Delivering the Book

After our adventure at St. Swithin's Abbey, we came into possession of a book that explained how to destroy the lich king. Brother Pitor made three copies and asked us to deliver them to Princess Selina at Castle Valcouer. We expected that the lich king's minions will try to stop us. I will send the messengers individually, with the hope that at least one can sneak by and make it to the princess.

Jadyen

Jayden left first. As he made his way through the woods, he ran afoul of some of the lich king's thralls. He managed to get past them and made a bee line for the castle.

As he neared the castle gate, a hulking figure blocked his path. A troll!

Jayden engaged the monster. They traded blows, but Jayden took the worst of it. Then more thralls appeared and attacked him. Battered and cut, Jayden felt his life oozing away. He downed a healing potion and then returned to the fight.

Jayden ran past his enemies and reached the gate. He called for help and the gate SLOWLY began to open. The troll attacked. Jayden cut it down but it regenerated. The thralls attack as well. Jayden holds them off long enough for the gate to open and duck inside.

Success!

Lionhart

Shortly after Jayden's departure, we sent Lionhart with a second copy of the book. He used his stealth skill to sneak past the thralls in the forest.

Nearing the gate, Lionhart ran across the troll. He managed to call for the gate to open and then engaged the troll. Its massive arms struck powerful blows that bruised Lionhart and forced him to retreat.

At this moment, more thralls assaulted him. Lionhart struggled vainly but could not withstand their attacks. He fell, bloodied and battered.

The thralls stole the book from him and then left him for dead. The garrison of the castle then sallied forth and recovered him. Fortunately, the healers were able to revive him. Alas, it seems that he will miss our next adventure.

Sprouts

Our last messenger was Sprouts. She got past the thralls in the woods. She engaged the troll, slipped by, and called for the gate to open. Then the troll attacked. She deftly dodged his blows then struck again and again. The troll collapsed.

Thralls appeared, but the garrison kept them at bay with archery. As the gate slowly opened, the troll regenerated and attacked her again. She managed to slip away and duck through the gate.

Another success!

Aftermath

Princess Selina has the book. Her council is examining it. In the interim, we are recuperating at Castle Valcouer as guests of the princess.

The lich king's minions have disappeared. We do not know why, but suspect that they fear that Selina's priests will be able to use the book against them. They may be gone now, but I suspect we will see them again.

OOC NOTES

• Small group today, so I ran the same scenario three times, with each player (besides me) taking a turn trying to deliver a copy of the book.
• It was kind of like a capture the flag scenario, with the PC having the flag to start.
• I introduced the gate slowly opening so it wasn't just a mad dash. The PC had to do some fighting.
• I got to play the troll, which was fun. But I forgot that it was supposed to get the Crit ability and do double damage. I did remember that it did shield damage (sorry Sprouts)
• I am marking Jayden and Sprouts down for awards, once I find a new supplier.

Developments in Chevalia

From the diary of Elias Artocopus, commander of the Chimera Legion in exile

I have learned about recent developments in Chevalia from Brother Pitor.

• The kingdom heard of King Bertrand's death, but never received confirmation.
• Instead, the King suddenly appeared in Luminia, the capital city of Chevalia. However, his public appearance occurred at night. He was far from the crowd (speaking from a balcony of the palace), and he was masked.
• Sir Guy, our adversary from last year, was made regent. The King hasn't been seen since.
• There are rumors that the king did die, and that the the person who appeared is either an imposter or undead. Most people discount the undead rumor.
• Prince Omri, the heir to the throne, has disappeared.
• Duke Etienne, the king's brother, was assassinated by shadowy figures. His family likewise disappeared.
• Since then, one of Pitor's fellow priests discovered that the king is actually a lich. He shared that information but was arrested by Sir Guy. He has disappeared.
• The news reached Selina, daughter of the king's cousin. She is the closest living relative to Bertrand. Her council investigated the rumor and found it reliable.
• Selina then challenged Sir Guy's regency and claimed the throne herself. Guy accused her of treason. Both sides are arming for war.
• Pitor sent word to the Empire. He is not sure if the Emperor received it. He was shocked when I told him of the Emperor's murder.

It makes sense for us to ally with Selina and unite in effort to destroy the lich king.

Abomination in the Abbey

From the diary of Elias Artocopus, commander of the Chimera Legion (now in exile)

After being banished from the Empire, I invited my comrades in arms to follow me on my quest to destroy the lich king. I am pleased that many did.

We booked passage to the port city of Baronne in Chevalia. From there, we made our way to the abbey of St Swithins. At the abbey, we met a priest named Brother Pitor. We learned that he is on the same quest as us - destroy the lich king.

