Turn 24 - Days 143 to 155 - Killingtara

 

The true motivations of the cult of Sisyn have been revealed : they are the Whispers from Beyond, and are now enemies to Godric's Seven, for even if they intend to raise all the heroes of long-forgotten Tara for their defense, the Rangers of Alladore cannot let the Vale be swamped by the undead.

At Mankhundun, the company already learned much about the elusive and long-vanished Taran civilisation.  A surprisingly advanced Hu-Man civilisation - not the first one the Rangers have encountered since the fight against the Deep began - they appear to have been great builders of underground cities, if the warrens that are the foundations of present day Mankhundun are to be believed.

There are important but still elusive links between these ancient Tarans, and the Death God Sisyn.  Today's worshippers of Sisyn seem to see, in Taran mass burial grounds, a ready source of their undead legions.   The Tarans sought, for some reason, to stamp out Sisyn's cult in a distant past, and evidently did a very good job of it.  His theory is that the followers of Sisyn only saved themselves by assassinating Queen Tara.  It troubles him, however, that the death of Queen Tara seems to signal the end of an entire civilisation, so much so, that they are known to posterity by her name.  Was the assassination of the queen accompanied by mass slaughter in her palace ?  It seems unlikely that the handful of survivors of a waning cult could have done such a thing.  If Sisyn's worshippers did not bring down Taran civilisation, then who did ? 

Whatever the long-forgotten truths might be, the Tarans have returned, the Curse of War.  Twice they have struck against Okerdik, and they must be stopped.

Now everything converges on the snowy flanks of Killingtara...

 

On the slopes of Killingtara, Tara's Tower looms.... 

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Scenario Parameters :

This is Depth 1 of the Delve. 

There are no difficulty adjustments, which occur as of Depth 3.  Once Depth 3 has been reached, always use the Curse of War encounter tables, and remember that encounters with them are at +1 Enemy (p. 207).  

Tara's traditional foes have already reached the tower, for the adventurers face Skeletal Defenders (p.180).  That there are only five of them suggests that the denizens of Killingtara are fighting back.  They were obviously unable, however, to kill the source of their misery, the Deranged Cultist of Sisyn (p.125).  His sinister mastery of the Pull threatens the coming of greater evils...

As Mina scouts forward, she realises, in the Silence of the Grave (p. 143) that an additional three skeletons have been called from tombs in the centre of the cavern.  There must be put an end to it !

Destroying the tombs will accomplish this.  To do so ....., and earn 1 Story Point. 

Terrain is set up as per the generic rules (p.128-129).

Going is difficult, so decrease base move rates by 1", and only characters with the Crawling trait can Dash.  No ranged attacks can be made beyond 8".

This is a Site Battle, see p.142 for the rules concerning it.

Under Siege (p.219) is in effect, so since a Unique Foe is present, if it is not slain, a roll must be made on the Enemy Plans Table (p.207).

A roll will be made after this scenario to see if the Delve is cleared out.

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