A Tale of Four Fates

A Tale of Four Fates

A Narrated Campaign Playthrough

Far north of the holy capital of Hurriaä lies an unremarkable part of Tenehu. The hegemon of this region has just been slain by a great serpent, and immediately the struggle begins for who shall take his place.

Prince Ulhutualu has long awaited such an opportunity. His force is small but well-armed, and he is poised to send them forth to subjugate as many villages and outlying households as he can.

But he has a fierce rival in the young prince Muwantualli. Humiliated by earlier defeats at Ulhutualu’s hands, the youth has sworn to tear down his rival’s tower. He has swelled the ranks of his levy for this very purpose.

(Each faction has different perks and victory conditions that reward certain play styles. Also, before a battle, each player roll to see what type of agenda they have. It is sort of a side quest, that if fulfilled will grant a huge bonus towards the end victory points.)

From their mountain homes, the shaman-king and his folk know well that a period of war always follows the death of a hegemon. This time, they will seize the chance to capture Muwantualli, who for so long has hunted them for sport.

Unbeknownst to them all, a new people has arrived by way of the narrow fjords. These are the sea-raiders, and their war-chief has sworn to slay Prince Ulhutualu—whom he believes to be the strongest leader—as a sacrifice to his god of war.

Turn 1

The spring thaw opens the mountain passes, marking the time of raiding for the men of the heights. The shaman-king leads his warband against what had been an outlying household the summer before—only to find ruins in its stead.

(A roll off is done to decide what player goes first, it then precedes in a clockwise order according to the their position on the board. )

As they pass among the debris, a faint glimmer catches the king’s eye. Digging into the rubble, he uncovers a beautiful shield of jade. How such an artifact came to rest in this desolate place he does not know, but when the gods grant a boon, he will not refuse it.

(When one ends their move on a location spot, you must draw a random location. Each location has different rules and connected events as well as items. Here the shaman king, or just me since i am a lonely man playing with himself, made a roll and discovered an items that was then drawn at random.)

Meanwhile, Prince Muwantualli departs his log-built village to secure his borders before striking at Ulhutualu. In the forested valley he stumbles upon an ancient tomb, older than the age of the elves.

He makes camp by its dolmen for the night. When darkness falls, the watchmen glimpse a strange green light seeping from the ground beneath. From the earth is drawn a dagger knapped from a glass-like green stone. The prince gifts it to his loyal captain.

Far south, a war-canoe leaves its fjord camp, rowing steadily upriver. They too discover an ancient tomb near an estuary, mistaking it for an altar to the gods. As they prepare to sacrifice, a figure in black appears, crowned with nettles. She demands rich gifts, but the raiders have none. Enraged, she curses them in a tongue long lost before vanishing as suddenly as she came.

(If a player ends their move at an event spot, an event will be triggered according to a dice roll and an event table. These poor fellas was cursed by a terrifying witch, that will cause the entire warband to have zero destiny points in their next battle.)

At dawn, Prince Ulhutualu descends from his tall tower. Yet as daylight breaks, he and his host are ambushed by a pack of trolls.

(An other thing that can happen both in locations and event spots are that you get attacked. You must then fight a regular battle on the tabletop.)

The men soon find themselves ringed by gleaming, hungry eyes. Emboldened, the trolls rush forth. Ulhutualu’s champion proves his worth, felling two with his javelins.

The brutes hurl stones that crash upon the shields of the prince’s men, only to be met with javelins in return. Still, the trolls press on. One spearman breaks and flees, but is cut down as he runs.

Enraged at the sight, Ulhutualu swings his deadly falx and cleaves the head from the troll-leader in a single stroke, even as another spearman flees the field.

With fury and strength, the prince slays the last of the trolls. His champion retrieves a javelin and hurls it true, killing another brute, while the captain drives yet another from the field. The champion’s final throw impales the last of the creatures.

The spearman struck down proves only unconscious. Yet the deserter does not return, and the prince swears he will forgive him—should he return of his own accord—with lashes less harsh than his anger demands.

End of Turn 1

Shaken by their curse, the sea-raiders row cautiously upriver. The waters are shallow, the journey slow—but fortune favors them. On the bank they encounter a weathered traveler who offers to guide them in exchange for provisions.

(The Sea Raiders rolled really badly, but there they were in luck as the event they rolled was that they could recruit a mercenary. They chose the scout, as he gives a +1 movement on the campaign board.)

Ulutualu and his men wait many nights for their missing spearman, but at last must accept he is lost. The prince’s anger smolders, and his men sit in fearful silence, lest they stir it further.

(After a battle the player can elect to try and rally the men that fled during the battle. They must pass a bravery test to return or they are forever lost in the wilds. If you have lost the battle you get a negative modifier to those roll.)

The mountain folk make their own slow march. In the valley below they see a trade caravan winding its way along the road. Normally, this would be a fine opportunity—but they have nothing to barter. Some glance at the jade shield, but none dare speak.

(They rolled an event where they met a merchant caravan, but as they had no renown points to spend and did not want to sell any items they just let it pass.)

Muwantualli and his warband continue northward. After a long journey they reach the ruins of a long-fallen village, where they prepare to rest. But as night falls, a strange and terrible sound shakes the men awake.

Their captain orders weapons drawn. Long shadows stretch across the broken walls. As the men advance, a shriek rends the night—as though the souls of the dead themselves cried out to drag them below. Even the bravest falter, and many cast aside their weapons and flee.

