Xherus' Odyssey
The Odyssey of Xherus – English Translation
This Adventure is intended to be played by the Faithful Goblin Xherus the Visionary. The Adventurer's Mentor can be either Gidzzit the Bell-Ringer or The Babayagob.
ACT I: THE DREAM OF A WANDERING RAT
Xherus was running out of breath. Behind him, he could hear the clamor of his pursuers. An impenetrable darkness reigned in these underground passages, but Xherus did not care. Even in the thickest darkness, he could easily perceive his surroundings. He quickly passed several tunnel intersections, never knowing why he took one passage rather than another. Rat guided his steps and he didn't have to wonder.
He suddenly found himself in a dead end. For a moment, his faith wavered. The vociferations of the Dwarves were rapidly approaching. But beyond this concert of imprecations, Xherus perceived a clear sound that was getting louder. The sound of a bell was coming from behind the wall of the underground. The Dwarves were only a few meters away from him now, he could feel their presence. But they had fallen silent and Xherus could also sense their concern. The sound of the bell was now deafening. Suddenly, the walls cracked and whole sections collapsed, burying the Dwarves. In the midst of this hell, Xherus laughed. He had never felt such power.
Then he woke up.
"It was not just a dream." He said to Gidzzit after telling him about it. "Rat sent me a message. It couldn't be clearer."
“What exactly are you thinking?" The mage asked him.
Xherus' gaze lingered for a moment on the bell that Gidzzit never took off. Then he answered.
"When our people fled from Mount Aegis, something remained there. Of the nine gifts Rat gave us, only one survived. The others were lost afterwards. But I'm sure now that one of the bells is still with those damned Dwarves. I will go and get it, for it is Rat's will."
Xherus is well decided to lead an expedition to the Aegis Mountains to satisfy his god. But in Klûne, the Emperor Izothop does not see very well that the Rat's Faithful takes this kind of initiative without referring to him first. For Xherus, in his great fervor, has undertaken to gather a party of Goblins ready to follow him in his quest.
Thus, when the Rat Faithful and his troop attempt to enter the gates of Klûne, the Emperor's guards block their way.
The Adventurer player must manage to get 50% of the A.P. value of his troops (including Xherus himself) out through the opponent's table edge, or eliminate 50% of the A.P. value of the opponent's troops.
No Goblin Faithful may be present among the Adventurer's opponents.
Becbunzen cannot be present during this Act, neither on one side nor the other.
Victory / - : Xherus has managed to force his way out of Klûne. Those who follow him are now certain that Rat is with them. In all subsequent Acts of this Adventure, all Goblins in the Adventurer's camp and Xerus himself will have the Fanaticism Skill.
Defeat: Driven back to the gates of Klûne, Xerus narrowly escapes the Emperor's guards in charge of his arrest. He will have to gather other Goblins and try a new exit. But this first failure has cooled the fervor of his companions. The next time he tries to succeed in this Act, all the Goblins in the Adventurer's camp, except Xherus, will consider the Courage of their opponents as Fear.
Duration: 3 turns. | Deployment: Battle. | Maximum A.P.: 200
ACT II: ARE YOU A WOLF?
To reach the Aegis Mountains, the Goblins have only two possible routes. They will have to cross either the forest of Diisha, territory of the Wolfen, or the Black Woods which extend to the south of No-Dan-Kar. But Xherus does not consider for a moment opting for the second choice. He knows only too well what fate the Drunes have in store for their captives, especially the Faithful.
At least dying at the hands of a Wolfen is quick and they don't devour their prey alive!
The idea of venturing into the forest of the sons of Yllia obviously does not enchant the companions of Xherus, but his talents as an orator, supported by a small miracle, finally succeed in deciding the less reckless.
The first day of walk proceeds without encumbers. However, this is not enough to reassure the Goblins, because it is at night, under the white eye of Yllia, that the Wolfen like to hunt.
Xherus expected to have to repel an attack, but certainly not what happened. Instead of wolf howls, they heard shrill cries for help in their own language in the darkness.
Xherus hesitated for a moment between his desire to increase the ranks of his group and the fear of attracting the danger his brothers were fleeing. His conclusion was that this danger would eventually find them and that, at that moment, the more numerous they were, the better.
So he beat the drum.
A few minutes later, Becbunzen and a detachment of Goblins in a sorry state had joined them.
Returning from a mission for Emperor Izothop, Becbunzen had been spotted by a pack of Wolfen. The Sons of Yllia had initially underestimated them, and the Goblins had cut them to pieces. But because of this, the leader of the pack could no longer let them leave the forest alive. The hunt had been going on for two days now.
