Half the year is already over and we are heading steadily towards that week full of releases, showdowns and previews at GenCon – it’s July!

With the worst of the heat wave having passed in Europe (for now) I will try my best to make some progress with Season 3 again. And to that end we will be fighting the Black Knight today. The final encounter with the doggo is a ferocious one – as Level 3 fights tend to be – but we will muster all that we can to hopefully sway the odds into our favor. It has worked for us thus far in this settlement – let’s try to keep that trend going all the way!

***

Purple was the only one to arrive back at the settlement from the previous group, earning us a meager 3 endeavors for the Lantern Year (1 survivor, Cooking (I) and 10 population) but also a bunch of hard-won, though not very useful, Screaming God resources.
As for events we had a few things going on this Lantern Year, with Lights in the Sky being a good one to get for the random draw.

Then the bell tolled a third and final time!
I rolled a 4: the survivor with the highest insanity was set to depart this year. Sapphire had quite decidedly the most insanity with 16, so that likely meant she was going to be our most “steadfast believer”.
However there was also that Creeping Longing pulling us towards the darkness still. And after I had considered my options for a bit, I put up Sapphire for this roll as well.. maybe she’d just run off?
Nope.
She rolled a Lantern 10 instead! This even got her a life-time reroll and 2 extra endeavors for us to play with. Wow!

And with that I updated our death count and moved on to developing. Just in case you were curious as this point, here’s a picture of the current state of the settlement:

As mentioned at the end of the last hunt, the resources we got from the last Screaming God hunt sadly did not help us build anything that we *really* wanted. No missing armor pieces, nor shield ..
But instead of dwelling on it any longer, here is what we could build instead: the axe, sword or thrown weapon .. as well as the helmet or waist armor.
Yeah that’s not as great as it could have been.
Looking at the requirements we could have built the Vandal Claymore had we gotten the antlers. But in the end I resolved myself to building the Vandal Broadaxe. It’s something and I do like my axes.

I will also say, that I probably did not give this piece of gear the respect it deserved at the time. In essence the Vandal Broadaxe is a “low” STR axe with deadly 3 and savage meant to go crit-fishing via axe spec .. and that sounds pretty incredible if you think about it.

I then innovated with the bits we scavenged via Cannibalize: Scarification, Bed, Face Painting or Saga were the choices I got.
Either Bed or Saga were probably the right call at this point and I ended up choosing Bed, giving the mid roll for intimacy +1STR, and the settlement as a whole +1 survival limit.

Up next: I used the Love Juice with Goldenglow and Frogdos. I would have picked Sapphire but she had destroyed genitals since forever ago. A 3 or 10.
Well, with those rolls, I guess we get to pick another savior.
I really wanted to chose a non-blue variant here.. but the fact that I had just built a crit-axe, with savage no less, weighed in heavy.
But you might already know that I can be too stubborn (or dumb) to pick the right option at times like this.

Unfortunately we didn’t have any organs left over to use with Pottery (I) for more juice, but Lights in the Sky might just be enough to help us out with another intimacy trigger.
With a +3 total bonus, a 5 was indeed enough to trigger another baby.
A 5 or a 2 in turn was enough for 1 more child and thus young Vandal was born, who readily took up the Katar.
The Final endeavor we had left was used for a prayer at our Shrine (a 6 – +1 armor) before the final group was to be assembled.

We were still sitting on a bunch of hide after all was said and done, 3 Eroded Hide amongst that as well, sadly those didn’t really help us at all at the moment.

The Valorous Warriors:
Vandal – blue (Piercing Claws, Dragon Armor)
Viridian – green (Frogdog Armor, Hyperelastic Sword)
Sapphire – red (Alpha bits, Cult Speaker Knife, Vandal Broadaxe)
Goldenglow – yellow (Leather Armor, Vandal Sledge)

I had Viridian wear the Black bits of the Black&Red Armor at first, but decided to switch off of that armor because of the extra knockback. And I didn’t think we necessarily needed the 2 extra EVA on our green savior.
(Do you feel that cold shiver running down your spine like an omen would leave you with? Take a token!)
Unfortunately this did trigger a bit of confusion with me and Viridian’s model and gender. I used the SoD1 Frogdog Armor figure for the start of the fight despite being female, before I switched to one of my regular male Frogdog armor survivors later on. My notes got all confused as well.., but I think I managed to sort it out.

