Balthus Dire is not the sort of tyrannical despot to quake in fear behind the walls of his fortress while an unruly mob of savages beats at his front door. Instead, following the approach of your horde, the iron gates swing open and a disciplined army of Hill Goblins, Rhino Men, Craggeracks, Kobolds, Eyeless Archers and further unidentifiable mutants pour forth like a flood of Chaos across the hills. Balthus Dire himself appears to be reclining in a dark-draped battle-palanquin, held aloft by Gark bearers.
"Barbarians, you will truly suffer for your stupidity here today!" thunders the voice of Balthus Dire from behind the
black curtains of his monster-borne litter.
"Warriors, to battle!" you scream. You are up against it here!
If you have the Code word Dust, turn to 105.
If you have the Code word Storm, turn to 84.
If you have neither of these Code words, turn to 63.
We're barbarians, so disappointingly, he couldn't call us Impudent Peasants.
Incidentally, those were the exact same Code words we were checked for when attacking Zagor and Firetop Mountain. Could there be something that can help us against the members of the Demonic Three?
But that wouldn't help us now, unfortunately...
Your horde of Barbarian warriors smashes into the organised battle-lines of Balthus Dire’s Black Tower army. With Eyeless Archers shooting a steady rain of arrows across the sky, Rhino Men and Hill Goblin infantry go toe to toe with your best fighters. Balthus Dire provides magical and logistical support from his palanquin, yelling directions at his standard-bearers and champions, and casting spells that summon forth Clawbeasts and other dungeon creatures to reinforce his troops as needed.
Out of nowhere, an Eyeless Archer fires a sudden shot in your direction and a barbed arrow hurtles towards you. Test your Luck; if you are Unlucky, the arrow embeds itself painfully in your shoulder; deduct 3 STAMINA points. If you are Lucky, the arrow just grazes you; deduct 1 STAMINA point. If this reduces your STAMINA to zero or less, turn immediately to 13.
"Attack! Leave no survivors!" you scream, pulling the arrow out from the wound and snapping it in two with your bare hands.
Who will win the battle of Craggen Rock?
BLACK TOWER ARMY HORDE STRIKE 11 HORDE STRENGTH 12
If you wish to Escape, you order the retreat and flee from the Black Tower’s army; deduct 1 point of HONOUR and turn to 71. If the army of the Black Tower reduces your HORDE STRENGTH to zero or less, turn to 13. If you defeat Balthus Dire and his army, turn to 117.
Luck test roll = 4 (Lucky). STAMINA is at 16. LUCK is at 6.
The stats are very, very close. Are we sure we want to go through with this? (I'd ask whether we want to use LUCK, except it's at 6 now, so it probably won't do much good) Or might it be better to flee and lose 1 HONOUR but live to fight another day (and maybe with a better advantage if we can find either of those Code words)?
Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Grom the Dark
Tribe: Fire Axe
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 16/17
LUCK 6/11
HORDE STRIKE: 12/12
HORDE STRENGTH: 12/19
HONOUR: 9
Equipment: Sword, King Gilibran's Warhammer (+1 Attack Strength, can be thrown before combat for 2 STAMINA damage if SKILL test is passed), Diamond, Dragonscale Shield (deduct 1 damage taken in combat if we roll 5-6 on 1 die when hit), Deathtrap Dungeon Map
Gold: 1 talents
Codewords: Trollslayer, Dwarfslayer, Ravager
Blessings: Luck (-1 from dice roll when Testing our LUCK once)
Doman:
1) City: Stonebridge / Garrison Strength: 5
2) City: Zengis / Garrison Strength: 5
Notes: Warnings scrawled in Deathtrap Dungeon Map: 'Always take the sinister choice!' and 'Beware the Path of Dragons!'
[/spoiler]