"Silver Secret"
- Time: March 1 2009, 2000 CET / 1900 GMT
- Location: Avelorn
- Type: Ambush
- Contact: Raucir
Two of the Silver Dawn’s warriors have been captured by House Sathar’s ruthless Grey Raiders and are being marched from the Watchtower of Aethwyn to the Druchii warcamp at Isha’s Fall.
Should they reach the warcamp, the High Elves will suffer excruciating torture at the hands of their dark cousins, who will bleed them dry of information before they allow them to die!
Unknown to House Sathar, however, a small force of Silver Dawn soldiers has caught word of their comrades’ capture and has set up an ambush station along the road. When the trap is sprung, the forest will echo with the sound of steel on flesh as ages-old vengeance is sought on the bloody road!
The event will begin when The Silver Dawn's designated Captives and House Sathar's designated Guards and Defenders meet at the Watchtower of Aethwyn (time TBC).
Victory Conditions:
Resounding Victory = 2 Points
Phyrric Victory = 1 Point
Grievous Loss = -1 Point
1: Should the captives escape Sathar’s clutches the House will suffer a Loss and be dishonoured and vengeful, but the Silver Dawn will have achieved a Resounding Victory and the rescue of its warriors, as well as some important information regarding the House’s movements.
2: Should the ambush be beaten back and halted and the captives delivered, House Sathar will have a Resounding Victory and gain a clue toward the location of an asur object of power jealously guarded by the Silver Dawn’s warriors, and the High Elves will have suffered a Loss.
3: Should the captives be killed or incapacitated in battle, neither side will gain anything, but a Pyrrhic Victory will go to the faction with the greatest number of survivors.
4: Should either faction flee before being outnumbered, they will have lost the fight and their honour and will suffer a Grievous Loss.
((I’ll be keeping track of this while we play and, unlike my dark elf counterpart, I enjoy nothing more than a fair fight, so don’t be worried about the scales being tipped.))
Rules:
1: On My Command
All participants are to remain Unflagged until the Silver Dawn makes its presence known, whereby the 4 Defenders are free to Flag and fight the assault off. Both Captives and both designated Guards are to remain Unflagged until Rule 2 (Avenge Me) is called into effect.
2: Avenge Me
When one of the Attackers or Defenders falls, a corresponding Guard or Captive will be allowed to Unflag and join the fray.
For example:
Grey Raider is On Guard and Unflagged.
Silver Soldier is Captured and Unflagged.
Silver Lion has been slain by Grey Disciple!
Silver Soldier has broken free of her restraints and joined the fray!
Likewise:
Grey Raider is On Guard and Unflagged.
Silver Soldier is Captured and Unflagged.
Grey Sorceress has been slain by Silver Shadow!
Grey Raider has become enraged and joined the fray!
NB: Captives and Guards do not count toward this rule, ie, killing a Captive will not allow the other Captive to break free.
((You won’t have to type anything like that of course, simply Flag yourself when you see an ally fall. As there will be two of you, you will flag in alphabetical order. So A-names flag on the first kill, B-names flag on the second.))
3: Stand Your Ground and Fight
As long as both sides are evenly matched, there will be no retreat. Flight in the face of fair odds will lead to a Grievous Loss.
4: Know Your Place
Should the original Attackers fall, the surviving Captive(s) must surrender – The information they have on the House must be held until they can speak to an officer of the Silver Dawn, no matter how slim their chances of survival at the hands of the druchii.
Surrender will be indicated by making a /bow to your opponent and sheathing your weapon.
5: It’s Too Late For This One, My Lord
Captives may not be resurrected after the battle has ended.
6: It’s Over, For Now
The battle ends when either all of the original Attackers are defeated, when all of the Defenders are defeated, or if both Captives are killed with no possibility of resurrection, which will likely result in either both sides fighting to the death (Phyrric Victory) or the outnumbered side fleeing.
Misc.
Rank Limit: participants should ideally be between ranks 23 to 30.
The total number of players will be 12 i.e. 6 players per side.
2 Captives (Sword Master + Archmage) and 4 Ambushers, 2 Guards (Black Guard and Disciple of Khaine) and 4 Defenders. The Defenders and Ambushers may be of any class, but I don’t want to see 4 Archmages coming over the hill, neither do I want to see 4 Disciples turning up at the Starting Point for House Sathar.
Resurrections are allowed and encouraged until the battle ends – the aim for both sides here is to keep the captives alive!
Due to the complete and UTTER lack of a /walk animation, the mission will be conducted on foot – the druchii would not allow their captives the possibility of a mounted escape.
If there is any interference from outside sources during the battle, eg a lone Marauder pops up and starts hacking away at Silver Dawn members, House Sathar will fall back and allow the High Elves to cut him down before rejoining the fight. Likewise for any cheeky sodding Witch Hunters who think they can get a sneaky kill in.
Storywise
Obviously we can’t kill players off properly, so here’s how we address Captives:
If House Sathar wins, we will assume that a stealthy raiding party from the Silver Dawn manages to snatch them out from under the House’s nose (perhaps there were goblins on guard) and the information they could have given was lost due to dark magic torture.
In the event of a Pyrrhic Victory, the Captives will eventually be revived but the trauma of the battle will have knocked the information from their memory.
TEASER: Repercussions
The next scenario, based on the outcome of Silver Secrets, will be one of the following:
Silver Dawn Victorious
Hunters Scenario: Blood on the Wind
The House’s next move has been revealed by the surviving Captive(s)! One of the slinking goblins in the pay of the House is on a diplomatic mission to one of the greenskin tribes, but his escort has been waylaid by Silver Dawn warriors, so he must travel alone. Three of the Silver Dawn’s best hunters are following the trail of the goblin, hoping to bring it down and capture it for information. They will have to capture him before he reaches a safe spot to call for reinforcements, or else the warriors of the Grey Kraken will be unleashed and the hunters will swiftly become the hunted.
House Sathar Victorious
Relic Scenario: The Sphere of Ilthuin
With the information tortured out of the pathetic High Elf captives, House Sathar sends an assault party to a ruined temple, there to obtain one of the asur’s powerful artefacts: the Sphere of Ilthuin, which grants the wielder brief glimpses of the near future. This relic will serve the House invaluably, but first the warriors of the Kraken must obtain it from its resting place, which is heavily guarded by stoic warriors of the Silver Dawn. House Sathar must defeat the guardians swiftly and retrieve the Sphere, before word is sent to the Silver Dawn’s nearby encampment and reinforcements arrive.
Pyrrhic Victory
Roleplay Scenario: Picking Up The Pieces
After both sides’ failure during the Silver Secrets scenario, it is up to the Guild Leaders to ensure that this sort of failure does not happen again, and to plot for the next venture.