Tales of the Ecthel Coast, Turn 28

Bashir finds Light Armor and Shield! 

Bashir finds an enormous pile of skulls (Obstacle) 

Tales of the Ecthel Coast, Turn 26

The party travels to the Starridge mountain range in the south, seeking the valley in Yldris' vision. It turns out to be a tiny mining hamlet! The place seems abandoned at first, without a soul in sight, and all doors and windows shuttered. As they make their way carefully down the only street, they are startled by a sudden bang! as a shutter flies open. "Beware the Old Kin!" a crone calls out. "Ye'd best come in before ye become lizard food!" 

A warm tea and short chat later, the party learns that a raiding patrol of Old Kin has taken up residence in the mines adjacent to the town, which is called Saltshell. The mayor of the town hired a small group of adventurers to clear out the mine, but they haven't been heard from in some time, and subsequent attempts to approach the minehead were driven away by armed lizardmen. 

The adventurers look at each other. "Two birds, one stone," Bashir says, and shrugs with a rueful grin. 

With that they gear up and head to the occupied mine. 

The party makes its way into the mines

Diane moves deeper into the cavern

At first, all is quiet. Yldris stumbles into a toxic pool, whose caustic fumes trace angry burns on his legs. The elf winces but manages to stay quiet. 

Their way blocked, the party doubles back and tries a different passage. The alchemical light of magical runes glow at the end of the tunnel marks a chamber with exits in all directions, and perhaps contains the information they are seeking. As they approach, they hear the telltale sounds of a fighting patrol nearby. Brandishing swords and bows, Alcuin leads Yldris and Diane around the corner to confront their foe... 

The party confronts a lizard patrol

Diane downs the large lizard leader with a perfectly placed shot through the eye, but as they move in to fight the other lizardmen, she sees a glint out of the corner of her eye, and spies a slumping suit of metal armor behind them - guarded by three more old kin! The battle becomes desperate, its clashing din distracting Cordelia, who is unable to decipher the runes. 

Another patrol is sighted behind the party! 

Surrounded, the party fights back to back. Ocirne's incantation frighten away some of the foe, despite their implacable reputation, and swords and arrowshafts finish off the rest, but not before Jhonny Trinity is wounded by a vicious slash from one of their foes' curved daggers. 

Hearing yet another patrol coming their way, the party retreats deeper into the mines and sets up an ambush. 

The party prepares to ambush the remaining patrol. 

These last are caught unawares, and are cut down almost before they can respond. 

Moving carefully through the mines, they ensure that it is now clear of adversaries. Along the way, they find the bodies of the adventurers as well as the mayor who hired them, still wearing his heavy (and valuable) chain of office. As they are preparing to leave, Alcuin spies a short copper shaft among some debris; picking it up, he sees that it is a dart, whose fletches, shaft and head are all rune-inscribed copper. Admiring its beauty, he lets out a low whistle, and is astonished as the dart trembles and levitates, like a bird in his hands! 

Jhonny Trinity‘s gut wound looked fatal at first, but miraculously he is nearly unscathed! (-1 Luck)

2xp to all participants except Jhonny Trinity (1) and Alcuin (3). Alcuin and Ocirne gain a level!

Much loot is obtained: 

2x Partial Armor 

2x Helmet 

Fine Light Armor 

Strange Map (add an Unexplored Location) 

Penetrating Dart (R24, kill target to hit another within 4”) 

Jewelry worth 9 (!) gold 

Unusual Find: 2 Marks under a body

The Runes give the party the location of the Quest Finale! Also some extra stuff: 

-Evasive Silver (W) Enemy ranged attacks against the wearer will Hit only on the roll of a natural 6, however the effect ends for the rest of the battle if the wearer makes a ranged attack themselves 

-A bag of coins containing 2 Marks

The party returns to Saltshell to great praise and admiration. They are feted until the wee hours, and finally crawl into their cots, and a satisfied slumber. 

Tales of the Ecthel Coast, Turn 25

 

The party spends some time in Lighthaven to rest and recover from their defeat at the hands of the Duskling war party. After a few days, Orirne, still limping from his injury, pulls first himself and then the rest of the party together.  They discuss exploring some of the unusual sightings spotted on the trip to town, but at Jhonny’s urging decide to follow up on some new rumors of an object of arcane power somewhere in the Eastern Forest.

