In the Aristrax Marches – Ep27
Previously in the Aristrax Marches, the Ravens of Gadun attacked and defeated a duskling warband near Fey Wall.
Turn 43
I’m back to introducing Events normally, as it gives a nice narrative fluff. The Upkeep was at 1 Gold Mark, and Caldas reduced his healing time by one turn and also visited the healer. Also Gerk will Train and earn 1 XP. On the Trade step we will sell Tapestires, a Shield, a Light Weapon, a Self Bow and a Light Armour for 5 Gold Marks in total.
The Dancing Nymph inn was a welcome respite for the warband. The air was thick with the scent of roasted meats and the sound of merry drinkers. Bolga quickly made his way to the bar, his big cleaver swinging at his side, while Myrick grabbed a table near the hearth and ordered a mug of ale.
As they settled in, one of the town elders approached them, a wiry man with a gruff voice. “You lot look like you’ve been through the ringer,” he said, eyeing their worn gear. “I’ve got a tale for you, if you’re interested.”
The elder told them a story about an ancient battle, where a group of warriors faced off against a powerful necromancer. Bolga listened intently, his eyes glinting with interest.
As the night wore on, Caldas sought out the town healer, Eira. The elderly woman was kind and gentle, and with the use of Silvertree Leaf, she was able to heal his wounds.
Meanwhile, Gerk spent time in the inn’s courtyard, practicing his swordplay with a fellow traveler. The clanging of their blades echoed through the night air.
The next day, the warband gathered to sell off their unused gear and valuables, eager to fund their quest. With some extra coin in their purses, they turned their attention to finding the duskling tribe’s hideout.
Hours of investigation and research led them to a hidden location deep in the wilderness. The warband prepared themselves, knowing that danger lay ahead.
For adventuring we are hunting down the Duskling warbands threat. They’re in the same map area as Fey Wall, and are preparing to attack villagers and if we lose they will entrench themselves further. It’s an Winding Path warband of 8 (2 self bows) and a Sergeant. The objective is to Search for Something and the theme is Near a farmhouse. Initially it was Along a river, but I have no river terrain, so I rerolled.
The warband moves cautiously through the woods, keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of dusklings. After several hours of patrolling, they spot movement near a farmhouse in the distance. They approach quietly and see a group of dusklings preparing to attack the unsuspecting villagers.
“Looks like we found some trouble,” Temir says, his hand gripping his Heartseeker blade tightly.
Bolga grins wickedly, “Finally, a chance to spill some blood.”
Caldas, ever the tactician, urges caution. “Let’s not rush in blindly. We need to assess the situation and plan our attack carefully.”
As they observe the dusklings from the cover of the trees, they notice a distinct symbol on the warrior’s armor – the twisted serpent of the Winding Path.
Gerk, recognizing the symbol, mutters, “These dusklings are part of that secretive cult. They worship the Old Gods instead of the Duskling ways. We can’t let them gain a foothold in the Aristrax Marches.”
The warband debates their next move, but ultimately they agree that they cannot let the dusklings attack the innocent villagers. They prepare to engage the enemy and search the farmhouse for anything that might reveal the cult’s plans.
With weapons drawn, the warband approaches the farmhouse, ready for battle.
The Combat
The air was thick with tension as the warband and the dusklings faced off against each other. The dusklings, with their glowing eyes and twisted forms, exuded an aura of menace that made the hairs on the back of the warband’s necks stand on end.
Round 1
Myrick, Temir, and Bolga moved stealthily along the western side of the fence, their weapons at the ready. They kept low, their eyes scanning the area for any sign of movement from the enemy.
Meanwhile, Caldas leaped over the fence and darted towards the pig sty, his sword at the ready. He knew that the pig sty held something of importance, and he was determined to uncover it.
Rina and Gerk stayed behind the fence, bow at the ready. She kept a watchful eye on the dusklings, ready to unleash her deadly arrows at a moment’s notice.
