"Let me axe you something..."
The Port of Peril is the 66th entry of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series, written by Ian Livingstone as a brand new adventure. It's a call back to many earlier books set in Allansia and meant to be an indirect sequel to City of Thieves (1983).
You are a hungry and down-on-your-luck adventurer looking for a job or food in Chalice, where you stumble on a treasure map marking a treasure hidden in Skull Crag somewhere in the Moonstone Hills. You welcome the opportunity, but soon enough, it becomes clear that this story is not so straightforward as it seems: the chest is empty, and an encounter with the ninja tracker Hakasan Za and a fatally-wounded mason reveals that Allansia is threatened by a great evil: Zanbar Bone, the infamous Night Prince, thought to be gone when a mysterious adventurer destroyed him and his tower, has returned from the dead and wants to conquer Allansia by corrupting the stone tower of the great wizard Yaztromo of Darkwood. Only with the help of the wizard Nicodemus and his lost Ring of Burning Snakes can this threat be overcome. As Yaztromo's tower grows blacker, you must find a way to save Allansia from the return of this undead fiend.
Overall, The Port of Peril is Ian's standard adventure, sometimes slightly more forgiving than usual. While it does feature items needed to save you from instant death situations, said items tend to be close enough to their puzzle, so you won't end up dying ages after a wrong choice. It features plenty of places to see and a slightly less linear path. On the other hand, the art for this book was the same as the art of the 2018 reprint, and thus critically reviled and hated. Furthermore, there are a few issues with the prose being inconsistent with the rules. That being said, it's certainly a decent title, and worth a look for fans of the series, especially as a sequel to City of Thieves.
The Port of Peril provides examples of:
- Almost Dead Guy: Horace, the Mason who informs you of Zanbar's return, is mortally wounded when you find him, half-crushed by the gigantic vault key (a slab of rock) he made for Zanbar, and lives long enough to tell you his story and warn you of Zanbar's return before succumbing to his wounds. You have to
break the news to his widow later on. - And the Adventure Continues: After the day's been saved, you're asked what you and your sidekick plan to do on your quest for fame and fortune. She mentions planning to enter Deathtrap Dungeon to try to win the prize.
- Animalistic Abomination: Quag-Shugguth, Zanbar's latest pet, is a huge, vaguely reptilian monster with a large mouth bristling with flesh-rending teeth and six massive tentacles. It's a lesser Demon, after all.
- The Atoner: Gurnard Jaggle was a former adventurer who lost his greatest treasure to some thieves, which lead to him going insane and putting hundreds of trapped treasure boxes in caverns and crypts all around Allansia... but now that he's older and wiser, he genuinely regrets acting so immaturely and is trying to recover all the boxes he left behind. He even cries upon learning that surely his boxes have claimed some victims.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: During the finale, between Yaztromo and Nicodemus, as well as you and Hakasan Za.
- Big Bad: Zanbar Bone returns from the events of City of Thieves to threaten Allansia a second time, this time stronger than ever.
- Big Eater: Yaztromo eats a whole cake as a post-dinner snack.
- Black Knight: Klash the Chaos Warrior is a gigantic warrior in black armor covered in Spikes of Villainy, complete with face-obscuring helmet, cape and broadsword. He even hinders your pass on a bridge in the middle of Port Blacksand.
- Boom, Headshot!: How you can finish Zanbar off once and for all. If you don't have an actual pistol, you can rely on a Demon Dagger, but it's harder to pull off.
- Call-Back: To plenty of the previous titles:
- The Warlock of Firetop Mountain: It's possible for you to travel all the way to Firetop Mountain... unfortunately, there's nothing to find there except a game over.
- The Forest of Doom: You meet a dwarf called Bignose who's looking for Bigleg, the dwarf sent to find the Hammer of Stonebridge. He even tells you of a current Troll invasion they're fighting back.
- Deathtrap Dungeon: It is mentioned that you were looking for the treasure left behind by Throm, the barbarian axeman who undertook the Walk in that book.
- Island of the Lizard King: You can encounter Mungo in Port Blacksand and have a talk with him.
- City of Thieves: Unsurprisingly, since this book is a sequel to that adventure. You get to visit Port Blacksand again before departing to fight Zanbar Bone, but this time the visit is shorter.
- As a subtler nod to the book, you can find Lotus Root and some Hag's Hair in this book. These were the items that killed Zanbar Bone the first time.
- Eye of the Dragon: In Darkwood, you can tell Bignose that you're after a precious emerald known as the Eye of the Dragon.
- Came Back Strong: Zanbar Bone returns from the demonic dimensions revived, this time as a Demon Prince with greatly enhanced powers, which forces two powerful wizards such as Nicodemus and Yaztromo to join forces and do their best to defeat him.
