Line #61 Literature/TheFabledLands


1	[[quoteright:298:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fabled01_2.png]]
2
3	''The Fabled Lands'' is a series of {{Gamebooks}} that were written by Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson. It was first released in the mid-nineties and, to this day, is probably ''the'' most elaborate gamebook series ever written.
4
5	It differed from other gamebooks (at the time) by presenting a WideOpenSandbox filled with numerous quests and places to explore. Each book covers one region that makes up the titular "Fabled Lands", and all of the books were connected so you could cross the border from one book to the next with the same character. While the "level" of the books scales upwards from Book 1 onwards, nothing is preventing you from traveling between the books in any order you wish. A vast array of "keywords" memorizes the quests you are on and the things you have accomplished, allowing the world to change according to your actions.
6
7	For example, you can help a deposed king reclaim his throne or assassinate him in the name of the new regime. You can climb the dizzying social circles of a mask-wearing theocracy, play the stock market for massive profit, or even buy your ship and make a living as a merchant by buying low and selling high. The sheer volume of options in the game makes ''The Fabled Lands'' stand out as a series.
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9	The complexity of gameplay falls somewhere between ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' and ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. There are six stats (Charisma, Combat, Magic, Sanctity, Scouting and Thievery) to keep track of, with skill checks and fight scenes requiring (at most) two six-sided dice. There are also six character classes to choose from (Warrior, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Troubadour and Wayfarer), which determine your starting statistics and influence some quests. As the adventure unfolds, you increase your power in three main ways: finding better equipment (most equipment offers a boost to one stat), increasing your Rank (a rough equivalent to "character level") by completing major quests or overcoming exceptional trials, and increasing your basic stats through training or the completion of minor quests and challenges.
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11	However, since this was a gamebook series created in the Nineties, it can also be ''extremely'' NintendoHard, with many choices leading you straight to an early grave and others offering a single dice roll between safety or the dreaded "You are dead" page. The game ''does'' offer limited help in the form of Blessings (which allow you to reroll a failed skill check) and Resurrection Deals (ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin) from temples, but they are pricey. And then there are moments when the RandomNumberGod decides to burn down your town house and ruin all of your stored possessions.
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13	Unfortunately, Morris and Thomson underestimated the production costs, and only six of the planned twelve books were ever published. However, [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing There Was Much Rejoicing]] when [[http://fabledlands.blogspot.com/2010/02/fabled-news.html this]] was announced, and now the prospect of having the series {{Uncancelled}} is a very real possibility... ''if'' the reprints of the first six books sell well enough.
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15	In July 2015, a Kickstarter campaign to fund Book 7 (''The Serpent King's Domain'') was launched [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/57119387/fabled-lands-the-serpent-kings-domain/posts/1292216 here]]. The Kickstarter was successful, and ''The Serpent King's Domain'' was released in February 2018, largely authored by Paul Gresty, working with the notes created by Morris and Thomson.
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17	A free Java version of the first six books is also available [[http://sourceforge.net/projects/flapp/ here]], with the blessings of the original authors.
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19	In 2011, a TabletopRPG based on the series was released. The RPG features slightly expanded rules and a series of supplements detailing the various lands. The first (about Sokara) has since been published.
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21	A [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1299620/Fabled_Lands/ CRPG adaptation is available on Steam]]. Released on Early Access on the 20th of May 2021, it encompasses ''The War Torn Kingdom'', ''The Plains Of Howling Darkness'', and, as of November 2021, ''Cities Of Gold And Glory'' with other books due later. May 2022 saw the full release, adding ''The Court Of Hidden Faces'' with ''Lords Of The Rising Sun'' added as DLC in February 2023. ''Over The Blood Dark Sea'' and ''The Serpent King's Domain'' are planned to be introduced as further DLC.
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23	----
24	!!''The Fabled Lands'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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26	* AbsurdlyLowLevelCap: The earlier books had a level cap of 10. The later books did away with the cap. The [=cRPG=] reintroduces a level cap of 12.
27	* AnAdventurerIsYou: You can choose your name, gender, and class, or take a pick from one of six pre-defined characters.
