SHANK RUNNER
by Wmpyr
to my Youtube supporters
Copyright 4-10-2012
YOUR MISSION
Parker Peridot, the daughter of Nathan Peridot CEO of SANZU Tech Industries has been kidnapped. This mission is huge, if you complete this one, you will be rewarded enough credits to retire in a capsule home next to the lavish skyscraper domes.
Rumor has it that Parker is held captive at the underground city of Skyless directly underneath the Sholmes mega city.
The No-Sky-Zone AKA Skyless is a network of underground tunnels. The residents are comprised of scavengers, traders, merchants, crafters, and gangs. Over 90% of the population is homeless, most of them do not want to be a part of society any longer. The people of Skyless prefer to follow their own set of rules, which are often times set by the many violent factions residing in Skyless.
Are you ready to play?
To start playing, you need to set up a Control Panel. The Control Panel allows you to customize your playing character for a different experience each time.
First, choose a card to be you. That card is called your character card. Place your character card in the center of a table.
You may choose one more card and place that card onto the Control Panel, this means you can place the card to the top, bottom, left or right of your character card. The top panel indicates your companion, bottom is your extra knife, right side is your extra ability, and left side is your extra faction that your a member of. Please ignore all the other details of the card.
As you get further in your adventure you will acquire cards to put down on your Control Panel.
You will need one dice and the cards to play this gamebook.
If you have a companion card, at any time your asked to roll the dice, you may have your companion roll instead of you. If they fail in combat you must remove them from the Control Panel.
Example of a Control Panel.
In this example,
Your Character Card would be Jan Fireheart (center card)
You are a member of the Unicorns faction, but also friendly with the Mace Corps (left card), your main ability is Wrestling, but you are also skilled in Toughman Boxing (right card), your main knife is a Survival Knife, and your extra knife is a Karambit knife (bottom card), and your companion is Kopo Lafayette.
STATS:
Agility
Armor
Attack
Combat
Defense
Endurance
Intelligence
Reputation
Skill
Speech
Speed
Strength
THE CARDS
Name: Dantes
Faction: DARK ROBES
Blade: Karambit Knife
Ability: Ninjitsu (Agility +1, Combat +1, Endurance +1, Skill +1)
Name: Slither
Faction: INSANIACS
Blade: Boot Knife
Ability: Kickboxing (Armor +2, Combat +2)
Name: Goldie The Bearslayer
Faction: MACE CORPS
Blade: Pistol Shaped Knife
Ability: Combat Sambo (Attack +1, Defense +1, Speed +2)
Name: Linda The Leech
Faction: NAGA'S CLUB
Blade: Knuckle Duster Knife
Ability: Tough Man Boxing (Combat +3, Reputation +1)
Name: Kopo Lafayette
Faction: PILLER JACKS
Blade: Stiletto Switchblade
Ability: Gypsy Fighting (Skill +2, Speech +2)
Name: Jan Fireheart
Faction: THE UNICORNS
Blade: Survival Knife
Ability: Wrestling (Speed +2, Strength +2)
CHAPTER 1
THE BEGINNING
As you look out the transit window into the concrete jungle of the Sholmes mega city you remember the details of your mission. Find Parker Peridot and bring her back to Sholmes at all costs. The rain hits the window hard but any force, sound is blocked from the ultra thick glass. Sholmes is a cold freezing place, and it's not just the weather that's so miserable either. The big wigs that run this place are blood sucking tyrants, modern day emperors living it up, milking the poor, no wonder Skyless exists. No wonder so many people left and choose to live free in danger, but still free is better than being a willing slave that works for everything, food, water, home, health care, and for the average person, there is no such thing as retirement anymore.
The transit takes you away from downtown Sholmes, away from the pyramid skyscrapers, away from the resort colonies, and into the industrial factories, where most of the population resides.
You get off board and walk to 90 Bronx West street. There is a park there with a manhole cover with a white rabbit marking on it.
Before you can enter it, a violent vagrant tells you not to go in there. Clearly this vagrant is psychotic and for some reason has decided to mess with you. To make him go away, you must intimidate him beyond reason. You may choose any one of your stats, roll a 3 or higher to succeed and make him cower. If not you have escalated the situation and his five buddies jump you and poke you to death with wooden stakes.