The trip east is swift and uneventful. While foraging and scouting some distance from the road, Yldris finds a midden containing valuable ambercat, which he takes along despite the acrid smell.

 After a few days, the last spent filtering through the northern reaches of the Eastern Forest, the party reaches a low rise overlooking a modest homestead long abandoned by its original owners, thin smoke rising to indicate that it nevertheless remained occupied. Nearby, a dim yellow glow signaled the source of the arcane power; even if it hadn’t, the copse of dead trees surrounding dead trees surrounding it was as unnerving a telltale.

Wasting no time, the group advances silently, leaving only Alcuin behind to guard the burro and cart. Their alert action catches the new denizens of the homestead by surprise, but soon enough the party spots a half dozen wretched outlaws advancing carefully through the brush in a loose skirmish line. 

Planting her feet, Diane fires at a target in the open. Her shot flies true, but rings off the outlaw’s helmet, only stunning him. Ocirne casts a spell on Bashir, who moves up with Cordelia and Jhonny, while Yldris dashes pell-mell for the dimly-glowing crystal in the center of the clearing, his Fey Boots granting him preternatural speed as he nearly flies over the underbrush and tangled roots that would impede a normal man.

Now aware of the impending danger and trying to get a fix on the party’s position, the outlaws race to envelop the party, dagger-weilding ruffians moving up behind the cover of the same number of archers, whose desultory fire with small arrows fall well short of their targets. Now close enough to see their foes, the party prepares to move up in pairs to confront the enemy – until Yldris, still dashing to the clearing, reaches out to the fey crystal entangled in the stump of a tree.

 

Well that was easy

A bright, silent flash bursts from the crystal, dazzling everyone nearby and distracting those farther away. Yldris immediately begins to run back to Ocirne, panting, “I got it I got it I got it” while arrows rained around his feet. Ocirne calls to the rest of the group to retreat, but as Cordelia rises to leave her position in the underbrush, her eyes widen in alarm. A second group of outlaws, nearly as large as the first, emerges from the woods to her right! Spotting her they begin charging towards her, savage weapons brandished.

 

But it was too little, too late. Cordelia finds that she is faster than her pursuers, and with the rest long gone, she is able to evade them neatly. 

Cordelia returns to the laager a few minutes later to find the rest of the party already gathering, and Alcuin loading a pile of cured pelts onto the burro’s back. “Where did you get those?” Cordelia pants, but Alcuin just grins. Finally, his task complete, he dusts his hands and chortles, “Making Marks while you all try to make your mark! They were just sitting around for the taking!”

He isn’t the only one with a silly grin plastered on his face. Yldris, nearly babbling, reports to the group the vision that the eldritch crystal imparted on him. “we need to go to Starridge,” he says, over and over, gesturing at the far-off mountain peaks, clearly delirious with the arcane power of the crystal. The party manages to calm him as they slink away from the homestead and its dangerous current residents, into the safety of the dark wood. 

The adversary: Bestiarum Miniatures thugs and bandits

Five Leagues from the Borderlands Ecthel Coast Campaign: Turns 13-16

The party sets out for Wayfell, but is almost immediately ambushed by a roving band of Gnawlings! Leaderless, the silver-streaked ratmen fight without tactics, but with immense ferocity.   

The ruins of the Elven stronghold, silent before the battle

The horde streaks towards the main body of the party!

Our heroes' missile fire is largely ineffective, allowing the rats to get close en masse. 

Ocirne approaches the Unknown Enemy...

...and reveals two more ratmen!

Alcuin is caught out alone on the flank. His bastard sword sings and smacks, and he is left wounded but surrounded by a pile of rat corpses. Benzan Hill is wounded twice; when Ocirne jumps in front of him to intervene, he takes what appears to be a mortal blow and falls, stricken! 

Alcuin's Pest Control

On the left a small band of rats burst from the trees and jump Diane and Cordelia. A sling bullet sings over Cordelia's shoulder and downs one of the Horde, while Diane is able to drop one with her bow, and a second with her blade. 

