The Mountain of the Gods

"Our journey is nearly at an end. 

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! 

*********

In the final adventure, Ujuwa found two Hints and five Discoveries earning him 13 VP. Ujuwa also managed to flee the table earning him Knowledge in one domain of his choice, but because his group carried no Hint he doesn't earn any additional VP.

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...


*********


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)!

Encounters in Hostile Lands

"The men are not their usual selves. They are in the grip of fear: all singing has died out and they look nervously around them, expecting an attack at any minute. We are in Fang territory."

Mary's column climb out of their pirogues and set up camp within a jungle clearing. She brews up a pot of hot water and uses her remaining stock of medicinal plants to cure her Kirangozi and poor M. Bergamote the Botanist of their afflictions. Feeling more refreshed, they prepare to depart. The ominous sound of drums can be heard from nearby Fang villages. But Mary must push on if she is to reach her goal.

Even Ujuwa, looks nervously at the wall of green before him. This is his land, but the local villages have not pledged support to his cause. He must find the white woman's camp and purge it of evil spirits.

[Each column starts within M of opposite table corners. To gain Knowledge Mary and Ujuwa must cross the table and escape from the opposite corner.]

Both columns head carefully into the jungle that lies ahead. Mary's Ruga Ruga stare nervously at the tall trees. What terrors may hide in their dark canopies?

Ujuwa's men are undaunted by the forest, but the local Fang tribe does have a reputation...

Mary, accompanied by her soldiers and last remaining bearer pushes through the vegetation and stare up at a giant forest tree. Suddenly there is a rustle and poison tipped darts shoot down from the canopy. Mary and her men drop to the forest floor. But too late! Her bearer and a soldier shriek in agony and do not stand back up.

[In this scenario, the dangerous terrain really is very dangerous! Every time a group enters terrain they and any other group within S of the terrain find themselves shot at by Fang warriors hidden in the canopy. A 2 x D8 shooting attack is made, but if the D8 show the same number there is no cover roll.]

Ujuwa hears the commotion and smiles wryly to himself. While Mary and her soldiers scramble to avoid the darts, Ujuwa starts to softly chant. Summoning the spirits of the forest to aid him, Ujuwa performs the Ritual of the Wild Hunt.

A rustling sound can be heard from the dead leaves beneath Mary's feet. Giant ants emerge from holes around the base of the tree and flailing helplessly two soldiers fall to the ground where they are engulfed by the biting and stinging terrors. Mary and her remaining soldier catch hold of low lying branches and haul themselves out of danger. But they are exhausted by their efforts.

Unable to contain his glee, Ujuwa urges his warriors onwards and they head into a thicket. But his mirth is cut short when poisoned darts cut down two of his men. The Warriors are suddenly paralysed by fear and are unable to move.

[The discovery marker in this terrain area is cursed preventing the group from activating during the next Actions phase.]

[This above photo illustrates how the terrain can be modified. I create a jungle base to which different elements can be added to create more variety during different games. In this case the central terrain area has been removed to more easily place the figures. Once the figures move on, the terrain is replaced.]

"Oh Madame!" exclaims Bergamote as he rushes towards the dangling lady with his Trained Askari.

But Mary's problems are not over yet. Ujuwa's Baluchi look on at the spectacle before them and raise their muskets. There is a loud crack of gunpowder accompanied by an awful cloud of acrid smoke, but as the air clears the dangling legs remain intact. Seeing that the ants have returned to their subterranean nest, Mary and her remaining soldier drop to the ground and hastily put shrubbery between themselves and danger. 

Meanwhile, Mary's Adventurers decide that they are not being very adventurous and with the Askari, they start to advance. 

The Ruga Ruga see an opportunity and as they dodge more poisoned darts they stumble upon a dead leopard. Who knows how the animal died, but its pelt will prove valuable.  

After helping Mary to recover her composure, Bergamote explores amongst the buttresses of the giant tree and finds an artefact of great importance. 

As the botanist rummages for rare orchids, Ujuwa and his Warriors creep slowly to the edge of the thicket and see that the path ahead is clear. The white woman's camp must be cleansed! 

Emerging into a clearing Ujuwa is confronted by Mary's Askari. 

Time for a diversion. Ujuwa leads his men away from the Askari and finds himself staring straight into the faces of Mary's rather startled Adventurers. 

Spears clash with rifles and the Adventurers are forced to retire.

[In fact one of the adventurous would have fallen, but the group's special rule means that by taking two stress tokens they can avoid a single casualty.]

Ujuwa urges his warriors to charge once again. One of Mary's Adventurers is skewered and the remaining two run for their lives.  Seeing his chance, Ujuwa rushes towards Mary's camp. 

