The Chasm of Doom posted:

You are in combat with a Vassagonian horseman who is now on foot. You cannot evade him and must fight him to the death.

Bandit Horseman: COMBAT SKILL 17 ENDURANCE 24

The Chasm of Doom posted:

You run half-crouched to the barricade and prise a bow from the hand of a dead soldier. You have spotted the leader of the bandit cavalry—a tall, dark-skinned warrior with a thin, chiselled nose, rallying his horsemen at the foot of the stone watchtower. You know you must kill him before he can regroup his troops, or D’Val and his hard-pressed men will be ridden down and mercilessly slaughtered.



You notch an arrow and draw back the bowstring. The straining cord bites into your fingers as you take aim.

Healing: +1 EP (31/32).

You release the arrow, and it whistles through the air and buries itself deeply into the mail-clad shoulder of the Bandit Leader. You hear his scream of pain ring out above the din of battle, but even though he is badly wounded he still attempts to rally his men. You stoop to take another arrow, but, to your horror, the dead soldier’s quiver is empty. Looking up you see two dismounted Vassagonian horsemen clambering across the barricade towards you. You throw down your bow and run to a large water cask defended by a stout Sommlending sergeant. The ground around the cask is carpeted with enemy dead.



‘Shoot the leader!’ you command, pointing towards the enemy officer. The sergeant aims and fires his bow with one swift and fluid movement. The arrow arcs through the battle-smoke and pierces the officer’s shiny breastplate. Slowly his cruel eyes flicker and close as he slips from the saddle, the shaft lodged deep in his heart.

Healing: +1 EP (32/32).

‘To me! To me!’ Captain D’Val’s voice booms out above the battle noise. ‘Rally to me, Sommlending.’

The brave captain draws about him a shielded wedge of soldiers and charges into the flank of the horsemen. They reel and buckle as the shield-wedge hews its way through their company. A Vassagonian herald, his crimson armour torn and his face smeared with blood, breaks free from the battle and sounds the retreat. You watch as the surviving bandits spur their mounts to the gallop, desperate to escape through the ragged hole in the barricade. Gripped by panic and fatigue, they ride through their own foot soldiers who are advancing to support them. The infantry falter and collapse as the cavalry ride them down.



Captain D’Val leads his men to the barricade and directs a lethal volley of arrows into the shattered infantry. It is the last straw. They throw down their weapons and flee from the clouds of arrows raining down on them from out of the smoke-filled sky.

A battle-cry, proud and strident pursues them across the plain: ‘For Sommerlund, for Sommerlund!’

All around the barricade the enemy are retreating in disorder; bandit war-horns announce the withdrawal, exhorting their defeated warriors to flee the battlefield. A jubilant Captain D’Val emerges from the war-smoke, his eyes shining like jewels beneath the rim of his battered helmet. ‘We have triumphed, Lone Wolf. We have vanquished the foe!’

All around you, the captain’s men are rebuilding the barricade and tending to their wounded comrades. It sorrows you to see Sommlending dead, but you take heart at how few they are beside the enemy’s losses.

The captain ushers you to the watchtower where your wounds are cleaned and dressed with Laumspur. The herbs restore 6 ENDURANCE points.

‘We have beaten this foe, but I fear that it is but a temporary reprieve,’ says the captain, his face now composed and sombre. ‘The sacrifice of Baron Vanalund’s daughter must be stopped if we are to avoid catastrophe, for our strength will not avail us against a foe freshly risen from the grave.’

The words of the verse flood into your mind and a chill runs down your spine as you realize what may lie ahead. In three days’ time, when the moon is full, Barraka will sacrifice the Baron’s daughter at the buried temple of Maaken, a sacrifice that will unleash the dead of Maakengorge—the Chasm of Doom. You know you must prevent the sacrifice.

Fifty miles south of Ruanon, the ruined city of Maaken teeters on the brink of Maakengorge. A cold sweat breaks out upon your brow as you contemplate the difficulty of your mission, for you are separated from your goal by fifty miles of enemy-held territory. But there is still a flicker of hope; with the enemy in confusion and retreat, your chances of success will be far higher now than before battle.

Before you set off on your perilous mission, Captain D’Val offers you the choice of the following equipment and provisions:

• Enough food for 3 Meals
  
• Rope
  
• Potion of Laumspur—Restores 4 ENDURANCE points when swallowed after combat
  
• Sword
  
• Spear

Dusk soon enshrouds the beleaguered outpost of Ruanon and you use the cover of darkness to cross the body-strewn plain towards the south. An old highway trails off to Maaken but it is choked with Vassagonian warriors. They stand about in sullen groups, tending their wounded and brooding on their defeat; however, even demoralized and dejected, they are still a deadly foe. It will be too dangerous to risk passing through their ranks, so you must use the forest to conceal your passage.

achtungnight posted:

Take Laumspur (indifferent on rest), then

achtungnight posted:

Take Laumspur (indifferent on rest), then

achtungnight posted:

That was an awesome battle.

Take Laumspur (indifferent on rest), then

WhiskeyWhiskers posted:

Take Laumspur

Mikl posted:

The Chasm of Doom posted:

The forest is patrolled by bandits, but they take little interest in their guard duties, and you find it easy to avoid them in the dark. Then, by chance, you come across a small log cabin hidden deep in the woods. A candle flickers at the window, and the door is ajar.

