RoSD First Play (Blood Moon Mission AAR with Pictures)

[Legionnaire]

I am going to play the scenario itself tomorrow but wanted some build up towards it  .

I'm going to game this solo to try out the rules, but in the future I hope my daughter will also join in. With no fantasy suitable miniatures/ scenery, I have printed off some paper standees and made some simple yet functional stuff out of green/ blue felt and some foam cut into shapes of walls for the manor/ barn etc. I will probably use numbered Clue Markers and randomise them instead of rolling on the table and keep re-rolling (got some old Space Hulk monster tokens with numbers I can use).

[Legionnaire]

(Apologies for the poor picture quality and the camera packed up just before I managed to dispatch the first werewolf)

            From the journal of Jarlorian Vijk

The eight of us set off from the camp, myself and the four survivors, along with my team Eskil the Spy, Sybella the Magi and Helmut the Tracker. The survivors Seb, Nicolan, Covin and Orla showed us the way, but even so there were dark forces conspiring against us at every turn. There was an evil wind blowing from the east and the whole forest seemed alive with countless menacing eyes glittering in the moonlight. Underneath the pale silvery full moon, we surveyed the place from a convenient hillock some distance away. In the darkness we could just about make out two large buildings, a barn and the manor house. The moonlight played over the watery surface of the pond and we could see a small vessel slowly rocking over the waves and there was a small grove of trees, a strong scent of pine wafted from them. Not a sound was heard, but there was an aura of danger about the place. Not knowing what we could run into, I decided to split the group into three teams. Eskil and I were heading for the manor house to see if we could find any survivors there. Helmut, Seb and  Covin were sent towards the barn and Sybella, Orla and Nicolan were to investigate the grove. With those instructions the teams set out.

Despite the poor visibility, Helmut's keen eyes detected three monstrous flies hovering by the barn, all fat and glistening with the offal from the gruesome feast. In one fluid motion he notches an arrow and let it fly. His aim is true and the abomination tumbles to the ground, unmoving. While we all made our way forward, a bone chilling howl is suddenly erupting out of nowhere and is answered by many other unseen throats. I have to confess, still to this day, the sheer thought of it sends an icecold shiver down my spine and I know I wasn't the only one feeling dread and fear. To steel myself, I uttered an incantation as I held my trusted sword and a bluish glow sprang forth from the blade.

The place suddenly became a burst of activity. Angry buzzing insectoid wings fluttered in the air and from the grove sprang forth a huge grey wolf, swift and deadly. Orla let an arrow fly and it bites deep into the bloated body of one of the flies, but it refuses to go down. Sybella gives a command shout and a ball of fire shoots out of her staff, singeing the wolf badly, while one of the giant rats manage to sneak up on her and take a big chunk out of her calf. A smell of burnt fur and flesh fills the air, but the wolf snarls menacingly and springs at Nicolan. It bites deep into Nicolan and he cries out in pain. Helmut lets another arrow fly and takes down one of the flies, while Covin wades in with his battle axe and chops another into half. In the midst of the kerfuffle, there is a cry erupting from behind the wagon. A boy crawls out from there, he's scared and hurt, but otherwise alive! I shout at him to stay there until we can come and help him.

We all chip in battling the beasts and it pays off. A rat, the wolf and the remaining fly falls one by one before our blades and arrows. Eskil takes the opportunity to wade into the cold water and investigate the small rowing boat. He finds a corpse floating next to it. The boy skirts around the wagon and drags out another body. The boy notices something is stuck to it, a small glass vial and pockets it. While we are catching our breaths and take stock of our injuries, I recite a cantrip to close Sybella's big wound and we can all hear something big and bad wrecking the mansion, snarls and growls are accompanied with the sound of furniture being reduced to splinters.

Eskil moves up to the front door of the mansion swiftly and silently, but I order him to wait for back-up. Whatever is in there needs to be dealt with carefully. Sybella discovers the badly mangled carcass of a dog amongst the brambles in the grove while the boy is quickly moving back to the hillock where we came from. We don't want any civilians mixed up in this. A cows lowing in the barn is abruptly silenced as something else growls.

Eskil deftly picks the lock and I enter the mansion alongside him, or rather, what's left of it. Everywhere I look, the décor and furniture are in tatters and several bodies lay on the floor, horribly mutilated and twisted. As we wait on the doorstep for our eyes to adjust to the gloom, we can hear something moving around in the room next over, something emitting a low throaty growl. Helmut, Covin and Seb have reached the barn and can see a wolf feeding on the fresh kill. Helmut fires an arrow at the beast, but only manages to wound it. With no forewarning whatsoever, a fetid bloated corpse in the pond suddenly rises up and moves towards Orla and Nicolan, who can only watch in astonishment!

