Quest 4: Blood Will Tell

Act I 1 Encounter Requires: Quest 2 (Rellegar's Rest)

Quest 4: Blood Will Tell

Introduction

You shift slowly on your bedroll, trying to relieve your aching wounds while avoiding the many bruises that cover your body. You have found little sleep in the last few hours, and the dawn is not far. You and your companions abandon your struggle for rest and rekindle the campfire. In the early morning hours, you make out a rider approaching from the west.

"The enemy is in the caves north of the village," he shouts, "under the monastery. Dark words can be heard drifting from the surrounding forest. It is the voice of a sorceress weaving her spells!"

You depart immediately and enter the forest while the eastern mountains still offer the cover of darkness. A few guards stand watch outside the cave, but flee when you approach. The bodies of slain villagers lie across the entrance, their blood splashed across the cracked, ancient doors. Pools of it dribble down into the darkness.

The cave smells strongly of copper and dirt. A few steps in, a lilting voice sounds from all around you. "Ah, and who is this? I did not send invitations." A beautiful woman appears before you, but you recognize it as an apparition. "I am lady Eliza Farrow, and I have come to reclaim what is mine. Leave me—now." She smiles, displaying jagged, bloodied teeth. The image fades and once again you hear the dark incantations rising from within.

Monsters

Setup

Place Lady Eliza Farrow on the Chapel as indicated. Place the flesh moulders on the Chapel. Place 1 open group on the Shrine, 1 on the Small Cave, 1 on the Large Cave. Do not place the zombies during setup.

Place 3 blue objective tokens as protective wards.

Place 2 red objective tokens forming the altar.

Place search tokens based on the number of heroes.

Special Rules

As an action, a hero adjacent to a protective ward may test Willpower or Magic to disable it. If he passes, discard that token; then test Surge — if he fails, he is Stunned.

When the third protective ward is disabled, remove the locked door.

The first time a hero enters an empty space on the Chapel: Eliza gulps eagerly from a silver chalice that pulses with black energy, pausing only to mutter another line of her spell. Droplets of blood spring from the floor throughout the room and pool on the ceiling...

Blood Offerings: As an action, while adjacent to the altar, Lady Eliza may perform an offering (place 1 fatigue token in any empty space, suffer 1 Health, place 1 damage token near altar).

Forbidden Incantations: As an action, Lady Eliza may perform an incantation (test Magic; pass = fatigue tokens and damage based on dice roll; fail = fatigue tokens equal to hero count).

Slow Rising: Each time a hero enters a space containing a fatigue token, that hero suffers 1 Fatigue and discards the token.

Blood Bond: Each time Lady Eliza is dealt Health from an attack, the overlord may choose adjacent flesh moulders to suffer that Health instead.

Reinforcements

At the start of each overlord turn, replace fatigue tokens on the map with 1 zombie each, up to group limit. Discard unreplaced tokens.

Victory

Hero Victory

Eliza convulses and the chalice slips from her hand. It strikes the stone floor with a deafening ring that pulses throughout the cave as it rebounds back into the air. When it strikes the floor a second time, it shatters. Blood pours from the ceiling, and terrified screams disperse in every direction. Eliza's body dissolves into a red mist that settles into the pools of blood.

Her words caress your ears as if whispered from inches behind you: "Very well, you have made yourself my enemy. I will not forget this treachery. It is your blood and lives I will come for when I am restored to power."

The heroes win!

Overlord Victory

The ceiling is covered in a deep pool of blood that splashes and bubbles about. Eliza's minions hold you back as she extends the chalice upward and whispers a single word in an alien tongue. A black droplet floats downward toward the chalice... She holds it to her lips and swallows. For a moment, her eyes focus on an invisible revelation, then snap back to you. "You have failed," she laughs, "leave this valley while you can."

The overlord wins!

Rewards

Win or lose, each player receives 1 XP.

Regardless of winner: heroes receive 5 gold for each protective ward that was discarded.

If heroes win: +5 gold per hero. Next available quest is "Caladen's Crossing."

If overlord wins: +1 Overlord card. Next available quest is "Rise of Urthko."

Map Tiles

5B Large Cave
9B Small Cave
6B Chapel
8B Shrine