@Richard

Yes, all characters can do it; but Barnabas is the only one who goes with the dagger and without the curse.
Having a trunk on your face was something that is present in another gamebook, but I believe as yet no gamebook has explained how it appears.

Ulysses
Tue Dec 16 00:52:23 2014

I just like serpent women.

Richard
Tue Dec 16 09:42:29 2014

@ Ulysses,

BTW
Codeword for when you're sent to destroy the flame: SERPENT
Codeword for when you've killed it:
ASHEN

Ulysses
Tue Dec 16 12:32:57 2014

Hello authors.

There is one part of the Blackfort Island gamebook where after a feat of prowess the Baron decides to capture you rather than kill you. He then gives you the choice to drink some cursed blood or die. If you drink the cursed blood, my idea is that this basically allows an evil spirit to possess you and do some evil deed through your body.
As far as the player is concerned, they drink the cursed blood, then black out and wake up days later on another island completely, not knowing what they have done.

This could serve as the premise for a gamebook if anyone is stuck for ideas, or maybe there is a suitable part of an existing gamebook this can lead into. They can wake up anywhere with a codeword attached, and then experience the consequences of whatever they have done.

If no one wants to take up this opportunity, then I'll just deposit the player on an existing island for now, and leave what they have done a mystery until I have time to write something later.

The 'outer shell' of my gamebook is nearly complete, so soon you'll be able to visit Blackfort and take advantages of the facilities there, and do some piracy under the Baron's protection for sweet, sweet treasure!

I've also nearly completed a short gamebook set on an atoll that I wrote most of while I was travelling a lot for work recently,so you'll see that soon as well. I included in that a lead-in to Silhouette Island which is basically: you reach the atoll after being shipwrecked, on the atoll you find messages from someone who hid the sleeping dragon on Silhouette island, you are rescued and taken to Silhouette island where you can then start the quest.

Richard
Tue Dec 16 13:43:36 2014

Andy's got a working version of Storm Petrel Island up and running, hopefully it'll get added to the island list soon. Many thanks to him.

To Ulysses,
The cursed blood/evil deed idea sounds cool. Perhaps the evil deed involves soul-eating insects (we've got to work them in to one of the islands...)

Yaztromo
Tue Dec 16 19:43:58 2014

Hi Ulisses, I'm interested in your idea of waking up somewhere after drinking the cursed blood (but then are you expecting the character to do something evil?), but I'd like to see your gamebook and Richard's before adding further stuff.

Richard
Tue Dec 16 20:20:58 2014

Dear All,

Behold, Storm Petrel Island! I'd really appreciate feedback on...

1. Difficulty: hard/impossible if you choose wrong, but possible with good armour and equipment if you choose right. Remember this creature has killed hundreds before you, so it shouldn't be a walkover.

2. Atmosphere: tweaks to make it darker/more oppressive.

3. Character, namely that of Renarb: you're supposed to dislike him at first, but have your mind changed at/near the end.

Ulysses
Wed Dec 17 00:47:38 2014

Richard and Yaztromo

How about something like this: Using one of the unused islands, we have the character waking up on the beach. Exploring the island you find it infested with soul-sucking insects, with the people lying everywhere, their bodies still alive for the moment.. A few survivors accuse you of having released the insects, some of them trying to kill you. Your quest is to undo the damage you did while possessed, and find the hive and destroy it. The problem is that the hive, a metal statue of the serpent goddess, has been brought to life by the souls that have been devoured and will take some killing. Plus navigating the island is difficult without the insect repellent.
My only concern is: is the insect repellent hard to find? Is it something you could go to Hummingbirds Island to look for?

Yaztromo
Wed Dec 17 09:44:29 2014

Ulysses,
This sounds like a great start to me!
How about adding this?
The mosquitoes are linked to another dimension (that's where the souls go when you are bitten) and the soul less people left behind become kinda zombies and create an army.
Evocating the "helper" from Hummingbirs Island will help you understanding the situation, getting some hint to avoid being bitten (to a certain point) and should also help you finding a way to go in the other dimension and dealing with the cause that sent the insects plague.

What would be great is having that island as a fully normal island (if not boring) when you reach it during normal adventures (it should be a good place for making money, buying useful stuff, etc.), but under certain circumstances (like the one you mentioned) you can witness the progressive expansion of the insect plague.

That's why I originally thought baout Sempura or some other fair sized island, as it's big enough to do commerce etc.

Yaztromo
Wed Dec 17 09:46:23 2014

Of course, once solved the issue in te other dimension, souls will come back (oblivious of everything?) and the island will be a bit battered, but more or less back to normal...

