In the Aristrax Marches – Ep11
Previously in the last episode of the actual play report of Five Leagues from the Borderlands in the Aristrax Marches, the Ravens of Gadun suffered a serious defeat while trying to destroy Ugmal once and for all. Despite gaining an initial foothold in Ugmal’s burial site, soon they were overwhelmed by the enemy troops. Lady Liana of Trenne lost her life in that fight.
Turn 18
Rolling at Camp Events, since we’re in the Blighted Vale, we get a result of and so the story went, gaining an extra Story Point. Our Upkeep Costs are low this turn so we lose only one Gold Mark. Boots scratches of one Recovery turn, as Bolga tries to Forage for herbs but fails. Since Myrick is the lowest level of our warband, he will Train, earning +1 XP.
For the Adventuring stage we will just Travel to Newhorn (4). On the Travel roll, we get an Obstacle, which is Marshlands, and as we fail our Scouting roll, it is randomly determined that Omac lost his Throwing knives.
Finally at News Events we get that someone important needs adventurers, but we won’t follow up on this.
The morale is low as the Ravens try to come to grip with their defeat. The halfling is still injured and can’t join yet in any upcoming battle, and they’re also one member down after Liana’s loss.
Omac is in no mood to order them around, so the Ravens choose their own tasks. Bolga’s attempt to find any herbs to refill their supply was unsuccesful. Myrick on the other hand focuses on training, he wants to be prepared next time he faces the enemy.Once all is said and done, Omac gives the command to gather round and travel to Newhorn, but they take a wrong turn in their path, and have to go through marshlands. None of them is an expert in scouting proper ground, and with a misstep Omac finds himself in the bog. Bolga quickly pulls him out, but as he does so, Omac’s belt with the pair of throwing knives, is caught on something. The buckle gives way, and the knives are lost forever in the bog. The gloom mood yet continues as they finally reach the manor town. A crier at the square calls for adventurers, but they pay no heed, and head directly to the inn.
Turn 19
Rolling now at Town Events it’s a Market day, and we get yet another Rare trade item roll, for a total of 3 since this is a Town. Our Upkeep costs are high at 3 Gold Marks so we’ll use one pack of Rations this time.
Boots scratches of yet another Recovery turn and he’s ready to fight.
Myrick will train this turn as well, for another XP gain. Since we need to recruit someone, Boots will get on it, spending 1 Gold Mark, and he’s successful, so we get a Follower to cover up Lady Liana’s spot.
I definitely want a non-human Origin for the Follower because I want to see what is available. I decided to roll on the Follower table first, and then either decide or roll randomly. I get the result that it’s a Stout Yeoman. So from the non-human Origins that I don’t have in my warband, what fits me best is either Fey-blood or Dwarf, with a higher chance for Dwarf. I roll randomly and it’s a Dwarf. His name’s Undin.
Time to re-arrange some equipment. I’m giving Undin, Myrick’s Fine Standard Weapon & Bolga’s Fine Shield. Myrick gets the 2nd Heart Seeker. Since this is a major event, I’m trying to have a warband more akin to WYSIWYG. As Bolga is without a shield, he gets to retain the same miniature (yes, I had kept the same mini in the past few episodes despite Bolga carrying a shield). Omac will get a new miniature, that of the bearded mercenary captain wearing plate armor and carrying a bastard sword, that is until his staff is repaired or he switches to a different set of equipment. Boots has a pretty generic miniature carrying a torch, therefore no change is needed there. Temir has a longbow and a sword therefore no change is needed there as well. Since Myrick now sports the Heart Seeker as well, I want a miniature that fits the bill, so I’ll be making a change here also (plus I wasn’t a big fan of the current miniature I used, felt out of place). Finally Undin will get a proper shield bearing dwarf miniature.
Rolling on the Rare items table I won’t make any purchases of the available items (Delver’s kit, Map making kit, or any item at +2 Gold Marks).
For regular trade I’ll sell the damaged light armor, two light weapons and two standard weapons, and buy a new partial armor for a total cost of 1 Gold Mark, which will be given to Undin.
