Cheers all - I will persevere with the jumpy page syndrome - here's the report in full!
As you may know A Miner Engagement left our foolhardy Dwarf miners holed up in their newly dug mine shaft, taking refuge from a sizeable hunting party of hungry Orcs...
The Surviving Dwarf Miners -
The passing Gnome Adventurers -
The Undead Minions of Tim the Necromancer -
The Dwarfs lay fearfully in the pitch black confines of the mine. The roughly cut stone walls had once promised much - now they seemed more like a tomb. A vigil was set up by the rockfall they had engineered for just such an eventuality and for a few days the barbarous sounds of Orcs could be clearly heard.
Yet the miners were not entirely helpless, nor were they idle. Working in short shifts to conserve what little food they had left, the Dwarfs grimly chipped away in the deepest recesses of the their tunnel. While they still drew breath, dank and stale though it may be, there was hope of escape.
After the third day of their imprisonment they awoke to an uncanny silence. No longer did the Orc's bickering and guttural snarls pollute the air at the mine entrance. Instead the sharp ozone tang of magic wafted through the cracks that served them for ventilation. Then the chanting started. Below them...
As they listened, the hairs of their beards prickling with fear, there came a scrabbling at the rockface where they had been digging. Small stones skittered to the floor, soon followed by larger ones, until a dark hole stared evilly at them from the tunnel wall. Tinnyson edged closer to investigate. Suddenly a bony hand shot out snatching blindly at him. The Dwarfs didn't hesitate! Even as the wall began to collapse they turned and ran, the sound of bony feet upon the stony ground ringing in their ears...Dwarf Turn 1
Tearing aside the rocks blocking the mine entrance the Dwarfs stumble, blinking, into the sunlight once more. Losing no time Piewright and Fletch hurry down to the old barricade they had hastily built in their earlier encounter with the Orcs. In an uncharacteristic burst of speed Feldspar clears it!
Deadeye descends the slope but halts halfway down, turning to cover their retreat. Alfryd Tinnyson and Kanaeri Kandlewicke follow suit, forming a defensive line against the nameless horrors pursuing them.
Further down the valley a comparatively idyllic scene was playing out. A small and well ordered camp lay on the far side of the low hill that sat between the more rugged peaks of the valley head. In it a small band of Gnome Adventurers were lounging about smoking, wondering how much longer Glimtwiss Greenfinger, the Gnomish wizard they were accompanying, would be in his search for the rare herbs and fungi he coveted. Being out of earshot of the commotion that was developing at the mine entrance, they continued smoking and conversing!
Undead 1
Preceded by the sinister clattering of bony feet four skeleton warriors burst out of the mine in hot pursuit!
The first stops dead as the bright sunlight hits it, collapsing into a heap of dust as the eldritch powers animating it suddnely wane (Wild roll - Bound characteristic means it perishes on a Wild action roll - not a good start!).
Blocked by the line of grim-faced Dwarfs the remaining skeletons are unable to gang up on their prey. One foul creature charges into Alfryd but is fought off to a draw. Cackling horribly, the third skeleton leaps from the ledge and falls on Deadeye, pushing the surprised Dwarf back.
Loosing his footing on the scree, Deadeye falls from the ridge. Luckily he is not injured by the tumble but is once more beset by the leering monster...
Further down the mountainside, Tim the Necromancer and the rest of his cursed band emerge from out of the hidden entrance to his catacombs.
The lead skeleton leaps from the ridge to cut off Feldspar's retreat. The rest of the warband advance with an uncanny speed.
Tim, himself stalks menacingly along the ridge, intoning dread words to open up a fiery portal to the Netherworld right in the Dwarf's path!
Dwarf 2
Things look grim for the Dwarfs, but luckily the shouts and clash of steel alert the Gnomes further down the valley. Amazed to see a small horde of skeletons pouring into the head of the Cwm, they quickly make preparations to come to the aid of the benighted Dwarfs.
Griebel peers into the distance, takes careful aim and lets loose a shot at the nearest undead creature. His aim is good and the shot breaks the unnatural bonds holding the foul being's bones together. Trowelson, Slugsbane and Smallmarsh make for the small hill in front of them to gain what height advantage they can.