You lift up the manhole and let yourself down. Underneath is a wide space, roofed by a wide concrete arc, it looks like the park was built on top of a caved-in freeway that was no longer active. You see graffiti with several gang names all over the walls. In the dead center the word SKYLESS.
There are a few broken down older vehicles with rag people living in them. You enter a large hole and keep traveling further down into Skyless.
A large filthy giant of a man calls you out, by the looks of it, a fugitive from Sholmes. He says something about never seeing you here before. Clearly he takes you as a chump. And before he can shake you down for some valuables, your trusty knife is out and you deeply sever the tendon in his arm. He screams bloody murder and realizes that you were the wrong person to mess with.
His middle brother is a more seasoned street fighter, you must roll a 2 or higher in Attack to defeat him. If you have the survival knife add 1 point.
The eldest brother however is much more formidable, he has training in a prison fighting method, mad with rage, he wants to make you into minced meat. He's armed with a homemade mace that can kill a man with a single forceful blow to the head.
Because he is in rage mode, if you attack him head on it will only fuel his anger and you do not want to trade blows with this guy. You can defeat him if you use your defensive skills.
Roll a 3 or more in defense to successfully counter his big blows with your compact and accurate cuts. If you have a pistol shaped knife add +2. If you lose he has killed you by striking you in the head.
As you further progress through the tunnels of Skyless, you see a unit of scouts, you instantly recognize the colors on the jackets, Skull-faced snake, mascot of the Nagas Club. The Nagas are one of the most violent gangs down here in Skyless, they were a former zip cycle gang that terrorized the citizens of Sholmes mega city.
The locals whom were wandering about immediately scurry off and hide behind drum cans and corners not to catch attention, you play it smart and do the same. A young looking girl hands you a blanket to cover over as a disguise. Her name is Barb Angel. Despite her tiny frame, you know she is a seasoned local who can take care of herself. Barb has her blonde hair tightly braided so that it is less likely to be yanked on, she is armed with a knuckle duster in one hand and who knows what other weapons she has concealed.
The two of you make it to an area that looks like a boiler room, there are many pipes along the wall. As you navigate a narrow corridor, you see more members of the Nagas camped out making it impossible to pass by without being seen. (you may pass if your a Nagas faction)
Barb brings over a large cardboard box, flips it over the both of you and with her mini Bowie knife, she cuts out a peep hole for the both of you.
Like a sniper behind enemy lines the two of you breathe slowly and move even slower to make it by without being detected. To determine how slowly you can move, roll twice and subtract the lower number from the higher number, if the result is 2 or less you succeed. If not you are caught by the Nagas and beaten to death with a lead pipe, chain, and baseball bat with nails.
After you and Barb make it through, you follow Barb into an extremely long ventilation shaft and crawl for what feels like an eternity. When you reach a small room that opens up a little bit, there is a vagrant there who tries to mug you.
If you have a karambit or knuckle duster knife you successfully intimidate him into leaving you alone. This guy is clearly not a fighter and you can verbally diffuse the situation by rolling a speech of 2 or higher. If not he successfully mugs you, and you must give him one of your panel cards.
To make it out the shaft you must have an intelligence or agility of 2 or higher. If not you make the wrong turn, it starts to flood and you drown. If you have the stiletto knife it brings you good luck and manage to find an opening and get yourself out in the nick of time!
Finally you make it out and feel glad to see an open area, but obviously there is no sky, the next area looks like it is underneath a massive freeway overpass. It's still going to take you a few days until you get to the free trade area known as the Food Court. Up in Sholmes they use electronic credits for currency, but down here in Skyless they use coins, so you pay the "hotel clerk" in coins to get some cardboard boxes and layers of blankets to make a bed. The more expensive "luxurious" accommodation is to purchase sleeping bags, but you'll save that for a time when you decide to have your honeymoon in Skyless. As you tuck yourself in, you think to yourself how glad you are that you met Barb because it's cold down here.
You made it this far, if your feeling lucky, roll two times and if your sum is 7 or higher then you may add a panel card.
CHAPTER 2
THE FOOD COURT
The Food Court is located in the central region of Skyless at what use to be an abandoned transit station. The food court is a free trade area that has rapidly grown to be the busiest area in Skyless, even after midnight you will find locals running about their business. The food court is where you can get the latest information, the latest import export goods, legal or illegal. You can get just about anything down at the food court. All the gangs also respect the profits made from the food court, so it is a strictly reinforced no-war zone.
