Planet 28: Death in the Throne Room Campaign Part 2

 Hi!

I've managed to play out the first game from my Death in the Throne Room campaign which saw Inquisitor Fisher and co arriving on Neo Trantor in search of her nemesis Murdoch Foyle but as they disembarked from their shuttle, Fisher spotted a suspicious character and decided to follow him to see what he was up to...

I used the scenario generator from Rogue Stars which gave me the idea for the smuggling angle and it also resulted in several civilians milling around and generally getting in the way. Thus we find Fisher and co following one of the mad baron Thaddeus's gangers as he attempts to sneak some contraband through the starport controlled by General Shunt's goons.

Initially things seemed to go well for the smuggler as he nonchalantly bypassed the first guard who failed to notice he was up to no good before things went a bit pear shaped as a second guard panicked after a gardening robot bumped into him and started blasting.

In the ensuing chaos the smuggler drew a concealed pistol and opened fire on the first guard, wounding him and sending him running into the hanger while civilians screamed and ran around. Seeing the smuggler firing on Imperial citizens, Fisher opened fire at the fleeing ganger clipping him but failing to bring him down.

Shunts guards, seeing armed figures running around, mistook the Imperial agents as villains and a firefight ensued which allowed the smuggler to escape in a carjacked Tuk-Tuk.

To make matters worse, the guard who had started firing in the first place managed to catch Fisher a glancing blow with his suppressing fire and while Geralt beat some respect into the unfortunate, Fisher Fumed and Vash found himself under arrest.

All in all, a great start to a campaign and I've got part two ready for tomorrows update!

I must admit I had been a wee bit leery of using paper standees for all my figures but it still resulted in an enjoyable game and I'm looking forward to sharing more of Fishers exploits as well as the larger conflict that is rumbling on in the depths of Neo Trantor!

All the best!

The Hathor Campaign Part 3: Bore IV Pacification Level 2

 Hi!

I managed to play out the second level of the Bore IV pacification game this evening which sees Inquisitor Fisher delving into the main prison level of the Imperial facility in search of the cause of the outbreak of violence and attempt to find clues as to how the convicts managed to escape the supposedly secure fortified prison.

Introduction

Fisher has secured the upper level of the prison and her security teams are spreading out, looking for survivors and pacifying any prisoners they encounter. 

Before proceeding down to the second level of the prison, Fisher interviews the prison warden, John Parliament. He states that he was awoken in the middle of the night when the prisons alarms began sounding. Rushing to the control centre on the upper floor he says that the systems went down across the whole prison, the Cyclo control unit that all the prisoners are implanted with failed to activate and for the next 72 hours chaos reigned as the incarcerated criminals ran amok. 

Fortunately only a small number managed to get up to the first level but their sheer ferocity overwhelmed this guard force by sheer weight of frenzied numbers and he was forced to lock the control centre down with his personal security code which still seemed to be somewhat effective as it not only locked the security doors on the upper level but also sealed off the elevator. He further claims that his next step was to send out a distress call and await rescue.

Despite his insistence that he doesn't know what caused the near complete breakdown of the security systems, Fisher suspects that Parliament is concealing something and orders Vash to begin a technical diagnosis of the prison systems. Vash soon reports that while the environmental and power systems are online, he cannot gain access to much of the system without going to Engineering on level 3.

Further interviews with Parliament reveal that during the riot six individuals managed to escape the prison aboard a supply shuttle and as yet he cannot confirm who was aboard until the security systems go back online.

Fisher turns her attention to the other inhabitants of the room. The first is a prison guard who identifies himself as Thornton. He wears a thousand yard stare and quietly answers Fishers probing questions. He doesn't know what happened but was stationed on level 2 when all hell broke out and the prisoners turned on the guards and one another. Fighting a desperate retreat, Thornton and his colleagues managed to reach the elevator and make a run for the safety of the control centre but only Thornton made it. He perks up when he learns that Fisher intends to travel down to level 2 to seek answers and volunteers to accompany her.

