Corvus Cabal Quests
Source: White Dwarf #483 (out of print)
Spoils Of The Fallen
The Covus Cabal value their carrion prizes above all else, and whatever a warband’s other purposes, it will always seek to claim trophies from its fallen foes.
Pick 1 artefact of power from the Carrion Trophies table (see below) and note it in your quest log. You cannot pick an artefact of power already borne by a fighter in your warband.
While embarked upon this quest, you must keep track of the progress your warband makes, represented by a progress score.
Each time an enemy fighter is taken down by a friendly fighter’s melee attack action or ability, add 1 to your progress score if that enemy fighter is carrying treasure, and add 1 to your progress score if that enemy fighter is bearing a lesser artefact and/or an artefact of power.
Add 1 to your progress score at the end of a battle if you won that battle.
You can complete this quest once your progress score is 3 or more. When you complete this quest, you obtain the artefact of power that was noted in your quest log.
Carrion Trophies
| Trophies |
|---|
| Amulet of Stolen Sight This macabre trophy of eyes, plucked from fallen foes, allows the bearer to see through the eyes of those who mean them harm. Each critical hit from missile attack actions that target the bearer becomes a hit instead. |
| Carrion Cuirass This armour was cunningly crafted from a large beast’s ribcage, giving the bearer astonishing resilience without hampering their mobility. Add 1 to the Toughness characteristic of the bearer, and the bearer never suffers impact damage. |
| Heartphial This carefully stoppered flask was created from the heart of a powerful enemy; it allows the bearer to swig a potent concoction of lifeblood and bitter herbs mid-battle. Once per battle, the bearer can use this artefact as a bonus action. If they do so, roll 2 dice. Remove a number of damage points allocated to the bearer equal to the highest result, and add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of melee attack actions made by the bearer until the end of their activation. |
| Mask of the Gatherer The bearer believes that, through this skull helm, the Great Gatherer itself communicates its next chosen trophy to them. At the start of the first battle round, pick an enemy fighter on the battlefield to be the chosen trophy. When the chosen trophy is taken down by the bearer’s melee attack action or ability, add 2 to the Attacks characteristics of melee attack actions made by the bearer until the end of the battle. |
| Plundered Relic The bearer doesn’t know the true purpose of this relic, but they have found that it can grant them powerful boons. When you set up the bearer for the first time, pick one of the following:
|
| Tangling Tendons Woven from preserved fibres plucked from corpses, this net allows the bearer to subdue opponents with ease. Enemy fighters within 3" of the bearer cannot make reactions during the bearer’s activation. |
A Gift For The Gatherer
Some of the Shadow Piercers leading their warbands into the Gnarlwood do so in search of a unique offering to the Great Gatherer. They seek a trophy worthy enough to draw the gaze of their deity and earn them blessings that will elevate them to the ranks of the most feared killers in the Mortal Realms.
Pick a Shadow Piercer in your warband that can gain a heroic trait and note them in your quest log. See page 104 of the Core Book to find out how fighters can gain a heroic trait.
While embarked upon this quest, you must keep track of the offerings the Shadow Piercer collects, represented by an offering score. Add 1 to your offering score each time:
- An enemy fighter is taken down by the Shadow Piercer’s melee attack action.
- You send forth the Shadow Piercer.
You can complete this quest once your offering score is 6 or more. When you complete this quest, you can give that Shadow Piercer one of the heroic traits from the Corvus Cabal Heroic Traits below.
