Skirmish at Fnarp Bridge: Round 3

Skirmish at Fnarp Bridge: Round 3

The POOPSMITH helps himself to the pants of the decapitated Crusader, in accordance with the ancient warrior code of Pantaloonia: Unto the victor goeth the pants.



MISTER BRICKMAN helps himself to a Crusader axe.




SIR ARMAGNAC and his BANDIT SQUIRE honorably wait for the duel to commence.



 

LORD CITRUS SELTZER keeps a watchful eye on the LOOT… and the last FOOTMAN who stands by it.



 

The PRISONER huddles on PAGAN HILL, watching the duel that will decide his fate.



LORD JARRITOS DE TAMARINDO and his WELL-GROOMED SWORDSMAN casually insinuate themselves by the bridge, just in case…


Everyone holds their breath as THE BLACK RUSSIAN squares off with the CRUSADER KNIGHT (still dressed in the Pantaloonian armor he gained in his tussle with SIR ARMAGNAC).



– { TUTORIAL } –

One-on-one dueling is more chaotic than an organized field battle. In a duel, the contestants roll to see who swings first each round – it's possible for one party to land multiple blows in succession.
– {~} –

 
The CRUSADER KNIGHT makes his move!

The CRUSADER KNIGHT delivers a fearsome blow that would kill a lesser man, but THE BLACK RUSSIAN catches it on his PARRYING SABER.



 

The SABER snaps from the impact of the blow!



 

Fortunately, THE BLACK RUSSIAN always carries a backup…




Brandishing his emergency helmet DAGGER, THE BLACK RUSSIAN lunges forward and –

A perfect tie…



THE TWO COMBATANTS CLASH WITH SUCH EQUALLY MATCHED FEROCITY –



A quick roll on the tie table…

THEY ARE BOTH THROWN TO THE GROUND, EACH SMITING THE OTHER!


 

THE BLACK RUSSIAN's sword flies out of his hand and clatters down the BRIDGE steps!



BUT!

The CRUSADER KNIGHT is clobbered so hard he is not only KNOCKED DOWN but is also SPUN AROUND – his back is turned to THE BLACK RUSSIAN!



 

It's all a question of who will get to his feet first…



WITH LIGHTNING REFLEXES, THE BLACK RUSSIAN FLIES TO HIS FEET!



He is armed with only his emergency helmet DAGGER, but his enemy is both KNOCKED DOWN and SPUN AROUND…

Not only does THE BLACK RUSSIAN get the first strike, but he would also get not 1, but 2 OPPORTUNITY ATTACKS on his opponent's turn (one when the CRUSADER stood up and the other when he turned around).

This is how many dice THE BLACK RUSSIAN gets to roll…



 

THE CRUSADER KNIGHT SHRIEKS AS HE IS HURLED INTO THE ICY WATERS BELOW!



…He does not resurface.

At a bend in the river, SIR ARMAGNAC's stolen armor washes up on the shore, empty.


 

The remaining Crusader SWORDSMAN, seeing his master dead or worse, runs screaming into the shelter of a nearby mountain cave, abandoning the LOOT, the PRISONER, and the bodies of his fallen compatriots.




PANTALOONIA IS VICTORIOUS.

In 3 brutal rounds, Pantaloonia tore victory from the mailed hands of a Crusader raiding party through cunning strategy and mighty deeds of arms!

LORD JARRITOS DE TAMARINDO smashed a Crusader FOOTMAN so mightily that the unwitting human-bowling ball careened into his own wagon train, scattering LOOT and defenders and leaving them defenseless before…

LORD CITRUS SELTZER seized the moment and smote the defenders before they could recover, securing the LOOT!

LORD SELTZER's loyal POOPSMITH literally decapitated a man with a sharpened POOPSHOVEL.

SIR ARMAGNAC engaged the fearsome CRUSADER KNIGHT hand-to-hand in an epic clash and came away with the KNIGHT's immaculate Crusader ARMOR – a hefty defensive bonus AND… a potential DISGUISE.