Turning her attention to the final person in the room, Fisher sees a blue skinned and heavily cyborgised individual. He appears to be almost catatonic and will only mutter "I want to go home" over and over. Parliament identifies the man as Covenant, a mind wiped prisoner who is used to communicate direct with the prisons systems but the man has been in this condition since the opening moments of the chaos.

The interviews complete, Fisher decides to relieve Parliament of his duties and confines him to his quarters. Whatever else, the man has obviously been derelict in his duty to the Imperium and Fisher has a niggling suspicion that somehow he is connected with the prison riot and the escape.

Ordering Vash to stay in the control centre and begin a full diagnostic search for any information she sets off to the great elevator that will take her down to level 2 of the prison and hopefully to the answers she seeks.

The Game

Geralt, Fisher and Thornton

The scenario requires Fisher to investigate the level in search of clues which will reveal what happened in the prison, who escaped and what caused it. 

There is 20% chance of any room the party enters being trapped by the as yet unknown authors of the violence but she will also have to deal with Thorntons shaky mental state as he has a death wish which will require him to roll to see if he suffers a breakdown each time he enters a room.

Level 2 of the prison is laid out in a T shape with Fisher and co entering from the south from the elevator into the entry hall. North of the entry hall is the main communal area of the cell block and connected to it to the west lies a storage area and shower block while to the east is the sleeping quarters.

Upon emerging from the elevator into the entry hall, Fisher is struck by the sheer wanton destruction. The floor it littered with bodies of prisoners and guards, lying twisted and broken and mute witness to a scene of utter carnage. Geralt stirs beside her and tilts his head to listen. Someone is in the room with them and almost on cue, a pair of ragged and feral looking convicts stagger towards them, teeth bared (the first room had D6 convicts)

Before they can react, Thornton lets out an inhuman cry and they turn to see him looking ashen faced at the bodies of his co-workers. With an inarticulate scream, he launches himself at the convicts, his bolter forgotten. Seeing the man is at his wits end, Fisher and Geralt spring into action, quickly subduing the convicts but Thornton rushes to the control panel at the door and uses his ID to open it, rushing through into the darkness beyond. (As part of the course for these games, I managed to roll poorly and Thornton immediately went mental and his much needed firepower was discarded as he will move towards any convict he sees and try to kill them with his bare hands, his sanity well and truly broken).

As Fisher and Geralt rush to the doorway after Thornton, they see more signs of destruction and violence, blood streaking the walls and floor but their attention is drawn by the sizable group of convicts who are in the room waiting for them (this room contains D6+1 convicts and D6 armed convicts)

Rather than let the unhinged Thornton meed his end in the room, Fisher and Geralt spring into action rushing through the doorway into the midst of the mob, swords swinging and pistols blazing. 

The ensuing melee was indeed bloody, seeing Thornton flailing ineffectually at the convicts while Fisher and Geralt try to do as much damage as they can in the initial charge to whittle down enemy numbers but poor damage rolls saw the convicts largely unhurt. While Thornton continued his tussle with a pair of burly hard cases, Fisher managed to gut her opponent who staggered away from the combat before slumping lifeless on the ground. 

Before she can take advantage of the gap in the scrum, shots bark out from a pair of armed convicts and Fisher snarls as she starts taking hits from the pistol rounds. Seeing his boss taking fire, Geralt goes a bit mental and kills two thugs in short order rolling first a critical hit and then a 12 point damage roll for the two.

Fisher takes further damage from the pistol toting cons but Geralt's frenzy has given her the space she needs and she dives under the fire from her opponents and comes up swinging killing both pistol toting bad guys in an impressive display of skill.

Whilst Thornton continues to ineffectually flail, Geralt goes to work and kills the last remaining convict in the room and at last the frantic fight is over. Approaching the wild eyed Thornton, Geralt tries to shake some sense into the man but Fisher tells him to leave him be as he's beyond help and begins searching the bodies of the slain for clues (I rolled a D6 after each room to see if he recovers and every time I did he rolls a 6 which means he keeps flinging himself at any convict he sees, screaming unintelligently).

