The Hiring Fair

From "The Warren Percy Affair", by Oathsworn Games 

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 

Washed ashore on a foreign land, abandoned by the remaining sailors and left with little but the clothes on their backs, with no money, only the barest rudiments of the language gleaned by magical means, Erenthal and his companions appeared as half-mad to the locals.  The sheriff had kept them in cells for two long days before finally releasing them, his suspicious eyes following them all the way to the horizon.  The Prince and his men would have to find sustenance or resort to banditry and, probably, a swift end.

The road they were following had begun to skirt the Ironstone Hills when, at the crossroads near a village named Garrowsby, they happened upon Snook's freshly painted sign planted in the earth. They had no idea what date that was, but when, after some laborious asking of directions, they came upon Potter's Field, there were already quite a few rough-looking individuals camped there.  Tomorrow, then.  Dawn was only nine hours away.  Better get some rest, as much as a bed upon damp grass can offer...

 

AIM

Erenthal and his companions will compete against a rival band in a series of trials, in the hope of being selected by Abelard Snook for whatever task he has planned.  It hardly matters what that might be, as long as it offers food and board, and a little time to become accustomed to these strange new lands.

The opposing warband will remain the same throughout the Warren Percy mission.  Perhaps some of them will be desperate enough to rally afterwards to Erenthal's banner ? 

In the first trial, victory goes to whichever band receives the most points from doing damage to five sparring dummies.  1 pt is awarded for each "wound" inflicted by shooting, 2 pts from hand to hand combat, and whomever destroys a dummy wins 5 additional points.

In the second and third trials, victory goes to whichever band dealt the most wounds to its opponent. 

The winner of the Hiring Fair is the band that won two or three trials.   It will become known as "The Hired Paw" for the remainder of the Warren Percy mission.

TERRAIN

Set up on a 24" by 24" table. 

Potter's Field is just that, a flat expanse of ploughed land.

For the first trial, a line of dummies have been set up across the centre of the field.  There are five dummies in all, each 3'' apart. 

For the second trial, there is no terrain at all ! 

For the third trial, mark out a ring 12'' in diameter. 

SIDE QUESTS

There are no Side Quests for these scenarios.

BANDS AND DEPLOYMENT ZONES

For the first trial, Erenthal and his companions are the Defender.  Each band chooses a table edge, and deploys its members freely along it, but leaves one magic-user aside for the second trial.  

For the second trial, each Band chooses one of its magic users; the other members of the band do not participate in this duel.  Erenthal's magician is the Attacker.  Each band chooses a table edge, then sets up their magician 13'' away from their opponent's. 

For the third trial, each Band chooses one of its members.  Any wounds received from the previous two trials are retained.  Place the two combattants 2'' from the centre point of the ring, and 4'' apart. 

 

SPECIAL RULES AND RANDOM EVENTS

The First Trial

The five dummies have 12 damage points each.  Nothing prevents band members from attacking their enemies, this is a no-holds barred contest.

 

The Second Trial 

The duelling magicians are each given a scroll, with enough uses for the entire scenario.  The spell is called Dominate, it has a Difficulty of 5, and allows the caster to target an opponent within 12'' and line of sight.  The caster rolls either his Presence or Fortitude, against the targets opposite skill.  If the caster is successful, the target receives d8 wounds.  If unsuccessful, the caster receives d4 wounds from magical feedback.  Neither Tough nor Armour can reduce the wounds received. 

Other than that, each magician may use his or her personal spells, or even bludgeon their adversary if they so wish. 

 

The Third Trial 

Any model that leaves the ring loses instantly.

During this trial, any Attack action is automatically associated, for both models, with a free sub-action known as Duel.  Each model prepares a d6 that corresponds to their choice, and reveals them together.  The same Duel action may not be taken twice in a row.

1 Defend. Cannot roll Strike dice this Round, but may roll Fortitude as well as Block and add together when Blocking.
2 Measured. Attack and defend normally this Round.
3 Feint. Instead of Attacking with the Strike Stat, choose Presence OR Nimbleness, and roll against your opponent’s Awareness rather than Block. If you beat your opponent’s Awareness, you cause no damage, but next Turn they may not roll Block dice or Fortitude dice, and must reveal their Tactic dice first. You may defend normally this Round.
4. All-out. When you Attack this Round, you roll Strike AND Fortitude and add them together. You may not roll Block dice this Round.
5. Dodge. Cannot roll Strike or Block dice, but automatically avoids all damage this Round. Can only choose Measured next Round.
6. Stun. Roll Strike and Block dice normally this Round. If the Attack succeeds, cause no Wounds, but treat the Result as a negative modifier to all your opponent’s Rolls in the following Round. Also, your opponent may not choose to Dodge next Round. 

 

STARTING THE GAME

Use the normal Initiative rules.

ENDING THE GAME

Each scenario has Variable Length.

Neither side can rout during these scenarios, voluntarily or otherwise.

REWARDS

Experience 

+1 : Destroyed a target dummy

+1 : Takes part in one of the two duels

+1 : Wins a duel 

Treasure 

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

 

 

POST-BATTLE PHASE

Ignore Steps 4 and 6 to 9 after this Quest.

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

AFTER ACTION REPORT...