Mission 2 ~ The Guarded Bridge

Returning to the stronghold of Cwmcaern on the boarder marches, Hwyll and his companions meet messengers with news that contact with the beacon tower at Tor Varden has been lost and they must go there immediately. They quickly take stock of their situation and agree that they need speed and stealth.  So it is decided that Joco, wounded and still feeling the effects of the spider venom, will return with one of the messengers and his place will be taken by the other messenger: Gawne a talented young archer, who is keen but lacking in experience. Hwyll knows this will be the young man's first venture into the Shadow Deep and hopes it wont be his last.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mission 2 ~ The Beacon Tower

Scenario 1 ~ The Bridge Guards

For this mission: The ranger, Hwyll the Autumn Elf - Mouni the Tracker from the boarderlands, Osimund the conjurer, Vlaka the rogue, The King's guardsman, Malaka and young Gawne the archer.

The following day Hwyll and his companions entered a wild and inhospitable land known as The Scree. A harsh and unsettling place populated by rocky outcrops & thick brambles where travelers would best be on the look out for ambush by brigands or other less savory creatures.

Cautiously cresting a low rise Hwyll spies, in the distance, the glittering course of a river ~ the Enthel which, although it's not wide, is swift, deep and cold. He can also see a small bridge that looks to be guarded by troops that appear ill-favoured and look not to be human. They seem to be some kind of Beast-Men.

The scenario calls for "Gnolls" but I don't own any gnoll figures, so, in a pinch, orcs will have to do!

A grizzly gnollish token to remind wayfarers to keep away.

They have the element of surprise, so the Companions move with stealth and caution hoping to catch the enemy unawares. (TN8 Stealth Roll every turn to move one enemy figure figure 6" in any direction.) So far they have been cautious but it's time to make their move or go back and admit failure! (Pre-game one TN12 Tracking Roll - Move 3 heroes 6" closer ~ Failed.)

On the right Hwyll, Vlaka and the guardsman scout forward keeping out of sight. They can hear shouted orders in an inhuman tongue and heavy boots tramping through the undergrowth. Osimund, staying close to the young archer directs him forward as Mouni crept forward quickly and silently.

But no matter how silently she may move, Mouni's eyes cannot penetrate inside the thick brambles and a forward enemy scout creeps out of hiding and stalks her from behind. The hunter has become the hunted! (Event Card - Gnoll randomly placed 8" from the center of the table.)

But Malaka the guardsman saw the scout creep from it's hole with it's eyes on the heedless Mouni. He signaled to Hwyll and, creeping to his left, struck with his spear. Knocking some loose stones just before he struck caused the enemy to turn and he dodged the main thrust taking a bad cut to the arm.

Up ahead Hwyll loosed and arrow at a stray foe-man but failed to hit home. So, he drew his blade and charged forward to silence the beast-man. Vlaka joined him and, with a bold effort, lunged forward with his dagger and little effect as the beast-man swatted it away easily. (Vlaka did win the combat but not well enough to inflict any damage.)

Little did the heroes realise how close danger lurked. From close by an inhuman voice called out with a curse and a laugh and moved off in a different direction. (The "gnolls" move in a random direction. If they have line of sight to a hero when they activate the game is up and the heroes lose their "Stealth bonus". This also happens if a gnoll is killed within LoS of another gnoll. The gnoll above is not in LoS due to the big rock).

Mouni, now aware of the danger moved in to aid Malaka and stuck down the, now out numbered enemy. A close look and they did indeed seem to be some kind of beast-men. "Gnolls," says Mouni, who had encountered their kind before.

Osimund and Gawne entered a small defile. With and word & a gesture, Osimund summoned a thick mist which filled the front of the defile concealing their presence. (Smoke spell. See below regarding Osimund's spells and how I interpret their use.)

A stray gnoll ignores the smokey cloud and, instead, chooses to inspect a clearer path.

Hwyll and Vlaka dispached the gnoll archer-scout silently as his unseen crony left him to his fate. On the far bank of the river the gnoll chieftain sensed that something was awry and barked out orders.

Osimund cast a Shield of Light spell on himself and entered magical cloud so that he could better watch the gnoll movements from within it's cover. Gawne thought that the wizardling was just hiding and, hearing heavy boots close by returned the way they had come to investigate.