Xherus then lied, claiming that he himself had been commissioned by the Emperor to rally any No-Dan-Kar forces that could help him in his mission. Becbunzen was somewhat skeptical, but had little choice. Seconds later, the Wolfen were upon them.
Becbunzen must be in the Adventurer's camp.
The Wolfen are deployed in Siege.
The Wolfen player must designate one of his characters as the leader of the pack.
The Adventurer player wins the game if he succeeds in killing the Wolfen leader or if he has not lost more than 50% of the A.P. value of his troops by the end of the fifth round.
Victory / 3: Becbunzen owes his life to Xherus. To pay his debt, he will accompany him on his quest, though he has no confirmation of the authenticity of the Faithful's claims. For the rest of the adventure, all Ströhm Warriors who join the Adventurer will cost him 2 A.P. less.
Defeat: The Wolfen will not let the Goblins out of their forest until the Adventurer has met at least one of the victory conditions in this Act. Until then, each Loss caused by the enemy in the Hero's ranks will cause him to lose experience points at the rate of 10% of the APs killed rounded up.
Duration: Special.
Deployment: Retrenchment.
Maximum A.P.: 300
ACT II: BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
"And now, what do we do?" Asked the Goblin in a sarcastic tone.
Gathered around Xherus, the small group was not doing well. In front of them stood the first escarpments of the northern Aegis Mountains. Behind them, the edge of the Diisha forest was only a few hundred meters away.
From the foot of the mountains, staircases carved into the rock snaked up to the peaks. From where they stood, the Goblins could make out at least two openings in the wall. Natural or not, these were now framed by massive carvings and flanked by watchtowers that followed the contours of the rocks. Fom-Nur, the city where the Goblin revolt first broke out, lay much further south, but such gates barred access to the inner mounts all around the range.
"We're waiting." Xherus replied with great serenity. "They are very close. They won't be long now."
None of Xherus' companions understood what he meant, but none of them asked him for an explanation. The Rat Faithful have always had a nasty habit of speaking in riddles.
During the night that followed, the Goblins watched the fires burning atop the Dwarf towers. Suddenly it seemed to them that there was a great commotion there. There was shouting and then the sound of a horn. A few moments later, one of the towers collapsed.
Most of the Goblins saw this as the sign of the Rat they had been waiting for and wanted to attack. But Xherus held them back.
"Not yet." He says. "Let them finish the job."
Rat had nothing to do with the tower collapse. He only gave Xherus a vision of what was to come. The real culprits are the Dwarves of Mid-Nor, and while Xherus and his companions wait for the right moment, the battle rages between the Dwarves of Tir-Nâ-Bor and their cursed counterparts.
Later that night, the Goblins finally set out. They climb the stone steps and soon reach the gate, whose guards are lying in their blood. They will hardly put up any more resistance. On the other hand, the Dwarves of Mid-Nor have left some of their own to cover their backs.
The Adventurer player must manage to make his way through. But the more time passes, the greater the risk that the rest of the Mid-Nor troops will return.
The Mid-Nor player has 400 APs, which he must divide into four groups of 100 APs each. Only one of these groups is deployed in the Approach phase. From the beginning of the second turn, the Mid-Nor player rolls 1D6 before each Movement Phase. On the first roll, on a result of 6, another group of 100 SPs arrives in play as if the combatants in it had the Reinforcement skill. In each subsequent turn, the result decreases by 1. Thus, on the third turn, a group of Mid-Nor Dwarves will arrive on a result of 5 or more. From the seventh turn on, no die roll is necessary, if there are still groups to be brought into play, one of them will automatically arrive each turn.
The Adventurer player must eliminate all their opponents on the playing field. If at the end of a turn no more Mid-Nor Dwarves are present on the battlefield, the Adventurer player wins.
Victory / 4: The Goblins have managed to infiltrate the Dwarves' underground. Better yet, the attack on the gate was carried out by the Despot's servants, so the Dwarves of Tir-Nâ-Bor are unaware of the presence of Xherus and his companions. In the next scenario, five fighters chosen by the Adventurer player will have the Pathfinder Skill.
Defeat: Pushed out of the mountain, the Goblins will have to come back and try again to dislodge the Dwarves of Mid-Nor. But the Dwarves will be more cautious. The first group to be deployed will be composed of 160 P.A. and the following ones of 80 P.A. only.