The party's archers and slingers are flanked, but they prevail!

Panting, exhausted, the party surveys the carnage. 

Only two party members escape unscathed

Holding his side, Banzan staggers tentatively to the Mystic's side. miraculously, Ocirne is unharmed! (-1 Luck) 

While looting the battlefield, the party finds a pair of pristine soft boots, buried in the bottom of a filthy bag. Ocirne recognizes them as magical Boots of the Thief! (a roll of Vital Information results in a subsequent Quest Find roll of a magical item. Boots of the Thief: The boots may be activated as a Use Action. The character immediately escapes from battle unharmed. If the character retreats (through any method), they never have to roll on the Flight in the Dark Table. Useful!) 

They also find an unconscious captive, a Pilgrim called Dasyi Payne, who was waylaid on her way to Lighthaven.  The party agrees to detour to the monastery and take her the rest of the way. (Escort her to her destination to gain a Friend, and skip Upkeep next turn.)

Result:
5 + 2 + 1 Adventure points! w00t
2XP to all except Ocirne, who gains a single 1XP. Alcuin reaches level 3! 

The Duke's forces continue to make their presence felt - gain 1 AP  

***

That night, the stars seem to glow brighter, and faeriesong filters through the trees. They say on nights like these, the faerie folk select who they will protect. (Cordelia Wendt is blessed next battle. (+5 on Injury/Flight roll))

Upkeep: 1 Mark

In the morning, hoping that the faerie song is a sign, Ocirne searches the woods nearby for congealed strands, but finds none. 

Diane Artekos scouts the party to Lighthaven without further incident. Dasyi Payne is brought to the chapel, where she proclaimed her everlasting thanks. Alcuin sells the quick dagger at market. 

A letter from Zinseris at Lighthaven, offering congratulations on our successful work so far. 

The next day, Ocirne gets both the damaged Bastard Sword and damaged Warhammer repaired (4 Marks). The grateful smith gifts the party a fine sword. 

Upkeep costs are offset by the Chapel's generosity. They also provide a gift of One Mark (Adventure Milestone, 6 AP, rerolled at a cost of 1 Story Point). Dasyi Payne's story of her rescue gain the party 1 AP. 

Yldris visits the town Healer, bringing him closer to victory. (1 Mark) 

Wary from their ambush, the group decides to avoid the main road, and of course they get completely lost! They set up Camp, and encounter a Confusing Trickster, a fortune-teller called Francis Mistsplitter. His proclamations seem to make no sense. However, he brings another letter from Zinseris (+1 Story Point). How did he know how to find them if he was a charlatan? By the next morning, he is gone. 

Before setting out again, the party lives off the land, but Bashir Khan becomes injured while foraging. Ocirne finds a Congealed Strand, which he happily adds to his precious collection.  

Having learned their lesson, the party finds the main road to Wayfell and sticks to it. On the way, they meet a peddler named Neladrie Aldaviel. They exchange trinkets, and get along. She is now a Friend. 

Once in Wayfell, the party learns that a shipment of unguents and salves have arrived from outside the region, and the merchant, loathe to travel alone, seeks an escort to Lighthaven. After a brief conference, the group decides to take on the task of retrieving another part of Zinseris' locket, before returning to Lighthaven with the needed supplies. So the party distributes weapons and sets out once again... 

Five Leagues from the Borderlands Ecthel Coast Campaign: Turn 12

 Last time: 

The party entered the ruin, defeated the Goblin horde therein, and found the magical locket - or a piece of it, anyway! Alcuin is wounded by a Goblin spear, but recovers. However, Yldris is seriously injured (again) and will miss the next SIX turns :( 

A horde of goblins, now deceased (GW Moria Goblins)

The party divides the spoils of war. Nothing earth-shattering, but some useful kit: 

• Quick Dagger
• Delving Kit 
• Balanced Khopesh 
• Damaged Bastard Sword 
• Damaged Warhammer 

Banzan takes the Khopesh, and the rest is distributed amongst various backpacks. 

