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Quest 3: The Defense of Castle Daerion

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Act I 2 Encounters Requires: Quest 2

Quest 3: The Defense of Castle Daerion

Introduction

On the advice of Baron Greigory, you have traveled down river in search of Sir Palamon—one of the Shadow Binders. As you approach Daerintown in the evening, you hear a strangled cry for help—the Overlord's minions are already here! The town is under a stealthy assault; the castle must be next.

Your guide informs you that there are four beacons throughout the village, which may be lit to alert Castle Daerion to the danger. If you can light all four beacons, the Overlord's nighttime raid will be foiled and the castle warned. Should the forces of the Overlord dispatch all the remaining villagers, however, they will surely march straight to the castle and you will be too late to stop them.

Monsters

  • 2 open groups

Setup

Place 1 open group on the River's Edge; place the second open group on the Cabin.

Place search tokens based on the number of heroes.

Place 4 villager tokens on the map as indicated.

Place 4 red objective tokens faceup on the map as indicated. These are beacons.

Special Rules

The red objective tokens are beacons, and the heroes must light all 4 beacons to win. As an action, a hero may light it. After a beacon is lit, remove the token from the map.

A hero adjacent to a beacon may also attempt to light it speedily on his turn by testing either [Strength] or [Agility] without spending an action. If he passes, the beacon is lit. This test may only be attempted once per hero turn.

Villagers

Villagers block movement and line of sight. 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
  • When a villager is defeated, place its token in the Overlord's play area

Villager Stats:

  • Health: 6
  • Speed: 3
  • Defense: None

The villagers activate 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 villager may perform a move action and may either open or close a single adjacent door. Villagers cannot perform other actions.

Reinforcements

At the end of each Overlord turn, he may place 1 monster from 1 of his open groups on either the Entrance or Exit, respecting group limits.

Victory

Hero Victory

If the heroes light all 4 beacons, read the following aloud:

As the last beacon sputters to life, an answering light flares on the tall, dark walls of Castle Daerion. The blare of rude war-horns fills the air and the Overlord's minions turn as one, abandoning the village to race toward the castle. You'd best follow after and ensure Sir Palamon survives the night!

The heroes win this encounter! Set aside the surviving villagers for Encounter 2.

Overlord Victory

If the Overlord defeats all the villagers, read the following aloud:

The last villager stumbles and falls, blood running from his wounds. "Why wasn't Sir Palamon here to protect us?" he gasps, and then expires. Their grim work done, the Overlord's minions slink into the shadows and race toward Castle Daerion—there's no time left to raise the alarms; you must defend the castle yourselves!

The Overlord wins this encounter!