Scenario 1: At The East Gate
Story: In the first few years after the founding of the Northern
Alliance, the dwarves of Knalga and the human population of Dwarven
Doors were fully preoccupied with rebuilding what had been broken by
the long orcish occupation. But soon enough they prospered once
again. The dwarves begin mining their past for inspiration in ways to
rebuild Knalga do it would be even greater than before, and reaching
out for contact with their scattered kinfolk.
But the threat from renegade orcs, wild men, and remnant undead was
not yet ended. The dwarves kept strong guards on the approaches to
Knalga. In the year 550 after the founding of Wesnoth, the captain of
the East Gate received a warning that a small band of rogue orcs
had been sighted.
Aiglondur: Up axes! We will be the Northern Alliance's arm today,
and kill or scatter these renegades.
Bashnark, Orcish Warrior: We are the true orcs, not the weaklings who
ally with human-worms and stinky-midgets like you. You will be
meat for our wolves,
Battle follows. This one should be a relatively mall-scale meeting
engagement in country that is wooded and mountainous, but scattered with
small human and dwarvish farms. Aiglondur and his guards should start
from an underground keep on the west edge of the map, set into the east
edge of impassable mountains and marked "East Gate".
Dwarven Supporter: What is this? Their vanquished leader wears a
cloak-pin of dwarvish make. And it bears a loremaster's emblem.
Aiglondur: The maker's mark is strange to me. We had best consult the
lord Hamel.
Scenario 2: Reclaiming The Past
This is a story-only scene to take place in Lord Hamel's throne room.
This is the same Hamel as in Northern Rebirth.
Hamel: Aiglondur, what ye ha' found is disturbing, for all it's
a small thing. I make known to ye Angarthing, loremaster in training,
who recognized the mark on it.
Angarthing is a Dwarvish Witness. This is the first level of a new
unit line: Dwarvish Witness, Dwarvish Annalist, and Dwarvish Loremaster.
Statistics for the line follow:
Dwarvish Witness:
A Witness functions as the eyes of the dwarves' history, a deep lore
that they never share with outsiders. The presence of a Witness
inspires dwarvish warriors with the knowledge that their deeds (and
their deaths) will not go unrecorded. They learn a fighting style
deliberately unlike that of their fellows, one designed to turn the
vaunted strength of the dwarves against itself. The person of a
Witness is considered sacred, and Witnesses are often used as envoys
between dwarvish clans.
HP: 30
Moves: 5
Cost: 20
Alignment: neutral
Required XP: 32
Attacks:
flail, impact 5-2, melee
bolas, impact, 6-1, slows
Abilities: Leadership 2.
No special resistances.
Advances to Dwarvish Annalist
(This unit is designed to be a bit tougher and more combat-capable
than an Evish Shaman, but distinctly weaker than a Dwarvish
Fighter. It is deliberately expensive, as the boosted leadership
ability is powerful.)
Dwarvish Annalist:
Dwarvish Annalists are the historians of this ancient and proud race.
They are few in number, and their very existence is not generally known
to the other peoples of the Great Continent. To the abilities of thew
Witness they add, through the study of herb and mineral lore, the
ability to cure poison.
HP: 40
Moves: 5
Cost: 40
Alignment: neutral
Required XP: 80
Attacks:
flail, impact 7-2, melee
bolas, impact, 6-2, slows
Abilities: Leadership 3, cure.
No special resistances.
Advances to Dwarvish Loremaster
Dwarvish Loremaster:
Loremasters are the sages of the dwarvish race. Their counsel is
greatly valued by war-leaders and chieftains, and they are viewed
with awe by ordinary dwarves, for they alone have plumbed the
deepest and most closely-held secrets of dwarven knowledge. It is
said that where a loremaster stands, there is the soul of the dwarves.
To the abilities of the Annalist they add a limited ability to heal.
HP: 50
Moves: 5
Cost: 50
Alignment: neutral
Attacks:
flail, impact 9-2, melee
bolas, impact, 6-3, slows
Abilities: Leadership 4. cure, heal+4.
No special resistances.
