Lost and Found (Sign-up)

[Bragallot]

In a bid to strengthen his ties with the Imperial Magisterium, Emperor Cales plots to marry the High Magister, a move no doubt inspired by the king's marriage to Lara, the head of the Magus Guild. Unfortunately for Cales, the High Magister is currently away on an errand...



A party of imperial mages and guardsmen moves warily through the thick woods beyond the empire's border, at exactly the same site Queen Lara had been ambushed by Bulls years before... (see 'Grave TIdings')

High Magister: "Lara's staff must still be here somewhere. It's so close, I can almost feel it!"



Mage-General: *sighs* "Is it really worth coming here? All this, for some Magus Guild trinket? Lara never found her staff again, and she only barely managed to slip away from the Bulls, too. It seems unwise to visit the exact same spot where she was ambushed. They say the ghost of the white mage she lost that day still haunts these parts."

High Magister: "Of course it is worth it. We may not like the Magus Guild, but we'd be fools to underestimate them, and can you imagine the look on Lara's face when she realizes I have her staff? Now relax and focus on the search. We'll be fine. The Bulls no longer live here, do they now?"



Theblackwolf: "They don't, but we do! I have good news for you, High Magister, you'll be a queen soon! Cales has picked you as his bride! I'm sure he will pay a hefty sum to have you returned to him unharmed! So why don't you put away your weapons, and come along?"

High Magister: "You must be out of your mind! Do you know who you are talking to, cur?"



Theblackwolf: "Ahh, I didn't expect you'd take the easy route. No matter. This'll only take a minute."



Mage-General: "We're surrounded! Assume defensive positions!"



Lyra Longlance: "Found you! Just in time too, it seems!"



Lyra Longlance: "Alright, girls, let's kill these shitgoats and dungans and take the High Magister back home!"



A little further away, the second part of the force that had been sent to find the High Magister arrives. These are some of Cales' finest troops, determined to succeed their mission. Tatterdemalion, who has little knowledge of or interest in Cales' plans but hopes the High Magister's scrying abilities will help him find his lost hat, has tagged along with them.



Welcome to Lost and Found! This battle will kick off the imperial story arc in style. Throughout a series of battles, the stability in Cales' newfound empire will be established. The more battles are won, the better the empire's stability and the bigger their chances Cales will remain on the throne. Stability starts at 4 (due to the imperial defeat in 'The Arktifakt'), with 0 being complete anarchy and 10 being complete control.

Available factions:

Imperial Magisterium - High Magister (2d8 SN dice, 2x energy shield), Mage-General (Hero, magical warrior cliché), 6 imperial magi (long-ranged mana rifles that can ignore a single level of deflection, but also take a turn to refill after a crit fail, may switch to short swords if necessary), 6 guardsmen - Falk
Lyra - Lyra Longlance (Hero, ranger cliché), 6 imperial scouts (+1 armour, can switch between long-ranged bows and their short swords) - reserved for TheVengefulOne
Imperial elite guard - Tatterdemalion (Hero / supernatural character - let me know what you prefer), 2 bodyguards (heavy armour, 1d8 skill, mounted on barded horses), 5 urban guard (with officer), 5 empire halberds (also with officer) - reserved for Scribonius

- Objective: get the High Magister safely off the field at Tatterdemalion's current location, at any cost (reward: +2 stability. Penalty for failure: -2 stability).
- Bonus objective: defeat Theblackwolf and all of his forces (reward: +1 stability)

Theblackwolf's (dun)gang - Theblackwolf (Hero, resourceful rogue cliché, mounted on a warg), Wolfpack earthshaker (2d6 SN dice, also mounted on a warg), 2 Jaw-Jaws (1d6 SN die each, have 'staffs'), 6 dungan warriors, 9 wolfpack rangers, 7 werebears (aka shitgoats), 2 of which are mounted on kaadus (have +1 armour), 2 mud golems (aka Great Mighty Poos). - ninja-bait

- Objective: knock out (read: defeat in melee) the High Magister and drag her off the field to either side of your current starting locations.
- Bonus objective: capture other heroes as well.