28	* ArmyScout: If the player ends up MadeASlave by the Uttakin, one of the tasks they can be assigned is as a scout to a slave army. The player can scout an enemy force or escape to freedom. Completing the assigned task will boost your scouting skill.
29	* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: If you have the "Chosen One of Nagil" title, Book 4 can allow you to become ''the right-hand man to the god of death himself''. It's one of the better "Game Over" scenes you can get.
30	* TheBlank:
31	** The leader of Uttaku, in The Court of Hidden Faces, is whoever is born without a face, once a generation.
32	** You can also lose your face at one point. [[PlotHole Surprisingly, this doesn't affect anything in Uttaku...]]
33	* CallBack: The pregen wizard character for the third book is the villain from Morris's earlier [[Literature/GoldenDragonFantasyGamebooks The Temple of Flame]].
34	* CainAndAbel: Among the Harkunan gods, Nagil and Tyranai (Death and War, respectively) are bitter rivals. When you meet Nagil in Book 2, there's even a unique chapter if you've taken Tyranai as your god.
35	* CanonImmigrant: ''Literature/TheKeepOfTheLichLord'', originally a ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' novel, has been reprinted in the Fabled Lands setting; and can be used as an opening quest.
36	* CharacterisationMarchesOn: In the original gamebooks, Grieve Marlock comes across as a brutal dictator. [[TheExtremistWasRight which admittedly he is]]; the RPG gives him a much more sympathetic light as a man of honour and genuine patriotism while the Royalists are treated less sympathetically turning the Sokaran Civil War from BlackAndWhiteMorality to GreyAndGreyMorality.
37	* ClassAndLevelSystem: Kind of, you can choose a class at the beginning of your play-through, and each one is initially better at something then the other. While any class can max out all stats, certain quests are restricted to specific classes; For example, the [[TheRival Lauria]] questline is exclusive to Rogues. You have a sort of level, or Rank; there's no ExperiencePoints system, but certain specific achievements or victories grant you a rank increase or the chance thereof. Of course, certain RandomEncounters (such as battles with pirates) cause this, allowing for LevelGrinding by just going back and forth. Rank itself has more than just an effect on your stats, too. It also effects certain events. For example, you can enter Castle Ravayne more easily if you're Rank 4 or higher.
38	* CorruptChurch: The Church of Ebron, which controls the nation of Uttaku. Their religion states that the rich and powerful are the most blessed of Ebron. As a result, the upper echelons have become bloated with their power, funneling wealth from the poor to the rich and arresting anyone who displeases them for "heresy". The rules of the religion are so complex and numerous as compared to a game of {{Calvinball}}. While nobles are not completely immune to the scriptures, you become above the law if you climb up the hierarchy high enough.
39	* CourtMage: In return for freeing him, Targdaz rebuilds a ruined castle in Old Harkuna for your use and becomes your own court mage.
40	* CreatorCameo: Morris and Thompson themselves appear alongside the premade characters in each book with parody biographies, inventories, and backstories to go with them.
41	* {{Cult}}: You encounter a rather messed-up one in ''The War-Torn Kingdom''. Given the gameplay's nature, you can fight them or become a member.
42	* CursedWithAwesome: A random encounter in Book 5 has Holyamu The Unbidden turn your hair into gold as a prank [[ItAmusedMe for his own amusement]]. As a result, every time you cross between books, you gain 20 shards by cutting and selling your hair.
43	* DecadentCourt: The Court of Hidden Faces, [[TitleDrop from the book of the same name]] is this taken to the extreme.
44	* DeathIsCheap: It certainly is if you remember to pay for a resurrection (which is only cheap if your patron god is the god of death or war. And if you've remembered to leave some money aside to pay for all the equipment you just lost. [[SubvertedTrope Hmmmm.... maybe it's not that cheap after all]]). If you [[VideoGame/EveOnline only fly what you can afford to lose]], and don't rely on unique items, it's cheap (in fact, some strategies use death as a quick ticket back to Yellowport). If not, ContinuingIsPainful.