( I am just a mortal man though i play god here, but i made a mistake. The corpse dancer has to powerful abilities, but he can only use one. I forgot that and let him use both in this battle. The battle was also fought before i made some adjustments to the core rules that made these guys really powerful. Basically i they have an item that lowers moral and then an ability that forces the opponent to take a moral test for all their fighters. And since the opponent, or me, was still inside their deployment zone, then any fighter that failed automatically fled the board. Then the corpse eaters used an other ability later on that made their fighters immune against bravery test throughout the turn. So yeah, they should only have used one ability, and moral works a bit different now.)

Hyenas burst from the dark, felling the fleeing men. The champion of Muwantualli is dragged down by one.

The prince, desperate, climbs atop the ruins to spy the foe. With half his warband gone, he makes a last stand in the courtyard of an ancient palace. With all his might he slays one corpse-eater and wounds another.

The carrion-beasts press on. One rushes the captain, who parries and cuts the creature down. But the swarm overwhelms him at last. He flees, only to be brought low by a hyena.

Seeing their leaders fall and their number shattered, the prince’s men scatter into the night, leaving him alone.

Surrounded, Muwantualli leaps down in panic, but lands poorly, wounding himself. Limping, he flees into the dark. Behind him, his champion’s screams ring out as the hyenas feast, and his captain soon shares the same fate.

(A fighter must pass an agility test when jumping from a hight or take damage. Elves have really good agility, but this unlucky fellow, me, rolled a 1..)

From the shadows emerges one of his spearmen, who had feigned death and escaped. Together, the prince and his soldier vanish into the night.

End of Turn 2

Turn 3

Even with a scout to guide them, the sea-raiders made slow progress. Sickness had broken out among their small warband, and the mood grew dark as the words of the witch weighed heavily on their minds. Some of the younger men even whispered that they should never have come hither.

(Obviously they are cursed, so they rolled a 1 on meaning they could only move 1 spot. They again landed at an event spot and rolled the event where they are struck by sickness. The warband gets 1 d6 wounds that are distributed along the warband. Poor guys.)

Prince Ulhutualu, by contrast, advanced swiftly toward a nearby outlying household. Finding its gates barred against him, he flew into a rage and ordered the place put under siege.

(When you encounter a settlement you must make a roll to see how they respond. In this case they decided to shut their gates, so Ulhutualu immediately placed them under siege. To win a siege against an Outlier Household, the player must roll a 6, which I did, thereby capturing the location for prince Ulhutualu.)

Once the household saw his determination, they quickly repented of their folly and opened the gates, claiming they had mistaken him for another. Still insulted, Ulhutualu demanded men for his ranks.

It was a poor household with few to give. Fearing worse harm, their leader offered to go himself, but the prince, perceiving the authority with which the man carried himself, judged it wiser to leave him bound to the household, loyal to him by necessity.

(When in a friendly household, a player can recruit fighters from their location specific roster. They must make a roll to see what tier they can recruit, and draw the fighters at random. Here they drew the Head of the Household characters, but as he is a leader, and the warband already had a leader, he could not be recruited.)

Meanwhile, the mountain folk had crossed the ridges of their homeland and descended into the valleys, where they came upon the ruined burial site of an ancient elven lord. Deeming it an ill place unfit for lingering, they turned to leave—only to hear cries and howls echoing from the slopes.

They had stumbled into an ambush.

(I did the exact same mistake as the last battle. Also at the start of a battle cased by an event, the player must roll to see the strength of the opponent, and in this case they were superior, so they could recruit warriors for 50 more renown points than the mountain folks warband.)

Wild cannibals surged down the mountainside. Unafraid, the mountain folk charged to meet them, though their blood froze at the sight of a figure draped in flayed skins, dancing to drive his horde into frenzy.

The shaman-king himself led the way, slaying a hyena with the heirloom weapon of his tribe. His champion charged at the cannibal leader, but the foe twisted aside, untouched.

(The champion of the CorpseEaters spent a destiny point to preform a doge ability. They must then pass a successful agility test and if they do then they receive no damage. He managed this and was successful in dodging what would have been a killing blow)

A berserker leapt upon the shaman-king, drawing blood. Though his warriors rushed to aid him, another cannibal he thought routed returned from behind, nearly ending him but for a narrow escape—by destiny’s grace.

(An other successful dodge ability was used here, this time by the Shaman king, but it did cost him all his destiny points as he had to boost the dice result to pass the agility test.)

One warrior cut the berserker down with a mighty blow, but a hail of javelins fell upon the shaman-king. Struck again and again, at last he could stand no more. With three javelins piercing his furs, he fell.

The champion gave ground before the cannibal leader’s furious assault. As he staggered back, another foe came upon him from behind and felled him.

Still the warriors fought to drag their fallen king away. One slew a cannibal, while another shielded the rear, but the tide could not be stemmed. At last only one warrior remained standing.

He did not flee when the cannibal leader charged, but his strength was broken. Wounded and desperate, he ran as far as his legs would carry him, praying to find his lord alive. Yet in his heart he knew all was lost, and he cursed the folly that had led them into such a slaughter.

——

Far to the east, Prince Muwantualli nursed his sprained leg. With only one soldier left for company, he had given up all hope that the rest of his warband would ever return.

End of Turn 3

————

I had great fun playing this, and despite my mistakes. But what do you think, should i continue the campaign, and see if the Mountain folks and Prince Muwantualli can make a comeback?

Its a lot of work to make these battle reports, so i will let you guys decide if you want me to keep going. Let me know in the comments below!