Before him stood an enemy and, keen to prove himself he knocked and arrow and loosed!

Was he just too keen or was it something else? The arrow grazed the beast-man who looked at the young man and grinned. Gawne backed away, tripping over his own feet - No! It was a badly laid trap that almost had him. But luck was on his side this time. (Event Card: Booby Trap! - TN7 Perception Roll ~ or +1 Fight attack. He failed the roll but the attack caused no damage.)

On either flank a gnoll appeared. Was this just coincidence or was the gnoll chieftain aware of them and directing their movements? (In one case it was coincidence but on Hwyll's side it was the result of a successful Stealth Roll, which allows the heroes to move a gnoll 6'' in any direction - I chose to move the gnoll into line of sight and a bow shot).

Hwylls keen elfin ears heard a creak as, to their left a gnoll archer took aim at Vlaka's back...  

As the wounded gnoll archer advanced on Gawne, the young bowman loosed another dart, which grazed the beast's head. It's grin widened as it loosed a contemptuous dart in return and winging the young archer. From the corner of his eye he saw another of the beast's approaching from behind. He was surrounded and afraid and alone...

From out of nowhere, Mouni raced up a great rocky outcrop and put an arrow through a gnoll scout as, out of nowhere, the veteran guardsman, Malaka charged and ran Gawne's gnoll scout through the chest with his two handed spear. "Run boy!" the veteran cried. So Gawne ran...

The enemy were now alerted and their chieftain ordered his beast-men across the bridge, following them with curses and the flat of his blade. 

Gawne shot a quick and ineffective arrow at the enemy to his rear and retreated back into the defile where he had last seen Osimund with the gnoll following.

High on her rock an arrow flew towards Mouni's heart but the brave tracker crouched low so that it sailed overhead, and leaped down to confront the gnoll chieftain's  attack.

The gnoll that had moved on Hwyll and Vlaka had fallen to an arrow and a cunningly thrown knife that the rogue kept concealing in his jerkin. With that enemy taken into account Hwyll stood side by side with Mouni and they loosed a pair of arrows killing the first two gnolls charging towards them. 

(Mouni was now within 3" of Hwyll, allowing her to be activated in the Ranger Phase.)

As they stood ready, the gnolls charged into the two heroes who barred their way. Neither side gave way and a fierce fight took place in the narrow way.

 Whilst in the smoke filled ravine Gawne stood his ground against a fearsome foe.

Osimund, watching the enemy movement from within his cloud now saw that the way to the bridge was clear, so he made his move trusting in his magical shield to keep him safe from stray arrows. (In game terms the smoke cloud completely obscures Line of Sight. But I can see what's happening because of my God like Wargamer Vision, so I assume he is just inside the cloud where he can remain unseen but still see out.)

Alone and fighting for his life, Gawne see's the veteran Malaka running up behind his enemy. Thus distracted he momentarily lets his guard down. It's only a split second but the gnoll takes full advantage and strikes the young archer a severe blow to the side of his head. Gawne falls to the ground as Malaka thrust's forward with his spear... 

A gnoll scout that Osimund had thought otherwise distracted must have noticed his movement because it crosses the river ford and takes aim at the conjurers back. Despite his magical protection, the arrow penetrates and pierces the wizard's shoulder blade.

Although not the bravest member of Hwyll's companions he is not the stupidest either. He passes infront of the gnoll's grizzly warning sign and forgoes the bridge in favour of the cover of some nearby rocks.

A single thrust on the run and the gnoll standing over the body of Gawn is skewered as Malaka's spear rips through it's spine and out of it's breast bone. Pulling the weapon free and full of rage he charges through the smoke with a mighty yell...

 ...And straight into the archer that just shot Osimund. Without stopping he ran it though and pined it to the ground.

Before the bridge, the battle with the gnoll chieftain continues. The gnolls have the advantage and both Hwyll and Mouni feel gnollish iron on their flesh. Mouni manages to wound her opponent and push it back but the gnoll chieftain is made of harder stuff and presses the elfin ranger hard as his blade strikes home again.

Vlaka steps in, to try and help his leader and his blade bites into the brutes back. Not a killing blow but it does distract. Mouni presses her attack.

