The Awakening


Author: Mark Brendan © 1999

In this scenario a patrol of Elves from the House of the Crystal Lotus have stumbled across a small Stygian Ziggurat, recently uncovered by the shifting sands in the northern reaches of the Land of Two Rivers. The officers insist that the patrol camp nearby and keep the building under round the clock surveillance until reinforcements arrive, much to the weary troops discomfort. Once this happens they will be able to explore the Ziggurat properly and, they hope, raid the loot such edifices are rumored to contain. However, this unwelcome break in the journey home is only the beginning of the Elves´ problems.

Stygian vs. Crystal Lotus


The foreboding entrance to the Stygian Ziggurat looked like a gaping maw in the bright noonday sun. The dark shadows within seemed to be filled with disturbing watchfulness, staring at Canix from the pale expanse of desert. The Elf sighed, and hitching the ivory bow over his armored shoulder he scrambled back down the powdery dune to where the rest of his camp waited. This miserable, arid climate really didn´t suit the folk of the House if the Crystal Lotus he concluded, longing to be somewhere altogether chilier, more bracing than this stultifying heat.
At Carnix´s approach, the replacement sentry tossed aside the hunk of trail bread he´d been munching on, quickly washed it down with a gulp of water from his canteen and moved towards the archer. Other Elves lounged in the shade of the palm trees around the small oasis where they had chosen to camp, vainly trying to keep cool.
"How goes the watch, Canix?" Inquired the younger Elf.
"Would you believe nothing to report? This is becoming decidedly boring, not to mention uncomfortable. When are these reinforcements supposed to be arriving anyway?"
"It should be anytime soon, if we´re to believe our illustrious leaders. Anyway, business as usual for now I suppose."
With that the sentry made his way to the top of the dune to take up his post. Canix had barely turned his back to take up his own well earned place in the shade when the sentry´s clear voice rang through the camp.
"Stygian! They´re everywhere! We´re surrounded and they´re coming out of the ground!"

Stygian vs. Crystal Lotus


Scenery

For this scenario you´re going to need some desert terrain. If you don´t have a sand covered gaming board (which we appreciate most people aren´t going to have) then a large beige cloth or canvass measuring 6 Inch x 4 Inch will be ideal. Aside from this you´ll need several palm trees, two large sand dunes, a Stygian Ziggurat and a pool of water.


Choosing Armies

The Elf player chooses 500 points of Crstyal Lotus troops in the normal way.
The Stygian player chooses 1.000 points of Stygian with the following restriction. If you decide to include a Stygian Priestess in your force, she is forbidden to take any of these spells: Sandstorm, Quicksand and Greater Desert Wyrm. This is to give the Elves a fighting chance, because their deployment restriction would make these spells devastating to say the least.


Setting up

When you have gathered all the necessary scenery together then set up the gaming area as shown in the diagram.

Diagram


Deployment

Roll for who deploys first in the usual maner described in the Chronopia Rulebook. The Elves deploy in the center of the table in the area enclosed by the sand dunes and the outermost palm trees as indicated by the shaded area. Stygian Units may be deploeyd within 6 inches of any table edge.


The Battle

Since this skirmish takes place in the northern deserts of the Land of Two Rivers, the Desert Climate Effects table does not apply. This battle is fought over a random number of Turns, indicating the uncertain amount of time it takes for the Elven reinforcements to arrive. Starting with the end of Turn 4, roll 1d20 at the end of each Turn and consult the following table to see if the battle is over:

Turn Number Dice Roll
4 16-20
5 13-20
6 10-20
7 8-20
8 1-20

If you roll a number in the range indicated by the dice roll column, then the game automatically ends. You will note that if the reinforcement haven´t turned up by Turn 8 then they will automatically do so at the end of that turn.

Stygian vs. Crystal Lotus


Victory Points

This game has sudden death victory conditions rather than victory points. If there are any Elves left when the reinforcements turn up then the game is an Elf victory; they´ve held their position and avoided the possibility of a Stygian ambush befalling their comrades. If the Stygian completely wipe out the Elves before their reinforcements arrive then game is a stygian victory.
First version from 23.03.2008. Last version from 24.03.2008.

Article from ChronopiaWorld.com