Reaper's Evil Toys Painted

    This past week I painted up Reaper's pack of "Evil Toys" to use as treasure tokens for December's Ghost Archipelago game-slash-Christmas party.  The scenario will be The Island of Misfit Toys, and the players will be trying to gather as many of the toys to "save" them from the island and its evil ruler King Moonracer.

L to R: Evil Rubber Duck, Evil Teddy Bear, Evil Jack-in-the-Box, Evil Cymbal Monkey, My Little Evil Pony, and Slinky Hell Hound. 

      I also painted, to add to the mix, the headless gingerbread-man from Reaper's "Familiars Pack VI"

Ghost Archipelago '19, Game 5: The Mysterious City

     This past Saturday we played the fifth game of our Ghost Archipelago Champaign.  We had 5 of our regular players in attendance, and used a 3' x 7' table.  For our scenario this time we turned back to the original Frostgrave rulebook, and did a modified version of "The Keep".
     Whereas the original scenario takes place within the ruins of a single building, we changed if for our game by spreading it out to be the ruins of an entire village.   In this village there was a series of mysterious teleport discs spread throughout that had enabled the original residents to move quickly from place to place thorough their swampy jungle village.   Now the system had either malfunctioned, or maybe the crews just don't know how to properly use it; but whenever a figure would step on any of them, they'd immediately be transported to a random one on the table, including the possibility of ending up right back on the one where they started from.

A view of the table.  The numbered circles denote the teleport discs.  The light blue ones are the Central Treasures.

     We placed two special discs with the central treasures on them, then each player placed two discs like they would treasure, and placed their treasure tokens on top of the disc.  If you stepped on  a disc you'd be immediately transported to the next disc, so you couldn't pick up the treasure on the disc you stepped up, but you could pick up any treasure on the disc you landed on.  Also, we ruled you couldn't use any magic to move treasures off of the discs; they were treated as magical null zones.
    I did poorly with my place in the order of Start Zone selections, drawing chip number 4.  The good thing was, with there only being 5 players, that I was still able to get a corner spot on the 3 player side.  Unfortunately there was only one teleport pad and treasure anywhere near me.    I ended up with the Heritor Barl the Librarian directly on my right,  and the Heritor Gnomeo across from me and a little to the right

The Report

     The storm was blowing  more strongly now,  and the Captain headed to the Heritor's cabin to have a frank discussion.  The ship rocked and swayed, but the old seaman easily kept his footing.

       A little while later he was finishing up his summation of the situation. "...the simple fact is we need to find a protected bay or inlet to ride this out." he concluded to Barley.  The little Halfling Heritor sat at her desk looking a little green and sipping from a small mug. She nodded and, taking a big swig of the last of the amber liquid in the mug, replied, "You're the expert, Captain.  I defer to your judgement."
   "Good." the Captain said, relieved.  "My man up top had spotted what we think is an island a short distance to port before the storm hit.  We'll head for there."
   As it turned out, the island had a small bay that shielded them from the worst of it.   When the gale had passed, Barley surveyed the coast, and quickly spotted the ruins of a tower, up in the low hills beyond the thin strip of beach. 
   "It looks like there was some sort of outpost or settlement here", the Halfling Heritor said to  her Human Warden, Tork.  I'm thinking we should investigate before we leave.  It will give the Captain time to see to repairing any damage from the storm, and chart us a new course.

My starting deployment

         A couple hours later, they had reached the remains of the tower.  It stood half crumbled and long deserted. After considering it for a while, and glancing into the shattered remains of the walls, Barley was about to declare it a wasted trip, when Tok spotted the signs of an overgrown path leading further into the jungle.  Barley figured while they were there, seeing where it went would be worth while.
   A short distance away, they came to the outskirts of a ruined town.  Crumbling, overgrown buildings were visible in all directions.  Barley took the time to divide her crew up into three commands: with herself she took her Scout, Perkin, the Crossbow-woman, Lily, and the Crewman, Habby.  With her Warden Tork, she assigned; the two Archer brothers Billy and Jikam, as well as Crewman Link.   Crew members Corel and Ginsink would act as an independent reserve, helping out where needed.
         Barley advanced towards a large tree on their left.  She could see a small stream flowing a short distance away, seemingly dividing the village into two sides.   What caught her eye was an ornate mosaic disc(12) set on the ground beside the stream.  It measured about 10 feet across, and was mysteriously pristine when compared to the ruins and overgrown vegetation all around them. On the disc, the Heritor noticed sat a small chest, toppled to one side as if it had been dropped.
     Then, as the Heritor studied the curious disc and the chest upon it, the air above it seemed to shimmer for a few seconds, there was a brief hum like a hive of bees, and suddenly a rotund Dwarf appeared magically, standing directly on the disc(12), right next to the chest.  He appeared confused at first, but had the presence of mind to bend down and grab the chest.  With a double take, Barley recognized it as the Heritor Ragnam!

Barley, Perkin, and Lily advance to the left, as Ragnam appears on the  nearby disc (top center of photo behind clump of tall grass)

         Barley was still puzzling over what just happened, when Tork came running towards her, and shouted "Little one, behind you!"    The Halfling Heritor whipped around to see a Mountain Goat trotting towards them.  Tork stopped in his tracks, and quickly attempted to use his Control Animal ability, but he rushed it and failed.  The Archers, Jikam and Billy, both ran forward as well, and pausing, let loose with their arrows.  Both missed.  The Goat was angered now, and stopping a second, pawed at the ground before lowering its head and charging directly at Barley.  The Halfling nimbly stepped aside, and brought her sword around with a powerful swing against the beast, stabbing it directly in the side.   The animal skidded to a stop, flipping over and was dead before it hit the ground.  (I roll 17, Goat rolls 3).
     Then, there was a sudden loud roar in the distance that seemed to make the whole jungle go quiet. In the silence Barley could hear Tork, her Beast Warden, say to himself, "Uh, oh. Big Monster."  And he was right; for just a short distance away, above the trees on their right, they could see the huge head of a Monarch come unto view among the highest branches. (Monarch from a Treasure Random Encounter enters behind Barl's Start Zone)
     Before Barley had a chance to consider the implications of this new arrival, she heard the hum again from the disc(12), and turned in time to see a Human Crewman (belonging to Cassilda's crew) now appear on the disc(12) next to Ragman.  The new arrival was as startled to see the Dwarf as he was to see her. Beyond the disc and its occupants, the Halfling Heritor could also see movement, and members of the Heritor Gnome's crew came into view, moving among the ruins on the far side of the stream.

The Monarch enters directly behind Barl's start zone.

