We have officially made it into July and the wait for Gencon has officially begun. Whether you have a chance to go or, like me, are not able to/not willing to – Gencon reveals (or pics of them) for KD:M are always something to drool over.
With the next round of deliveries schedules for around the same time, this year is going to be even more interesting. Not to mention the likely release of Survivors of Death 2, or a teased new Glow-like entry into the Legendary Survivors product line.
But I am getting ahead of myself. Way ahead. This is all next-month-stuff!

Right now we are set up for a White Lion hunt in Azure Pond.

Last year did managed to flatten our first birb which had left us with a few things to consider as we returned home, but before we could truly focus on any of them: there is that pesky Settlement Event as well!
So, as we finally reached the outskirts, we noticed a certain restlessness amongst those who had stayed back home. Upon further investigating we soon found out that some survivors believed the settlement to be Haunted.
Squobble had always been a weird one, so I nominated him for the event. In a strange ritual he painted his blood all over the settlement and, what can I say, it certainly did something. He gained +2STR and +1ACC at the cost of ever using Fighting Arts and weapon specializations.
A pint of blood a day, keeps the Spidicules away.
Or something like that.

That could have been worse (and better) but onwards the important stuff! Onwards to develop!

There were a few things to consider this year: we could spend all but 1 of our bones and build the Sunring Bow from the second level of the Sacred Pool.
There was also my beloved Sonic Tomahawk as an option, or 2 pieces of Phoenix armor; Hollowpoint Arrow or the Hollow Sword (no), or even the Feather Shield. And we should also consider leather stuff. The main limiting factor was the singular Hollow Wing Bone.
I also wanted to innovate – as I usually tend to want to. Which, however, would most likely postpone the bow for at least a year.

But, yeah, we’re so innovating.
Nightmare Training, Hands of the Sun, Saga or Sculpture.
Seeing Saga had me in shambles for a moment, but I finally wanted to get some of the new stuff. I couldn’t help myself! We picked Hands of the Sun!
After surviving that Plague a deep fervent faith had come about. A faith about hitting things real hard!
Hands of the Sun unlocks the final Survival Action we have been missing so far: Overcharge – which spends all your +1STR-tokens and 1 survival to give your next attack Devastating 1.

With that checked off my list, we went ahead and made the Sonic Tomahawk with the Iron we got in LY3.
At 3/5+/6, this axe usually gets passed over due to its high speed combined with an effect that has a tendency to add even more attack rolls on Perfect Hits.
And whilst it also does not scale terribly well into the late game, it is a prime choice for the skilled axe-main, featuring unlockable savage to maximize your gains from the guaranteed critical wounds it causes in the hands of an Axe Master. But, even before that, it would surely help us deal quite a few wounds against level 2s with their considerably lower toughness. For a red puzzle piece as well as another red and blue affinities (3 in total) you also get paired in addition to savage. So, if you were willing to fully commit, 2 of these weapons could potentially hit a ridiculous amount of times, but I will admit I never went off the deep end quite that far.
What can I say? I enjoy this weapon.
Of course, the, by far, most important part about this weapon has always been the simple fact that it’s an axe!

With our second endeavor we made Leather to build a Bone Pickaxe. (We need a decently reliable source of Iron at this point.)
There was also the question of getting a Bone Sickle as well, but I held off for the time being. I really wanted to hold on to the remaining feathers for now, to be able to more easily make Phoenix Armor pieces. And we also needed to be somewhat frugal with our remaining bones if we wanted the Sunring Bow any time soon.

With the last 2 endeavors we purify Celestine (+1LCK) before set up the team for the next hunt.

The chosen Hunters:
Squobble – green(Rawhide Armor, Beast Knuckles)
Alissa – blue (Rawhide Armor, Bone Blade)
Calys – red (Screaming Armor, Sonic Tomahawk)
Reef – yellow (Cat Gut Bow)

No matter how you looked at this, this unfortunate lion should, in theory, be obliterated. Squobble had 7STR with his weapon before rolling a dice to wound, Calys a mighty 10STR and Reef 5STR with 2LCK.
The unga-bunga was once again strong with my group of survivors.

The Huntphase:
With the Lion, unless the monster backed off, you don’t get a post-Overwhelming Darkness Mineral Gathering, so I figured, I might as well get it done immediately. Just as the Feline Entity called for the first time-out, Reef rolled a mighty Lantern 10 and we gained a Broken Lantern but not access to the Worm Tunnels.
Wooh.

