Ghost Archipelago Campaign Game 2: X Never Marks the Spot!

The second installment of our 2018 Ghost Archipelago game was played on an 8'x3' table, with three Central Treasures evenly spaced along the center line of the table.  We had all seven players for this game.

I was lucky enough to draw for first pick of starting locations and choose a corner position to give me one safe flank.  Directly across from me and a bit to the right was the Heritor, Heritor, Herndon, and his Wave Warden;.  to my left was Lady Katheryne and her Storm Warden; and to my front left was Lord Fortrywn and his Vine Warden.  You can read Lord Fortywn's version of events here:  Ghost Archipelago Campaign '18, Game 2: The X's Mark the Spots

Skorri's Log

Skorri Drakenberg stood on the quarterdeck of his current sailing vessel, the Yacht Sea.  The old dhow had sailed a lot of miles but was still seaworthy, and suited his purposes - for now.  He was surveying a small island that some of the local tribal natives claimed held a mystical pool near a small temple.  The story did not match with any of his ancient maps.  Maps that had been handed down from one Drakenberg to another for several hundred years.  Regardless, he knew he had to land and check out the story.  Of course the other ships heading towards the island meant there must be some truth to the natives tale, at least that is what he told himself.  Skorri yelled to the shipmaster, "Make preparations to anchor."

A view of the table

Once ashore, Skorri and crew moves forward into the jungle.  Even though it was still early in the day, the heat was oppressive.  And the gnats and other bugs kept up an unceasing attack on the crew.  None of this seemed to bother Skorri, in fact he didn't even seem to be sweating, unlike everyone else.  After an hour or so of constant hacking through the dense vegetation, things started to clear a bit.  Skorri pulls out his telescope and scans the area.

An old overgrown temple

Way off in the distance, Skorri can just make out the columns of an old  temple rising out of the jungle.  He also detects movement in several areas of the jungle.  He decides he would not be able to make it to the temple and looks around the jungle closer to his crew.  He spots some likely areas to investigate; an old statue, a watch tower, and a small hut.

Hat Chet secures a treasure

Hat Chet rushes forward and picks up a treasure hidden in the brush under a fallen tree.  From his position, he could see a large stone in the middle of a clearing.  He pointed out that the stone had a carved "X" on the top.  The two bowmen moved forward to cover the area.  As this was happening, Anemone attempts to cast Beast Cry but bumbled the words and failed.

A treasure chest hidden on an old statue

Skorri surveys the area.. He points to a statue off to the distant right, "Tiefer, that looks like a small chest in the statue's arms.  Please go get it."   "You want me to climb something?" replied Tiefer.  "There's no water around here....so Yes, go climb that statue" countered Skorri.  Obediently, Tiefer moves off towards the statue.

The skies start to darken as clouds move in.  It was clear a minute ago.  Must be a Storm Warden nearby. (Heritor Gregorious' Warden cast Storm Call)

Skorri moves forward with Blue Boy

Skorri moves forward to a small abandoned hut.  Peering inside, he notices a small urn sitting on the floor.  He Surges to vault through the window and picks up the urn.  Amrod takes a shot at Herndon's crewman and hits him for some minor damage.  Kukala shoots and misses one of Lord Fortrywn's crewman. 

Following Skorri's command, Tiefer heads over to the statue.  He starts to climb up mumbling to himself the entire time.  He easily reaches the treasure chest.  After a few minutes of clearing spider webs, he places it in his pack and starts to climb down.  Once down he heads to the rendezvous point.  Over near Skorri, Blue Boy shimmies up a small tower.  Halfway up he is struck by an arrow and falls to the ground, knocked unconscious.

Blue Boy climbs up an old tower

Blue Boy falls from an old tower

Amras sees the shot from Lady Katheryne's  bowman and shoots, slightly wounding the bowman.
In an attempt to hinder the other crews that are searching through the jungle, Anemone let out a huge yell, “Aah-eeh-ah-eeh-aaaaaah-eeh-ah-eeh-aaaaah!” (successfully casts Beast Cry).  Visibility continues to worsen as the storm clouds thicken.

Shortly after Skorri picked up the urn, one of Lord Fortrywn's crew-women ran into the hut, skidding to a halt when she saw him standing there.  Surprised as he was with  her brashness, he calmly pulls out his bow and takes a snap shot at her but the arrow flies wide of its mark.  Being a gentlemen, Skorri decides to spare her life.  He salutes and says "This is your lucky day" and jumps through the window, the treasure firmly tucked under his arm.