At this point I used three random Rory's Story Cubes and rolled them to see what clues she found and got the following result:

Fishers investigation of the corpses shows her that the Cyclo pacification units fitted to the skulls of the convicts appear to have burnt out, almost like an electric charge has passed through them and she surmises that this in part has been the reason for the over the top nature of the rampaging as the discharge seems to have fried their brains.

Completing the sweep of the room, Fisher then leads the group towards the next room and attempts to open the door but it is securely locked and she prepares to take her power sword to it.

Before she can, a second door slams open and a pair of convicts rush in, the first wielding a pistol starts blazing away at Fisher, wounding her (this convict rolls more critical hits and high damage than any other character in the game!) whilst the second rushes Thornton and begins pummelling him. 

The trap has been sprung that I'd mentioned at the start of the battle report which resulted in D3 armed and D3 normal convicts appearing. Fortunately for the adventurers, I rolled low but even so, these two would cause considerable mayhem!

As Geralt sprints toward the gunman, and Fisher reels following the shot, the convict spins and opens up on the Wolfbane and sorely wounds the clansman but he grits his teeth and responds with a bolt pistol shot which drops the gunman where he stands.

Fisher regaining her composure, rushes the last convict and following a brief struggle sends the large woman crashing to the ground.

The fight now over, Geralt uses the first dose of his Med Kit to heal some of his wounds and Fishers before they carefully approach the now open door to the main cell block. What they see inside worries both warriors. The room is full of convicts who stir from their cells as they see the party at the doorway (this room contained D6+1 convicts and D6 armed convicts. Fortunately most were unarmed but their sheer numbers would be problematic for the duo, especially as Thornton is still incapable of using his gun!)

With a long suffering sigh, Geralt pulls himself upright and stalks into the room towards the convicts and raises his pistol to fire but rolls a misfire! As expected Thornton launches himself into the room and barrels towards the convicts past the swearing Geralt. As the convicts begin to rush the two, Fisher enters the room and calmly drops one with a well aimed pistol shot, pausing to smirk at Geralt, she calmly raises her sword and prepares to meet the horde.

The convicts rush in and quite a few pile into Thornton, and he disappears under a horde of kicking, punching and biting crazies but Fisher and Geralt have problems of their own as the swirling melee continues and the two warriors hack and slash at their foes but for every enemy they kill, another seems to take his place.

Eventually they do manage to clear the scrum and turn to aid the stricken Thornton but too late as the unhinged guard lies dead at the feet of the remaining prisoners. With a bestial yell, one of the convicts carrying a length of bloodied pipe launches herself over the prone form of the guard and strikes Geralt a fearsome blow to the head.

Geralt drops lifelessly to the floor and Fisher screams in grief and outrage. Swinging her sword wildly, she cuts the leering convict she is facing down and rushes towards the prone Wolfbane. It cannot end here! She has come half way across the Imperium with the stalwart Geralt and she refuses to believe he is going to die at the hands of some scum wielding a pipe but as she stands over him, sword raised and the remaining convicts edging closer, she begins to worry and mutters a quiet prayer and braces herself for the final rush.

Suddenly there is an explosion of light and sound and the doorway behind the convicts flies back into the room and Vash strides in, his thunder hammer glowing dully as it charges up for another strike. Unbeknownst to Fisher, the Mechanicus has managed to get the security cameras back online and seeing them enter the prison block and facing stiff opposition, he rushed to the elevator and has arrived in the nick of time!

Two of the convicts fighting a badly wounded Fisher turn to face the new threat, one of which leaves himself open to a thrust from Fishers power sword which drops him dead before he can react but the other rushes the heavily armoured mechanicus who calmly brings his hammer round in a swing which pulps the convict.

Gasping with relief at the sudden reversal of fortunes, Fisher redoubles her efforts to bring down the scarred woman who knocked Geralt out of the fight (at this point Fisher has about three hit points left and as she's badly wounded has a 50% penalty on all her stats and the combat between her and the convict sees the convict repeatedly hit her but her armour saves her each time and finally I managed to get a decent damage roll, despite the wounded penalty!) With a shout, Fisher swings her crimson power sword and the convict raises the pipe to try and parry the wild blow but her sneer freezes as the keen blade cuts cleanly through her weapon and severs her head. The body stands upright for a moment before crumpling to the ground, the head rolling to a halt several yards away. The combat is over!

