Fearsome Feast

I, Comes Elias, commander of the Chimera Legion, have received this report from Brother Lucius, a priest of Daeus assigned to the Legion.

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The Legion is still searching for the lost prince to no avail. However, I received word of strange happenings occurring as the Feast of Noctus Mortum approaches. The dead are rising from the grave as unholy revenants. I set out with a detachment to investigate these reports.

We arrived at one graveyard and found a chilling sight. A necromancer was raising the corpses. I ordered the Legion to attack and destroy the necromancer.

I stayed back, planted a totem, and used the power of Daeus to combat the foe. The necromancer took a similar action, although he called upon the powers of dark gods.

"Destroy the necromancer's totem!" I commanded.

The legionaries rushed at the necromancer, but the undead barred their way. Soon, the clash of weapons against bone and the screams of soldiers pierced the air. Battle was on!

One legionary reached the necromancer and struck the totem. It pulsed then faded briefly. The necromancer uttered some spells and the totem flared with a new burst of power. We would need greater effort to defeat him.

Then a wave of the undead rushed me, attacking my totem. Once then twice they struck and damaged it, but I was able to restore it. My comrades rushed to my aid and drove off the abominations.

The undead kept falling to our blades, but the necromancer kept bringing them back. Meanwhile, our men were suffering grievous wounds. I used the power of Daeus to restore them as well as I could. They continued to fight on.

Finally, our men broke through. A legionary named Howl struck at the totem. Once, twice. It exploded in a blast of power. The undead collapsed and the necromancer began to fade from view.

But as he melted away, the necromancer scoffed at us. "You may have won this battle, but you can't get rid of me that easily. I, Kraxius, shall return to plague you another day!" Then with a cackle, he was gone.

A picture of Kraxius. From RJ

Searching the battlefield, we discovered a magic item - the Shroudwalker's Talisman. Presumably Kraxius lost it. I have awarded it to Howl for his heroics on the battlefield.

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GAME NOTES

• The Feast of Noctus Mortum is our game world's version of Halloween. I wanted to do something in a Halloween vein so I brought back Kraxius.
• Robb played Kraxius and I played Brother Lucius.
• The other players were
• Howl and Lionheart as legionaries
• Celer and Jayden as the revenants
• The game was essentially ring the bell. We played best of 5.
• Robb and I were both injured so we did not fight. Instead, we just cast spells. Rather than attacking us, the other players had to strike our our "totems," which essentially were the bells.

The Rescue

As I, Comes Elias, mentioned in my last report, the Duke returned from the castle after the Feast of Flowers with dire news.

"My royal nephews, sons of the king, have been kidnapped by raiders!" the Duke announced. "We must rescue them!"

The attendees of the feast divided into two retinues - one led by Gaston LaCroix, the Duke's right hand man and the other by the Duke himself.

The Raiders

From the reports, we learned that the nephews of Bertrand VI, Omri and Henri, were taken by hideous pig-faced monsters. Orcs!

Gaston's Retinue

The Duke and Gaston lead their men into the woods, hoping to cut off the orcs. The trail splits; Gaston takes the right path. 

Soon, Gaston's retinue sees the orcs with one of the boys struggling in a sack. They pursue.

Howl webs the orc with sack. The rest of the retinue converge and cut the orc down. They have rescued Henri!

But more orcs swarm. They drive off Gaston's group and recover the sack. One particularly stealthy orc grabs the sack and carries it through a magical portal.

Henri is gone!

The Duke's Retinue

Meanwhile, the Duke is in hot pursuit of the other band of orcs. His men spot the raiders and rush into the fray.

The Duke following behind, notices the magical portal. Realizing that the orcs mean to escape through the portal, he rushes to block the way.

The rest of the warriors converge on the orc carrying the nephew and cut the bestial creature down. Ulveblod then picks up the nephew and carries him towards safety. The orcs are distracted and focus on fighting the Duke's men. This allows Ulveblod to escape with his charge. Omri is rescued!