Duration: Unlimited. | Deployment: Battle. | Maximum A.P.: 300
ACT II: LIKE RATS...
The many battles that Xherus and his companions had to fight to get here had left their little group very weakened. But this did not really worry the Rat Faithful. The fewer they were, the more they would be able to pass unnoticed in the maze of underground passages that ran through the Aegis Mountains.
But even if they were to be as discreet and silent as shadows, infiltrating the heart of a Dwarf city was impossible. Xherus knew this, but he also knew that Rat would not abandon them so close to their goal. More than ever, his unshakeable faith in his god guided his steps.
The Goblins first followed abandoned tunnels and natural passages too narrow for the Dwarves to use. But soon they were forced to continue their advance through tunnels frequented by the masters of the place and most often guarded. And while the fate of the first Dwarves they encountered was sealed by surprise, their presence did not remain unknown for long. When the alarm was given, the warriors of Tir-Nâ-Bor appeared from all sides and cut off their retreat.
Nothing could have saved the lives of this handful of Goblins isolated in the middle of their sworn enemies' domain. Nothing except perhaps a divine intervention...
As the Dwarves surrounded the Goblins and the slaughter seemed inevitable, Xherus let out a high-pitched yelp. His cry went on and on, rattling the eardrums of his companions and the Dwarves alike. But, little by little, the Goblins changed their behavior. A gleam of savagery came into their eyes as a murderous insanity took hold of their minds. Some screamed terrifyingly, others bit their lips to the quick or mutilated themselves with their own weapons. This incredible scene threw the Dwarves into turmoil and they hesitated for a moment too long. At the height of his scream, Xherus gave the signal for the slaughter.
For this Act, the Goblins have 150 A.P. The Dwarves have 300 A.P. at their disposal
In this scenario, all Dwarves except the characters have the Reinforcement Skill.
Goblins acquire the following Skills: Possessed, Fierce and Warrior Fury. In addition, their Attack and Strength scores are increased by 2 points and they are immune to all forms of Fear. Only Goblin fighters are subject to these changes.
The Dwarf player must place 5 exits in his Deployment zone. These exits are 10 cm wide and must be at least 25 cm apart.
To win, Xherus must be able to exit the battlefield through one of these exits.
Victory / - : thanks to Rat's intervention, Xherus managed to force the passage. The divine possession is slowly fading, but he still feels the presence of his god within him. In the next Act, Xherus will not be subject to the restrictions of the Call of the Miracles, in the same way as if he were a Warrior-Monk.
Defeat: Despite Rat's support, Xerus has been pushed out of the Dwarf domain. He will have to wait for his prayers to be answered and for reinforcements to arrive. The Adventurer must repeat this Act, but loses 2D6 experience points.
Duration: Unlimited.
Deployment: Battle.
Maximum A.P.: Special.
ACT III: THE RATS AMONG THEMSELVES
Xherus was running out of breath. He knew he was completely lost but refused to give up. Rage distorted his features: to fail so close to the goal, betrayed by one of his own! And that's what upset him the most. Nematode, his Shadow, had followed him all along his journey and had tried to assassinate him in order to take the Rat relic alone. Now Xherus found himself alone or almost alone, accompanied by meager surviving troops, lost in the bowels of these cursed mountains of Tir-Na-Bor, pursued by both the elite troops of the Dwarf army and by his compatriot. The tunnel soon became a crossroads, two dark gutters opened before his eyes. Xherus was distraught and almost abandoned everything here. Suddenly he felt his body bathed in a great heat and a chiming echo warped his eardrums. "To the right!" he shouted in a high-pitched voice. His little escort obeyed without asking too many questions. As for Xherus, he was transfigured, he knew he was close to his goal, that the much sought-after Tinkerbell was just a few steps away, and he ran like hell. They finally arrived in a gigantic cavern whose ceiling was lost in the darkness. The atmosphere was suffocating, pestilential, a pungent, animal smell bathed the room. As he entered the room, Xherus realized that the floor was covered with thousands of rats with bloodshot eyes. He went deeper into the room, the rodents came and went around his legs in dark waves, opening a channel before his steps. In the center of the room stood a mound of skulls, broken bones, and more or less decomposed corpses: a veritable graveyard of rats that had come to die close to their deity. For above this mound was a metal bell, still glowing despite the passage of time. But immediately Xherus let out a howl of rage: just a few meters away, between him and his precious treasure, stood Nematode, smiling at him with an evil look. It was time for a confrontation.
