Ambushed! (turn 3)

We woke early. 

Gar was still nursing his injury.

We gathered our meagre equipment before saying a last payer over Islorus.

Following the river towards our destination raised our spirits a little.

Little did we know what lay in store. Perhaps we were dwelling on recent events and were not as vigilant as we should have been.

We didn't see the ambushers.

Roland was hit by a crossbow bolt and went down, heavily.

Then Will was struck by a slingshot and felled.

Njal and Jack ran towards the nearest attackers, which shielded them from the crossbow. Gar was unable to help due to his injuries.

Njal's opponent fought well and disengaged. Jack felled his with his cudgel.

Njal's opponent backed away, then used his sling. He missed. The other ambusher had manoeuvred to get a shot ( he had a heavy weapon, so could not move and shoot).

Jack attacked the man with the sling and laid him low.

The remaining enemy shot his crossbow, and missed! 

Njal, attacked the crossbow wielder who fought him off. Then he ran.

 

We searched field and found a suit of knight's armour. Very useful for a leader prone to injury, like Roland.

That was a short, and bloody, encounter. Perhaps it would have been easier if I hadn't given the third attacker the crossbow. I thought they might be underarmed otherwise, but it nearly ended in disaster!

I conflated the ambush scenario with the travel to the town as it made more sense that way.

Gar, being injured, could not take part in the battle. 

Turn 3

Preparation.

(1) Camp event. 15. Time to do a bit of scouting from some high ground. +2 adventure points.

(2) Hard times & upkeep 2 gold marks.

(3) Campaign activities

Gar - mystic expedition (10) congealed strand.

Jack - forage for herbs (5) fail

Roland - forage for herbs (3) fail

Will - forage for herbs (10) (6)  Ironshield root

Njal - forage for herbs (8) (1) Springside berries

(4) Trade - no trade

(5) Research (84) no contract

(6) Decide adventure - battle enemy threat.

(7) Outfit for adventure

Location - current map area

Enemy threat - 3 waiting in ambush.

Enemy threat end game? (3) cause chaos & carnage. (Lose AP if you lose)

Enemy - curse of war - craven deserters.

It has been a little while since I last posted due to moving things to Atlanta.. Now, here I am in Atlanta and I have my fantasy and sci-fi gaming pieces. Mostly. I also have some WW2 & Renaissance mini-armies. 

Let us hope I can battle at least once per week from here on in.

The delve. Ist skirmish

Standing at the entrance to the underground passage Gor said 'There is magic here. Be careful'.

Reaction test 1x2 Islorus takes the first phase move

Islorus shrugged and entered the passage (reaction phase 1x2). 

Somewhere inside a presence had been felt. A wraith glided towards the entrance.

The rest of the party entered the passage unawares they had set in motion ancient, protective spirits.

Reaction test, 1x1, 2x2, 3x3. Five go in the first phase. Jack goes in the second

Njal advanced and stumbled into the wraith. He cut twice with his axe and the wraith seemed drained (wraiths have 3 monster points, MP. It was down to 1MP). His third attempt didn't seem to affect it and it retreated a step (drew attack, defender retreats)

The rest of the party, except Jack, move further in, Gar behind Njal. The others in the other passage.

The unseen wraiths move towards the party.

The wraith attacks Njal. Loses its first attack but Njals axe fails to harm it (he beat the armour rating but scored equal or less on the toughness. Therefore it doesn't cause any injury). The wraith is unfazed. Njal strikes again, and again his axe fails to injure the wraith.

But the wraith is quick and causes a wound on Njal and he backs away (3rd combat and they part)

Jack moved up to support Gar and Njal.

Reaction test 3x1 Islorus, Gar and Njal go in the first phase.

Islorus attacks the wraith facing him, and is wounded for his troubles. He fights back and though he bests the wraith he inflicts no damage (failed toughness) Neither can penetrate the others defences and the wraith steps back as though gauging his opponent.

In a catastrophic sequence of events, Roland, Islorus and Njal are all felled by the wraiths. Gar orders a withdrawal. 

Sometime later, Roland and Njal exit the tunnel to find their companions in a state of shock. Roland, carrying Islorus,  confirms that Islorus was no more. They buried him in a small grove close by.

Taking stock of things the companions checked their equipment. Roland had a damaged shield  , Jack had lost his dagger , Will lost his sword and Gar had suffered a light wound that would take 3 days to heal without treatment 

'We must mark this place well' said Roland. 'When we are better equipped and better suited to the task, we must return and deal with these foul things, and to avenge Islorus. We must cover the entrance lest others enter to their doom'. 

So they hid the entrance they had uncovered.

They again settled onto a might camp, miserable at the loss of a new friend.

All in all, a brutal entrance to the war against the evils that befall Margelda. 

I had decided to roll on the  table rather than just take it from the top of the list. After all, would 4 Ogres be any less of a challenge than 4 wraiths? Maybe a little. 

Now they know what things they are up against we will see if they are up to the challenge.

First adventure. Turn 2

 The Party, having cleared the entrance to a sunken doorway, stands at the threshold of their first adventure.

Our journey into Melgarda province

 Hi!

I'm back!

With my band of followers we set off to Ebaracum, into Melgarda province (using the Forbidden Lands map), to deliver the letter entrusted to me.

We crossed the Tender and due to the terrain and winding paths, were quite lost. We set up camp. Fortuitously, a peasant came by and confirmed we were heading in the right direction after all. He then asked us if we would keep an eye out for a trinket, lost enroute from Ebaracum to his village, Swillsville. It was the village idol, and was considered the village good luck totem. I said we would. Having described it, he went on his way.

(This was the end of turn 1. No other activities).

Turn 2

(S1) Having set up camp, something drew our attention whilst collecting firewood. It seemed unusual to my eye, 

(S2) Upkeep, no cost (See following)

(S3) It was agreed we would live off the land (offsets upkeep costs). I sent Jack and Islorus to hunt, but little was found in the area.

(4) No trade in the wilderness.

We spent the night in peaceful slumber, each taking a turn at guard duty. The morning broke early. We broke fast and discussed our options, whether to continue our journey or explore what we had seen the night before.

5) Due to its interesting nature, we decided to explore what we had seen the night before.

(6) Being unencumbered by none essentials, we donned the equipment we each owned and set off to investigate

Hacking back the bushes that partially hid it, we found a tunnel (delve). Was it an old mine or something else?

We stepped into it, swords drawn.