I am currently catching up on Deno’s 2nd fight against the Pariah and once again got hit by the need to press onwards to be ready for when my copy of the Witches and Wanderers will eventually arrive.
Aside from that nothing really happened on my end, at least in regards to KD:M, so… here we go: an antelope year. Let’s just get it done! A chore of a hunt with no possible lasting effects. *cough*
None at all!

This would be the last Lantern Year on our timeline without any special things marked for it. We were looking at one last festival season before the gauntlet started.
Knowing there wouldn’t be much to do event-wise this year, I happily drew my sole random Settlement Event card:

Plague.

Well, damn.
I guess we were really closing in on festival season. Bad things were starting to happen.
I had no idea what they’ve been doing back home whilst we were away slaying a lion but Gemma, Fara, Gwyn and Cynthia had all been stricken deathly ill. I will give them that they at the very least took care not to spread it too far.
Gwyn even made a full recovery by himself alone.

As I quickly moved into develop it took me 2 endeavors to heal the remaining 3. In theory we had enough people in town and didn’t really need to heal them at all, but it felt more thematic to me. We wouldn’t just leave them to die here in Azure Pond – they all had a grand destiny to fulfill!

Continuing on, we spent a ton of resources to build the Tachyon Nodachi. The 3/5+/11, Reach 2 katana has a very powerful ability, which let’s you, once per showdown, take a second act on your turn during which all monster reactions are canceled. The real problem with the weapon, despite costing not only an arm, but also a leg, i.e. the Phoenix Indomitable resource and also a Phoenix Crest: it has Irreplaceable. So if you die carrying it – it is gone. Obliterated. Blipped from this world line as if it never existed to begin with.
So, being honest with myself for a second, despite how much I love this weapon design-wise there probably isn’t that much incentive to craft it due to its tremendous cost combined with the potentially fleeting nature.
However .. what do I care? I’ll take it along, talk about falling into a hole and we’ll be fine. Nothing will happen, surely.
(Proceeds to not take it along this year. For some reason I got it into my head that the nodachi had frail? I have no idea how that happened.)

Next on the list: innovating!
Sculpture, Nightmare Training, Heart Flute or Bloodletting.
I knew we’d be seeing Nightmare Training after I used both Overgrown Dewclaws for the Tachyon Nodachi as perfect bones.
In the end I picked Sculpture as we had Timeless Eye (FA) on Vigo ready to be sculpted by him immediately.
It should also be noted that I was aware that there was some anti-synergy with blind and Katana Specialization, but I was content enough to do this because it would still help the bow(s).

The final thing on my agenda for the year was to have Basalt and Celestine drink the Sacred Waters. They were both Sun Eaters, so the combined bonus we got was +14 – another Eclipse was caused.
I was fully ready to be a little cringe here. I named the child Muzashi and added San as a family name, so he could learn Katana (1).
Oh! Oh! OH!
He rolled a 20 on age 1 as well! +1LCK! And +1STR for Insight!
This child might just be the Chosen One!

Fueled by the slew of good rolls I was fully ready to commit.
I purified Muzashi as well (+1ACC) and attempted Umbilical Symbiosis with Fara as his caretaker. We got a 23. And that sadly wasn’t quite enough for him to be a Warrior of the Sun, but, at least he got another +1STR and Purpose (FA) in addition to the +1STR/ACC for the symbiosis.
The little guy was a stat monster with 3/7/2/1/1 fresh out of the gates.

Out of endeavors due to my sudden committal to purification, it meant we were going to miss out on Sauna Shrine for the year. But we should overall be fine I figured. It was just a lope after all..
The rest of our resources got stashed away (5 bones and 3 organs, for a total mix of 13 bones, 7 organs, 1 hide and 2 scrap in storage) and we set off to prepare for the hunt.

A lope shouldn’t be that bad at this stage, unless the survivors get eaten by it one by one or it starts to vomit blood like a fountain it is the easiest Lvl3 of the core box, so we should be fine. I wrote that like 3 times already.
It would likely run away from us on the hunt though, pushing us into Starvation. But, then again, we had so many resources left in the bank, that should hardly matter.