45	* DevelopersForesight: If you have the title Saviour of Vervayens, they'll give you certain items for free at their market. Attempt to sell these free items back to them and they'll run you out of town.
46	* DigitalPiracyIsEvil: Notably averted by the free Java-based version of the books, which were given the OK by the original writers.
47	* DiscOneNuke: The starting Rank and stats scale with the books, so if you begin your quest in a high-level region and immediately move to a low-level region, it makes the game easier.
48	** In Book 4, a starting character can [[spoiler:get themselves kidnapped by the Trau by going to the Gemstone Hills (''right outside'' the starting area), passing a simple Magic skill check (which can be repeated if failed) and then failing an average Sanctity check]]. The character loses all of their items (which shouldn't matter for a new character) but gets ''incredibly useful'' items in return, including a wolf pelt (essential for that region), a decent amount of cash, a chunk of selenium ore (which can be traded for a +4 Magic wand) and an incredibly rare key that opens up warp gates across the world.
49	** But wait, it gets better! By wandering west from the starting city, a character has a small chance of running into a satyr. [[spoiler:Getting kidnapped ''again'' (by failing an incredibly tough Magic check) will again lead to you losing all of your possessions but getting incredibly useful ones in return, including two uncommon items you can use to complete a quest in the starting city, which in turn reveals the quest that lets you trade in the selenium ore for the wand. In short, ''getting kidnapped is great''!]]
50	** Less dramatically, players starting in ''The War-Torn Kingdom'' are highly advised to make Yellowport their first destination and immediately perform the quest to slay a nearby dragon. It can be accomplished in an extremely small number of steps, is very easy (even for the weakest starting characters), and finishing it gives you just enough money to get yourself seriously started as an adventurer. It's all but the official tutorial quest of the game.
51	* DiscoveringYourOwnDeadBody: In Book 6 one random encounter involves stumbling upon your ''own'' funeral. [[spoiler:The first hint that something's wrong is if you have a Resurrection Deal already. The whole thing is actually an illusion, and the "monk" that offers to resurrect you instead is actually a fox trying to rob you.]]
52	* DistressedDamsel: Several quests involve rescuing young women from various situations. For example, the commander of one of the forts along the Nerech wall tasks the player with going into Nerech and rescuing his daughter from the manbeasts that have infested the peninsula.
53	* EarlyBirdCameo: It's possible to encounter certain characters or events that CallForward to the events in later books. For example, fighting and killing a samurai you randomly encounter in a marsh in Book 2 is possible. If you're still carrying his ivory-handled katana in Book 6, it's possible to meet his cousins, who insist on taking the katana from you for your safety. There's even a random encounter in Book 3 that refers to an incident from one of the unreleased books.
54	* EarlyGameHell: No matter which book you start on, you will begin with almost no money, basic-level equipment, and average-at-best stats. The hardest part is locating the quests that give you a foothold into the world; even ''those'' are susceptible to bad dice rolling.
55	* {{Egopolis}}: Sokara's capital city had its name changed from Old Sokar to Marlock City after Grieve Marlock's military coup.
56	* EvilMask: Manbeast helmets are actually a way to mutate [[WasOnceAMan people into]] [[BodyHorror Manbeasts]]. The player can put on a Manbeast helmet and, if successful with a magic check, can use it as a disguise to fool the Manbeasts (but not the mage who created them) for long enough to find the DistressedDamsel. If you fail the magic check, you become a Manbeast yourself, which is effectively death.
57	* {{Expy}}:
58	** The High King is loosely based on King Arthur.
59	** Kaschuf the Deathless is loosely based on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koschei Koschei]].
60	* TheFairFolk: Messing with faeries is a ''very bad idea'', most of the time.
61	* FantasyCharacterClasses: Your choices at the beginning of the game are Warrior, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Troubadour, and Wayfarer. Initial stats are determined by starting class. Some certain quests and encounters are exclusive to certain classes. It is possible to change class, though the opportunity to do so is very rare.