Angarthing: The mark on this cloak-pin is that of our kin at Kal Kartha
in the eastern hills, from whom we've heard nothing since Tallin
broke the orcish tyranny. It troubles us that an orc should have come to
possess it; no orc should even have learned that the order of loremasters
exists, let alone come near enough one to get this.
Hamel: I fear some grave ill may have become Kal Kartha.
Angarthing: And I fear for the Hammer of Thursagan. Our kin at
Kal Kartha have been its keepers since a hero of their line
recovered it from the Caverns of Flame, centuries ago.
Aiglondur: The Hammer of Thursagan?
Angarthing: Aye. The very tool with which our greatest runesmith made
the Scepter of Fire. But it is old, far older than Thursagan; he was
but the last to wield it, and our oldest histories hint that this very
hammer was used to forge the dwarves themselves in the heart of the
earth.
Aiglondur: But if the dwarves of Kal Kartha have held it all this
time, why has none wielded it since Thursagan?
Hamel: Because when the Hammer was lost in the Caverns of Flame, all
the runesmiths then living — all those who had sworn to the craft and
bound themselves to the power o' the Hammer — died o' shock at the
same moment as Thursagan. Their craft secrets died with them. That
is why there are nae runesmiths among the Dwarves today, and sorely we
miss them.
Angarthing: That is what is said, my lord Hamel, and it is true.
Except this; the guild of loremasters has given me leave to reveal
that the craft secrets were not, actually, quite as lost as we
believed.
Hamel: What is this ye say? Nae lost?
Angarthing: Aye. Ye'll recall that in repairing the western galleries
we cleared a small cave-in hard by where Thursagan himself once had a workshop
here, before he left to study in solitude in the further North.
Hamel: And ye found something?
Angarthing: A book. Thursagan's book, in a secret and locked
compartment he must have dug from the living rock himself by unaided
runecraft. The cave-in breached it. It has taken us great effort to
puzzle out his code. But it might be that, with the book and the
Hammer to hand, we could train and initiate runesmiths once more.
Hamel: And for what cause ha' I heard naught o' this?
Angarthing: My lord, the find was very recent. We are still
deciphering the book. And there is this: with the Hammer at Kal
Kartha and the book here, the question of which holding shall have the
training of the new runesmiths in its hands would be…delicate.
Angarthing: We feared stirring up a controversy before the book
was even properly understood.
Hamel: I'll grant that was well thought, even if I am nae entirely
pleased to have been kept in the dark. But ye came to me with a
request, and I think I ken what it will be.
Aiglondur: That is obvious; the loremasters want to send an expedition
to Kal Kartha to find what has become of our kindred and the Hammer.
Angarthing: Indeed, that is what we came to ask.
Hamel: And you spoke my guess, Aiglondur. Are you not kin of mine?
Aiglondur: Your great-nephew, my lord.
Hamel: Ye're young and not tested…but ye have the rank, and ye've
shown the wits to use it. I have decided. You and Angarthing will
fare to Kal Kartha together, as soon as may be, with the best men of
your guard.
Aiglondur: Aye, my Lord Hamel.
Angarthing: Thank you, my Lord Hamel.
Aiglondur: We must make haste; winter approaches, and travel over
the mountains will soon grow dangerous.
Scenario 3: Strange Allies
Story: Angarthing and Aiglondur and their men traveled swiftly to the east
through the settled lands of the Northern Alliance. Soon enough
they came to the wilder march country, where raids by large bands
of hostile orcs and men were all too common.
Marth Tak: In the name of the Alliance, quit these lands now!
Gothras: We will fare where we will and take what we will, dog of
an orc. To the Dark Gods with you and your precious "Alliance".
Angarthing: Now that is a sight still strange to my eyes - an orc
fighting for the Northern Alliance.
Aiglondur: Aye. I'm surprised myself that so many of the orcish
tribes came over to the Alliance. Not so strange to see humans
raiding us, worse luck.
Marth Tak: You, on the road! Are you of the Northern Alliance or not?
Aiglondur: We are.
Marth Tak: Well, then, honor the treaty as I have.
Angarthing: That is our duty.
Aiglondur: For the Alliance! Axes up!
