Devilry Afoot: Bealtaine 1625 - Wayward Sisters
Wayward sisters, you that fright
The lonely traveller by night.
Who, like dismal ravens crying,
Beat the windows of the dying,
Appear! Appear at my call, and share in the fame
Of a mischief shall make all Carthage Frommage flame
Appear!
It’s the evening after May Day and so time for more Devilry. This time the local coven of Witches (the Fineshade Ladies’ Progressive Association) has been bolstered by some visitors from the South, who are working on a new form of witchcraft they plan to try out on the Great Wen in the future. Enough with the sour milk and stuck doors, it’s time to get serious. And Frommage will be the first test of this new mischief.
Tonight’s cast is …
There are 4 Witches, shown here with their Imps. The wolves are to show that when they change shape all the Witches assume Wolf form.
Only two Watch members are on duty tonight, following a mysterious outbreak of stomach ache among other Watchfolk. Hmmm. But they have some help. From L-R we see:
- Turnip: Goodman, Devout & Penitent, Gambler. Purse 24s, he buys a polearm, holy item, 1 x holy water (total 21s).
- Fluellen: Soldier (retired), Charismatic, Wolf-bitten. Purse 30s, he buys a blunderbus, sword (total 22s).
And they are joined by some Quality who are taking a turn around the village before retiring to hit the port.
- Sir Barty Hardacre: Gentleman, Wolf-bitten. His man has gone down with the stomach ache. Purse 32s, he buys a sword and a pistol (total 30s).
- Rev Fr Ted Bear: Religious, Secret witch. Purse 30s, he buys a sword stick, holy item, 3 x holy water (total 25s).
There are 9 Innocents hurrying home after the Mayday festivities to get themselves abed, as good Christians should. For this game any Innocents indoors are ignored.
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Scenario special rules -
Charmed humans who become Bewitched will become Arsonists. Once this happens the Charm can no longer be broken while a Witch remains in play. An Arsonist must be killed to stop them. A witch will never attack an Arsonist and may reroll to get an alternative action.
Arsonists always move 1D6” towards the nearest building not already aflame, and try to set it on fire. They always get one attempt per action and succeed on 1D10 = 8+.
Innocents are never Aware, as the Witches have developed Stealth abilities.
The Witches win if they can so arrange matters that at least five buildings are set aflame (the church counts as two buildings) and no more than one Witch is killed, by the end of turn 5 when Dawn arrives. Otherwise the Hunters win.
The Witches have alighted in the fenced enclosure at top L. The Innocents are in three groups of three, from top R to lower L. The Watchmen are in the centre. Sir Barty and Fr Ted are at lower R outside the church.
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Turn 1
The activation token draw was HHHIWWH
Turnip activated first and, rolling 00 for his resolve, his Devotion was rewarded with 3 actions for this turn. He moves to investigate the mysterious figures he can dimly see in the enclosure, but he stops 3” from the nearest Witch and fumbles gets his Holy Water vial out of a pocket. Fluellen follows, but trails behind with only a single activation success. Then Sir Barty sees that something is going on, and also moves forward after the Watchmen.
The Innocents activate next, each moving in a random direction and distance.
Then at last the Witches get to activate. The first tries to intimidate Turnip, but fails. The second Charms him. The third Hides in the shadows of the wall, and assumes her Wolf form. the fourth Charms the next closest human, who is an Innocent who trance-like moves towards her Enchanter. Charmed humans are marked with Yellow tokens.
The Witches second activation chit comes up. The first Attacks Turnip, but the attack fails to hit. He opportunity attacks in response but this too fails, due to his being Charmed. The second tries to Imtimidate Turnip but the devout Watchmen shrugs it off, unmoved. The third (wolf form) Witch transfigures back, and Charms Fluellen. The fourth Charms the next nearest human, another Innocent, who moves towards the enchantress.
Last, Fr Ted activates with two successes. His theological training means he realises what is happening. He grasps a vial of holy water in one hand and his sword stick in the other, and advances with determination to do the Lord’s work.
So at the end of the turn (photo #5) both Watchmen and 2 Innocents are Charmed. Turnip is in base contact with a Witch, following an inconclusive exchange of blows. So he is Bewitched and becomes an Arsonist. The Quality are heading towards the action, while the remaining Innocents are milling about randomly.
Turn 2
The activation token draw was HWWHHHI
Sir Barty Hardacre activated first, moved into base contact with Fluellen, and slapped him out of his Charmed state.
Then the Witches: the first, in contact with Turnip, tried Intimidation, and Turnip and the other closest Charmed human (an Innocent) hastily retreated 4”. Bit of an own goal there I feel. The second summoned her Imp which attacked Fluellen, failing to hit, and the old soldier killed the little beastie. The third Witch Stalked forward 9”, making contact with one of the Charmed Innocents, who was by this contact Bewitched and became an Arsonist. The fourth Charmed the next nearest human in LOS, Fluellen, who succumbed to this new Charm.
Ooo! The Witches get to activate again. Witch 1 had a panic attack, fleeing 6” into hiding but staying in play. Witch 2 summoned another Imp which attacked Fluellen again, hitting him but causing just a nick, no wound. The third Charmed Sir Barty, who succumbed too. The fourth Stalked forward 9” contacted Sir Barty, and turned him into an Arsonist.
