Quest 8: Caladen's Crossing

Act I 2 Encounters Requires: After The Baron Returns or Archive of Arrizon or Blood Will Tell

Quest 8: Caladen's Crossing

Introduction

Smoke fills the western sky. You race down the open road leading to the small village. A number of the outlying hovels lay in smoldering piles, and you can see the raiders advancing on the village proper. You sweep across their rear line and a chaotic skirmish ensues. More raiders appear from the river. The villagers create makeshift barriers between the outer houses. Buildings burn; men and monsters die. You notice the boy Tyrus hurling rocks from behind one of the barricades. He redoubles his efforts when he sees you charging forward through the enemy lines.

Monsters

Goblin archers
2 open groups

Setup

Place the goblin archers on the War Camp and 1 open monster group on the Overlook.

Place 4 blue objective tokens faceup as indicated near the River. These are buckets of water.

Place 2 red objective tokens faceup near the Cabin and 2 more near the House as indicated. These are fire markers.

Place villager tokens on the Cabin and House as indicated. These are the villagers who have created makeshift barriers.

Special Rules

Burning the Town

At the start of each Overlord turn, after placing reinforcements, each hero must test [Awareness] (1 red power die). If he fails, place 1 fatigue token on his Hero sheet. These fatigue tokens cannot be recovered by any means during this encounter and represent the choking smoke and chaos of the burning village.

Requesting Aid

Once per encounter, as an action, a hero adjacent to Tyrus (the villager token behind the barricade near the Cabin) may request his aid. Tyrus hurls rocks at a monster of the heroes' choice within 5 spaces and line of sight. That monster suffers 2 [damage]. This does not require an attack roll.

Extinguishing the Fire

As an action, a hero adjacent to a bucket of water (blue objective token) may pick it up. A hero carrying a bucket of water may, as an action while adjacent to a fire marker (red objective token), extinguish that fire. Discard both the bucket token and the fire marker.

A hero not carrying a bucket may also attempt to extinguish a fire by testing [Strength] while adjacent to a fire marker. If he passes, discard that fire marker. If he fails, there is no effect.

Monsters may not interact with fire markers or water buckets.

Reinforcements

At the start of each Overlord turn, he may place 1 monster from 1 of his monster groups on the Entrance, respecting group limits.

Victory

Hero Victory

If there are no fire markers on the map at any time, read the following aloud:

The last embers die beneath your boots. The villagers cheer, though the damage is severe. Tyrus runs up and embraces you. "I knew you'd come back," he says. The defenders rally, and word spreads across the valley: the monastery stands another day.

The heroes win this encounter! Keep the surviving villager tokens on the map for use in Encounter 2.

Overlord Victory

If, at the start of an Overlord turn, there are 8 or more fatigue tokens distributed among all heroes from the Burning the Town rule, read the following aloud:

The smoke overwhelms you. Coughing and staggering, you are forced to retreat from the burning village. Behind you, Tyrus screams your names. The enemy presses forward, and the village falls.

The Overlord wins this encounter!

Introduction

The entire town retreats to the ancient fortification that juts out from the cliff. Much of the fortification is in ruins; only the bridge and gatehouse appear to be maintained. You gather what defenders you can and sprint for the bridge at Caladen's Crossing.

Monsters

Splig
Belthir
Baron Zachareth
5 open groups

Setup

Place Splig on the Bridge (19A). Place Belthir on the Bridge. Place Baron Zachareth on the Warpath (23A).

Place 2 open monster groups on the Battlefield (5A). Place 1 open monster group on each of the Warpath (23A), the Stream (2A), and the War Camp (8A).

If the heroes won Encounter 1, place the villager tokens from that encounter on the Gatehouse. These tokens are now guards (see Special Rules).

If the Overlord won Encounter 1, place only 2 villager tokens on the Gatehouse as guards.

Special Rules

The Guards

The villager tokens are guards. Treat them as hero figures with the following exceptions:

They cannot recover [Stamina] by any means
They are immune to all conditions
They pass any attribute test they are called upon to make

Guard Stats:

Health: 6
Speed: 4
Defense: None (gray die)
Attack: 1 blue die + 1 yellow die

Each guard on the same tile as either a hero or a monster activates at the end of the last hero turn each round; they are controlled by the hero player who takes his turn last. When activated, each guard moves directly toward the closest monster. If he ends his movement adjacent to it, he performs an attack targeting it. When 2 monsters are equally close, the heroes choose which monster the guard moves toward.

The Bridge

The bridge at Caladen's Crossing (tile 19A) is the central defensive position. The bridge spans a deep chasm. Figures on the bridge may make ranged attacks with +1 range. A figure cannot be moved off the bridge by any effect unless the effect specifically allows movement into empty spaces across the chasm (requiring an [Agility] test at the Overlord's discretion).

The Gatehouse

The Gatehouse has its own Health pool. Place a number of fatigue tokens on the Gatehouse tile equal to 10. These represent the Gatehouse's remaining structural integrity. Monsters may attack the Gatehouse instead of a hero figure by performing an attack action while adjacent to it. Each point of [damage] dealt removes 1 fatigue token from the Gatehouse. The Gatehouse's defense is treated as a gray die, rolled by the Overlord.

If the Gatehouse is reduced to 0 fatigue tokens, the gate collapses. All guards on the Gatehouse are immediately defeated.

Sacrifice a Lieutenant

At any point during the encounter, the heroes may choose to sacrifice one of their lieutenant figures (if any are present) to seal the bridge. The chosen lieutenant is immediately removed from the map and the campaign permanently. For the remainder of the encounter, no monster figures may enter the Bridge tile from any direction. The heroes must declare this sacrifice at the start of a hero's turn.

Reinforcements

At the start of each Overlord turn, he may place 1 monster from 1 of his monster groups on any Entrance tile, respecting group limits.

Lord Merick Farrow, Lady Eliza Farrow, Sir Alric Farrow, and Baron Zachareth cannot be reinforced by this rule unless they have been defeated and their reinforcement is specifically allowed by another rule.

Victory

Hero Victory

If the Overlord accumulates 8 or more fatigue tokens in his play area or if the chosen lieutenant (if a lieutenant must be sacrificed per special rules) is defeated, read the following aloud:

The enemy breaks against your defenses like waves upon a cliff. Splig shrieks and flees. Belthir takes to the sky with a roar of frustration. Baron Zachareth retreats, his dark form swallowed by the smoke. The bridge holds. Caladen's Crossing remains a beacon of defiance.

The heroes win this encounter!

Overlord Victory

If the chosen lieutenant (that must be sacrificed) exits the map through the Town Entrance, read the following aloud:

The lieutenant vanishes into the burning countryside, escaping the carnage. Their departure is final—you will not see them again. The defense crumbles without their leadership. Caladen's Crossing falls.

The Overlord wins this encounter!

Rewards

Win or lose, each player receives 1 XP.

If a lieutenant was sacrificed as part of the victory conditions, that lieutenant is permanently removed from the campaign. All items, relics, and abilities associated with that lieutenant are lost.

Map Tiles

Encounter 1:

War Camp (8A)
Overlook
Cabin
House
River
Entrance

Encounter 2:

Bridge (19A)
Battlefield (5A)
Warpath (23A)
Stream (2A)
War Camp (8A)
Gatehouse
Town Entrance