At the edge of the food court, there is some commotion going on. You and Barb walk to an area where there are many tough looking people hanging around. In front of a gambling small crowd there is a small mound where two armored muscle heads are going head to head in a barbaric sumo wrestling match.
A big stupid barbarian challenges you. If you have the knuckle duster knife, you flash it to discourage him real fast. If you don't you must roll a reputation of 2 or higher for the big stupid barbarian to leave you alone, if not you will get thrown into the mound and forced to compete in a barbaric sumo match, resulting in severe injury abruptly ending your quest.
Make no mistake, this is not the most popular sport in Skyless. Rokendo is by far the most popular sport in all of Skyless. The Rokendo athletes are called Roken, and they train hard, daily for years until they earn the right to compete in a computer simulated knife fight. The Rokendo grand tournaments are shown on flexi screens all over Skyless.
If you have the ninjitsu ability you can successfully wander about the Food Court blending in, avoiding trouble makers with your keen sense of awareness, and appropriate body behavior so you don't get treated like a chump. If you don't have this ability you must roll a 2 or higher for each of the following stats: Agility, Intelligence, Reputation, and Speech, or you must give up a panel card.
As you pass by some tough meat heads looking to be hired as body guards, you and Barb enter the heart of the food court, you immediately notice how the temperature is much warmer in this area. You see many wooden stands, merchants selling all kinds of things, the corndogs, frito-pie, yakisoba noodles and okonomiyaki smell good as you pass by, you also see people just hanging out sitting on buckets, playing the most popular game in Skyless, BRIC which stands for Boards, Rules, Items, and Crowns. BRIC is a Chess type game for multiple players. The players build castles for defense and collect pieces by capturing so that they can check mate the enemy crown. Interestingly enough the game usually has no end and keeps going on forever but players like to talk about their gaming experiences as if telling a fairy tale.
Old man Chang challenges you to a quick game of BRIC. If you win, you may take a card and add it to your panel. To win you must roll a 2 or higher for intelligence three times in a row.
Barb suggests using a pay-com, most pay-coms usually take credit, but this particular one actually has a coin slot. As you activate it, you see Frank the super cute puppy face appear on the screen. You ask about Parker Peridot and sure enough the latest word on the street is here. It is said that the Nagas Club were responsible for her kidnapping. You take a mental note that you must now go visit these bad boys.
You spot a knife store. As an experienced Roken (knife fighter) you can tell that the knives sold here are high quality. You know there's going to be some really good Rokens walking around here. If you have a karambit knife, then you impress the other Roken walking around and they give you respect and teach you some moves to better your skill, as a reward you may move your panel pieces around.
The Food Court is indeed a resourceful place.
From the deck, pick a card of your choice. If you succeed you may place this card onto an empty panel. Roll for speech, intelligence, or reputation. You succeed if you score a 5 or higher.
The food court also has it's own unique taxi service, pedal cars that will take you to the hotspots in Skyless for a price. But right now you don't seem to need them because you know exactly where your heading and you know exactly how to get there.
CHAPTER 3
FORT OCTAGON
You have now entered the area known as Fort Octagon. As if watching a scene from a western movie you see a wooden fort in an open area. The fort is surrounded by military tents, and you see people hanging about, there are some merchants and what looks like a soup kitchen going on. Eggs, Chili, biskets and gravy, pork and beans, hash browns served once a day seven times a week free for all active duty Mace Corps members and for non members sold cheap. Fort Octagon is ruled by Mace Corps, a regimented force that is committed to keeping the peace in Skyless although the other gangs just view them as just another gang.
You go up to the entrance of Fort Octagon, there are two guards in digital camo BDU (Battle Dress Uniform) standing guard. If you have Mace Corps as a faction you may enter, if not move ahead to Chapter 3.
Inside the fort there is a small bunker, there you are introduced to Captain Derrick. You had no idea that he had a thing for Barb and he is not taking it well that Barb is completely head over heels for you. The Captain takes you over to the Circle of Death, which is a circular sand pit where two men battle with razor sharp bayonets, this pit is used to test Mace Corps soldiers for their rights of passage. You are handed an UZI with a blade on it, your opponent is Fader, the best Roken coming out of the Mace Corps in a long time. Fader has a blonde buzz cut, a chiseled icey face, and though he is very thin, he is ripped, and looks like a true killer. His weapon is an AR-15 with a knife bayonet. Of course neither weapon has ever seen or shot a bullet for centuries, bullets are historical artifacts of the past and no longer exist.