THE BLACK RUSSIAN struck down the Crusader FOOTMAN and freed the PRISONER before going on to face the fearsome CRUSADER KNIGHT in an epic DUEL on FNARP BRIDGE, where he secured VICTORY through lightning fast reflexes and the foresight to pack an emergency backup helmet DAGGER.



And now, for the spoils…

3 treasure chests full of LOOT are recovered, containing a total of 13 WEALTH.



 

The Crusader's mighty WARHORSE is captured – being on horseback is a massive bonus during battles AND also adds a bonus to TRAVELING rolls.



 

The battlefield is scoured, looking for survivors…

– { TUTORIAL } –
After a battle, fallen soldiers (at least the ones who were not instantly decapitated by critical poop-shovel strikes) roll some dice to see whether or not they die from their injuries. There are a variety of possible results beyond the dead/not dead…
– {~} –


No Pantaloonians fell during the battle, but amongst the bodies of the defeated Crusaders, you find 2 still clinging to life!

The first lives just long enough to gasp his mysterious last words:



 

The second is on death's door – if he could reach a doctor in time, his life could be saved.



 

The PRISONER is recovered safe and sound, but, to your surprise, you discover that despite his PANTALOONIAN attire, he speaks only a FOREIGN LANGUAGE none of you can comprehend. Perhaps a skilled SCRIBE could act as a translator…

 


 

The battle is won, but there are many interesting decisions to be made…

LORD CITRUS SELTZER must decide how to alot the captured 13 WEALTH and WARHORSE.

– { TUTORIAL } –
WEALTH
As Lords of Pantaloonia, you are dealing with wealth in quantities much larger than an ordinary citizen. A single WEALTH represents close to a year's wages for a commoner. WEALTH can be used to arm and train MILITIAS to defend areas of West Luau, construct FORTRESSES, hire MERCENARIES, and all other manner of GOVERNMENTAL decisions.

It is important that West Luau's TREASURY has enough WEALTH to run the island, but it is also important for each Pantaloonian Knight to have enough for his own operating expenses.

Of course, TRAVELING with large amounts of WEALTH is a very risky business…
– {~} –



Additionally, each Knight of Pantaloonia must decide what he will do and where he will go now that the skirmish is done.

This fight may be over, but West Luau is still in great danger. There are many important tasks to undertake and a variety of interesting leads...

 

1. Ride off into the sunset (if you want to retire your character here. You always have the option of coming back later.)

2. Return to the CAPITAL to attend to WEIGHTY MATTERS OF STATE and deposit WEALTH and other valuables (such as the PRISONER) to a safe place. (LORD CITRUS SELTZER should take this option if he wants to make decisions about West Luau's governance, such as spending WEALTH from the government's TREASURY to form a MILITIA to patrol the border around FNARP BRIDGE, construct WATCHTOWERS and FORTS, build CHURCHES in thanks for this victory, send DIPLOMATS to secure TREATIES, etc.)

3. Meet the MYSTERIOUS MAN who gave THE BLACK RUSSIAN a map before the battle…

4. Take the UNCONSCIOUS CRUSADER to HOSPITAL ABBEY to save his life.

5. Go to SCRIBE MOUNTAIN to try to find a TRANSLATOR who can speak to the PRISONER.

6. Investigate the direction the Crusaders came from to see WHAT THEY WERE RUNNING FROM.

7. Find a skilled MINER to harvest that frozen DRAGON LASER that LORD JARRITOS discovered.

8. Disguise yourself in the CRUSADER KNIGHT'S ARMOR and try to sneak into CRUSADER TERRITORY.

9. Explore the CAVE and try to find the escaped SWORDSMAN.

10. OTHER:_______________________

 

No travel is free from risk…

 


WHERE DO YOU GO?

Orders due 10/1/20

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