Player controls Aiglondur's troops with Marth Tak's as allies; the
stinger is that if Marth Tak dies, you lose. The opponent, Gothras,
leads a large force of chaotic humans. This should be a medium-sized
but serious fight. The only terrain feature fixed by storyline is a
west-to-east road; player's troops should start near its west end,
enemy near the east.
Alternate possibility: This scenario might be a branch point for the
campaign, with the player getting a choice of who to side with and
consequences for the plot later on. If we take this path, siding with
the orcs should give player the ability to recruit some orcish units.
Siding with the bandits should give the player the ability to recruit
human chaotics.
Scenario 4: Troll Bridge
Story: Aiglondur and his men, some still shaking their heads dubiously
at very the notion of fighting alongside orcs rather than against them,
continued east to the very edge of the Alliance's lands.
Gronk: Dis a troll bridge. You pay toll. Er…
Gronk: Dat not right. Dis a toll bridge. You pay troll. Er…
Gronk: Big words confuse Gronk. You pay now or we smash.
Angarthing: The stonework of yon bridge is not good enough to be
dwarf-made, but it is nowhere near crude enough to be troll-work.
Aiglondur: Then it will be of the Alliance's making, right enough,
like this road that leads to it. It won't do to have wild trolls
squatting on it.
Short, small-scale scenario. East-west road as before, river and bridge
near the east edge. Defeat all enemies.
Scenario 5: Invaders
Map for this one should be hilly country developing to snowy mountains
at the eastern edge. Three orcish leaders should be present.
Aiglondur: What's this? Large orcish war-bands so close to the
Alliance's border? That can only mean trouble.
Tan-Malgar: Well, boys, we were planning to invade the Northern
Alliance anyway…these dwarves should make a tasty appetizer.
Tan-Grolak: Yeah, boss. Anything to get away from those masked ones…
Tan-Malgar: Be silent. We are orc warriors; we do not flee foes.
Tan-Uthkar: But, given a choice, we fight the weaker foe first,
This should be a full-scale battle with a long turn limit. Objective
is to defeat all enemy leaders.
Scenario 6: High Pass
Angarthing: Behold, the High Pass. By the old maps, we are halfway to
Kal Kartha here.
Aiglondur: We must push through quickly; there is a vicious storm
coming in behind us. Being caught in a blizzard on those heights
would be no laughing matter.
The map should be a twisty, narrow path through rugged snow-capped
mountains. The objective will be to get Aiglondur through to the
other side. The opponents will be gryphons, wolves, trolls, ogres,
and the elements. We should try to get creative with representing the
effects of extreme cold, perhaps something like the dehydration effect
in UtBS. And the time-limit should be tight.
There should be a village near the midpoint of the pass. When the players
occupy it, a Red Mage named Ratheln will appear.
Ratheln: Hail, I am Ratheln. If you're traveling down the pass,
please take me with you. I am near freezing and starving to death up
here.
Angarthing: Pardon my curiosity, but what is a firemage doing freezing to
death?
Ratheln: In case you haven't noticed, there is a serious shortage of
both firewood and food in this gods-forsaken slot. And the damned
gryphons descend on me whenever I stir out of this shack. I've
had nothing to eat but flash-roasted gryphon for the last three
weeks.
Aiglondur: Where were you bound when you got stuck here?
Ratheln: There is a school of mages near the east end of the pass.
They've an opening for an instructor, and they're expecting me.
Angarthing: Let's take him with us, Aiglondur. We know little
about the country beyond to the east; we've had few reports on it
since before the orcs took Knalga. Those mages should know at
least rumors.
Aiglondur: Aye. And I'd not leave anyone who had done my kin no harm
stranded to starve.
On victory:
Aiglondur: We're through the pass!
Angarthing: That may not be a blessing. Something frightened those
orcs enough to make them push west into Alliance territory. Don't you
wonder what it was?
Aiglondur: Aye. But I've a grim feeling we might be going to
discover that in person.
On halfway through the turns:
Aiglondur: It has begun to snow. Move, everyone! To be trapped here
would be death.
On time out:
Aiglondur: We're snowed in. Our mission has failed, even if we live.