The White Lion then immediately crept closer a it smelled us and our Aromatic Breeze on the wind, which was a little strange, as the survivors encountered a Wildfire (basic HE60) in the area up ahead, obliterating whatever came after.
Once we were able to move on, even the ground we walked on was mourning. Weeping Faces (basic HE87) were everywhere. We didn’t have any reason to sample the tears, yet Reef and Alissa were so overcome with emotions that it turned nearly impossible to bring them to move on. Just a little further, strangely spared from the fire, the Scribe’s Book (basic HE84) sat and waited for people with the ability to read. Without Pictograph (I) we didn’t know what to do with it and ignored it outright. A part of me was just a little sad, as I do have a strain to unlock with that event.
The next area was barren, more like after a wildfire had just come through and as it felt like we would just walk into a Famine (basic HE04), we were not willing to risk the journey. Which is why we took a different path altogether, one where we were surprised by a Sinkhole (basic HE77) just a few steps in. It opened up right under Squobble! He rolled high enough (6) and he was able to just about jump away to safety from the gulping abyss.

Moving on and starting to go hungry, the survivors discovered an edible looking plant. For all accounts it was just a Dead Weed (basic HE18). Still, Calys tugged at it with all her might, and somehow managed to dislodge the deeply rooted thing – and as we ate it, it mended even broken bones! Her Broken Rib was gone! A burst of euphoria was quickly replaced with concern on my part – she was at 4SPD with her new axe now. Gonna find me a trap!
Reinvigorated, we were almost in striking distance to the White Lion. And the Lion’s Sculpture was the proof of this. Calys (reroll for a huntevent) triggered Insight and Alissa managed to breach a barrier in her mind! At 9 understanding she remembered the White Speaker sharing a secret with her in hushed tones. She suffered a lunacy brain trauma (Delicious D), and remembered the Story of the Survivor (Quixotic D, Peerless: when gaining insanity, she may also gain that much survival). All in all a fine outcome.
The survivors needed to deal with only one more random hunt event still. Next to the Lion one we found an actual Statue (basic HE65) that it had seemingly mimicked. Alissa knew better than to touch an unknown thing in death world and we elected to simply ignore it.
And there we finally were, together with the Lion, on the cusp of Overwhelming Darkness.

That was a hunt and a half – 6 basic HEs, as well as the 2 lion ones! That was a Lvl3’s worth of events to trek through almost!

For random terrain we got a Large Stone Face and some more Debris – is that..? Is that a White Lion hairball?
Uhm.., all survivors had 4 survival as the Lion attacked first.

Reef moved in to the blind spot, Emboldened and attacked with the Claw Head Arrow. He had a spotless record of only misses to maintain, yet somehow he hit! And he wounded!? Dumbfounded by his ability to draw blood, he dashed away towards the Large Stone Face.
Squobble was up next to attack, on 3+ he hit one of his 2 attacks, and crits the monster’s side! It goes down like a sack of nightmare potatoes!
As the lion lay prone, Calys stepped up to bring the hurt with her iron weapon! Hitting on 3+, 4SPD, she got .. 1 hit. Wow. It was a nearly guaranteed wound (on 2+), but wow. Just. Wow.
Alissa also attempted to deal some damage, but failed to wound, even after gaining a +1STR-token from Embolden.

12 cards in the deck. Grasp – the monster tried to take Alissa for a ride. But (on 6+) it missed her again with all of its attacks! Another dash to get out of Cunning followed. Only Calys actually had to spend survival on it though.

The survivors’ turn began with Calys sifting through the Debris at the edge of the board, as she had +2 to the roll from the Screaming Bracers it was her job. She rolled a 1 and still got absolutely nothing.
Reef climbed onto the Large Stone Face, preparing his sniping nest for the turns to come, whilst Squobble walked back up to the White Lion’s blind spot and opted for the ol’ 1-2 combo: Knee into Temple!. 2 wounds dealt!
To round out the turn Alissa tried to stay aggressive but she was going blow for blow with the monster – landing nothing at all.

10 cards remaining, the Lion remained playful – Bat Around would only hit Alissa on a 9+! Nothing again! We dashed away before Cunning – as one did. This time it cost Alissa a survival at least.

From atop the Large Stone Face, Reef shot at the monster. He grazed the Beast’s Ear inflicting a not-too-serious wound.
After last turn’s disappointing terrain activation, Calys came back with a vengeance – she had skipped damage for that and grumpily she attacked from the blind spot – 4 hits on 2+. And more importantly: no trap amonst the cards she pulled!
She started with the Glorious Mane and failed to get the crit, before loud meowing from the Feline Entity interrupted the attack – calling for a time out!

