For the last few days, we have seen Mungo Mah Lobeh, the Throne of Thunder, looming over the tree-tops. Our final destination bears well its name!"
Mary stands in a forest clearing looking towards the distant skyline. Amongst the clouds, Mungo Mah Lobeh looms tall. Her expedition is nearly at an end and her men prepare themselves for the long climb ahead.
The sickness that befell Ujuwa's riverside camp has cost him a Warrior, a Hunter and even one of the sturdy Pygmies. But undaunted, Ujuwa and his men stand proud. Today they will stop the white woman from ascending the sacred mountain!
[In this final adventure, Mary must hunt for clues that lie scattered around the jungle. Finding them will help Mary to find secret paths that will help her ascent. Ujuwa must try to find clues to the locations of caves that will help him in the Ritual of Awakening. There are also various Discoveries to find that can help with certain situations. But both parties will be thwarted by confusion and downpours.]
Ujuwa sends his Hunters and Pygmies either side of the large promontory that stands between him and Mary's expedition.
Anticipating trouble, Mary's Askari push their way through the jungle with their muskets fully loaded. They find a large plinth with carvings marked upon it. They have found the first clue!
But as they clear the vines from the path a loud rumbling can be heard. Dark clouds herald a rainstorm that looks like it has set in for the day.
[An unlucky roll on the dangerous terrain table has resulted in a heavy rainstorm that will reduce visibility to M for the rest of the game].
As they emerge from the foliage, the Askari see Ujuwa's Hunters bearing down on them. But their nerves hold and a great pall of smoke engulfs them as their muskets fire.
One of the Hunters drops dead!
Fearing another assault, the Askari quickly reload their muskets.
Hearing the commotion, Ujuwa urges Chief M'Otowanfa and his Warriors to press home the attack and they run into the jungle to find the source of the noise.
Ujuwa's Archers clamber through another thicket to find a clue! The soft swampy ground gives them cause for concern and they look around for crocodiles, but a quick intake of (hem) Magical Plants, puts them at ease.
[Another unlucky roll on the dangerous terrain table, but this time Ujuwa uses one of his Discoveries to cancel the effect.]
Meanwhile, Ujuwa leads his Bundukis along the same trail as the Pygmies.
The Warriors crash into a clearing and are confronted by the White Woman! But she is accompanied by her Soldiers who beat back the Warriors, killing two in the process.
Seeing an opportunity the Askari raise their muskets and fire. Chief M'Otowanfa's hair is parted and he falls to the ground.
Elsewhere, Mary's famous botanist Bergamote leads the Trained Askari into a cave entrance where they find another clue.
Bergamote also spies a rare orchid growing near the cave entrance. If he can just reach a little further...
But unknown to Bergamote, he has been seen by Ujuwa who directs his Pygmies into an ambush position while the witchdoctor prepares himself for the Ritual of the Wild Hunt.
Drawing upon all of his inner energy Ujuwa focuses on Bargamote and his Trained Askari. But as the ritual is concluded there is a sudden sound of gurgling and one of Ujuwa's own men goes POP!
[Ujuwa drew two extra stress tokens to maximise the power of the ritual. Unfortunately one of them was a panic token. Normally this would have killed Ujuwa himself, but his Mawaady special ability saves him at the expense of a nearby Bunduki.]
Despite this setback, the Pygmies still launch their ambush!
Bergamote and his men stand firm, but the ferocity of the tiny terrors pushes him back from the cave, leaving the clue and prized orchid behind.
After dispatching the Ujuwa's Warriors, Mary heads around the other side of the promontory where she witnesses the Pygmy assault. Seeing the rifles, the Pygmies quickly dart into the cave.
Ujuwa recovers from his failed ritual and decides that perhaps the time has come to find a different cave to perform his Ritual of Awakening.
The Pygmies watch Ujuwa slink off into the shrubbery and start to count the guns that suddenly all seem to be pointing in their general direction...
.... One, two, three ...
BANG!
The Pygmies are no more.
But the gunshots have awakened something at the back of the cave and that something is about to investigate what is causing all of the noise.
A large silverback charges through the vegetation and Bergamote's Trained Askari are scattered in all directions. The gorilla retreats back towards its cave and stares menacingly at Mary's Soldiers. The Soldiers carefully take aim and the beast is dispatched.
In the confusion, Ujuwa attempts to make his escape. But he is spotted by Mary's Ruga Ruga who shoot at him with their muskets.
Undaunted, Ujuwa presses on and the Ruga Ruga charge.
Ujuwa slips past them and flees into the jungle.
Mary begins her final ascent of Mungo Mah Lobeh. She has two hints that help her find the right path. But Ujuwa also has two hints that help him find the best caves to perform his Ritual of Awakening.
As Mary climbs the mountain, Ujuwa starts to chant. The days and nights pass.
Both Mary and Ujuwa are nearing their goal. Who will get there first? On the final night, Ujuwa emerges from his deep trance... The ritual is completed!
But Mary still has one more day ahead of her. With a final push, she reaches the summit!
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Mary also found two Hints, a Discovery and two lots of Loot. Combined with the bonus for shooting Ujuwa's Chief, this earns Mary 14 VP. But looking around, Mary realises she has lost her Porter and therefore loses 2 VP for a total of 12 VP.
Ujuwa won the final adventure (just!) and successfully completed the Ritual of Awakening. Together with all of his other achievemets, this earns him a total of 59 campaign Accomplishment Points.
Although Mary only gained 38 campaign Accomplishment Points, she did successfully climb Mungo Mah Lobeh. Whether this will be enough to see her enter the history books only time will tell.
But before the books are written, there is still the journey home...
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Huge thanks to Dan for coming along on this thirteen month long adventure! A great sport who is always game to bag a gorilla (purely in the pursuit of scientific discovery of course)!