Scenario 7: Mages and Drakes
The map for this one should reverse the pattern of "Invaders" — it
needs snowy mountains on the west side trailing off into rough country
towards the east. An allied castle should be located near the player's
encampment, both near the west edge and not too distant from the road
coming down out of High Pass. It is a school of magery, with a
Great Mage leader named Perrin who can recruit only mages. Near the
eastern edge will be a drake encampment with a Flameheart named Glashal
as its leader.
Mage Supporter: Perrin! A mage comes down from the High Pass, with
a company of dwarves. They are well-armed, but not in battle array.
Perrin: That will be Ratheln, I expect. Hail! You on the road!
Who comes bearing arms into our valley?
Glashal: Our valley, says Perrin. The arrogance of these mages
is intolerable!
Aiglondur: A delegation of the Northern Alliance, traveling east.
We found a friend of yours in the High Pass.
Perrin: Well met, then. But if you intend to travel east of here,
beware of the nest of drakes in the cliffs near the valley's end.
They were here before us, and have become more hostile to
travelers of late.
Glashal: The axe-bearers must not be let near our nestlings. Attack!
If Perrin is alive at time of victory, this happens:
Perrin: We're grateful for your assistance. And I'd like to send
at least one of our senior apprentices with you to the east. It has come
time for them to be journeymen…and I sense something being born
to the east that I do not like the feel of.
Angarthing: What sort of thing?
Perrin: There is some great magic brewing. Something…evil. I feel
its traces in the currents of the earth and air.
Aiglondur: We have had other hints of this. But we must press on.
At easy level:
Ratheln: Perrin, I think it is my duty to go with them. I'll return
with your apprentices as soon as I may.
At easy level, the player gets Ratheln and two apprentices.
At normal, two appentices. At hard, one apprentice. The
apprentices are L1 mages advanced in their training, and start with
half the XP they will need to advance to L2.
Scenario 8: Fear
Map begins fogged for the player. There will be one village within sight
of their keep. When they visit it or on turn 2, the peasant Ollin appears.
Ollin: Don't kill me, masters! Please don't kill me!
Aiglondur: You're in no danger from us. What lies to the east of here?
Ollin: You wear no mask. You…you're not with them?
Aiglondur: What are you talking about?
Ollin: The masked dwarves. Killing, burning, kidnapping. Look…
The fog lifts. Near the east end of the valley is the enemy keep.
Several burned villages lie near it.
Masked Leader: Fellow dwarves, hail! We're looking for a human refugee,
one named Ollin. Have you seen him? Our master demands his life.
Aiglondur: He is here. How has he wronged your master, that you seek
his death?
Masked Leader: Does it matter? He is only a dirtgrubbing human, not
fit to polish the boots of the true people.
Angarthing: What is your name, masked one? Will you stand behind your
deed? I am a witness.
Masked Leader: A witness? My name is…my name is not important.
My deed will speak its own truth.
Angarthing: You speak without honor. Mine is the power of our ancient
Law; speak your name and give up your murder, or the Law will cast you
forth. I am a witness!
Masked Leader: If you were a witness of the true people, you would
not let a dirtgrubber hide behind your robes. I deny you!
Aiglondur: Up axes!
Angarthing: The Law speaks: you are cast out. You are un-dwarf.
I AM A WITNESS!
Objectives: Kill the masked dwarf.
On Ollin's first combat, he should say this…
Ollin: Take that for my family's memory, you murderer!
On victory:
Aiglondur: They are defeated.
Angarthing: You have acted in honor. I am a witness.
Aiglondur: I have never seen the formal banishment before. One reads
of it in the old tales, of course, but to hear it with one's own ears?
It was…unsettling.
Angarthing: It is not something we do often. The last such was in my
grandsire's time. But look at what these filth were carrying if you
have any doubt it was merited.
Aiglondur: Whips. Shackles. No, Angarthing, I would not doubt
you, even if it were my place to doubt a loremaster.
Angarthing: They were seeking captives. To what purpose, I cannot
say. But I doubt it was any good one.
Scenario 9: Forbidden Forest
Most of the map should be forest. The road east peters out here.