     Quickly, Barley gathered her wits, and taking cover behind a nearby tree, unshouldered her bow, and let fly an arrow at the Dwarf Heritor.  It struck Ragnam in the shoulder, and the dwarf clutched at the shaft cursing (I roll a 17 +2S).  Perkin joined his Heritor behind the tree and he too shot at the Dwarf, hitting him as well, in his thick thigh. (I roll 17 +2S again!)  The Dwarf's leg went out from under him, and he went down with a thud.  Ragnam weakly crawled off the disc, dragging his prize with his good arm, then turned and crawled back on.  This triggered the disc again, and with a hum and a shimmer of light the Dwarf disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared.
     Tork once again tried to Summon Animal in an attempt to gain them an ally, and this time had success.  Making a link with a Snapping Turtle further down the stream, he called the creature to assist them.   The Warden then advanced, along with the two Archers, to a low ruin of a stone building that appeared to be the remains of a well house, as the masonry of the round well could still be seen.   The two Archers seeing the strange Crew-woman still on the disc , both fired upon her, and both missed.
     Crewman Link decided to follow the Dwarf with the treasure, and so ran after him, onto the disc.  As soon as his foot touched the mosaic surface, he felt a strange spinning sensation, and the world around him blurred into a swirl of color and just as quickly reformed into  unfamiliar  surroundings.  Looking down the mosaic on the disc was different.  He quickly realized he had moved to another disc(5) somewhere in the village.  Turning, he realized there was a Human standing on the disc next to him (Another of Cassilda's crew); and before he could react, a large fist clutching a sword, swung at him and the metal of the hilt connected with his temple.  His head snapped around, the world went black, and he collapsed onto the disc unconscious.

Barley and Perkin take aim at Ragnam from behind the cover of a large tree.

     Back near the other disc(12) where the rest of the crew were, the Human Crew-woman, like Ragnam, quickly stepped off and back onto the platform, and instantly disappeared.  In her place a Gnome now appeared, and Lily the Crossbow-woman quickly took aim at him and fired.  She hit him squarely (I roll  19 +2S), and the little Gnome dropped like a rock and rolled off the disc, dead.

    Suddenly, there was a distinctive "hiss" from the tall grass behind Barley, and turning quickly she spotted the head of a Giant Snake bobbing and weaving just a dozen yards away. (Summoned by the Gnomish Beast Warden).  The little Heritor brought up her bow and fired, but the arrow went wide.  "Perkin!", she called to her Scout, and in a flash, he too spun around and readied his bow.  Perkin's arrow hit its mark, piecing the Snake just below the head, and it dropped down into the grass, dead.  (I roll 19 +2 S = 21) 
    "Thank you!", Barley said, relieved; and continued, "I think you should follow Link, and see if you can help him with the Dwarf.  And with that, the loyal Scout turned and ran for the disc(12).  Setting his foot upon it,  Barley watched as he disappeared.    The Halfling Heritor then turned to the Crossbow-woman, and called over to her, "Lily,   follow Perkin and see if you two can help Link with the Dwarf.   In the distance they could hear the Monarch give a loud roar that echoed among the treetops.
    Tork seeing the three Halflings  run to the disc assumed that everyone was supposed to, and he told the two Archer brothers to come with him, and the three of them ran for the disc.  Like with the others, as each stepped upon it, each was immediately teleported elsewhere.

Tork, Billy, and Jikam advance to the old well house and the Archers fire on Cassilda's Crew-woman. (On disc behind clump of tall grass.)

     Meanwhile, when Perkin materialized on a different disc(8), he quickly realized the Dwarf, Ragnam, was nowhere around. Neither was Link.  He was shocked however to suddenly realize there was a dead Human laying on the disc, and to his right was a Gnome Crewman.  The two eyed each other suspiciously, but before either could act, there was a sound of loud wind and a sudden crashing of branches and both occupants of the disc stared in horror as the Monarch suddenly was blown past a nearby patch of jungle and landed just a few yards from the pad where they stood.  (Barl's Warden successfully casts Wind Blast against the creature.)
     Lily had landed only about a hundred yards further away from Perkin, on another disc(4 Central Treasure).  She was struck by the extra elaborate nature of the mosaic, and noticed a fine leather pouch studded with gemstones, laying in the center.  She reached down to pick it up, admiring the craftsmanship.
    Back on Perkin's disc(8), the Halfling and the Gnome were frozen with indecision, not knowing whether to run or attack. As they stood there, dumbfounded, the air shimmered between them, and Tork now arrived on the same disc.  He quickly realized the situation, and looking up at the big creature before them, said, "Oh, no."  and instinctively threw his arms up to cover his head.
     The Monarch however, had no doubt of what to do, and seeing an easy meal before him charged at the three occupants of the disc.   Perkin, Tork, and the Gnome cowered, and though none were looking, they could feel the beast's closeness and awaited the inevitable.  None of them saw as the Monarch, leaning down, his jaws open wide, placed his leading foot on the disc.  With a shimmer and hum he vanished.

The Monarch is blown to a position near Perkin and a Gnome on disc 8

    He wasn't truly gone of course, for as Lily ran her hands over the jewel encrusted pouch on the ornate disc(4), she became aware of a loud hum, and the sudden appearance of a large shadow above her.  Looking up, she had barely time to let out a scream as the huge jaws descended on her. She tried to leap away, but the Monarch's power jaws clamped down, just getting a hold of her cape.  She was lifted high in the air, as the Halfling struggling to free herself.   The Monarch, realizing it had missed the meaty part of its target and was trying now to flip the Halfling up into its mouth.   Desperately, Lily grabbed at the clasp holding her cape, and ripped at it.     It came loose just as the Monarch tossed her, and as the cape came free of her shoulders she was flung even higher into the air.  The beast clawed and snapped  frantically at its now-flying meal, but the creature's arms were too short, and its mouth was still tangled in the flapping cape.    Lily found herself hanging in the air for an instant, and then the rapid decent began.  The Crossbow-woman came down hard, her head hitting the edge of the disc, knocking her out cold.

The Monarch teleports itself to another disc (4) where it finds Lily with a Central Treasure.

     Meanwhile, Jikam the Archer had found himself alone on another disc(6), and his brother Billy landed a little further away on yet another disc(7).  There was a chest on the disc(7), as well as a Gnome.  Drawing his bow quickly, the Archer shot at the Gnome, hitting him directly at such short range.  The Gnome fell back off the disc, unmoving.     

     In the meantime, Crewman Habby, had also moved to the original disc(12), and he was now transported to join Billy on his disc(7)     Billy, pointed to the chest, and told Habby to grab it and go.  "I'll keep you covered", the Archer added.   As the Halfling Crewman grabbed the prize and started dragging it towards a nearby arm of jungle that jutted out into the village, an Archer from Ragnam's crew came into view from around the far side of the same jungle area.  He saw Billy first and shot at him, hitting him in the side.  The half-Halfling Archer spun around and fell backwards, falling hard to the ground with his head dangling into a shallow pond next to the disc.   Another of Ragman's Archers followed the first, and this one caught sight of Habby with his treasure.  His arrow, cut into the Halfling back, and the little Crewman almost fell over, but kept his footing.  Despite the pain, Habby pushed on (Reduced to 3 HP)towards the cover of the trees and vegetation.