The two sides were like two predators sizing each other up, waiting for the other to make the first move. The tension was palpable, and the slightest sound could trigger a battle that would be fought to the death.
But for now, both sides remained still, waiting for the right moment to strike. The fate of the farm and its inhabitants hung in the balance, and the warband knew that they had to be careful if they wanted to emerge victorious.
Myrick, Temir, Caldas, and Rina all curse under their breath as their arrows and sling stones miss their marks. The duskling archers return fire, but their aim is just as poor.
Round 2
Bolga charges forward, his cleaver raised high, but he is met with a poison-tipped blade from the duskling warrior. Bolga manages to block the first strike, but the second finds its mark and he collapses to the ground, poisoned.
Gerk leaps over the fence, his sword at the ready, and strikes the nearest duskling. He manages to wound it with his first strike, but the second is stopped by its armor. Undeterred, he delivers a final blow that finishes off the duskling.
The warband braces for the next round of battle, knowing that their enemies will not give up easily.
As the warband fought their way towards the pig sty, the battle intensified. Temir swung his heartseeker blade with precision, but his opponent proved to be just as skilled and evaded his attacks. Boots, on the other hand, showed off his agility as he wounded a duskling with his fencing sword and quickly backed away.
Round 3
Meanwhile, the duskling archers continued to rain down arrows on the warband, but their aim was poor. One missed Temir entirely, and another ran out of arrows as it tried to hit Gerk.
The duskling leader, who had been waiting for an opportunity, attacked Caldas with his poisoned blade. The halfling fell, writhing in pain as the poison coursed through his veins.
Rina, fighting fiercely with her war spear, managed to take down one of the dusklings attacking her, but another quickly took his place. The two exchanged blows, with Rina ultimately falling under the duskling’s attack.
Temir found himself surrounded by two dusklings, but he held his own, managing to wound one of them. Meanwhile, Myrick was attacked by another duskling, who landed a blow with his poisoned weapon, bringing the hero down.
Amidst the chaos, Gerk saw an opening and leapt into the pig sty, determined to find whatever it was that had caught their attention.
Gerk sifts through the dirt and mud in the pig sty, his keen eyes scanning for anything valuable. Suddenly, he hears the twang of a bowstring, and a sharp pain pierces through his shoulder. He looks up to see a duskling archer perched on the fence, taking aim again. “Damn,” Gerk curses under his breath, scrambling for cover behind a pile of hay.
Round 4
As he ducks, another duskling jumps into the pig sty, lunging towards him with its blade. Gerk leaps to his feet and deflects the attack with his sword, then kicks the duskling back, sending it crashing into the mud. “You picked the wrong fight, little one,” he caws, a wicked grin spreading across his beak.
Meanwhile, Temir is holding his own against the dusklings. He parries a flurry of blows, his heartseeker blade cutting through the duskling’s armor with ease. He dispatches one, then pushes another back, deftly dodging its wild swing. The duskling leader charges at him, but Temir sidesteps the attack, slashing at the leader’s exposed flank. The duskling falls to the ground, lifeless.
However, the remaining dusklings are determined to take down the skilled warrior. They swarm around him, their blades flashing in the dim light. Temir fights valiantly, but the dusklings are too many. He manages to wound one, but another lands a glancing blow on his shoulder. He staggers back, catching his breath. “Not so fast,” he growls, gripping his blade tightly.
The air is thick with the stench of blood and sweat, and the sounds of clanging metal and grunts of pain fill the air. The warband is outnumbered, but they fight on, driven by the determination to uncover the truth about the dusklings’ activities.
The battle rages on as Gerk fights valiantly against the duskling in the pig sty. He delivers a blow to the duskling, but the creature’s pain turns to fury, and it counterattacks, bringing the birdfolk down.