Richard
Wed Dec 17 10:29:31 2014

This sounds like a really superb idea.
I would think that morkatal might be a better place to put it that sempura, however. Because sempuras so vast, writing a mirrored gamebook for the presence of soul stealing insects could be a lot of work for a little reward - however a smaller island like morkatal would be more manageable.
Morkatal a size doesn't mean it isn't large enough for settlements/trading. I'm thinking a whaling settlement and a necropolis (where the insects are coming from) in its interior would be easy to fit in.

Yaztromo
Wed Dec 17 13:25:24 2014

I was thinking about the Kraken and the other huge creature from Albatross Atoll... maybe the latter will help us during the fight against the Kraken as we gave it freedom...

Richard
Wed Dec 17 14:01:04 2014

To all authors,

My Nen-Tai island is a bit of an "atmosphere" as opposed to a "quest" island, however you do get some information and help against the Kraken there.

Given that this backstory will presumably apply to the whole island series, I'd like to make sure I'm not putting anything in that people don't like/want changed..

1. The Kraken's origins are obscure, but it may have been created as a weapon during the First Battle (Titan wiki: the battle between the gods of good and evil before the beginning of time).
2. After the battle the Gods lost control over it, and the Kraken wrecked havoc across the world. It was, however, defeated by an alliance of ancient peoples (including the inhabitants of the now-sunken city of Aoleii and the Mermen).
3. This was done via the use of several magical artefacts and weapons (namely those which you will be pursuing on various islands).
4. The kraken was not killed, only severely wounded. After resting for however many thousand years in the deep ocean, it has returned and will only grow stronger as time passes; posing a threat not only to the bird islands but to cities and civilisations all across Titan.

Tell me what you think...

ffproject
Wed Dec 17 21:40:13 2014

New map including Albatross Atoll, Silhouette Island and Storm Petrel Island. I've removed pi4t's unnamed island for now as I don't think it's ever going to be written (pi4t has been quiet for about a year).

I should reiterate that the oval blob shapes of the smaller islands should not be considered definitive, the point of the map is just to show the relative positions.

Ulysses
Thu Dec 18 02:27:17 2014

@Richard
The backstory is fine. Personally, I don't think we need to say too much about it.
Do we want to make defeating the kraken about magic or skill and strategy?
If magic, I suppose the item list would be things like a suit of armour to avoid being crushed, a charm or similar that lets you breathe underwater, a horn or similar to lure it, and some kind of weapon to kill it. That's fine, but I think less interesting than discovering what the kraken likes to eat, finding a suitable bay, getting the locals onside, arranging for the bait, sealing the kraken in the bay, shooting it full of arrows, then finally going out to finish it off. Admittedly that's more complicated, but worth it I think.

So far all we have in this direction is Alessandro's suggestion that whatever it is that you release from Albatross Atoll helps in some way. It might help things along if you stated some of this more explicitly (where is the suitable bay, what is the bait and where do you get it etc).

Richard Thu Dec 18 09:15:02 2014	I don't think there's any reason why we can't use both magic and ingenuity; it is a "swords and sorcery" world after all.
	It strikes me that what Ulysses is describing is a similar arrangement to what you did in A Flame In The North with the battle and the Achievements.

Richard Evans
Thu Dec 18 14:33:09 2014

I don't disagree with Ulysses (in fact I really like the idea of trapping it in a bay). I think we can combine the following quite easily...

1. Recruiting Allies to deal with the Kraken
2. Finding magical weapons and artefacts to boost the prowess of your crew and the strength of your ship.
3. Luring the Kraken into the bay (either magically or with food) and trapping it there (collapsing the entrance).

I think in order to start this quest, we might need some sort of lead on. Consider the following:
1. When the player visits a particular island, there is a meeting of various settlements and individuals across the bird islands going on there.
2. The meeting is about how to deal with the Kraken. A plan is put forwards to lure the kraken into a bay/trap it there etc.
3. Whilst the meeting is on-going the Kraken attacks the assembled dignitaries fleets and the player is forced to escape whilst the town is destroyed.
4. A little while after the escape, the player receives a message that the plan is still going to be carried out, but that the enterprise is in desperate straits and all possible help is needed (perhaps the head of the enterprise has been killed during the attack and you become the leader). The player can then head out to the bay whenever he wants(with his equipment and allies) and carry out the plan, trapping and killing the Kraken.

Richard
Fri Dec 19 23:59:19 2014

Finished doing the references for Nen-Tai, will soon link them up and send them in!

Yaztromo
Sat Dec 20 01:33:20 2014

So fast!

Richard
Sat Dec 20 12:16:22 2014

Try writing a 600/700 reference gamebook without being fast!!!

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