Furiousity got me with her plugs for her module Theme, a Tolkienized module for an already Tolkien game. 
Finding it quite interesting, with tasty little differences and delicious larger differences (and some really annoying things too
) I wondered how many others were playing Theme. Then I had the bright idea of doing a DitL for it, as a way of introduction. (Oh, and just for the record, I have not been asked, or promised any form of reward, or had any communications with furiosity. I just happen to have found her module highly enjoyable. And I always liked playing with dragons, though credit goes to Annals of Ea primarily for that I believe.)Please note that this DitL will be very spoilerish as to differences in Theme. Dungeons, uniques, artifacts, and wilderness changes are/will be mentioned. If you want to discover Theme for yourself, go play it without reading this, and come back once you are aquainted with the world.
Journal of Ghash
“I am Acengakaun the fire drake, hereafter to call myself Ghash, a name more pronounceable to the weak mortals I shall be acquainting myself with. I couldn’t bring myself to use a name of their own tongues, and thus adopted the orc’s word for ‘fire’. And as a fire I shall burn all between me and my rightful wealth – all the world’s goods. Be they lowly mold or mighty Valar, I shall not be slighted.”
Editor’s notes
Having picked up this journal and the full tale from a ranger that I don’t know particularly well, I scribed the journal into a more readable form (it was written in the Dark Tongue of Mordor originally). I shall record the pertinent information Ghash left out of his journal.
Ghash exists in Theme, a mod for ToME. Ghash’s spirit was in its third reincarnation in Theme, and still quite unused to the differences from standard ToME. Thus Ghash’s journal is full of references to these differences.
As a dragon, Ghash classed himself as a monk, to get decent training in barehand, since using any weapon was out of the question. Dragons have six ring slots, amulet, light, armor, cloak, headwear (they can wear helms and crowns, unlike some dragon races that have only been able to wear crowns), footwear, and quiver (which nothing can be put into due to lack of a shooter slot).
Ghash started with the following stats, set by the point system:
STR: 19
INT: 14
WIS: 16
DEX: 17
CON: 13
CHR: 10
Preference changes from default:
The only birth option changed was to set point system on. Note that in Theme, Lovecraft, Zangband, and joke monsters don’t exist, though their options do.
I’ll list every change (unless noted the option is turned off) as a little plug to what options were used.
User Interface:
Prompt before picking things up
Use old target by default
Pick up things by default
Merge discounts when stacking
Disturbance Options:
Alert user to critical hitpoints
Automatically tunnel walls
Game-Play Options
Expand the power of look command
Expand the power of the list commands
Map remembers all torch-lit grids
Efficiency Options:
All the “Use special colors for …”
Center the view on player
ToME Options:
Ingame Contextual help OFF
Show the experience needed for next level
Base Delay factor and hitpoint warning are both at 4. Inventory, visible monsters, and message windows are used.
Visuals were changed to make the player a purple ‘d’. (Anyone know of a way to make the player’s symbol shimmer?)
And now to the truly interesting part, the journal itself. – Feathin, scribe
A Life is Started
Bree is a pathetic bungalow town, should be just burned to the ground. Yet, I must leave it as it is, for it is the best place to start my adventures. The weaponsmith and armorsmith both have selling caps of 30,000, which bodes well for my treasure trove. At this point, I fear I must keep most of my treasure in the form of gold. Once I am a powerful wyrm I shall claim an entire dungeon as mine to horde my treasure in.
Some fat hobbit is complaining about rain on his mushrooms. I wonder if his dogs would be tasty…better avoid them until I can control my appetite.
This horse won’t leave me alone! It is following me everywhere, and as a neutral creature I shouldn’t kill it. Huh, I thought that ‘c’s were centipedes? (In Theme, horse type things appear as ‘c’s. And neutral, meaning like Farmer Maggot and Melinda, they are non-hostile to both player and the player’s enemies, and non-pushable. Most townsfolk are neutral, except for the mercenaries, veterans, agents, and urchins)
As I wandered the town, I purchased some flasks of oil (no lanterns in the shop, made me want to eat the shopkeeper) and sold my useless armor (Daft adventuring guild I signed up with gave me armor. As if I’ll wear any, it may help AC for now, but goodbye to any dodging.) While looking around at the shops present I wandered into one without a sign, and was promptly mugged! Coming to I was robbed and in some cell. No little cell will contain ME! Smashing my way out I found my equipment and a bunch of novice rogues, a brigand, novice mage, and three novice warriors that I killed. They were my first kills, the lowlife around town that no one will miss.