There should be one keep of woses and one or more camps of elves
in the forest.
The scenario should begin with an elvish scout, Elurin, fake-moving
to within sight of the player encampment.
Elurin: Who disturbs our forest?
Angarthing: A delegation of the Northern Alliance, seeking the
road through to Kal Kartha.
Elurin: We allow few outsiders in our forest paths, and no dwarves
since the masked ones began to trouble our eastern margins. No
axe-bearers shall come near our trees. Return whence you came!
Aiglondur: No. We have our duty. We must pass.
Elurin: You shall not pass here.
Angarthing: Winter comes on us, and your forest straddles the only
gap in these mountains. You leave us no choice but to fight you.
Elurin: So be it, then. Yours will not be the first bones
to nourish the earth of our forest.
Scenario 10: The Siege of Kal Kartha
The map should be thematically something like a reflection of the one
for "At The East Gate", but on a larger scale. The player's
encampment should be at the west edge. Kal Kartha will be
represented by an underground keep (the West Gate) set into
high mountains at the east edge of the map.
Angarthing: Behold! The West Gate of Kal Kartha!
Aiglondur: And under siege, I see. There is a mighty host of orcs
between us and that gate.
The battle should be a big, open-field brawl designed to drain the
player's gold before the final, plot-intensive scenarios.
The West Gate should be occupied by a leader, Dulcatulos.
The objective is to kill all enemies, but you also lose if
Dulcatulos dies. The message should be:
Aiglondur: Kal Kartha is taken. Our mission has failed.
On victory, the message should be:
Dulcatulos: Well fought, and our thanks; we were sore pressed. You are
our honored guests, and I will show you to the best quarters we have
myself. Our lord, the runesmith Karrag, will want to have speech with
you on the morrow.
Angarthing: A runesmith? There had been none such since Thursagan's
day. And for one to lead a holding was unheard-of; they tended towards
the solitary life.
Dulcatulos: Aye? Well, you'd know such things better than I,
loremaster. Our Karrag toiled for long years to recover the craft
lore. He was elevated when our old lord fell in battle against the
besieging orcs. Karrag himself was wounded near to death; none
thought he would recover. But he leads us today, and his runelore has
oft been the only shield between us and the orcs.
Angarthing: He has grasped the Hammer of Thursagan, then?
Dulcatulos: Aye. Toils over it in a workshop in the underlevels with
his personal followers. He has promised all of us that the Hammer's power
will smash and scatter all our enemies.
Angarthing: That is strange. The Hammer is a tool of crafting and
making, not a weapon. What can he mean to do with it?
Dulcatulos: That's for lords and loremasters to worry about, not the
likes of me. Here are your quarters; I must see to my troop's care.
Food will be brought to you; rest well, we will speak again.
Scenario 11: The Court of Karrag
This scenario will take place on a throneroom map which is, effectively,
all castle. It should have two keep hexes on it, one near the front
for our heroes and one at the rear for Karrag. Features of the
map must include an indication of a doorway in the cave wall near the
rear dais. The throneroom map should in general look like a near
mirror image of Hamel's, but with the braziers unlit.
Aiglondur, Angarthing, and a few of their veteran followers face Karrag,
flanked by several of his followers. Dulcatulos escorts our heroes.
Karrag's group should have black team disks and Dulcatulos a blue one.
Aiglondur: (Psst, Angarthing…Karrag and those dwarves on the dais,
they're all masked.)
Angarthing: (I see it. There is something very wrong here.)
Karrag: Hail, fellow dwarves. All Kal Kartha thanks you for your
timely rescue.
Aiglondur: We are from Knalga; your clans are kin to ours of old.
We but did our duty to kin.
Karrag: All dwarves are kin, and must prevail against orcs and humans
and other dirtgrubbers. You can be part of the fist that smites them.
Angarthing: We did not come to smite, but to re-open contact and trade.
Karrag: Trade? Your destruction of the besieging orcs was a far
nobler act than trade. There can be more such victories. And
there will be by the power of our ancient heirloom, the Hammer of
Thursagan.
