Skyknights Dungeon Crawl, Lakeside!!! new map 2 Dec

[skyknight]

Well rugby is done and its time to start hunkering down for the Winter. I have been thinking about what I want to do for entertainment with my kids for the Winter and I came up with this idea. I am going to set them a complete dungeon crawl to be advanced throughout the winter. I will post pics here and the scenarios but it is not going to be Classic Heroscape per se....it is going to be a dungeon crawl first without much regards for Generals other than special powers being activated. It will not be Vahalla....the heroes will become generic and as swarms of heroes invade the dungeons of StormDeep I will constantly tell the story, introduce new heroes, new traps, new rule twists, and all sorts of other fun stuff. We will carry treasure forward and use Heroscape rules but the landscape and the story is mine. Hope to dust off the graveyard next week and then assault the front doors of the ruins the following week...from there we will go ever deeper into the depths until I decide to end it.....think this should be a blast

[Killer Lawnmower]

Can't wait to see it!

[skyknight]

And the back story....here we go....

The great expanse of Storm Deep lies sprawled across the land. A kingdom of prosperity and tolerance, it has been molded by a long succession of noble kings. Currently King Petronius the fourth sits upon the throne. Know as the Great Unifier, his great contribution was to bring in the major races into the kingdom and grant them statuses of nobility regardless of race. This act of tolerance has seen the kingdom prosper as diversity has truly come to the region and allowed for new trade routes and goods to be moved through the land. Until rather recently the kingdom has know relative peace but something has stirred below the surface and has changed that.

Monstrous creatures once known for their ferocity towards each other have begun to be seen wandering the wilderness in unexplainable groups. The creature’s previous habits of being primary solitary races made the groups easily defeatable and though small raids occur from time to time, no large damage has been done by the beasts in decades. That has changed. The wilderness homesteaders are under attack, great atrocities are being committed by groups of creatures that have no business being together.

King Petronius has sent his scouts and parties of adventurers into the wilderness to find what could have brought the bestial races together. From the few scouts that have returned, rumors of a great underground evil have surfaced. It appears the threat is coming from five different areas in the land yet rumors abound of great dungeons and caverns connecting all of the areas. To combat this Petronius has brought together his five greatest nobles and their best men to launch a simultaneous attack on all fronts and then drive into the underdark. The thought being that if all holes can be plugged at once the rats will burn in their very nest they have created. These armies are to descend into the depths and extinguish whatever great evil has arisen and send the creatures back into exile. Along the way the groups should search for the lost scout and adventure parties who may yet still live though it is doubtful.

The first group dispatched is Petronius’s own Knights of the Scared Flame and it’s officers. They attack the main opening to the underdark in an ancient cemetery used long ago by a now abandoned village. The scouts report creatures flooding from a central crypt but they were unable to get overly close. Undead guardians roam the graveyard and destroy any who dare approach the area. The Sacred Flame Knights take their cavalry with them as well but they will be forced to unhorse when they begin their descent.

The second gateway lies in the swamps of Elorian, North of the crypts. A great chasm ripped in the swamps is a portal for the dark ones to pour forth from. Rumors of hideous lizard creatures and their giant charmed insects have been spoken from those who fled their homes in the area. Petronius has released the elves and their leaders into the area in hopes they will be able to bring justice to the area and shut down this chasm.

Third lies the Ruins of Lord Oswald…dead some 500 years past. His dungeon was legendary as a great mass of caverns that served as crypt, storage, and protection. Scouts who penetrated past the orc guardians claim that the dungeon has been tapped into and have been linked into the massive underground cavern system. Assigned to this task are the Western Armies of Simaltir and their heroes. Relative newcomers to the lands of Storm Deep the Western nobles have leaped at the chance to prove their courage and valor. Petronius has accepted their offer and has sent them to crush the orcs guarding the ruins and whatever may lie beneath.

The King’s army has asked for volunteers to take down the fourth entrance. A large lake side cave on the shores of one of the kingdoms largest bodies of water. The great river Alueet spills forth from the lake. These brave soldiers and their captains have agreed to assault the shore and then make their way up the cliffs to the cave entrance. No scout sent to this area has come back yet and knowledge of the entrance only comes from interrogation of an enemy recently captured. These soldiers have no idea what they are walking into yet they do so with heads held high under the banner of the good people of Storm Deep.

To the last area tread the great mages and their mechanical constructs. The greatest blow so far to the kingdom was the loss of one of their defensive forts out in the wildlands. The mages have agreed to take back Elandir Fortress and discover how the enemy was able to come up from inside the fort itself. Once the fort is taken the mages will prepare for a full out assault into the underdark. Rumors fly of captured prisoners who are now being kept in the fortresses cells. With the creaking of gears and robes the sorcerers and their automatons make for the front gates of Elandir with revenge blazing in their eyes.

