Scenario 1 - Sandstorm
Stepping inside the tent, you see your captain standing behind a camp table with two men you don’t recognize. One is a snail, dressed in practical travel clothes, but with a gold and silver cloak clasp in the shape of a compass rose. The other, an otter, is shorter and younger, with an aristocratic bearing and stylish dress, including a cloak of Lorenthian blue. Your captain nods as you enter and immediately introduces the others.
‘This is Count Gelleck of Lorenthia, and Arisien, the royal cartographer. They have been working on the problem of the lost prince.’
‘A bit less lost that he was before,’ says Arisien, pulling a large parchment from a bag and rolling it out on the table. The parchment contains a large scale map of the border between Alladore and the Jungle Deep. ‘After carefully studying the star chart brought back by your rangers, we’ve been able to determine that the prince should be right about here.’ Arisien points to a small ‘x’ that sits in an otherwise blank area of the Jungle Deep, in the north-west corner of the map.
Looking over the map, you shake your head. ‘The northern front is completely overrun. An entire army stands between us and any access to the Deep in that area. The few entrances that are open to us are leagues away. We’d never survive such a long journey in the Deep.’
‘Giving up before you’ve started?’ asks Gelleck.
Your captain raises a hand to stop your reply. ‘The first step in any plan is establishing what is possible and what is not, and it is true that all of the entrances available in Alladore are too far away from the target. However, one of our far scouts has discovered small groups of enemy soldiers emerging from a hole, here.’
Your captain touches another small ‘x’ on the map, this one firmly in the desert wastes north of Alladore.
‘Although it means crossing a large section of desert, and either battling or slipping past whatever enemy forces may be at or guarding the entrance, from this point, it is a much shorter distance to the prince. A small team, travelling fast and light, should be able to make it.’ Your captain looks you directly in the eye. ‘I know there are a huge number of unknowns in this mission, not the least that we are trusting a “magic mirror” found in enemy territory to tell us that the target even exists. But if there is a chance, even a slim one, that we can save a prince of the house of Lorenthia… well, the King himself has ordered this mission. We must see it done.’
‘I would very much like to see a Lorenthian included in this mission,’ says Count Gelleck. ‘It means more to us than anyone, and their specific knowledge may prove useful.’
Your captain nods. ‘Of course, my lord.’ He then looks back at you. ‘I’ve also got a man that can help you through the wastes. He’s an expert. If anyone can get you to that hole safely, it’s him.’
‘And I will be coming as well,’ says Arisien, looking slightly surprised. ‘Though I didn’t know that until this minute. This map is mostly blank. It will take an expert navigator to even get within miles of the target point. I can get you there, and maybe I can fill in some of these blanks as I go.’
Again your captain nods. ‘It’s a grim road you must travel, but so are most of the roads in these times. Gather your men and take what supplies you need. Go as soon as you are able…’
Scenario 1 - Sandstorm
It has been two days since you left the last patch of grass and low shrub behind and stepped out into the seemingly endless sands of the desert waste. While the heat and sliding sand have been challenging, it is the dull monotony of the scenery that weighs most heavily. Low dunes, unmarked by any footsteps apart from your own, stretch in every direction, and it has been hours since you have seen so much as a bird in the sky. Pabrim says it’ll be another two days, at least, before you reach the Ba’tel oasis, and a further five or six days beyond that before you reach the hole that you hope will take you into the Jungle Deep.
As you trudge onward, your mind begins to wander to battles past and friends lost. You can feel your mood darkening, but suddenly, you realize this change of mood isn’t coming from within. Something else… a feeling, like you are walking through a graveyard.
You look up to a darkening sky; then glance down and see little ripples in the sand. One of the pack dinosaurs grunts loudly. Up ahead, Pabrim has called a halt and is looking around with a puzzled expression.
Then everything seems to happen at once. Pabrim shouts, ‘Sandstorm…’ before a driving wind carries the rest of his words away. Sand swirls up all around, until you can barely see your companions. Then something erupts from the ground in a geyser of sand and gives a hoarse moan…
A desolate waste indeed. Arisien, the most learned amongst the company, had already noted the similarity between certain relics that laid half-buried in the sand, and the sketches brought back by the ranger company that had ventured into the Temple of Madness, which he had had the good fortune to see. He was already filling out his new maps with numerous drawings and annotations. He drew Keila into his musings, fuelled by her interest for, and knowledge of, ancient languages. Their guide Pabrim, well versed in the lore of the desert, was a well of useful information, well skilled in describing vividly things that were too far from their path to admire.
