Eilif in the capital

So in the last encounter Eilif set off to the capital, where king Ragnar rules his lands from his castle. Eilif and Marcus had to roll three times for involuntary encounters as they travelled from the border, through the interior and up to the capital. They only had one involuntary encounter in total; someone broke in Eilif's house but they could not rob anything as he is poor and carries all his belongings with him.

Once in the capital, he left Marcus in a tavern and went to the government area for an audience with the king. There he talked to the captain of the guard who acknowledged him and let him into the throne room. King Ragnar received him well and sent Eilif on a mission. He commanded him to seek and destroy an Orc hideout in the interior area of his kingdom. Those Orcs have a secret base from where they are assaulting travellers and merchants and also raiding nearby farms, causing havoc and much discomfort among his subjects. It is a Wandering Encounter with Dungeon.

After talking to king Ragnar, Eilif goes straight to the tavern in the Bazaar area to meet Marcus, but there a Dwarf stumbled on him, spilling all the beer from his mug on Eilif clothes. This is an involuntary Encounter, a Confrontation. One of the Dwarf stonemasons who are currently working on the enlargement and reinforcement of the king's castle drunk too much ale after his duty and he's now mad at Eilif, accusing him of spilling all his beer. 

The Dwarf, Rep 4, AC2, 1H weapon, deadly lunged at Eilif and is Out Of Fight! His Star Power saves him as his buckle stopped the stab. Then Eilif swiftly reacts and finishes the rowdy Dwarf. Eilif gets one increasing Rep d6 for winning the Encounter plus 2d6 more in coins he takes from the knocked down Dwarf; so he gets 2 d6 in total after discounting one for using his Star Power.

After the fight, Eilif meets with Markus and talk to some of the customers to see if they can recruit some men for the incoming mission. They resolve one PEF with five people, a labourer Rep 3, not very useful; a Nobleman guard Rep 4 AC4 and Swordman. -Hey, hey! this lad is what we need! Eilif jostled Markus. He uses a bit of sweet talk and convinces Brytagh to join them. Next there are townsfolk with Rep 3 but among them there is also a warrior Rep 5 AC2! Another good candidate; but this time Eilif has to spend 4 increasing d6 in Sweet Talk to convince him to join them.

Later, the four of them went to a nearby Blacksmith's and there Eilif bought one shield for Brytagh and a two handed axe for Njal. So now Eilif is down to six increasing d6s that he keeps to pay his group for the next encounter.

So they finally departed and without anymore incidents they reached the area where the Orcs were operating, and started to search for their hideout.

Eilif's group is at the bottom and there are three PEFs (Possible Enemy Forces) on the board, two on sector two and one of sector four.

Turn 1: Eilif's 2 - Orcs 4.

No PEFs move except one from sector two and it is resolved as soon as it gets in sight. It turns to be a flying flock of partridges. Something must have scared them. A false alarm.

Then Eilif and his men move forward to resolve the PEF on sector four, behind the river. It is another group of fellow Mirholmen who are also searching for those pesky Orcs. After exchanging some pleasantries, Eilif asks for some magic items to barter but they haven't got any.

Turn 2: Eilif's 3 - Orcs 5.

Orcs do not activate. Eilif moves towards the last PEF to resolve it.

And they discover a group of Orcs laying in ambush. The Orcs act first. One archer looses an arrow that hits Brytagh but it's deflected by his armour. He then ducks back behind a tree but he is immediately charged by another Orc. Suddenly all of them are fighting against Orcs!

The fight ends quickly with three Orcs dead and two leaving the battlefield. Markus is dead on the red grass.

Now Eilif spots a hidden entrance that goes underground. The secret Orcs' hideout! That's is the second part of the Wandering Encounter that I will play another day.