Through the Portal

Once Lionhart determined that passing through the portal was safe (sort of), I led the Legion through.

Our Arrival

I met with Donnell, laird of the MacGallivrey clan. We came to an understanding to work together against the Faedwyr.

While we were setting up camp, a swarm of redcaps attacked us. Fortunately, we were able to drive them off.

Concerned about the safety of the orb that we used to transport ourselves to the Isles, I entrusted its safety to Ulveblod.

Night Attack

By nightfall, our fortified camp was ready and sentries posted. The rest of the Legion sat about the fires, enjoying a meal and a few moments of rest. Donnell stayed with us and entertained the troops with stories about the wonders of the Isles. With his thick accent and the amount he drank, however, I doubt my men understood most of what he said. I decided to retire for the night.

My sleep was interrupted by alarms. I stepped out of my tent to the clash of arms of the sight of bloodshed. Redcaps!

I could hear those monstrous little creatures calling out "Get the orb! Get the orb!"

Grabbing a sword and shield, I waded through the fight, looking for Ulveblod. Then I saw him swarmed by redcaps. I tried to rush to his aid but more of the marauders held me up.

I saw a redcap rip a bag from Ulveblod's shoulders. Ulveblod pursued but got ambushed. A strike on the back of his head put him down. The redcaps ran off, screaming "We gots it!"

I was furious. "How did they get into the camp?"

Donnell came over to me, nursing a series of wounds. "Magic," he replied. Great, how do we defend against that?

But I had more immediate concerns. I called for my officers. "We have to get back the orb! Gather the men for pursuit!"

"Nae, laddie, no need for that." Donnell said. He pulled his hand into his sporran and pulled out the orb!

And that was our first day in the Isles. What will happen next?

OOO GAME NOTES

As typical, I have exaggerated for narrative purposes. The game was not at night. I was not sleeping in a tent when the redcaps attacked. Actually, I was one of the redcaps.

The switcheroo was real, however. I gave the bag with the orb to Brett (Ulveblod). As a redcap, I stole the bag from Brett and ran off. Once the scenario was over and I was proclaiming victory for the redcaps, Robb (Donnell) came over and pulled the orb from his bag. Well done!

We had 6 fighters today - me, Ulveblod, Donnell, Celer, Jayden, and Howl.

The Scout

The Portal

Last time, we recovered a magical orb from the orc's den. Our mystics inform us that the orb is a key that can open up a portal.

I, Comes Elias, order them to open the portal. Then I turn to my legionaries.

"Who will be the first through the portal? I ask.

Lionhart steps forward.

Legionary Lionhart

I give him his orders. Go through the portal, determine what's on the other side, and report back.

Lionhart steps through. Then, unexpectedly, the portal closes!

"Get him back!" I command the mystics. But they are unable to reopen the portal.

"We can't, Comes." they explain. "Someone has locked it from the other side!"

"Unlock it!"

They try various incantations without success. In frustration, they begin consulting various mystical tomes, looking for an answer. Then suddenly, the portal opens and Lionhart steps through.

💀💀💀

Lionhart's Report

Lionhart tells me that he appeared in a clearing and met a man wearing a kilt. The man introduced himself as Donnell, a laird (lord) of the local clans.

They were conversing when a swarm of redcaps, murderous goblin-like creatures, appeared.

A redcap

They managed to fight off the monsters, although each took some wounds. Fortunately, Donnell had a healing potion to negate some of damage.

Lionhart told the laird of his predicament. Donnell knew of a way. There was a dark elf nearby that had an orb. Retrieve it and Lionhart could return. Donnell offered to show Lionhart the way.

Along the path, more redcaps ambushed the duo. Again, they drove off the creatures.

Finally, they found the dark elf lord. 

Haughty and proud, the dark elf lord mocked them then cast a web upon Donnell. He then attacked Lionhart. His wicked elven blade sliced deep into Lionhart's arm. But Donnell escaped from the web and joined the fray. The dark elf used magic to blast Donnell, knocking him off his feet. Lionhart took this opportunity to attack. Soon, the elf was down.

Lionhart tended to Donnell's wounds, bringing him back to consciousness. He also searched the dark elf's belongings, finding an orb! Using it, Lionhart returned to the Legion.

What We Now Know

From the information we got from Donnell, we know that the dark elves are in force in the Isles, which lay northwest of Chevalia. However, some of the local clans are fighting back against the dark elves, whom they call the Faedwyr. Sounds like useful allies.

We still do not know the location of the lost prince. But it seems likely that he is now captive on the Isles. The Legion will pass through the portal to find out!

OOC Game Notes

Lionhart told us that he would miss the December event, so I created an end-of-the-year quest for him. This is his story.

Thanks to:

• RJ for the picture of Lionhart
• Gencraft AI for the other pictures
• Robb for his magnificent portrayal of Donnell
• Ryan and Neath for playing redcaps

Into the Orc Den

Ever since the Feast of Flowers, the Chimera Legion has been scouring the wilderness looking for any sign of the kidnapped prince.

Our scouts manage to find an orc den. The tracks match the raider's - this must be the place.

The First Assault

I, Comes Elias, split my troops into 2 companies. The first is led by Wyktor and Celer. 