These Witches are “on fire” as Shakespeare would possibly have said.
Fr Ted goes next, two activations, and he moves forward as fast as he can, hoping he won’t be too late. Fluellen is next. He gets two successes despite his Charmed status. He snaps himself out of the Charm and kills the Imp pestering him. Then Turnip, now an Arsonist, moves 1D6 towards the stone barn and sets it afire. So the first building is burning.
Last the Innocents activate. The Charmed one moves into contact with the third Witch and becomes an Arsonist (starting next time). The Innocent who is already an Arsonist moves to the wooden barn, but fails to set it alight. All the others scatter randomly. Two leave the table off the S edge.
Photo #6 shows the end of turn 2. Pink tokens show the Hunters & Innocents who have been trapped in this most vile snare of Satan. I have marked Fluellen and Fr Ted, on who’s prayers and strength all hope now rests, with blue tokens. The Witches have red tokens. Everyone else is an Innocent.
Turn 3
The activation token draw was HHWHIHW
Fr Ted moves up behind Fluellen and sprinkles him with Holy Water. Fluellen fires his blunderbus at the fourth Witch, a concentrated shot, causing 2 wounds.
The Witches go next. The first and second Stalk back towards the action, moving just outside the enclosure. The third Intimidates, successfully causing most of the Arsonists, and Fr Ted, to beat a retreat. Fluellen stands his ground. The fourth, badly wounded, runs off to Hide in the shadows of the wooden barn.
Sir Barty the Arsonist moves to the plaster & lathe house and sets it ablaze.
The Innocents activate next. The Unaware continue their aimless movement, with no more leaving the scene. The two Arsonists move to the two storey house, and it duly starts to burn.
Turnip, the Watchman turned Arsonist, moves towards the thatched building, but doesn’t get there this time.
Last, the Witches draw their second chit. The first Attacks Fluellen, but fails to hit. His opportunity attack also fails. The second Charms another Innocent who moves into contact and is Bewitched into an Arsonist. The third tries to Charm Fluellen, but fails because of his Holy Water protection. The fourth, wounded, stays in hiding.
Photo #7 marks the end of turn 3. Three buildings are ablaze, and there now 5 Arsonists bewitched into doing Satan’s bidding. Only 2 Hunters (Fluellen & Fr Ted) are active. Not looking good.
Turn 4
The activation token draw was HHWHHIW.
In this moment of crisis the prayers of the Godly were heard. Fr Ted activated first, and with three actions (activated on 00) moved x2, then attacked and killed Turnip. As he was an Arsonist I ruled he had the combat profile of an Innocent, and Ted dished him the necessay 1 wound.
Fluellen activated next, reloading his piece and shooting John Manners, Earl of Rutland and Arsonist, in the back, felling him. Fluellen was in base contact with the first witch, so what he did was sailing pretty close to the wind. But if you’re going for Divine Intervention, go big I say.
Then the Witches activated. The first attacked Fluellen and, obviously striking while he was otherwise engaged (on The Lord’s work) caused him 2W. The second attacked, but failed to hit, as did Fluellen in response. The third tried to Charm Fluellen but failed. The fourth (wounded) tried Intimidation, forcing an Innocent to flee, but not bothering Fluellen.
Sir Barty (baronet and arsonist) activates. He moves towards the Church but cannot reach it this time. Then Turnip’s chit appears, but he is dead.
Now it’s the turn of the Innocents. The two remaining Arsonists who are Innocents rather than bewitched Hunters move to the wooden barn, and it goes up in flames.
Lastly the second Witches chit appears. The first tries to Charm Fluellen, but fails. The second and third both run to Hide by the stone enclosure wall. The fourth tries another Charm, which also fails.
At the end of turn 4 four buildings are on fire, and no Witches have been killed. If the Hunters can somehow stop Sir Barty from firing the Church, they may have a chance of “winning”, as the other Arsonists and the Witches are out of position to finish the job (Photo 8). I have left the bodies of Turnip and John Manners on the ground for this photo.
Turn 5
The activation token draw was WHHHIW. This was the last turn, per the scenario rules.
I lost my notes to reconstruct this turn when my iPad gave a false ‘storage full’ error message. But here’s the truncated version.
The Witches failed to make any more progress, and the wounded witch was killed by Fluellen, tho two of them Stalked after him as he moved back to defend the Church. Neither Fluellen nor Fr Ted were able to reach Sir Barty who was threatening to burn the Church, but luckily he rolled a poor move distance and was still an inch or so short of it at the end of the turn (Photo #9).
So it was a very narrow and hard won victory for the Hunters, as the Witches succeeded in burning only four buildings. With the arrival of Dawn and the flight of the Wayward Sisters, all humans stricken by the Arson charm will recover. That’s little use to Turnip the Watchman, or The Earl of Rutland though, both of whom were killed by Fr Ted and Fluellen while bewitched.
The latter two will get to share the 20s bounty for the killing of one Witch. But I have a feeling the Witches will be happy with the success of their first test of their new Magic.
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Cheers from Frommage & Pattaya
Mark