Greetings again adventurers! The Analand Sorceress is on a classic FF dust-up in Allansia this time round. As the constellations are unfavourable in Western Allansia there will be no sorcery here, only swordplay. (and a helluva lot of it)

You accept a bet to survive for a month on the remote and deadly Snake Island, out in the Western Ocean, but are soon attacked by a mysterious assassin. You discover that the disgruntled tyrant Lord Azzur of Port Blacksand (an associate of Zanbar Bone, whom you defeated in "City Of Thieves") has placed a huge bounty on your head, encouraging an unknown number of assassins to seek you out as prey. Your only hope is to find Azzur and settle your score with him.

To complete this mission you must not only find him, but also defeat all thirteen of his assassins, taking their silver scorpion pendants as proof.

As you would expect from an Ian Livingstone title, the game is very combat-heavy. Strangely however, considering these assassins are supposed to be the elite of Allansia, few of the opponents are actually very strong. Furthermore, if you follow the optimum route, there are some very generous skill and luck bonuses for finding enchanted items. These really ramp-up your stats, making combats surprisingly easy.

In Adventurer mode it is not difficult, providing your starting stats are reasonable.
In Hardcore Hero mode, if you have maximum Skill (10) plus good Luck, you should still succeed.

The real challenge here is finding the optimum route (which is incredibly narrow) to achieve success. If you stray from this optimum route, not only will you fail to locate all thirteen assassins and miss other items/info required for survival, there are brutal penalties to your stats and an alarming number of insta-death endings.

Choose the potion of fortune in either mode. In this walkthru, even on hardcore hero mode with only three provisions, you should still find enough stamina bonuses to keep your health good.

There are only six Steam achievements for this title.
Three are self-explanatory: Free-read win, Adventurer win & Hardcore Hero win. Simply follow this guide to complete the quest in each mode.

One of the other achievements Kraken The Whip can also be completed during this winning walkthru. This is indicated in the walkthru.

The remaining two are unlocked as follows:
Jungle Hijinxs: Follow the walkthru until you leave Snake Island and encounter the pirates, but instead of pretending to be dead, jump into the sea and hide behind the boat, give yourself up to them, surrender your possessions, help them launch the rowing boat, then pass a luck test (or you die), unlocking the achievement.

Wit's End: Follow the walkthru until you find the box marked "Property Of Balthazar Wittle", but do not open the box. Instead, place it in your backpack. Continue to follow the walkthru again, but when you encounter Wittle in Kaad, tell him you are not the rat catcher, but tell him that you are returning his box, unlocking the achievement.

Stand still.
Toss a coin on the floor.
Swing your sword at the intruder.
Fight knife fighter (Tarrak Kazan): Sk 7 St 6
+ 1st silver scorpion pendant, + dagger

Begin your daily quest for food. -1 sta
Explore the island.
Ignore the berries and walk on.
Ignore the hand and walk on.
Flee.
Luck test. Pass: ok; Fail: -1 skill, -2 sta & fight Decayer Sk 8 St 8 (-2 a.s. for this fight)
(If you defeat the Decayer, leave the eye-stone.)

Wait a few minutes.
Skill test. Pass: +1 luck, +ruby; Fail: Luck test. Pass: -2 skill, -4 sta; Fail: -3 skill, -6 sta
Take the rope.
Lift the lid of the pot. +skeleton key (44), +1 luck
Open the chest.
Open the purse. +1 luck, +9 g.p.
Open the silver box.+1 luck, +2 diamonds, + silver box
Take the red ink.

Swim out to the barrel.
Fight Giant Sea Snake: Sk 7 St 7 (-2 a.s. for this fight)
Swim back to the shore with the shield. + shield, +1 skill, +1 luck

Run for cover.
Luck test. Pass: ok, Fail: -2 skill, -4 sta
Keep running.

Climb the tree for some honey. +2 sta
Climb quickly back down.
You have a shield.
Fight dark elf priestess (Oleander Redfly): Sk 8 St 8
+ 2nd silver scorpion pendant
Spend another night on the island. +2 sta, +1 skill, + mithrium sword, + bow & 6 arrows
Attack the bloodwort to rescue the captain. -2 sta

Pretend to be dead.
You have a bottle of red ink.
Steam Achievement: Kraken The Whip
Sail S.E. to Port Blacksand.

Enter the Black Lobster tavern.
Talk to the innkeeper.
Do as he says.
Pay him. -5 g.p.
Give the beggar a coin. -2 sta
Fight elite swordsman (Bassu Mendip): Sk 8 St 5
+ 3rd silver scorpion pendant

Ask if he's interested in buying a boat.
Tell him Captain Crow died.
Accept his offer. + 20 g.p.

