Pillars of Pentegarn (1982) is my favorite Endless Quest. I actually forgot how much I like it because the rest of the series is so generally dull.

This one has a lot more personality than the previous two. You’re a villager who talks to animals (and they listen!). You’re friends with a fox and an owl, and the three of you join a group of adventurers bound to explore Castle Pentegarn. Along for the ride is the deposed king Pentegarn himself, a warrior named Baltek and a thief named Lydia. Lydia is rad.

The choices you make have pretty big consequences and there are several endings. A lot of the crappy endings are more interesting than the good ones, especially since the other folks in your party can die.

Another excellent Elmore cover. Interiors are by Harry J. Quinn, and they have a lovely look to them. In fact, they give the story a bit of a melancholy feel. Or maybe ruins just have that effect on me.

Speaking of ruins, ready for the TSR tragedy? In the mid-90s, Random House was fronting TSR huge loans against their book sales. As time went on, this created an increasing pile of debt for the company, which they sought to make up by (foolishly) trying to flood bookstores with more books and the doomed Dragon Dice game. The problem with the book trade (and this destroyed many RPG companies in the 90s) is that you always risks returns (and the proportional refund that goes with them). In 1996, Random House returned a huge amount of product to TSR, requiring a refund numbering in the millions. There are many reasons TSR got into this position, but this shortfall is what finally killed the company. And it all started with Endless Quest.