After killing three of the novice rogues I reached level two. Going to train, I found myself with six skillpoints to spend. That seemed unusual, but I put 4 into barehand and 2 into dodging.
Killing them all got me to level four. Skillpoint division: 4 combat, 2 barehand, 6 dodging. Then I found the exit of the place. I went looking for the mayor of this little town to complain about the thieves living right under his nose, and he told me to use their hideout as a home as recompense. Very well, my first stash for wealth.
A dagger I found in the bandit’s den turned out to be good (+2, +5) which I sold. After buying some torches (gave the shopkeeper a long glare and hissed that he better have a lamp next time I come) and 4 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds I went to some barrow downs nearby where I heard there are low level monsters. Paused on the way to examine the Elanor flowers growing on the grass outside of the town limits. They stink. Apparently the weary-looking traveler resting in them didn’t agree with me though.
No sooner had I started wandering among the trees and barrows of the downs when some crazy adventurer came running at me. I thought he was going to attack, but he noticed my adventuring kit and stopped in front of me, looking rather distraught. Seems a bunch of hatchling black dragons had stolen his sword. He didn’t say why they had stolen it, just begged me to get it back. Well, what better way to get these dimwitted people around here trusting me than to attack my own kind for the adventurer’s sake? The humans wouldn’t understand anyway that it is quite normal of me to slaughter weaker dragons, so I might as well go according to my nature and please the humans as well. Having decided to hunt down this sword, the adventurer told me that there were seventeen of the dragons. A tough break for my first level of the downs, but I am Ghash, and I can take some hatchling dragons. The first three were difficult, and I was nearly killed by their acid breath, but fortunately saved with my potions. The hatchlings obviously weren’t the only enemies around, I also met weaker things like green mushroom patches clear mewlips. Found some weird little red thing on the ground, appeared to have come from a plant. Tried eating it, and it was slightly sweet and very juicy and squishy. Interesting taste, but I prefer orc. I would have eaten a newt I ran across, but it was neutral to me so I figured I should leave it alone. Unfortunately it followed me around, and got me jammed in a dead-end corridor (I couldn’t push past it, might have accidentally squished it). Fortunately I was able to get away by flying, but don’t ask me what the non-flyers do when they get stuck in a corridor by a newt. A meara did a similar thing (It had strayed a long way from Rohan) and I really wanted to eat it, but knew its owners would be very unhappy if they heard the tale and Rohan knights are dangerous. Killing all the hatchlings got me quite a few levels, and at level six I was surprised by the voice of Melkor, asking me to go on a quest for him. Huh, bigshot dark lord wanting me to serve him? Very well, when I get around to it, if he’ll reward me anyway. But now I’m busy gaining power. Once all the hatchlings were dead, the adventurer came and picked up his sword (I hadn’t even noticed it was there. Pretty pathetic looking sword, my claws are much sharper.) He offered to teach me a bit of skill, and I accepted disarming as the three others he knew were useless to me.
The hatchlings had taken me to level 9. I allocated points as follows: 3 to Combat, 4 to Barehand Fighting, 11 to Dodging, 10 to Magic Device, and 3 to Prayer.
I met a pack of jackels in the second level of the barrow downs, a group of yellow ‘C’s. They were somewhat successful at biting me still, despite my dodging being level 13. I continued to level 3, and then decided to return to Bree as I had a bunch of unknown potions and scrolls in my pack to sell to the alchemist and my torches were already running low. On the way back I met a neutral large eel sliming around in the dirt. I was somewhat puzzled as to why it was so far from water, but as I haven’t made a study of the habits of ten foot eels I’m not particularly capable of commenting on this phenomenon. Perhaps the most dangerous part of my trip occurred when I got stuck in a corridor between two neutral rock lizards, and it was hard stone all around so I couldn’t fly over trees to get away. I sat there for an hour puzzled as to what to do, as neither lizard would give any ground. Finally, I tossed a pebble at one to see if it would leave me in peace, but instead it got very angry and started attacking me. Then I felt a lot more capable of killing the creature, and was thus able to escape this deadly trap.
