Ghost Archipelago '19, Game 4: Battle on the Rooftops

     Two Saturdays ago we played the fourth game of our 2019 Ghost Archipelago Campaign.  We had 6 of our 9 regular players in attendance and used a 8'x3' table.
     We did a modified version of the "Battle on the Rooftops" scenario from the Gods of Fire supplement book.  In this scenario, the crews are attempting to recover treasure on the rooftops of a long-abandoned mountainside city.  The treasure has been hoarded by, and is guarded by, strange savage birdmen-like creatures called Cathaka.  The table is set up to represent the rooftops of the city, with gaps between them that can lead to possibly fatal falls.  Moving between rooftops requires jumping, a few walkways and bridges, or various Heritor and Warden abilities.  Being pushed from a rooftop can be disastrous. 
     There were no central treasures, and treasure tokens were placed with equal number of real and dummy tokens.  So players never know if they are heading for a chest of gold or somebody's old laundry.  Between each pair of players there was a large Central Platform rooftop that had the bulk of the tokens, which starts the game being guarded by 4 of the Cathaka birdmen. 
      I luckily got an early set-up chip, and took one of the corner spots.  I ended up with the Heritor Gnomeo, and his shooter-heavy crew across from me, and the Heritor Arkham to my right.  Diagonally across from me to my front right was the Heritor Barl.

A view of the table showing starting areas.

 
The Report

     The Halfling Heritor Barley Gimblehill  squinted against the sunlight, trying to see what her Warden, the big human named Tork, was pointing at.  "See, city!  Built into cliffs.  There!"  he said exasperatedly.
 Finally the ship had sailed close enough, that the little Heritor began to see the shape of the buildings against the rocky sides of the mountain.  Many of the structures were carved from the very rock of the island, so blended in perfectly.  The haphazard architecture was build topsy turvy almost down to where the mountain reached to touch the sandy strip along the coast.  The highest buildings though seemed to tower up near the clouds.  As Barley peered upwards, she could see tiny black specks circling lazily around the rooftops...some sort of large birds she pondered.
    She looked at Tork, "What birds are those?" she asked pointing.
    Now it was her Warden's time to squint into the sun.  "Big ones." was his only reply.
The Heritor could tell the city was long abandoned; no smoke rose from the chimneys, and many of the structures had toppled over, or stood half crumbled.  And an abandoned city meant the possibility of worthwhile clues or treasure being left behind. 
     Barley hopped down from the crate she stood upon, and said over her shoulder to Tork, "Let us go check it out."
  Tork replied simply, "Big birds..."

     It was two hour later that Barley, Tork and a group of specialists and crew from the Jolly Scallop found themselves climbing staircase after staircase, and a few rckety ladders, to reach the higher rooftops of the city.  As they had neared the city they could clearly see gold glinting from the topmost rooftops in what appeared to be big piles of assorted belongings and detritus; small pieces of furniture, armor, weapons, cloth...  And the "big birds" turned out to be some sort of strange bird and man combination.  Vulture like in their appearance, but with arms and legs and torso like a man.  They wore scraps of clothes and some carried primitive weapons.    For the most part they left the Halflings alone.  One or two curious ones approached within a few dozen yards to check the little folk out, but for the most part the birdmen kept their distance.   Barley and Tork noted that it appeared the strange creatures were responsible for the piles on the rooftops, as they could see one every now and then fly some load to one of the roofs where it dumped it upon one of the piles.  Others would flutter over and inspect the new addition.

Barley's initial deployment.

     The band of diminutive adventurers eventually reached the top of a building near the highest structures of the city.   They could see the birdmen and their piles much more clearly now.  Directly in front of them, on the next building over, was a large expansive rooftop containing a pyramid structure in the center and decorative columns on each corner.  It contained a number of large piles of belongings.  There were also 4 of the bird creatures who lingered there.  They cast wary eyes upon the Halflings, and Barley clearly recognized them as guards of some sort.
    As the Halfling Heritor sized up the situation, Tork removed one of his Divining Rods and worked its magic.  Pointing over to the right he said, "Gold close. Over by pool,", and pointed to a low rectangular structure to their right on a nearby rooftop. (I move token from within pool, 3" towards my start zone, bringing it out of the pool.)
     Barley organized her crew; giving Tork command over the two Archer brothers, Jikam and Billy Wizzit, as well as Crew-woman Ginsink.   The Heritor took along with her,  her Scout Perkin, and the two Crewmen, Corel and Habby.  Crewmen Fernando and Link positioned themselves between the two groups to help out where needed.  The little Heritor had Tork position himself and his command to move towards the central platform; while she oriented herself and her group to move off to the right and check the gold the Warden had detected by the pool.
     It was an easy leap for Barley and her group to jump the span between the building they had entered on and the building with the pool next door.  They could see a worn wooden chest laying by the pool atop a pile of what appeared to be old clothes, and the Heritor ordered Corel over to check it out.  As he went, Barley pointed out a nearby outbuilding on the same rooftop, and suggested to Perkin they go check it out.  She told Habby to stay and assist Corel.

