Hexploreit: Valley of the Dead King
Chapter 1

Copyright© 2020 by Board Game Stories

Summer

Week 1: We left Restwind Dale following the river. Sabrina managed to find some food, but Thomas did not. We spotted a hag’s hut and decided to fight her. She proved to be a tough foe, but we bested her after an exhausting fight.

Week 2: Our trusty mounts carried us to the Dwarven City of Hagh-Grindish: The Iron Citadel. We found no food on the road, but we were able to rest and restock in the city. We bought a new map which shows the lair of the Cryowyvern and some ruins. We still plan on travelling to the gambling den noted on the map we purchased in Restwind at the start of our journy. Unfortunately, as we prepared to resume our journey, we heard news that the city of Dragon’s Port has fallen to the Dead King.

Week 3: Once again, only Sabrina had any luck finding food on the road. By happy accident, we misread the map and found the gambling den a day before we expected to. Perhaps Thomas will have better luck hunting for food soon, as he was the one to track down Baelin the Black to collect on his gambling debts.

Week 4: We traveled from the gambling den to a shrine to claim our reward for finding Baelin. On the road, we were both able to find food and not need to rely on our provisions, but it was otherwise an uneventful trip. We heard that the black market is looking for items that can only be bought in dwarven strongholds. It’s interesting news, but we haven’t seen or heard anything about the whereabouts of said market. In less fortunate news, the Dead King is on the move again.

Week 5: We decided to move on from the shrine. While it would be nice to receive a blessing, we have no money. We decided that under the circumstances, we must keep exploring rather than spend another week at the shrine to be blessed. The Dead King’s path looks like it will lead him to one of the two cities we have visited since we started our quest. We wanted to explore some ruins, but this time when we misread our map, we didn’t have any lucky accidents. Only Thomas found food on this leg of our journey and we battled some lesser water elementals as we tried to return to the correct path. They were no challenge, but we do have a bit of gold now.

Week 6: We moved into the ruins and discovered a treasure room. We should be able to buy some good gear at the next shrine we visit. The run of good fortune which began when Thomas found Baelin continues. Only he had any luck hunting for food on this stage of our journey. The Dead King’s path is now clear, sadly, he is at the gates of Restwind, where we began our quest.

Week 7: As we have explored, we’ve become aware of another shrine, and we plan on visiting it rather than returning to the first one we found. Once again we have become lost, and the pattern of who finds food on the road has shifted again. This time it was Thomas who had to rely on his rations. Thomas’ elven tracking skills came in handy as he led us away from a dank and unsettling looking cave to a spot where we were able to ambush a group of kobolds. They were easy prey, but we took no comfort in that for soon after pilgrims leaving the nearby shrine informed us that Restwind Dale has fallen to the Dead King.

Week 8: As we moved to the shrine, hunting was again spotty with only Thomas finding food. In addition to buying gear to help us on our travels and in battle, we also purchased a talisman to hold the Dead King’s servants at bay in hopes of restoring a city. It seemed a fitting way to honor Restwind.

Week 9: This week, we stayed put in the shrine to receive a blessing that will help us rest and recover while we roam the wilds. We did save some of our money so that we might buy another talisman at the first shrine we discovered. The Dead King began moving again, this time to the other city we have visited, Hagh-Grindish. He will reach it tomorrow by all accounts we’ve heard.

Week 10: Once again, hunting was spotty, but we didn’t get lost. We were set upon by brigands. Fighting them was exhausting, but not damaging. As expected, Hagh-Grindish fell to the Dead King.

Week 11: Hunting was bad, but we reprovisioned at the shrine. As planned, we bought another talisman, and we had enough money to buy a teleportation rune. We’re going to try to defeat the Bandit Prince, and he’s on the other side of the valley. Word reached us that the Dead King moved straight North, so we expect that the Rakk’t Encampment is his next target.

Week 12: Teleportation across the land gave us no chance to hunt or forage, but we had just reprovisioned, so that’s not an emergency. Thomas led us from an unknown foe into the heart of a living storm. The unknown might have been better as this was another exhausting battle. The Dead King sacked the Rakk’t Encampment as expected.

Week 13: Mixed results hunting, and the Bandit Prince came by that name for a reason. While we battled he stole both food and gold from us. It was another exhausting battle, but not painful. On the plus side, we more than made up our losses looting his hideout. Even better, his hideout is adjacent to the Faeire Fire Marsh where we know of a herb gathering quest.

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