Osimund crosses the bridge as another gnoll crawls from the nearby brambles. He'll need to move quickly before the beast can catch up to him. (Event Card - Another random gnoll.)

Mouni kills her opponent and rushes forward to prevent the new comer from chasing down the wounded Osimund. Hwyll is pressed hard by the gnoll chieftain and his wounds are bleeding. Things were not looking good but he still had some tricks up his sleeve and his confidence is not yet diminished. (He has the Parry, Heroic Skill that he can use if he needs it +10 Fight but deals no damage. He also has the Blocking Weapon found in the previous mission.)

Distracted by the knife wound from behind the gnoll chieftain is now pressed between two foes. Then, with a mighty effort, Hwyll swung his blade and smote the gnoll chieftain so that it fell to the ground with a cloven neck bone. (18 v's 4 will do that!)

Without taking time to attend to his wounds, Hwyll dashed to the aid of Mouni as the tracker fought the last of the gnolls.

With Vlaka close by, Osimind inspects the gnoll camp finding a set of keys that look worthy of further inspection. On the other side of the camp Malaka opens a coffer and finds a soiled velvet bag containing a fancy amulet. 

Hwyll casts a heal spell to alleviate his wounds and makes an impressive leap over the river (Dash, Heroic Skill). He moves past the camp to inspect the land beyond. 

"Look," says Mouni pointing to the sky where a vulture flies in a straight unerring line. "A harbinger of doom." 

"Or a messenger of our enemy." said Hwyll as a heavy rain begins to fall (last Event Card).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aftermath:

Going back for the body of Gawne the companions find that the young man still lives although, by the look of his wound, he will lose his left eye despite Hwyll's healing skills. (A perminent -1 to Gawne's Fight ability). At least it wasn't his aiming eye!

There's no tuning back so Gawne will have to continue with the mission. And it looks like the party have picked up a new companion. A large guard dog has been found in the camp. He looks to have been mistreated by the gnoll folk but seems friendly to the elf and his friends. (The treasure found by Malaka is an Amulet of Leadership +5 Leadership - the cost of a hound). They decide to call him Hrolf.

The keys, are inspected; "These are old and there are worn letters inscribed,' says Hwyll. 'They look to me to be ancient T and V runes in an archaic hand, indicating they must be the keys to Tol Varden the beacon tower itself. A fortuitous omen." (TN8 - Ancient Lore roll - passed).

With Hrolf bounding on ahead and a dreary rain falling, Hwyll the Autumn Elf and his companions, move forward into the Shadow Deep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Conclusion and some thoughts:

Once again I really enjoyed the game. It was looking grim for Hwyll fighting against the gnoll sergeant (or chieftain as I called him). Because of the way the game flows with a Ranger phase followed by a Monster phase, there are potentially several rounds of combat every turn. This happens when the fight continues and the fighters are locked. In that fight Hwyll lost three rounds in a row and got wounded each time. So it was getting a bit closer than I was comfortable with.

I do intend to keep the results of the games honest (what's the point otherwise?) and I don't want my hero to die an ignominious death too early. But he did still have some tricks on hand.

Mouni, once again did well but the real hero of this scenario must go to Malaka. With spear in hand (+3 Fight and +2 Damage) he ran right through every gnoll that he met (4 of them). I'm sure there's a medal and a promotion in his future. If he survives!

The vulture is a messenger of the Shadow Deep. I managed to get off the table before it did, so I don't think it has any effect on the next scenario. But I'm not 100% sure on that. And yes, I did just happen to have a 28mm vulture miniature sitting half painted on my desk for the past several years. A quick splash of paint and a tiny magnet in it's belly and it was ready to go.

I intend to keep the same party for each mission. I'll only replace members if they die and if potential replacement characters (prisoners etc.) present themselves. In between missions I don't mind changing characters but I'd rather remain pretty conservative with any changes and keep a pretty steady group.

Osimund and his spells

I'm unsure if a conjurer is stuck with his initial spell selection. I decided the answer is: No. This is because I want to keep a core of characters and I don't want a batch of conjurers with certain spell combo's that I swap in and out depending on the need. No... I have opted for the D&D approach. He has two spells per scenario selected as required. That way the party's conjurer is always Osimund (unless he dies of course). Maybe one day, he'll get a third spell.