Scenario 1 - The Deserted Village

It has been less than a week since the destruction of Lorenthia and the appearance of the Shadow Deep but, in that time, the world has seemingly gone mad. Reports of strange creatures are flooding in from all along the new border. Even with every soldier, ranger, and volunteer mobilized, the kingdom is stretched thin. Three days ago, a veteran ranger by the name of Aventine went out to investigate reports of an attack on a nearby village. He has not returned. Determined to find the missing ranger, you have gathered what companions you can and set off for the village. It’s an eight-hour hike over difficult terrain 

 

Scenario 1 - The Deserted Village

As soon as you came within sight of the nameless village, you knew that something wasn’t right. There was no sound of man or animal, no movement except for the gentle swaying of the trees in the breeze. Closer in, you could see bodies lying in the dirt and smell the stench of death. Undaunted, you covered your face and carried on. Whatever happened here, it was your duty to try to discover the truth, and, if possible, determine the fate of Aventine. You had just reached the centre of the village, and were about to split up to search, when a horrible moaning sound came from all around.

 

For this mission, the King had dispatched two (or rather three) young Rangers, The Twins, and the magician Akriss.  They were accompanied by Bohwihsh and Keila, and by Jabir the Whisper, Pattashin, and Akriss' pet Cobra.

 

Author's note : unusually, unpainted lead is on the table, as my youngest hasn't finished painting her guys.  I figured getting them onto the tabletop would be encouragement  : )

 

Akriss' inexperience showed, as his fireball went astray and his tail was bitten by a Carrionspawn, colloquially known to my daughter as "headless chickens".  

 

Fortunately Pattashin killed it off, and then Akriss' cobra was around to keep enemies at bay, and the magician quickly found a treasure trove.

Jabir and the Twins were letting crossbow bolts fly, with varying degrees of success (ok, ok, I totally missed everything whilst Agathe took down Mummies like they were made out of paper.  Oh, they are...) 

On the other side of the village, the fast-moving Bohwihsh cracked open the magic spell protecting one of the tents, but it turned out that all that was inside was a rotting, shambling corpse.  Fortunately Jabir was on hand to take it on, leaving the Squirrel free to, well, squirrel about.

Akriss had another embarrassing encounter with a headless chicken, but I think he was far enough away in the trees for nobody to notice.  Handy, that Cobra.  The Twins stopped shooting and dashed to the north-east corner of the village, where they had seen a splash of colour.  It was a dead villager, obviously a hedge-witch for she had a bouquet of Cordial of Spellfire on her.

Whilst Bohwihsh picked up on some unusual tracks in the north-west corner of the village, Keila forcefully smashed her way into a suspiciously blood-stained tent, where she found the Ranger Aventine's corpse.  Muttering a quick prayer to the gods in his honour, she identified and picked up his magical sword.   A mere toothpick for her, but others could no doubt benefit from it.

 

Another wave of shambling mummies appeared.  A Slow spell from Akriss and an excellent shot from the Twins rendered two of them useless, allowing Keila to reach and roll over a mutilated and decaying corpse covered with strange bite wounds, which she recognised as the work of Giant Spiders.

The company having solved the mysteries of the Deserted Village (after 4 turns), they withdrew into the forest, out of sight of their enemies, to discuss where to go from here...

 

 

No-one had their Health reduced to 0 in this encounter (although 2 wounds were taken by Keila, 2 by Pattashin, and 7 by Akriss), so no need to roll on the Survival Table.  As the scenario states, all Health therefore returns to full.

The Rangers add up their XP.  We have decided to implement a house rule : instead of Rangers getting equal XP, each Ranger gains XP for what s/he and his or her companions achieved, which is then doubled (as we have 2 Rangers).  This doubling is not applied to XP gains that, by nature, benefit both rangers.

The Twins and their companions (played by Agathe) having seen off 2 Mummies and 1 Carrionspawn, uncovered 5 clues, discovered Aventine's body and recovered his sword, and having figured out the presence of the Giant Spiders (bites and tracks), gained 65 XP x 2 = 130 XP.  The Twins are now Level 1, and acquire new skills : +2 in Navigation, +2 in Pick Locks and +1 in Read Runes.  They choose not to swap a spell for going up a level.

With two Mummies and four Carrionspawn taken out, but only one measly clue of little importance found, the not-so-mighty-yet Akriss only notches up 18 XP x 2 = 36 XP.

All Companions gain 2 Progression Points.  We are also trying another House Rule : a Companion gets an additional PP for each 10 XP [FRD] he personally acquired for the Ranger.

This means an addition 3 Progression Points for Keila and 1 for Bohwihsh.

No Companion yet goes up a level.

All Heroic Abilities and Spells used are regained.

Akriss' treasure turns out to be a Potion of Wraithwalk.

The company redistributes their gains from the scenario : Aventine's magic sword goes to a proud Pattashin, the Potion of Wraithwalk is given to Bohwihsh, and the Cordial of Spellfire remains with The Twins.

Akriss has a Spellbook, into which he writes his Heal spell.  Being able to cast two of them will be handy if an encounter with Giant Spiders is to be survived....

This is not the end of a Mission, and the scenario not specifying otherwise, Companions are not reorganised.