Banzan Hill, the pocket Quest companion

All party members gain 2 XP Yldris, whose effort garner him a single XP. As a result, Bashir Khan reaches Level 3. Cordelia Wendt, in a flash of insight, becomes a Hero! What luck! 

Bashir Khan, once a scrabbling street performer, 

now the party's most formidable warrior! 

Cordelia Wendt has blossomed since Banzan
joined the party, and is now a Hero! 

As the party is setting up camp, passing woodsman shares his observation that the region is being more heavily patrolled lately. The roads are safer than usual to travel. 

...

After a restful sleep, the party awakens full of foreboding, feeling unseen eyes staring at them from the cover of the undergrowth. Nevertheless, they head out and forage for food, finding enough to keep them going until the next town. Cordelia, for her part, finds enough Silvertree Leaf for two doses of the herb! 

The party sets out from the northern reaches of the Woodland to the site of the next part of Zinseris' locket, but have barely started travelling when they are ambushed by a Gibbering Horde! They find themselves facing nine rat soldiers with standard weapons, plus an Unknown Enemy marker. They have no leadership. They gain Awareness. Failure means a loss of 3 Adventure Points. 

This is a Meeting Engagement. To win, they must eliminate four enemies in the first six battle round, for +1 Adventure Point. 

Five Parsecs from Home Turn 6: Sand Runners

In which the crew of the Zouave are hired by Wapcaplett, Vendetta & Prang to clear some pests out of a building...

But first: 

Back from their last mission, the crew take some much-needed R&R. Yodel finds a cool dueling pistol in an antique shop. It's been deactivated but she thinks she can get it working again. Ulf hits the gym. Mireille meets a fixer who will find them jobs for a nominal fee; Mireille tells them that they are fine for now but will get in touch if work with their current patron dries up. 

"Reno", Unit 9 .stl

Sally comes back with a new friend in tow! Mandy Reno looks like he's been around and could be useful, so Mireille agress to take him on. Hob makes some contacts of his own, but refuses to elaborate. Mireille wonders if he is starting to feel a little too comfortable on this world? 

Kangal gets into a fight in a local bar. He wins, barely, but the rival crew of Raiders swear revenge on him and his shipmates. 

The next morning Mireille briefs the team on their next mission. The crew has been hired as exterminators! Frakking has caused local geological instability, which has pushed the resident Sand Runners from their dens. Some of these Sand Runners have overrun a research complex, and the exterminator they sent in has gone missing. The team need to emplace a lure in the middle of the complex, which will disperse through the HVAC in the facility and render the sand runners docile for future dispersal. If they can find out what happened to the exterminator, there will be a bonus! 

Their WVP contact tried to insist that the crew to go in with light weapons only, to minimize damage to the facility, but Mireille talked them out of it (whew!). (-1 Story Point). 

The Exterminator: 

Kumiko Sage, PrintMinis .stl

A pack of (juvenile) Sand Runners: 

Squig Herd, Games Workshop

The team ready their equipment and weapons. Sally is given the lure to attach to the HVAC. 

As they are about to go into the facility, though, the new guy Mandy has second thoughts. Mireille has Yodel stay behind to talk him down while the rest of the team start the mission - now significantly short-handed. 

Fortunately Mireille's sensor bot lets the shorthanded team sneak into the building without being detected. 

Ulf spots a group of small Sand Runners at the end of the hall. Seeing an opportunity target, he opens fire on the biggest one, just as Hob shouts, "No! Not that one!" As it falls, the team hears desperate screeching echo throughout the facility, as Sand Runners everywhere converge on the control room! 

Chaos erupts in the control room as the pack of beasts hurl themselves at the crew. They fire wildly at the sand runners but only manage to stun one! 

Correcting their fire, Hob and Ulf manage to down most of the first wave, but one last Sand Runner leaps over a supply box and slams into Ulf, sending him careening down the corridor. He doesn't get up. Sally, seeing the second wave bearing down on her, decides that discretion is the better part of valor, and backs away from the console, firing wildly. Mireille moves to intercept them, blasting away and waving her sword, to draw their attention. 

The lead Sand Runner leaps on Hob, but eats a knife for its trouble. A second Runner catches Mireille on her arm, just as she brings her sword down on it. She goes flying, but seems unhurt. Sally finishes off the last Runner as it turns to go after her captain. 

