Infiltration

From "The Warren Percy Affair", by Oathsworn Games, along with all artwork 

Sometimes, you just had to grit your teeth, and do what needed to be done, however painful or distressing  you found it personally. For the good of the Kingdom. It wasn’t easy, of course, but then what important  decision was ever easy? He was a prince, after all, and princes had responsibilities. Not as many responsibilities as a king though, that was true. And there was the problem.

He’d been a prince for such a very, very long time.

Prince Reinert Othyr turned to Knight Grand Master Coelbert. ‘Is he secured?’
The armoured hare gave a terse nod. ‘Yes. Sergeant Mulgert and twelve of our most highly trained knights have him, and are setting out now for Tynemouth. He’ll be on board the ship and bound for the continent by daybreak.’
Reinert inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement, and waved a paw in dismissal. Getting the support of the Order of the Ebon Rose had been surprisingly easy; a simple guarantee of royal favour and patronage was all it had taken. The Grand Master was an ambitious hare, and he understood the need for a certain… flexibility in political matters. He’d organised the ship, the overseas accommodation, the long-term staff and guards; everything they needed for the King’s exile.

The rest had been rather harder to arrange. King Redwulf Othyr was a wily otter, and he hadn’t kept his paws on the crown without being both ruthless and a touch paranoid. The sleeping draught had needed to be colourless, odourless and tasteless, so as to be undetectable in his wine. It also needed to be both powerful and rapid enough to overcome the King’s iron constitution, yet slow enough to leave the King’s taster unaffected for sufficient time to allay suspicion. That had been an almost impossible combination.
Almost impossible, but not quite. One beast had the requisite skill, and the kind of morals that made weight of coin the balancing factor on the scales of right and wrong. And those scales had needed a lot of balancing; Yarrow de Goulby’s alchemical abilities didn’t come cheap. But then, de Goulby was the greatest alchemist the Fellowship could boast, and probably the only one in the country who could produce the sleeping draught successfully. So much coin, though. He’d cost Prince Reinert so much coin. And now Yarrow de Goulby was going to cost him even more; tying up loose ends was never cheap. Reinert sighed, and motioned to his Chamberlain. ‘Show her in.’

Lady Jayne De’ath had been a difficult choice; deadly enough, certainly. But also, if the rumours be true, a touch insane. Or more generously, as she was both noble and rich, a touch eccentric. Looking at the beautiful vixen standing before him, an innocent smile on her face, but with that strangely intense, unblinking stare, the Prince found himself sighing again. He’d have much preferred to use the Thorns for this. But their contract was with the King, and this was not the time to be inviting awkward questions. No. She’d have to do, risky or not. Once she’d killed de Goulby, this whole distressing business could be put behind him. Announce his father’s sudden, unexpected pilgrimage, assume the Regency, and take complete control of the realm. The otter smiled to himself. This wasn’t how he’d wanted things to go, he told himself; but of course, sacrifices had to be made. For the good of the Kingdom.

And besides, he’d been waiting for the throne for such a very, very long time.

 

BACKGROUND

Meanwhile, back out in the woods, a despondent band of beasts are slumped around their campfire. But they’re not the kind of critters to give up at the first set-back, and so after foraging for a quick breakfast, they set off to scout out the surrounding area. The woods are dark and dense, but suddenly they break through into a clearing. To the south, they can see the edge of the nearby village, Warren Percy, and make out the silhouette of a Hired Paw sentry. 

Ahead of them, however, is a mysterious circle of stone, with a large altar set into its center. To their great surprise, standing by the altar stone are three beasts, dressed in green clothing, bearing a symbol known in Euwera : the leaf symbol of the Kindred, the chosen knights of the Green Mother.

"This is a fortuitous meeting indeed", they say together in a sing-song harmony.  "We were contemplating a difficult decision that lay before us. We have received an urgent missive, requesting our presence upon the shores of Lake Enthel.  Our Abbey is threatened by a powerful force from Myrce, and all the Kindred are summoned to its aid.
"Yet we are also sworn to defend this shrine...and above all, those who leave their offerings here. The people of Warren Percy are under threat too, and it goes against our code to leave them helpless. May we lay that burden upon you? You can make use of our nearby burrow, and surely the Green Mother will bless your efforts. It would be a great help to us."

Naturally, the band of beasts agree to this noble request immediately.  As to their motives, that is up to the player to decide...being able to dispose of a well-stocked and warm burrow for a few weeks, religious awe, genuine concern for the folk of Warren Percy....

