read through the books in my adult years, analyzing every path -- and boy did I think that was unfair! ^_^ Actually, we have changed this in the Project Aon edition, since it seems to be a mistake in the book. See the errata to Section 58. |
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Post by outspaced on Sept 6, 2004 8:26:21 GMT
P.S. Does anyone know how come a super-evil graveyard exists right next to the capital of Sommerlund? Kind of weird when you think about it. Short answer: No.  Graveyard of the Ancients indicates that it's actually a Shianti graveyard (they are known by several names including 'Majhan and Ancients'), though why the evil is beyond me. Maybe they put warding spells up around the graveyard to impart fear so the bodies wouldn't be desecrated, but by the time Lone Wolf gets there in FFTD the Darklords have already infiltrated, which is why there's Crypt Spawn in there. It's an odd one and no mistake. Additionally, the Tomb of the Majhan in Shadow on the Sand is a Shianti burial place. Hope it helps! Oh! Before I forget: some of the technical people at Project Aon have devised a flowchart system for the books using Adobe SVG Viewer. The software can be downloaded here: www.adobe.com/svg/viewer/install/main.htmlAfter installing it, go to www.projectaon.org/editor and make sure that Flight from the Dark is selected in the dropdown menu top-right. Then click the GRAPH button bottom left. If everything's gone OK, you should be looking at a nice vector graphic flowchart of the numbered sections. (Note: under WinXP Service Pack 2 SVG files are considered malicious ActiveX commands and auto blocked, so you'll need to click the Annoyance Bar--I mean, Information Bar and allow it.) (Note 2: Even though I use Mozilla Firebird as my browser, I cannot get it to open SVG files properly, so I have to use M$ Internet Explorer. Believe me, I'd really rather not, but that's how it goes.) I thought you might be interested because of the issue brought up on the Gamebooks ML re: flowcharting looped sections in gamebooks. |
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Post by The Wytch-King on Sept 6, 2004 17:42:34 GMT
Nyxator posted a theory about that (evil graveyard) on the Mongoose forums: ( Here's the original post, but I quoted the relevant part above.) The Wytch-King |
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Post by Guest on Sept 8, 2004 19:05:24 GMT
I took the river. I avoided the canoe because I thought it would sink.
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Post by Peregrine on Sept 12, 2004 20:51:50 GMT
I tend to avoid swimming wherever possible - too many bad experiences with losing or discarding equipment around the time Lone Wolf hits the water. Sure, it's probably unfounded paranoia in most cases, but I've never yet gone to the lengths of investigating just where and how such mishaps can occur. Also, using the words "if you are brave enough" in the Graveyard choice was just making it a loaded option... ;D |
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Post by ramthelinefeed on Sept 13, 2004 21:08:55 GMT
I always went for the graveyard, as it was so atmospheric.
And it's the first place in the books that we meet the Crypt Spawn.
I remember writing to Joe Dever in about 1986 to ask him what all that evil stuff was doing in a Shianti graveyard!
But as others have noted, the area was subsequently overrun by the Cener Druids (still ensconced in Malis Mound) and then the Darklords...
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Post by Relenoir on Sept 14, 2004 13:49:22 GMT
I have taken the river before, but don't remember if I lost stuff or not and stay away from it now like Peregrine mentioned. It's about 50/50 that I take the road or the Graveyard. The last time I took the road, but when I was young I always took the Graveyard because it seemed the most adventurous. I think the time recently before that I took the Graveyard path as well. I think I like that because it reminds me a bit of Luke venturing into the unknown beneath the tree on Dagobah.
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Post by Ghost Bear on Sept 14, 2004 16:09:15 GMT
I usually take the road. A lone figure rushing towards a city under siege, desperately trying to outrun the vast horde of darkness is really quite an appealing image.
Then again, the Graveyard is one of the coolest locations in any of the books, so...
-Ss
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Post by HuntingWolf on Jun 11, 2005 16:55:24 GMT
Someone should kill of those blasted Cener Druids. Lone Wolf I'm looking towards you. =oD
HW
Oh, and I had no idea it was Shianti.
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Post by Runeheart on Jun 14, 2005 14:15:31 GMT
Definately the Graveyard! It was the coolest option, and the introduction of Crypt Spawn freaked me out.( what is it, where did it come from... don't let it get me ahh).
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Post by Dusk Fox on Jun 14, 2005 18:53:52 GMT
I tend to avoid swimming wherever possible - too many bad experiences with losing or discarding equipment around the time Lone Wolf hits the water. Sure, it's probably unfounded paranoia in most cases, but I've never yet gone to the lengths of investigating just where and how such mishaps can occur. Your paranoia is well-founded (the books definitely give you cause for playing Lone Wolf with acute hydrophobia), but there's a problem: this is BOOK ONE. At this point, exactly what "bad experiences" could you possibly have had with water? Don't answer that. The cheatingest cheater in Magnamund knows. Play it your way. That being said, having played through every option a couple times, I always choose the Graveyard. It's the coolest option and has the best atmosphere. |
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Post by Zipp on Jun 14, 2005 20:01:29 GMT
Graveyard. I mean, the choice was River, Highway, or GRAVEYARD OF THE ANCIENTS. Not a hard choice in my book, as far as interesting goes. In fact, I only just took the other paths this last year, when I reread the books.
As for why it's there, the current theory is that it's been there since before Holmgard's times and was left there because, I mean, what are you going to do with it?
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Post by Dusk Fox on Jun 14, 2005 21:33:34 GMT
Graveyard. I mean, the choice was River, Highway, or GRAVEYARD OF THE ANCIENTS. Not a hard choice in my book, as far as interesting goes. In fact, I only just took the other paths this last year, when I reread the books. I'm with you on that, Zipp. That, and something in the back of my mind keeps saying, "It's ancient, so there's treasure there!" despite the fact that I know that no useful items can be found there. As for why it's there, the current theory is that it's been there since before Holmgard's times and was left there because, I mean, what are you going to do with it? If South Park is any guide, you put a pet store there. |
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