At this point, I rolled another three story dice to see what happens and got the following result:

Fisher drags herself over to the prone form of Geralt as a worried Vash rushes to join her and as she feels for a pulse, she is relieved to find one. It is faint and reedy but the Wolfbane isn't dead! With Vash's help they drag Garalt onto a table and begin applying medical aid and the mans eyes snap open as the adrenaline injection Fisher has just pumped directly into his heart kicks in and he sits up with an inarticulate bellow before being cuffed around the ear by a relieved Fisher. "Really Geralt, there's no time to be lying around sleeping while we've got work to do!". 

The stunned, and rather concussed Wolfbane can only look on as Inquisitor begins searching the room and discovers one of the cells is decorated with some form of hieroglyphic text. It is unmistakably her quarry Murdoch Foyles handiwork and she now knows that he is involved with the breakout in some way. Vash helps the bloodied Geralt to his feet and they trade sympathetic stares before the mechanicus goes to join Fisher in the disgraced Xenoarchaeologists cell. Looking at the pictographs, Vash notes that it resembles some form of ancient machine script he's seen before on some of the machines on Farpoint but he's only able to decipher a small fraction: Beware He Who Smites From the Deep.

With this clue, Fisher and co move towards the last room of the level. As the door slides open, they are confronted by the sight of John Parliament and a group of prison guards. Sneering at the Inquisitor, the rogue warden tells her he is going to join his master and orders his guards to kill the meddling woman and her lackeys before disappearing towards the elevator.

With a howl of outrage, Fisher launches herself forward but the riot armoured guards meet her with shields raised and a shock mall to the ribs sends her stumbling back. A strong hand catches her and stops her fall and Geralt raises his pistol with the other and even the heavy armour of the guard isn't a match for a bolt pistol at close range. Geralt empties the clip into one guard, sending the man reeling to the ground while a now enraged and slightly frazzled Fisher avoids a second clumsy swing from the guard and carves through his shield and into his torso with her sword.

Once again I rolled three random story cubes to see what clues were discovered and got the following:

Kicking the corpse off her sword, Fisher stalks into the room but there is no sign of Parliament. The man has fled but one of the guards is still alive, if sorely wounded and she curtly demands to know where he has gone. The guard, knowing he faces death, admits that he accompanied the Warden down from the upper level using a previously unknown elevator that transported him from the Wardens private office to the main prison level. He claims that the Warden told him and his colleagues, who had just been rescued from the barracks by Fishers security teams, that the perpetrators of the prison riot were on level 2 and needed to be stopped and he was unaware that he had crossed the forces of the Inquisition.

With this admission, the guard breaths his last and Fisher says a brief prayer over his body, Geralt closing the mans staring eyes. 

The Warden will pay for this. Not only is he involved with the uprising in the prison but has obviously aided Foyle in his escape and has corrupted loyal Imperial servants with his nefarious deeds. Justice demands a pound of flesh and Fisher is determined to collect.

Conclusion

Geralt, still a bit woozy following his close call with death turns to Fisher with a questioning, "Shall we?" while gesturing back to the elevator. The Warden, John Parliament is a traitor to the Imperium, betrayed by his own words and deeds and the only way he can go is down to the third level to the dark core of Bore IV where the worst of the worst were kept securely locked in solitary confinement. 

Down on the lowest level also lies the Engineering section where the security files that will finally reveal who escaped the facility and what has caused the utter breakdown of order in the prison. Parliament is a dead man and Fisher nods grimly at her companions. They will descend into the depths and bring the righteous might of the Inquisition unto those who broke Imperial law and betrayed the oaths they made!

Whee! Another rather nail biting session which saw my characters once again almost die a the hands of a horde of scum and only Vash's timely arrival saved Fisher and Geralt from certain death! I must admit I bodged things a little to get it to work but I figured it would be a sad tale if my whole crew got wiped out in only the second mission of the campaign!