Round 5
Temir stands alone against the remaining dusklings, his heartseeker blade at the ready. The duskling archer takes aim and fires, but misses its target as it runs out of arrows. Four dusklings charge at Temir, determined to take down the skilled warrior. But Temir proves to be too much for them, as he kills the first one with a swift blow. The second duskling tries to poison him, but Temir manages to fend off the attack. He kills the third dusking with a powerful thrust of his sword and pushes back the fourth one.
Seeing an opportunity, Temir charges back at the wounded duskling and finishes it off. He stands alone, surrounded by the corpses of his fallen comrades and enemies. The smell of blood and death fills the air as he catches his breath, preparing for whatever comes next.
Temir’s heartseeker blade glimmers as he charges towards the last two dusklings. With swift movements, he strikes the first one twice, causing fatal wounds. The duskling falls to the ground, lifeless. Temir turns to face the remaining enemy with a cold glare in his eyes.
Round 6
Temir runs forward, his heartseeker blade gleaming in the sunlight. The last remaining duskling turns to face him, its eyes filled with hatred and determination. Temir takes a deep breath, then launches himself forward in a fierce attack. His blade strikes true, and the duskling falls to the ground, lifeless. Temir looks around at the scene of battle, his eyes filled with a mix of triumph and sadness. So many lives lost, so much pain and suffering. But at least they had won this battle. For now.
Round 7
Resolution
We rolled 6 Adventure Points earned for being Victorious against an Enemy Threat, and 1 Adventure Points more for achieving the objective and saving the villagers. 6 Adventure Points were spent directly on reducing the Duskling Threat by 1, going down to 3.
Bolga was Knocked Out. Caldas was Lightly Injured for 2 Recovery Turns. Rina had her War Spear Damaged. Myrick was Seriously Injured for 5 Recovery Turns but I spent a Story Point and he was merely Knocked Out. Gerk was Knocked Out. Overall no deaths or something that would be a serious setback.
Temir earned 3 XP, while the rest of the warband only 1 XP each. Gerk advanced to Level 1 earning 1 Will Point.
We had 1 Loot roll for achieving the Objective which was 2 Congealed Strands. Also for Holding the Field we got Unusual Finds which was a Repair Kit that Rina used to repair her War Spear.
Finally, on News Events rolled, a halfling rogue adventurer friend gave us a Contract to Locate an Item for 2 Gold Marks and 1 Story Point.
Bolga slowly regained consciousness, groaning as he tried to sit up. “What in the seven hells happened?” he muttered, rubbing his aching head.
Caldas winced as he examined the wound on his arm. “Damn, this is going to take forever to heal,” he grumbled.
Rina inspected her war spear, frowning at the crack near the tip. “This was a good weapon too,” she sighed.
Myrick groaned as he slowly came to. “Did we… did we win?” he asked weakly.
Gerk rubbed his sore head and looked around, relief flooding him as he realized they were all alive. “Looks like the poisons weren’t as deadly as we thought,” he said.
Despite their injuries and damaged weapons, the group couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. They had fought bravely and survived, proving that they were a force to be reckoned with. But there was still work to be done. They needed to figure out why the dusklings were so determined to control the area around the Fey Wall, and put a stop to it before more lives were lost.
As the dust settles after the brutal battle, the warband begins to assess the spoils of their victory. Gerk sifts through the pig sty, uncovering evidence of the dusklings’ hidden treasure. He excitedly shares his findings with the others.
“Look what I’ve found!” he exclaims, holding up a handful of congealed strands. “These will be useful for a Mystic, but with Omac dead, they’re of no use to us.”
Bolga nods in agreement, “Yes, it’s a shame Omac didn’t make it. He would have appreciated those.”
Meanwhile, Rina examines the strange sack they found and opens it to reveal a repair kit. “This will be useful,” she says, inspecting her damaged war spear. “I can use this to repair my weapon.”
Myrick chimes in, “Well, at least we didn’t come out of this empty-handed. We should continue to search for more treasures like this.”
The group nods in agreement, realizing that the dusklings’ determined presence in the region may be due to their hidden wealth. They set off to explore further, determined to uncover whatever treasures may be waiting for them.
