The Scoundrel

Sometimes you need a way to justify infighting in a faction; for the devanu the explnation could be distinct tribes fighting for control, but for the empire, it is harder. Hence:

The Scoundrel – A World of Twilight Scenario

A Skirmish Level 'Civil War' Special Scenario

- was a small village on the outskirts of the Empire, not far from the great forest, -. Life wasn't easy for the fubarnii living there, but they had grown accustomed to measures against the Devanu that in the central empire might seem extreme, and did what they could to get by.

They had means to live, but despite their frontier settlement status, they still had to pay tithes, as did all the 'steads in the Empire, to the Emperor, to the Order of knights and, of course, the merchants guild.

It was only grudgingly that the Fubarnii of - parted with the – plants that they had toiled over from seed to flower and – grub that they bred and reared. Stoically though, the inhabitants gave as they could, despite the mild cynicism over the advancement of the nation, never mind whether they would ever benefit from them: the knights in the region of – were too late, too often, forcing the village to rely on itself in defence, and the merchants, when they visited, were miserly and avaricious.

The latter, intended to connect the widespread Empire and redistribute resources from places of surplus to places of demand, making the life of Fubarnii everywhere, better. However, - had no specialised or rare goods to export, and money to by none, either. Relatively self sufficient, they had little need for materials nor wealth for luxuries.

Their isolation and hard way of life meant that they didn't deal in currencies, as it had no intrinsic worth; they bartered only with commodities. However, the guild had introduced credit, which was used; for rarer building and engineering materials that the villagers were unable to produce themselves. For the merchants, the town may have been a dead end, but they were always punctual in demanding their credit.

One farmer in particular, was enamoured by the ability to use credit. Old – had a soft ear for a sweet tongue; each year he convinced himself, with a little help, that this doohick or those seeds would allow him to get ahead, break out and provide a little more for his brood. Unfortunately, without fail, the doohick worked but ruined what he worked on with it, and the seeds, without the heat of the south from where thy were taken, never sprouted. When he couldn't scrape together the interest, he had to default, one year losing the body of enuk herd, depriving him of a major means for survival and rendering him inconsolable. Four seasons later, however, saw him ready to repeat the mistake.

An especially unscrupulous trader took particular advantage of poor -. This came to a head one year when the merchant, discovering a gambling instinct in the farmer, looked himself and – away in -'s home and plied him with mushroom brew, until, intoxicated and soothed by smooth words, he had won the valuable items in the house; his tools of the trade and family heirlooms, and leaving the farmer in debt worth his house. The other inhabitants was worried, but they were locked firmly in the cold until late at night, when the farmer turned in, stricken.

Knowing that his luck had likely run his course, during the early hours of the morning, the trader loaded his enuk with ill gotten gains, and made haste to leave the village of -.

The village, of course, was outraged. Years of suffering had been topped by humiliation, which was one insult too far. The decision mete out justice was unanimous. The militia, formed to defend the village from Devanu predators, were steeled to a not entirely different task; now they were the hunters.

Predicting correctly that the trader would take the road to the nearest watchtower, the Fubarnii of – took the mountain paths in order to cut off the scoundrel.

They caught the flagging trader within sight of the knights' outpost. As the enraged villages descended upon the merchant, the knights issued forth to attack the aggressors.

Forces:

The Villagers of -
1 Old Farmer -, Militia Captain
200 points of militia and herders and militia captains.

The knights
1 knight captain
4 knights

The Merchant*
Baruk*

*The Merchant and Baruk are controlled as described below in special rules

Objectives

The merchant. Both player needs to escort the merchant off the board in order to obtain victory: the knights must leave by the place in which they entered; the villagers in the place they or the trader entered

Set Up

The merchant is placed on the edge, in the centre on one side of the table The knights are place opposite, touching the table edge. The villagers are placed on a side edge, one half of the distance from the trader as the knight force.

(alternatively, the villagers could ambush the knights as they are returning with the trader. That could make for a better game)

Special Rules

Farmer -, Militia Captain; has the 'Bitter Enemies (Trader)' rule: he has 'Very Tough' rule and in combat with the trader he has combat discipline. He may not use combined strike against the trader.

The baruk is controlled by whoever controls the merchant.

The merchant, initially, is controlled by the knight player. In combat against the merchant however, instead of killing the trader, the trader is incapacitated, and controlled by the side which incapacitated him, as long as that side has more models in base contact with the trader at all times (minimum one model). Therefore, the sides can take it in turns to bladder the trader as they fight for control of him. The baruk is killed as normal if it fails a save. In combat with the trader, both sides can add support by touching the trader, rather than the enemy models. Whilst incapacitated, the trader cannot contribute to a combat, but can be supported.

Historical Afterlude:

By the end of the confrontation several Fubarnii were sprawled on the road nursing wounds, but more lay still in the dirt. The knights had been no match for the driven militia. Torn from their mounts they were overwhelmed and the villagers bound the merchant and returned to the village. Despite their losses, they were ebullient about their victory. In a trial, the trader was found to be insufferable, and therefore executed.

Their elation soon abated as they realised the severity of their transgressions against the Empire. Local lore told ruined of Devanu towers deep within the forest and the village became a hive of activity as they prepared for an exodus.

When the Emperor's reconciliation party (consisting of over 30 knights and representatives from the merchant guild) arrived at - several days later, they discovered it deserted.

Though the shocking offence was kept secret, and the Devanu have been blamed for the disappearance of the Fubarnii, rumours now circulate that the villagers all live in a fortified Devanu tower within the depths of the forest, expanding caverns beneath it to grow food whilst fending off attacks from the predators without.

While this is a nice ideal, in reality, the village was ill prepared for such a move, and it would prove too difficult for them to renovate the towers, especially under the attention of the Devanu. The villagers were picked off before being surrounded and crushed by the Devanu in a glorious last stand that marked the end of legend of the village of -.

Probably.