All heroes will have 2 HP once again. The Mage-General and High Magister don't have names yet, I'm open to suggestions on those.

[ninja_bait]

I will take a squad, whatever's left

[Venge]

Nice callbacks! Also cool idea to let players' victories determine the course of the story. I'll claim my reserved spot.

Name suggestions:
Mage-General: Felicity Smoke (because of cult-face and also Arrow reference).
High Magister: Sansa Starck (because of hair).

[Scribonius]

I shall happily take up the offered mantle!

Tatterdemalion is a Wizard (supernatural character), not a Hero. His hat (currently missing), staff, and bag are magical items that grant him supernatural dice. D4 from the bag, d8 from the hat, and d10 or d12 from his staff. Keep in mind this is just how I've been playing him in some test battles, so the final tally of dice is up to you. Obviously since his hat is missing, he doesn't get that die. If he generates his own innate supernatural die as well, that would be a d6 or d8. House rules vary on whether a wizard can generate his own SN die on top of his effects or not; my friends and I rule that there are two kinds of supernatural characters, basic and heroic; basic generate one SN die, heroic generate two or more. Up to you how you want to play it, just let me know in advance how many dice of which types I have, please. He carries: two pistols (standard items, nonmagical), his Staff (very magical), and his Bag of Tricks. Most of the space in the bag is taken up with notes for the Histories he's writing, but he keeps a few potions or scrolls in there. He has to use an SN die to pull something random out - obviously the better the roll, the better the item.

How I'm going to play this:
The Urban Guard Officer and Halberdier Officer are jointly in charge of the operation on their end (Halberdier outranks the Urban Guard but is willing to take advice from the lower-ranked officer), and the Wizard is just along for the ride!

The two bodyguards were assigned to keep an eye on their target, NOT Tatterdemalion, thus capturing the High Magister and keeping her ALIVE is their additional goal.

[Falk]

Hey ninjabait, all the factions have SN dice, yous still sure you want to play one ?

I’ll take whatever’s left.

[ninja_bait]

Hey ninjabait, all the factions have SN dice, yous still sure you want to play one ?

[Bragallot]

Alright Falk can play the Imperial Magisterium and ninja-bait Theblackwolf. Remember ninja, you're supposed to collect her entirely, not just her legs!

Turn order will be 1) Imperial Magisterium 2) Theblackwolf 3) Lyra 4) Tatterdemalion

We'll give Tatters standard stats (apart from 2 HP) and 1d4, 1d6 and 1d12 SN dice. No energy shields though since that's quite an armament of SN dice.

These are the Great Mighty Poo's stats:

[ninja_bait]

Remember ninja, you're supposed to collect her entirely, not just her legs!

[Bragallot]

Oh by the way, the gaps between the two elevated base plates are impassable terrain. You can cross them using those wooden bridges, but not go through them (that would be a bit too easy).

[Scribonius]

Alright Falk can play the Imperial Magisterium and ninja-bait Theblackwolf. Remember ninja, you're supposed to collect her entirely, not just her legs!

*starts laughing while eating breakfast, almost snorts cereal up his nose at this comment*

Turn order will be 1) Imperial Magisterium 2) Theblackwolf 3) Lyra 4) Tatterdemalion

Hmm, reactive rather than active. I can work with this.

We'll give Tatters standard stats (apart from 2 HP) and 1d4, 1d6 and 1d12 SN dice. No energy shields though since that's quite an armament of SN dice.

No worries -Tatterdemalion is an Illusionist and doesn't DO shields. What he DOES is confuse and conquer! ... Well, okay, what he really does is mess with everyone, then sit back and laugh his ass off, but still...

Oh by the way, the gaps between the two elevated base plates are impassable terrain. You can cross them using those wooden bridges, but not go through them (that would be a bit too easy).

...well there goes MY master plan!