Quest 5: The Cathedral of Kellos
Quest 5: The Cathedral of Kellos
Introduction
"Baron Greigory has given you an invitation to the social event of the season—Lord Theodir's Masquerade Ball!" mutters Greigory. "Bit of a gadabout even now, but Theo was a great hero in his day. One of these Shadow Binders, wot?"
"Best go and warn him he might be on the Overlord's list," says Baron Zachareth. "Err... you're not going dressed like that, are you?"
As you enter Lord Theodir's estate, the music and the bustle of masked guests goes silent, and then you hear a scream. A man's voice bellows "How did you get in here?"
Ahead, you see a guest with hair the color of honey remove her mask as minions of the Overlord lurk behind her. "They're with me. And I have an invitation." Casually, the woman tears the mask from the burly guest before her, then drags him to her and sinks her fangs into his neck—she is a vampire! Wiping the guest's blood from her lips, she gestures to her minions. "Find me Lord Theodir and bring him to the vault."
With the guests all wearing masks, you and the vampire will have your work cut out for you finding Lord Theodir—especially since you don't even know what he looks like! You'd best grab every guest you can and escort them back through the front door while the Overlord's minions try to do the same.
Monsters
- Lady Eliza Farrow
- Flesh moulders
- 2 open groups
Setup
Place Lady Eliza Farrow on the Library as indicated. Place 1 open group on the Chapel and 1 open group on the Library. The flesh moulders are not placed during setup (see "Unmasking a Guest").
Place search tokens based on the number of heroes.
Collect a number of objective tokens equal to twice the number of heroes. Half of these objective tokens should be blue and the other half should be red. Shuffle the tokens together and place them facedown on the map as indicated. (If there are fewer than 4 heroes, divide the tokens as evenly as possible between the 4 tiles—the Overlord chooses where to place them.) No players should know which objective tokens are blue and which are red. These tokens are masked guests.
Special Rules
The Guests
Half of the objective tokens are red, representing cultists. The other half of the objective tokens are blue, representing important noble guests—one of whom is Lord Theodir. Each guest occupies a space and blocks line of sight and movement, just like a figure. As an action, a hero or monster adjacent to a guest may unmask the guest and flip over the token.
Unmasking a Guest
If a blue objective token is revealed, the guest is not a cultist. That guest is then "escorted" by the hero or monster that unmasked him (see below).
If a red objective token is revealed, replace the token with a flesh moulder figure. The first cultist revealed is a master flesh moulder; the others are minion flesh moulders. If unmasked by the Overlord, flesh moulders are placed on the map and may activate that turn. If unmasked by a hero, the flesh moulder may immediately attack that hero, then that hero's turn resumes.
Escorting Guests
Escorted guests are placed under the hero or monster figure who unmasked them. Each figure can escort only 1 guest at a time; if he's currently escorting a guest, he cannot unmask an additional guest.
A hero may rescue his escorted guest by moving off the map through the Entrance. A hero who leaves the map this way may return to the Entrance on his next turn (without the guest) by performing a move action (or suffering 1 [Stamina]) to move 1 space.
A monster may abduct his escorted guest off the map through the Exit. A monster who leaves the map this way cannot return, but the Overlord draws 1 Overlord card each time a monster abducts a guest off the map.
Guests rescued by heroes are placed in the heroes' play area. Guests abducted by monsters are returned to the box. If a hero is defeated while escorting a guest, the guest is considered killed and discarded. If a monster is defeated while escorting a guest, the guest is placed in its space. As an action, a hero or monster may escort this unmasked guest.
Reinforcements
None.
Victory
If Lady Eliza Farrow is defeated, read the following aloud:
With a shriek, the lady fades into a fine red mist. Still shrieking, the cloud of mist streaks down the stairs to the basement below.
All monsters are defeated (or when the last guest leaves the map for any reason) the encounter ends. Any guests remaining on the map are considered to be rescued by the heroes.
The heroes roll a die (depending on the number of heroes) to determine whether Lord Theodir is among the guests they have rescued:
- Roll a gray defense die for a 2-hero or 3-hero game
- Roll a black defense die for a 4-hero game
If the number of [damage] rolled is equal to or less than the guests they successfully rescued, then the heroes managed to save Lord Theodir.
Hero Victory
Read the following aloud:
"Thank you, heroes!" says Lord Theodir. "I can't believe she'd ruin my party—why, I've half a mind NOT to invite the Farrows next year." He sighs, then gestures at the stairs down into the basement. "She's probably halfway to my family vault by now. Best run on and beat her to Fortuna's Dice. You'll need them if you're going to repeat what my friends and I did thirty years ago." Lord Theodir seems unconcerned—is he mad? "Off you go! Hurry, now!"
The heroes win this encounter!
Overlord Victory
If the heroes did not manage to rescue Lord Theodir, Lady Eliza Farrow has managed to abscond with Lord Theodir. Read the following aloud:
"Please," sobs one of the guests, a woman with a silver mask. "She's taken poor Theo! I'm sure she's dragged him down below to the vault. You mustn't let her open that vault!"
A hero's work is never done.
The Overlord wins this encounter!