Once again I used playing cards to determine initiative and it worked out really well resulting in some properly cinematic moments and genuine panic from me as I willed Fisher to make her saving throw and Geralt not to die from a lead pipe to the head.

The next mission will see Fisher venturing into the lowest (as far as she knows!) level of the prison complex in search of answers to her questions and the duplicitous Warden.

I'm hoping to get the next report played out tomorrow on my day off and will update it when I can but I've also got a fair few miniatures painted that I want to show so until then, All the best!

The Hathor Campaign Part 2: Bore IV Pacification Level 1

 Hi! 

Yesterday I managed to play out the first of the games from my Planet 28 campaign which sees Inquisitor Fisher arriving at the prison planet of Bore IV to pacify an uprising and follow clues that will lead her towards the resting place of Hathor's Armour.

I again used the random method of creating the scenario using a mixture of story dice, random words from books and a bit of tinkering to make it all fit together. For example, when hearing the distress call, I rolled a trio of dice to see what Fisher would do and it came up with a plane, a cage and a shooting star making it pretty clear that Fisher was going to prioritise getting to Bore IV over her initial lead of chasing down the mysterious monks.

Introduction

The Imperial Corvette Shrike thunders out of hyperspace in the Bore system. Lit by a weak and dying star, Bore is lifeless and bleak, the systems planets uninhabited rocks but Bore IV, the fourth planet in the system was once a mining outpost. Its ore has long since been extracted but the Imperium has retrofitted the facility into a maximum security prison where the sectors most dangerous felons are incarcerated.

Constructed in a great shaft dug into the surface of Bore IV, the prison consists of a central core which acts as a space dock and three levels of tunnels and chambers leading off it like spokes. 

Level 1 is dedicated to loading bays, admin facilities, barracks and a small hydroponics station. Access to the remaining levels is through a secure elevator which only the guards have access to.

Level 2 is the prison itself with four cell blocks housing over two thousand inmates. The inmates themselves are fitted with a Cyclo control unit when they arrive, a piece of tech that is attached to their foreheads which gives the warden and guards the ability to deliver powerful pain, and even death via stimulating the convicts pain receptors in the brain.

Level 3 is the secure solitary confinement and engineering level. Located deep within the planet, the solitary confinement block consists of six cells, each a heavily secured cage to keep the worst of the worst secure. Access to this level is via the main elevator but requires multiple security checks, both Human and AI. The engineering sector contains the plasma core that powers the prison, environmental control and back up computer core.

Rumour persists that there is a fourth level, blocked off during the facilities conversion from mining outpost to prison that may contain abandoned tunnels.

When the Shrike hails the prison, they receive no reply but the ships astropath senses there are numerous individuals alive in the facility and scans from the ships sensors show that emergency power is running intermittently on at least the upper levels of the facility. 

The prisons auto defence turrets are offline and Fisher instructs the Shrikes captain to enter close orbit of Bore IV and sets forth with her retinue and several squads of security troops in a ships pinnace to investigate what has happened.

Upon landing in the docking bay, Fisher must gain entry to the facility and secure the dock from any escapees.

The Cargo Bay

The loading dock is separated into four sectors. Fisher and co must clear each room and make their way to the computer room where they may find clues to what has happened.

The Computer Room

Venturing into the cargo bay of the prison Fisher and her retinue are immediately beset by escaped convicts, some of which are armed meaning that the guards have either been overwhelmed or somehow the prisoners have gained access to the armoury. Gritting her teeth, Fisher orders her companions forward to deal with the scum and seek some answers...

Room 1 contains D3 prisoners with a 50% chance of them being armed which resulted in three prisoners, one of whom was armed with a pistol. For the game I used a deck of cards to determine initiative which represents the flickering lights, possibility of ambush and whatnot and helped make for a more interesting game.

Things start poorly for Fisher as she charges a muscled convict who manages to dodge her power sword and responds by punching her in the face. As her retinue move to support her a second convict lurches out from the shadows but is met with a fusillade of stubgun fire from Vash who badly wounds the convict and sends her staggering away, trailing blood.