Habby and Billy both land on disc 7 and recover the treasure there.

          It was now Barley's turn to try the disc(12); and like the others before her, she too ran forward and leaped onto the mosaic circle.  In a swirl of color she was gone.  Her trip was shorter though, as she materialized on another disc(10) that was just across the river and next to the ruin where she had first spotted Gnomeo and his Crew.  And, to her surprise, there was the Gnomish Heritor himself, in the ruin just a short distance away, dragging a large wooden box with decorative inlays on it.
     The Warden, Tork, back on the the disc(8) he first traveled to, had seen the Monarch materialize in the distance on the further disc(4).  Worried the creature would return, the Warden had immediately hopped off and back on to the disc(8) where he was.   In a swirl he vanished and reappeared on a disc(9 Central Treasure) just a short distance away, on the far side of a branch of stream from where he had been.    This was a much more ornate disc(9 CT) than the two he had been on before, and upon it sat a well made chest  with gold and silver inlays .    After admiring it for a brief time, Tork reached down and heaved it up onto his shoulder, and made for the cover of a nearby patch of jungle.
     Crew members Ginsink and Corel, who had spent the last hour trying to work their way into a beneficial position behind the Heritor Barl's crew, had finally given up, and now tried to find their way back to where they left the others.   They came across one of the discs(8), and having not seen one being used yet, were unsure of what it was.  First Ginsink stepped upon it to study the fine mosaic work, and when she disappeared in a shimmer, Corel ran onto the disc(8) too, to see what happened.  Miraculously, they both reappeared in the same place; standing on each side of their Heritor, Barley, on the disc(10) she had materialized upon.
   The two new arrivals, also saw the Heritor Gnomeo and his treasure.  The three Halflings were so distracted by the excellent opportunity before them, they didn't see the Gnome Archers who lingered around the ruin as well.  First one, then another fired, both hitting Barley. (-4HP, and -2HP, reduced to 14HP)  She staggered as the first arrow gashed her leg, and the second left a crease in her arm.  Ginsink and Corel rushed forward to try and reach the shooters, but it was too late.  Gomeo himself stopped, and turning shouldered his bow.  Using his Trick Shot ability the Gnome Heritor took aim at Barley and hit her squarely in the right shoulder, knocking her back.  The Halfling fell and blacked out before she hit the ground.  Without thinking her two nearby Crew members rushed forward, and grabbing the unconscious Heritor.  They started dragging her back to safety on the far side of the river, as the Gnomes shouted insults in their wake from the protected safety of the their ruin.    The two Crew members jettisoned her light armor, sword, bow and quiver, to make her easier to move.  They, along with the rest of the crew, now all started making their back to where they had  landed on the beach.

Barley, Ginsink and Corel teleport amongst the Gnomes.

     Back on the Jolly Scallop that night.  Barley sat at her desk, all bandaged up, and sore, but functional enough.   It had been a Close Call for her, and she wasn't happy about losing all her equipment.  Luckily, it was all easily replaceable from the ship's locker, as she was carrying no magic items.  Lily and Link would both heal nicely too, their injuries not being that bad.  Billy the Archer however, had been Badly Wounded, and would need at least a month to recover. 

        Treasure had been difficult to come by, and the Heritor felt lucky that her crew was able to bring home anything at all.  Tork's chest (a Central Treasure) had held 100 Gold Coins.  And the one Habby had retrieved had held 10 Gold Coins and vial with some Gillivourt weed in it.
   Her mind turned to the increasing pile money in the ship's vault, and the number of Magic and Superior Weapons stored there as well.  Perhaps, the Heritor considered, it was time to make a trip back to the Mainland.  They could do some repairs and upgrades to the ship, take on fresh supplies, and perhaps find a potion that would cure Billy a little quicker.
       A week later they were in a port on the mainland.  Their haul of weapons brought a hefty sum! Barley found a beautiful Compass for the ship (-200GC) and Tork had found a stray hound that befriended hm, and begged for them to put a kennel on the ship.  (-200GC) He asked for so little, Barley felt she couldn't refuse.  They had also located a potion (-50GC) that would help cure their Archer.  And they still had plenty left over.  Bailey considered adding Extra Quarters, but that would drain their treasury to almost nothing. Maybe next time, she thought...

The final tally.

Epilogue

    What a wild and crazy game!  It was bad enough that treasure was so hard to get, but having the Monarch appear on turn 1 certainly didn't help.  Luckily, I think I was the only one to land on either of the Central Treasure discs, and to have actually gotten one away was sheer luck.
     I also wanted to add a note about the Snapping Turtle that Tork Summoned in the second turn.  A Swamp Zombie entered the same turn in almost the same spot, and the two spent the entire game fighting each other, with neither managing to hit the other.  So he was never able to play a roll in the game.
     I finally decided to head to the mainland and cash in all my treasure, even though I haven't lost any Specialists.  Those of you who have been following along with my reports will know that many of the treasures I have found have resulted in Magic or Superior 2-handed weapons; and since I don't have anyone in my Crew who carries such a thing, they were useless to me.  So they have been gathering dust aboard the ship. I finally felt it was time for them to go.  They brought in over 1000 GC, which helped pay for the trip, a new Compass, and a Kennel.   We'll see how that all works out next time.
   

Ghost Archipelago '19, Game 4: Battle on the Rooftops

     Two Saturdays ago we played the fourth game of our 2019 Ghost Archipelago Campaign.  We had 6 of our 9 regular players in attendance and used a 8'x3' table.
     We did a modified version of the "Battle on the Rooftops" scenario from the Gods of Fire supplement book.  In this scenario, the crews are attempting to recover treasure on the rooftops of a long-abandoned mountainside city.  The treasure has been hoarded by, and is guarded by, strange savage birdmen-like creatures called Cathaka.  The table is set up to represent the rooftops of the city, with gaps between them that can lead to possibly fatal falls.  Moving between rooftops requires jumping, a few walkways and bridges, or various Heritor and Warden abilities.  Being pushed from a rooftop can be disastrous. 
     There were no central treasures, and treasure tokens were placed with equal number of real and dummy tokens.  So players never know if they are heading for a chest of gold or somebody's old laundry.  Between each pair of players there was a large Central Platform rooftop that had the bulk of the tokens, which starts the game being guarded by 4 of the Cathaka birdmen. 
      I luckily got an early set-up chip, and took one of the corner spots.  I ended up with the Heritor Gnomeo, and his shooter-heavy crew across from me, and the Heritor Arkham to my right.  Diagonally across from me to my front right was the Heritor Barl.

A view of the table showing starting areas.

