Turns 12 and 13 - Days 76 to 79 - Tidjit

 

Godric stood on the edge of the narrow walkway, and raising his spear aloft, let out a mighty shout that echoed throughout the dim and the dark of Sisyn's temple.

"Let us hope this is not the last manifestation here of joy", whispered Parthoghimeos.

"It is no small thing that you have achieved here", bellowed Mina, her voice also echoing in the emptiness.

It was not.  The Temple of Sisyn had been liberated, and the friendship between the Rangers of Alladore and Tidjit would surely now evolve into an alliance.  Godric could only hope that the Jungle Deep would be the only victim of the forces they had freed here.  He looked over his company, which was once again complete, even if Ruairidh was still healing from his wounds.

It was time to return to Tidjit in triumph.  Whilst everyone else rested, Godric had Krik scout out the way, as he sought to avoid any unfortunate encounters.  The insect warrior, as usual, accomplished his task to perfection.

Two days later, they were back in Tidjit.  It was indeed a time of great excitement.  First of all, another small company of the Rangers of Alladore were in the village, sent by Szarseesi to bring low the creature she had warned them about [+2 Adventure Points and, later, +1 Story Point from the Adventurer Friend].  Travelling with them was a scholar of great repute from the Cascades.  Parthoghimeos and her shared precious information about the customs of Tidjit, and the scholar promised to look into the history and the ways of the cult of Sisyn.

The company were able to hire the services of Tidjit's blacksmith, and also sell some of the treasure picked up in the Temple.  Godric kept to himself the item that he had found, which perhaps belonged to a long-dead priestess and no doubt had some ritual value.  It might be prudent to keep a trump card in hand; or of course it might just be worthless junk.  The scholar from the Cascades had promised to look into that, as well.

Not that Ruairidh was back in Tidjit, Godric was pretty certain that news of the quest Sisyn had asked of them, would soon be out.  When that happened, they would have little choice but to undertake the rescue mission.

For now, however, the priority had to be to clear out the enemy raiding parties that were still infesting the countryside.  Not only were they making trade difficult, they would also pose a threat to the great religious procession that Tidjit was organising.

The shaman had decreed - to which the alderman could only nod approval - that the Priestess should leave Tidjit and bring back its bygone glory to the Temple of Sisyn.  She would be escorted there by her chanoines, a group of people that had suddenly sprung up in Tidjit.  They were dressed in the colours of blood - at least, when they could find such garments - and had a seemingly appropriate sinister look on their faces.  The common folk of Tidjit, from whom they had sprung, shunned them, and Godric noticed that only the shaman and the priestess addressed them directly.

It was a motley crew that would not survive very long in the wilderness, if the enemy were allowed to roam there.  Time to ride patrol.

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Scenario Parameters :

This is a Ride Patrol, leading to a Meeting Encounter against Unsavoury Types.

The enemy are Petty Robbers (p.177).  Unknown Enemy is in play, so there are only 2 with Slings, as well as 1 Unknown Enemy marker.  They may seem of too little threat to worry the upcoming Tidjit procession, but if Godric is hunting them, it is because they are led by a Ruthless Killer (p.125), fear of who has stiffened their spines [Use ragtag Elain for the Petty Robbers, no doubt rounded up during a raid and pressed into duty; the Ruthless Killer is a Hu-Man terrorising them into service].

The theme for the terrain is Near a Farmhouse, their ramshackle hideout to which Drake's Seven have tracked them.

The Objective is to Secure the Area (p. 133)...basically, all must die or be driven away !

As a House Rule, all of the Petty Robbers are Story Points. If more are driven off or captured than killed, immediately gain 1 Story Point.  To capture an enemy, a character must take them out whilst fighting Unarmed (-1/-1) or armed with a Staff.

Terrain is set up as per the generic rules (p.128-129), and for set-up see p.134.

After setting up, the heroes can attempt to Seize the Initiative (p.134). 

Although these unsavoury types are generally poor (all loot rolled at -1 Gold Mark), perhaps the advantage is that they have accumulated their meagre stash all in one place, in the farmhouse.  If the area is secured, the first object found has a value of +1 Gold Mark.

Under Siege (p.219) is in effect, so should a Unique Foe appear during the battle, and is not slain, a roll must be made on the Enemy Plans Table (p.207).

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Drake's Seven made good use of the small hummocks in front of the farmhouse, to send Ruairidh and Partho down one flank of the farmhouse, and Krik and Radovan down the other.  Godric and Mina stood boldly in the midst of the unploughed and barren fields and called out their challenge.

 

 

The Deep's assassin was ruthless, not rash.  Rather than dashing into the open, he took refuge in the nearby copse, and had his slingers move into better positions to bring the two enemy down.  He also knew that his bandits would be shortly returning from their latest raid, and unless things had gone badly, they would be numerous [the Unknown Enemy marker turned out to be no less than five robbers].

He was however unprepared for Ruairidh's sneak attack, backed up by Partho's magic.  The battle-frenzied hedgehog took out the slinger with one lethal blow.  The assassin, alone, and thwarted by Partho, was unable to bring Ruairidh down, effectively tying him up.  

 

In the meantime, Krik had rushed up the hill on the other side, and a rain of arrows brought down the second slinger, who had unwisely left the safety of the farmhouse to rain slingshots on Godric, and shot another robber in the back.

 

All this left Godric and Mina free to wade into the mass of petty bandits, swords sheathed and fists or spear butts flying.  The ragtag band were quickly laid out on the ground, whilst the others fled.  The Ruthless Killer also decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and made off, with Ruairidh shaking his sword at him in berserk anger.

 

The company Achieve the Objective and Hold the Field.  Although they had to kill three of the robbers, four of them were either captured or fled, and will hopefully tell others how the Rangers' mercy compares to that of the Deep (+1 Story Point).

The Ruthless Killer may have run with his tail between his legs (a difficult task for a Hu-Man...), but he remains a source of trouble.  What the company do not know, is that he is a scion of the threat known as the Curse of War, and that the strange Hu-Man folk that make up that faction have crossed the gates of the northern mountains, and taken up residence in the abandoned tower of the old queen Tara, from where they have begin to terrorise the surrounding lands. 

None of the adventurers were wounded during the attack on the farmhouse.

Ruairidh had clearly played the most epic part in the fight, and this allowed him to reach Level 1 (+1 Toughness); Partho reached Level 3 (acquiring the Escape spell).  Radovan benefitted from no particular flash of insight, having done little during the fighting other than cheer his team on.

The farmhouse contained little of worth, but had a useful stock of weapons that the petty bandits were obviously too untrained to use.  A fine sword went to Ruairidh, and a beautifully balanced war spear with elaborate decoration on the spearhead drew admiration.