Sausalito's progress after 56,000 moves:
Following the deep wheel ruts left by caravans of LB Snacks™ freight wagons, we walked from Yew to the Empath Abbey.
Along the way, we stumbled onto some English professors reading from the obtuse literary classic, Gilligan's Cake. We attempted to participate in their annual tradition ...
but they got a bit snotty and attacked us using the Socratic method. The pen is mightier than the eyeball, however, so we poked our way to victory and drank their Guinness potions.
At the Abbey, we got the Word of Passage syllable from the lord there and used our last Magic Key to enter the oak grove. Here, people stood around hugging trees, kissing frogs, and pondering love. From talking to them, I learned how the principles combined to form some of the virtues. Looking at my notes, I now know how all eight virtues are derived from the three principles of Truth, Love, and Courage:
Truth: Honesty
Love: Compassion
Courage: Valor
Truth + Love: Justice
Truth + Courage: Honor
Love + Courage: Sacrifice
Truth + Love + Courage: Spirituality
None: Humility
I think these combos will determine how I should use the colored stones at the altars in the dungeons. In any event, it's kind of cool how the principles form the virtues.
We took the Moongate Express to Skara Brae to stock up on discount food. Lutefisk and aerosol cheese for everybody. Then, we gated to the Minoc area and hunted to earn enough money to buy a sextant. Tubbs opened the treasure chests the monsters left behind. He was usually able to open even the trapped ones safely due to his superior Dexterity score, which he had been developing by strumming strings and hoisting drams (simultaneously).
Before long, our pockets were bursting with coins bearing Lord Foolish's countenance, so we went to nearby Vesper, showed the Thieves' Guild sign to gain entrance to the black market, and bought a brand new sextant and a fresh set of Magic Keys. Now it was time to hunt for mandrake root, nightshade, and Mondain's skull. First, the root. We actually didn't need the sextant to locate it, as Calumny had told us to search the Bloody Plains "where the ground is always damp." There could only be one such place:
That blue swamp square is kind of hard to see, but it's there. We searched, but didn't find the mandrake root. Remembering what I had to do to get mandrake root in the game Hero's Quest, I waited until "midnight"—that is, when both moons were new. The mandrake root glowed in the darkness, and we managed to pull up seven stalks. Mariah immediately took one and rubbed it with sulfur, ginseng, garlic, spider silk, and blood moss. She then held the stinking result under the nose of our dead friend, Geoffrey. The Resurrect mixture certainly smelled strong enough to wake the dead. Indeed, within seconds, the fallen warrior awoke with a start. "No, potato, please no leave me!" he cried with wide-eyed anguish. "Me peel you gently next time!" "Relax, Geoffrey," I said soothingly, "you just had a bad dream. You won't have to skin another spud as long as you're with us."