Thaddeus Bites the Worm

“See? Another castle!”

Magog, the newly-hired barbarian was correct – a few miles from the scene of their recent expedition lay another ruined castle, squatting atop strangely churned-up ground.

Thaddeus grunted approvingly and then clicked his fingers. Immediately Fluffy II, the replacement warhound, scampered to his side. The wizard pointed to a nearby disk and the demonic hound leapt onto it, sniffing around the eldritch carvings.

“No teleportation,” Thaddeus mused, strolling up to the disk and picking off a piece of crumbling stone. “Looks like they malfunctioned long ago… Nonetheless I’ll wager there’s still treasure to be had.”

“And enemies to fight…” Magog drew his mighty sword as the sound of voices echoed through the ruins…

With the Keep scenario completed, there’s time for another game!

A quick rearrange of the scenery and as before the warband spreads out along the edge. Once again no pre-game demons were summoned and, despite a new cauldron, no potions were brewed.

So the first thing Thaddeus does is manage a summoning, draining his health to call forth a minor demon.

Both sides move forward. Treasure is taken, which attracts the attention of a strange bio-mechanical demon.

This wandering demon heads straight for Thaddeus. With one demon already in play he cannot bind it to his will, so blocks it’s line of sight with a wall.

Not to be left out, Oddleigh casts an imp spell. Up it pops among Toddlebrew’s men. Sadly, after being shoved into a snowdrift with a push spell it promptly wanders off and plays no further part in the game.

Once again fighting erupts in the centre. Fluffy II bites the dust!

An overall shot of the action. The ground rumbles ominously...

The demon climbs up some steps to grab some treasure, making a perfect target for Toddlebrew’s archers.

Hakim the ranger shins up a pillar to collect another treasure, only to notice strange ripples in the frozen soil. Thus exposed against the white wintry clouds, he is the perfect target for Toddlebrew, who’s push spell exploits the rules of trigonometry to deadly effect. Hakim shoots up into the sky...

...and comes back down again... Splat!

Thaddeus’ men push forward in the centre. Is that the ground vibrating under their feet?

No longer able to see it’s original quarry, the errant demon turns to it’s nearest prey, a crossbowman.

By now most of the treasures are being lugged towards the edge. Suddenly the ground trembles and a giant worm erupts beneath the last unclaimed chest! It rears above a cowering Oddleigh while Goldtooth the treasure hunter frantically drags away his prize.

Undeterred, a pesky archer is defeated by Thaddeus’ infantry.

While the new barbarian earns his pay.

Thaddeus and Oddleigh wound the giant worm with bone darts, leaving a nearby crossbowman, who had so far failed to hit anything, to finish it off with his dagger.

The other crossbowman fares less well.

The barbarian is downed by a treasure hunter, despite reinforcements.

But his comrades take revenge.

Toddlebrew, content with two treasures, now decides to withdraw, allowing Thaddeus to claim the last unclaimed treasure, bringing his haul up to four.

Once again the glittering chests of treasure (not to mention the knowledge gained by dissecting the worm) failed to stave off the feeling of melancholy at the Cloven Hoof. While most of those who fell were being patched up, Hakim the ranger, one of the few remaining original members of the warband, could not survive such a great fall.

Thaddeus closed his latest dusty grimoire - an evil-looking tome bound in human skin - and sniffed.

"I believe it is the way of Hakim's people to have their dead buried with their kin. There is a Southlander cemetery in Ulfenhalle - have his remains bound and sent there. I believe a caravan heads south in a day or-"

Suddenly the door to the inn was flung open and a figure in red armour strode in.

"I hear you're a man short and a hundred gold crowns over, "she declared, tossing a strand of strawberry blonde hair from her face. "My name is Red Sandra and I am here to lead your band - I think you'll find my fee reasonable..."

(Toddlebrew's side of the story can be read at https://thelostcityofcarcosa.com/2016/06/27/fg-the-worm-hunts/)