The burly convict locked in combat with Fisher fights with the ferocity of a madman and succeeds in pummelling Fisher again with his meaty fists but shouting a curse, Fisher responds by driving her power sword through his chest killing him. The final convict, armed with a pistol squeezes a shot off at Geralt who has just stepped past Fisher as she kicks the corpse of the dead felon out of the way and he grunts as a slug clips him but his return fire sends the convict shuddering to the floor, an explosive bolt round detonating in his cranium.

With the first room secured, Vash moves to fiddle with the doors controls to give the Inquisitorial team access to the next room but a somewhat bruised and impatient Fisher orders him to use his thunder hammer to speed things up a bit. Shrugging, Vash complies and takes a swing with his mighty hammer and in a flash of light and boom of electric discharge, the fortified door is smashed from its hinges and careens into the next room. 

Meanwhile Geralt takes the opportunity to search the cargo stack but comes up with nothing (I gave a 10% chance of finding something useful with a search action, something which will come in very handy as the game continues!)

Rom two contains D3 convicts and D3 armed convicts and there was a 10% chance of a boss turning up to give the team something to worry about. This resulted in one convict, two armed convicts and a boss turned up in the form of Gunther the Mad Axeman of Gelt!

As the team move into the second room, they can see movement and convicts begin materialise from the gloom, several of which seem to be toting pistols. With a grinding, the door at the far side of the room opens and a hulking brute lumbers in trailed by a pair of lackeys. The brutish man stands almost seven feet tall and appears to be a mountain of muscle and his fire axe glints red in the flickering light, clearly he is not to be trifled with and Fishers party is in for a rough time of it.

With a bellow of rage, Gunther the Mad Axeman begins a lumbering charge across the bay swinging his bloody axe above his head while his lackeys rush after him. With a cry of challenge, Geralt rushes to meet him and they meet in a bloody melee which sees Gunther miss every attack but Geralt unable to do much damage.

Vash jumps into the melee and takes a swing with his thunderhammer and manages to strike Gunther a blow that would reduce most foes to paste but Gunther only snarls and lashes out with his axe. Aided by his great strength, the axe penetrates Vash's armour and the Mecanicus cries out in surprise and pain.

Meanwhile Fisher is stalking the gunmen at the other side of the room, exchanging fire with the first before dropping him with a well aimed shot of her own and charging the second, who has run out of ammo (on a roll of a double on a D100 shooting results in the gun running out of ammo or being jammed and the convicts don't have any reloads!).

As the melee continues to swirl, Gunther tries to strike at the stricken Vash but he manages to flail out of the way but things are looking a bit grim for the Inquisitorial agents as more convicts begin to close in on them. Fisher dispatches another foe but sees her team being beset by the horde and decapitates her foe with a swing of her powersword.

Snarling a curse, Geralt redoubles his efforts and parries a boneshaking swing of the brutes axe with his sword and empties his bolt pistol into the snarling Gunthers face, dropping the hulking bruiser. Regaining his poise, a somewhat bloodied Vash takes a swing at the convict who had tried to grab him and sends him sailing back with a booming crash of his thunder hammer.

Possibly cowed by the death of Gunther, the remaining convicts are quickly dispatched and a somewhat battered trio search the cargo and find a med kit (each med kit has D3 doses and heals D6 wounds) 

Fisher used a dose to heal back up and Vash was also patched up from the axe blow he'd received from Gunther while Geralt decided to save the last dose for emergencies and the team moves towards room three.

Room three contains D6 convicts, D6 armed convicts and a 20% chance of a mini boss turning up. I ended up with three convicts, four armed convicts and a mini boss in the form of Alice the Maneater!

As the trio moved into the room they see a massive woman leering at them. She is accompanied by a trio of goons and as Fisher and co enter the room they are met with a fusillade of pistol fire from two directions as they are ambushed by a second group who had been hiding around the corner.

Shots slam into Geralt, who curses as they pierce his armour and Fisher also snarls as shots hit her and before they can respond, Alice is upon them! For a large woman, Alice is surprisingly nimble and she easily avoids Vash's clumsy swing and lashes out with her knives, each finding chinks in the Mechanicus' heavy armour and Vash is reduced to under half wounds in a single combat!