Go into the general store.
Still enter.
Say you want to buy provisions.
Buy the food & backpack. + bag of everything, +1 skill, + 1 provision, - 5 g.p.
Ask if he knows of Garanka Vassell. + info
Look at the items in the display case.
Buy all four. - 15 g.p.
+ magic flute
+ bracelet of power (+3 skill)
+ ring of healing (+6 sta)
+ scroll of invisibility

Ignore the sleeping man and keep heading east.
Talk to her.
Buy the 6 arrows. - 2 g.p.
Ask if she has heard rumours of assassins.
Attack her.
Answer with your sword. (Do not shake hands!)
Fight Gretta Morg: Sk 8 St 7
+ 4th silver scorpion pendant, + 2 g.p.

You have talked to Harold Cornpepper.
Fire an arrow at Vassell.
Skill test. Pass: +1 luck, Fail: -1 luck
Fight Garanka Vassell: Sk 10 St 9
+ 5th silver scorpion pendant, + 3 g.p.
Take his chainmail vest. +1 skill

Go into the tavern.
Pay the man. - 2 g.p.
Talk to Sidd.
Ask about Azzur. + info
Pay him. - 1 g.p. + info

Go north.
Carry on walking north.
Break the seal and open the box. -2 sta, + brass clock hands, + golden ring, + 10 g.p.
Try on the ring. (If your luck score is low, you can leave the ring alone and ignore the luck test here.)
Luck test. Pass: +1 skill, +2 sta, +3 luck; Fail: -1 skill, -2 sta, -3 luck

Stand behind a tree and wait.
Strike at the orc.
Fight orc: Sk 6 St 2
If you win in one attack round continue at ** below.
If you fail to win the first attack round: -1 luck
You have a scroll of invisibility.
Invoke your scroll thus: "Now you see me, now you don't."
**
You are wearing ordinary boots.
You do have a bag of everything.

Follow her thru the door.
Keep following her.
If your skill is less than 8: -1 skill, -4 sta
Fight ninja (Gozo Yamakuri): Sk 7 St 6
+ 6th silver scorpion pendant, +2 sta, + bone dice
Try on the copper headband.
Look at the books.
Open the book. + warp ring

Follow the path north towards the forest.
Investigate. + 3 g.p.
You have a shield.
Draw your sword. -2 sta
Fight zengian ultra (Ren Ren Pakk): Sk 9 St 6
+ 7th silver scorpion pendant, + 2 g.p.
Try on the armband.
Keep it on. +2 skill, +2 sta, +1 luck

Head east along the new path.
Keep heading towards town.
Open the gate and walk towards the farmhouse.
Open the front door.
Take the idol. -2 sta
Tell them you are on the run.
Tell them it's you.
Fight Dax The Axe: Sk 9 St 8
+ 8th silver scorpion pendant
Offer the brothers half the loot. + axe, + emerald ring, + 9 g.p.

Put your hand up and stop the carriage. + info
Decline her offer.
Enter the gates of Kaad.

Ignore him and walk across to Clock Street.
Knock on Balthazar Wittle's door.
Reply "yes".
You have a magic flute. +1 luck, + info

Draw your sword.
Fight Blackthorn: Sk 8 St 7
+ 9th silver scorpion pendant

Follow the woman.
You are wearing a copper headband.
Fight Red Ruth: Sk 5 St 5
+ 10th silver scorpion pendant

Go left.
Take off your boots.
Toss a coin into the wishing well.
Skill test. Pass: ok, Fail: DEATH!
Fight Tunku Yang: Sk 5 St 6 (You must win without losing an attack round. If he wounds you, you will be fatally poisoned.)
+ 11th silver scorpion pendant, + poison bottle, + 1 g.p.

Ask him for a ride.
Pay him. - 2 g.p.
Pay to stay at Otto's Outpost. - 1 g.p.
+2 sta, + info

Look inside the hut.
Attack him
Fight Zeedle: Sk 6 St 5
+ 12th silver scorpion pendant

Fight Urzle Ironface: Sk 12 St 22 (You must survive 5 attack rounds.)
-2 sta
+ 13th silver scorpion pendant, + iron helmet, + 1 skill, + info

Wait to be introduced to Baron Sukumvit.
Take off your helmet.
Reply "odd".
You have 13 silver scorpion pendants.

This game ends with you having to register for "the walk" in order to meet Azzur and confront him. Altho it is supposed to be the immediate prequel to "Deathtrap Dungeon", in many ways the circumstances feel more like the intro to "Trial Of Champions". I was disappointed with this ending, as it feels somewhat inconclusive.
I had assumed that the game would end with you challenging Azzur in front of Sukumvit and defeating him in a duel, rather more like the ending of "Trial Of Champions".