[The adventurous were forced to take a fifth stress token. Since only 4 such tokens can be taken, this meant that the adventurers had to flee away from Ujuwa's group, opening the way for the witchdoctor to leave the table.]

As Ujuwa and his Warriors rush towards the camp, Mary's Askari raise their muskets for one final shot...

But they are startled by a loud noise from the bushes behind them.

A forest elephant appears from the depths of the jungle.

In what can only be described as a rather spirited decision, the Askari change their target in the hope of bagging a pair of tusks.

The musket shots whiz past the startled elephant. Enraged, the elephant trumpets and charges the Askari!

[Elephants are one of the new animal types found in the Throne of Thunder campaign. When in melee the player rolls a D6 to determine how many D10 attacks the elephant makes...]

Oh dear...

But all is not lost. The Askari manage to dodge the beast's tusks and fall backwards to reload their muskets. But before they can unsling their weapons, the elephant charges them once again.

Whilst musket clashes with tusk, a pleasant aroma of fine cooking has perked the interest of Mary's Ruga Ruga who decide to follow their noses into a small clearing amongst the trees.

Looking about them the Ruga Ruga consider the day's events. Poinsoned darts, giant ants and elephants. What else could possibly go wrong?!

"What else indeed!" comes the response from Mary's skewered Adventurer...

*********

Ujuwa managed to exit the table to cleanse Mary's camp. His Archers also managed to make a discovery of Magical Plants for a total of 19 vp.

Mary's men secured two discoveries and Bergamote found some loot for 10 vp. But the loss of her bearer cost Mary 2 vp so her total came to 8 vp.

Mary has lost this adventure and gained no Knowledge. She remains at level 1, so still has no barter tokens left (or bearers)...

By cleansing Mary's camp, Ujuwa gains one more domain of knowledge. He has plenty of medicinal plants and no need for more warriors. So he decides to brave the fast forest river. Unfortunately, sickness ravages his camp meaning that at the beginning of the next adventure he will have to test each of his groups for casualties. Ujuwa has successfully made 17 Rituals (up 6 from the last game).

Mary chooses to chance her luck with the local villagers. After all, she needs to barter to recover her rather poached adventurer. Although the response from the village is unenthusiastic, she does enlist the aid of two brothers who offer to act as bearers. But negotiations take time and Mary has now spent 20 months on expedition.

To date the campaign Accomplishment Points are as follows:

Mary: 18 AP (down 2 from last game)

Ujuwa: 31 AP (up 9 from last game)

Mary has one domain of knowledge whilst Ujuwa now has 3.

Stay tuned for Mary and Ujuwa's final adventure - The Mountain of the Gods

Unknown Species... And Stone Gods

"The region through which we are now advancing is thickly forested and heavy downpours are frequent. My guides have told me that this jungle is home to numerous unique species of birds, monkeys and plants... One of the guides reported back to me this morning, saying that he had discovered, scattered throughout the forest, elements of stone statues..."

Mary's column is marching through the forest when they come across numerous stone ruins that are being reclaimed by the surrounding jungle.

But across from her, through the trees and heading towards the same treasure is the witchdoctor Ujuwa and his column of fierce warriors.

Whilst travelling upriver on the Bel Azur, various mishaps have befallen Mary's column. Exhausted, her soldiers find themselves unable to push on and are forced to stop and catch their breath.

[Both columns start the game exhausted, but an unlucky roll on the Over Swift Water table means that Ujuwa is able to place stress tokens on two of Mary's groups.]

Exhaustion also takes its toll on Mary's Trained Askaris and one man succumbs to jungle fever. The famed botanist Bergamote, is still rather tender after his recent encounter with a hippopotamous. But at least he is now back on his feet after a brew made from medicinal plants.  The Trained Askari push on and step carefully into the overgrown ruins hoping to find a section of stone statue.

Ujuwa has the same idea and his Pygmy Warriors rush to the same destination! The pygmies hurl their spears and charge! The Askari are caught unawares and some fall whilst the remainder scramble backwards.

But the pygmies pursue them and whilst Mary and her Soldiers look on helplessly, the group are slaughtered. Bergamote's pith helmet saves him as a spear glances off his head, but he falls under a jungle bush, unconscious.

[The botanist is 'killed' during the melee, but at the end of the game is considered wounded... Again!]

Led by Mary's Kirangozi, the Ruga Ruga rush forwards in the hope of finding forgotten treasure. But as they scramble through a particularly dense thicket, the group are set upon by a leopard!

The Ruga Ruga are drunk on the thought of loot and the leopard is quickly dispatched. The pelt will fetch a good price once they are back in the port. They push on and find strange carvings.