 
The Report

     The Halfling Heritor Barley Gimblehill  squinted against the sunlight, trying to see what her Warden, the big human named Tork, was pointing at.  "See, city!  Built into cliffs.  There!"  he said exasperatedly.
 Finally the ship had sailed close enough, that the little Heritor began to see the shape of the buildings against the rocky sides of the mountain.  Many of the structures were carved from the very rock of the island, so blended in perfectly.  The haphazard architecture was build topsy turvy almost down to where the mountain reached to touch the sandy strip along the coast.  The highest buildings though seemed to tower up near the clouds.  As Barley peered upwards, she could see tiny black specks circling lazily around the rooftops...some sort of large birds she pondered.
    She looked at Tork, "What birds are those?" she asked pointing.
    Now it was her Warden's time to squint into the sun.  "Big ones." was his only reply.
The Heritor could tell the city was long abandoned; no smoke rose from the chimneys, and many of the structures had toppled over, or stood half crumbled.  And an abandoned city meant the possibility of worthwhile clues or treasure being left behind. 
     Barley hopped down from the crate she stood upon, and said over her shoulder to Tork, "Let us go check it out."
  Tork replied simply, "Big birds..."

     It was two hour later that Barley, Tork and a group of specialists and crew from the Jolly Scallop found themselves climbing staircase after staircase, and a few rckety ladders, to reach the higher rooftops of the city.  As they had neared the city they could clearly see gold glinting from the topmost rooftops in what appeared to be big piles of assorted belongings and detritus; small pieces of furniture, armor, weapons, cloth...  And the "big birds" turned out to be some sort of strange bird and man combination.  Vulture like in their appearance, but with arms and legs and torso like a man.  They wore scraps of clothes and some carried primitive weapons.    For the most part they left the Halflings alone.  One or two curious ones approached within a few dozen yards to check the little folk out, but for the most part the birdmen kept their distance.   Barley and Tork noted that it appeared the strange creatures were responsible for the piles on the rooftops, as they could see one every now and then fly some load to one of the roofs where it dumped it upon one of the piles.  Others would flutter over and inspect the new addition.

Barley's initial deployment.

     The band of diminutive adventurers eventually reached the top of a building near the highest structures of the city.   They could see the birdmen and their piles much more clearly now.  Directly in front of them, on the next building over, was a large expansive rooftop containing a pyramid structure in the center and decorative columns on each corner.  It contained a number of large piles of belongings.  There were also 4 of the bird creatures who lingered there.  They cast wary eyes upon the Halflings, and Barley clearly recognized them as guards of some sort.
    As the Halfling Heritor sized up the situation, Tork removed one of his Divining Rods and worked its magic.  Pointing over to the right he said, "Gold close. Over by pool,", and pointed to a low rectangular structure to their right on a nearby rooftop. (I move token from within pool, 3" towards my start zone, bringing it out of the pool.)
     Barley organized her crew; giving Tork command over the two Archer brothers, Jikam and Billy Wizzit, as well as Crew-woman Ginsink.   The Heritor took along with her,  her Scout Perkin, and the two Crewmen, Corel and Habby.  Crewmen Fernando and Link positioned themselves between the two groups to help out where needed.  The little Heritor had Tork position himself and his command to move towards the central platform; while she oriented herself and her group to move off to the right and check the gold the Warden had detected by the pool.
     It was an easy leap for Barley and her group to jump the span between the building they had entered on and the building with the pool next door.  They could see a worn wooden chest laying by the pool atop a pile of what appeared to be old clothes, and the Heritor ordered Corel over to check it out.  As he went, Barley pointed out a nearby outbuilding on the same rooftop, and suggested to Perkin they go check it out.  She told Habby to stay and assist Corel.

Barley, Perkin, Corel and Habby, make the jump to the building to the right of their start zone with the pool and the nearby treasure token.

     Meanwhile, Ginsink, never one to follow orders well, spotted a promising leather pouch laying on a rooftop to their left, and she ran off, easily making the leap to the other roof, before Tork realized she was gone and could call her back.  The Warden was too busy trying his Summon Animal ability, but alas they were too far from any animal he guessed for any to respond. (I fail my roll.)  As he worked his spell, Jikam and Billy took aim at the closest bird-man; Billy hit wounding the creature, but Jikam's arrow went wide.
     At that point they became aware of a chattering of voices on the far side of the large rooftop, and they could see Gnomish members of the Heritor Gnomeo's crew come into view.  Fernando and Link realized time was against them now that another crew had appeared, and rushed over an old wooden gangway towards the large roof; hoping that the two archers would take care of the guards by the time they reached their destination.
     By now Ginsink had reached the pouch, but before she could bend over to inspect it, an arrow from Gnomeo's crew hit her in the shoulder, and she cried out in pain.  Before she could react in any way, a second shaft struck her, this time in the leg, and she toppled over cracking her head upon the hard roof beneath her and was knocked out. 
     Tork attempted his Summon Animal spell again was was shocked when he made a mental link to a Snapping Turtle!  How did it get up there he wondered.  The creature sensed his question, and he got the mental image of the turtle being carried to the roofs by one of the bird-men, who mistook it for some sort of treasure chest while it was sleeping.  It had since wandered the roofs living off rats and mice.   Seeing Ginny go down, the Warden instructed the Snapping Turtle to move towards the pouch that the Crew-woman had been heading towards and guard it.
     The two Archers had now notched their second arrows, and once again Billy's hit, dropping the first guard; while Jikam's went wide again. Billy could not stay silent over that, and commenced to relentlessly tease and comment on his brothers poor marksmanship.

In the foreground, Tork tries to Summon Animal, as Billy and Jikam shoot at the Guards.  Fernando and Link dash across the gangway towards the central rooftop. 

     By now, Barley and Perkin had made their way to the outbuilding, and began to climb a ladder leading to its roof.  Two arrows whizzed by the Scout from the Gnome crew, but neither hit its mark.  The pair began to climb, and another arrow came towards the Scout, but this one hit, sinking deep into the Halfling's thigh. "I can't continue up!" he said through gritted teeth.
   "Alright." Barley acknowledged, "head back down and take care of your wound.  The Scout slid as best he could back down the ladder, and crouching behind a nearby pillar, worked at removing the shaft.
       As Barley continued up  the ladder, Corel reached the chest and giving the old lock a good whack with the hilt of his sword, pried the lid up and was pleased to find it filled with gold coins!  (I flip token and reveal a "T" treasure marker.)
          Having reached the top of the outbuilding roof, the little Halfling Heritor moved over to a large cloth sack on the rooftop and quickly unlaced the cord tying it, only to find it stuffed with old rusty serving pieces and flatware. (I flip token to reveal an "X".)

As Corel recovered his chest of gold coins, the wounded Perkin takes cover behind a column.  Near the top center of the photo, Barley checks the token on the outbuilding rooftop.