Then the sandstorm struck....
The heroes were split into three groups by the swirling chaos, one team composed of the Twins, Pabrim leading his pack dinosaur, and the paladin Angel...They were sorely tested by the Sandhusks, who refused to go down, and rapidly laid low Angel, too unwieldy in his glass armour and, both hands occupied with his sword, unable to shelter his eyes from the stinging sand. Pabrim skirted round the whole battlefield, and picked up several clues, before his wounds pushed him to escape.
The Twins were the last heroes standing, and they would have been able to slip away into the roiling clouds of sand - having deftly avoided a patch of quicksand - had they not been ambushed by a skeleton that they were unfortunately unable to see off. They were caught up by a great pack of undead, and fell to the ground stunned.
The second team might have been delayed much longer, had they not been unfailingly led by Arisien... Just as well, as both of his companions played a major role in the struggle to come. Princesse's magic proved very useful indeed, as surprisingly did her fighting skills. As for the second Ranger, Ren, she bought down a Giant Snake at a dark time for the company, gave them hope anew, and doubtless bought them enough time to look over the clues before escaping. Arisien himself was plunged into the thick of the fighting, parrying off two Sandhusks and giving both Rangers time to gather their strength at a difficult moment.
Bohwihsh and Keila found each other despite the swirling sandstorm, soon to be joined by the squirrel's faithful Battle Ram....Keila was bogged down by a Sandhusk and then by a Sandblade; and so numerous were the enemy that Bohwihsh unusually found himself in the midst of the fighting, with his Halt Undead ability already used. It spooked him so much that he ran away as soon as there was a way through, forced to abandon his unwilling pack dinosaur that was quickly overwhelmed and slain by a pack of skeletons.
The mission was far from a failure, as both Pabrim and Bohwihsh escaped, along with a pack dinosaur, and no less than four clues had been revealed. Above all, the heroes were alerted to the dangers of this terrifying desert, and ceased henceforth to treat Pabrim's stories as old wives' tales, or as pure invention. They would no doubt listen much closer to his long discussions with Arisien and Keila around the evening fire.
All who had heard the tales of the Temple of Madness could not help but notice the similarities between the strange funeral practices described there, and the unnerving appearance of the "Sandblades". If this truly was a graveyard, then those who had risen, given their numbers and weaponry, must surely have been soldiers. What battle was fought here ? And how many centuries ago ?
Hence valuable lessons had been learned in the midst of the swirling tempest...but at what cost ?
We played this on Challenge Level, which may have been overly ambitious as The Rescue, of which Across the Wastes is the first of three segments, has a reputation for being deadly, reputation well-deserved as we found out !
The post-action rolls were fraught, as both our Rangers, and all of our companions except for Bohwihsh and Pabrim, were down. It did not start well, with poor Keila adding a Smashed Leg to her now growing list of permanent injuries. The pack dinosaur was automatically slain....six more heroes to go....but all survived unscathed, hooray ! The sandstorm had allowed them to get away and had literally covered their tracks.
In this scenario, characters returned to full Health. When this occurs, they are allowed to search for herbs. Once the sandstorm finally died down, they went out looking, led by Pabrim who knows the desert like the back of his hand; but sand laid over everything and there was nothing to be found. Foraging will have to wait for the wind to blow anew.
We use our house rules for XP acquisition for Rangers and PPs for Companions.
The Twins took away 79 XP, having slain a total of 4 Sandhusks, 2 of the pesky Sandblades, and 5 Skeletons, and Bohwihsh having gotten away. Points for the escaped pack dinosaur were shared. Ren gained 61 XP, from 2 Sandhusks, the Zombie Camel and the Giant Snake, plus the 2 XP picked up by Princess when she found the grappling hook, and Pabrim having escaped.
The Twins attained Level 12, acquiring a new Heroic Ability and the option to swap out a spell.
The companions gained, for the most, 1 or 2 PP, with 3 PP for Bohwihsh and Keila.
All Heroic Abilities and Spells used are regained.
No treasure was discovered.
The two bottles picked up by the Twins were found to contain Potions of Toughness, which the two hedgehoglings gave to Keila and Angel Princess' grappling hook went to Ren, both because she had some rope and would no doubt get the best use out of it.
The Tollonian metal bracer that Pabrim had found went to Angel. Since it is not truly a shield (according to the description), we decided he can benefit from it even when wielding a two-handed sword.
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