62	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Each book focused on a particular culture, most of which were heavily influenced by a specific real-world culture:
63	** Golnir, from the second book is Ye Olde Merry England, with dragons and knights.
64	** While not a country per se, the Great Steppes from The Plains of Howling Darkness are based on Siberia and Mongolia, with Mongols that are actually an outcast Akatsurese tribe.
65	** Uttaku is the Byzantine Empire, but with loads more [[DecadentCourt backstabbing]], a fundamentalist religion, and a court society based on masks.
66	** Akatsurai is [[JidaiGeki feudal Japan]] (specifically, the late Heian period and the Genpei War), complete with samurai.
67	** Sokara is a fantasy medieval version of the UsefulNotes/EnglishCivilWar, with a military dictator and the rightful heir to the throne in hiding.
68	** Atticala was going to be based upon ancient Greece, while the Feathered Lands were going to be based on several South American cultures.
69	* FantasyGunControl: Nothing stops a player from deciding they want a gun, as the markets state that the weapons for sale are simply any weapon. The [=cRPG=] adaptation has an achievement for recovering the "Magic Spear" from the metal-hulled ship off the coast of Sokara, which turns out to be a musket.
70	* FantasyPantheon: Different cultural areas worship different gods, though given only the first six books were published, we only get a few mentions of some pantheons.
71	** The Harkunan pantheon worshiped in Sokara, Golnir, and Old Harkuna (and a few more distant enclaves) has elements of Ancient Greek, Norse, and Celtic mythology and is led by a Zeus-like deity named Elnir.
72	** The Akatsurese religion is based on Shintoism, while the Sage of Peace is the Buddha. The Sage of Peace allows the player to worship another god, as he's not a jealous deity, which is hilarious if your other god is a war deity.
73	** Yarimura's religion is complicated. The native god of the region is Tambu, who's a CaptainErsatz of Tengri, but the Clan of the White Spear also brought the New Gods when they established Yarimura. The New Gods are four of the greater gods of the Akatsurese pantheon; Yarimura does not worship the Sage of Peace or the smaller gods of Aksatsurai, and the Yarimuran versions of the relevant gods often work a bit differently from the Akatsurese.
74	** The Uttakin are monotheistic and follow the god Ebron.
75	* GirlInTheTower: There's one in Book 2, waiting on her knight to rescue her.
76	* GlobalCurrency: Shards are the currency of choice everywhere except the Underworld. The Merchants Guild even has banking and investments that deals in them.
77	* GlobalCurrencyException: TheFairFolk trade in Mithrals, the currency of the Underworld. It's possible to trade items for Mithrals at Fairfolk markets in Golnir. Of course, you'll want to have some on you before leaving or you'll end up stuffed into a bag and buried.
78	* TheGreatOffscreenWar: By the time you arrive in Sokara, the revolution has already been won by Grieve Marlock and the royalists have gone into hiding or exile. It's up to you whether you finish the job by assassinating the remaining leaders of the rebellion or stoking the fires of the royalist rebellion by assassinating Marlock's brother and helping the King take the citadel.
79	* GreyAndGreyMorality: Neither the rightful heir to the throne nor the upstart dictator of Sokara is completely blameless, and the choice between them is rather complicated. The rightful heir is, obviously, "rightful" - that is, if you're a believer in the monarchy. He's also idealistic and compassionate but implied to be spineless and not above acting quite villainously when it suits him. The dictator, meanwhile, may be a bloody-handed, iron-fisted tyrant, but he's also a very ''effective'' one, and unlike the prince, he wears his beliefs on his sleeve. Furthermore: it is implied that much of the population actually ''prefers'' him on the throne, once again leading to the player having to question whether it's okay for someone to rule just because they were born to the right man while a better qualified one exists.
80	** Oddly the 2011 TabletopRPG shifts this into BlackAndWhiteMorality in [[AdaptationalHeroism Marlock's favour]]. The dictator is given a very sympathetic backstory as a honorable patriot and elements that showed his more brutal side, such as corruption and bullying by his soldiers and the sack of the city of Trefoile are either eliminated or retconned to make Marlock look better. In contrast, the king Marlock overthrew is made to seem even worse by implying he killed his father and sister, and the rightful heir is left a cipher whose personality is not even described.