    Over on the rooftop they had started from, Tork could see Perkin was badly hurt, so he quickly cast Water of Life on the Halfling, and the Scout could feel his wound magically begin to heal. 
      Meanwhile, Fernando and Link had crossed to the large roof, and both moved towards the nearest piles of debris.  Link pulled at a small chest, and hearing clinking inside, opened it to reveal some pieces of fine gold jewelry. (I reveal another "T" token!)  Likewise, Fernando found an ornate wood box, and prying it open, saw it contained gold coins and some heavy potato sized object wrapped in smooth cloth. (And yet another "T" token!) He had no time to investigate further as a loud flapping behind him warned him that the surviving guard had taken issue with his prying.  Quickly the Halfling Crewman turned and brandished his sword, wounding the bird-man with a well placed thrust. The Birdman fluttered backwards in pain, giving the Archers a clear shot; and this time Jikam found his mark, killing the creature.

The birdman attacks Fernando as he and Link try to steal the creature's treasure. Near the top center of the photo, the Gnomes can be seen working on recovering a treasure of their own.

     With the guards dead, the Archer, Billy Wizzit, decided it was time to go try and investigate the pouch that Ginsink had tried to retrieve earlier.  The Snapping Turtle stood nearby at the base of a bridge leading to a further rooftop, upon which one of Gnomeo's crewman stood dithering as to cross and tangle with the hard-shelled creature or not.   The Gnome Heritor could see the situation, and using his Trick Shot ability, put a well placed arrow right into an opening in the Turtle's shell.  striking it right at the base of the neck.  Almost dead, (1 HP remaining!) the Turtle still faithfully stood guard at the base of the bridge.
     Meanwhile, Link and Fernando had secured their treasures and were making their way back down the old gangway back to the rooftop from which they had started.

Link and Fernando return cross the gangway with their treasure, as over on the left Billy (figure with yellow shield) can be seen hiding behind a pillar.

     Over on the building to the right, Corel moved with his chest back towards safety. The Halfling was then shocked to see two animated Skeleton soldiers ascend a nearby staircase and come marching towards him. (Brought on by the Gnome Warden, Julliette's, successful Beast Cry!)   Quickly, the wounded Perkin moved with his bow towards the new threat.  He fired an arrow which struck one of the Skeletons, sending it crashing to the ground where it shattered into dozens of loose bones.
    Meanwhile, Barley had come down from the outbuilding rooftop by this time, and she too moved to help, as did Crewman Habby.  But new danger appeared nearby.

Two skeleton soldiers appear as Corel drags his chest towards safety.

         One of the distant circling birdmen had spotted Fernando and Link carrying off their treasure, and swooped down to stop them, heading directly at Link, claws outstretched.   In a flash Barley was there, using her Leap ability to easily cross the gap between the two buildings and moving directly into contact with the creature to help Link.  Link had drawn his sword, and slashed at the flying creature.  striking its wing.  He did no real damage, but feathers fluttered all around him, and the bridman circled up into the air before making another attempt.  (I win fight but do no damage, push birdman out.)
     The creature now tried its luck with Fernando, swooping down powerfully at him.  With a might thrust the Halfling stabbed the birdman in the gut and, though badly wounded, it still continued to flap and claw at its opponent. (I roll 20, leaving the Cathaka with only 3 HP) .  Barley saw her chance, and moving up behind the creature stabbed it from behind.  It took a few weak flaps hit the roof and fluttered off the nearby edge where it plummeted to the ground far below.

A lone birdman swoops in to attack Link and Fernando.

     Back on the nearby roof to their left, Billy crouched behind a pillar, as an arrow from the Gnomes whispered past him.  The Gnome Crewman on the far side of the little bridge finally found his courage, and charged at the Turtle.  Billy knew it was now or never and dived for the pouch.  He heard the clink of bottles inside and threw the pouch's strap over his arm.  (I reveal another "T"!) The Turtle and Gnome engaged, but neither managed to damage the other.
     Back on the other roof, Perkin shot again, disabling the second Skeleton.  Coral now had a clear path to escape with his treasure.  Likewise Link and Fernando began to descend the nearest staircase, making their way back to the ship. Tork once again cast Water of Life on the injured Scout.

Billy finally recovers the pouch as the Snapping Turtle still guards the bridge against the Gnome's advance.

     Billy fled with his pouch, and the nearby Gnome knew that even if he killed the Turtle, the Halfling Archer was well out of his reach, so he too began to make his way back to join his crew.

     Later that evening, back onboard the Jolly Scallop,  Barley looked over the day's haul.  The chest Corel had retrieved from near the pool contained 100 GC!  The Little Heritor estimated the jewelry in the chest Link had recovered was worth around 40 GC; and the pouch Billy Wizzit had retrieved contained a few broken and empty potion bottles, but there was one still intact that the Warden, Tork, had determined contained a Potion of Regeneration.  Lastly, there was Fernando's Chest; it held 50 Gold Coins, and wrapped in the cloth was a flat stone the size of Tork's big fist, with runes on one side and what looked like a primitive sea chart on the other showing three islands.
    After puzzling over it for a few minutes, Barley handed it over to Tork, saying, "Any ideas?"
    The big Warden studied it closely and ran his fingers over the worn carvings.  "It's Map Stone" he said matter-of-factly, and continued, "Clue to location of Crystal Pool."
     Barley jumped from her chair; "It shows where the pool is?" she exclaimed!
     "Yes... and no, " the Human magic-user said shaking his large head.  "It shows part of a route to the Pool.  It is just piece of larger puzzle. We must find more to know complete path." He set the stone gently back down on Barley's desk.
     There was a map. In pieces, yes, but a map nonetheless.  Barley pondered the implications.  If they could find more of these stones...  The little Heritor felt invigorated.  Her ship's hold was filling up with more and more gold, and they now had a specific objective to search for.  Barley gazed out the window of her cabin at the moon lit water; her mind already plotting their next destination.

Final outcome.

Epilogue:

   This was an enjoyable game, and played more like a bank heist than a regular battle.  The nature of the buildings kept everyone for the most part separated, and it really came down to defeating the guards, grabbing the loot, and running.
    I must say I did have an inordinate amount of good luck though.  The majority of tokens I flipped proved to be actual Treasure; a fate not shared with all the players.  Also, once I had the treasure and was lugging it away, I would have been easy pray for the Gnomes and their preponderance of missile troops;  but I lucked out that two of the Cathakas arrived in their rear area at just the right time, keeping them quite busy guarding their own recovered Treasure.
    I only had one figure fall, the Crew-woman Ginsink, which is very unusual.  And, luckily,  she fully recovered.
     I couldn't believe my good fortune at getting 4 treasures; but my luck let me down on the treasure rolls.  Three of them were under ten:  4, 8, and 9.  Which are not particular valuable results.  My one big number was a 20, a map stone.  But quite honestly for what is basically a 12 month/game campaign it's hard to ever find more than one or two of these stones so they have no real effect.  I would have preferred a nice magic weapon or armor.
    Luckily, I don't have to wait long for our next game as it is this coming weekend.  Stay tuned for a another report soon!