The Hunters:
Gwynevere – green (Leather Armor, Lantern Sword)
Celestine – blue (Phoenix Armor, Wrought Tachi)
Vigo – red (Screaming Armor, Sonic Tomahawk)
Cassandra – yellow (Rawhide Armor, Arc Bow)

I settled on a group of new-ish people for this hunt, Gwynevere filling in for Helios and Vigo for his mother Calys.

Naturally there was a small chance we might actually be hunting a lvl3 White Lion instead.
Little did I know how long the hunt would be..
The worm seemingly didn’t care all too much about taking over Celestine so it left her alone quite easily, content again with just a quick cuddle.

The Huntphase:
Not far from the settlement we found a lush Grazing Field covered with Acanthus, whilst we didn’t have the means to take some along, we had a good feeling that the antelope had been here in the past. And the metallic banging noises echoing closer and closer with every step we took trough the field made clear why it wasn’t here any more. On the way to The Finale (basic HE100), we passed the shattered corpses of these lesser beasts. This gave us enough time to weigh our options and decide to not tempt fate and instead roll a different event. (I saw now real value in gaining any of the steele gear at this stage.)
Before long we picked up the trail of the monster again and we followed it vigorously. But one misconception seemed to follow the next – the thing we had been hunting wasn’t an antelope at all! It revealed itself to be a Gregalope (basic HE38)! We rolled a badly as we possibly could and before we knew it we were back on the starting space after “resolving” 3 events.

After taking a few hours to rest back up close to our settlement, the next attempt at venturing out into the darkness saw the group quickly be surrounded by thick smoke with only a Golden Ember (basic HE73) lighting the way from a distance.
Well, I wasn’t too keen on this one either.
We headed back home and vowed to try again tomorrow.

As time passed, and we headed out again, the green foliage was slowly exchanged for pulsating Flesh Fields (basic HE05). Sweating from the uncanny heat emanating from the ground, Gwynevere carefully carved a piece of hide from it and we finally were allowed to take a step forward on the hunt board again!
As Vigo took the lead for the next part of the journey, he soon tripped over a stone face [that] Whisper[ed his] Name (basic HE33). He was far too sane and suddenly understood something about the world he had never realized before. What that might be, was solely for him to figure out. Hidden Faceist, crouching Sculptor.
From this spot on, the ground showed clear signs of the monster Teething. Celestine plucked one complete Large Flat Tooth from the ground with ease whilst the rest of the group only found rotten remains strewn about.
The somewhat excessively long hunt was starting to leave a mark on Vigo. Caught in a bout of Crippling Misery (basic HE34), he flung himself down a steep hill, shattering his leg. Being down to 4MOV against a lope wasn’t exactly ideal either. A tad dramatic on his side I noted. (Why did it have to be the axe guy?!)
Well, luck seemed to be on our side. Or, it could have been at least. As Vigo got back up on unsteady feet, he stood before the cart of a wandering Surgeon (basic HE42). But, dramatic little Vigo was not courageous enough to enter the dingy vessel because I didn’t brave any of the earlier events. So the cart eventually passed us by and we were free to arrive at Overwhelming Darkness.

Gwynevere saw the Nightmare Whale, Celestine turns into the Leader (FA) of the group, whilst both Vigo and Cassandra took 1DMG to their arms holding their lanterns up high.

As we continued onwards we got a chance at doing some quick Mineral Gathering, which got us an Iron on an 8. This time I decided we would not go any deeper, as I figured we did not need to.
Instead we encountered a Stampede! As usual I did roll for the event and on a 7 we were not able to catch a lope but just got a glimpse of what they were running from. Disturbed, but marginally braver the group ventured on as 3 people – Gwynevere (+1STR), Celestine (+1SPD-token) and Vigo (+1 understanding) – triggered Bold and minor amnesia.
Just as we were about to take another step a Forbidden Word (basic HE66) rang out, dealing yet more brain damage to the lot of the group. Whatever that word meant, it had a supremely disquieting effect on Celestine as she developed Monster Panic (D) from hearing it.
Moving on ahead, we were able to spot the antelope in the distance, and it had moved a lot quicker than we could have anticipated. We had to hurry to follow this Skittish creature.
And before we knew it, Celestine was following a strange Golden Light (basic HE09) reminiscent of our home instead. The exposure singed her armor, but she appeared to be mostly fine.
One more rest and one more event until we would finally be able to reach the monster. During this uneasy sleep, Vigo was set upon by Man-Stealers (basic HE27). He fended off the weird bugs by punching himself in the dick just in time to prevent further harm.
And there it was. What a hunt! 16 events, 3 “restarts” but we found the Screaming Antelope after all!