- Catchphrase: As the first of the new Scholastic books, Yaztromo says the new series's catchphrase "May Your Stamina Never Fail!" at the end of the book.
- Chain of Deals: The game opens with one: you start out with a stash of seemingly-useless crap, but talking to a nearby sweeper allows you to trade an item for a snack of bread and honey, then a bottle of Snake Oil, then one of Skunk Oil.
- Climax Boss: Klash the Chaos Warrior is the one who stole the Ring of the Burning Snakes and is fought in the titular Port as his minions run away with Nicodemus.
- Collector of the Strange: here are a lot of unusual objects to pick up in this book, such as the jagged knife from a Dark Elf which you keep as a good luck souvenir.
- Combat Tentacles: Quag-Shugguth has six massive tentacles emerging from its throat, and wriggle with such strength they give you a combat malus if you still use a normal sword.
- Covers Always Lie: Downplayed; the Scholar cover pictures a massive, axe-wielding Troll facing you outside the Black Lobster Inn. Both events do happen in Port Blacksand, but aren't related, as you fight the Troll Guard in the palace.
- Cow Tools: You start the game with a bag full of trash, and none of it is obviously useful. You can also find plenty of items on your quest, though in true Livingstone fashion, only about a third of them are actually of use.
- Creepy Centipedes: On your way to see Yaztromo, you and Hakasan are attacked by a plated three-meter long Centipede with massive jaws.
- Cyclops: One named "Cy" works as a blacksmith in Chalice and is incredibly skilled, making swords worth 25 Golden Pieces at least. He can sell you a Demon Dagger, a well-balanced and sharp but non-magical dagger. Just don't try to go for a Five-Finger Discount.
- De-power: As in the previous book, Zanbar Bone can only be taken down after his evil power is broken through magical means. The question is how.
- Deadly Gas: The trapped boxes left by Gurnard Jaggle contain vials of deadly green toxic gas. He will also throw one of these vials inside his house if you're inside and pretend to not be at home.
- Death Trap: Good luck finding the safe passage to the treasure chest in Skull Crag! Heck, even Hakasan gets in on the act - she's rigged a hidden tripwire before she meets you. If you decide to attack her upon first meeting her, her little trap will end you.
- The Dog Bites Back: You can encounter a man who was tied up to act as a living scarecrow and guard a patch of blueberries from some Blue Imps. If you release him, after telling you how he ended up in such a predicament, he'll gorge on the berries he was forced to watch over.
- Doomed by Canon: This book takes place before The Forest of Doom, and we know that Bignose is never going to find Bigleg alive.
- The Dragon: This book reveals that Lord Azzur, master of Port Blacksand, is, and has always been, Zanbar Bone's top servant and lieutenant. Azzur himself has one in Klash the Chaos Warrior, which you get to fight.
- Dumpster Dive: You start the adventure down on your luck and digging through garbage bins to look for food. You soon meet a friendly janitor who's willing to trade you food and useful items for your junk, which he actually needs.
- Dungeon Shop: After rescuing Nicodemus, while the two of you are on the dangerous journey back to Darkwood Forest, you encounter a vendor who has some interesting items to sell, including the useful Venom Sword.
- Experienced Protagonist: The prologue mentions that your character is a well-experienced adventurer who is unfortunately a bit down on their luck when the story begins.
- Evil Tower of Ominousness: Because of Zanbar's Black Magic, Yaztromo's tower is slowly turning into one, the white marble turning black as hideous purple vines sprout to cover the walls.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Once you hunt for Klash, no matter where you go, you're unable to catch up with him. Even by paying for a boat ride you're stopped by pirates and forced to turn back.
- Fantasy Gun Control: For once, in a story set in Allansia, there's a single flintlock pistol you can obtain from some gamblers in Port Blacksand. Due to their rarity, you need to find lead bullets and have it fixed by a blacksmith.
- Fartillery: The infamous Hippopig is a massive hippo-like creature which opens the fight with a fart so big it gives you a combat malus.
- Food as Bribe: Subverted. Showing the Norgul a jar full of sheep's eyes and offering them to him if he lets you cross his lair fails, as the monster attacks you anyway using the jar as an impromptu cudgel.
- Fool's Map: You start the book deciding to follow a treasure map a guy coming out of a bar throws away because you have literally no other leads. After you get there it turns out the treasure was found a long time ago. The ninja lady you meet on the way out of the cave even knows about the guy who made it and his reputation for selling out of date treasure maps.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: The rules of the game and what's described in the story disagree with each other in a few important places:
- The rules section tells you that you start the game with ten provisions and you can eat one when not in combat to recover 4 Stamina points... but once the story begins, you are told that you have no food and need to rummage through the trash to find something to eat.