Ghost Archipelago '19, Game 3: Isle of Dragons

      This past Saturday we played the third game of our 2019 Ghost Archipelago Campaign.  We had 8 of our 9 regular players in attendance; which meant we had 4 Central Treasures in play, spaced evenly down the center of the 9'x3' table.
     We did a dragon attack scenario of our own devising, based on a Frostgrave game we did a couple years ago (Frostgrave Game 6.16),  where picking up treasures had a chance to activate a dragon which will fly in over the city, with random entrance and exit points determined by dice roll.  We changed it this time to having a chance for the dragon to enter every turn based on a roll each turn of 12+.  The dragon would fly in a straight path along this line and attack the first figure it reaches that falls within 3" of its flight path.  We used the stats for the Giant Worm from the Frostgrave rule book, increasing the Move and the Armor slightly, and assigned a 20 experience point reward for killing one of the dragons.   Each dragon would stay on the table until it ate somebody and satisfied its hunger, then it would fly off at the end of the next creature phase; or until it was itself killed.
    Since we had also incorporated a second scenario in the original Frostgrave game we were taking the Dragon scenario from, we decided to do it with this game too.  So, beside the Dragons, we also did a version of the treasure system from Cigar Box Battles' "The Diabolist's Scheme", replacing all the treasure tokens with a corpse marker.  Then, when the corpse marker is first touched, the player rolls a d20 with the results being: 1-5 nothing, it's just a dead body; 6-10 it's a Skeleton that attacks the figure; 11-15 it's a Swamp Zombie, 15-18 a Ghoul, and 19-20 a Spirit Warrior.   Once the player has killed the undead guarding the treasure, it reverted into its normal treasure form, and the player could pick it up and haul it away.  They also would then make a regular wandering monster roll when they picked up the actual treasure.

View of the whole table with my start zone indicated.

    I did okay with my set-up zone this time, drawing chip #4, and deciding to pick a spot with a known opponent, already seated opposite me; rather than pick one opposite a zone that hadn't been claimed yet.  Treasure wise, I was happy with the opportunities in front of my zone; especially with the newly acquired Divining Rods I had found last time.
      The opponent I seated myself across from was Barl of the Library, and his Storm Warden, Lorria.  To my immediate left was the Heritor, Ragnam Eichenherz; and his Beast Warden, Bengel; and to my immediate right was the Gnome Heritor, Gnomeo, and his Beast Warden, Juliet.  That put Safar the Seafarer, and his Storm Warden, Willow of the Water, to my front left; and Cassilda Blackmane, and her Earth Warden, Quartz, to my front right.

The Report

     The Halfling Heritor, Barley Gimblehill, had never seen her big bear of a Warden so excited.  During a recent supply stop they had heard a rumor of an isle in the Archipelago where Dragons lived; and Tork, her Beast Warden, had been chomping at the bit ever since to go see them.  It was something of a lifelong dream of his to see a real Dragon, and Barley hardly felt she should be the one to deny him this chance.  The little Heritor was skeptical herself, as Dragons were a rarity to the point some thought they were merely fables and tall-tales.   But still, the thought of a new island to explore still made her happy, and to be honest she wouldn't mind seeing a real Dragon, if there were any, as well.  The Warden's excitement was bit contagious, so why not give the big Human what he wanted.  The fact that the rumors of the Isle had also come with tales of no one ever getting off the island alive, were easily forgotten in the excitement to see real Dragons.
     It was late in the day when they landed on the hot sandy beach of the island; so Barley told Tork straight out that they couldn't stay long.  Just a few hours to see a Dragon and then back to the ship.  No one wanted to get caught on one of the islands of the Archipelago for very long after sun set. 
     They headed inland for a short distance when they began to notice various idols dotting the landscape; all with frightening faces of one kind or another.    She could hear her Crew begin to exchange hushed whisper with each other; and Barley realized he scary totems were't doing the Crews' nerves any good.   It was time to take matters under control,  so the Heritor stopped the group and divided them up into smaller commands.   She also had Tork take out one of the Diving Rods they had found on their last expedition, and had him show her how it worked.   The big Warden held it carefully in his hand extending it outward and perpendicular with the ground, and closed his eyes as if sensing the jungle around them.  As Barley watched, she saw the rod slowly begin to vibrate and the Warden's arm moved as if being guided by the stick.  It gradually swung to the left where it stopped, and rod seemed to glow a bit.  Tork opened his eyes, and said "Something made with magic. That way", and gestured with the rod in his hand. Barley noticed the rod looked blackened now and was smoking slightly, the runes burned off it. Tork dropped it to the ground; it was nothing but a stick now.  (I use one of my Divining Rods to move a treasure [corpse marker for this scenario], located in a pond on my left, 3" inches closer; bringing it out of the water and onto the shore.)

Initial deployment.

     As they passed out of the jungle into a large clearing the first thing that came into view was a huge skeleton laying n the ground  They couldn't tell if it was from some sort of Dragon, or huge Saurian.  Even Tork, the Beast Warden was stumped.  To their right was a large wooden idol, it's fierce visage staring skyward; and to their left the jungle jutted out into a wide arm that narrowed at the end, and just past that a large pond.  Barley told Tork to take is group over towards the pond, and she had Crew-woman Sallie and Crewman Habby head towards the idol to check it out.  The rest of crew were to fan out and keep their eyes and ears open, while the Heritor took her Scout, Perkin, with her and they headed towards the huge mysterious skeleton.
    Before Tork headed it out with his group, he took the time to cast his Summon Animal spell, and in just a minute they heard a loud screaming in the jungle behind them.  Apparently, a Screamer Monkey had answered his call.   As he was casting, Sallie and Habby wandered towards the wooden Idol, where another scream was heard; this time from Habby who nearly tripped over a body laying beneath the fronds of a large fern.   Though the corpse had begun to decay,  they could see that it appeared to have been badly mauled by some creature.  The unfortunate fellow still grasped a finely carved staff in his one hand, and the two Halflings could see a bulging leather pouch tied to his belt.
     While the two Crew investigated their find, Barley and Perkin made their way to the skeleton of the huge beast lying to their front.  They approached the big skull, and cautiously peered into the ribcage where, among the shadow lines of the ribcage, they could see a human skeleton sprawled out on the ground, one arm wrapped a round a large chest (Central Treasure).   It was then that the pair heard voices in the distance, and looking out the far side of the ribcage they could see a Human Crew approaching from the far side of the clearing.

Barley and her Scout, Perkin, check out the huge Saurus skeleton (and the Central Treasure inside), while over by the wooden idol, (lower right corner) Sallie and Habby make a gruesome discovery in the brush.