Back in Bree, I sold all the junk I had accumulated, and finally the general store had a lantern for sale. I also got scrolls of teleportation, identify, and word of recall.
Recalling back to the third level of the Barrow Downs, I was approached by another adventurer who had lost his sword, this time to 16 dark elven mages. These guys were quite nasty, as they favored casting noxious cloud at me, and of course I had no resistance to poison. At one point one even dared to magically blind me. My potions of Cure Critical Wounds proved capable of dealing with both blindness and poison, and I was able to kill the mages without perishing. Among the corpses and lesser treasure I found a wand and a staff, which I decided to identify with my scrolls. Setting my pack up for allowing easy access of my identify scrolls, I found that the wand was of heal monster and the staff of summoning.
This reference to “setting my pack up” intrigued me, and after some investigation I found that he had set his automizer to pickup and inscribe with “@r0” all scrolls of identify. He then tied a keymap to the useless “f” key with “r0*”, allowing a prompt to pick an item in his inventory to identify with a single keystroke.
Killing all the dark elven mages and other monsters encountered brought me to level 11. I spent 2 points in Barehanded, 3 in Dodging, and 7 in Prayer. The adventurer found his sword somewhere again (I tried to watch closer this time to see where the sword came from, so that I could get a closer look at it, but had no success) and taught me some monster-lore. He had some skill called “symbiosis” that he was trying to sell me on, but I didn’t like the sound of some icky creature like mold or jelly sitting on me. I’ll carve my own way, without relying on some other creatures to keep me alive.
Continuing to the fourth level, I heard a feminine voice screaming about 12 orange mewlips holding her. Intrigued by the sound, I started exploring the level. However, it was a tiny place, no more than one section, and I couldn’t find where the calls were coming from. The only creature of interest on the level was a boar, and unfortunately its corpse was destroyed when I killed it. Wild boar meat is very tasty when eaten with ale. Finding my pack full with junk scrolls and potions (mostly) to sell back in Bree, I recalled.
In Bree I stayed only a short time. I quickly sold all acquired items, and restocked on identify, word of recall, and !ofCCW. Then I decided to trade in my cram for scrolls of satisfy hunger, which though more expensive are a much longer lasting source of nutrition.
Recalling back to level 4, I heard the girl still crying about the orange mewlips. This time I succeeding in finding her, and discovered that mewlips are pathetic weak cannibal marsh spirits, going under the designation “i”. The girl herself was a captured princess, though what the mewlips interest in her was if they were cannibals I could not fathom. Speaking for myself, I would have happily scoffed her if she hadn’t straight off promised me a reward for rescuing her. Having reduced the mewlips to tufts of bad air, she offered me a choice between a metal cap, a dagger, and a broadsword. Knowing that they were all useless to me except as gold, I opted for the broadsword and was happy to find it was a broadsword of *Slay Evil*.
On the next level I heard another feminine voice screaming at someone called Orfax son of Boldor. Hunting over the level for what I assumed to be a princess prison, I found a little cell guarded by a red yeek. Hurling abuse at me while a princess wept behind him, he attacked and I had him dead in 4 turns, with hardly a scratch on myself. The princess gratefully displayed a cloak, hard leather armor, and a large leather shield and begged me to take one. I selected the armor, which turned out to be Hard Leather Armor of Valour [6+11].
On the sixth level I felt that my luck was turning. But I am Ghash, and my capabilities are not decided by luck. Thus I looked for the quickest deeper from this level, as I was not about to search the whole place on a premonition that something nice was here.