And so our journey begins…to what end only the Gods themselves know.

[Freezie]

Sounds great, subscription added

[Grungebob]

looking forward to following this one!!

[CapnRedChops]

Yes, me too!

If I was Petronious I would have put part each faction in each army that went to one of the five holes. Lucky I'm not King, eh?

CRC

[Kaemon Awa 123]

Please be aware that we would be extemely grateful for battle reports with pictures... please?

(Yea, I know how inconvienent this would be, and don't expect it)

[marroking1]

Originally Posted by Freezie

Sounds great, subscription added

I would love to Subscribe to this thread but how do you. Also love the idea.

[rym]

Originally Posted by marroking1

I would love to Subscribe to this thread but how do you. Also love the idea.

By posting in a thread, you are automatically subscribed to it.

If you choose to follow a thread, but don't want to post in it, you can subscribe to it. Just scroll down past the last post in the thread past the section on similar threads and then you will see the option for subscribing to the thread. Or emailing to a friend. Or printing.

Hope that helps

[skyknight]

Chapter 1......

Sudema's Playground!!!

As the Knights of the Sacred Flame follow the burial road South, Denrick talks to the Cleric Ana. "Ana...I would ask for caution on your part when dealing with Maccabeus Hawthorne. Though he is the King's cousin there are those that say he is linked to the troubles we are about to face. I tried to dissuade his majesty from this course, but King Petronius believes the only way to truly claar his beloved cousin is by allowing him the chance to help overthrow this new evil....be wary for I do not know his intentions"


With a nod in Denricks direction Ana moves back alongside Rhogar Dragonspine, a Dragonborn Paladin of incredible conviction and power. The column of the Flame's most trusted knights and cavalry winds its way through the forests and pines. Suddenly from ahead comes the thunderous sound of hoofs as they move torwards the host of knights. Captain Dupuis drives his horse forward...as he comes to a halt before Denrick he pauses to catch his breath....sweat dripping from both his forehead and his mounts flanks. "Denrick....the enemy is ahead....they control the graveyard not a half mile down the road from this very spot". Denrick replies...."then let us not tarry good Captain...we have a date with the undead!!"

The column rushes forward until it comes to a wide creek with a bridge spanning the waters. The knights line up on the far side of the stream able now to see what lays in wait for them. There, standing upon an elevated graveyard stands a female wrapped in bandages...her life has crept from her long ago. She stands behind a black and twisted tree flanked by statues of hideous gargoyles. She extends her arm towards the Knights and flicks a skeletal finger in their direction....a dry hiss escapes her rotted lips...the challenge has been issued. From behind her the graves stir as hungry zombies rise to their feet in anticipation of a fresh meal. Behind the graveyard lies stairs descending into a chamber deep in the earth.....this must be the entrance to the underdark. From out of the entrance pour eight hounds of bone and dripping flesh. Disease and rot surround their bodies and a horrible cry escapes their jaws as they attempt to howl in expectation of the slaughter.

Many of the knights seem visibly shaken at the Mummies appearance and the mass of undead....many that is except for Denrick. He stands with shoulders square glaring at the abonimation that was once a proud elf queen. His lips are parted into a snarl and his eyes blaze with a hatred and loathing. It is difficult to know who is saner at the moment between the two opposing leaders. Denrick cries aloud..."FORWARD GILBERT...LIFT THE FLAG OF THE SACRED FLAME HIGH ABOVE SO THAT THESE CURSED WRETCHES MAY KNOW WHOM IT WAS THAT LAID THEM TO ETERNAL REST!!!!" With that Rhogar releases a blast of fire from his lungs into the air and the host begins to cross the bridge moving straight towards the undead horde!

This is the first battle for Denrick...the armies as they stand.

Heroes of the Sacred Flame

Sir Denrick (General Denrick)
Ana Karathon
Sir Dupuis (Captain Dupuis)
Rhogar Dragonspine
Sir Hawthorne (Kings Cousin) (boo hissss)
and brave Sir Gilbert


The Knights of the Scared Flame include...
six squads of knights of Weston
five squads of Templar Knights







The enemy Hero

SUDEMA

And her Undead Horde...

six squads of zombies
two squads of hounds.









I will be playing the undead horde in hopes of thinning the nasty living creatures of their numbers.

The Cavalry will be controlled by my daughter along with Rhogar Dragonspine, Sir Dupuis, and Hawthorne. The rest of the army will be played by my son.....game to commence Wednesday night....I will fill you in then

[DrAwsm]

That looks like so much fun! Epic battles are always fun, especially when there's a mass amount of zombies on the field. Nice job on the cemetery half of the board. What did you use to make that big tree-type object behind Sudema? Looks like something out of a craft store.

[Grungebob]

Huge battle!! Awesome!