Barley, Perkin, Corel and Habby, make the jump to the building to the right of their start zone with the pool and the nearby treasure token.

     Meanwhile, Ginsink, never one to follow orders well, spotted a promising leather pouch laying on a rooftop to their left, and she ran off, easily making the leap to the other roof, before Tork realized she was gone and could call her back.  The Warden was too busy trying his Summon Animal ability, but alas they were too far from any animal he guessed for any to respond. (I fail my roll.)  As he worked his spell, Jikam and Billy took aim at the closest bird-man; Billy hit wounding the creature, but Jikam's arrow went wide.
     At that point they became aware of a chattering of voices on the far side of the large rooftop, and they could see Gnomish members of the Heritor Gnomeo's crew come into view.  Fernando and Link realized time was against them now that another crew had appeared, and rushed over an old wooden gangway towards the large roof; hoping that the two archers would take care of the guards by the time they reached their destination.
     By now Ginsink had reached the pouch, but before she could bend over to inspect it, an arrow from Gnomeo's crew hit her in the shoulder, and she cried out in pain.  Before she could react in any way, a second shaft struck her, this time in the leg, and she toppled over cracking her head upon the hard roof beneath her and was knocked out. 
     Tork attempted his Summon Animal spell again was was shocked when he made a mental link to a Snapping Turtle!  How did it get up there he wondered.  The creature sensed his question, and he got the mental image of the turtle being carried to the roofs by one of the bird-men, who mistook it for some sort of treasure chest while it was sleeping.  It had since wandered the roofs living off rats and mice.   Seeing Ginny go down, the Warden instructed the Snapping Turtle to move towards the pouch that the Crew-woman had been heading towards and guard it.
     The two Archers had now notched their second arrows, and once again Billy's hit, dropping the first guard; while Jikam's went wide again. Billy could not stay silent over that, and commenced to relentlessly tease and comment on his brothers poor marksmanship.

In the foreground, Tork tries to Summon Animal, as Billy and Jikam shoot at the Guards.  Fernando and Link dash across the gangway towards the central rooftop. 

     By now, Barley and Perkin had made their way to the outbuilding, and began to climb a ladder leading to its roof.  Two arrows whizzed by the Scout from the Gnome crew, but neither hit its mark.  The pair began to climb, and another arrow came towards the Scout, but this one hit, sinking deep into the Halfling's thigh. "I can't continue up!" he said through gritted teeth.
   "Alright." Barley acknowledged, "head back down and take care of your wound.  The Scout slid as best he could back down the ladder, and crouching behind a nearby pillar, worked at removing the shaft.
       As Barley continued up  the ladder, Corel reached the chest and giving the old lock a good whack with the hilt of his sword, pried the lid up and was pleased to find it filled with gold coins!  (I flip token and reveal a "T" treasure marker.)
          Having reached the top of the outbuilding roof, the little Halfling Heritor moved over to a large cloth sack on the rooftop and quickly unlaced the cord tying it, only to find it stuffed with old rusty serving pieces and flatware. (I flip token to reveal an "X".)

As Corel recovered his chest of gold coins, the wounded Perkin takes cover behind a column.  Near the top center of the photo, Barley checks the token on the outbuilding rooftop.

    Over on the rooftop they had started from, Tork could see Perkin was badly hurt, so he quickly cast Water of Life on the Halfling, and the Scout could feel his wound magically begin to heal. 
      Meanwhile, Fernando and Link had crossed to the large roof, and both moved towards the nearest piles of debris.  Link pulled at a small chest, and hearing clinking inside, opened it to reveal some pieces of fine gold jewelry. (I reveal another "T" token!)  Likewise, Fernando found an ornate wood box, and prying it open, saw it contained gold coins and some heavy potato sized object wrapped in smooth cloth. (And yet another "T" token!) He had no time to investigate further as a loud flapping behind him warned him that the surviving guard had taken issue with his prying.  Quickly the Halfling Crewman turned and brandished his sword, wounding the bird-man with a well placed thrust. The Birdman fluttered backwards in pain, giving the Archers a clear shot; and this time Jikam found his mark, killing the creature.

The birdman attacks Fernando as he and Link try to steal the creature's treasure. Near the top center of the photo, the Gnomes can be seen working on recovering a treasure of their own.

     With the guards dead, the Archer, Billy Wizzit, decided it was time to go try and investigate the pouch that Ginsink had tried to retrieve earlier.  The Snapping Turtle stood nearby at the base of a bridge leading to a further rooftop, upon which one of Gnomeo's crewman stood dithering as to cross and tangle with the hard-shelled creature or not.   The Gnome Heritor could see the situation, and using his Trick Shot ability, put a well placed arrow right into an opening in the Turtle's shell.  striking it right at the base of the neck.  Almost dead, (1 HP remaining!) the Turtle still faithfully stood guard at the base of the bridge.
     Meanwhile, Link and Fernando had secured their treasures and were making their way back down the old gangway back to the rooftop from which they had started.

