Let's Play Magic Realm (Week 3)

Day 15

We left week 2 with the Amazon having escaped the clearing of giants and dragons. We need to get out of here and look for less dangerous treasure sites. I am going to try to escape this tile and head to the Crag which is just to the northwest. Doing so will require me to sneak through the now deadly Ledges clearing 6.

Because I fled last night, my first phase must be a MOVE into clearing 1. Then I will HIDE (twice for good measure -- I have the Cloak of Mist which gives me an additional HIDE) and hopefully move through to the Nut Woods. It is times like this that the Amazon's extra MOVE phase is so handy.

So MOVE, HIDE, HIDE, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE and hope.

Everything goes without incident and the Amazon finds herself standing at the base of the Crags looking for a new adventure.

Day 16

Mountains are a pain. Each clearing takes two MOVE phases to enter. This means they are hard to navigate, and it is harder to escape clearings with monsters. Since I made a costly error leaving the Lair and heading to the Ledges, I feel the need to move cautiously. I will hide, head into the Crags and search, hoping to find the hidden path that connects clearings 2 and 3.

So HIDE, HIDE, MOVE, MOVE, SEARCH, SEARCH looks to be my plan for the day.

I have no trouble hiding and moving into the Crag. My search is fruitless however, but when I reveal chits, I do find something interesting.

The only treasure site here is the Vault. The Vault requires a chit of Tremendous strength to open. This could be a FIGHT or MOVE chit, a hireling, a spell, or an item. The Amazon has none of these of the required strength and so the Vault is impossible to open right now. Except... for one important thing -- I have the Lost Keys and with them, I can open the Vault without great strength.

This is great news. The Vault contains 5 otherwise difficult to get large treasures and it can spawn the Tremendous Troll who is impossible to kill, but I can avoid him with my fast MOVE chits. The STINK M chit can draw giants and/or spiders to the tile, but currently, the giants are prowling the Ledges, so we only have to worry about the spiders.

I decide to head into the Crag and loot the Vault. I record two HIDES and then four MOVES to get to Crags 3. Everything goes well and I sneak into the clearing with the Vault. The monster die of "1" means dragons prowl, but I am only concerned with rolls of "4" or "5", so all is quiet. Tomorrow, we search.

Day 17

I am going to spend the day searching for the Vault, but I will be careful and burn a couple of phases hiding to make sure I don't get jumped by any scaly or hairy creatures. I record HIDE, HIDE, SEARCHx3 and roll the dice!

Nothing... tomorrow, I will continue the search.

Day 18 - Day 20

My initial enthusiasm for finding the Vault has damped slightly. I have spent the past three days carefully searching every corner of this clearing and I still have not found the Vault. To make matters worse, the Tremendous Troll shows up on Day 20.

Day 21

Well, I am faced with a choice now. On one hand, I can remain in the clearing, hiding and trying to find the Vault. The risk there would be that the spiders also show up. They are faster than the troll and would stop me from running away. The other option would be to leave and head south, back through the Borderland, and into the Cliff or the Ruins in hopes of easier booty.

I decide to stay. Having the means to open the Vault is too good to pass up. The monster roll is another "1" and so we are safe again today.

And on the last phase of Day 21, I find the Vault.