Red Bank Fall Y1 - Despair at Sightrock

Mission (Despair at Sightrock - Conquest Mission, Difficulty 4) : The Empire had begun pressuring the outer reaches of Red Bank, raiding different communities along the border. Resources were drained, resulting in a "Weapons are Stretched Thin" campaign aspect. Furthermore, Lily Manor's confidence in Red Bank eroded after they learned that Red Bank was interested in securing Thedda's Palimpsest from Burgan Vale.

Amidst this climate, the trio that tracked down the werewolf in the Spring headed out in the Fall to explore Sightrock. The advance force of farmers and crafters was succumbing to an intense depression and inability to work. Cyra suspected some manner of dweomer afflicting them.

Heroes taken on mission: Adula "Tracker of the Gray Wastes", Cyra "Alchemist of House Amber", Keel "Hobilar of the Amber Hand"

Adula was the spotlight character this time around. Her tracking and survival skills would be critical in mapping the region and discovering the sources of the discontent.

Build Developments: Built a broad number of developments: Trade Guilds, a Mana Forge, and an Arcane Bowyer.

Challenge Phase: The central feature of Sightrock is a large tower of stone visible from a great distance arround.

Challenge Scene: Secret Trails - Diff 2, 2 Suns, 1 Moon, Survival / Thievery : Adula and Keel paced the region in a deliberate fashion, looking for signs of activity. The Fall brought with it brutally cold winds. Dealing with the exposure took its toll on the duo, but they discovered suspicious patterns of tracks which entered and exited from around the North face of Sightrock.

Challenge Scene: On the Run - Diff 2, 2 Moons, Marksmanship : The blight on the land did not just affect humans, but animals as well. As the trio searched around the rock, looking for clues, they were set upon by a pack of foxes, swarming from many directions. This necessitated a controlled retreat toward the base of the rock, with Keel providing covering fire.

Challenge Scene: Avoiding Battle - Diff 3, 1 Sun, Disguise / Stealth : Pushed back towards the rock, the trio discovered an opening from which to hide from the beasts chasing them. Out of the frying pan into the fire! Within the passage, amidst dim torch light, Cyra found arcane runes hinting at the presence of old secrets long forgotten. Negotiating the passages required care and stealthy footwork - for whatever was here long ago laid many traps. As the group approached a deep space under the rock, Cyra became more concerned and fearful for what might lie below.

Advantage Scene: High Ground : Cyra moved into a wide open cavern with brackish water encircling a raised portion in the center. Her channeling allowed her to sense a presence in the water, a beast most foul and ancient. "Quickly, get to the high ground! Prepare your weapons!"

Conflict Phase (Skirmish): The Gray Spawn moved about the water quickly, looking for openings and attacking the weakest members of the group with hopelesseness and despair. Adula rushed forward, her powerful arms carrying a large sword toward the many slimy pseudopods whipping around in the dark. Keel rained down arrows at it, while Cyra cast down bolts of fire at any exposed areas.

Standing in front of the formless spawn of ancient magical energy took a tremendous toll on Adula. The creature focused a kind of cosmic blight upon her weak mortal consciousness. It was too much - Adula collapsed into the pool of muck, completely enervated. At the moment the beast was about to consumer her, Cyra managed to drain all of her magical reserves into one potent blast which roasted the thing. The magical backlash from casting such a powerful spell was almost more than Cyra could handle.

Mission Status: Success! Red Bank added Sightrock. Adula was completely full up on consequences, having been dropped by the formless spawn. It will take her quite a while to recover mentally from the brutal experience.

Stability: Stronghold: -1 (dropped one)

Ally Disposition: Burgan Vale +3, Crescent Hold +0, Gravewood -1, Lily Manor +2 (dropped one), Sunriders +2

Stronghold Developments:
Great Channeling
Great Casting
Mana Forge
Trade Guild
Arcane Bowyer

Regional Income:
Red Bank (Capital): 1 food, 2 timber, 2 mana
Echo Lake: 2 ore
Tarrydale Farms: 2 food
Green Vale: 1 food, 1 ore
Sightrock: 1 ore, 1 mana
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Total: 4 food, 2 timber, 4 ore, 3 mana, 1 luxury

Schemes: None

Scheme Pool

These are special dice pools used for the solo version of WotA.

Diplomacy Pool: 1
Infiltration Pool: 1
Skirmish Pool: 1 (Schemes: 1)
Warfare Pool: 1

Region Threats: None

Faction Threats: Crescent Hold, Infiltration difficulty 6. The Empire is beginning a campaign of misinformation against Crescent Hold, subverting many of their core institutions. Given that relations with Crescent Hold are tenuous at best, this represens a disturbing development. Crescent Hold and Gravewood will probably not be reliable going forward.

Rules Musings:

The second skirmish playtest went much better than the first! The formless spawn had a mental attack that targeted a character's Will, which turned out to be really brutal considering none of the characters had high Will. May or may not be a problem - but it's always good to remember that creatures which target "secondary" sorts of defensive abilities may need to be scaled back a little bit.