Link and Fernando return cross the gangway with their treasure, as over on the left Billy (figure with yellow shield) can be seen hiding behind a pillar.

     Over on the building to the right, Corel moved with his chest back towards safety. The Halfling was then shocked to see two animated Skeleton soldiers ascend a nearby staircase and come marching towards him. (Brought on by the Gnome Warden, Julliette's, successful Beast Cry!)   Quickly, the wounded Perkin moved with his bow towards the new threat.  He fired an arrow which struck one of the Skeletons, sending it crashing to the ground where it shattered into dozens of loose bones.
    Meanwhile, Barley had come down from the outbuilding rooftop by this time, and she too moved to help, as did Crewman Habby.  But new danger appeared nearby.

Two skeleton soldiers appear as Corel drags his chest towards safety.

         One of the distant circling birdmen had spotted Fernando and Link carrying off their treasure, and swooped down to stop them, heading directly at Link, claws outstretched.   In a flash Barley was there, using her Leap ability to easily cross the gap between the two buildings and moving directly into contact with the creature to help Link.  Link had drawn his sword, and slashed at the flying creature.  striking its wing.  He did no real damage, but feathers fluttered all around him, and the bridman circled up into the air before making another attempt.  (I win fight but do no damage, push birdman out.)
     The creature now tried its luck with Fernando, swooping down powerfully at him.  With a might thrust the Halfling stabbed the birdman in the gut and, though badly wounded, it still continued to flap and claw at its opponent. (I roll 20, leaving the Cathaka with only 3 HP) .  Barley saw her chance, and moving up behind the creature stabbed it from behind.  It took a few weak flaps hit the roof and fluttered off the nearby edge where it plummeted to the ground far below.

A lone birdman swoops in to attack Link and Fernando.

     Back on the nearby roof to their left, Billy crouched behind a pillar, as an arrow from the Gnomes whispered past him.  The Gnome Crewman on the far side of the little bridge finally found his courage, and charged at the Turtle.  Billy knew it was now or never and dived for the pouch.  He heard the clink of bottles inside and threw the pouch's strap over his arm.  (I reveal another "T"!) The Turtle and Gnome engaged, but neither managed to damage the other.
     Back on the other roof, Perkin shot again, disabling the second Skeleton.  Coral now had a clear path to escape with his treasure.  Likewise Link and Fernando began to descend the nearest staircase, making their way back to the ship. Tork once again cast Water of Life on the injured Scout.

Billy finally recovers the pouch as the Snapping Turtle still guards the bridge against the Gnome's advance.

     Billy fled with his pouch, and the nearby Gnome knew that even if he killed the Turtle, the Halfling Archer was well out of his reach, so he too began to make his way back to join his crew.

     Later that evening, back onboard the Jolly Scallop,  Barley looked over the day's haul.  The chest Corel had retrieved from near the pool contained 100 GC!  The Little Heritor estimated the jewelry in the chest Link had recovered was worth around 40 GC; and the pouch Billy Wizzit had retrieved contained a few broken and empty potion bottles, but there was one still intact that the Warden, Tork, had determined contained a Potion of Regeneration.  Lastly, there was Fernando's Chest; it held 50 Gold Coins, and wrapped in the cloth was a flat stone the size of Tork's big fist, with runes on one side and what looked like a primitive sea chart on the other showing three islands.
    After puzzling over it for a few minutes, Barley handed it over to Tork, saying, "Any ideas?"
    The big Warden studied it closely and ran his fingers over the worn carvings.  "It's Map Stone" he said matter-of-factly, and continued, "Clue to location of Crystal Pool."
     Barley jumped from her chair; "It shows where the pool is?" she exclaimed!
     "Yes... and no, " the Human magic-user said shaking his large head.  "It shows part of a route to the Pool.  It is just piece of larger puzzle. We must find more to know complete path." He set the stone gently back down on Barley's desk.
     There was a map. In pieces, yes, but a map nonetheless.  Barley pondered the implications.  If they could find more of these stones...  The little Heritor felt invigorated.  Her ship's hold was filling up with more and more gold, and they now had a specific objective to search for.  Barley gazed out the window of her cabin at the moon lit water; her mind already plotting their next destination.

Final outcome.

Epilogue:

   This was an enjoyable game, and played more like a bank heist than a regular battle.  The nature of the buildings kept everyone for the most part separated, and it really came down to defeating the guards, grabbing the loot, and running.
    I must say I did have an inordinate amount of good luck though.  The majority of tokens I flipped proved to be actual Treasure; a fate not shared with all the players.  Also, once I had the treasure and was lugging it away, I would have been easy pray for the Gnomes and their preponderance of missile troops;  but I lucked out that two of the Cathakas arrived in their rear area at just the right time, keeping them quite busy guarding their own recovered Treasure.
    I only had one figure fall, the Crew-woman Ginsink, which is very unusual.  And, luckily,  she fully recovered.
     I couldn't believe my good fortune at getting 4 treasures; but my luck let me down on the treasure rolls.  Three of them were under ten:  4, 8, and 9.  Which are not particular valuable results.  My one big number was a 20, a map stone.  But quite honestly for what is basically a 12 month/game campaign it's hard to ever find more than one or two of these stones so they have no real effect.  I would have preferred a nice magic weapon or armor.
    Luckily, I don't have to wait long for our next game as it is this coming weekend.  Stay tuned for a another report soon!