81	* GrimUpNorth: Life on the Steppes is harsh due to the cold weather conditions. A wolf pelt is a must to keep warm and you'll have to make constant scouting rolls in order to hunt for food or risk losing stamina.
82	* GuideDangIt: Getting Savior of Vervayens Isle requires starting in the correct book (which is a bad idea ''unless'' you're specifically going for the title, due to the difficulty of travel if you're unprepared) and getting exactly the right rolls to land on the island and save it.
83	* AHomeownerIsYou:
84	** You can buy a townhouse in each town. They're susceptible to random events, though.
85	** You can even get your own ''castle'' in Book 5.
86	* HubCity: Most players make Yellowport their main base of operations. It's an extremely safe and central location, and it's one of the only places where you can both stash items in complete safety and have them readily available if you're resurrected.
87	* IdealIllnessImmunity: The Immunity To Disease/Poison blessing. It's absolutely ''essential'' to have this blessing, given how many things can kill you by infecting your wounds.
88	* ImplacableMan: Kaschuf. He's called the Deathless for a reason.
89	* InMediasRes:
90	** You start on a boat, in the middle of the sea, without any water or food left, when suddenly you see land! You manage to crash there and begin your adventure.
91	** Except for Book 6, where you're [[CleanPrettyReliable revived after almost drowning]] with no memories and only the clothes on your back and an earring.
92	* InfinityPlusOneSword: The White Sword of Nagil adds a whopping +8 to your Combat skill. As a bonus, it can never be lost through robbery, imprisonment or death.
93	* JackOfAllStats: The Troubador has the most generous spread of stats of the six different classes. It is a better fighter than the Mage or Priest and a better spellcaster and thief than the Ranger and Warrior. The Troubador has only one DumpStat (Scouting), while every other class has at least two.
94	* KarlMarxHatesYourGuts: Completely averted. Prices can differ depending on where you buy items, allowing you to play merchant by buying low and selling high. This is ''especially'' true if you buy a cargo ship. The quests you complete can also affect the economy, and more often than not, you can get a Hero Discount by performing good deeds. Also, while selling back the free goods you get at Vervayen's Isle will anger the locals, there's no rule against stocking up on free swords and leather armor there and selling it elsewhere.\
95	You can even engage in a bit of evil market manipulation. There is a lake frozen with a curse, and the Uttaku have set up a mining operation since the magical ice melts incredibly slowly and can be used to cool drinks. You can buy satchels of this ice and then sell it in the Uttaku capital for a modest profit. [[spoiler:Your best move is to stock up on rime ice, and then ''melt the lake by lifting the curse''. After this, the price of rime ice ''soars'' in the capital, and you can make an absolute killing]].
96	* KilledOffForReal: There are places where you are killed in such a way that you cannot be resurrected. More often, you're just permanently [[SealedBadassInACan sealed in a can]] somewhere, and nobody ever comes to release you.
97	* {{Knighting}}: The player can attain the title of Paladin Of Ravayne for slaying a dragon (or at least providing a dragon's head, which is available at some markets).
98	* KungFuJesus: Yanryt The Son is shown to be an excellent warrior, dispatching a group of bandits with ease. Why's he called The Son? His father is Tyranai, the god of war.
99	* LevelGrinding: There are some areas where you can go back and forth to find encounters that provide increased Rank, [[MoneyGrinding money]] (or [[ItemFarming stuff to sell for money]]), or increases to your stats. Most players look down on excessively grinding infinite loops, however; the point of the game is to get out there, adventure, and experience the Fabled Lands rather than get yourself repeatedly sold into slavery to pump up your muscles. The [=cRPG=] adaptation clamps down on this, making such encounters (such as sea battles with pirates) convey stat and level bonuses [[ItOnlyWorksOnce one time only]]. To be fair, StatGrinding is extremely limited, as the game's rules only allow each of the six stats to go to a maximum of 12. Defence is linked to level, so LevelGrinding will increase that as much as desired.