Angarthing: It is remembered in Knalga that Kal Kartha holds
the Hammer.
Karrag: Yes! And the Hammer holds the soul of the dwarves, the
true people. Together, we can march to greater victories! Will
you join me?
Angarthing: On one condition. You must take off that mask and
show your true face. I am a witness.
Karrag: You…do not wish to see what is beneath this mask. I was
terribly wounded in an orcish attack. Disfigured.
Angarthing: But the Law must see. A dwarf must put his name
and his face behind his deeds. I am a witness.
Karrag: Impertinent fool! It is not for you to dictate to a lord in
his own holding, much less one who holds the very soul of the dwarves
in his hand.
Angarthing: The Law speaks. Against him with the eyes to see,
no deception can hold. I AM A WITNESS!
After this should come a lich-scream sound effect as Karrag changes
type to a lich and his followers morph into undead. (There is a way
to accomplish this; Liberty's 3rd scenario does it.)
Dulcatulos: No…no…it is horrible! My lord, how did it come to this?
Karrag: I lingered for weeks in agony. Only my hatred and the runelore
of old sustained me, until I became as I am. I will have revenge;
I will destroy the orcs, and the humans, and the elves, and all but the
true people!
Karrag: And you have sealed your doom. Hundreds of dirtgrubbers have
already died to weave a web of blood around the Hammer and the soul of
the dwarves. You and your new friends will be the the last sacrifices I
require to bind the entire dwarvish race to my purpose. TAKE THEM!
Battle begins. The stated objective is to kill Karrag, but on the
first weapon-strike he will scream, fake-move to the doorway,
and disappear.
Dulcatulos: He has fled to the underlevels.
Angarthing: We must follow. Quickly! Or, I fear, he he will complete
his foul spell.
Scenario 12: The Underlevels
Dulcatulos becomes part of the player's side. He is a hero; he will
be required for the Epilog.
This scenario should be a big, elaborate dungeon crawl in the style of NR:
Clearing The Mines, with lots of undead enemies and a long turn limit.
Because Dulcatulos is with the player, the layout starts known but fogged.
Every few turns (interval depending on the scenario length) there should
be a crunching sound, a death cry, and a popup from Karrag announcing
that the Hammer has smashed the skull of another dirtgrubber.
On victory:
Karrag: No! No! Dirtgrubbers must die! The true people must rule all!
Aiglondur: The true people speak through our axes. Die, foul lich.
Scenario 13: Epilog
Back to Karrag's throne room. A throng of Kal Kartha's survivors and
Aiglondur's troops have gathered there. The braziers are lit.
Angarthing: Dwarves of Kal Kartha, I speak the Law. Your house is cast down;
you have harbored a great evil. Who now will take the burden of cleansing
this holding of its taint?
Narrator: The dwarves of Kal Kartha muttered among themselves and looked at
one another uneasily. None stepped forward.
Dulcatulos: Loremaster…none of us is fit to take up the lordship. Karrag
fooled us all, made us the tools of his foul scheme.
A lancer, named Pelias, fake-moves into the throne-room.
Pelias: I was told I'd find Aiglondur of Knalga here. I bear a
message from Tallin, the Lord Protector of the Alliance.
Aiglondur: I am he. Speak your message.
Pelias: I have been on your track for weeks. Word of your rout of
Tan-Malgar and his allies spread, and reached Tallin. You did the
Alliance better service than you knew that day; Tan-Malgar had
exchanged messages with certain orcish chieftains within the Alliance, and
your victory prevented a dangerous revolt.
Pelias: Aiglondur, the Protector dubs you a Lord Companion of the Alliance.
He bids you return to Knalga as soon as convenient, for your investiture.
Dulcatulos: (wonderingly) A Lord Companion? And kin of ours…
Some random Kal Karthan: It would be no shame for a Lord Companion
to rule this holding, as Hamel does at Knalga.
Narrator: The Kal Karthans looked at each other, and Aiglondur, with
dawning hope.
Angarthing: It would be fitting. The Loremasters will approve.
Aiglondur: Pelias, my thanks to the Lord Protector; I will attend
him in the spring. But it seems that I have some work to do here first.