Killer Rabbit Figures based on Medieval Manuscript Margin Art

      A friend and I split a pledge from the recent Killer Rabbits Kickstarter from Skull and Crown, which launched a range of rabbit miniatures based on the margin art of medieval manuscripts.    It arrived earlier this month, and I've been working on them the last two weeks to get them cleared off the painting desk before the Reaper Bones 4  Kickstarter arrives.

     Here are my results; done to a tabletop quality.  I'm really pleased with how these little guys turned out; and eventually when these guys are available on the manufacturer's website,  I hope to flesh out a full cavalry unit of snail mounted rabbits!

     Here is an example of the original medieval artwork inspiration for snail and lion rabbits. I tried to copy the original shield design for the snail rider.

In the HAWKs Room Saturday at Cold Wars

     This past weekend was HMGS East's Cold Wars Miniatures Gaming Convention in Lancaster PA.  I arrived Friday morning, and had a great couple of days gaming, and running a well-received War of the Roses game on Saturday using the under-development Feudal Patrol rules.   Below are some shots of a bunch of the games that were run in the HAWKs club room on Saturday.

     Thanks to all the great gamers who came out to play in the club's games!

The War of the Roses game I ran,"Feeding the Roses", using the underdevelopment Feudal Patrol rules.

Close-up of my War of the Roses table.

Dave Wood's  version of "The Saxons at Wagram: 1809", using Fate of Battle rules.

Kevin Fischer's "Heavy Gears Everywhere" game, using HeavyGear Blitz rules.

Bill Acheson's "Hill 315" game, using Combat Patrol rules.

Dave Wood's "Look, Sarge, We Are Invading Russia" game, using Look, Sarge, No Charts: WWII rules

Buck Surdu's Operation Platinfuchs game, using Combat Patrol rules.

Harry Kogelschatz's "Samurai and Pirate Showdown" game, using Blood and Swash rules.

Geoff Graff's perennially popular kids Lego game, Plastic Pirates Produce Problems, using Plastic Pirates rules.

Zeb Cook's "Motti Breakout: A Russo-Finnish War game" using Combat Patrol rules.

Don Hogge's "The Germans Roll East" game, using Battleground: WWII rules.

Buck Surdu's "Tales of the gold Monkey" game, using GASLIGHT rules.

.

In the HAWKs Room Friday at Cold Wars

      This past weekend was HMGS East's Cold Wars Miniatures Gaming Convention in Lancaster PA.  I arrived Friday morning, and had a great couple of days gaming, and running a well-received War of the Roses game on Saturday using the under-development Feudal Patrol rules.   Below are some shots of a bunch of the games that were run in the HAWKs club room on Friday.

Greg Priebe's post apocalyptic game "Wasteland 101" using This is Not a Test rules.

Japanese cavalry on the advance in California, Duncan Adams' "Sayonara Gringo" game using Combat Patrol rules.

Zeb Cook's "High Himalayas" pulp adventure game using Astounding Tales rules 

Don Hogge's "Winter Along the Mohawk" game using Muskets and Tomahawks rules.

Dave Wood's "First Battle of the Boer War" game using the Combat Patrol: British Colonial Variant rules.

Union and Confederate forces face-off in Eric Schlegel's "Fury in the West" Battle of Shiloh" game using A Union So Tested rules.

Kurt Schlegel's "The Saxons at Wagram: 1809" game, using SAF Napoleonics rules.

Bill Molyneaux's "Battle of Hampton Roads: March 8-9 1862" game, using Beer and Pretzels Ironclads rules. 

Geoff Graff's "Jutland 15" game, using General Quarters 2 rules.

Buck Surdu's "A Hot Time in a Very Cold Place" game, featuring Finns vs Russians during the Winter War of 1939, and using Combat Patrol rules.

Don Hogge's "Battle in the Alps: Italy Moves West" game, using Battleground WWII rules

