Day 79 The Undead Horde

Day 79 Arden and Company arrive back at the Keep

Arden, Martin, Thane, Corwin, and Sgt. Tenning immediately report to Sir Kent. The Curate and the Advisor sit in on meeting. Sir Kent agrees that action must be taken against the evil temple.

Martin suggests guards be posted on the road in case of attack. Meklin guards the road that night.

During the night, Meklin spots movement in the fields to the north. The moon is waning, but he sees figures moving through the wheat fields. The enemy has moved through the forest instead of the road!

He rides to Coot’s Mill and rings the alarm bell to awake the villagers and signal the Keep.

[In 6 rounds the undead horde will arrive at Coot’s Mill. Mounted troops will arrive from the Keep in 12 rounds. That means 6 rounds of action by the undead horde!]

Mecklin is able to get most of the villagers moving and fearing that they may run into undead by moving to the Keep, he directs them to run for the mill near the river. There is a ford in the river that they can cross and hide in the woods.

About a dozen villagers remain behind, either too scared or drunk to move quickly.

The zombies and skeletons flood into the small village. Behind them the evil cleric, his adepts, and the evil men-at-arms have lit torches. They systematically put the buildings to fire while the horde attacks the villagers.

Meklin is no fool. He tries his best to get the other villagers moving but is attacked by two skeletons. They both hit. Meklin rides off to follow the other villagers to the mill.

In the smoke of burning buildings, the undead seek out humans. They tear at doors and windows using their weapons and filthy claws.

Some villagers that were hiding in their homes make a break for freedom. A few succeed, but many are cut down by the horde.

Before the soldiers can arrive, the evil cleric and his minion make their escape. The evil cleric calls his horde to follow and they do his bidding.

The mounted soldiers gallop onto the scene and are able to destroy eight zombies and three skeletons. The others have shambled into the darkness.

In all, nine villagers are killed and 11 buildings burnt, including the church that Martin has been building.

Arden and Company were not among the first defenders to get to the village, but they arrived as quickly as possible. Arden will need think about the company’s best response to this. Needless to say, no one will be going back to bed tonight!

Game notes~this was the evil cleric’s shining moment. I tried to think what the evil cleric would do after his temple was attacked. I figured that he wouldn’t just wait until the company returned with more forces. Instead, he took the battle to them. He knows that the temple is not safe anymore and I suspect he will be looking to move to a new location for now.

I thought the scene played out really well using the Pits & Perils rules. I had no rules for burning the buildings, but when in doubt, I threw two dice and made a ruling. It was simple but effective and I really enjoyed the game.

More to come…