Ulf rolls to his feet, a smug grin on his face. "No furry mouth with legs is gonna stop me," he proclaims. 

The team find the exterminator technician hiding in a shipment of starship parts, which Ulf and Hob happily carry away before any corpo shows up. Mireille escorts the tech offsite, and the crew return to the ship. The WVP agent pays them five credits for their efforts. 

Once back at the Zouave, Mireille finds a notification: Unity has halted departures and arrivals from the starport for the foreseeable future. No matter; Wapcaplett, Vendetta and Prang has another job for them already. And Yodel has cracked the encryption on the comms device they found on the dead mercenary, those few weeks back; it seems he was hired by a shadowy criminal organization whose members follow a strict code of criminal ethics with something like Zealotry... The data includes an address that may indicate a dead drop, or a gang-affiliated hideout. Only one way to find out, Mireille muses, but work before pleasure, as they say! 

Five Parsecs from Home Turn 5 - Psychos Part 2

All figures Corvus Belli 

Crazy Starcrew pilots!

Some more starcrew

Kangal Gesurat
Figure: "Bran do Castro", Corvus Belli 

One of the big corporate players on this world, Wapcaplett, Vendetta and Prang has contracted the crew to flush out some more Psychonauts from their hideout outside of the city. Ulf raises an eyebrow at this. "Seems like there's a lot of that warp sickness going around," he muses. 

The crew take a short break before embarking on their next mission. Hob manages to trade some bits of scrap he salvaged from somewhere. Mireille finds a trainer. Ulf gets into a nice chat with an old sea dog, swapping stories of adventure and woe, some of them true. Sally is approached by a corporate headhunter claiming to represent Gottlieb & Loh, but she takes his card without making a commitment, knowing that they are already engaged with a competitor. 

Anja comes back with a new friend: Kangal Gesurat. An ex-Ganger from an industrial world, Kangal learned young how to be swift with fists and feet. Mireille offered him a job on the spot, which he gladly accepted. 

Yodel comes back with a wistful look in her eye. Has she met someone? 

The Job: 

Wapcaplett, Vendetta and Prang send the crew the coordinates of the hideout. There's a time limit: word has leaked of the op, and some nosy Journos are on the way! WVP want to avoid bad press and so the crew have to 'neutralize' the targets before the cameras show up (5 turns). Also, no area of effect weapons can be used. 

The crew land outside of sensor range and make their way in on foot. 

Once again, Mireille's sensor bot spots the Psychos before they are spotted in return, and so they are able to move up into good ambush positions. Sally starts the engagement by taking aim at the Psycho specialist with the MG - but misses! 

The Psychos spring into action! Neither the machine gunner nor the wild fire from the other Psychos' pistols find their mark. The crew are in a better position, though, and down two of the onrushing Psychos. 

Undeterred, the remaining Psychos close into close combat! Yodel jumps down from an outbuilding to snap a shot at one of the charging maniacs, and fells her just before she is able to reach Ulf. The other, however, meets Anja at the edge of the woods, and slips a blade under her guard. In her haste to parry, Anja goes flying back! Sally's shots start to connect, but the machine gunner stands her ground. She misses her target, however. Mireille starts closing the distance to the specialist to help Sally. 

Unwilling to let her boss take fire for her, Sally drills the specialist and finally finishes her off. Meanwhile Hob runs up and blasts the remaining Psycho in the back, as she turns to face Kangal. 

The battlefield falls silent. 

Mireille finds a stim-pack in the cluttered mess of the habitat module, as well as an encrypted data chip. 

The crew rush to Anja's aid, and patch up a deep gash in her left leg. Despite the severity of the wound, it doesn't look anything that a medkit can't heal, with time (2 turns, in fact). 

The Wapcaplett, Vendetta and Prang rep transfers 4 credits to the Zouave's account, but a short sharp visit by local officials claws back three of those in fees and taxes! 

Kangal asks to talk to Mireille in private, and shares with her his misgivings about the brutality of the recent operation. Mireille sympathizes and agrees with his request to sit the next mission out.