Rufus's expedition to the frozen city

[rufus sparkfire]

Thaw of the Lich Lord game 2: battle on the river.

[back to game 2 in the campaign sequence!]

The Baron had learned that the ice on the great River Meregile had retreated far enough to make dozens of ancient vessels accessible. These boats had once carried exotic goods to and from the city's bustling docks, but had been trapped for a thousand years under the snow. Surely they would be packed with treasures!

Mr. Hollowhill agreed with the Baron's suggestion to visit the river. The halflings, along with their new bard, soon reached the banks of the Meregile. Pathways of thick ice ran here and there across the surface, while in between the water was covered only by soft slush. There were many wrecked boats scattered around, but of particular interest was a strange craft of metal that lay at the river's midpoint. This iron ship was undamaged, at least on the outside.

As so often happened, a rival wizard had brought his warband on the same mission. There would no doubt be a battle.



The metal ship was lodged firmly in the ice. Its lack of visible masts or oars was puzzling.



On the far side of the river, a necromancer had split his followers into two groups.



The halflings were more spread out.


Both sides stepped onto the ice. In places the surface was slick enough to cause a few warriors to slip and fall over. The intense cold, too, was uncomfortable for the barefoot halflings, despite their thick soles.


The necromancer's minions filed along a narrow gangplank between wrecks [the zombie appears to be pushing the templar!].


Bessie the yak encountered the necromancer's bear...


...and charged! Bessie won the combat, causing seven points of damage to the bear. But when a hostile templar arrived to assist, Bessie was defeated.


While halfling and necromancer groups faced each other across a gap in the ice, a wizard suddenly appeared from a hatch on the strange vessel! This wizard wore the sinister symbols of the death-cult, and carried a bag bulging with treasure. Sammie, the halfling treasure hunter, moved to intercept the wizard, only to be beaten back by a heavy staff-blow.

The mechanical crow, Bronze Bob, flew at the distant crossbowman and began to peck at him mercilessly. The combat continued for some time (which prevented the crossbowman from providing ranged support to his colleagues) and in the end, it was the bird that was victorious!


Before the other halflings could reach the wizard, one of the necromancer's warband sprung at him. This man, known as Litchfield Tony, cut down the wizard with contemptuous ease. The sack containing whatever had been looted from the ship fell onto the ice.

At the same time, the second bear rounded the ship and attacked Fang the warhound. The beast was huge, but the valiant dog defeated it immediately!


Tony was attacked by the Baron, Sammy, Flynn the bard, and Fang, but fell only after injuring his massed opponents. An evil knight moved up to take his place: this fiend defeated Flynn and the Baron himself! The remaining halflings pushed him into the freezing water, but he hauled himself out and continued to fight.

The necromancer's apprentice stepped onto the iron ship, where she was shot and incapacitated by Freddy Aleborrow. At the same time, Jimmy the archer shot the necromancer, wounding him badly enough to make him withdraw to a safe distance.


The halflings eventually defeated the knight, only to face the bear and templar who had arrived from the other side of the ship. Fang was defeated... but this bought Sammie the time he needed to open a heavy bottle he carried. Smoke gushed out, condensing rapidly into an entity Mr. Hollowhill called 'The Burning Swordsman.' This demon attacked the templar, and though gravely injured itself, defeated him. Only the bear was left, and a charge by the demon and the remaining halflings saw to that.


It had been a grueling struggle, but the halflings had won the day. They had claimed two normal treasures, plus the special treasure from the iron ship. The necromancer had carried away the other two normal treasures.

The Baron's injuries would take time to heal, so Mr. Hollowhill insisted he rest at the inn for the next few days at least [missing the next game]. The other injured halflings were quite restored after a hefty meal, several pints of ale and a pipe-full of Old Furfoot's best tobacco. Bessie the yak, on the other hand, was unable to continue with the expedition [dead! but don't tell the halflings that].

The special treasure [worth two rolls on the lich lord treasure table] turned out to be a grimoire of the new spell 'revenant,' which Mr. Hollowhill resolved never to use, and a pair of intricate amulets. According to their inscription in Pre-Morphelian Runes, these were the 'Eyes of Amoto,' which allow the wearer of one amulet to see through the eyes of whoever wears the other.