The warband trudged back to Fey Wall, their weapons still stained with the blood of the dusklings they had just fought. As they approached the gates, they were met by a halfling rogue named Ales Gylley, an old friend of Caldas.
“Hey, Caldas! I need your help,” Ales said, approaching the halfling. “I’m looking for an item, and I think you guys are just the right people to help me find it.”
Caldas raised an eyebrow. “What kind of item are we talking about here?”
“It’s a necklace, studded with rubies,” Ales explained. “It belonged to my grandmother, and it was stolen from her. I need your help to get it back.”
The warband looked at each other, considering the request. It was a risky venture, but they were no strangers to danger. And besides, they owed Ales a favour.
The warband exchanged glances, considering Ales’ offer. They were already on a mission, but the promise of a reward for finding the necklace was tempting.
“How much is it worth to you?” Rina asked, eyeing the halfling warily.
“A fair amount,” Ales replied with a shrug. “Enough to make it worth your while, I assure you.”
Bolga snorted. “We’ll need more than your assurances, friend. If we’re going to help you, we need to know what we’re getting into.”
Ales hesitated, eyeing the group carefully. “Alright, I’ll tell you what I know,” he said finally. “The necklace belonged to my grandmother. It’s a family heirloom, passed down for generations. It’s said to have magical properties, though I can’t attest to that myself.”
“And where was it last seen?” Temir asked, his voice low.
Ales shrugged again. “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard rumors that it might be in the possession of a group of bandits who operate in the region. They’ve been causing trouble for the locals, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve come across the necklace in their travels.”
The warband exchanged another look. They were already heading in the general direction of the bandits, so it wouldn’t be too much trouble to keep an eye out for the necklace. And if they found it, well, a little extra coin never hurt.
“Alright,” Bolga said finally. “We’ll keep an eye out for your necklace, Ales. But don’t expect us to go out of our way for it.”
Ales nodded eagerly. “Of course, of course. I’m just grateful for any help you can give me.”
With that settled, the warband set out once again, their thoughts now divided between their original mission and the potential reward for finding Ales’ necklace.
“We’ll help you find your necklace,” Rina said, speaking up. “But we’ll need more information about where to start looking.”
Session Summary
This was a fight that could have been the end of the warband. 5 casualties including both of the original heroes. I felt like I had to spend a story point since I had two to reduce Myrick’s recovery time. There was a 1-in-5 chance that someone would turn dead, but the dice spoke otherwise. The Poison trait of these enemies was very dangerous. Also I had to decide when it applied as there was some rules overlap.
So a Natural 6 as the Attacker. I interpreted that it happens even if the lost the exchange, but not if they counter-attacked. Nevertheless if they lost the exchange and the hero counter-attacked, both could become casualties. It’s an odd circumstance, but it worked out in the end.
If all goes according to plan, three more battles are needed to finalize the campaign, win or lose.
Finally, I still need to get the hang of how ChatGPT handles storytelling. Sometimes it works, sometimes it’s mediocre, sometimes it’s genious, sometimes it’s repetitive, but a lot of the times I need to fine-tune my input and regenerate responses until I get something that fits.
PS. This whole campaign has been an eye-opening experience to me and how Five Leagues from the Borderlands works as an overarching story experience. It seems that for the experience that I’m after, the player needs to use the available adventuring options to generate a suitable narrative, and not the other way around. My own metagaming objectives (reduce threats to 0) do not help towards this end, but on the other hand they led to a long campaign that helped me identify how everything is supposed to work.
Five Leagues from the Borderlands is very much like Five Parsecs from Home. It’s best to consider it like a TV show with standalone episodes, some stories arching over two episodes, rarely more, and references made to previous episodes but not necessarily in a linear manner, curves can happen and nemeses re-appear.
So, despite that as a player you always have a choice of what to do for adventuring, perhaps it’s best that for narrative sake, you present it as something that appears in front of the players. Food for thought for the future.
Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice 
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