100	* LevelScaling: Each book has progressively harder encounters than the last one. A specific example is a dragon that you can slay in book one - at which point you could head to the west and into book two, and within three-page selections of your dragon slaying, encounter an "enraged bull" that poses a far greater challenge. Though the Bull is harder then some of the fights in later books too.
101	* LimitedLoadout: Your inventory is limited to twelve items. Since your weapon and armor will automatically take up two slots (unless you decide to roleplay as someone like Kintu Ironhands, the pre-generated warrior from Book 6 who hates weapons), you'll have to decide carefully what other items you take with you. The cRPG adaptation alleviates this by giving equipped items their own dedicated slots.
102	* {{Nerf}}: The [=cRPG=] clamps down on LevelGrinding exploits, since there were certain spots in the books (such as pirate battles) that could be repeated to level up infinitely, boosting a player's stamina and defence stats to absolutely ridiculous levels, making them invincible in combat. Firstly, these events will only confer a level up the first time they occur. Secondly, a level cap of 12 reintroduced.
103	* PermanentlyMissableContent: Almost anything can be lost permanently, so don't get too attached to your awesome equipment. A special prize, however, goes to the Savior of Vervayens Isle title; you can only get it [[spoiler:if you start in Book 3, and only if you're dumped on the isle by the RandomNumberGod]]. If you don't get it then you'll never get it.
104	* MadeASlave:
105	** You can be enslaved in Uttaku for any number of reasons. It can benefit you, as you can be assigned to a task that will increase one of your stats.
106	** You can do this to [[TheRival Lauria]] as revenge.
107	* MagicKnight: Entirely viable since a warrior can grind their magic stat, a mage can grind their combat stat, and every other class can grind both to play this trope straight. There's not even a restriction for any applicant to the Mages' College in Dweomar to necessarily even be a mage.
108	* MedievalStasis: Averted. It's possible to travel through time to find a rare flower and failing a magic check at one point can fling the player into a modern day setting with cars and portable stereos.
109	* MoneyGrinding: Several methods occur throughout the books, such as investments, though these are susceptible to dice rolls and other factors, but a notable one is Holyamu's curse, which turns the player's hair to gold, allowing them to make 20 shards every time they cross a border.
110	* MundaneUtility: In the steppes, there is a lake that was cursed to be permanently frozen solid to keep the setting’s Myth/KingArthur expy [[SealedBadassInACan sealed away beneath it]]. So what do the Uttaku do? Set up a mining operation, of course, where they carve out chunks of the unmelting ice and export it so the nobles back home can use it to keep cool.
111	* NoPlaceForAWarrior: The Warrior character Andriel the Hammer left his homeland due to extended peace making his abilities redundant.
112	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Several types include "generic" firebreathing, flying western dragons, sea dragons, and (in Akatsurai) oriental-style dragons. At least some of them are intelligent and capable of speech.
113	* {{Pirate}}: Pirates are a common enough occurrence, especially along the Violet Ocean. Sea battles are a good way to level up and upgrade your crew. The player can become a pirate in one particular quest line.
114	* PleaseSelectNewCityName: Old Sokar became [[{{Egopolis}} Marlock City]] when General Marlock took over. Interestingly, the map for ''Cities Of Gold And Glory'' is presented as an in-universe map that hasn't been updated to consider the name change.
115	* RandomEncounters: While traveling across the country, on the sea, or exploring a large city, the player rolls dice to see what they encounter. Sometimes this leads to a quest, sometimes to a simple enemy to fight, and sometimes to no encounter.
116	* RatMen: The sewers beneath Yellowport are home to a colony of Rat Men. [[spoiler: They are pretty cowardly creatures individually but are more dangerous in numbers and their king is a tough fighter, at least against a beginning character.]]
117	* TheRival: In Book 1, you can gain one in the form of a career rogue called Lauria by [[spoiler:agreeing to help her case the mansion of a powerful wizard]]. If you do so, then you can encounter her multiple times throughout the various books, usually when she has another scheme in motion.