The normal treasures were a staff of power (2 power points), a grimoire of the spell 'invisibility,' and a total of 60 gold.

Mr. Hollowhill had gained 305 experience points, taking him to level 9 [5 EXP from level 10, actually]. He improved his casting numbers for elemental bolt, leap and brew potion.

[wolfkarl]

What a great improvised board! Thanks for sharing your games. Who makes the "knarly" trees you used in the earlier games?

[rufus sparkfire]

I can't take credit for the board - it's the work of Dave at Wargames Emporium, where I play! Though the ironclad model is mine. I agree that he did an excellent job of filling the challenging terrain requirements of the scenario.

I think the tree models are Games Workshop ones. They look nice, but tend to get snared on tape measures and sleeves!

[Eric the Shed]

Love the board....

[rufus sparkfire]

Thaw of the Lich Lord game 4: the storm of undeath

With the Baron restored to full health, Mr Hollowhill and the halflings set out for one last expedition into the ruins before settling down for the Midwinter Pie Festival. As they walked, the weather declined steeply; snow began to fall, the rising wind swirling it into blinding, silencing tides. Overhead the thick clouds crackled with unearthly light. Mr Hollowhill swore he could hear a dry, whispering voice beneath the wind.

[note: the storm limits line of sight and serious impairs all ranged attacks.]

The halflings reached a clearing in the ruins, marked out by four pillars.



Inside were scattered treasures, along with the skeletal remains of ancient soldiers.



The halflings pressed on. Once they were close enough, Mr Hollowhill and Rufle used telekinesis to drag treasures away from the pillared square. Meanwhile, a warband commanded by a thaumaturgist appeared out of the snowstorm on the opposite side. They advanced, the wizard casting a great many protective and enhancing spells over his men.



Some missile fire was exchanged, but the storm made it ineffective.



The thaumaturgist's soldiers moved in force into the square, while the halflings waited cautiously on the edge.



Lighting struck each of the four pillars. Immediately, the skeletons animated and attacked!



They were quickly destroyed. The halflings handled three, while the thaumaturgists took out the others.


Both warbands now decided to withdraw. The thaumaturgist's soldiers had so many spells on them (shield, possess, strength) that the halflings had no desire to fight in melee. But neither did the enhanced soldiers dare advance towards the halflings. Even in the poor weather conditions, elemental bolts remained a threat, as Rufle demonstrated by blasting a knight with his firebolt.

Mr Hollowhill's group had recovered three of the six treasures, which he considered more than sufficient. These turned out to be a collection of books: there were grimoires of awareness, bone dart... and another containing the hideous lich-creating spell! As before, Mr Hollowhill destroyed the cursed lich-tome [+50 EXP]. Along with the books were 190 gold pieces.

Mr Hollowhill had gained 300 EXP [150 from treasure, 70 from spells cast, 30 from skeletons destroyed, and 50 for burning the lich book] which advanced him to level 12 [still 5 from the next level!]. He improved his health, and his elemental bolt and brew potion spells.

Only Fang the dog had been injured, but turned out to be fine. The halflings fortified their inn before taking a well-earned rest for the pie festival.

[jp1885]

Love it - bravo!
(Midwinter pie festival - excellent!)

[skip]

another great writeup, thanks, i have enjoyed reading your campaigns, gives a good insight on how to play mine
after christmas

brian

[Bane]

What wonderful write ups of your games and such great scenery to play amongst too. Thanks for sharing!

[rufus sparkfire]

Thanks guys! It's really nice to know that people like the reports!

(Midwinter pie festival - excellent!)

Being in a haunted, ruined city is no reason not to celebrate!

[rufus sparkfire]

Thaw of the Lich Lord game 5: Run of the Rangifer

Now that the Midwinter Pie Festival was over, it was time for the halflings to venture back into the heart of the city. Several miles from their basecamp, they came across a set of peculiar tracks in the snow. The footprints were like those of deer, but the spacing was unusual - almost as if the animal walked upright on two legs.

Following the tracks, the halflings discovered the creatures that had made them.


They were hoofed and antlered like beasts, but they walked upright and wore primitive clothing. Surely these were intelligent beings.