I scattered the Acanthus plants randomly in the set-up area again and for random Terrain this lope got an Ore Vein and.. another Sinkhole.
I swear if Vigo falls into that hole…

Looking at the survivors we sent out and at the part of Legendary Horns I tended to just forget about – nobody had 5 courage to ignore the ☆ brain damage coming in.
But too late now ..

The level 3 Screaming Antelope features the typical +2DMG/SPD, but gains an extra +1SPD-token from its Legendary Horns as well as 4 +1TGH-tokens, bumping it up to 16TGH in total.
And Hypermetabolism is going to add more +1SPD-token to the monster every time it eats something. Which it typically does right on its first turn.

22 cards in the deck. The Screaming Antelope was riled up and ready to attack us on sight – Bite was drawn and it was just a little too far away to reach us. This did conveniently skip the first instinct trigger.
With Diabolical sending it straight forward, its turn ended right between Vigo and Gwynevere.

Ready for hopefully another explosive first turn, Gwynevere activated and spent 2 survival on Embolden and Overcharge (which she immediately regained as a Warrior of the Sun) before she attacked the monster from where she stood.
Hitting on 3+ thanks to her +3ACC, of the 4 attacks, 3 connected. The trap was not amongst them. The pink dice were the ones used for Sharp. Dealing critical hits on 9s, she wounded 3 (4) times, not only opening a Degenerating Wound in the process, but also also carving off a chunk off its Pelt! Next up is Vigo. As Gwynevere stepped away from the monster, he attacked from where he was standing. Wounding on 3+ (6STR weapon, 4 on Vigo, 2 from his Monster Tooth Necklace for a total of 12 against 15TGH), he quickly dealt 3 wounds, but he would have to take a basic attack in retaliation from a reflex.

4 hits connected from the 5SPD attack, dealing 3DMG each. The double hit to his body knocked him over with a heavy body wound and he would have to take the brain trauma from seeing the horns as well because of it. He rolled a 1 for trauma and forgot 2 of his 4 points of axe proficiency as he felt young, inexperienced and vulnerable again.
Awesome.
The game really did not like me training up follow up masters.

Cassandra then shot the Hollowpoint Arrow at the monster. She hit and dealt a wound applying the -1MOV in the process. A fairly dry procedure in comparison to Vigo’s activation.
Finally, Celestine was also here to be brave. She dashed up into position, from where she also activated Embolden and Overcharge before she used her Phoenix Armor set to Charge in at +7STR.
On 6+ she hit the monster 3 out of 3 times – applying -2ACC for the next turn as well with a Perfect Hit on a 9. Dealing critical wounds on 8+, the pink dice were again used for Sharp. Whilst no critical hits were dealt, 4 wounds were still inflicted, and as the monster ran over Celestine it suffered another wound from the Degenerating Wound Gwynevere had inflicted (it takes a wound every time it moves until the end of the next round).We got lucky enough to not draw the trap this round and thus were able to dish out the hurt once again.

Only 9 cards left in the deck, Crush and Devour.

What the..
*distant screaming*

On 6+, it gobbled up Gwynevere with ease.
She tried her best to fight back, and got lucky on the first roll – a 7, but the follow up 7 only got her chewed up (1DMG to every hit location).
Diabolical then saw the lope run over Celestine again, which inflicted 1 more wound to the monster from the persistent injury at the very least and the first of 2 to free Gwynevere. A kick in the groin hurt Celestine, but it only damaged armor for the time being.

Both Gwynevere and Vigo got up as Cassandra shot her bow at the lope. Hitting the monster on 4+, she hit the trap. That was terrible for us!
Vigo triggered Frenzy on his trauma roll, giving him 1SPD as he lost the STR-token instantly. Luckily his legs were the part getting trampled, but still, with Vigo downed again I thought I couldn’t free Gwynevere.
But I soon realized the lope still had to take a second wound from it moving this round! And I believe that should free her. I got a stuck on the issue for a little bit, researching, and ultimately there was nothing poised against this interaction with Gobbled Up merely mentioning 2 wounds in a single round.
I was probably overthinking things at the time – it looks pretty cut and dry right now.
Anyways.., Gwynevere was thrown back up and but she sure thought she’s dead.

