Sunday, February 16, 2025

A Visit to the Library

As we learned from Jayden, the dark elves need the incantation to open the World Portal. The incantation is on three scrolls. The Legion has one. The other two are in the Biblioteca [library] dell' Aurora in the Duchy of Valenova (part of Nevora).

There is a clue to identify the correct scroll. It will be in case with a symbol that matches the clue.

Heavenly bodies in the sky of night
Among them is one within our sight
This fair lady soars at great height
As the oceans below dance in her light

Using the magical orbs we obtained from the dark elves, I, Comes Elias of the Chimera Legion, send two detachments of the Legion to the library to retrieve the scrolls.

The First Scroll
The first detachment led by Howl and Brian arrive in a vault in the basement of the library. There, they meet the librarian, Fabio Librotelli.

They explain their need for the scroll. Fabio is adamant; the scroll must not leave the library!

Just then, the redcaps arrive and rush the stacks of scrolls. 


The Legion charges past Fabio to engage the redcaps and secure the scroll.

As swords clash and blood spills, confusion reigns. Which is the correct scroll case? To what symbol does the clue refer? Both sides grab scrolls, but they are the wrong ones.

Finally, the redcaps grab the case with a crescent moon. They rush to the portal, exulting in their victory. But they celebrate too early. The scroll falls out of the case. Howl grabs it and escapes through the portal. It is the correct scroll!

The Legion has secured one of the two scrolls.

The Second Scroll
Ulveblod and Jayden lead the second detachment. They arrive at a different vault in the library. There they meet Flabio, Fabio's brother. He also forbids the Legion from taking the scroll.

Again, the redcaps arrive. The Legion rushes into battle and the clash of swords echoes off the vault's stone walls.

Once again, confusion reigns. Neither side is sure which case holds the scroll. Multiple times, both sides make off with a scroll, but it is the wrong one. Finally, the redcaps grab the case with the crescent moon. They make a mad dash and escape.

Now, the dark elves have one of the incantations. They grow closer to opening the World Portal!

Feast
After the battle, the Legion enjoyed a Nevoran staple - pizza!
I did a make your own personal pizza, using some store bought crust and various toppings. We then cooked them on the grill!

GAME NOTES
As usual, I made some changes to the story for narrative purposes.
  • We only had 5 players. So when I write that 2 players "lead" a detachment, I really mean that they were the detachment.
  • I rearranged the order of events. Ulveblod and Jayden actually were first. 
  • I also switched up some of the interactions with Fabio/Flabio. For the event, I only used Fabio. Then it dawned on me there should be two librarians so I changed the second librarian's name to Flabio.
The game was essentially capture the flag.
  • In the center of the battlefield, there are 4 boxes filled with cardboard tubes. The tubes represent the scroll cases. Ten of them have astronomical symbols on them. One has the crescent moon.
  • RJ created an incantation scroll, which we put in the moon case.
  • The combatants are placed on opposite sides of the field.
  • Redcaps have infinite lives. For the first run through, the Legion had 1 life. It was not enough, so I gave them some extra lives. The second time, I gave the Legion 5 lives. That worked better.
  • Fabio/Flabio the librarian (played by me) is a wild card. He tries to prevent either side from getting the scroll. So he can fight on either side.
The scroll falling out of the case really happened! I love when unexpected events like this occur.

Monday, February 10, 2025

The Rescue

Another report from our scout Jayden.


This means that we need to travel to the Biblioteca dell' Aurora immediately to retrieve the two scrolls. Fortunately, we have the orbs that can transport us there magically. Alas, the dark elves have orbs also. It will be a race.

OOC Note
  • Thanks RJ for putting together the letter.
  • This is an account of a mini lore scenario I ran a week ago. The Legion had to rescue the scout, played by Jayden. We had 5 people so I divided up the teams into 3 redcaps vs. 1 rescuer and 1 scout.

Saturday, February 8, 2025

Defending the Moon Granite

To the Imperial High Command

From Comes Elias, commander of the Chimera Legion

I submit further intelligence from the Isles. I received this missive from Jayden Rannal, one of our scouts.

Armed with this information, I set up defenses around the moon granite quarry in the Isles.

I was with the defenders when the first attack came. The redcaps seemed to swarm out of nowhere, bypassing the ramparts we constructed. 


Celer and Howl led a counterattack, slaughtering the goblins by the score. I remained by the ore, cutting down any redcaps that managed to get by our forces. Fortunately, very few got that far.

Later, a new shift took over and I retired to camp to get some rest. Several peaceful hours went by, then the alarms sounded. Swiftly donning my gear, I led a detachment of reinforcements to the quarry. I arrived to a sickening sight. The quarry was littered with downed legionaries and scores of dead redcaps. Lionhart was one of the fallen. Fortunately, we have excellent healers, who restored him to health.

At the outskirts of the quarry  I found Ulveblod, bloodied and battered. He told me the tale of the night. The redcaps seemed to emerge from the very ground, cutting down the guards before any could react. Lionhart managed to slay a number of the goblins before he went down. Ulveblod then led the few remaining defenders who waded into battle, cutting swaths through the attackers. Some of the redcaps managed to grab the moon ore and fled. Ulveblod tried to pursue but they got away.

We have done an inventory. The goblins stole about half of the moon granite. We fear that they acquired enough for their temple. But it will be harder for them because we kept a lot of the ore out of their hands.