Artifacts of ancient Frostgrave lay on the ground beside them. Did they guard these treasures deliberately? Or were they uninterested in the artifacts that littered their lair?


[note that the goal of this scenario is to avoid killing the rangifers, which is extremely difficult!]

As Mr Hollowhill observed the creatures, he became aware that he was not the only wizard in the area.


The bear-loving necromancer was here, along with his dangerous henchman Litchfield Tony!


The thaumoturgist they had encountered during the storm of undeath was here also...


...as was a second thaumoturgist Mr Hollowhill had not seen before.
[

Still, the area was unusually rich in artifacts. Provided the creatures could be avoided, there should be enough for everyone.

The halfling's crowmaster sent his mechanical bird off to the left, trying to draw the nearest beastmen away from the treasures.


The other wizards were more ruthless, preferring to attack the beastmen head on.


While Mr Hollowhill's plan worked to some extent, the beastmen unfortunately remained too close to some of the treasures. Using telekinesis, he and his apprentice Rufel were able to draw some of the artifacts towards the halfling adventurers, but others were still beside the stamping hoofs of the creatures. It began to look as if a fight was unavoidable.
[

Just then, a shadow fell across the low and feeble sun. Something hideous had arrived: an ancient, twisted shade arrayed in the armour of a millennia past. This long-dead knight moved directly towards the beastmen, passing through broken walls and piles of rubble as though they did not exist. For whatever reason, the wraith had been sent to kill the creatures.

One of the thaumoturgists, reacting instinctively, hit the shade with a 'push' spell, the magical blast knocking it far from its target.


Meanwhile, the other warbands were doing the shade's work for it: the beastmen were falling.


Worse still, Litchfield Tony was advancing on the halfings!


They attempted to defeat him with an age-old trick of halfling combat: weight of numbers. But the drunken ex-pirate knocked down one halfling after another. He was invincible!


But as the halflings retreated before him, a hail of missile-fire from one of the other warbands put Tony out of action. At the same time, the wraith knight was dispatched by a knight armed with a magical sword. In the resulting confusion, Mr Hollowhill ordered a retreat. The halflings left the field with four treasures secured: given the opposition, this was a good haul indeed! Disappointingly, among the treasure was yet another copy of the despicable lich-transformation spell. Were they being printed somewhere?

It was only afterwards that Mr Hollowhill found a reference to the strange creatures in one of his books. They were called 'rangifers,' and were known to nurture a furious hatred of all undead things. No wonder the wraith had been sent to destroy them. All the signs now pointed to the rise of some terrible undead force within Frostgrave. Mr Hollowhill was determined to oppose it.


I've fallen behind on writing these, so I have two more games still to report.

[jp1885]

Excellent batrep! Not too stuffed from the pie festival I trust?

[Timeshadow]

I love the fact that you tryed to not kill the Rangifur, and the thamaturges were like just killing them, The necromancer I can see killing them too. Nice Bat Rep I'm hoping to have a few more soon as well. We are starting a new campaign. 

[rufus sparkfire]

Thanks! Yes, I appealed to my opponents to keep the rangifers alive, but they didn't care!


Thaw of the Lich Lord game 6: the House of Longreach

Mr Hollowhill sighed contentedly. He had a full mug of ale, a pipe of fine tobacco, an interesting book on the use of ensorcelled clockwork in surveying devices, and a good fire in the hearth to warm his feet. But best of all, his annoying apprentice Rufle was out. The lazy little pest had gone with some of the others to a new tavern that had opened near the western gate. He was unlikely to return until late, which left Mr Hollowhill with nothing to do except read his book.

He'd barely reached the second sentence before he heard the front door burst open downstairs. A moment later, Rufle ran into the room (tracking in the snow that had stuck to his feet) and began to talk rapidly. A terrified man had come into the tavern and declared that everyone should flee the city while they still could - the Lich Lord was coming! The man claimed to have overheard the plans of a group of Death Cultists to raid the mysterious House at Longreach for some treasure their undead master desired. Of course, since stories of the house and its treasures had been circulating for months, the tavern's patrons were very interested in hearing about its location. The man obliged before he fled the city. Moments later, the tavern was empty: the race to reach the house had begun.