     Nearby in a patch of dense brush, the Half-Halfling Archer, Jikam Wizzit, had spotted the interlopers too, as they picked their way through the fallen remains of a stone circle.  He noticed one tall black-haired man who was well dressed and seemed to be barking orders at the others; so the Archer carefully drew his arrow and let it fly.  The shaft sliced the air and struck the big man as his right arm was raised pointing, hitting in the joint below his shoulder armor and sinking deep into his upper chest.  (I roll 20! and do 10 HP damage)  The Heritor, Barl of the Library, for that's who it was, staggered backwards, grasping at his wound.
     Behind Jikam, and to his right, Crew-woman Ginsink ran past the patch of brush where the Archer stood, and came up short as she saw a leg sticking out from under a broad-leafed bush.  Pushing the leaves back, she discovered a dead body laying in the brush.  The Crew-woman noticed the man's well-laden pack, and reached out to take it.  (I roll 4 on the Corpse table, so no Undead), and ended up having to cut the straps to get it free from the rigid corpse. 
     As Ginny was recovering the dead man's pack,  Crewmen Corel and Link were approaching the pond.  In the distance, past the pond, they could see two more Crews battling among a large temple made of stange looking adjoined idols.  The  Humans seemed to take no notice of the two Halflings, so they continued on their way.  Like their fellow Crew had, however, as they approached the pond they stumbled upon the remains of an ill-fated adventurer.  In one hand he clutched a two-handed sword, and though the decomposing body showed the signs of time passing, the sword looked newly polished.  The pair of Halflings guessed this must be the magic item that Tork had sensed with his Divining Rod.
     Back by the wooden Idol, Habby attempted to liberate the decomposing body if it's staff and pouch, only to find it wasn't exactly completely dead. (I roll 13 on the Undead Table: Swamp Zombie)  The corpse was very much still alive, and a decomposing hand grabbed a firm hold of the staff before Habby could get a grip on it.

Jikam the Archer gets a lucky shot against the opposing Heritor, Barl of the Library.

     Back by the huge Saurus skeleton, Barley hesitated.  The chest the skeleton grasped looked very inviting, but the Humans were so close.  Turning to look back, she saw the Crewman, Fernando, approaching, and she beckoned to him.  He trotted forward, and she motioned silently to the chest.  Cautiously, the Crewman snuck forward between two tree-like ribs and reached out to grab the treasure box, keeping a wary watch on the Human crew.  As he pulled at the nearest handle of the chest, he became aware of the sound of clattering bones very close by, and turning to look back at the chest, was shocked to see the skeleton that had been holding it was now grasping firmly at the handle on the other end and was standing up!  (I roll a 7 on the Undead table: Skeleton.)  Instinctively, Fernando yelled, "Help!".  But Barley and Perkin were already there, having seen what was happening.  Perkin reached his fellow Halfling first and thrust with his sword, but the blade went harmlessly through the creature's ribs (Hit but did no damage).  Barley then arrived and a wide swing of her sword cut the Skeleton in two, severing it just above the hips.  It clattered to the ground merely a pile of bones now.
     The commotion however had alerted Barl the Heritor, and before the Halflings could react, an arrow from one of the Human Archers flew by, dangerously close to Barley's ear.   Tork seeing the Human's attention drawn to his shipmates within the giant ribcage, attempted to Envenom another of Jikam's arrows, but failed the spell in his haste.  Jikam couldn't wait any longer for the Warden to try again, and shot at the closest Human Crewman, dropping him.   A Human Crew-woman now charged into the huge ribcage brandishing her sword .   Fernando sliced at her, but she parried, and brought her blade back to slice the Halfling across the arm, making a deep gash (-6 HP).  Perkin leaped into help, stabbing while the Human was recovering from her thrust at Fernando, his sword slicing through her tunic, but somehow managing to miss her body completely. (I hit but do no damage.)  Barley took a swing too, but somehow the enemy Crew-woman swung her sword back to block and then the tip of the blade caught the little  Halfling Heritor across the ear, cheek and chin.  (-5 HP).  Barley tasted the blood in her mouth.

The fight in the huge ribcage begins as one of Barl's Crew runs in to challenge the treasure.

     Seeing his little friend was in trouble, Tork rushed forward saying his Water of Life spell as he went.  Quickly he realized running and casting were hard to do at the same time, and he felt the magic energy of the spell slipping.  He concentrated with all his might to regain the spell (Push for -7HP!) causing a searing pain to go through his brain.  The big Beast Warden stumbled and went down on both knees, but the spell worked.   Barley felt immediate relief from the exquisite pain on the side of her face.
     By now another of Barl's Crew had joined the fight.  The little Halfling Heritor felt her blood begin to heat up, and her temper grew.  The enemy Crew-woman swung at her directly now, but Barley ducked under the strike and thrust her sword up into her assailant's gut.  The Woman stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, unmoving. (I roll a 20!)  Calling on her birth gift, Barley now let out a fierce cry, and brought her sword round in a powerful Backswing against the newly arrived Human Crew, giving him a slice across both thighs, (-6 HP).  The man staggered backwards.
     Meanwhile, over by the pond, Corel and Habby had recovered the Magical 2-Handed Sword from the dead body (I roll a 4 on the Undead table, so just a dead body) and were making their way as best they could with the big weapon back towards safety.   Suddenly, an arrow whizzed by the pair from back behind the section of jungle that jutted out towards the pond.  Looking back over their shoulders, the two Crewman could see one of the Archers from the Heritor Ragnam Eichenherz' Crew had noticed them.  Likewise, the Screamer Money that  Tork had summoned when they first reached the clearing had noticed one of his own kind, another Screamer Monkey, lurking suspiciously in the arm of jungle that jutted out (Summoned by  Ragnam Eichenherz's Warden, no less.),  and moved to keep an eye on him.
     By now, Sallie and Habbie had killed the Samp Zombie back by the wooden idol.  The pair now started heading back to the rendezvous point with Habby shouldering the well-made Staff with the pouch of, what felt like, gold coins hanging from it.

Over  on the lower left, the Screamer Monkey's have a face-off, while some of Ragnam Eichenherz' crew begin to move towards the gap between the jungle and pond.  In the lower right Tork can be seen where he has run forward to attempt Water of Life on Barley in the ribcage, and just behind the small totem in the lower center Corel can be seen hauling away his treasure.

