The Prince's Fate

Once the Legion earned permission to land on the West Isle, we were able to find the location where the dark elves planned to enact the ritual and open the World Portal.

We arrived at the temple that the dark elves constructed for the ritual. Blocks of moon granite concentrated magic, making their incantations more effective. I am grateful we stopped them from acquiring more.

Note: If the dark elves had acquired more, then I would have reduced the time required for the ritual.

I, Comes Elias convened a council of war and we made our plans for battle.

Conferring with the wizard

Entering the Temple

I led the first company in an assault on the temple entrance. A swarm of redcaps blocked our way. There was a mad melee. We had a new wizard helping us. His spells helped us push back the redcaps. Finally, we made our way into the temple.

Beyond us was another door, closed and guarded. I suspected that the dark elves' altar was beyond it.

"That way!" I cried, pointing with my sword.

While the rest of the company pushed forward, I led a small contingent on a flanking maneuver. We swung around the right and then made a beeline for the door. Some redcaps tried to stop me, but my armor kept me safe. Hacking and slashing, I made it to the door and flung it open.

The remaining redcaps retreated past the door.

The Inner Sanctum

While my company caught their breath, Ulveblod led the second company into the inner sanctum.

At the far end was a dark elf priest, chanting an incantation and holding a knife over a figure bound to an altar. Prince Henri!

Alas, between the Legion and the altar was a swarm of redcaps!

The Legion charged, hacking their way through the mass of goblins. They reached the altar and cleared away the redcaps.

One legionary tried to kill the priest. But the dark elf was protected by a magical field. The only way to stop the ritual was to recover Prince Henri.

Next thing I knew, Howl had the prince and was making his way to the doorway. But the goblins converged and cut him down. They grabbed the prince and carried him back to the altar. Fortunately, our healers were able to reach Howl and restore him to health.

A big scrum erupted near the altar. All the while, the priest chanted. Then Ulveblod ended up with the prince. But the redcaps swarmed around him and the priest's incantation was reaching a crescendo. Ulveblod was nearly out of time. There was only one option for him.

With a quick strike, Ulveblod killed the prince. As the royal blood spilled on the temple floor, the priest screamed in rage and frustration.

"Foolish mortals!" he cried. "You shall pay for this!"

In an instance, he disappeared through a portal. Then an earthquake shook the temple. The redcaps fled to the four winds.

"Hurry, let's get out of here!" I cried. Fortunately, someone had the presence of mind to retrieve the prince's body.

The Legion escaped as the temple collapsed.

The battle was over. The World Portal remained closed. The world was safe. But the cost was high.

GAME NOTES

And thus closes our third season. As usual, I embellished the account a little. Still, it is mostly accurate, at least from my perspective.

The Legion has triumphed again, but at a high cost. We were not able to save Prince Henri. What are the ramifications? We'll find out next season.

Thanks to everyone who attended today. We actually had 11 people show up. Besides myself, we had regulars Howl, Celer, Lionhart, Ulveblod, and Brian. It was good to see Xeno again. Thanks to Kenny and Beast for coming by. And thanks and welcome to the new blood - Blaine and Adrian.

Also thanks to Kenny for creating the first image. He based it on this photo he took.

The original photo.

As far as the scenarios:

1. This was a castle battle. Get through the door, make our way to a checkpoint. It was a quick scenario. We ended up playing it multiple times, but I recorded our first attempt.
2. The second was a heavy object game. The Legion had 5 minutes to rescue the prince from the altar and get him out of the temple. Adrian, a new player, arrived just in time to play the priest. Thanks! There was a caveat to the game. As established in our lore in previous battles, we could stop the dark elves from opening the portal by killing the prince ourselves. Ultimately, Ulveblod chose that option. An exciting and dramatic finish! Note that I initially gave the Legion one life. They got shattered so I granted them bonus lives. The game worked better with extra lives. I chalked it down to maesters doing healing.

I hope everyone enjoyed the scenarios and the season. If you have any ideas for improvement, let me know.

We will meet for practices for a few more weeks before convening for tabletop gaming during the summer.