Quest for the Book
Pitor explained that he acts on behalf of Princess Selina, the surviving heir to the throne of Chevalia. She needs a book in the abbey to destroy the lich and claim the throne. We agreed to retrieve the book.

I sent in First Company, led by Jayden and Sprouts,.

They entered the church of the abbey. They were accosted by thralls of the lich king - once human, now undead minions. The Legion hacked their way through them to the altar.

That's when they came upon a demon. 

Bathed in fire, it wielded a flaming two-handed sword. It smashed shields and cut through armor.

While Jayden tied up the thralls, Sprouts ran past the demon. It slashed at her, but she avoided the blows. She reached the altar, grabbed the book, and ran for the exit.

The demon and some thralls gave chase. Weapons bit into her flesh. She went down.

But Jayden retrieved the book and escaped. The legion managed to pull out our wounded, including Sprouts. Our quest was a success!

Quest for the Crown

Brother Pitor was pleased! He then asked if we could complete another quest. Also in the church was a crown, an ancient crown of the kings of Chevalia. With it, Selina could further her claim to the throne.

This time, Second Company went in, with Lionhart and Gian leading.

Gian attacked first, diverting the attention of the enemy. Lionhart then used his stealth abilities to sneak past the enemy. He reached the crown, grabbed it, and ran off. The rest of the company covered him. He escaped with the crown.

Another success!

Aftermath

Pitor has asked us to deliver the crown and book to Princess Selina. She has taken residence at Castle Valcoeur. We have accepted.

Banished!

I, Comes Elias Artocopus, once commander of the Chimera Legion, have received a troubling missive from the Imperial Council.

By the order of the Council, the Legion has been disbanded and I have been banished from the Empire.

I fear for the future of my soldiers. They will have no future in the Empire. The reputation of our Legion will cling to them like the stench of death on a battlefield. The army will not accept them and they will not be able to find work. They will spend the rest of their days begging for scraps from passersby.

As for me, I see only one honorable course of action. I will hunt down the lich king and destroy him, or die in the attempt.

I invite all my comrades in arms to join me. Together we will restore our honor.

The Emperor is Dead!

This is the personal diary of Comes Elias Artocopus, commander of the Chimera Legion.

What we expected to be a cushy posting turned out anything but that!

The First Battle

We were in reserve while the Imperial Guard protected the Emperor. Suddenly, there was an alarm from the Emperor's quarters. We rushed to assist. First Century, led by Lionhart and Ryan were first on the scene.

They found the guards and the Emperor lying in pools of blood. A dagger protruded from the Emperor's back!

Suddenly, the Emperor arose. But he was not the Emperor; his face was skeletal! Lionhart and Ryan were frozen in place.

The thing that was the Emperor then taunted them, saying that it was King Bertrand of Chevalia, come to wreak vengeance on the Empire and the Legion. He then commanded the dead guards to rise and kill the legionaries!

Thus ensued a pitched battle. The guards kept swarming the century, who hacked them to bits. The Emperor-thing kept throwing spells at the legionaries. But Lionhart and Ryan finally broke through the guards, and struck down the Emperor-thing.

After the battle, we found a note on the Emperor's person. This is a copy.

This is the message that the Patriarch received from a Chevalian monk.

Ingkay Ertrandbay isay ayay ichlay. Ehay osespay ayay reatthay otay allay ivilizationcay. Ouyay ancay indfay ayay ueclay onay owhay otay efeatday imhay atay ethay abbeyay ofay Aintsay Ithwinsay inay outhernsay Evaliachay.

We were able to translate it. It reads:

King Bertrand is a lich. He poses a threat to all civilization. You can find a clue on how to defeat him at the abbey of Saint Sithwin (sp. should be Swithin) in southern Chevalia.

The Second Battle

The Second Century, led by Jayden and Sprouts, arrived in relief.

Suddenly, another group of undead guards, led by a death knight, burst in the Emperor's chambers. Again, there was another pitched battle. Undead swarmed the century, but they slashed the enemy to ribbons. Sprouts then broke through, hacking at the death knight. With a rattle, it collapsed.

Aftermath

We have returned to our barracks, bloody but victorious. I plan to nominate Ryan for the Order of the Eagle for his role in destroying the undead Emperor. I also commend Sprouts for destroying the death knight.

I have sent a messenger with news to the Imperial High Council. They will need to take control of the Empire until the Emperor's heir is crowned. I will also volunteer to lead an expedition to Chevalia to find and destroy the lich.

OOC GAME NOTES

• The scenarios were essentially one-sided Kill the King games. The Legion had to kill the Emperor and death knight. The bad guys won if the legionaries ran out of life.
• I gave the legionaries 3 lives. The undead guards had infinite lives.
•  The big bad guys had 1 life, with 6 hp. They probably should have had more hp.
• We had 5 players today - myself, Jayden, Sprouts, Lionhart, and Ryan.
• Ryan is new - welcome to the Legion!

