from the ashes

From th e As h e s

En c oun t er 1

You awaken, half-buried in ash.

Standing, you see collapsed around you the remnant of
some unknown structure, burned and desolate.
Smoke rises from the cooling embers, and only a few
charred timbers remain upright. Each of your party is
uninjured, but no one seems to know where you are or
how you arrived.

Glancing about the area, you learn little regarding your
surroundings. Across a field you can see a vast body of
water and an empty shoreline. A flickering light some
distance away plays shadows through the hollow shell
in which you stand. Moss and overgrowth covers a
broken wagon at the edge of the treeline, and the only
other sign of a civilized presence is a lone structure,
old and abandoned, sitting upon a nearby hill.

An eerie quiet presses in around you without a hint of
wind or the common sounds of nature. You can see no
signs of movement, nothing at all, and you cannot help
but feel there must be some pressing reason as to why
you're here. However, since none of you can recall, it
seems your immediate priority is to answer two
important questions:

What happened? How did you get here?

Mon s t e rs

Fire imps . Goblin archers . Cave s piders . Zombies . 1
open group.

S e t up

Heroes place their figures on the Burning Ruins
adjacent to the s paces marked with an "X."

Place the open group on the Ambus h Site.

Collect s earch tokens bas ed on the number of heroes .
Replace 1 of thes e s earch tokens with the unique
s earch token. Shuffle the tokens together and place
them bas ed on the number of heroes . No players
s hould know which s earch token is the unique s earch
token. The unique s earch token is the Rus ty Key.

Place the 4 colored objective tokens on the map as
indicated. Thes e tokens are the broken carriage, the
s horeline, the flickering flame, and the dreaming jewel.

Place 1 zombie adjacent to the broken carriage, 1 cave
s pider adjacent to the s horeline, and 1 fire imp
adjacent to the flickering flame. Place 1 goblin archer
in a s pace adjacent to the Cabin. In a 2 hero game,
thes e mons ters mus t be minions .

S p e c ia l R ul e s

The locked doors cannot be opened until heroes have
dis covered the Rus ty Key. If a hero reveals the unique
s earch token, he has dis covered the Rus ty Key. The
hero draws a Search card as normal and dis cards the
unique s earch token. The locked doors may now be
opened normally.

FO R C E D AW AKE NING

At the s tart of each overlord turn, he places 1 fatigue
token in his play area. Each time a hero is defeated, he
places 1 additional fatigue token in his play area.

L O S T AND S E AR C H ING

Each objective token repres ents a location the heroes
mus t inves tigate as well as pos s ible reinforcements
for the overlord (s ee "Reinforcements ").

TH E BR O KE N C AR R IAG E

The broken carriage has a lock which mus t be
des troyed. Heroes adjacent to the broken carriage may
attack the lock as if it were a mons ter. The lock has 3
Health per hero and rolls 1 gray defens e die. As s oon
as the lock has s uffered ≥ equal to its Health, dis card
the green objective token. Then, read the following
aloud:

"Help me! Please!" you hear the frantic shouting of
some pour soul trapped inside the overturned prison
cart. Shocked by the sudden cries and desperate for
answers, you strike at the heavy iron lock. As it snaps
open and falls to the ground, you hear a trickle of
laughter, and the shouting falls silent. The rusted
hinge protests as you haul the carriage door open, but
inside you find nothing...

TH E S H O R E L INE

As an action, a hero adjacent to the s horeline may
tes t µ or ∑. If he pas s es , he s uffers 2 ∏ and
dis cards the blue objective token. Then, read the
following aloud:

Vast, endless distance stretches out in front of you
without a single hint of anything on the horizon or
anything you recognize. Strangest yet, this ocean lies
still and smooth as glass, an impossibility your mind
refuses to grasp.

TH E FL IC KE R ING FL AM E

As an action, while adjacent to the flickering flame, a
hero may tes t ∂ or π. If he pas s es , he s uffers 2 ≥ and
dis cards the red objective token. Then, read the
following aloud:

A deep orange bonfire dances in the center of a
scorched field, casting black smoke high into the
evening gloom. Dark figures shift and swirl about the
bright flames, grinning and mocking. Heedless of the
danger, you stride forward. Scatter the fire, you feel a
brief scorch of heat before the flames simply vanish...

TH E DR E AM ING JE W E L

As an action, while adjacent to the dreaming jewel, a
hero may remove it from the map and place it on his
Hero s heet. Then, read the following aloud:

Resting upon a pedestal in the small hovel is a small,
brilliant gem that shimmers as if containing its own
light. Innumerable colors flow across and beneath its
glowing surface, and retrieving it is a compulsion you
cannot resist.

R e in f orc e m e n t s

Zombies may be reinforced adjacent to the broken
carriage, cave s piders may be reinforced adjacent to
the s horeline, and fire imps may be reinforced adjacent
to the flickering flame. Goblin archers may be
reinforced in a s pace adjacent to the Cabin.

At the s tart of each overlord turn, he may place up to 2
mons ters from any of the zombie, cave s pider, fire
imp, and goblin archer groups in their corres ponding
s paces , res pecting group limits . When the
corres ponding token is dis carded, that mons ter group
may no longer be reinforced. In a 2 hero game, only 1 of
thes e mons ters may be placed, res pecting group
limits .

V ic t ory

If all objective tokens have been removed from the
map, read the following aloud:

Your foes scatter, leaving you alone in this strange
place. Before you can examine anything further, you
see a soft white glow issuing forth from the grassy
field nearby. It feels... somehow right, and even though
you still don't know where you are or why, it doesn't
seem to worry you. Without a backward glance, you
slowly walk toward it...

The heroes win!

If the overlord ever has 12 fatigue tokens in his play
area, read the following aloud:

The ground shudders beneath your feet and the very air
around you seems to darken. A strong pulling
sensation rips you rips you off your feet, and suddenly
you're falling. Crushing blackness surrounds you, and
still you fall...

The overlord wins !

R e w a rd s

Win or los e, each player recieves 1 XP.

If the heroes win, they receive 100 gold.

If the overlord wins , he receives 1 additional XP.

from the ashes

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