Finally, for Adventuring stage we will Battle the enemy threat and our target yet again is the Whispers from Beyond. They’re at the Wilderness (so we need to travel there), they’re just passing through (meaning they’re using the Unknown Enemy rule) and if we fail, they will entrench themselves further. We cannot afford to lose this fight.
On the Travel roll we Meet someone, the result is a Young runaway, but I decide to take the next available entry because I’ve had a Unique meeting of a Young runaway in the past, and the new result is a Beggar, Sociable who will make us a Contract offer. We’re not interested and reach the enemy at the Settlement outskirts. The enemy rolled is Broken Fanatics, 6 in total with 1 crossbow. They’re lead by a Unique Foe, who is a Mighty Warrior, and an Agent of the Dark. Our objective will be to Hunt the enemy, in this case eliminate the Mighty Warrior.
Wow all this makes a great story to narrate! The roll results fit very well together. Finally, our set up distance is 18″, and we have failed to Seize Initiative.
Caldas wakes up to the sound of the market bustling through the streets of Newhorn. He slowly gets off his bed at the Weasel’s Cellar. He’s back in fighting shape. His injuries healed. He goes downstairs to the bar and as Mina serves him some oatmeal and ale to start the day, a stout bearded fella sits by him, setting his ale jug on the table with a loud thud.
“Are you Caldas? also known as Boots? One of the Ravens of Gadun?” The dwarf asks, and without waiting for an answer, he continues. “My name’s Undin. I heard you’re looking for a strong pair of arms to help you fight beasts. Mina will vouch for me.”
Boots looks at him. He’ll do. “You can’t go monster hunting with a hatchet, my friend. If you’re to be one of us, you need proper arms and armor. Come, follow me. We’ll see what we have, and what doesn’t fit we’ll go to the market, sell it and get you a nice set.”
Undin’s eyes lighten up as he’s given an axe and a shield, both of fine make. They’ll last for a long time in the fights to come. Unfortunately there’s no armor that fits him, so Boots hands him a pack of weapons and armor that they’ll sell to the market. They find a set of armor that is to the dwarf’s size.
“Now you’re ready.” Boots says. “Let’s go.”As they head back to the inn, they find Myrick training in the courtyard against a wooden training doll. Boots motions for him to come inside. The Ravens gather round the table.
Omac raises his drink. “To those that stood here before us, and to those that despite adversity have come to stand in their place. Welcome Undin.” They all raise their jugs and drink.
“The dead must be put to their final rest. We shall hunt them down and their minions, until only the living walk these lands.” He looks to his companions. “You may have heard of Nabaru the Strong. A mighty warrior. Word has reached me that he’s an agent of the dark and he leads a force of broken fanatics to prey on the remote settlements. We’ll hunt him down and end him and his followers. We leave at midday.”Their journey is almost uneventful. They meet a beggar who is eager to talk. Seeing how they’re armed and capable, he tells them of a job offering he’s heard of, but the Ravens aren’t interested, and they push onwards.
At the outskirts of the settlements they see their part of the enemy force. Nabaru towers above the rest of them. None of the Ravens is eager to face him. They nod at each other and move to battle.
Combat
The two opposing forces come closer. Two fanatics and Nabaru have taken the South flank, to face Omac and Bolga. A crossbowman sets up on the hillside behind them and takes a shot at Bolga missing by a mile.
ROUND 1
Meanwhile Temir, Myrick and Boots come from the North, where an unknown number of enemies approach.
Bolga attacks the fanatics and draws first blood, sending one of them to the grave.
First the other fanatic, and then Nabaru the Strong attack Bolga, but he pushes them back, one by one.
The crossbowman has no clear line of sight, so he positions himself better on the hill.
The unknown enemies are revealed as they hit the centre. It’s three more fanatics who head towards Caldas.
Temir the Ox closes on the fence and shoots an arrow right at a fanatic’s temple, killing him instantly. Myrick shoots as well, but misses. Boots loads his slingshot and wounds one of his enemies angering him further.Seeing Bolga alone against the fanatics, Omac casts a shielding spell to protect him from enemy fire.
ROUND 2
With a clear shot, the fanatic crossbowman shoots a bolt at Bolga. The spell doesn’t protect him from the perfect shot, but his armor stops the bolt from penetrating further.