Ghost Archipelago '19, Game 3: Isle of Dragons

      This past Saturday we played the third game of our 2019 Ghost Archipelago Campaign.  We had 8 of our 9 regular players in attendance; which meant we had 4 Central Treasures in play, spaced evenly down the center of the 9'x3' table.
     We did a dragon attack scenario of our own devising, based on a Frostgrave game we did a couple years ago (Frostgrave Game 6.16),  where picking up treasures had a chance to activate a dragon which will fly in over the city, with random entrance and exit points determined by dice roll.  We changed it this time to having a chance for the dragon to enter every turn based on a roll each turn of 12+.  The dragon would fly in a straight path along this line and attack the first figure it reaches that falls within 3" of its flight path.  We used the stats for the Giant Worm from the Frostgrave rule book, increasing the Move and the Armor slightly, and assigned a 20 experience point reward for killing one of the dragons.   Each dragon would stay on the table until it ate somebody and satisfied its hunger, then it would fly off at the end of the next creature phase; or until it was itself killed.
    Since we had also incorporated a second scenario in the original Frostgrave game we were taking the Dragon scenario from, we decided to do it with this game too.  So, beside the Dragons, we also did a version of the treasure system from Cigar Box Battles' "The Diabolist's Scheme", replacing all the treasure tokens with a corpse marker.  Then, when the corpse marker is first touched, the player rolls a d20 with the results being: 1-5 nothing, it's just a dead body; 6-10 it's a Skeleton that attacks the figure; 11-15 it's a Swamp Zombie, 15-18 a Ghoul, and 19-20 a Spirit Warrior.   Once the player has killed the undead guarding the treasure, it reverted into its normal treasure form, and the player could pick it up and haul it away.  They also would then make a regular wandering monster roll when they picked up the actual treasure.

View of the whole table with my start zone indicated.

    I did okay with my set-up zone this time, drawing chip #4, and deciding to pick a spot with a known opponent, already seated opposite me; rather than pick one opposite a zone that hadn't been claimed yet.  Treasure wise, I was happy with the opportunities in front of my zone; especially with the newly acquired Divining Rods I had found last time.
      The opponent I seated myself across from was Barl of the Library, and his Storm Warden, Lorria.  To my immediate left was the Heritor, Ragnam Eichenherz; and his Beast Warden, Bengel; and to my immediate right was the Gnome Heritor, Gnomeo, and his Beast Warden, Juliet.  That put Safar the Seafarer, and his Storm Warden, Willow of the Water, to my front left; and Cassilda Blackmane, and her Earth Warden, Quartz, to my front right.

The Report

     The Halfling Heritor, Barley Gimblehill, had never seen her big bear of a Warden so excited.  During a recent supply stop they had heard a rumor of an isle in the Archipelago where Dragons lived; and Tork, her Beast Warden, had been chomping at the bit ever since to go see them.  It was something of a lifelong dream of his to see a real Dragon, and Barley hardly felt she should be the one to deny him this chance.  The little Heritor was skeptical herself, as Dragons were a rarity to the point some thought they were merely fables and tall-tales.   But still, the thought of a new island to explore still made her happy, and to be honest she wouldn't mind seeing a real Dragon, if there were any, as well.  The Warden's excitement was bit contagious, so why not give the big Human what he wanted.  The fact that the rumors of the Isle had also come with tales of no one ever getting off the island alive, were easily forgotten in the excitement to see real Dragons.
     It was late in the day when they landed on the hot sandy beach of the island; so Barley told Tork straight out that they couldn't stay long.  Just a few hours to see a Dragon and then back to the ship.  No one wanted to get caught on one of the islands of the Archipelago for very long after sun set. 
     They headed inland for a short distance when they began to notice various idols dotting the landscape; all with frightening faces of one kind or another.    She could hear her Crew begin to exchange hushed whisper with each other; and Barley realized he scary totems were't doing the Crews' nerves any good.   It was time to take matters under control,  so the Heritor stopped the group and divided them up into smaller commands.   She also had Tork take out one of the Diving Rods they had found on their last expedition, and had him show her how it worked.   The big Warden held it carefully in his hand extending it outward and perpendicular with the ground, and closed his eyes as if sensing the jungle around them.  As Barley watched, she saw the rod slowly begin to vibrate and the Warden's arm moved as if being guided by the stick.  It gradually swung to the left where it stopped, and rod seemed to glow a bit.  Tork opened his eyes, and said "Something made with magic. That way", and gestured with the rod in his hand. Barley noticed the rod looked blackened now and was smoking slightly, the runes burned off it. Tork dropped it to the ground; it was nothing but a stick now.  (I use one of my Divining Rods to move a treasure [corpse marker for this scenario], located in a pond on my left, 3" inches closer; bringing it out of the water and onto the shore.)

Initial deployment.

     As they passed out of the jungle into a large clearing the first thing that came into view was a huge skeleton laying n the ground  They couldn't tell if it was from some sort of Dragon, or huge Saurian.  Even Tork, the Beast Warden was stumped.  To their right was a large wooden idol, it's fierce visage staring skyward; and to their left the jungle jutted out into a wide arm that narrowed at the end, and just past that a large pond.  Barley told Tork to take is group over towards the pond, and she had Crew-woman Sallie and Crewman Habby head towards the idol to check it out.  The rest of crew were to fan out and keep their eyes and ears open, while the Heritor took her Scout, Perkin, with her and they headed towards the huge mysterious skeleton.
    Before Tork headed it out with his group, he took the time to cast his Summon Animal spell, and in just a minute they heard a loud screaming in the jungle behind them.  Apparently, a Screamer Monkey had answered his call.   As he was casting, Sallie and Habby wandered towards the wooden Idol, where another scream was heard; this time from Habby who nearly tripped over a body laying beneath the fronds of a large fern.   Though the corpse had begun to decay,  they could see that it appeared to have been badly mauled by some creature.  The unfortunate fellow still grasped a finely carved staff in his one hand, and the two Halflings could see a bulging leather pouch tied to his belt.
     While the two Crew investigated their find, Barley and Perkin made their way to the skeleton of the huge beast lying to their front.  They approached the big skull, and cautiously peered into the ribcage where, among the shadow lines of the ribcage, they could see a human skeleton sprawled out on the ground, one arm wrapped a round a large chest (Central Treasure).   It was then that the pair heard voices in the distance, and looking out the far side of the ribcage they could see a Human Crew approaching from the far side of the clearing.