Cut your game board into three equal areas lengthwise. Your opponent must place a marker anywhere in one of the side areas of the table, this is the Bell of the Rat God. 10 cm away from this target, still in this area, is Nematode. Its characteristics are indicated below and you can equip it for 30 A.P. of Spells, it follows the usual rules of Shadows and it is your opponent who controls it.
Deploy Xherus and his followers more than their Change distance from Nematode, in the center area of the table. Xherus has 40 A.P. to equip with Miracles and Items, and 60 A.P. of troops. For this game the Reinforcement rules cannot be applied. On the other hand, the Goblins are galvanized by the presence of the relic of the Rat god: Xherus gains the Exalted skill and calculates his temporary Faith value as if he had the rank of a Zealot, all the Goblins surrounding him are considered Martyr / 2.
The Dwarves are deployed on the table in the third area and have 200 A.P. The thousands of rats swarming across the room make movement difficult: it is impossible for the Dwarves to Charge, yet they can engage an opponent under normal conditions; the Goblins of course ignore this malus.
In order for Xherus to take the Bell, all he has to do is come in contact with the marker. Once in possession of the relic, the wrath of the Rat god is unleashed: a shrill squeak bursts from the Bell, inflicting a "STUN" on all Dwarves within 15 cm of Xherus as he grabs the object. The Devotee can now call upon the second power of the Bell: he can Call up a miracle with a fervor of 3 and a difficulty of 8.
If the miracle is successfully called, the shrill sound of the Bell destroys stones and rocks and Xherus can drop a rock on his enemies up to 20 cm away. Take a Confrontation card: all the miniatures placed even partially under the card suffer a Force 10 hit. Nematode can take the Bell but cannot use its powers, Xherus can only recover it from his corpse. Dwarves and non-character Goblins cannot touch this artifact, which is a manifestation of the Rat God on Aarklash.
Xherus is victorious if he can take the relic and get rid of all the Dwarves and his Shadow.
Victory: Xerus is the owner of one of the nine bells of the Rat god, his deep devotion has been rewarded. He definitely gains the Exalted skill, a mark of his devotion and fervor towards his deity. Rat knows how to thank his most faithful servants! In addition, he now has a new bell with different effects than the one belonging to Gidzzit, and whose powers are described below.
Defeat: If Xherus were to die, he would have to restart the Adventure from Act II entitled "Like Rats".
But Rat only grants his powers to his most deserving servants: for the next game, each miracle he acquires will cost him an extra 4 AP.
Duration : Special
Deployment : Special
Maximum A.P.: Special
MOV: 10
INI: 6
ATT/STR: 3 / 4
DEF/RES: 2 / 4
AIM: -
COU: 5
DIS: 2
POW: 5
Equipment: Dagger. Necklace of teeth. Rat fur.
Abilities: Survival instinct. Mutagenic / 0. Air Initiate / Sorcery. Mutation.
Rank: Goblin Initiate Shadow
Cost: Special
The nine bells offered by the Rat God at the liberation of the Goblins all represent one aspect of this deity. The bell held by Gidzzit, for example, evokes the frenzy of the pack of rats, the fury of the Goblin people in a common hatred. The one that Xherus has just found awakens the voice of Rat. When this artifact is activated, the shrill sound of thousands of rodents squeaking invades the space. This intolerable noise assaults the eardrums to the point of tearing. The faithful Goblins think that among the missing bells, one must symbolize the Rat's ability to transmit diseases, another one must mark his cunning and deviousness, and the last one his ability to sneak everywhere. But who knows where these mythical relics might be.
When the bell is shaken, the terrible noise it makes sends all combatants into a stupor. Any miniature within a 15 cm radius of the owner of the bell is considered to be "STUNNED" until the end of the turn. Goblins are immune to the effect of this item.
This power can only be used once per game, during the Shooting and Magic phase.
But Faithful Goblins handling the Bell can increase the power of Rat's gut-wrenching scream tenfold. They call up this other power only once per turn, as a Miracle with the following characteristics:
Creation 0 / Alteration 2 / Destruction 0
Cult: Rat.
Difficulty: 8 / Range: 20 cm.
Area of effect: an obstacle.
Duration: Special.
Fervor: 3
The cry of Rat destroys a piece of scenery. Any miniature standing on the destroyed object must succeed in a high jump or suffer damage from the fall. Any miniature within 2.5 cm of the targeted piece of scenery suffers a Strength 5 Injury.
You cannot use both powers of the Bell during the same turn.
This item is reserved for Xherus, who can acquire it for free once he has emerged victorious from Act III of Xherus' Odyssey.