The surrounding soldiers pump up Fader, he is totally psyched, and ready to go. Once the death match begins, you both slowly stalk each other as a worried Barb looks on.
You decide not to kill this man if you can, and play defensively so that you could win the trust and help of the Mace Corps because they can be powerful allies to you. If you have the kickboxing ability, because of the tremendous amount of cardio work done in kickboxing you can instantly defeat your opponent.
If you don't have the kickboxing ability, to defeat your opponent humanely you must roll for the stats of Reputation, Skill, and Defense, then add up the total and score 10 or higher.
If you fail to do so, Fader ends your mission with his long reach and electric fast knife fighting style.
CHAPTER 4
BLACK BRIDGE
You have reached the Skyless area known as the Black Bridge. It is a structure of two towers connected by a bridge. The first tower is known as the Cathedral. The faction known as the Dark Robes secretly make the Black Bridge their home. The Dark Robes are a mysterious group of assassins that specialize in the poison blade. They prefer karambit knives for slitting the neck and practice their own twisted version of ninjitsu. The Dark Robes are looked down upon the Rokendo association for tainting the name of the blade. Also up until quite some time, nobody believed that the Dark Robes existed until the Dragon Mongers claimed to have captured one. They forced the Dark Robe assassin to enter the Rokendo tournament, and needless to say the assassin did not fair well. This was simply because the Dark Robes are trained in sneaking up and killing people very effectively, often times without sound or trace, but they make poor fighters, fighters do not need to be stealthy, and need combat toughness. After this poor performance, the Dark Robes once again faded away from the public eye and left a bitter hatred between the Dark Robes and the Dragon Mongers.
It is extremely rare for anyone to be allowed to enter into the Dark Robes sanctuary, you may enter if you are a Dark Robes faction. If not you must impress the guard by challenging him to a sparring match. If you have the combat sambo ability you succede, if not you must roll a 3 or higher for armor and a 4 or higher for strength. If not they do not let you enter and you fail your mission.
As you pass by the training halls and catch a glimpse of the brothers and sisters of the Dark Robes undergoing intense training that involves discovering new levels of pain. As the name states they are dressed in dark colored robes, purple, crimson, and of course black. Some of them are meditating, others look like they are being punished in torture racks.
The karambit is the knife of choice for the Dark Robes. The curved blade is said to have been modeled after a tiger's claw, and the ring at the bottom end of the handle has multiple uses including quickly spinning the karambit knife as a flail to intimidate and ward off attackers.
You are here to investigate whether or not any of the Dark Robes were involved in the kidnapping of Parker Peridot. You must talk to the high priestess Arabella.
With her powerfully dominating presence, Arabella speaks with a snake like lisp, she assures you that none of the Dark Robes to her knowledge were involved with the kidnapping of Parker Peridot.
You trust Arabella, however her second in command is a dubious one, she is the androgynous looking sister Christine who has been giving you icy cold glares.
Arabella then states that she wants to support your mission, this is a great honor, because she is not so quick to give her trust. To earn her trust you must face their training robot the "Judgementor". The iron maiden style Judgementor is no joke and will seriously test your capabilities. If you have the Gypsy fighting or Toughman Boxing abilities you have what it takes to survive the Judgementor.
To see if you can survive the session, roll and score a 4 or above in each stat of Intelligence, skill, and endurance.
If you do not succeed, Arabella has one of her minions cut you with a poison blade, you mission ends as your lifeless body is carried out.
CHAPTER 5
PORT SKYLESS
The Sholmes metroplex is plagued with incredibly cold weather all year long, so the wealthy residents rely on climate control inside their skyscraper domes. Skyless on the other hand is warmer, by being underground it is less exposed to the elements, the closed setting allows it to retain heat produced by the dense population. Another reason for the warmer climate in Skyless has to do with the Skyless canal. The Skyless canal is basically a small river that runs throughout the underground city of Skyless, providing water that can be filtered and then used for drinking. The canal is also a waterway that offers transportation of goods.
The Skyless canal is run by one man, Captain Orion, the bold leader of the Piller Jacks. Captain Orion likes to think of himself as a Robin Hood, but most consider him a pirate brigand. You must be a faction of the Piller Jacks or the Nagas Club to enter this zone. If not you must roll a total of 12, adding up the points for Intelligence, Reputation, and Speech. If you fail then your mission stops here.