Wyktor

They storm the den's entrance but meet stiff resistance. Wyktor uses shadow walk to sneak by the defenders and into the interior of the den. There he spies two heavy sacks. Surely the prince must be in one of them.

As Wyktor grabs one of the sacks, the orcs realize what happened. A swarm of orcs leave the defenses and rush to the back room. There they confront Wyktor, forcing him to retreat without a sack,

Our first attempt fails.

Company B

I lead this attack with Howl. We fight our way into the den and I come to the sacks. I drop my shield, grab one, and throw it over my shoulder. Howl covers me with his polearm, forcing orcs to scatter. I am able to escape with the sack.

We open it up. It's just a bag of bones. But mixed in with the bones, we discover a crystal ball. What could this be?

Celer's Lightning Strike

With one more sack, we decide to try again. This time, we take another approach. Our mystics weave a powerful explosive that blasts the orcs at the den entrance. Then Celer, imbued with superhuman strength from another spell, rushes into den, past the guards, and grabs the second sack. He then fights his way through a pack of orcs and out.

Alas, his sack only contains more bones. No prince! Where could they have taken him?

The Mystery Unveiled

I have our sages study the crystal ball. They inform me that it is a key to open a portal, like the ones we saw Henri go through.

"Open it," I tell the sages.

"But Comes, we have no idea where you will end up."

"Wherever it leads, the prince is likely there. Open it."

I call for the Legion to prepare. We are going through the portal. But where will it take us?

The Plot Thickens

The Feast of Flowers was a disaster. Though the party that answered the call of the Duke was able to rescue one of the King's sons, they were unable to recover the other. 

I, Comes Elias, after an unfortunate delay, finally arrived at Duke Etienne’s castle after this incident. I found that the drawbridge was closed and the Duke was ensconced inside. Just then, Jayden Rannal, one of our scouts, approached me.

This is Jayden's tale:

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I was approached on my journey back from the Feast of Flowers by an old friend, a female dark elf from my childhood. As my loyal mustang approached my home, her figure emerged from the tree line. As the rain fell, each drop was an explosion compared to the uncomfortable silence between us. 

"Haven't seen you in a while....", I said without turning my head and unpacking my horse. Still, she stood and said nothing. I continued to remove my bags and carry them to the house. I turned to look at her, standing in the gentle shower. "Well? Was there something you wanted?" 

She turned and began to walk back into the forest. I shrugged and turned to walk into the house when I heard her say, "They were hired..." 

I froze, my mind spinning at the possibilities opened by those words. "By who?". 

"...by us," her words stung into I and I turned only to find wet trees. Orcs, hired by the dark elves. But why? Ransom? Negotiation? I walked into the house and dropped my bags on the floor. As I walked deeper inside, I found a wrapped item on the table. I stepped towards it and picked it up. It was lighter than he expected. Was it empty? As I untied it, all I found was a symbol, which looked like a magic circle of some kind. I placed it in my pocket and left the house. Mounting my horse, I rode through the rain. Each drop felt like a thorn on my cheek. Luckily, the Duke's carriage was still near after the Feast and rescue. I road until I caught up to them. As I approached, the guards turned to stop me. 

"Duke! They were hired by the dark elves!" I yelled so that it could be heard in the carriage. The Duke opened the door. "Let him approach," the Duke ordered the guards. I approached and entered the carriage. I saw the Duke with concern in my eyes, and my rescued nephew wrapped in a blanket next to him. "What do you know?" I handed him the wrapping with the symbol, "The orcs were hired by the dark elves. I'm not sure why, but it has something to do with that marking." The Duke opened it and his eyes grew wide, "The seal!" I didn't know what it meant, but I knew it was something important. I did not ask, as it was not my place. "His blood, they need the King's blood to break it. But if they do...they can't be allowed to!" 

The Duke looked up and proclaimed, "We must take action now!" 

"But your grace, your nephew is most likely in an Orc den. That's if we are lucky. If we are not, he could be anywhere. Going into a den is dangerous. That's why we normally set fire to the entrance and kill them as they come out escaping the flames." 

"It doesn't matter how dangerous it is. The alternative is unthinkable." 

The Duke stood and leaned out of the carriage, calling for Gaston, his right-hand man.

“Gaston!” the Duke commanded, "Blow the horn and gather the troops. Whoever answers the call will have to do."

"To rescue your nephew, your Grace?" asked Gaston.

The Duke looked back with a mix of fear and shame in his eyes, "To stop the Dark Elves. If you can save him, do it, but his death may serve us better. In the meantime, I must protect Omri"
With that, the Duke ordered his carriage to proceed back to his castle. With a crack of a whip, the carriage was off.

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After Jayden gave his report, another scout approached me. Someone they tracked down the orcs involved in the raid and found their den. I am not sure what the dark elves are up to, but we now have a target. I shall prepare my men for a raid on the orc den. Hopefully, we can rescue the prince.

OOC NOTES

This story is a prelude to our event next Saturday.

Jayden's tale is courtesy of RJ. I made some minor tweaks to fit it into the planned narrative (specifically to allow Elias a role).

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.