Greenfinger dashes next to Griebel and, sighting down his gnarled finger, unleashes a magical hail of stone at the approaching skeletons. Unfortunately the energy of his magical attack peters out before it can do any damage.
Back over at the barricade Feldspar takes one look at the oncoming horrors and leaps back over the sandbag wall!
Piewright charges into combat to assist Deadeye, who is now sufficiently recovered to draw his short sword. Together they make short work of the skeleton assailing them.
Fletch hurriedly levels his crossbow and takes a panicked shot at Dimm the Ogre, barely stinging the great brute!
Up on the ridge Alfryd and Kanaeri gang up on the skeleton leering down at them. A well aimed swipe of a hammer takes its legs from under it and the creature falls to its second death at the foot of the crags below.
Undead 2
From his vantage point, Tim scowls at the strong defence the dwarfs are putting up. The lone surviving skeleton from the first wave stood little chance against the two burly Dwarfs stood in its path. With a click of his bony fingers, the skeleton leaps, shrieking, off the ridge and onto the lone Feldspar below! Another word of command sends a second re-animated warrior charging into the luckless Dwarf. The clash is brief and Feldspar was no more. Long and loud were the lamentations of his brother, Piewright...
Alfryd and Kanaeri look on in horror, but are unable to help as a ghastly, green glow begins to emanate from the mine entrance. A chill blast of stale air hits them, bringing up the foul reek of the grave, as a terrifying Wight glides into the cold mountain light.
Frozen with terror, Alfryd is hacked down by the fiend's merciless blows!
Piling on the woe for the Dwarfs, Tim the Necromancer produces a tattered parchment from his sleeve, and in a voice like the rustling of dead leaves, intoned the words that would summon yet more infernal creatures from their eternal slumber.
Slowly a shape forms within the portal, gradually growing and growing until two great skeletal hands wrench its great bulk through into reality. With a mighty bellow, the newly summoned Bone Giant glared around with its baleful, empty eyes-socket.
Meanwhile its smaller brethren move up to finish off the Dwarf survivors, while Dimm, catching sight of Slugsbane atop the hill, lumbers off in pursuit of a little sport...
Dwarf 3
Kanaeri stilled his beating heart and charges into the Wight. Leaping up the slope Piewright joins the fray, pushing the Wight back towards the tunnel mouth. Down below the two crossbowmen unleash a volley at the approaching skeletons. Fletch drops his target, as does Deadeye, slightly evening the odds in the inevitable melee.
Bellowing a stirring warcry, Trowelson leads his Gnome warriors in a brave charge against the Ogre looming over them. The enormous brute bats away their attacks with relative ease however.
Knowing this would be a fight with no quarter given, the courageous Gnomes press home their attack and the combat rolls on - this time they gain the upper hand and down their enormous opponent!
Griebel spots the Necromancer up on the mountainside and takes aim. His shot is frustrated by intervening cover and goes wide.
Dimtwiss ambles forward to gain a better view of the battlefield. A mystical circle of stone unearth themselves as he opens a portal of his own in the path of the Undead advance.
Undead 3
Sacrificing a dredskull, Dimm picks himself up and, enraged at his near defeat at the hands of such puny adversaries, he lashes out in a blind fury. Catching Trowleson with a mighty blow, he roars with satisfaction as the dimunitive champion goes down. However, the indomitable little fellow staggers back to his feet (sacrificing a dredskull of his own), ready for the next round.
Over by the barricade the Bone Giant wheels around and advances on the literally quaking Dwarf crossbowmen.. The two spear-armed skeletons clamber over the undefended barricade, the nearest jabbing ineffectually at Fletch.
The Wight fights back, but in the confines of the mine entrance, it did not have room to wield its cruel blade effectively. Quite at home in such environs the two Dwarfs take the intitiative, crushing the dread creature's skull wit their trusty hammers.
Gnashing his teeth at the demise of the Wight, Tim stalks coldly forward, tearing another fiery portal from the fabric of reality between himself and his two opponents on the ridge.
As he does so the ground beneath Kanaeri erupts in a great explosion as the Necromancer hurls a great gout of flame from his fingertips. The Dwarf is slammed into the rockface and knocked senseless.
02 May 2012, 02:09:28 AM