- The rules, as usual, state that your Skill and Stamina scores cannot go beyond their starting level. However, not only do you get a cornucopia of Skill-enhancing items — including magical items which ought to be able to increase your Skill beyond your natural ability — but the first paragraph instructs you to gain 1 Stamina point when you're already at maximum Stamina and have had no opportunities to make a decision, let alone lose Stamina.
- It's possible to keep walking back and forth between the same two roads in Chalice, repeating the same encounters (one of which is a battle) every time.
- Gratuitous Ninja: Your companion Hakasan Za is a Ninja Tracker from the Allansian city of Zengis. While she's quite the Action Girl wielding a deadly curved sword, she performs very little in the way of ninja skills and is more of a highly-competent tracker.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy:
- If you're arrested by the guards of Boar Villa in Chalice, they won't take away the Iron Key in your possession (if you have it), which allows you to open your cell and sneak to safety undisturbed.
- Zigzagged in Azzur's palace: you can enter disguised as a guard, but even when you're in the barracks and not wearing a helmet, no one is suspicious of you.
- Guns Are Worthless: Inverted. Before, Zanbar Bone had to be shot with a silver arrow to be defeated. This time, the player has to get their hands on a pistol to have a weapon powerful enough to get through his protective powers.
- Informed Attribute: Hakasan Za introduces herself as a ninja, and while she's a competent warrior, she really isn't stealthy or ninja-like.
- Injured Limb Episode: Hakasan Za breaks and twists her ankle halfway through the adventure and is forced to leave you on your own, but she recovers and comes back to assist you in the Final Battle.
- Later-Installment Weirdness: In this adventure you can find both Gold Pieces and Copper Pieces, the latter of which are only used as coins early on in Chalice and have no value as currency elsewhere.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: While exploring the plains, you can stumble into an exquisite Dwarven Shield made of bronze. If you have it, you can safely charge a trio of bow-wielding bandits using the shield and block their arrows.
- MacGuffin: The central plot involves finding the Ring of Burning Snakes, an extremely powerful ring which belonged to Nicodemus and allowed him to use his full powers. You must recover the ring so that you can have a chance against Zanbar Bone.
- Made of Iron: You never find out how much Stamina Hakasan has, but it must be a lot. After breaking and twisting her ankle from carelessly falling in a pit trap, she gets herself out of the pit by climbing a rope she had on her.
- Mugging the Monster: If you walk in Cy's shop, you're given the option to attack him to get your hands on the Cool Sword he's working on. Unfortunately, while civilized enough to open a shop, Cy's still a giant Cyclops, and will crush you if you're silly enough to rob him.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When Gurnard Jaggle was robbed of his treasure, he went mad with grief and put hundreds of trapped boxes to kill adventurers. Eventually, he came back to his senses and tried to recover all the boxes. Learning that he did kill people with them causes him to be even more saddened.
- Nintendo Hard: While most of your enemies are weak, there are a few nasty encounters, such as the Chaos Warrior, the Troll Imperial Guard, and the Quag-Shugguth demon. Additionally, it wouldn't be a Fighting Fantasy adventure without several instant-death sections, whether due to bad Luck or making the wrong choice. Weapons and armour don't improve your initial Skill or attack strength, so you can't be better than what you started with. Finally, you begin with no Provisions to restore health. There are only a few opportunities to recover some Stamina, and often it's just a single point. Things do get easier when Hakasan joins you, if you take most of her advice.
- One Degree of Separation: The book describes Zanbar Bone's origin as a student to the same master as Nicodemus and Yaztromo. Zanbar turned on them and ended up fighting the master, which resulted in his becoming a skeleton.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: In Chalice, you can be hired by a worker to help him and his Ogre to do some heavy lifting, but he refuses to pay you and has the Ogre threaten you. You can kill the Ogre to force him to pay you.
- Playing with Fire: As the name suggests, the Ring of Burning Snakes allows Nicodemus to wrap his enemies in incredibly hot flames, and even the Ring of White Flames, which is powerful enough to briefly make Zanbar Bone harmless.
- Poisoned Weapons: In a departure from the series, a traveling merchant can sell you the Venom Sword, a special Weapon of X-Slaying which is super effective against demons.
- Power Up Let Down: Zanbar Bone is considerably mightier in his new form, with more uglies to summon, but contrary to the convoluted way of taking him down in the previous book, a Boom, Headshot! kills him instantly. Justified in that he was first Brought Down to Normal by an extremely powerful spell designed to neutralize the mightiest demons, the likes of which even one of the best archmages in history could only cast with a potent Power Amplifier. Without it, Zanbar Bone would have laughed off the headshot as easily as he did with said archmage's spells earlier.
- Puzzle Boss: Zanbar Bone is Nigh-Invulnerable, and cannot be fought head on. In order to defeat him, you must survive his swarm of demon insects, slay his pet, and then have Nicodemus immobilize him with the Ring of Burning Snakes. Once Zanbar's immobile, you must destroy his skull with one last roll using either a pistol or the Demon Dagger.