GAME NOTES

We really need someone filming the lore fights. I don't see all the action so I may not be giving someone proper due. I just report what I saw and remembered. Feel free to post a comment with your own perspective on the fight!

The scenario is essentially heavy object, with a large stuffed burlap sack representing the royals. I used driveway markers to represent the portal.

A couple notes from the fight.

• Raph (aka Xeno) was the stealthy orc that made off with Henri.
• Ulveblod earned the Order of the Rose from the Duke for rescuing Omri.

On Pig Faced Orcs

I wanted to do some costuming for the orcs, but I did not want to shell out a lot for masks or use makeup. Pondering the dilemma, I had an epiphany. Pig-faced orcs!

For those not familiar, pig-faced orcs were the standard depiction in old school D&D. Take this picture from the 1977 AD&D Monster Manual.

While not in color, it is easy to imagine them with pig-flesh skin rather than the modern ubiquitous green. That means we don't need to die our skin! Costuming becomes simplified. To represent orcs, we just need pig noses, which I got cheap from Amazon.

What about Robb's excellent orc kit?

Robb's orc on the right

Robb has his own take on the lore, which I will post when I get the time. In my mind, though, orcs are products of twisted magical experiments melding men and beasts. So why not have different types of orcs? But I think the pig-faced orcs will be most prevalent in the Olden Wyrld.

The Feast of Flowers

Due to complications on our journey, I, Comes Elias of the Chimera Legion, was not able to attend the Feast of Flowers. I sent ahead a delegation under the command of Ulveblod and Xeno. They represented the Legion at the feast and sent me a report. This account is based on that report.

The Tournament

The festivities began with a tournament, presided over by Duke Etienne himself. Reportedly, these were some of the greatest warriors in the Olden Wyrld. Here is a list of the participants.

• Ulveblod of the Legion
• Xeno of the Legion
• Ryan
• Caio
• Lionheart
• Jayden Rannal of Chevalia
• Howl
• Gaston LaCroix, one of the Duke's retainers

The Duke split the combatants into two pools. They fought all others in the pool. The scenario was unusual - the Duke called it the Disks of Death. There were a series of disks placed into a helmet. Each combatant drew one of the disks. Upon each disk was a symbol representing a different weapon combination - sword and shield, great weapon, spear, or Florentine. The combatant had to use the selected weapon combination, although all combatants could also wield a dagger. The Duke explained that a great warrior should be able to win with whatever weapons he or she has at hand. This scenario tested that ability.

The Duke gave every combatant a bag. The Duke gave each winner a gem. This served as a way to keep score.

One of the bags filled with gems.
Below are the disks of death

Two combatants emerged undefeated from their respective pools - Howl and Ryan. They then faced off in a dagger duel. Ryan emerged victorious!

The Feast

We then sat down to our feast, prepared by Chef Pierre de Magnifique. Beef Bourguignon with French bread and garlic butter. 

There were drinks, including cider, and some raspberry cookies for dessert.

Disaster Strikes!

At this point, the Duke retired to the castle to check on things. But he rushed back in a panic.

"My royal nephews, sons of the king, have been kidnapped by raiders!" the Duke announced. "We must rescue them!"

* I will complete the story of our rescue attempt in the next installment. *

OOC NOTES

I played the role of the Duke and Chef Pierre. Robb played Gaston. Everyone else played their characters.

RJ (Jayden) took some nice videos of the fights. You can find them on our Facebook page. Here are links to the champion match.

• Part the First
• Part the Second

Note that we used our hit point system for the matches. Each participant started with 1 hit point and received an additional hit point if wearing garb.

Thanks to Howl for bringing drinks and cookies!

By the way, here is the recipe for the Beef Bourguignon.

The Invitation

Following the orc attacks, reinforcements arrive on the border. Preparations begin for an offensive against the orcs.

I, Comes Elias, commander of the Chimera Legion, attend a conference with the other legion commanders and the Strategos, the overall commander of the offensive. As he distributes assignments to the other legions, he asks me to stay behind.