Here all kinds of trading and deals are made. You see members of the Vintagers unloading crates. The Vintagers are identified by their trade mark large mustache they often wear, their leader Mr. Big wears a mighty pink mustache, respected as the man's man, a dangerous bareknuckle boxer and even more dangerous with a straight razor. You also see another minor gang called The Clones. The Clones consist of Bruce Lee fans on steroids, they are the craziest Bruce Lee fans and the most violent without a doubt. The man in charge is sporting a large Afro, he's wearing a full body yellow track suit with black stripes going down the sides, on the torso is a large foot print. You notice that the members of The Clones are carrying a nunchaku, balisong, and butterfly swords.
If the Vintagers and the Clones are impressed with you they will teach you some new moves that allow you to swap your panel cards.
To impress them, you must be a Unicorn faction or have a pistol shaped knife.
Finally, you see Captain Orion's crew, the Piller Jacks. You go talk to him, and he says he'll take you anywhere you want in Skyless but you have to prove yourself against one of his Roken named Seadog. You agree and Seadog pulls out a stiletto switchblade with a beautiful pearlized ocean blue handle. You must be very careful not to kill him or you will not win the favor of Captain Orion. Roll the die, you must score a 3 or higher for combat or he will kill you. But your score may not exceed a 6 or you will have killed him, and this would anger Captain Orion so much that he will shoot you dead in the chest with his secret weapon, a blunderbuss gun that has a mix of gritty sand and broken glass bits for ammo.
CHAPTER 6
THE FUN HOUSE
This next zone is ruled by the hulking Skull-O-Ween, the big bad boss of the Insaniacs. Skull-O-Ween is a death mime, a muscular hulk with a mohawk, with skull tattoos all over his torso, more often than not, these death skulls become the last thing his victims see before they die. From his throne, he speaks to you with a mic, and challenges you to the Fun House which is a warehouse building decorated with evil homicidal clown faces. Inside is an obstacle course of death. If you are not moderately fit and or know the course you can easily get killed from the various traps set about.
A few other Insaniacs compete amongst you and Barb on this obstacle course of death. The first stage begins with a running from pit bulls to climb over a chain linked fence. You hear hysterical laughter echo as you run into the next stage, a small maze with tricky mirrors! Stage three has you run, jump, and duck, along a platform with swinging spiked balls and lethal pit falls. To make it through roll for Agility and Speed, you total must be a 6 or higher. If not you fall victim to the obstacle course of death!
The last section of the course involved a large devil face in which you must jump off a springboard and make it through one of the cut out eye holes, if you chose the right one, you come out of the mouth and get spit down the long tongue slide while dodging razor sharp blade teeth, if you jumped into the wrong eye hole, you fall into a vat of flames.
To make the jump, roll for Intelligence, it must be a 3 or higher. If not your toasted!
After you make it out of the mouth, Skull-O-Ween is furious that you made it, and ready to take matters into his own hands.
This is a boss fight!
1st stage of the fight, Skull-O-Ween will face you in a deadly barehanded fight, he is a street kickboxing expert, if you are an expert in the art of grappling you can defeat him instantly with styles such as wrestling and sambo. If not you must score a combat point of 4 or higher to win.
2nd stage of the fight, Skull-O-Ween, mad as all hell is going to face you in a weapon fight. His weapon of choice is a bladed club shaped like an electric guitar.
If you have a companion roll for their combat points to add it with yours. You must roll a sum of 10 or higher to beat this monster. If not you get your head bashed in and a death skull is the last thing you see before your life and mission is terminated.
CHAPTER 7
THE WASTELAND
As you walk towards a huge windy tunnel slanted downwards, you see a bunch of young adults rallied up, they are the Windy Clerics gang. These goggle wearing teenagers worship the wind, the wheel, and speed. You see them padded up in gear, some have on roller skates, roller blades, skateboards, BMX bikes, and even shopping carts. The higher rankings are called the Speed Demons, and they inform you that the giant fan is going and when the fan is on, they all come to do this. They ask you if you want to go too, and you tell them you have to head that way anyways. They hand you a skateboard and on the count of three you, Barb and a bunch of teenagers are fast tracking down this sloped concrete tunnel. You hear their trench coats and bandanas flapping in the wind as you all race down at adrenaline raising speeds!
