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| It was great when it all began... |
It started out simply enough. As the Raft had cleared all threats to the village of Oraskat, they were ready to move on to other things. But the people in the village were unusually hostile about the good fortune of having all these bad guys going missing from the surrounding territiory, which was a little odd and cost Our Heroes the opportunity to take an extra town action. They did some Labor to earn coin, called in some favors to do more Labor, and Puddles went fishing. All told, they brought in 15 Gold Crowns, and then spent a Story Point to ensure finding a Fine Bastard Sword for Pariwan Keetslander at a nice price of 13 Gold Crowns. And then it was time to blow off these ungrateful louts and move on to Berstavalb.
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| I thought it would be fun to keep a picture record of how many models were dead each turn |
While on the road, they came upon a most curious stranger, a short squat person who seemed to be made of clay, with a animated stone head. Clad in fine armor and bearing a beautiful mallet, he was clearly one of the rarely-seen Mostali. While Anasdiazi and the Raft had their guard up, the dwarf seemed quite friendly after all. He explained that he was seeking a missing piece of the World Engine, and that his divinations had shown him that he would find it by accompanying the Raft (in game terms, the roadside encounter rolled was the Treasure Hunter; I had been thinking of a way to include a Mostali in the Raft and this seemed to be an excellent fit.) Gunjah the Treasure Seeker had joined the Raft, at least for now. Later, they passed a craftsman on his way from somewhere to someplace, who was wholly disinterested in them.
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| The end of Turn 2 |
As they passed a graveyard, they noticed a cloying mist around them. And then unnatural shapes moving near the vaguely-seen headstones. Upon investigating closer, they saw animated Skeletons, seven of them and what seemed to be their leader. Worse, it seemed that the infamous necromancer Tirian was with them! And if there was one thing that a bunch of durulz accompanied by a priest of Humakt hated, it was undead. The Raft attacked!
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| Pariwan Keetslander being a badass and totally not dieing for a change |
The Silent Battalion started out with some among the headstones and some others wandering a bit further away. The Raft moved as a single group to investigate and bring battle to them. Contact was made almost immediately. Between the deadly archery and magical abilities distributed amongst the Raft, they accounted for Tirian the necromancer and four skeletons including the Lieutenant. But luck was not on Anasdiazi's side, as he went down beneath the sightless eyes and unfeeling bones, Quackmore valiantly falling beside him, and in a totally unexpected twist Gunjah the Treasure Seeker fell as well.
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| More Pariwan badassery! |
Having seen Anadiazi fall, Mataw and Pariwan Keetslander leapt into action, accounting for another three of the Silent Battalion. The Raft in turn was unharmed, and somewhat awed by the ferocity of the duo as they tore into the undead enemy.
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| The dreadful duo |
Pariwan easily cut down the remaining skeleton before him. Mataw and the Hanger-On moved towards the two skeletons behind them, and when those puppets advanced in return they cut down the Hanger-On. Puddles flew across the battleground to take a shot at the remaining skeleton, but he missed even at close range. He was now within the attacking distance of the animated bones! He managed to fend off the first assault by it, but would he be so lucky a second time?
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| Turn 3, the casualties thus far |
In the end, the skeleton pushed Puddles back, who then used the opportunity to move even further away and shoot at the lifeless monster again. This time his arrow struck true and felled it. The battle had been won! But what of the fallen companions?
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| Puddles: Endgame |
The first thing to do was to check the status of the casualties. Anasdiazi seemed quite dead, but a judicious application of some medicinal herbs showed that he was merely knocked out. Quackmore was lightly injured and would require three campaign turns. But three campaign turns is SO LONG TO WAIT! So I spent a Story Point to re-roll the recovery time, and he would only be recuperating for one campaign turn after all. Gunjah the Treasure Seeker was only knocked out. He stood up, brushed himself off, and was good to go. The Hanger On was quite dead, possibly from fright.
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| The final casualties |
Searching through the bones (and the body of Tirian) the Raft found some evidence of what was going on around Berstavalb; this would reduce the highest Threat by one (this is an interesting situation, as Berstavalb is my Gloranthan stand-in for Hillshire Vale whose highest threat is Dark Secrets but it cannot be used as an encounter until the other threats are cleared.). The Raft had also reduced the Silent Battalion Threat by one as well. Assorted other finds were a Fine sword, a Fine longbow, and a shield. In Tirian's robes they found a scroll with the spell Trickster's Touch. Anasdiazi, Quackmore, Puddles, and the Nameless Priest Of Humakt all levelled up. Gunjah the Treasure Seeker was promoted to Hero status.
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| The last disposition |
This was a really fun game. Ivan did a great job in creating the Silent Battalion. They are a bit more challenging to fight against than the regular run of losers that we have been facing. Losing Anasdiazi, Quackmore, and Gunjah right off was a little scary; I'd hate to lose my game Avatar, and I had just managed to acquire my long-sought dwarf. But it all turned out well in the end, and the Raft is safely in Berstavalb.
Five Leagues From The Borderlands and the supplements are available here.
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