Nabaru challenges Bolga to a duel, and they clash. Bolga blocks the first attack, but as he goes for a follow up strike, his enemy counters. The sword strike brings Bolga down at once.
The fanatic next to Nabaru now has a clear path to the Beard. His attack is foiled, and he’s wounded by Omac’s bastard sword, before stepping back, enraged.
His enemy wounded, Omac casts a Bleed spell on him, hoping he’ll fall sooner or later due to exsanguination.The broken man wounded by the halflilng attacks the short fella with fury. His blade finds Caldas’ body, and the halfing falls.
ROUND 3
Myrick shoots at him as he stands over Caldas’ body. The arrow wounds him further and brings him down. Temir shoots at the last standing fanatic at the centre of the battlefield, which lodges itself at his knee. The fanatic is furious, but wounded.
Omac prepares a Fortune spell to bless his fates in the ongoing fight, while Myrick shoots another arrow at the wounded fanatic, clearing the centre, and opening their path South, for Temir and Myrick to assist their leader, supported by Undin.
The crossbowman shoots at Temir but misses by a long shot. The furious, wounded fanatic attacks Undin, but the Stout Yeoman holds, and they disengage.
ROUND 4
Meanwhile Nabaru and Omac face off. The fight’s a draw and Omac steps back.
Undin moves very slowly, and finally reached the fight. Yet he's not strong enough to fight either of the enemies in front of him, so he'll wait this turn and act in the Quick Phase of the next round.
Temir shoots his last arrow at Nabaru, but it hits the fence covering the enemy warrior.
Undin attacks the wounded fanatic, but his enemy is berserk. He puts the dwarf in defensive who parries blow after blow with his shield before the melee ends.
Omac follows up against the berserker, but his enemy gains the upper hand and strikes back. Despite the fortune spell, Omac can’t block the enemy, who strikes yet once more, piercing the armor and bringing the Beard down.The crossbowman takes a clean shot at the dwarf but misses, as Undin is attacked by Nabaru, parrying two hits with his shield, before being wounded himself. The berserker also attacks him at the same time, and Undin is stunned, his armor saving him from the two hits that follow. Undin’s eyes burn with vengeance against the enemies who hurt his friends.
ROUND 5
Two rerolls due to Fortune, one at the melee to hit roll, and one at the overcome armor, didn't save Omac who fell.
Also I didn't take under consideration the no-pushback trait of the dwarf, so he ended up at the centre of the table.
Myrick takes a carefully aimed shot with his bow at the berserking fanatic, and wounds him at last, stopping his spree. The crossbowman answers with a shot against the wounded dwarf, but misses yet once more.
Nabaru now attacks Myrick who’s behind the table. He counter attacks but his strike is too weak, and Nabaru isn’t a warrior to be stunned by such feeble displays. His next attack is blocked by Nabaru who counters himself now and wounds Myrick twice, putting him off the fight.
Temir now steps on the table and attacks at Nabaru, his enemy is skilled and wounds him, but Temir grits his teeth and fights on. Feigning more pain than he is in, he hacks at Nabaru, the heart seeker cutting armor like butter, and wounding him. With a follow up strike, he kills the mighty warrior.
ROUND 6
I even spent a Story Point for Myrick to survive, as I thought having two people with Heart Seekers gave me a better chance to defeat Nabaru, but he fell anyway.
The Ravens turn their attention to the crossbowman on the hill. Undin charges at him, but it’s a draw, and his enemy steps back. The fanatic attacks back, his strike stopped by Undin’s armor, before they disengage in yet another draw. The two warriors are winded by the long fight.
Temir pulls some bandages from the backpack and closes his wounds.
ROUND 7
With some distance between them, the fanatic shoots a crossbow bolt at Undin, but the dwarf ducks just in time to avoid the bolt.
Undin locks himself in a fight with his enemy as Temir closes in, but can’t get a clean strike and steps back.
ROUND 8
The crosbowman shoots another bolt at Undin which hits, bypassing armor, and wounds the stout dwarf who falls.