Roll for speed, it must be a 3 or more for you to make it and earn their respect. If not then you crash and wipeout in epic portion, breaking both of your legs and arms terminating your mission, but hey the Windy Clerics still consider you legend!
You part ways with the Windy Clerics, they think your crazy for heading towards the Unicorns base camp. The Unicorns are a bunch of amazon warriors, a tribe of women only, and they live in the furthest region of Skyless, an area known as the Wasteland, which actually has dirt.
Once you reach the village huts of the Unicorns, you are instantly taken in by some tough looking warrior women. One of them a tall ponytailed redhead named Sabrina claims you as hers. According to Unicorn tradition you must wrestle her, and if you win you must marry her, if you lose you must become her personal slave.
Sabrina is a very physically gifted athlete, strong, skilled, and can endure a lot. If you do not have any grappling abilities such as Sambo or Wrestling, then your quest ends here as you must do her every bidding or be speared to death.
To win roll a 5 or more for strength, or endurance. If you lose your quest ends here.
CHAPTER 8
TRIPLE SIX STREET
Triple Six street AKA Devil's street is the Las Vegas of Skyless, lots of decadence going on here. For some reason there are a lot of tattoo and bar stands. The brute gang known as the Nagas Club are a main stay here on Triple Six street. The Nagas were formely a zip cycle gang before they decided to give up their cycles and move to the underground city of Skyless. They would never admit they ran from the law, but instead make claims that being in Skyless was more prosperous for them.
There is always a lot going on here, casino chips are passed out to anyone walking by, and all day raffles go on with various prizes. Lewd books, data chips, and collectible trading cards are popular especially at the pawn stands. Those who can afford more deal with pleasure bots, and Virtual Reality trips.
Three members of the Nagas come up to you and ask if you want some psychoactive chemicals. You tell them maybe some other time, and they call you some names. You swiftly cut the talker in the wrist very deeply catching them completely off guard, they had no idea that you were ready to fight and your knife had been secretly deployed the moment you spotted them from a distance. Barb crushes the other guy's face with her her collapsible baton and then stomps his head into the pavement with her military boots. You make the last guy scream out where they took Parker Peridot. He spills his guts telling you that he was ordered to drop her off by the pyramid. This comes to a big surprise to you, for the Pyramid is swarmed with hostile robots. And nobody knows who controls these robots.
A Naga enforcer named Komodo sees you thrashing his men and challenges you to a Roken duel. He has a WWI trench knife complete with knuckle duster handles, skull crusher and a double edged blade. If you have a boot knife, you can win instantly by throwing it at him. The unexpected move catches him totally by surprise and not only does the knife stick deep into his chest, but you run up to him shoving your knife in deeper and then ripping it out, completely collapsing his lungs.
If you do not have a boot knife, then you must roll a 6 or higher in combat. If not he repeatedly jabs you with his knife and then, knocks you out cold with the empty fist, and your mission ends here in defeat.
CHAPTER 9
The Pyramid
The Pyramid is the most mysterious and eye catching structure in all of Skyless. It is a hi-tech building that lights up everyday exactly at 5:00 PM atomic time. The pyramid is guarded by mysterious robots. They say there isn't a single human being in that area and it is the most feared place in Skyless. Nobody dare sets foot there.
As you approach the area you notice a humanoid figure at a distance. Then you see more and more, they are walking very slowly and awkwardly. You borrow binoculars from Barb and are quite shocked at what you see. Android zombies! Even from a distance one can see their mechanical brains emitting an eerie glow. And their skull face gives them the look of death, armed with claws and razor sharp teeth they are a force to reckon with especially when they attack in large numbers.
You must roll for speed and agility, the sum must be a 7 or higher to get past them. If you can't then they rip you apart to pieces.
You get past the main troop of android zombies but there are more waiting as you get closer to the entrance. This time you must fight them, and aim for their glowing brain.
To successfully battle your way through the smaller android horde roll 6 times and you must score 18 or more in total. If not you have fallen to the Android zombie horde of Skyless!
As you approach the grand entrance, the floor beneath you is a trap door and you slide to a chamber under the pyramid. Your faced with a centaur robot, you must climb to it's back and cut out the nerve circuits to shut it down, to do so roll for Agility and Intelligence. You must score a sum of 7 or higher. If not you get trampled to death.