Orders

Legionaries, we have our orders.

As a reward for our sterling service in the war against the Dark Alliance, we have been posted to the Imperial Palace to protect the Emperor. It should be a relatively safe and simple posting.

In service to the Empire,

Comes Elias Artocopus

The Final Battle

This is it, the final battle for the fate of the Empire. The Dark Alliance gathers their hordes and descends upon the Imperial capital. If they win, the Empire is doomed.

The Emperor has assigned us, the Chimera Legion, the honor of meeting the onslaught. Fortunately, we have gathered important resources from our earlier victories. 

• The villagers of Palmyra provided us bandages. 
• The dryads provided crucial intelligence on the enemy forces. 
• We previously reduced the enemy numbers by defeating the duergar.
• And our morale was high due to Howl's tournament victory.

I split the Legion into two wings. I led half that defended the northwestern approaches. The other half, under Jayden Rannal, protected the northeast.

The Northwestern Wing

My force included great warriors, like Bloodrose, Sprouts, Howl, Jesper, and Lionhart. We were ready for the enemy horde.

We saw them approaching us down the road from the west - a wave of red cap goblins and  Anubai, led by the dark elves. As they drew near, their archers let loose with a volley. Our shields protected us from the arrow storm.

Although numerous, they were scattered and ill-disciplined. I saw the opportunity to break them.

"Charge!" I commanded.

We rushed forward, smashing into the enemy. They buckled. The dark elves hit us with spells, breaking our shields and webbing us to a halt. Yet with heavy armor, I was able to push forward. Howl supported us with missiles while Lionhart and Jesper  flanked. The enemy could not resist us. They broke and fled back to their camp.

We pursued. The dark elves managed to rally their forces. I formed a shield wall with Bloodrose and Sprouts and we crashed into their line. The rest of our force rolled up their flanks. They could not withstand us; we swept them from the field.

The Northeastern Wing

This is a report from Jayden, who commanded this wing. This force also included Beans, Wren, Celer, Chris, and Louis.

While the Legion seized victory in the West, a battle raged in the East. The second section met the Dark Alliance forces in a clearing of the Eastern woods. The Dark Elf commander was strong in support magic. He strengthened his forces as well as himself before blades met. The Legion advanced cautiously, using offensive magic to wear down the massive shield the Dark Elf brought to the field, but it was not enough. The command was given for the Legion to charge the center and divide their forces. With the Dark commander separated from his forces, the legionaries slayed the red caps and Anubai. Their numbers thinned, the Legion encircled  the remaining forces. The field was theirs! The Dark Alliance retreated to their camp.

After using healing magic, the Legion pressed on. At the Dark Alliance camp, the Dark Elf commander recuperated himself and his forces and dug in for a defensive fight. The legion advanced. As the enemy came to meet them throwing twisted and blood stained blades and stone through the air, the Legion came back to back. Trying a new tactic, the Dark Elf commander tried to encircle the legionaries, but their numbers spread too thin, and the imperial warriors repelled and expanded, clamping the enemy in a crushing jaw of shaft and steel. At each turn the enemy took to face the legionaries, arrows would fly from their flank and strike true. The Legion's archer,  Beans, drew back her string and loosed each arrow with her honed skill. One by one they fell, each shot frustrating the enemy more. By the end, all the Legion stood, and none of the Alliance remained. The battle was over, the war won, and the Empire saved. Huzzah!

GAME NOTES

• In reality, the Empire outnumbered the enemy in the first part (NW) 6 players to 5. I describe the enemy as  hordes for dramatic purposes.
• The legionaries had their full array of hit points and special abilities. In addition, we got buffs based on previous victories during the war.
• 6 bandages capable of restoring limbs,  from saving the villagers
• Know what the enemy hit points are, from saving the Dryads
• 1 reduction of enemy respawn, from capturing the forts
• +1 HP from tournament victory
• The enemy included
• A dark elf leader had a full bag of spell balls plus 3 hp
• Red cap goblins with 1 hit point
• Anubai with 2 hit points
• One buff - the Amulet of Inara, which can restore a life by sacrificing a limb. The pirates captured this from Fort Rogers
• Basically, the scenario involved a series of mutual annihilation games for control of 3 checkpoints.
• The first battle was for the middle checkpoint.
• The winner then advanced to the enemy's camp.
• Victory in the enemy's camp secured victory in that wing.
• In both cases, the Legion was 2-0 on both wings, for a resounding victory.
• Thank you to all who participated this season. It was a blast.
• Special thanks to
• our departing comrades - Celer, Wren, Beans, and Louis
• our Battle Master for this season, Jayden, who crafted all these scenarios