Skorri meets a member of Fortywn's crew

Skorri decides to spare her life and jumps out a window

The young crew-women has other ideas - like getting knocked out

Two more of Fortywn's crew challenge Skorri for his treasure

Skorri had barely landed outside the hut when he saw the young fool rush around the corner.  "Remember, you asked for this" said Skorri.  Not even bothering to engage her in melee, he struck her with a quick right cross to the temple, dropping her to the ground like a sack of potatoes.  Skorri didn't have much time to ponder the impetus nature of youth as  two more of Lord Fortrywn's crewmen came around the back of the hut and joined in the melee.  Skorri launched into a series of parries and ripostes against the other two crewmen.  They could tell they were outmatched but neither appeared willing to retreat.  Skorri easily broke through one crewman's defense, slicing him deeply in his left side.  As the crewman fell, Skorri could feel his anger getting the best of him.  His blood boiled as he utilized a Heritor ability to engage his third opponent.  The resulting Backswing seriously injured the third crewman, knocking him backwards a step or two.  The remaining crewman was the smartest of the three.  He quickly determined that retreating was a valiant option as he turned tail and ran.  As Skorri cooled down, he decided to let him go.  He moved to rejoin his crew.   Having observed part of the fight, Anemone successfully cast  Water of Life on Skorri, thinking he needed it more then he really did (recovered 2 points health), but better to play it safe.


One of Herndon's crew members goes down under a hail of arrows

Amrod and Kukala are covering the clearing containing the large stone.  Herndon's warden has cast Thorns twice to slow access to the stone. Amrod and Kukala have any thoughts of crossing "no mans land" to check out the stone, preferring to just take shots at Herndon's crew.  They both take aim at Herndon's crewman and let fly with their arrows - both miss the target.  At the same time, Herndon's crew has been popping of shots of their own as they slowly move forward. The storm clouds worsen again reducing visibility even more (down to 12 inches line of sight).

Herndon's crew pasy dearly to obtain the central treasure

Amrod finally gets a shot on target dropping one of Herndon's crew in the clearing beside the large stone.  Before he can do a victory dance, an arrow flashes out of the jungle striking him on his helm.  Amrod had visions of stars dancing before his eyes as he slumped to the ground.  Herndon's crew get revenge with a lucky shot.


A potion of alertness - Skorri never goes adventuring without it

Amras has spent many arrows trying to hit out Katheryne's  bowman.  He is living a charmed life as every shot has been deflected wide by the undergrowth.  He calls out to Kukala, "How about some help over here?"  Kukala moves up beside him and takes careful aim on Lady Katheryne's  bowman. As his arrow strikes home and his target falls to the jungle flow, he says to Amrad, "That's how its done."  The way looks clear for Wu to gain the top of the tower.  Wu quickly climbs to the top of the tower and picks up a treasure.  Kukala ducks as a crossbow bolt flies over his head.  Maybe its not a safe as he thought.

On a side note, Anemone's Beast Cry brought in a Cortiki and 2 tribal warriors directly behind Robin Duck's merry men (or merry ducks).  They had fun playing with him.

Wu gains the top of the tower and grabs the treasure

Up on the tower, Wu starts to climb down.  A few feet from the top, he is hit by an arrow, knocking him unconscious.  His foot gets caught in the crossbeams leaving him hanging upside down.  The treasure he was carrying slips from his hand and falls to the ground below.  Amras hears Wu cry out as he is hit and looks up - just in time to dodge the small chest that lands beside him.  He quickly picks it up.

Wu gets hit, falls, and drops the treasure

"SNAKE" cried Chen Lee just before he has his breakfast squeezed out of him

Chen Lee is attacked by a giant anaconda.  The snake wraps itself around him, squeezing so hard he passes out.  Skorri moves forward through the underbrush and attacks the anaconda, wounding it slightly.  He then calls forth his Heritor powers to Surge and strike the snake again.  This time he manages to cut off its head.

Skorri Surges to get two attacks on the snake, taking it out

Kukala hears someone running through the brush and impulsively decides to check it out.  He sees one of Lady Katheryne's crewmen lugging a treasure through the jungle.  With thoughts of revenge for Blue Boy, he gives pursuit but hearing Skorri's recall, quickly turns around.   Anemone cast Amphibious on Amras and they both move towards the rendezvous.

The victory pose

Blue Boy, Wu, Chen Lee, and Amrod were all able to make it back to the beach - for the most part unharmed.  All will be available for the next outing.

Back on board the dhow, Skorris takes inventory of the day's efforts.  The haul was four normal treasures:  115 gold coins, some Scalegrass, a hand weapon +1 damage, and a superior hand weapon +1 fight.  Skorri gained 215 experience and Anemone pulled in 130 experience.

Epilogue
The archery shoot out with Herndon's crew was mostly just a lot of failed die rolls.  Skorri lost two crewmen to Herdon's crew.  Herndon lost two crewmen to Skorri's crew and one to a skeleton - but he made off with the central treasure.  The cover provided by his vine warden's Brambles kept me from wanting to make a run for it myself;  but Skorri still managed to obtain four treasures.  The warden cast Amphibious on most of the crew throughout the game even though it provided no real advantage (except for experience points).

Overall a great game, made better by having everyone in attendance.