          As Tork, worked at standing his big frame back up, his head splitting in pain, he didn't notice one of Barl's Archers had snuck around to the tail end of the huge skeleton.  He did, however, notice the pain when the enemy's arrow struck him in the arm.  (-4 HP,  Current total -11 HP).  He looked up to see the source of the shot, but the Human had already ducked inside the ribcage, joining Barl himself who had also just entered the enclosed space.   Upon entering, the big Heritor came upon Perkin first, and swung the hammer side of his axe down at the Halfling with all his might (Crushing Blow).  Luckily  the Scout dodged the blow last minute, as the big head of the weapon only glanced against his skull, giving him a good crack (-7HP) but not crushing his head completely.  Fernando charged at the Crewman that Barley had wounded, and stabbed at him in the side; putting him permanently out of action.  Barley stood with her sword ready for the next attack, when her eye fell upon the treasure chest, just laying there by the bones of the defeated Skeleton.  She called to Perkin and Fernando, "I need you to hold them! I'll get you help!" Perkin, his head spinning from Barl's blow, couldn't even nod in reply, as he tried to stay standing and guard against Barl's next blow; dodging and weaving to confuse the big Human Heritor (Refuses combat on his activation).  Quickly, Barley grabbed one of the the chest handles, and began dragging it from the Saurian ribcage as best she could.  As the Halfling Heritor passed between two of the the tall ribs, she saw Sallie, not too far away, helping Habby with his treasure. Barley called to the Crew-woman, and leaving Habby to manage on his own, Sallie came running.

As the battle still rages in the ribcage, Barley grabs the treasure and runs.

      Tork pulled the shaft from his arm, and once more tired to stand.   Slowly and painfully he reached his full height, then paused as in the distance he heard an unfamiliar shriek in the sky,  Looking up, he spotted a dark, winged, shape in the in the distance.  A Dragon! Oh, how wondrous and graceful its flight was.  It circled a section of far jungle for just a minute, and then passed out of sight. He had seen a Dragon!  What he had not seen, however, was another one of Barl's Archer's still lurking in the ruins of the standing stone circle, nor the arrow that flew at him without him knowing. It hit him in the beefy leg, causing him to topple like a tree, his big head hitting the ground hard.  As the blackness overtook him, and he passed into unconsciousness, for just a moment he was on the back of the dragon, flying free among the clouds.
     Back in the huge ribcage another of Barl's Crewmen came up to join in the fray. While Perkin had his attention on the Human Heritor, the Crewman came up behind him and crowned him across the skull with the hilt of his sword.  The Halfling Scout blacked out and collapsed.  Crew-woman Sallie arrived jus in time to see him fall, and joined Fernando in facing the three Humans within the tree-like ribs.

Tork is taken down by one of Barl's Archers

     Back by the pond,  the Dwarven Heritor, Ragnam Eichenherz, was sending more of his troops through the gap between the pond and the jungle to chase down the two Halflings with the treasure.  One of the Dwarf's Archers, got a bead on Corel and dropped him as he jogged along with his load.  Link stopped to pick up the Magic Sword, and bravely continued on.   Ragnam's Screamer Monkey made a move, and Tork's Summoned Monkey attacked and brought him down.  Tork's Monkey then went to help plug the gap, but didn't last long against trained Crew.  Jikam also ran over to attempt to stem the tide of enemy Crew with his bow.
    Back within the ribcage, Barl's Archer quickly notched an arrow, and shot Fernando point blank.  Luckily for his short stature, the arrow only grazed his scalp, but sent him stumbling backwards where he fell against one of the massive ribs, and smacking his head, blacked out.  Barl made quick work of Sallie; using the hammer side of his axe again.  He delivered a massive blow to the side of her head; her jaw unhinged and the poor Halfling Crew-woman actually turned a full 360 degrees before dropping to the floor of the cavernous ribcage. The Humans now focused on Barley fleeing with the chest, and an arrow whizzed by her head.
   It was late now, and the shadows were getting long on the island as the sun was dropping low in the sky.  Barley continued on as best she could but the chest was slowing her down.  She heard the sharp twang of a bowstring behind her, and then there was a sudden pain in her back as an arrow found its mark.   She stumbled and fell into a patch of large ferns.  The Halfling Heritor was on fire with pain, but she used all her energy to lie perfectly still, and tried as best she could to curl herself around the chest,  burrowing down  to let the large fronds cover her.    She could hear Human voices approach, but they seemed to have lost her in the shadows.  Over in the direction of the pond, she heard the sound of a Dwarven Horn as Ragnam sounded the recall for his crew.  Patiently she waited for the Human voices to withdraw, then carefully, and painfully, made her way to the beach.

Over on the left, one of Ragnam's Archers has moved up, and shot Corel; and Tork has already fallen to Barl's Archer. In the gap, the Screamer Monkey has taken damage and is about to go down.  Jikam the Archer (red & grey shield) has come over to help, but it's up to Link now to get the treasure safely away.

     Later that evening aboard the Jolly Scallop,  Barley and her Warden Tork sat in their cabin feeling sore and achy.  One appeared more bandaged  than the other.    They had survived, and that was most important.  In fact the whole crew had made it back in relatively one piece; though Sallie had a broken jaw as well as a bad concussion and would need to rest for a month or so.
    At least the trip had been profitable, and Barley studied the day's rewards on her desk; while Tork just sat there, smiling inwardly to himself as he replayed  in his head over and over the image of the Dragon in flight he had seen on the island.   The chest that Barley had managed to retrieve (Central Treasure) had held 100 gold coins!  (Sadly, I only rolled 5 +2 for Central Treasure=7 on the Treasure Table.)  Habby had brought back a Superior Staff (+1 Dam) that was three times as tall as the little Crewman himself was! Slung on the staff he had also brought a purse with 30 gold coins. (16 on the Treasure Table) Link had brought the Magic 2-Handed Sword (+1 F) from the pond (13 on the Treasure Table), and the pack that Ginsink found had a bunch of useless dirty clothing and a small wood box with 30 gold coins (2 on the Treasure Table). 

The ending tally.

   
Epilogue:

     Once more my speed earned me the central treasure, though I almost lost it this time.  I was very fortunate when the game ended, as both Barl and Ragnam were a die roll or two from denying me the Central Treasure and the Pond Treasure. Luckily, another crew at the far end of the table exited their last man before either treasure was lost.  By our house rules, the game ends immediately when any Crew has no more figures on the table, and whoever controls a treasure when that happens gets to keep it, even if they are in contact with an enemy.
     The Dragons proved to be less than eventful down our end of the table.  Two did land at the other end, and caused some consternation for the crews there.  Also, I was lucky in that of the 4 treasures I touched, only two were actually guarded by Undead.
     I don't know how long Barley's luck will hold.  But, I'm happy to report she already reached Level 5 this time, and gained a new ability:  Mystic Energy.   Tork is lagging behind at level 2.  He just isn't casting enough spells.
      I keep waiting to lose a Specialist to have an excuse to make a run back to a port to sell my growing collection of 2-handed weapons, but they all seem to be surviving; which I guess is a good thing. It seems wasteful to sail back just to sell stuff; though I'm sorely tempted.   Since, in reality I may not even go to port to replace a Specialist, as the Heritor Ragnam was operating with a Native Guide this game, which seemed mighty nice to have; but I hate to just fire a Specialist so I can hire a Guide for myself.  Decisions, decisions.
    Well, we now sadly, have a 7 week wait for our next game. :(   But that gives me plenty of time to debate my crew options...