From this point on, we will refer to the Warband that lost the Hiring Fair scenario as the Chosen. The Chosen now have a Den with the Smallholding upgrade (p.184).

The Chosen Warband needs to know what’s going on inside Warren Percy; but with no way of knowing how strong the defences are, a frontal assault is too dangerous to risk. Stealth is the only option…
Thankfully, the gods are smiling on the Chosen; the night is pitch dark, moonless, and the weather’s vile. Wild, stormy, with driving rain and gusting winds. Not a fun night to spend crawling through the grass, but at least the sentries will be huddled up and less alert... 

AIM 

The Chosen must get at least one model off the opposite short table edge, without that model having been seen at any time.  This will allow him / her / them to gain valuable intelligence about what is going on in Warren Percy, and perhaps link up with any villagers that escaped their would-be captors.

TERRAIN

Set up on a 48" by 24" table, representing the outskirts of the village of Warren Percy.

Place three makeshift barricades or guard posts, about 2-4" long apiece, within a strip 12" wide, no closer than 6" to the Hired Paw's chosen short table edge.

Add some scattered trees, rocks and bushes to the tabletop. 

SIDE QUESTS 

Both bands have one Side Quest.

BANDS AND DEPLOYMENT ZONES

The Hired Paw are the Defender.  They may select only three models for this Quest, each one placed in contact with a guard post.  All other characters are sleeping in the village.

The Chosen are the Attacker.  They set up their models within 2" of the opposite short table edge.  All their models begin with the condition "Sneaking" (p.36, p.27). 

SPECIAL RULES AND RANDOM EVENTS 

Barricades / Guard Posts

These makeshift sentry posts, as well as creating Partial LOS, also give Guard status to any figure in base to base contact with them, as if he or she had selected the corresponding Action. 

The Hired Paw sentries can move, but must remain in base contact with their sentry posts until a Chosen model loses its Sneaking Condition or uses Barge, Charge, Attack, Shoot; or Casts any spell that directly affects a Hired Paw model. 

Sneaky

A Chosen model loses its initial Sneaking Condition if it receives a wound.  Hired Paw models may, for example, Shoot at Chosen models that are Sneaking.  A failure can be interpreted as the Hired Paw seeing a shadow, hearing or smelling something on the wind, but failing to identify what. 

Wild Weather 

Each time a model needs to check LOS, roll their Awareness and add 6 : this is their maximum LOS in inches.

The fierce downpour has an unnatural quality to it that dampens even magic.  All spells have their Difficulty Level increased by 1.  Any spells whose effect removes a Sneaking condition have their Difficulty Level increased to 10. 

STARTING THE GAME

Do not use the normal Initiative rules : the Chosen have the initiative on the first turn.

ENDING THE GAME

The Quest ends when there are no models from the Chosen band with Sneaking Condition left on the table.

VICTORY

The Hired Paw are victorious if all the Townsfolk are captured; this does not include Erenthal's man.  If not, their rivals are victorious.

All captured townsfolk will be deported by Snook and his cronies.  Any townsfolk that escaped have gone to ground within the village, and will be available to assist the liberation of Warren Percy in future scenarios. 

REWARDS

Experience 

+1 : Survives 

+1 : Spotting.  For any model that Searches and successfully removes the Sneaking Condition from at least one enemy model

+2 : Getting through.  For every model that successfully sneaks off the short board edge. 

Treasure 

Monetary rewards are to come...for now, the warband will have to wait !

Fate Points

Each Chosen model that successfully managed to Sneak into the village allows his band to recharge 3 Fate Points, thanks to knowledge and contacts gained. 

POST-BATTLE PHASE

After this Quest, both bands run through the Post-Battle Phase.  The Hired Paw cannot, however, Wander (as they are confined to Warren Percy) nor Labour (as they have no Den).  Instead, they can choose from among the special actions listed on pages 18-19 of the Warren Percy Affair book.

The Chosen cannot enter Warren Percy, so they ignore Step 7.  As for the Hired Paw, they cannot purchase any Rare Equipment during this step, given that the village is mostly empty. 

The Hired Paw's upkeep is paid by their employers, and they have no den, so they ignore Steps 8 and 9. 

Models never regenerate their Fate Points during the Warren Percy mission, although they may regain some during the scenarios.  

AFTER ACTION REPORT...