Once the conference ends, he turns to me.

We have a special assignment for your legion. Most will remain as garrisons for the border towns.

I was aghast. Stay behind the lines? I wanted the Chimera Legion to have the opportunity to retaliate against the enemy that inflicted losses upon us.

I began to protest but the Strategos stopped me. He handed me this card.

"I don't understand," I asked, confused.

"This is your assignment. Take a company with you to Chevalia. Attend the feast. Speak to the Duke and enlist his aid in our war."

I selected a company of our finest solders and began the trek to Chevalia.

Burning Down the House

After defeating the demon and saving the Emperor, the Chimera Legion received a well-earned rest. But as autumn approaches, fell tidings arrive from the northern border. Raiders are sacking the frontier settlements. The Emperor sends the Legion to deal with the threat.

Note: As usual, I took a few artistic liberties when telling the story.

A Settlement Struck

The Legion sends detachments to some of the remaining settlements to defend against attack.

Not long after arriving, alarm bells ring out at the town of Drakovar. A swarm of hideous, monstrous creatures rush the settlement, clambering over the walls, and destroying everything in site.

One of the bestial creatures - a pig-faced orc!

Basilius is onsite with a detachment of legionaries. Accompanying the detachment is a scout named Jayden Rannal, recently hired to help locate the raiders.

Basilius forms a shield wall, which holds back the raiders. The legionaries then step forward, their sword stabbing and slashing, dropping orcs left and right. Meanwhile, Jayden shows off his archery skill, picking off the enemy in droves.

But there are just too many orcs. They hammer against the shield wall. Legionaries fall until there are gaps in the formation. The orcs surge through the gaps and into town.

Soon, it is an orgy of slaughter and arson. Panicked, the townsfolk flee through the southern gate. The remaining legionaries act as rearguard, protecting the survivors. The orcs are too busy stealing the town's crop of turnips to interfere.

Scout and Retrieve

The next day, a company led by Ulveblod arrives. He tracks the raiders into the wilds beyond the frontier. He catches up with a band of orcs, burdened by plunder from the town.

Ulveblod orders a charge. His men rush into the orc camp, hacking away at the enemy. In the heat of battle, Ulveblod is seriously wounded. His men falter. But then Ulveblod calls upon the power of the amulet awarded by the Emperor. This artifact instantly heals him.

Rejuvenated, Ulveblod leads a fresh attack. Victory looks imminent.

But then they hear the sound of a horn. An orc horn! Reinforcements are coming.

Ulveblod orders his men to grab sacks of the plunder, especially the prized turnips, and retreat back to Imperial territory. The orcs rally and pursue, but the Legion stands firm and drives them off.

After a harrowing journey, Ulveblod's company arrives at the nearest settlement, where refugees from the destroyed town huddle miserably. At least they will have some food to get them through the winter.

NOTES

As mentioned, I took some artistic liberties. We only had 4 players, so I exaggerated for dramatic sake.

We actually ran Ulveblod's scouting mission first. I scattered a bunch of spell balls around. Brett had to gather them while Robb and I, as orcs, tried to stop him. He managed to return all of them to safety. He did use an amulet he received for saving the Emperor. This allowed him to finish the job.

We played the attack on the settlement afterwards. RJ arrived, we sparred one-on-one with him a bit, then decided to do a 2v2 scenario. I came up with the settlement attack on the spot. It is essentially a ring the bell scenario for the orcs. Robb and RJ defended while Brett and I were orcs. We actually ran the scenario twice and the orcs won both time.

Once again I forgot to take pictures. Pity, Robb looked really good.

The Demon Strikes

Once we retrieved the Rod of Demon Slaying, we sailed back to the capital and then rushed to the palace.

The Field Falls

We arrive at the Emperor's chambers just in time. As we enter, we see the Emperor's priest, Brother Belisarius of Aubastia, holding the demon in a stasis field. Behind the priest, the Emperor lies unconscious on his bed. Suddenly, the field fell.

