Chapter III : Set a Trap to Catch a Rat - The Adventure

The scenario for this adventure is here.

Here are the forbidding ruins of Ula Aethel; Aetulla (me) can be seen hiding behind the central building; the Assassin has already been swallowed whole by the serpent-demon (played by my eldest daughter); Brude (my youngest daughter) is duking it out on the left with the Kothian garrison.

Goaded on by the pain inflicted by the nefarious Thalis on his future victim, the serpent-demon swooped on the Stygian Assassin and devoured him without pity (7 wounds in one attack....).  This put the "heros" in a difficult position from the very start, although the discovery of a Xuthal Crown gave them hope.

Aetulla used his magic to good effect, Set's Bite slowing down the enemy.  Unfortunately, his Lightning Storm, meant to sweep the guards off the stairwell and open Brude's way to two more treasure chests, was an utter failure, forcing Brude to recoil and leaving the necromancer open to attack.  Stthag struck with deadly speed [after two activations in a row, ndlr] but inflicted a relatively light wound, sufficient however to wrap the necromancer in her coils.  Seeing this, Brude decided to play a very dangerous game, running into cover rather than trying to assist his temporary ally but eternal future enemy.

Seeing this abandon, Aetulla decided to call down another Lightning Storm on Stthag, Thalis...and therefore himself, a cunning ploy [hey, I have good ideas now and then] to make him a less potent prey for the demon.  The blast nearly killed Thalis, and indeed weakened Aetulla [down to 1 life point, ndlr].

Brude now broke from cover, climbed up to the roof of the building he was hiding in, leapt across in some nail-biting action [the roll failed, but the reroll was good enough to make it], rolled across the opposite roof to the treasure chests and opened them in the hope of finding the second Xuthal Crown.  With the demon once again sealed in the city, and Aetulla an easy target, Brude would have pulled off a brilliant victory.  Unfortunately it was not meant to be, the treasure chests contained armour and a crossbow.

The scaled head dipped, swallowing Aetulla, then pitilessly taking Thalis.

All was not, however, lost, and the thief lined Stthag up in the crossbow hairs.  Sadly, no doubt due to the lotus-crazed Kothian guards thundering up the staircase, the desperate and very difficult shot [needing 10 hits on three orange and one red dice, plus the yellow bonus die for height advantage, ndlr] went amiss, only grazing the dread entity.  Stthag devoured a hapless Kothian guard, and with the energy accrued, broke her magical bonds.

Not all was lost, however.  Stthag had no interest whatsoever in the Priestess of Ibis, Icilia, and Nuala, Brude and Ethelglyth were able to flee the chaos with her.  With Aetulla gone, the Stygian contingent dispersed in terror, and there was no-one to pursue them.  The company are able to make their way to a friend of Icilia's, the High Priestess Zarese of the Silver Moon, in the lands of Shem, and thus to refuge.

This was a fantastically tense game.  Everything seemed to go pear-shaped for the "heroes" at the beginning, but they nearly pulled it off.  However, fighting a serpent-demon is bad enough at the best of times, and it is an even more deadly affair when my eldest daughter is controlling it !

A great scenario, although it is important to choose Aetulla's spells with care, those indicated in the scenario are those I recommend.  If a young or inexperienced player is involved, a variant would be allowing the two Hero "factions" to discuss plans, but keep in place the rule that forbids them from alternating actions back and forth.

Brude failed to gain any XP, and took an additional wound, bringing him up to 3.  He abandoned the crossbow, and his shield, but kept the chainmail armour.  He also used Nuala's Pictish Alcohol, which she had given him, during the scenario.