In the mean time, your companion is faced with a robot with razor blade wings. Roll your companions Armor, Combat, and Defense, the sum must be 10 or higher for your companion to win, if not they get sliced in two by the razor sharp wings and you must remove them from the Control Panel.
Once inside, there is a formidable alien-esque looking android guarding a vault, in your mind there is no doubt that your mission objective Parker Peridot is behind that heavy metal vault door. You try to fight the android alien but it is way out of your league, the smooth features and perfectly symmetrical large oval head with large beautiful almond shaped eyes is very deceiving it makes you feel serene and lost in it's sparkly glittery gaze, it shoots you and Barb with a ray gun that stuns you. The lesson is, there is always someone better than you out there.
You wake up inside the vault and there is no Parker Peridot, but instead a large computer screen with a face of a wizard. He tells you that he was named OZONE by his programmers and long after their passing has achieved A.I. (Artificial Intelligence).
OZONE informs you that Parker Peridot is held captive in Castle Wraith. Castle Wraith is home to the vile Dragon Lord and his Dragon Mongers. OZONE apologizes for the rough test that it put you through, but stated that it was necessary. It said that you were the first to make it past the android zombie horde test. OZONE feels that you are clever and talented enough to become his ambassador between the humans and robots. As ambassador to OZONE you now how full support of the robot army and the Pyramid is now your safe house.
By staying at the Pyramid, you learn about the origins of OZONE, and the origins of Skyless.
You see way in the past, before Skyless even existed, there were threats of nuclear war, many massive underground bunkers were built as a precaution, but unfortunately things only got worse, and the citizens had to evacuate into the bunkers. No, they did not mutate into sunlight hating, cannibals. Instead they communicated with each other from bunker to bunker, and dug immensely long tunnels to connect the bunkers together. Eventually these interlinked bunkers grew larger and became the underground city of Skyless. These bunkers were built to be self sufficient and capable or running a city or entire nation from within one of these using a super computer, OZONE was one of these computers. After the nuclear threat ended, the people missed the wind, horizon, and the sky and returned to the surface.
With the help of OZONE and his robot army you are able to defeat the medieval armor wearing Dragon Mongers and capture the Dragon Lord and rescue the beautiful Parker Peridot who now has a major crush on you.
Ardred the Dragon Lord was born a warrior and a leader, all his life he has known that he was superior to everyone around him. He wears a most hideous metal armor, it has multiple faces, cyclops, skull, alien, and beast. He removes his armor to reveal a man wearing a black mask with veins on it, quite creepy. Ardred challenges you to a Roken duel. His knife is a monster of a push dagger with a blade as wide as his fist.
The number of cards you have on your Control Panel including your Character Card is the number of times you can re-roll.
Round 1
To survive this round, you must roll a 6 or higher for Defense.
This is the greatest battle in your mission and possibly your life, you base the actual fight according to legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi's Book of Five Rings. The first part is the book of earth. As expected Ardred's attacks are explosive, fast and powerful, you maintain your cool, and stay well grounded as you protect your vitals, you are building your foundation to base a counter attack.
Round 2
To survive this round, you must roll a 6 or higher for Agility.
The second part is the book of water, you know there is a limit to how much damage you can take so now you begin to go with his attacks and follow the path of least resistance. Like a buoy that won't stay submerged even during an oceanic thunderstorm, you stay afloat. They key is to know when/how to breathe or you will suck in panic.
Round 3
To survive this round, you must roll a 6 or higher for Armor.
The third part is the book of fire, you begin to test your armor as you get bolder and bolder, looking to create opportunities for a counter strike. Each glancing blow you receive takes a toll but it also adds up inside you ready to explode!!! Now you have the necessary mental ammo to end the fight.
Round 4
To survive this round, you must roll a 6 or higher for Speed.
The fourth part is the book of wind. You are now a step ahead of his attacks, you are too swift, like a ghost he cannot touch you, he's getting tired and frustrated. You know his moves, and you keep moving, strangely you begin to feel distant from the action so that you do not feel the intensity, the force, or the taxing of stamina from all the action.
Round 5
To survive this round, you must roll a 6 or higher for Combat.
The fifth and final part is the book of void. You are now war itself. As you strike back and inflict damage, the warrior spirit rings like a bell inside you. You feel mighty as you see your enemy crumble before you. You have done it, you have rescued Parker, and slain the mighty Dragon Lord.
The End
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