- Rags to Riches: You start the adventure destitute and digging through the garbage for food, but by the end of the book you'll likely have a sizable fortune with the potential to earn even more in the future, now that you have the gratitude of two of Allansia's greatest wizards and the partnership of a very skilled ninja tracker.
- Rainbow Pimp Gear: You can find a real medley of different types of armor throughout your adventure and wear all of it simultaneously. You can obtain chainmail from a human skeleton, a bronze dwarven shield, some old magical elven boots, a winged helmet that belonged to an Elf Lord, and the gauntlets of a Chaos Warrior. Pretty typical for Livingstone's style, but also considering the reader's character starts the book digging in rubbish bins for food, they're probably eager for any chance to improve their arsenal, no matter what it looks like.
- Red Herring: The merchant you meet at the end before the final battle has three things to sell you; too bad only one of them is useful.
- Required Party Member: Hakasan note will join you and prove to be an invaluable companion. She even makes it to the very end of the book.
- Ring of Power: Nicodemus has one you need to make sure to find, if you're to hope to survive the battle with Zanbar Bone and his unholy army.
- Salt Solution: A Giant Lava Worm attacks you in the Crystal Cavern, and its Healing Factor is strong enough to reduce all damage taken to 1. However, if you found a bag of salt, you can use it to melt the monster instantly.
- Schmuck Bait: Invoked by Gurnard Jaggle: his trapped boxes were meant to kill greedy adventurers with deadly gas. Luckily enough, it's possible to learn about this trick soon enough if you talk to the right people in Chalice.
- Sequence Breaking: There are a few errors in the gamebook which allow your character to do things without meeting important prerequisites:
- It's possible to ask characters about Gurnard Jaggle before learning his name. Similarly, it's possible to mention the Chaos Warrior, Klash, without learning his name.
- When you meet Gurnard Jaggle, it's possible to tell him to call on his brother Jethro. Depending on the encounters you had earlier in the adventure, it's possible you never met Jethro, or don't even know he exists.
- At one point in the adventure, you can ask a merchant about buying some black powder, which results in the merchant offering to service your pistol and replace the flint. However, it's possible to miss getting the pistol and then have this encounter anyway, resulting in you producing a pistol out of thin air for the merchant to service.
- It's also possible to use the pistol without ever purchasing black powder or ammunition, or replacing the flint — the merchant even comments that the pistol is unlikely to be able to fire without a new flint.
- Suspicious Video-Game Generosity: Or rather, "gamebook generosity" - whenever you're rewarded with an unusually large sum of gold, it's often just enough to buy an important item you'll need later on.
- Time Stands Still: When you escape Lord Azzur's palace, Nicodemus casts a time-stop spell on the guards. Unfortunately, it only lasts a few seconds, just enough to let you get away.
- Toilet Humour: The battle with the Hippopig and its mighty fart.
- Touched by Vorlons: Yaztromo knows how vital your quest to find Nicodemus is, so he powers you up with his magic. If you choose Stamina, he just heals you back a fair sum. But if you choose Luck or Skill, he'll change your maximum initial stat of your choice to 12.
- The Unfought: Lord Azzur, ruler of Port Blacksand, is the servant of Zanbar Bone, but he's never directly confronted.
- Villains Never Lie: When you question Klash about the Ring he stole, he smugly tells you that the Ring is in possession of Lord Azzur and out of your reach. He's lying - he's hiding the Ring in his gauntlets.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Averted with Zanbar, who this time is a full-blown Demon Prince and lacks his previous weaknesses. On the other hand, his monstrous pet is normally a formidable opponent, but using a Venom Sword will allow you to pierce its hide easily and make a hard boss fight much more bearable.
- Weapon of X-Slaying: The Venom Sword is enchanted to slay demons, just like the guy selling it says, replacing a big combat malus with a big combat bonus.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Hakasan will question your judgement and actions if you take decisions straying too far from the scripted plot, or if you decide to pick a fight with Bignose for seemingly no reason.
- Worst Aid:
- If you're bitten by the Gronks, applying dried nettle to the wound does nothing, and actually makes you lose Skill and Stamina points.
- In Chalice, you can suffer a sting from a giant bloodsucking bug. If you foolishly listen to a local street urchin and smear the blood of the bug on the wound, you just aggravate your wounds.
- Wretched Hive: Port Blacksand is back, and you may end up in jail or as a slave for entering the city the wrong way.
- Zerg Rush: By the end of the game, Zanbar has gathered an army of a thousand skeletons. Trying to face them directly is suicidal.
- Zombie Infectee: If you kill the Zombie in the Man-Orcs' hut and read the note, you find out that he was a miner who was bitten by a zombie and was abandoned there to transform.