On the next level I was approached by yet another adventurer. I’m beginning to wonder if it is their goal to lose their swords so that some other adventurer can get the sword back or what. This one complained about 16 killer brown beetles. But before I met any of the beetles I saw a skinny little creature scamper up the path in front of me, and suddenly I was surrounded by spiders! Swatting the spiders I went up the path and found a smelly little wretch called Smeagol, who kept trying to steal from me. I successfully dodged his attempts though, and he was unable to dodge mine. It took 9 turns to kill him, but he spent most of it stunned thanks to my judicial use of force on his delicate parts. For such a pathetic looking creature I was impressed with his loot: a ring of invisibility and a vampiric cutlass. Exploring the level fully to hunt down all the beetles, I gained level 13, and spent 1 point in Barehanded, 1 in Dodging, and 4 in Prayer. With all the beetles dead the adventurer found his sword and offered to teach me. Thoughtfully rejecting Magic Device and Archery (I have enough Magic Device for now and I gain the power to breathe elements at level 20 so hopefully don’t need archery) I accepted training in Spirituality.
Level 8 had another princess on it. Slap me silly and encase me in ice, but this time it was 11 polar bears. On the way to them I met a yellow yeek who cast a stinking cloud at me. I hate being poisoned; it’s a horrible feeling. Other things of note on the level were a pack of sleeping neutral oxen (They looked so tasty), Harry Goatleaf, Gatekeeper of Bree, who fell in 1 turn and left no particularly nice treasure, and an adventuring yeek who I saw get killed by an owlbear. Fighting snagas got me to level 14, and I spent 1 in Barehanded, 2 in Dodging, and 3 in Prayer. When I found the prison chamber, I was stunned to find it full of lava, with the bears hugging the corners and sweltering in the heat. In as bad shape as they were, I was forced to cross the lava to deal with them. The princess offered a lead-filled mace, a small sword, and a flail. I got an Acidic Lead-Filled Mace for my troubles. Then the princess left very quickly; I guess she wasn’t enjoying being out of her glass cage and into the steamy heat of my fire pool. I basked for a while in the pleasant heat.
There was nothing of interest on the ninth level, but on level ten I heard another princess wailing about six silver hulks. Wondering if they were really made of silver, I went to investigate. First though I ran across the Boar of Everholt, a dangerously large specimen which unfortunately didn’t drop a corpse. Shortly after the boar, the hulks blasted through the trees sending bits of wood and leaves flying in all directions. Engaging them, I found them to be fairly powerful, but more dangerous than the plain power of their attacks was the attacks capability to cause confusion, hallucinations, and sanity drain. Fortunately there were only six and I was able to dodge most attacks, though I needed my potions to repeatedly cure my confusion. After killing them, the princess offered a bastard sword a dagger, or a light war axe. I took the bastard sword and found it to be of slay demon. Noting that I had gained level 15 from the hulks, I trained 1 in Barehanded, 1 in Dodging, and 4 in Prayer.
Continuing down a mysterious staircase that ended in the middle of Bree, I noticed a Squint-Eyed Southerner nearby. Recognizing him as an evil spy, I figured I could assault him without worry of recrimination from the townsfolk. Having done so I picked up a dagger from by his corpse. I was very pleasantly surprised when it psuedo-IDed as “special”. My first artifact find, right from a chap in town. Knowing my only use for it was as cash, I sold it to the weaponsmith. Looking at the dagger then, I really wished I had kept it for my trove, as it was a fascinatingly powerful item.
The Dagger “Elegon” (-3,+10)(+1)
It provides light (radius 1) forever. It increases your strength, intelligence, wisdom, and constitution by 1. It does extra damage from electricity and fire. It produces chaotic effects. It drains life from your foes. It is a great bane of dragons. It is especially deadly against trolls, giants, and natural creatures. It strikes at demons and undead with holy wrath. It strikes at evil with holy fury.
Pondering the results of the fight with the silver hulks, I see with dismay that my sanity is at 32/87, and I have nothing to help that with. One nice thing I found was a parchment of Advanced Numenorean in the black market, though I can’t quite figure out what its purpose was.
Now that I have gone all the way through the barrow downs, I need to find another place to do my adventuring. I’ll stock up on goods and head out after a rest in the inn.