118	* SceneryPorn: Locales are lovingly described in detail. The illustrations only add to this.
119	* SealedGoodInACan: You might free a few (the High King is a notable example). You might even become one. If you're lucky, [[HeroOfAnotherStory a hero]] will come along to rescue you eventually. If not, you'll end up KilledOffForReal.
120	* ShockAndAwe: In the CRPG adaptation, the primary combat technique for Mages is to summon sorcerous lightning against their opponents.
121	* TheSixStats: Well, skills more like, but these are used in determining rolls in various situations:
122	** Charisma. The art of persuasion. Charisma is used to charm and influence people, as well as in the performing arts, such as music and storytelling. This is the signature stat for the Troubadour class.
123	** Combat. Fighting ability, this stat determines the effectiveness of attacks. Other combat rolls outside of actual fighting can also represent a character's reflexes in dodging surprise attacks and accidents. This is the signature stat of the Warrior class.
124	** Magic. Spellcraft and illusions. Magic rolls involve casting spells and spotting where enchanted traps and illusions may have been set. This is the signature stat of the Mage class.
125	** Sanctity. Piety and holiness. This comes into play when unholy creatures, such as the undead, come into play and where curses are placed. This is the signature stat of the Priest class.
126	** Scouting. The art of navigation and living off the land. Scouting rolls prevent the player from getting lost and help to chart new horizons. This is vital to surviving in Book 4. This is the signature stat of the Wayfarer class.
127	** Thievery. The art of stealth. Thievery rolls involve stealth and dexterity but can also involve counter-thievery, such as preventing your pocket from being picked. This is the signature stat of the Rogue class.
128	* SoulJar: Kaschuf's soul is sealed into a locket buried on an island in the Violet Ocean. Opening it is the key to defeating him for good.
129	* StormingTheCastle: At one point in an inter-book quest, you have to help the rightful heir to the throne take an important castle that is stopping his army from attacking. It's {{Subverted}}, as the only way for you to get into the castle is to sneak in, then let some other characters storm it for you.
130	* ToHellAndBack: It's entirely possible to get on the ship of the death god. Of course, you can only leave if your patron god is that of death or war. If not, well, you're dead. There was also supposed to be a whole book dedicated to exploring the underworld, and you could find its entrances worldwide. Sadly, the series ended before it got that far.
131	%%* VestigialEmpire: Uttaku.
132	* VillainProtagonist: The pregen wizard character for ''Over the Blood Dark Sea'' is the villain from one of the Literature/GoldenDragonFantasyGamebooks.
133	* WalkingTheEarth: The Troubadour character Astariel Skysong is adventuring simply because he has wanderlust and feels restricted if he stays in one place. However, the Priest character Ignatius the Devout is traveling due to his desire to learn all that he can about the gods of the Fabled Lands.
134	* WellIntentionedExtremist: General Grieve Marlock is seen as this. While his regime is seen as a brutal dictatorship, he overthrew a corrupt king who neglected the people.
135	* WhenTreesAttack: The Red Garden, Uttaku's execution grounds. You'll probably [[DecadentCourt find yourself there several times]] if you go to Uttaku. [[spoiler:It's actually not as dangerous as the Uttakin think it is.]]
136	* WarpWhistle: You can find several, but they're usually quest rewards.
137	* WideOpenSandbox: Compared to other gamebooks, heck, compared to some video games, this series is huge; with six different but interconnected countries, you could do whatever you wanted to pretty much. Considering that the creators originally planned twelve books, this could have been much bigger... and [[{{Uncancelled}} might still be yet]].
138	* WizardingSchool: Dweomer in Book 3 has a college for mages that the player can join to improve their magical skills and obtain some quests. Prospective candidates should not have too high a Sanctity skill when applying for the college, as being too pious is seen as a detriment to pursuing magical studies. Passing the Sanctity check during the application process will result in the player failing the entrance exam and being teleported straight to Smogmaw.
139	* WretchedHive: Smogmaw. Think of a tropical fantasy version of Mos Eisley.
140

Context Literature / TheFabledLands