Chaos Cultists At The Coliseum!

It's been quite a ride for Anasdiazi's Raft. Over the course of five games, they have eliminated 2 points of Outlaw threat, 3 points of Border Tensions threat, and reduced the Dark Secrets threat from 4 to 2. And those Dark Secrets are all they have left to face in order to completely secure the vicinity around Garakt, the village that has been their haven up until now. During this time that have lost a few friends to the villains lurking in the wilderness, and gained new ones as their reputation has spread.

And now they have returned to Garakt after defeating some raiders from the invading army of the Lunar Empire. The first order of business was to bring Pariwan Keetslander to the town healer. As it turned out, the Wandering Healer was still in town, and between the two healers and Mawat's skill, Pariwan was back on his feet. At the same time, the Former Soldier was fully recovered. In order to facilitate their stay in town, the Raft's expenses came to about one gold crown, which they happily paid. Puddles went fishing again, and he caught three fish that were worth three gold crowns back in Garakt. Pariwan, feeling much better, went to work the fields of Garakt, and returned to the Raft three gold crowns richer. And it was a good thing too, because Anasdiazi had been offered a bottle of Red Duck and bought it for six gold crowns. And after a few days in town, the full-strength Raft went back out looking for trouble.

Top row: Pariwan Keetslander, Oasasya, the Former Soldier, and the Hired Guide
Bottom row: Anasdiazi, Quackmore, Mataw, Nameless Priest of Humakt, Puddles

While still on the roadway, they were approached by a Venerable Hunter, who had heard of the Raft's exploits and was particularly impressed by what he had been told of Puddles' archery skill. He told Puddles that while his hunting days were over, he still had some finely fletched arrows he thought the duck could use in protecting the village. Puddles graciously accepted the gift, and the Raft moved on.

The Raft advances upon the Cultists

While exploring, they found the ruins of a coliseum, possibly dating back to the Second Age. And there, they saw a group of robe-clad figures. It looked like a half dozen or so Chaos Cultists were preparing to do something here, and the Raft decided to stop it. The Cultists did not notice Anasdiazi's little band of warriors before they were in engagment range, and then both groups faced off against each other...

Everyone gets closer, but no one gets hurt. Yet.

The first turn was ineffectual for both sides. Distance was closed, but archery was ineffective and no one was within melee range.

The High Cultists stands alone.

The second turn was devastating for the Cultists. Puddles killed one with a well-placed arrow. Mataw dropped two more, once when she attacked and again when she was attacked. The Former Soldier killed a fourth, and Quackmore killed the fifth. The High Cultist had two Wounds, but survived them. The remaining Cultist failed his Morale check and promptly left the skirmish grounds.

The High Cultist now faced the entirety of the Raft while bleeding out from two Wounds. Mataw stepped forward and cleanly decapitated her. The battle was over.

No one in the Raft was injured. There was also no loot. Pariwan Keetslander leveled up, as did Mataw. The Former Soldier learned the Tracking skill.

By this time in the campaign, Garakt only had two points of Dark secrets threat remaining. A roll of "4" reduced the threat by one, and a second roll for the leader in this game of "6" reduced it again. This High Cultist was clearly the motivating force behind the Dark Secrets threat to Garakt. This means that the village is completely cleared of threats for the time being, and it will be safe to travel to another village in Heortland that is in need of protection.

As a result of removing all threat to Garakt, the Raft was allowed a loot roll and granted one additional Story Point. A balanced war spear was added to the inventory, and then given to the Former Soldier.

The Raft is getting quite strong. Puddles is dangerous with his bow, and Mawat is a melee powerhouse. I am, at the very least, planning on more monsters at the next village, to make things more challenging. I also want to see about more variety in opponents at settings, lookig back at my game pictures they all look pretty much the same.

Five Leagues From The Borderlands and the supplements are available here.