The Rotmoons re-joined the rest of the Ironfang Fleet as they raced over the
Shimmersea, chasing after a number of ships spotted from several miles away
after they had seen the glimmer of Hyshlight reflecting off metal hulls in the
summer evening twilight.
The Rotmoon was able to rendezvous with the Fleet and soon they
were running ahead of them, hoping to catch-up with the distant vessels first.
They gave chase for nearly three days without gaining on the prize and
eventually Mogrum signalled orders that the chase was to be abandoned, as the
Ironfang Fleet had become scattered over many miles of Shimmersea.
Disgruntled, the Rotmoons made their feelings about it known but they obeyed
orders when Kapitan daLeeva made it clear that he agreed with them.
They never found out who's ships they had pursued.
+++
A week later the Fleet was becalmed - they were slowed to almost crawl for
days on end. Without realising, the orruk pirates ships had passed through the
lee of a metalith island that had very high levels of Nullstone deposits. The
effect on the charms and enchantments that kept their sky-ships aloft was
temporary, but still significant for a while.
During the downtime, El Doktoro studied the Starwood Compass obsessively -
the flickering lights that flowed along the lines and circles of its
geomantic markings were changing. They were pointing west, to Phyrra, or one
of the tiny islets just off it's coast. It wasn't far away, so the Kapitan
sent a hurriedly scribbled note to Mogrum.
As soon as they cleared the lee of the metalith,
the Rotmoon signalled that it would, for a while, part company with
the Fleet once more and they set a course to Phyrra.
+++
+++
When they arrived at the island they realised the Hollow Knight was in their
way again. But the vampire and his minions seemed to be in some
distress. They appeared to be frantically gathering scattered papers or letters that were spiralling in the wind.
Kapitan daLeeva instantly knew that anything that could cause that vampire
distress was worth making worse. He quickly barked out orders to his crew.
Bortagno scooped up a bundle of letters caught under the trees and hurried
toward the camp, where more papers were caught in the sun-sail.
Kapitan daLeeva and Bold Rikk watched as a skeleton lurched forward and picked
up a ribbon-tied manuscript.
El Doktoro blasted a Kosargi Nightguard who lumbered toward him.
A pair of Vyrkos leapt up the rocky outcrop and one of them picked up the
letters there. Tambor charged them and attacked.
El Doktoro blasted one of the Vyrkos to ash. The Hollow Knight rampaged toward
Bortagno and knocked down the big orruk, the papers he had been clutching
scattered over the ground.
The vampire turned on El Doktoro who was distracted by the lights of the
Starwood Compass that blazed exceptionally bright all of a sudden.
Tambor took down the remaining Vyrkos and their small bundle of letters
dropped to the ground below, right next to the waiting Kosargi.
Shocked back to awareness of the peril he was in, El Doktoro countered the
Hollow Knight's attack, then fled between the trees, prefering not to
fight the vampire.
The Necromancer cast life-draining magics after El Doktoro as he ran.
Skeletons closed in on all sides, slashing at El Doktoro and daLeeva. A
Nightguard loomed not far away.
The Kosargi moved at Kapitan daLeeva and attacked but the Kapitan's blade
whipped around so fast it blurred, and deflected the undead ogor's massive
poleaxe.
A skeleton took down the wounded Tambor and followed-up with an attack on Bold
Rikk. But the papers they fought for burst into flame, soon they were nothing
but blackened ashes and smoke.
Geedo called out in surprise as an invisible ethereal tide swept him back,
away from the loot.
Dragante moved to block more skeletons moving toward the Shaman, El Doktoro,
who disengaged again and blasted the vampire.
He rushed for the letters that Bortagno had dropped, but before he could reach
it, the Hollow Knight used his supernatural speed to race past the shaman,
picking up the letter deftly as he swept over it.
+++
The Rotmoons returned to the ship in a strange mood; empty-handed and somewhat
frustrated, but also mildly entertained by making the Hollow Knight work
harder for whatever was in those papers. But the matter of exactly what that
might be was soon forgotten when the island started rumbling and lurching
violently.
The ground shook and the skies split with a deafening thunder. The stones on
the ground around them started rolling and bouncing around in a strangely
synchronised way.
A vast chunk of the island suddenly detached itself and lifted up into the
air. Rocks, trees and earth tumbled from its sides and top and a Seraphon
Templeship revealed itself!
The Templeship noisily ascended, higher and higher and the orruks suddenly
realised there were more Templeships lifting into the sky in
the far distance, from other islands, in almost every direction they looked!
The behemoths of cut stone pulled themselves from the Prime Dominion and sailed upward through
the firmament. They departed, upward and away. They were still just about
visible until they reached the Perimeter Inimical, the layer of pure magic
enveloping the Hysh Realmsphere, where they disappeared as they crossed the
boundary into the Aetheric Void beyond...
+++
Deployment: Realmshaper Mishap
Victory: The True Prize
Twist: Brutal Currents
This is the second time I've played The True Prize, and both times it has made
for a cracking Battleplan - it's a really good victory card. I also loved the
Brutal Currents twist card (from Pyre and Flood) - it only actually did
anything once, but it has the potential to really mess up either side's plans
every round.
(Lee drew the symbol from the "real" treasure token before the game, so he
could show me which he'd picked at the end.)