Barley and her Scout, Perkin, check out the huge Saurus skeleton (and the Central Treasure inside), while over by the wooden idol, (lower right corner) Sallie and Habby make a gruesome discovery in the brush.

     Nearby in a patch of dense brush, the Half-Halfling Archer, Jikam Wizzit, had spotted the interlopers too, as they picked their way through the fallen remains of a stone circle.  He noticed one tall black-haired man who was well dressed and seemed to be barking orders at the others; so the Archer carefully drew his arrow and let it fly.  The shaft sliced the air and struck the big man as his right arm was raised pointing, hitting in the joint below his shoulder armor and sinking deep into his upper chest.  (I roll 20! and do 10 HP damage)  The Heritor, Barl of the Library, for that's who it was, staggered backwards, grasping at his wound.
     Behind Jikam, and to his right, Crew-woman Ginsink ran past the patch of brush where the Archer stood, and came up short as she saw a leg sticking out from under a broad-leafed bush.  Pushing the leaves back, she discovered a dead body laying in the brush.  The Crew-woman noticed the man's well-laden pack, and reached out to take it.  (I roll 4 on the Corpse table, so no Undead), and ended up having to cut the straps to get it free from the rigid corpse. 
     As Ginny was recovering the dead man's pack,  Crewmen Corel and Link were approaching the pond.  In the distance, past the pond, they could see two more Crews battling among a large temple made of stange looking adjoined idols.  The  Humans seemed to take no notice of the two Halflings, so they continued on their way.  Like their fellow Crew had, however, as they approached the pond they stumbled upon the remains of an ill-fated adventurer.  In one hand he clutched a two-handed sword, and though the decomposing body showed the signs of time passing, the sword looked newly polished.  The pair of Halflings guessed this must be the magic item that Tork had sensed with his Divining Rod.
     Back by the wooden Idol, Habby attempted to liberate the decomposing body if it's staff and pouch, only to find it wasn't exactly completely dead. (I roll 13 on the Undead Table: Swamp Zombie)  The corpse was very much still alive, and a decomposing hand grabbed a firm hold of the staff before Habby could get a grip on it.

Jikam the Archer gets a lucky shot against the opposing Heritor, Barl of the Library.

     Back by the huge Saurus skeleton, Barley hesitated.  The chest the skeleton grasped looked very inviting, but the Humans were so close.  Turning to look back, she saw the Crewman, Fernando, approaching, and she beckoned to him.  He trotted forward, and she motioned silently to the chest.  Cautiously, the Crewman snuck forward between two tree-like ribs and reached out to grab the treasure box, keeping a wary watch on the Human crew.  As he pulled at the nearest handle of the chest, he became aware of the sound of clattering bones very close by, and turning to look back at the chest, was shocked to see the skeleton that had been holding it was now grasping firmly at the handle on the other end and was standing up!  (I roll a 7 on the Undead table: Skeleton.)  Instinctively, Fernando yelled, "Help!".  But Barley and Perkin were already there, having seen what was happening.  Perkin reached his fellow Halfling first and thrust with his sword, but the blade went harmlessly through the creature's ribs (Hit but did no damage).  Barley then arrived and a wide swing of her sword cut the Skeleton in two, severing it just above the hips.  It clattered to the ground merely a pile of bones now.
     The commotion however had alerted Barl the Heritor, and before the Halflings could react, an arrow from one of the Human Archers flew by, dangerously close to Barley's ear.   Tork seeing the Human's attention drawn to his shipmates within the giant ribcage, attempted to Envenom another of Jikam's arrows, but failed the spell in his haste.  Jikam couldn't wait any longer for the Warden to try again, and shot at the closest Human Crewman, dropping him.   A Human Crew-woman now charged into the huge ribcage brandishing her sword .   Fernando sliced at her, but she parried, and brought her blade back to slice the Halfling across the arm, making a deep gash (-6 HP).  Perkin leaped into help, stabbing while the Human was recovering from her thrust at Fernando, his sword slicing through her tunic, but somehow managing to miss her body completely. (I hit but do no damage.)  Barley took a swing too, but somehow the enemy Crew-woman swung her sword back to block and then the tip of the blade caught the little  Halfling Heritor across the ear, cheek and chin.  (-5 HP).  Barley tasted the blood in her mouth.