Corvus Cabal Heroic Traits
| Corvus Cabal Heroic Traits |
|---|
| False Flight Though this fighter cannot truly fly, with a high enough perch to leap from, the distinction may only be technical. After this fighter makes a move action in which this fighter jumped, this fighter can make a bonus move action up to a number of inches equal to the distance they moved vertically downwards in that jump. |
| Inhuman Hunger This warrior has been blessed with appetites that mirror those of their deity, drawing devotion from their followers while causing fear and revulsion in their enemies. After this fighter’s activation, if an enemy fighter was taken down by this fighter’s melee attack action, this fighter can use the ‘Inspiring Presence’ ability without spending a [triple] and even if this fighter has already used an ability other than Inspiring Presence in that activation. |
| Macabre Insight The Great Gatherer rewards this fighter’s more violent displays of devotion with glimpses of insight. After this fighter’s activation, if an enemy fighter was taken down by this fighter’s melee attack action, gain 1 additional wild dice that you can use from the start of the next initiative phase. |
| Plucking Talons This fighter has been granted the speed, strength and dexterity to blind an opponent with one swift motion. After this fighter’s melee attack action, if at least one hit roll from that attack action results in a critical hit, the target forfeits 1 of their actions in that battle round. If the target has already activated or if they have no more actions to forfeit, instead allocate 5 damage points to the target. |
| Savage Finisher When this fighter senses that the end is near for their prey, they are driven into a murderous frenzy. Melee attack actions made by this fighter score a critical hit on a roll of 5+ when they target a fighter that has 5 or more damage points allocated to them. |
| Trophy Gatherer Even by the standards of the Corvus Cabal, this champion has collected an awe-inspiring number of trophies from the fallen. They are bestrewn with charms, fetishes, gewgaws and talismans, some of which contain real power. At the start of the combat phase, if this fighter is on the battlefield, you can do one of the following:
|
Seeking The Eyrie
The evidence is clear – within the Gnarlwood can be found prey and trophies enough to please the Great Gatherer for many a year. However, tracking and intercepting enemies within the Gnarlwood is challenging and fraught with peril. A canny warband will seek a perch above the canopy of the living forest, all the better to swoop down on their foes in a lethal ambush.
While embarked upon this quest, you must keep track of a higher ground score. Add 1 to your higher ground score at the end of a battle round if a friendly fighter is further from the battlefield floor than each enemy fighter.
While your higher ground score totals 8 or more, you can fight battles using the ‘Death Descends’ quest battleplan. If you do so and you win the battle, in step 4 of the aftermath sequence, you can complete this quest. If you do so, in step 5 of the aftermath sequence, you can relocate your warband’s encampment to a ‘Consecrated Eyrie’ (see below) and do not need to spend any glory to do so.
Quest Battleplan: Death Descends
It seems that your warband’s search may be at an end – surely this perch will serve them well in their quest to provide bloody offerings to the Great Gatherer. Even now, some hapless victims approach. Should your warband eliminate them in a swooping ambush, this eyrie will be consecrated with their blood.
Attacker and Defender
In this battle, the questing player is the attacker and the adversary player is the defender.
Terrain
Set up terrain as normal. Note that this battleplan works best when there are plenty of platforms (at least 4). If you are generating terrain randomly and the terrain card does not have many platforms, it is best to generate another terrain card.
Deployment
Use the deployment map below. The defender is blue and the attacker is red. When the attacker sets up a fighter, they can do so wholly within 5" horizontally of that fighter’s deployment (rather than 3") if they set that fighter up on a platform.
Victory
If any of the defender’s fighters finish a move action within 1" of the escape route and more than 3" from all enemy fighters, they escape. Remove those fighters from play, but do not count them as being taken down.
The battle ends after 4 battle rounds. At the end of the battle, the defender scores 1 victory point for each fighter from their warband that escaped, and the attacker scores 1 victory point for each of the defender’s fighters that was taken down. If the attacker has more victory points than the defender, the attacker wins. Otherwise the defender wins.
Twist
Determine a twist as normal.
The Aftermath Sequence
The adversary player receives the following bonus in the aftermath sequence:
Renown to be Earned: The adversary player adds 1 to each renown roll they make in this aftermath sequence.
Encampment Location: Consecrated Eyrie
| Location | Location Bonus | Points Limit | Reputation Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consecrated Eyrie This vantage point serves both as a shrine to the Great Gatherer and a perfect location from which to strike into the Gnarlwood. | Add 1 to renown rolls you make for fighters from your warband with the Hero runemark (). In addition, in step 5 of the aftermath sequence, you can pick up to 3 fighters from your warband and send them forth from the Eyrie. To do so, roll a dice for each of those fighters. On a 1, make an injury roll for that fighter. On a 2+, roll once on the Gnarlwood Lesser Artefacts table. If the result is a [Consumable] artefact, you obtain that artefact. Otherwise, that fighter gains 1 level of renown. | 1150 | +3 |