Geralt isn't faring much better as he tries to fend off multiple attackers and is forced to use the last medkit dose as he only had 3 hits left and I was genuinely worried he'd be killed. Similarly, Vash was beset by Alice who took a thunder hammer to the face and only grinned, spat out a tooth and continued to harry the badly wounded agent. 

Fisher, meanwhile had taken several hits from pistol fire and wasn't in too good a shape either as she struggled in the swirling melee to bring down her foe and eventually managed to gut the convict before rushing to aid a sorely beset Vash. 

Fortunately Vash finally managed to strike a telling blow, killing Alice (the combat had swirled for about four rounds at this point and Vash was down to two points of health and I was actually rather stunned at how much of a badass Alice the Maneater was and she may end up making another appearance at some point with a grudge against Vash!)

Similarly, the badly wounded Geralt managed to deal with the remaining thugs, both of whom had run out of ammo for their pistols and were easily dispatched by the grim and bloody figure in battered leathers.

As soon as the room was cleared, the exhausted trio make a search and discover another med kit, recovering 4 hit points to Geralt and Fisher but only one for the badly mangled Vash.

There was only one room left to clear but could the inqisitorial team clear it or would any further attempt spell their doom? Geralt exchanged a worried look with Fisher over the heavily bandaged and bleeding figure of Vash. If they returned to the ships pinnace, they could get the medical aid that Vash desperately needs but would it cost them the ability to find out what had happened to cause the uprising? 

Checking the clip in his bolt pistol, Geralt sighed. Of course Fisher would continue. It was her nature and she needed to find out the whereabouts of Professor Murdoch Foyle, a man he knew she hated above all others as he was responsible for the death of her sister and she would rather die than let him escape so wearily patting Vash on the shoulder he grinned at Fisher and gestured for her to lead the way. "Death or Glory, miss. Death or Glory".

With a tight grin, Fisher opened the last doorway.

Room four contained d3 convicts and d3 armed convicts and a 50% chance of a miniboss and fortunately for the badly battered team, I only rolled up one of each and no miniboss. Possibly the rest had already been dispatched or they'd retreated further into the prison proper but here was the final challenge before clearing the first part of the prison.

As she enters the room, Fisher is met with a blast of fire from the armed convict and he rolls a critical, badly wounding the inquisitor and sending her slumping to the ground. Vash, badly wounded as he is, drags himself after her, firing his pistol with shaking hands and Geralt, incandescent with rage leaps over the fallen inquisitor and descends upon the gunman like the wrath of God. 

By the time he's finished, the room is clear and Geralt, now coated in blood kneels over the prone form of Fisher only to see her open her eyes and drily say "my hero" before pulling herself to her feet leaving the gaping and revealed Wolfbane to stare at her as she marches up to the door of the computer room and rap on it with her knuckles.

"This is the Inquisition. I order you to open this door!" 

Conclusion

After a brief pause, the portal slides open and a disheveled figure peers out. It is the prisons warden and he is accompanied by a blue skinned prisoner and a single guard. They all look like they've been through the wars but they gape at the bloodied and bruised group before them but before they can say anything, Fisher demands medical aid for her companions and eyes up the warden who quails before her steely glare. 

Distantly she hears the thudding of boots as the first of the security teams from the Shrike begin to move into the cargo bay, securing it and dispatching any remaining prisoners and she distractedly grabs a hip flask of brandy off Geralt and takes a swig. 

She will find out what happened here. She will make those responsible pay and she will find Murdoch Foyle and end him!

Whee! What a great game! I have to admit I'd initially thought it would be too easy for the adventurers to clear the level but by the third room, I was seriously worried that they'd all end up dead in the first game of the campaign but it worked out in the end with the trio surviving by the skin of their teeth!

The second part of the campaign will see Fisher seek answers from the Warden before heading deeper into the prison. Is this an isolated incident or does the mysterious Murdoch Foyle have anything to do with Hathor's Armour? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, All the best!