The fight in the huge ribcage begins as one of Barl's Crew runs in to challenge the treasure.

     Seeing his little friend was in trouble, Tork rushed forward saying his Water of Life spell as he went.  Quickly he realized running and casting were hard to do at the same time, and he felt the magic energy of the spell slipping.  He concentrated with all his might to regain the spell (Push for -7HP!) causing a searing pain to go through his brain.  The big Beast Warden stumbled and went down on both knees, but the spell worked.   Barley felt immediate relief from the exquisite pain on the side of her face.
     By now another of Barl's Crew had joined the fight.  The little Halfling Heritor felt her blood begin to heat up, and her temper grew.  The enemy Crew-woman swung at her directly now, but Barley ducked under the strike and thrust her sword up into her assailant's gut.  The Woman stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, unmoving. (I roll a 20!)  Calling on her birth gift, Barley now let out a fierce cry, and brought her sword round in a powerful Backswing against the newly arrived Human Crew, giving him a slice across both thighs, (-6 HP).  The man staggered backwards.
     Meanwhile, over by the pond, Corel and Habby had recovered the Magical 2-Handed Sword from the dead body (I roll a 4 on the Undead table, so just a dead body) and were making their way as best they could with the big weapon back towards safety.   Suddenly, an arrow whizzed by the pair from back behind the section of jungle that jutted out towards the pond.  Looking back over their shoulders, the two Crewman could see one of the Archers from the Heritor Ragnam Eichenherz' Crew had noticed them.  Likewise, the Screamer Money that  Tork had summoned when they first reached the clearing had noticed one of his own kind, another Screamer Monkey, lurking suspiciously in the arm of jungle that jutted out (Summoned by  Ragnam Eichenherz's Warden, no less.),  and moved to keep an eye on him.
     By now, Sallie and Habbie had killed the Samp Zombie back by the wooden idol.  The pair now started heading back to the rendezvous point with Habby shouldering the well-made Staff with the pouch of, what felt like, gold coins hanging from it.

Over  on the lower left, the Screamer Monkey's have a face-off, while some of Ragnam Eichenherz' crew begin to move towards the gap between the jungle and pond.  In the lower right Tork can be seen where he has run forward to attempt Water of Life on Barley in the ribcage, and just behind the small totem in the lower center Corel can be seen hauling away his treasure.

          As Tork, worked at standing his big frame back up, his head splitting in pain, he didn't notice one of Barl's Archers had snuck around to the tail end of the huge skeleton.  He did, however, notice the pain when the enemy's arrow struck him in the arm.  (-4 HP,  Current total -11 HP).  He looked up to see the source of the shot, but the Human had already ducked inside the ribcage, joining Barl himself who had also just entered the enclosed space.   Upon entering, the big Heritor came upon Perkin first, and swung the hammer side of his axe down at the Halfling with all his might (Crushing Blow).  Luckily  the Scout dodged the blow last minute, as the big head of the weapon only glanced against his skull, giving him a good crack (-7HP) but not crushing his head completely.  Fernando charged at the Crewman that Barley had wounded, and stabbed at him in the side; putting him permanently out of action.  Barley stood with her sword ready for the next attack, when her eye fell upon the treasure chest, just laying there by the bones of the defeated Skeleton.  She called to Perkin and Fernando, "I need you to hold them! I'll get you help!" Perkin, his head spinning from Barl's blow, couldn't even nod in reply, as he tried to stay standing and guard against Barl's next blow; dodging and weaving to confuse the big Human Heritor (Refuses combat on his activation).  Quickly, Barley grabbed one of the the chest handles, and began dragging it from the Saurian ribcage as best she could.  As the Halfling Heritor passed between two of the the tall ribs, she saw Sallie, not too far away, helping Habby with his treasure. Barley called to the Crew-woman, and leaving Habby to manage on his own, Sallie came running.

As the battle still rages in the ribcage, Barley grabs the treasure and runs.

      Tork pulled the shaft from his arm, and once more tired to stand.   Slowly and painfully he reached his full height, then paused as in the distance he heard an unfamiliar shriek in the sky,  Looking up, he spotted a dark, winged, shape in the in the distance.  A Dragon! Oh, how wondrous and graceful its flight was.  It circled a section of far jungle for just a minute, and then passed out of sight. He had seen a Dragon!  What he had not seen, however, was another one of Barl's Archer's still lurking in the ruins of the standing stone circle, nor the arrow that flew at him without him knowing. It hit him in the beefy leg, causing him to topple like a tree, his big head hitting the ground hard.  As the blackness overtook him, and he passed into unconsciousness, for just a moment he was on the back of the dragon, flying free among the clouds.
     Back in the huge ribcage another of Barl's Crewmen came up to join in the fray. While Perkin had his attention on the Human Heritor, the Crewman came up behind him and crowned him across the skull with the hilt of his sword.  The Halfling Scout blacked out and collapsed.  Crew-woman Sallie arrived jus in time to see him fall, and joined Fernando in facing the three Humans within the tree-like ribs.