Sadly, after all of this our turn ended and the Degenerating Wound was now discarded into an empty Hit Location pile.

6 cards remaining. Stomp would target Gwynevere. She got hit twice on 4+, and unfortunately she couldn’t dodge an unlimited amount of times. So despite dodging 1 attack, she was still hit and the monster drew another AI card.
It wanted to Ram somebody. Only Cassandra was a threat so it ran right towards her, over Vigo. He took another 3DMG to his legs, putting him onto heavy wound.
Finally, the monster continued to just run straight ahead, knocking Cassandra over with Diabolical, taking out her head armor in one clean blow.

As our round started, all survivors except for Cassandra got up.
Gwynevere, at the other end of the board, used Embolden and Dash to get a little closer, Vigo move up slowly (unable to spend survival due to Frenzy) and Celestine dashed into range to Charge with Overcharge’s Devastating 1.
2 hits, pink again for Sharp: 3 wounds were dealt and she even crit the Restless Eye!

She did take the Brain Trauma for standing too close to the monster afterwards. Ethereal Pact (FA) increased the 1 she rolled to a 6, which had her Danger Seizure the floor with her chest, knocking her down first and then she gained Aichmophobia (D) as well. Funnily enough, the disorder doesn’t mention Katanas. Which felt like that had to be a misprint at the time. But – to my surprise – there was a clarification made for the card, stating that the list is truly as intended. I’ll take it!
The katana as a weapon has fully transcended sharpness to being dull again!

3 cards remaining. I already knew it before I drew the card – it had to be Crush and Devour again.
This time Vigo got to experience the thrill of being eaten alive and with a quick crunch, one of his legs came off. Probably the good one as well.
The monster also trampled Cassandra again, for good measure, this time her chest tanked the hit.

As Cassandra and Celestine got up again, Cassandra dashed away from the monster, used Embolden and Overcharge and she shot her bow. It hit the monster, just about on 3+, and dealt 2 wounds with a crit! The Dazed monster threw up Vigo. Down a leg, he also felt dead and it took him a moment to realize that he had left the monster.
Celestine uses her last 2 survival to use Overcharge again, and as she stood her ground she hit the lope twice, she failed to wound both times, even with Sharp!

It was all up to Gwynevere.
She dashed in at no real cost, used Overcharge as well and hit the monster 4 times! No rolled 1s stopped her attack, and she was good to go!
With sword spec she rolled her attacks first and decided afterwards where to wound, quickly cleaving the monster apart!

The trap would have been in the next 2 cards as well.
So that’s enough lope for a while, I think. Crush and Devour, man… Crush and Devour.
So, strangely enough, Celestine has not been bricked as I expected to happen for her getting too far along Katana spec, but Vigo almost assuredly has.

But we still needed to collect our rewards!
Celestine (+1STR) aged, and she finally hit the point for Katana spec when it actually did something! Cassandra also got her Bow spec!
Finally, we get a whole pile of resources to take home, including the newest lope Indomitable – a perfect stone!
We got the Legendary Horns as well, which probably was the most important card here, as it gave us the chance at an Apostle Crown once we managed to take out the Lvl3 Phoenix next year.

Another brutal fight all in all (for the monster mainly), though I didn’t feel as glass-cannon-y against the lion, which was kinda weird. But for now, I’m just happy I’m done with potential Crush and Devour for this campaign.
Did I mention my Crush and Devour-PTSD?
Yes? Oh..
Nobody might have died in earnest, but just like Gwynevere and Vigo especially, I was feeling dead inside after that fight.

Whilst it is a little silly to make such a big deal about building the Tachyon Nodachi and then not taking it along for the hunt, even if I hadn’t thought the weapon would break upon hitting a super-dense hit location, the lope had a chance to just straight up eat it.
And I don’t think I would have risked that either.

Next year is bound to be more interesting with another birb hunt and the start of festival season.
“Nothing bad ever happens in festival season!”, he says in a sour tone.

But for now this will be all from me, another year in the book, another weekend almost over.
As always, thank you very much for your time, do your best, don’t get crushed or devoured.
Amathul