The Demon Attacks

Now that he is freed, the demon lunges at the priest. 

Our men charge, distracting the demon and allowing Belisarius to escape. The demon lashes out again and again, striking legionaries to the ground.

This last bit is a little poetic license. We did not have a full crew of legionaries.

Finally, Ulveblod enters the fray. He wields the Rod of Demon Slaying. 

The demon sneers at him and attacks. Its blows shatters his armor and gouges deep wounds into Ulveblod's flesh. Ulveblod staggers and nearly falls. But then Belisarius casts a heal upon the Rhuunese warrior. 

Rejuvenated, Ulveblod re-enters the fray. This time, he strikes the demon with the Rod. The monster bellowed in pain. Again, it unleashes a series of blows that staggers Ulveblod. But again Belisarius heals the warrior.

Enraged, the demon turns and attacks the priest. Belisarius edges away. This allows Ulveblod to come up behind the demon and strike again. More bellows of pain and rage!

The warrior and the demon charge each other. Trading powerful blows, each becomes weaker. But neither gives up the fight, until Ulveblod manages to sneak a powerful thrust into the demon's gut. The Rod glows and a blast of power smites the monster. It howls in pain as a holy fire consumes it. In a manner of seconds, it is gone!

With that, the Emperor is safe. He rewards the Legion, and especially Ulveblod for our efforts. Now we get a well deserved rest, at least until our next adventure.

Game Notes

We ended up with only 3 people for a finale. I played the demon while Robb played Belisarius the priest. Brett played his character, Ulveblod.

The game was essentially a mutual annihilation. A few times I thought I had Brett but Robb kept healing him. Well done, Brett and Robb!

We are now on hiatus until September. See you then!

Wresting the Rod from the Orcs

Now that we knew where the orcs were, we prepared for action and the Legion marched on their stronghold.

Parlay and Assault

Despite their attacks on us, I decided to give the orcs one more chance for negotiation. I sent a messenger forward under flag of truce to open discussions. But the orcs let loose their arrows. My messenger fell dead.

I took this as a declaration of war and called for an attack.

Gutavh used holy fire to blast open the gate, then he cast confusion on the orcs on the wall. We were able to rush in and cut the defenders down.

Note: I made up this part for narrative purposes. Due to lack of numbers, we did not get to play the assault.

The Shaman Makes a Stand

With Ulveblod, I led the first wave into the stronghold. We systematically searched for the Rod but did not find it until we reached the center of the orc's fort. There, we came across an orc shaman and his bodyguard. In his hands was the Rod.

We charged. I rushed the shaman.

The shaman threw blasts at me but I dodged. He webbed me then used the Rod to destroy my shield. Meanwhile Ulveblod met a bodyguard. The fight did not go well for him and he was forced to retreat. I found myself overwhelmed and I also withdrew.

Our Second Attempt

I received some healing from our priest and then I was back into the fray. This time, Xeno accompanied me. Again, I confronted the shaman. This time I pressed the attack so he could not use his magic. Meanwhile Xeno took the battle to the orcs. He flanked, took out a bodyguard, then attacked the shaman. Pressed from two sides, the shaman had no chance. Soon, Xeno cut down the orc and recovered the Rod. Success!

GAME NOTES

I had plans for a more epic battle, but lack of numbers made that unviable. We had to forego the castle assault. I just made up a story about how we broke into the fort.

We played the shaman's stand. Essentially, it was a one-sided kill the general scenario. The Legion needed to kill the orc shaman. The orcs just needed to defend their shaman.

Robb was the shaman; he had one bodyguard. Two legionaries attacked. I planned to allow multiple waves so that Ulveblod and Xeno had a chance to be attackers. Between waves, players could regain half of their lost hit points. Ulveblod and I lost the first wave but Xeno and I won the second. Xeno was the hero of the day with his speed that bedeviled the orcs.