Eskil and I take up position either side of the doorway to the next room, and we have barely done that when a huge hairy wolfman bursts in. It moves impossibly fast but we manage to give it a couple of deep cuts, more out of sheer desperation and blind luck than skill I have to say, but even so, the wounds we manage to give the killing machine begin to heal before our very eyes!!! In the barn, the wolf charges Helmut, the arrow in its side doesn't seem to bother it much. Helmut barely has time to raise his quarterstaff to defend himself, but manages to whack it on the nose. The light tap confuses the beast, its more surprised than injured, but that moment of hesitation is all Covin needs to take its head off with one fell swoop of his battle axe. Whether this was the cause or not, I will never know, but as if on queue, a hundred mournful howls echoed in the night and except for Eskil, no one was much bothered about the noise. Sybella enters the manor, but there's no space for her to lend a hand assisting Eskil and me, so she searches the place and finds a young girl hiding under a bed. The girl is told to get out of here as quickly as possible. Orla tries to shoot the swamp zombie that have crawled out of the pond, but her arrow only slides off its bloated skin. Nicolan cries out in fear but it turns into a gurgle as the zombie lays its powerful hands around his neck and squeezes hard until he collapses on the ground.

Eskil and I cut and thrust with all our might, the werewolf's razorsharp claws only inches from our faces in a blur of frenzied emotions. But it pays off, we cut it deeper and harder than whatever power that closes its wounds can cope with. We are all slipping and sliding in the huge pool of warm blood and tufts of fur, but still it keeps on coming. Sybella keeps moving around in the manor and comes across a headless corpse. Outside, Orla is distancing herself from the swamp zombie and shoots an arrow at it, severly wounding it but not taking it out. When Helmut is searching the barn, he finds an elderly man cowering behind some blankets. He helps him to his feet and suggests that he shall join the boy by the hillock to keep out of the way. With all the blood spilt tonight, both friend and foe's, it's no small wonder that the moon itself turns crimson. Its cold red sheen seems to infuriate the werewolf even further.

I can still feel the pain from when the werewolf's claws ripped through my armour and into my flesh, leaving a line of long gashes in my chest. As I grit my teeth, one of the bodies on the floor right next to me suddenly burst open, as a newly hatched giant fly emerges! I have no time to back away from it. Sybella searches the next room and amongst some discarded and torn clothes she finds a beautiful pair of boots. Her magical knowledge tells her they are Boots of Soft Tread so puts them in her backpack for later use.

I see an opening and take it, with a mighty thrust I bury my sword all the way into the hilt in the heart of the werewolf!! Before our very eyes, it changes. On the floor lies a young man, his clothes in tatters and the eyes unseeing as he draws a last ragged breath before he expires. When the giant fly swoops in to sting me, I dispatch it with the backswing. The swamp zombie shambles towards Seb, sensing his life force and takes a bite out of the big man's flesh. Seb swings his heavy two-handed axe and cleaves the zombie from head to toe!!! Sybella enters the last room and in the wardrobe she finds a corpse, that has been hastily pushed inside in an attempt to hide it. Shock and realisation dawns on her as she takes notice of the significance, the corpse has been chopped up by a big axe.
“Oh God! Seb is another one of them!!” she shouts when she can get her voice to carry. There are snarls and growls outside as more wolves appear like ghosts out of the mist and a giant fly pops out from a corpse next to Orla.

As we all scramble to deal with this new threat, Seb changes before our very eyes. Rippling muscles, a long snout with big sharp teeth and massive claws spring forth in his flesh. He is beyond reasoning and has to be taken out. There is no other way. Eskil, Covin and I surround the being that once was Seb and we lay into him/ it. Realising it's him or us, we put all of our compassion at the back of our head and let cold calculating fury take its place. Efficiently we cut, thrust and chop at it, dozens of wounds appear in its flesh. It is inhumanly fast, but even such a being can't keep up forever. Covin takes one of the beasts savage swipes, clean through his armour like it was made of paper and nearly ending his life. But Covin grits his teeth and remains standing. Long enough to see Eskil creep up behind the werewolf and stab it again and again until it tumbles to the ground, regaining Seb's form.  We gathered all the bodies and burned them, hopefully nothing will come back from that. But you just don't know, the Shadow Deep harbours many dangers and secrets, maybe all this will come back and haunt us one day. But for now, we live to fight another day. Nicolan was badly wounded but I have been assured he will make a full recovery. Upon our return I filed a report with captain Deshaine and the word has spread around the camp about our adventure. It's not encouraging that so many things have been blown out of proportion and things taken out of context, however, if it can teach the men how to find the bravery within themselves and sobering realise what they are up against and at what cost this war will be fought, then how can I object? Expect the worst, hope for the best is the motto I live by.

Aftermath: 114 Experience, Boots of Soft Tread, 1 Healing Potion and Nicolan made a full recovery.

Thoughts: My first go at RoSD. I really enjoyed it, but probably would benefit from markers to signify a model has acted, as I found myself having to backtrack more than once as I forgot to move a model (friend and foe).