In the end Calys managed to deal 3 wounds before the fight was stopped completely. I just about managed to remove the wounds and deal with the retaliation of the lion towards Calys, but after she took 2 damage to each chest and waist, I was stopped yet again.
Time slowed to a crawl and only after about 30 minutes of enforced napping on the AI deck and companionship by the Feline Entity, she finally decided she would move on.

This turn Alissa decided to spend her turn using her Rawhide Headband for a change, because I felt it too risky to attack and have the lion run over 2 survivors on a bad reaction. Size up or Bloody Claw were the options I was presented with and I put Size up on the top.

6 cards remaining, the random threat for Size Up was going to be Reef. And he was terrified of the Lion staring him down!

Squobble attacked and quickly wounded off Bloody Claw without much fanfare before Calys had another go at in again. I knew this would likely trigger the trap, and she had the armor to tank it for the most part.
So she approached without fear from the blindspot and on 2+ she .. got 2 hits in. Again.., wow. No trap again as well! 2 wounds without crits or reactions were secured before, finally, Alissa tried again as well. 2 hits on 3+. With sword specialization she rolled first and applies the attacks afterwards, 1 wound dealt.. if not much else, she had secured that point of proficiency for the fight.

2 cards remain. With the White Lion’s deck reshuffled, Grasp was the first card drawn. Reef was still on the floor! Hitting on 3+, the lion missed yet another hit as it charged over at the prone survivor! Reef dodged the other hit, canceling the after damage effects. He could not avoid Cunning though, and was dragged across the open board.

Because he had been knocked down by Size Up, Reef got up despite the trip he had just gone on and he shot at the monster! 1 hit, and he crits the Beast’s Maw! And just as I couldn’t believe it, the jaw came off as well!
Sqobble dashed towards the lion and just about made it all the way with his regular move afterwards. 2 hits found their way in, and we finally triggered the trap! All according to the Lion’s keikaku.
The lion lay into Squobble, shredding off his armor in 3 spots, but leaving no lasting injuries.
Calys and Alissa were initially both too far away, however, as Calys moved up, she used her act with the Screaming Horns to give Squobble +1 insanity and all insane characters +1MOV for the turn, and that meant Alissa was able to reach the monster as well!
On 4+, she missed with both her attacks.
That was a whole lot of effort for a whole lot of nothing in return.

1 card remaining, Grasp was the only card left and now played on repeat. Squobble would have tanked, could we surge, but in this case, Alissa had to try and evade the hits. The lion was able to only sneak in 1 hit – and that would do it! She dodged what she had to and ran away from Cunning. Alissa was out of survival, and I was ready to end the fight this turn!

Cat Eye Circlet was used to make sure we didn’t hit the trap or hit into impervious.
Squobble used Embolden and Overcharge to gain Devastating 1 for his next attack! He stepped into the blind spot once again – and he finishes the monster with a singular throat punch into its Straining Neck for 2 wounds!

With this lion downed for good we quickly collected our rewards.
Squobble (Armored Fist FA – which he couldn’t use) hit age 1, and Alissa (Backstabber FA) was already at age 3. Those were some truly great upgrades this time around. Yep.
Weapon proficiency was awarded to all (except for Squobble) before we gathered our resources.

We wanted bones or hide… and that lion had a bit of both.
Finally Calys also hit 3 understanding on the hunt and we still needed to gain a seed pattern for the milestone: Vault Key Earrings.
Whilst I forgot about it, I didn’t forget about it for long!

An easy fight after a long hunt. A really long hunt, considering we never even passed Overwhelming Darkness.
The resources we got should set us up to build the better bow and maybe do some leather working as well, so it’s been a successful year all around. Aside from, maybe the 30 minute-long forced stop right in the middle of the fight.

With Lantern Year 8 in the books, we have made it through a third of the total campaign – and we are fast approaching the next batch of story events. And whilst I am really looking forward to them, it is a little intimidating to see those 4 years back to back to back.

But, we will worry about that when we get to it. For now I will instead be worrying about Beached Things, Everdark Sovreigns, Switch 2s being banned for usernames, the general state of the world, my caffeine addiction and how I might find a way to not have Azure Pond take until September in a best case scenario.

As always, thank you very much for your time, Whales are friends,
Amathul