WhiskeyWhiskers posted:

Investigate.

The Chasm of Doom posted:

The door slams shut, and you spin round to see a bandit leaping at you from the shadows. His head is a mass of bloodied bandages, but he is armed and determined to fight.

Wounded Bandit: COMBAT SKILL 13 ENDURANCE 16

He fights you with his back to the door and you cannot evade him.

The Chasm of Doom posted:

You roll the dead bandit over with the toe of your boot and make a quick search of his body. You discover the following items:

• 3 Gold Crowns
  
• Dagger
  
• Sword

You may take any of the above items. As you are leaving, you notice a trapdoor in the floor. Opening it, you see that it leads down to the cellar of the building.

Healing: +1 EP (30/32).

Guy Fawkes posted:

Descend in the cellar!

Leraika posted:

Nah, let's leave, the loot here sucks

The Chasm of Doom posted:

You quickly leave the hut far behind and press on through the trees. By morning, you have reached the edge of the forest. Staring out across the fields of tall crops, you see a small village lying at the base of a shallow valley. The fields are only separated by narrow tracks, which are alive with flying insects hovering in swarms.

You are walking along the track when you suddenly spot bandits ahead. They are wandering idly up the track towards you, their spears slung over their shoulders.



Healing: +1 EP (31/32).

Lifting your feet high, you step into the tall crops, taking care to part them first with your hands. You allow the stalks to close again behind your back before you crouch down and hold your breath. You have completely vanished from sight; it is as if the stalks have never been disturbed.

Thanks to your skill of Camouflage, the bandits amble past barely inches from where you hide, oblivious to your presence. When you are sure they have gone, you emerge from the crops and hurry away.

Healing: +1 EP (32/32).

You bypass a village with orange-wood cabins and stone walls, and climb through the tall fields towards a wooded ridge. Beyond the ridge, you enter thick forest and discover a bubbling freshwater stream. You drink deeply and realize how hungry you are. You stop to catch and eat a fish.

As night falls you reach the city of Maaken. The gaunt, weed-infested ruins of this shattered city are spread like a vast graveyard and bathed in the eerie light of a near-full moon. A sound fills the air like the wailing of lost souls; it is the cry of Maakengorge.

It has been nearly two days since you last slept and fatigue begins to overwhelm you. Drawing your Kai cloak about your shoulders, you settle down to sleep; you will need all your strength for the daunting task that lies ahead.

Dawn arrives, rain-swept and gloom-laden. A pall of drizzle hangs over the ghost city and the gruesome discord of the wailing winds of Maakengorge makes you feel uneasy. You watch and wait, your Kai cloak drawn close about your shoulders to keep out the chill, damp air.

It was here, during the Age of the Black Moon, that King Ulnar of Sommerlund killed the mightiest of the Darklords—Lord Vashna. In mortal combat upon the very brink of the abyss, the Darklord was slain by the Sommerswerd. It is said that his death-cry when he fell will echo through the gorge until the day he rises to wreak his vengeance on Sommerlund and the House of Ulnar. Your stomach contracts at the thought that this could be that very day.

For five hours you observe and take in every detail of the ruined city. The first line of the strange verse keeps repeating itself in your mind. ‘When the full moon shines o’er the temple deep … ’ The temple must be underground and there must be an entrance to it—but where?

You study every crack in the broken ground and eliminate all but two possibilities: a crypt door guarded by two Vassagonian warriors and a flight of marble steps descending into the earth between two columns of fractured pillars.

RudeCat posted:

Blow past those assholes and take the door.

The Chasm of Doom posted:

You manage to reach a tangle of briars growing near the crypt door, and from here you can observe the Vassagonian guards undetected. More soldiers appear on horseback, riding into Maaken from the north. They dismount and approach the door.



‘Password!’ shout the crypt guards.

‘Lohn,’ reply the soldiers. The door opens and they are allowed to enter.

Armed with the password, you decide to try to enter in the same way. Keeping the hood of your cloak raised and your Sommlending features in shadow, you walk boldly towards the guards.

Your bravado (and training in Camouflage) has paid off. The guards accept the password and allow you to enter the crypt. As the stone door is drawn shut, you find yourself in a wide torchlit corridor heading towards the east.

The corridor ends at a flight of steps that descends a hundred feet into the earth. At the bottom, a short passage leads to a junction where a tunnel runs from north to south. To the north you can see a torchlit cavern with what appear to be observation slits carved into the wall; to the south a passage leads towards a low balcony.

WhiskeyWhiskers posted:

Can you at least copy the section where we get loving bamboozled and trapped? It's a fun death.

The Chasm of Doom posted:

You are at the bottom of the cellar ladder when the trapdoor slams shut and you hear a bolt slide across and lock. You hammer on the trapdoor desperately trying to escape, but your captors cover the trapdoor with a heavy oak cask and keep guard in the room above. Four days pass before the lock slides back, but the hands that open the trapdoor are bony and fleshless.

Your life and your mission end here.

RudeCat posted:

Check out that cavern.

The Chasm of Doom posted:

You have taken just one step into the cavern when a blow on the back of your head knocks you senseless. You were seen at the junction by two guards, who prepared this ambush for you. Your equipment is taken and your unconscious body bound by Barraka’s men, who throw you into a cell.

You are unable to stop the sacrifice. When the time comes for your cell door to open, it is the bony hand of a skeleton that turns the key.

Your life and your mission end here.