Temple of Doom at BOYL 2019

During BOYL 2019, Steve/Thantsants ran a skirmish game of WFB 2nd edition, based on the Shrine of Rigg scenario from the 2nd Citadel Journal. There were several warbands assaulting the Temple that night - two groups of Sea Elves (me and Richard/Lenihan), one of Slann (Greg/VanLoon) and another one of Norsemen (Sebastian/Tytus). Paul/Golgfag1 was playing the Amazons viciously defending their sanctum.

The story below has apparently been heard in a tavern in Ulthuan, as drunk captain Euphrosine was telling it to a small crowd of worshipping young clan-elves, dreaming of matching her deeds in the lands of Lustria.

The Temple of Rigg in all its glory

The Temple, spread out on a table. Best 3D dungeon ever.

 "So I had been planning this heist for a while, right? I had been trading with Amazons before and made good money, selling iron and bronze and buying hides, herbs and pottery, but I figured out that they held far more valuable treasures somewhere in the depths of their temples... no, I am not talking about gold and silver: it was knowledge I was after! The secrets of the Old Slann, artefacts from their High Age; I always knew the Amazons had a few hidden away. So I worked my relations for months, until I secured a deal with the High Priestess of the Temple of Rigg, Samantha. I and my crew sailed up the river Amoco, then headed up the Cadiz and finally reached Lake Lokka, where we dropped anchor. I took with me three selected companions: my sister Tasha, a wardancer named Siwai'em Ké, and a young scoundrel from the Old World, Sidonaer, whose ability in picking locks could be useful. They camped outside the Temple, while I was invited in to talk with Mother Samantha: negotiations dragged well into the night and I was invited to stay until morning. I said I wasn't particularly tired, so I had leave to stay in a reading room with a book, a treatise on geography that was mostly full of misconceptions about the coastlines of the western continent. Not far from me, in the library, a few novices were holding a poetry lecture: the harsh sounds of Amazonian language never appealed me, and anyway I could hardly understand the meaning of the verses.

Left to right: Siwai'em Ké, Thalia, Euphrosine, Sidonaer

Poetry lecture in the library

Tasha, Sidonaer and Siwai'em at the feet of the Shrine

Euphrosine at the window of the reading room

I waited until it was midnight, then I went to a window and put a candle on the ledge: it was the signal. A few moments later, a grappling hook flew into the open window and I clasped it to a table. One by one, my companions climbed into the room, trying to make as little sounds as they could. Unfortunately some pesky Amazons guards us, and came to investigate: sadly for us, they were Koka-kalim, the fanatical addicts that make up the élite guard of the temple. Two of them jumped from the stair onto Siwai'em, who killed them both but not before being grievously wounded by their sharp blades. Another fanatic pointed a metal rod to my sister, shooting a small, heated bolt that barely missed her head and left a mark on the wall. Its loud boom echoed through the temple - we were discovered!

Quickly, I and Sidonaer despatched the last Koka-kalim while Tasha blocked the door leading to the library using the furniture. Another two guards came up from the lower floor but Tasha wisely had put off all candles and torches so the guards, lost in darkness, could not shoot at us and were quickly eliminated.

Tasha puts out the lights

Two guards peek blindly in the darkness of the room

Siwai'em was bleeding on the ground: Tasha had been doing her best to help him and was freaking out. That was when I realized she was in love with that mohawked bastard. I don't usually mind my sister's business, but seriously? A wardancer? She was the youngest of us girls and certainly the most naive.

We propped Siwai'em's back against the wall and put the bolt gun in his hand, telling him to watch the stairs while we moved on; we would be back for him later. We were about to remove the furniture for the door, when we heard more guards approaching, some trying to bash the door down, others running on the floor below. We hid behind the overturned furniture, lying in ambush with all lights put off, when we saw the least expected thing: other Elves!

Tasha helping Siwai'em

Five Amazons and one of the Elves on the ground already. Not a smooth job.

Ready to ambush whomever comes up the stairs.

It was Tirnahan of the Deep and his crew, a bunch of adventurers and ne'er-do-wells we met before. It turns out they had decided to raid the temple on the same night but, discovered, had negotiated safe exit by hiring themselves out as mercenaries. 

"We're Elves, too, and we are friends!" I shouted "Put your weapons down!"

"You are intruders and raiders!" shouted back Tirnahan "you put down your weapons! You are surrounded"

I never trusted Tirnahan, and I told myself I had been right.

"I will put my weapons down" I said, loudly, but then I added, in Elvish "I know where the valuables are. We can split them even"

Not solidarity, but greed had the best of him. After a short hesitation, Tirnahan turned his sword against his Amazon companions. In that moment, the door of the library went down and two Koka-kalim charged: I shot one dead with my crossbow and the other attacked Sidonaer, who quickly bested her. The other Amazons, novices with no combat training, surrendered and became our hostages.

We took them with us to the library, where we helped ourselves with huge and ancient books. Eerily enough, from the lower floors we heard the sound of battle: someone else had decided to attack the temple that same night, and was keeping the other guards occupied for us. Truly, our enterprise had been blessed by the gods.

Into the library, at last

We left by the window, climbing down with the rope we came in, and lowering the wardancer carefully with the rope around his arms. We reached our ships shortly before sunrise and, wishing each other good luck, we sailed immediately. Behind us, the sound of battle was fading around the temple, as more Amazons were rushing to their holy site.

My ship reached Ulthuan days later with a bolt gun of High Age manufacture and four, large books written in Old Slann and Amazonian language. The Magicians of Saphery paid more than their weight in gold for those. It was a good raid, and a very profitable one. It can't say it was clean, and the Amazons have put a price on my head for certain, but none of ours died, and that's what matters.

I never knew what happened to Tirnahan and his crew: they probably split the profits of their venture and each went his own way. Sidonaer bought himself a ship with his share, while Tasha and Siwai'em left together, looking for more adventures. She came back broke, a few years later, and since then she refers to him as "the bastard", which he certainly was, but at least he taught her something. Never fall in love with a wardancer. As for myself, I had a few marriage proposals from other captains but I turned all of them down: I am quite happy with my freedom currently. I have spent my time building a house on the coast of Saphery, and reading about some Slann temples, hidden in the jungles of Palombia. Now, there is an interesting story about them, but I will only share it if you swear you'll never tell it to anyone, until we're out of them...