Temir follows up in melee, and finishes the last enemy standing. The Ravens are victorious.
ROUND 9
So during play I didn't take care of bookkeeping properly and didn't realize Undin was down. At the initial play Undin (wounded twice) went in melee and finished the crossbowman.
Therefore during cleanup, when I realized my mistake, I went ahead and played Temir vs Crossbowman in theater of the mind. After being wounded as well, he eliminated the crossbowman (who he wounded too) at Round 12!
For narrative economy I decided to sum things up here.
I also had rolled on Undin's Flash of Insight, and this became an Injury roll which had his Fine Standard Weapon damaged to a Standard Weapon.At the resolution, I rolled 5 Adventure points for being Victorious against an Enemy Threat and also +2 APs for the Unique Foe slain, +1 AP for the Whispers of Beyond (5 or more enemies), +2 APs for the Dark Agent Motivation of the Unique For and finally +1 AP for the successful Hunt the Enemy objective. After spending 6 APs for an Adventure Milestone to reduce the Whispers from Beyond Enemy Threat, I’m still +5 APs extra.
For the injuries, I get a Light Injury on Bolga for 3 Turns, a Serious Injury on Boots for 5 Turns, a Dead result for Omac, a Moderate injury for Myrick for 5 Turns and an Item Damaged Fine Standard Weapon for Undin.
Spent a Story Point and rerolled Omac’s Injury to get a Knocked Out result.
Every participant earned +1 XP, while Temir being the sole survivor and also defeating Nabaru, earned +2 XP for a total of +3 XP.
We get one Loot roll, which is a Weapon, Improved Staff, Balanced. Heading right at Omac.
On the Unusual Finds we roll a Captive and get to add a Villager Friend. Also No Upkeep next turn. Going to https://donjon.bin.sh/ I get Aliol: Male Elf Scholar, Evil. Aliol has an angular face, with straight copper hair and soft amber eyes. He wears modest garments and several pouches hang from his belt. So I’m switching this to Fey-blood instead of Elf and that’s our Friend.
Finally on the News Events we rolled that an old friend sents you a letter. Our only friend is the villager we just added, but it makes no sense for it to be him, so we’ll add another Adventurer Friend. Again donjon to the rescue. Ales Gylley: Male Halfling Thief, Neutral. Ales is rough in appearance, with matted silver hair and light grey eyes. He wears leather armor and wields a long sword and dagger. Ales compulsively counts things. I’ll narrate this part on the next time they reach a settlement because it makes no sense to receive a letter right now.
Battered, beaten, but victorious. Nabaru is dead, lying in a pool of blood, with several fanatics around him. Temir, Omac and Undin, having no significant injuries., tend to the battlefield. Undins axe blade was struck hard in the battle during a block but it still holds. Bolga, Boots and Myrick will need time to recover.
Temir piles the bodies of their foes and builds a pure. He wants to be sure none of them return to pester them.
Omac contemplates his fate as he’s certain that his opponents blow should have taken his life. But yet, he’s still standing. Walking around the battlefield he finds a finely made staff, carefully balanced. He smiles, certain that it will serve him well.
Undin tends to his wounded companions before searching the houses. Most of the villagers had left, but he finds a villager bound and gagged in one of the houses. He sets him free, and the fey-blooded man hugs the stout yeoman.
“Thank you! Thank you! You’ve saved my life. I’m Aliol, the scholar. Forever in your debt. If you ever need a friend. Call me. Here.” He said, pointing to a bag in the corner of his house. “Take this food, it’s the least I can do at a moments notice. It’s fresh though so make sure that you eat it before it spoils.”
Undin bows. “We’re the Ravens of Gadun, and it’s our task to clean these lands of evil. Your help is welcomed.”
And with this, the Ravens camp at the outskirts in the care of the villagers.
Session Summary
Another intense fight! The scales were turned many times before we won. I got tired in the near end as the last combat drew out much longer than I expected, but it was eventually worth it.
On another note, I also tried some new trees I made in this battlefield which I held in place using magnets, and it worked well. I’ll slowly upgrade my battlefields further.
With summer heat burning in Greece, it will be a short while before the next episode.
Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice 
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