Tork is taken down by one of Barl's Archers

     Back by the pond,  the Dwarven Heritor, Ragnam Eichenherz, was sending more of his troops through the gap between the pond and the jungle to chase down the two Halflings with the treasure.  One of the Dwarf's Archers, got a bead on Corel and dropped him as he jogged along with his load.  Link stopped to pick up the Magic Sword, and bravely continued on.   Ragnam's Screamer Monkey made a move, and Tork's Summoned Monkey attacked and brought him down.  Tork's Monkey then went to help plug the gap, but didn't last long against trained Crew.  Jikam also ran over to attempt to stem the tide of enemy Crew with his bow.
    Back within the ribcage, Barl's Archer quickly notched an arrow, and shot Fernando point blank.  Luckily for his short stature, the arrow only grazed his scalp, but sent him stumbling backwards where he fell against one of the massive ribs, and smacking his head, blacked out.  Barl made quick work of Sallie; using the hammer side of his axe again.  He delivered a massive blow to the side of her head; her jaw unhinged and the poor Halfling Crew-woman actually turned a full 360 degrees before dropping to the floor of the cavernous ribcage. The Humans now focused on Barley fleeing with the chest, and an arrow whizzed by her head.
   It was late now, and the shadows were getting long on the island as the sun was dropping low in the sky.  Barley continued on as best she could but the chest was slowing her down.  She heard the sharp twang of a bowstring behind her, and then there was a sudden pain in her back as an arrow found its mark.   She stumbled and fell into a patch of large ferns.  The Halfling Heritor was on fire with pain, but she used all her energy to lie perfectly still, and tried as best she could to curl herself around the chest,  burrowing down  to let the large fronds cover her.    She could hear Human voices approach, but they seemed to have lost her in the shadows.  Over in the direction of the pond, she heard the sound of a Dwarven Horn as Ragnam sounded the recall for his crew.  Patiently she waited for the Human voices to withdraw, then carefully, and painfully, made her way to the beach.

Over on the left, one of Ragnam's Archers has moved up, and shot Corel; and Tork has already fallen to Barl's Archer. In the gap, the Screamer Monkey has taken damage and is about to go down.  Jikam the Archer (red & grey shield) has come over to help, but it's up to Link now to get the treasure safely away.

     Later that evening aboard the Jolly Scallop,  Barley and her Warden Tork sat in their cabin feeling sore and achy.  One appeared more bandaged  than the other.    They had survived, and that was most important.  In fact the whole crew had made it back in relatively one piece; though Sallie had a broken jaw as well as a bad concussion and would need to rest for a month or so.
    At least the trip had been profitable, and Barley studied the day's rewards on her desk; while Tork just sat there, smiling inwardly to himself as he replayed  in his head over and over the image of the Dragon in flight he had seen on the island.   The chest that Barley had managed to retrieve (Central Treasure) had held 100 gold coins!  (Sadly, I only rolled 5 +2 for Central Treasure=7 on the Treasure Table.)  Habby had brought back a Superior Staff (+1 Dam) that was three times as tall as the little Crewman himself was! Slung on the staff he had also brought a purse with 30 gold coins. (16 on the Treasure Table) Link had brought the Magic 2-Handed Sword (+1 F) from the pond (13 on the Treasure Table), and the pack that Ginsink found had a bunch of useless dirty clothing and a small wood box with 30 gold coins (2 on the Treasure Table). 

The ending tally.

   
Epilogue:

     Once more my speed earned me the central treasure, though I almost lost it this time.  I was very fortunate when the game ended, as both Barl and Ragnam were a die roll or two from denying me the Central Treasure and the Pond Treasure. Luckily, another crew at the far end of the table exited their last man before either treasure was lost.  By our house rules, the game ends immediately when any Crew has no more figures on the table, and whoever controls a treasure when that happens gets to keep it, even if they are in contact with an enemy.
     The Dragons proved to be less than eventful down our end of the table.  Two did land at the other end, and caused some consternation for the crews there.  Also, I was lucky in that of the 4 treasures I touched, only two were actually guarded by Undead.
     I don't know how long Barley's luck will hold.  But, I'm happy to report she already reached Level 5 this time, and gained a new ability:  Mystic Energy.   Tork is lagging behind at level 2.  He just isn't casting enough spells.
      I keep waiting to lose a Specialist to have an excuse to make a run back to a port to sell my growing collection of 2-handed weapons, but they all seem to be surviving; which I guess is a good thing. It seems wasteful to sail back just to sell stuff; though I'm sorely tempted.   Since, in reality I may not even go to port to replace a Specialist, as the Heritor Ragnam was operating with a Native Guide this game, which seemed mighty nice to have; but I hate to just fire a Specialist so I can hire a Guide for myself.  Decisions, decisions.
    Well, we now sadly, have a 7 week wait for our next game. :(   But that gives me plenty of time to debate my crew options...