Skirmish 1: Mummies In The Mist (Five Klicks: Fantasy)

  From the Journal of Sigrún Þórsdóttir, First Skirmish.

The world is falling apart. Fel magics eat at the very fabric of reality. Demons and the dead dance on the corpses of the innocent, and no one rises to challenge them. 

No one, except us.

It was 'Crates who first heard the rumors of a necromancer building an army out in the marshes beyond the settlement that has put us up in exchange for our services hunting monsters. Sounded to me like a good skirmish to cut our teeth on, see how well our ragtag band works together.

The ground was soft and spongy when we approached the sunken crypt where we knew we'd find the aspiring necromancer and his growing horde. 'Crates and Fitztandalus were the first to scout out the area, and what they saw seemed imposing but not insurmountable.

Crouching together in a cluster of ruins, they whispered ideas, ways they might strike before being noticed.

But they were noticed. Shambling down the mossy steps of the crypt, the hordes of the necromancer started their approach, their rotting, bandage-wrapped hands glowing with corpse-green light.

Marzhin was the first to strike, launching a magic missile directly at the Necromancer, but the evil lord of the dead only laughed and scattered the retired court wizard's attack like sparks on the wind.

The rest of us moved up, trying to keep to cover.

Barbulax and Fallah were the first to rush into the fray.

With a single, close-in strike, Fallah rushed up and obliterated the closest, meanest-looking mummy with a storm of thorns.

There was a flash, and then I saw Barbulax summon all the magic in his stout body to hurl a fireball directly at the necromancer.

Sneering, the necromancer scattered Barbulax's fireball and then tossed the energy back at the Dwarf, stunning him.

Two of the necromancer's undead minions approached Fallah, and between them, managed to knock her out of the fight with corrupting, poisonous magic.

Another horror exhausted the spark of magic in its rotting body with a burst of magic aimed at Bella. Rushing to the side, she managed to escape, though her robes were charred and her skin burned.

Two of the horrors moved up to come after 'Crates and Fitztandalus.

There was another flash of evil magic that raced across the marshy land toward Barbulax, but the old Dwarf shrugged it off easily.

Raising my hammer, I shot a bolt of lightning at the necromancer, but he easily dispelled it off with a wave of his hand.

Meanwhile, Bella moved in and got revenge for her fallen sister.

The resolve of the Necromancer and his grip on his horde started to waiver.

But still he kept turning aside our spells.

Styxlyhizz moved to intercept a pair of mummies that were moving to flank us, obliterating one with a venom burst that popped it like a festering pustule.

Crates fired a lightning bolt from his outstretched finger, but the spell did little more than char the ruins his target was hiding behind.

Moving swiftly and silently, Fitztandalus rushed across the marshy grass and flung a storm of magic thorns at the Necromancer, catching him off guard and tearing him apart. Behind him, one of his horrific creations staggered and puffed out of existence.

Wry 'Crates was quickest on his feet after that.

Rushing into cover, he gambled that if he could hide, he could draw out the two closest mummies instead of playing a losing game of throwing magic at each other over walls of cover.

Meanwhile, another of the mummies moved in on Styxlyhizz.

'Crates gamble turned out to be poorly considered, and the two mummies blasted him with a wave of crippling magic.

When Styxlyhizz slithered out from behind cover, he tossed a hasty blast of poison magic at the closest mummy, but the blast only kept it pinned.

In fact, it was so busy shielding itself from Styxlyhizz's magic that it didn't notice Bella until it was too late.

The obliteration of another mummy drove one of the remaining horrors back.

Meanwhile, Barbulax managed to shake off the negative effects of the necromancer's foul magic and reinvigorate himself for battle.

The rest of us moved into position, keeping our eyes on the last two of the undead horde.

Styxlyhizz, Fitztandalus and Bella were the quickest to act.

But it was Fitztandalus who dealt the final, precise blow against the undead, obliterating one and scattering the other before it could act. 

In the celebrating and back-clapping that followed, we checked on our wounded. Fallah was only lightly burned, nothing that a little knitting spell couldn't fix, and actually rose tougher and more angry from the fall.

'Crates was less lucky. I'm thankful that he is still with us, but he'll be limping for a little while as he recovers from his wounds.

In the days after, we celebrated and helped around the settlement, waiting for word of another danger to face. I visited 'Crates daily, helped the others in their training, and worked with a young man who is eager to fill 'Crates space in our ranks while the wizard heals. This new fellow is a bit of a rookie, but he carries a spear and he's decent with it, so maybe we will take him as a hanger-on for our next skirmish into the marshes.

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Fitztandalus is MVP (+1xp)

All others gain +1xp

+1xp to Fitztandalus due to Settlement Event.

3 AP spent on training.

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Loot (1): Military Rations.

Trade (2): Magical Chainmail (Military Armor,) Hafted Weapon

Fitztandalus levels up! +1 to Combat Skill.

Settlement levels up! +1 To Security!

Settlement is now 2/1/1

Recruit: Rookie

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Post play notes: Campaign Turn 1: Event: Tracks: Hardened Militia (8). No leadership. Did not seize. Settlement Event: Personal Improvement.