I've just finished (and thoroughly enjoyed!) the Frostgrave novel Second Chances by Matthew Ward, and the climactic scene provided the inspiration for the Scenario we used.
The aim was to recover the four Treasures- interfering with a Treasure in any way (via Telekenesis or just picking it up) awoke the spirit of a long-dead Wizard that would appear as a Wraith in the central tower. These Wraiths once formed an evil cabal determined to cheat death by devouring the life-force of all living creatures in the City. These followed the rules for the Lich Lord in the Thaw of the Lich Lord expansion, but with only one HP each. Once all four Wraiths were defeated, their Master would himself appear in the central tower (again, using the Lich Lord stats but with only half his HP)- destroying him would end the game.
A tall order indeed!
Knowing this was to be the final game, we all spent every bit of gold we had on better Soldiers.
Herr Doktor Schreck (now recovered) would finally get to use his Ring of Power, Dregg and Grubb my surviving Goblin Thieves were upgraded to Treasure Hunters, and Mungo went from Infantryman to Barbarian. Most exciting of all, I purchased a Captain- the infamous Raggedy Bill, the murder-scarecrow!
Well ahead of them we have the rest of the Warband including Doktor Schreck himself (being uncharacteristically aggressive). Looming to their right we have the forbidding wall of the ruined tower.
Tony's Warband headed straight for the central tower with their characteristic aggression, and his Telekinesis-happy Spellcasters summoned the first two Wraiths.
So began a ranged duel between his many Rangers and the undead Wizards. Initially the Wraiths had the upper-hand, but soon the sheer number of incoming arrows began to tell and the first one fell with a hellish shriek! The other Warbands breathed a collective sigh of relief- we had all been on the wrong end of his formidable 'bowline' this Campaign, so it was nice to see it put to use on something other than ourselves!
As the rest of the Treasures were gathered up with gleeful haste, the remaining Wraiths appeared and things got decidedly heated for Tony (we were all secretly hoping that his mob would be overwhelmed by the combined magical onslaught of the Wraiths!). It looked like our scheme might work until Andy, his blood up, charged into the tower to get to grips with the undead! Caught between two Warbands, the Wraiths began to fall one by one...
*Another Wraith (centre) is caught in a doorway between Tony and Andy's Soldiers, high on the walls of the tower!
While this unlikely- yet noble- alliance fought to preserve Frostgrave's living inhabitants on the walls of the storm-wracked tower, the Plague Doktors skulked in the trees near the main gates, waiting to see the outcome before getting involved. It was at this point that they spied Tom's Warband, led by the hated Sigillist that had betrayed Doktor Schreck in the Breeding Pits weeks earlier, making their way to the gates. Self-proclaimed 'Man of Science' he may be, but the good Doktor could not let such a chance for vengeance pass him by! The ragged mob of desperate scum and villainy came screaming out of the treeline just as the Sigillist himself was in the open- surrounded on all sides by misshapen Goblins, deranged lepers and a big dumb brute with a rusty scythe, the hated Wizard was cut down!
Seeing his employer shanked to death, one of Tom's (several) noble Templars charged forth to exact vengeance- but with a wave of Doktor Schreck's hand, his mighty greatsword crumbled to dust in his grasp and the unarmed man was quickly pulled down by the unwashed mass. The taste of vengeance sweet in their collective snaggle-toothed mouths, my Warband set about the reeling Sigillists. Raggedy Bill and Mungo subsequently made a nourishing gruel out of the Sigillist Apprentice, a Knight and a further Templar, before Tom's troops rallied and counter-attacked. The snows before the courtyard ran red, but predictably my own underlings soon began to suffer heavy casualties and started to slink away into the gathering darkness leaving their dead (including Doktor Schreck!) lying where they fell... Igor rubbed his gloved hands in glee; now he would be Wizard instead of the Wizard!
While the screams and bellows of the vicious fight below echoed upwards, Tony and Andy continued the good fight atop the tower. With the final Wraith vanquished, the Overlord of the cabal appeared to unleash magical death upon the impertinent mortals. However, some poor dice rolling on his part saw his grand entrance become something of a farce- in fact, if he hadn't been ethereal he would most probably have tripped on his robe and tumbled down the stairs!
Seizing their chance, our heroes made one last charge and in a flurry of weapons the undead fiend was no more- a lingering shriek carried on the cold breeze all that remained of the anticlimactic revenant!
...And so, our tale draws to a close. Ancient evil turned out to be not as evil as we expected, and the Plague Doktors, now led by a power-drunk Igor, have slunk off into the night to plot new experiments.
New Warbands are being planned for the first Campaign of 2018- I am leaning towards taking my Barbarians, led by the Elementalist Tor Stormbrand.
However, it is rumoured that the Ghost Archipelago has returned to the Southern ocean, and crews are being hired to set sail in search of the mythical Crystal Pool...
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