Mr Hollowhill put down his book, telling Rufle to gather the others for an immediate expedition. He put out the fire, regretfully, and a moment later stepped in some of the snow Rufle had accidentally brought in. He shuddered. Why did this wretched city have to be so cold? It was almost enough to make a halfling wear shoes... but that would never do. He was a gentleman, and he had to maintain a certain image. He put on his scarf, crammed a cap onto his head, and went downstairs to supervise the preparations.





The halflings were speedy travelers, reaching the house at the same time as only one other warband. The 'house' - really an ancient palace complex - proved to be in a state of considerable decay. Few buildings remained standing. However, its most famous feature endured. Scattered around the ruins were six free-standing archways. These were magical portals which allowed for instantaneous travel between them. Mr Hollowhill knew from his books that one of the doors would lead to an underground treasure chamber... but which door? And would the system still function?



Lesser treasures were scattered about the ruins, but the most interesting items would be in the hidden chamber. Braving the portals would be a priority. The halflings spread out to begin the search.



Not far away, the rival warband did the same.



It soon became clear that the portals were no longer in proper working order. Whenever a soldier stepped through an arch, he would be teleported to another arch... at random.


Or worse, the portal might fail to transport him at all, instead zapping him with a painful jolt of energy. Before long, both warbands were scattered around the ruins. The expedition seemed futile.


That is, until Bronze Bob, the halflings' robotic crow, vanished through a portal and appeared in an underground room. There was no secret method needed to reach the room - it was just a matter of luck! Fortune favoured the halflings more than it did their rivals. Flynn the bard and the Baron both found themselves in the hidden room.


The treasure-chamber was revealed. Few of its ancient secrets remained. Those that did were guarded.


Frost Wraiths! These curious spectral entities are partly material.


Bronze Bob flew into the treasure room, and was immediately attacked by the two wraiths. The creatures froze his mechanical body, causing him to crash to the ground.


Flynn and the Baron took advantage of the distraction by circling around the room in the other direction. Meanwhile, Mr Hollowhill and Sir Wilton had both found the room.


The Lich Lord's minions had arrived at last. The sinister wizard had dispatched four cultists and a monstrous undead troll. He'd also given them a magical key that would allow them to transport directly to the treasure room. The cultists hurled themselves through the nearest door, leaving the troll to mill around in a state of confusion.


Meanwhile, the Baron engaged one of the wraiths in combat. He swung his polaxe and shattered the creature like it was made of glass.


Some of the rival warband had finally reached the treasure room. One of them destroyed the second wraith. Flynn and the Baron moved to secure the treasure. Mr Hollowhill and Sir Wilton were attacked!


Mr Hollowhill was a skilled swordhobbit, armed with a weapon he had enchanted himself. He rapidly vanquished his opponent. Sir Wilton, facing two enemies at once, was in difficulty. And the cultists were about to arrive!


Sir Wilton was knocked out by a heavy blow to his helmet. Barely a moment later, the cultists arrived and attacked the rival soldiers. Mr Hollowhill, withdrawing from the fight, used his leap spell to propel the Baron (and the treasure he carried) though the portal to safety.

At this point, the game ended due to lack of time (all the random teleportation rolls made this scenario take longer than a normal game). The halflings had secured the special treasure item - the Fireheart gem - and so claimed victory!

Sir Wilton would recover, though he would have to miss the next game. Bronze Bob would be rebuilt, as usual!

I enjoyed this scenario a lot. I'd rank it at the same level as the frozen river (scenario 2).

Mr Hollowhill sat by the fire, his feet starting to warm up again, staring into the depths of the beautiful gemstone. The way it caught the firelight was breathtaking. But it was more than just a decorative item - his researches had shown that it could absorb harm that would otherwise befall the bearer, provided he had the mystical skill to use it. Too much damage, of course, and it would break.

A loud crash and a rapid stream of curses told him that Rufle had knocked over the bookcase again. Mr Hollowhill shook his head. He fantasized briefly about giving the stupid boy a good beating, but he supposed that would be undignified. Perhaps the Baron would do it for him.

[Plus Four]

When are we going to see the next AAR?

I'm missing my regular fix of the adventures of Mr Hollowhill & gang!