The Legends of Llednevir

"The Return of Dagontwyswifchips"

A Solitaire Flintloque Scenario by CJ Hooper

Photograph by Craig Andrews

In the gloom of the winter months, a studious young Hobgoblin and his Todoroni accomplice accidentally summon an ancient god long thought defeated. Can the residents of Tarrwenn Harbour survice His wrath once more...

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In the early days of Llednevir there were Hobgoblins and Todoronis living together in relative peace, but the strained undercurrents of xenophobia and xenophilia brought about the first conflicts and ultimately the rise of Dagontwyswifchips.

You can read all about them in the Llednevir Chronicles on this page of Orcs in the Webbe.

These were dark times in Under Mirkywood and the loss of life and hope left and faithless pit in the psyche of the village. Years passed and other minor adventures occurred which, though reported lovingly by a certain Albion Halfling and his Taffsea Hobgoblin friend, were not much to shake the bones of even the aged.

One day, in the gloom of the winter months, a studious young Hobgoblin and his Todoroni accomplice met in the ruins of La Storia, the wrecked ship of the deceased Captain Hatt. They would rummage through the wreckage looking for forgotten teasurelets and gewgaws from the sea. On this day they found something, unusually it was a book.

The book itself was a notebook, ‘manky’ was the best way to describe it. The two friends, while wearing some old blue gold jewellery that they had found underneath a loose ship beam, looked through the old tome. There were two pages undamaged. They read the first page together aloud…

“Peach-Schnaps timbuktoo, Turkey-scraps timbuktoo, bad-at-craps two-by-two, Dagontwyswifchips return…”

Unsure of the pronunciation they repeated this twelve times, just to be sure. Unaware that the wind had picked up, and the rain had started throwing down outside, the boys shuddered nonetheless. The blue gold jewellery that they wore began to glow and even warm up, so much so that they began to hurt…

Screaming in both Taffsea and Nepolise alike the Hobgoblin and the Todoroni ran from the boat and into the storm, they see the thing rising from the sea behind them… they do what all children do: they run and hide.

Up from the depths; fifteen metres high Dagontwyswifchips has returned...

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Objectives

With little or no defences the villagers must raise themselves quickly and form a search party while avoiding the terrible ravages the God from the sea. Unlike last time the villagers have more blackpwoder weapons left over from the wars, as brought home by our brave Hobs. The number of blackpowder weapons may vary so that you can alter the difficulty of the game. The suggested number start is 5.

The Map

The table should be laid out following the image below as a guide (lucky for us that Tarrwenn Harbour was rebuilt, more than once, following the original layout). Note that the ship, La Storia is a ruined shell of the ship it once was...

Tarrwen Harbour - Before the Fall

The Forces

Evans Mab Evans
Experienced Irregular Hobgoblin
Evans is armed with a staff which counts as +2 in melee combat.
Druidic Powers - Evans is a practitioner of Wylde Magicke, roll for two Magicke Talents (Flintloque: DITS, p.45; Flintloque:WIC, p. 62)
Evans counts as the townsfolk section leader.

Ruth, Daughter of Lleu The Big
Veteran Irregular Hobgoblin
Ruth, as befits a woman of her status, is huge and does not use weapons.
Ruth has the Brawler skill (Flintloque: WIC, p.52;Flintloque: DITS, p. 51) and the Orc flaw Pub Brawler (Flintloque:WIC, p. 57)
Ruth counts as the section second.

They are accompanied by ten other townsfolk who should be generated using the standard section creation rules. They should all have the troop type Civilian. Skills can be selected as per the experience level of each character but Magicke, traits and flaws should be rolled for randomly, not chosen, as it's much more fun that way.

Special Rules

Dagontwyswifchips

The Valon-bound manifestation of the God rises from the depths exactly half way along the board on the sea edge. He is a massive terrifying monster. At the start of the Maintenance Phase, if not distracted (see below), he will target the nearest living thing regardless of race and move into base to base contact with it. The unfortunate character is then devoured and, somewhat predictably, removed from play. There is nothing the character can do to prevent this. Any buildings Dagontwyswifchips passes through are automatically destroyed as he moves through them. He only stops when all living things in Tarrwen Harbour are dead.

Oi God! Over 'Ere!

If a blackpowder weapon is discharged, and is closer to Dagontwyswifchips than a victim, then place a marker on the table. Dagontwyswifchips will move to that marker instead of devouring someone. However, any characters he moves through are crushed to death and, as predictably as before, removed from play. If more than one blackpowder weapon is discharged then move the marker, Dagontwyswifchips moves to the spot of the last discharged weapon.

The Book

Captain Hatt’s Book must be found to send the Sea God back to the depths. The book remains on the ship where the boys had left it. Once achieved the second page of the book that remains details the banishing spell to send Dagontwyswifchips away, however an amount of the gold blue jewellery, particularly the tiaras (now worn by the boys) are required to focus the thoughts of the magician using them. The spell takes two people to cast, however Evans Mab Evans is a Druid and may cast the spell on his own if need be. The tiaras must be found also, and the boys have run off to hide in the town.

The Boys

The boys have split up and run into the town. They may be found by process of elimination by searching each building. It is possible that the building containing one of them may be destroyed by Dagontwyswifchips. Should Dagontwyswifchips destroy a building then roll under the search rules to see if this was one such building. The rubble of the building may be searched, taking one turn, to retrieve the tiara. Dagontwyswifchips must therefore be led away from the building.

Searching

On arrival at each building a D12 is rolled. The roll of a 12 at the first house indicates that he has found one of the boys and a tiara recovered. At the second house a roll of 12 or 11 is required and so the chances increase with each search, each unsuccessful search increases the odds of success for the next one. The destruction of huses by Dagontwyswifchips also increases the odds of finding the boys.

For example on search 4 the D12 is rolled, on a 9,10,11 or 12 one of the boys has been found and a tiara recovered.

Banishing the God

The two tiaras and the book must be reunited with either two townsfolk present or just Evans Mab Evans and a turn spent casting the spell. In doing so Dagontwyswifchips will turn and go back to the sea.

Tactics

This game requires careful use of command points and distraction to keep the number of searchers high and the number of casualties low.

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Webmaster's Notes

An Orcs in the Webbe Original! "The Return of Dagontwyswifchips" was written exclusively for OITW's 2018 Advent Calendar and was first published on the 14th December 2018.

The photograph used in the title image is actually Sandy Haven, a beach a few miles from Milford Haven near the village of Herbrandston where I grew up. It's the beach I always pictured when thinking about CJ's stories in Tarrwen Harbour. 

CJ's Llednevir Chronicles have been a huge success here on Orcs in the Webbe, if you've not read them (or fancy re-reading them, they are rather good) click on the  maroon tag  below and to the left.

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