More ruins lie ahead and the Ruga Ruga scramble over tumbling walls to discover the remains of an ancient temple. Within the temple they find another section of statue. But what magic is this? The broken pieces appear weightless and can be carried by a single man. Dark forbiddings start to trouble the Ruga Ruga as they hack their way onwards through the jungle.

[We were a little surprised that the stone statue sections are not classed as bulky objects, but assumed it was to help balance the game.]

Meanwhile, Ujuwa sends his Archers forwards whilst, accompanied by his Bundukis, Ujuwa finds another section of statue together with a stash of forgotten loot.

Having found their courage, Mary's Soldiers brace themselves as the Pygmy Warriors charge towards them.

A soldier is pierced by a spear and falls, but Mary scatters beads on the ground and the Pygmy assault is deflected.

[Mary's pacifist ability is very useful in melee and helps her group to minimise casualties.]

But the Pygmy Warriors are not fooled twice by these worthless trinkets. They now keep their distance and throw spears.

[The pacifist ability is useful in melee, but does not protect Mary against missile attack.]

Seeing that the pygmies possess part of a stone statue, Mary urges her Soldiers to charge. Another soldier drops to the ground and the Soldiers are forced back. But the Pygmy Warriors are becoming fatigued and also retire to gather their strength.

More rain starts to fall and both columns reflect on the situation.

Mary's Adventurer's are a man down at the hands of the pygmies and have retreated into some thick vegetation to hold a defensive line. They are joined by Mary and the Soldiers. Mary is dejected at the thought of losing the stone statues, but she is unaware that her Kirangazi and Ruga Ruga possess two parts and have spied a third.

Ujuwa has found that the jungle has not been conducive to his witchcraft. A moment earlier, one of his Bunducki disappeared in a puff of smoke as a ritual went terribly wrong.

But Ujuwa remains confident. He is in possession of three sections of statue and his Warriors are pursuing the unsuspecting Ruga Ruga. Can he claim all six?

The Ruga Ruga push their way through the vines to claim the last piece of statue.

Disaster! This area is riddled by spiked pitfall traps dug by the local Fang tribe. Three of the Ruga Ruga disappear into the ground where they are impaled. Grabbing the last piece of statue, Mary's Kirangozi and last remaining Ruga Ruga suddenly see Ujuwa's approaching Warriors and flee for their lives.

Suddenly there is a mysterious popping noise and a small plume of smoke appears where the last Ruga Ruga once stood. Mary's Kirangozi looks on in disbelief and finds himself stood alone with Ujuwa's Warriors bearing down upon him.

[At the end of each turn, groups in possession of a stone statue must roll a d6. On a roll of 1, one of the group vanishes...]

But both groups are now fatigued. Can the Kirangozi escape?

He certainly has a good go at it! Lucky those statues are light as a feather...!

As he scrambles amongst the bushes, the Kirangozi's luck runs out.

The light is fading and the jungle will soon be in darkness.

Ujuwa is satisfied with his haul, but can he stop the foreigners for good?

Ujuwa's Hunters pursue Mary and she is forced to retreat. As the Hunters close in, a thick rancid smell fills the air. The Fang Tribe have been burning rubber and a thick pall of smoke covers the jungle.

Mary and what remains of her column quietly slip away into the darkness.


*********

Ujuwa secured all six pieces of statue, made two discoveries, gained 4 pieces of loot and dispatched two characters for a total of 33 vp.

The Congo gods have not been kind to Mary. She did manage to kill one of Ujuwa's sacred warriors and made two discoveries, but she only scored 13 vp.

Mary has lost this adventure. Her Kirangoza and botanist eventually stagger through the jungle to find her camp but both look much the worse for wear.  Should Mary use her precious medicinal plants to heal them or keep the plants in reserve? She has gained no Knowledge during this adventure and remains at level 1, so still has no barter tokens left...

With his two intact statues, Ujuwa gains two domains of knowledge. Although the nearby river is tempting, he decides to travel through thriving jungle where a hermit leads him to a plant that can be used to cure sickness. He gains another 3 medicinal plants. Ujuwa has successfully made 11 Rituals (down 1 from the last game).

After the Kirangozi and botanist finally make it to camp, Mary chooses to travel over swift water. This time, all is well. Mary has now spent 15 months on expedition.

To date the campaign Accomplishment Points are as follows:

Mary: 20 AP (up 1 from last game; the injured characters are currently costing her -2 AP)

Ujuwa: 22 AP (up 9 from last game)

Mary still has one domain of knowledge, but Ujuwa now has 2 and he will gain a level in the next adventure.

Stay tuned for our next Congo adventure - Encounters in Hostile Lands