Henrik Refsnes

You are brought back to consciousness by a lone knight, surrounded by the wreckage of war. She says her name is Val, and calls herself the last knight of the Ivory Spire. That she is still alive tells you she’s capable, or lucky, or both. She is also badly wounded and can barely walk.

Val asks for your aid to help her out of the ruined city and meet a scribe named Yara in Hamapur. For this she promises a handsome reward in coin. 100 gold for each of you. There might yet be opportunity to turn profit from your misfortune. Either way, a friendly face is a welcome change to those of roving orc warbands and rampaging demons. The once great city of Timurkand lies in ruins around you, overrun by the forces of Kahn. 

The only way forward, is out.

NOTES

Use the Commander of the Guardian Knights to represent Val (or, you know, use a proxy because you didn’t want to pay $900). She has access to the knight skills Shield Block and Stalwart, but because of her wounds, and for the duration of this quest, she moves using only 1 die. She rolls only 1 Attack die and 2 Defend dice, and starts the quest with 3 body points.

If the heroes made it all the way here and still don’t have the pouch with the amber gem in their possession, then Val has it (which is super lame, but apparently heroes can’t be trusted with even menial tasks). Anyway, it’s almost as if she was part of a group of knights that tried to reach Kahn with the gem in the first place (but more on that later).

X. Heroes start here, sheltered in a ruined building, as does Val.

A. As soon as the heroes round the corner they will run into the orc train (possibly on its way to the tavern for some R&R). Whenever they kill one of them, move all of them forward and backfill with more orcs (and gargoyles if you have them). Luckily, there is a lever on the wall (the square itself is passable) that will release a portcullis to block the path of the orcs (and the heroes exit). Do note, while theoretically possible, it isn’t the intention for the heroes to fight their way out past the orcs. If they do, you have used too few gargoyles.

B. A small girl hides here from the two orcs that just killed her mother, the librarian. She doesn’t talk and has a well-loved lion stuffy. Once the heroes have dispatched the orcs they should help the girl out of the city. This is Hero Quest after all—Villain Quest is a different game. Val will use her knight skills to protect the girl if needed.

C. The heroes come upon a merchant hiding beneath his wagon of wares. The cart has broken down and is stuck in rubble, and his donkey ran away. He is in desperate need of stalwart heroes to haul his goods to safety and he can be very persuasive. 100 gold (did he say 150?) to anyone who grabs more than they can carry. The caveat, of course, to get paid the merchant must also survive. Any hero who takes him up on the offer has their Attack and Defend dice reduced by 1 respectively, and move using only 1 red die on the account of over encumbrance. They can’t put their load down to fight, then pick it back up, because that would spoil the wares, break the goods, and otherwise ruin the fun (though they can always say screw this, and chuck it in the gutter at any time to have their stats restored). Regardless, the merchant will follow the heroes—and complain (did he say 200?)

D. The chest is empty, but the heroes can hear a holler from the adjoining room. Someone is trying to catch their attention. 

E. This small garrison has been looted clean, but a cell door is still intact and the prisoner inside is still alive. The man says he’s in there because of a simple misunderstanding. Seems legit. Anyway, the heroes will have to decide if they free this hardened criminal and let him join their merry band of refugees, or leave him in his cell to rot. To further muddle the waters he says he knows a way out of the city, which he will only tell them if they let him out. If they do, he is good on his word and tells them about a secret door inside the fireplace of a nearby tavern (maybe he is an honest man after all?) He can show them where and how to open it. The hidden passage is used by smugglers and eventually leads to a small cove outside Timurkand (so yeah, no, he isn’t).

F. Welcome to the Sword and Sorcery. Place the tavern tile from the mythic tier Hero Quest 2021 reprint, and then the fireplace on top of that. Note that in this tavern, one does not simply search for secret doors. Smugglers are far too clever for that, and the heroes will need aid to find this one. Which, to be clear, will not come from the boisterous orcs and goblins. They are all so drunk their Attack dice is reduced by 1. But they love themselves a good brawl and if an orc can’t reach a hero, it may very well attack a goblin instead.

G. This is Tusk-Amun, the orc shaman in charge. If he didn’t have such incompetent henchmen, he could have been the next Nergal Kahn—but instead he’s stuck managing a tavern at the back of the army. Most importantly, he’s not bitter. And he does have 342 gold coins in his chest. In any case, as soon as the bar brawl erupts he will come rushing out.

	MOVE	ATTACK	DEFEND	BODY	MIND
Tusk-Amun	7	3	4	3	5

Tusk-Amun has access to the following dread spells: Command and Escape (in case things go south). When forced to use Escape (immediately?) he will teleport to the lever (at the letter A) and open the portcullis. It is the way out after all. While the horde surges in, he flees off the board.

H. There is nothing to find here except sausages. Which begs the question: what kind of a tavern is this?

I. These stairs lead down to smuggler tunnels and out of the city. Any hero or ally who moves onto the stairway tile has escaped.

As the quest concludes, the merchant reluctantly pays any heroes who helped him (if he is alive) and the dubious prisoner disappears in the night with 100 gold taken from each hero (if they let him out of the cell, and he survived). If the heroes follow Val to meet with Yara, it turns out that collecting on the reward is not that simple. Nothing ever is—but there is another quest. There is always another quest.

Continue to part 4, without passing the armory or alchemist shop. Lost body points, used spells and abilities are restored, however. This is pulp, and there is no time to bleed.

	MOVE	ATTACK	DEFEND	BODY	MIND
Val	1 die	1	2	3	3
Merchant	1 die	N/A	1	2	3
Prisoner	1 die	2	3	2	2
Girl	1 die	N/A	1	1	2

Val has the knight skills Shield Block and Stalwart, and may attack diagonally. 

Wandering Monster in this Quest: Orc

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