Chapter IX : The Winged Horror

Number of heroes : 3

Difficulty : 2

The Winged Horror

The trail leads to a cursed place, close to the borderlands shared by Turan and Hyperborea.  None, except perhaps the Witchman, know what happened in this forsaken place so long ago, but it breathes evil. The surviving brothers are arrayed in an arc before an unholy altar; their father, their victim, lays upon it, already lifeless, sealing their pact with Hyperborea.  Many of the Turanian soldiers present are in a trance, as if they had sought to rebel against the horrors they were witnessing.  The Witchman is dancing before the altar, an alien dance of jerking movements and strange sounds, and before the adventurers' eyes, shadows coalesce into a horrific winged form, a winged demon of the abyss whose shifting form hurts eyes and mind.  Should he fully coalesce, the Witchman will unleash him on an unsuspecting world, beginning a reign of terror.  It will end only when one of the Emirs sits on a new throne carved out of northern Turan, as a puppet of Hyperborea, and a dangerous step closer to the Sultan's title.

Although they are too late to save the victim, the heroes might just be able to save Turan, and the wider world, from what the Hyperboreans are plotting...

Objectives
-  The Heros win if they slay the Demon before the end of the tenth turn.
-  The Overlord wins otherwise.

Game length
The scenario lasts 10 turns.  The Heroes play first.

Scenario Map
The playing surface is 7 x 7 hexes, gridded A to G (columns) and 1 to 7 (rows).  It portrays a place of forboding evil in the barren, cold, stony desert wastes of northern Turan.

 
Heroes
In the campaign setting, the following heroes take part in the adventure, with any equipment they had or have acquired, and spells selected using the campaign game method.  They also have the assistance of any Turanian soldiers converted to the cause during the previous scenario (2 in the current campaign).  Furthermore they have received unexpected, but most welcome, assistance from a member of the Watch named Kerim.

Brude (set up in G1)

Chimène (set up in G1)

Zoraya (set up in G1)

Turanian Infantry (set up in G1).  These allies can be commanded by any hero.  Galvanised by the dangers to their homeland, they have a permanent red gem (see House Rules).

Kerim (set up in G1).  [use the Kerim Shah tile, with 6 PV].  This ally can be commanded by any hero, and given his skill and experience, also has a permanent red gem (see House Rules).

All Heroes begin with 2 Energy Gems in the Fatigue Zone.  If any heroes are bearing wounds from previous adventures, the effects of this is now taken into account.  However, powerful healing herbs provided by the Watchman, allow two characters to heal up to 2 wounds each, but only before the scenario begins.

The Overlord
The Overlord's forces are as follows :

Hyperborean Witchman (set up in C6), with Hand of Death, Return of the Brave and Ymir's Rage

Winged Demon [use Thaug tile] (set up in C5), with Tears of Dagon, Dagon's Attack and Mind Control

 

2 Grey Hellbat Swarms [use Tentacles tile] (set up in C5, C5)

3 Blue Hypnotised Turanian Soldiers [use Pict Hunter tile] (set up in B5, D3, D6)

4 Green Hypnotised Turanian Soldiers [use Pict Hunter tile] (set up in B3, B7, D3, E4)

4 Grey Turanian Scouts (set up in B1, A6, E5, G5)

4 Purple Mercenaries (set up in A7, B3, C7, F3)

The Overlord begins with 13 Energy Gems in the Available Energy Zone, and 4 in the Fatigue Zone.  He or she recovers 5 each turn.

 

Ravens
When an Event is played, the Overlord can choose one of the following : 

Reinforcements : 5 Reinforcement Points

Sacrifice : The Overlord chooses all the figures from a same tile, and removes them entirely from the game.  For each removed figure that was within 2 hexes of the Winged Demon, he places a Hellbat Swarm in the Demon's hex.  The Hellbat Swarm have the same colour and position as the sacrificed tile.  This Event can only be played once.

The River

1 : Blue Hypnotised Turanians
2 : Green Hypnotised Turanians
3 : Grey Turanian Scouts
4 : Purple Mercenaries
5 : Hyperborean Witchman (6 wounds)
6 : Grey Hellbat Swarms
7 : Winged Demon (8 wounds)
8 : Raven


Reinforcement Zones
There are four reinforcement zones (A3, A7, B3, C7)


Equipment Cards
There are six Treasure Chests (A3, A7, B3, C7, F3, G7), but they are simple baskets needing a Simple Manipulation to open.  The Equipment Deck is made up of Scale Armour, Halbard, Bossonian Bow, Javelin, Explosive Orb and Life Potion.

 

Terrain

If the game is played on 3D terrain, the House Rules for this apply.

All doors are unlocked.

Doors are vulnerable to the Wall Breaker skill, exterior and interior walls are not.

Except where a door or a pile of rubble is present, the fort's walls are considered to be higher than anything likely to be represented on the board.  They are 12cm high and vertical.

Heros and Allies may not leave the board.

Other House Rules

If players are in agreement, any or all of the other House Rules may apply



SSRs

-  The Coming of the Darkness

The Winged Demon begins the scenario with 8 wounds.  At the beginning of each turn, including the first, he gains 1 wound.

 

-  The Swirling Vortex

Given the size of the Demon, but also of the vortex which swirls around him, the Demon and any Hellbat Swarm in the same hex may be attacked from any adjacent hex, as long as there is line of sight.

 

-  I do have some clue what is going on

Each clue to the ritual recovered during the Abandoned Village adventure [5 in the current campaign] reduces the Winged Demons passive defense by 1

-  Feed the beast

If the Hyperborean Emissary was killed during The Offering scenario, the Winged Demon loses 1 attack die.  If the Emisary was captured, the Demon loses 2 dice.

 

-  The parricides must die !

Five objects are required for the ritual, and only the acolytes of the ritual - the Emirs - can manipulate them.  If some of the Emirs have been slain, the others will have to bear a greater burden, which also makes the ritual riskier.

Place the remaining Emirs in the following hexes, beginning with the first in the list : A3, D4, B3, C5, B4.  The player who controls the Heros now decides how the ritual objects are distributed among the Emirs, which must be done as evenly as possible [in the current campaign, only 2 Emirs have survived].

A Hero in a hex with an Emir, can break all the ritual objects he holds by a Complex Manipulation (3 successes), or an Attack that obtains five symbols (no defense possible).

Each ritual object that is shattered immediately causes a wound to the Winged Demon.

-  Did we save the North ?

If the Heroes win, thus having slain the Winged Demon, each of them, even those who have all of their Energy Gems in the Wound Zone at the end of the scenario, gain +5 XP.