The Mountain Ascent was quickly dealt with – as usual.
Viridian and Sapphire couldn’t get over the swinging elevator basket, each losing 3 survival, whilst Viridian developed Ptophobia (D), which could end up leading to issues.
Goldenglow and Vandal were freezing on their way up as neither was wearing enough fur gear, but that wasn’t anything a hearty song couldn’t fix!

As the group departed the swaying platform, the Citadel was plunged into darkness and the faint crashing of the gigantic sword could already be heard in the distance!

The Lvl3 version of the Black Knight has given me a bit of trouble in the past, at least in Wrath-less settlements, and I was strangely eager to find out how this would play out today.
I really wanted to find out if the uncanny strength versus nemesis monsters this settlement had managed to rouse so far would prevail against the doggo once again!

For the Lvl3 encounter the Black Knight still only has 10TGH and 8MOV, but features 8 +1TGH-tokens as well as a +1ACC-token. For stats the doggo is at a comparatively low +1/+1!
Besides Indomitable, the only other new trait here is Seasoned Duelist – which gives the monster an additional +3EVA unless it is attacked from its blind spot.

22 AI cards in play – that was indeed all of them – the survivors had the honor of the first strike.
And we knew, we had better make it count!
Sapphire activated first to ring the Bell Altar on our starting tile and to my surprise, the bell swung back, shattering right in her face!
So much for that good start – oh no! Dazed she also moved to the side of the new tile she had just revealed via knockback, trying to make more of an opening for other people to move around.

Goldenglow was up next and she ran a lap in a circle to activate the +5STR on the Vandal Sledge before she swung straight from the front. Hitting on 5+ with all modifiers taken into account, she missed once, but her surge got her a 9. Not quite a perfect hit, so a 4 was just about a wound, dealing first blood for the fight as it prevented the monster’s Shock Wave reflex.

Viridian simply blocked for his first turn, before Vandal found himself in an unusal predicament. He couldn’t actually get to any point from which to jump in to attack the monster – he couldn’t get far enough into the new tile or terrain like pots and a statue were in the way! So he spent the turn breaking one set of urns that were blocking him from leaping in, which would hopefully make a difference later on.

21 cards remaining & +8TGH-tokens. Surge of Strength .. a legendary trait has entered play. Without moving, the Black Knight burst parts of its armor by flexing, losing 2 +1TGH-tokens but gaining 2 +1STR-tokens in return.
And the worst part: all knockback would get doubled for the rest of the fight from this moment on!!! A truly deadly alteration to this showdown!

Given another “extra turn” Sapphire activated first again and used her activation to reveal the next tile of the board and found herself directly in front of another Bell Altar. This time the bell chimed as it should and the monster squirmed as it lost another +1TGH-token.
Goldenglow then activated next, finding 1 wound between her attack and surge, before she dashed to the side to make room for Vandal.

Using his dash to enter the rubble terrain, he leapt towards the monster and on 5+ he .. disappointingly only managed to get 1 hit from his 4SPD attack. This left all other tokens intact, but at least the wound was dealt easily enough.
He did follow up with a surge and this time he achieved 2 hits on 7+. He cut off parts of the impervious Tattered Cape, and just about missed the terrible crit against the Black Guard’s Belt.
Viridian used his act to simply block again, weary of the first attack to be unleashed by the monster.

17 cards left in the deck, +5TGH-tokens remaining – Bat Away. I chose Viridian as the target for the attack. With his 5EVA (2 base, +1 from Agility Fighter FA & an active Monster Grease) he would only get hit on 7+ – and the Black Knight missed all of its swings!

Sapphire spent her turn continuing her trip around the board, finding another Bell Altar on a newly revealed tile, dashing and surging to activate this one as well!

Vandal prepared his turn by dashing on to his jump spot but Goldenglow activated first! She ran another lap to activate her Vandal Sledge and swung from the blind spot for a double wound! The Smash reaction had me sweating for a bit: 16 knockback straight off the edge, with a -7 to the roll sounded just all around lovely.. but Iron Will saved the day for her as I remembered it last second! (Or, more accurately, shortly after..) She was smashed into the statue by the monster and just flopped onto the other side, ready to surge for an extra attack with her reach 2!

She even rolled a perfect hit and swung at the doggo for a beautiful, if still kinda low, 36 .. which was more than double of 18 and translated into 3 wounds!

Inspired by and a little afraid of their elder, Viridian and Vandal spent their turns each by repositioning after the Black Knight moved due to another reflex.

12 cards remaining, +4TGH-tokens left – Left Backhand was revealed. Viridian would have to take this one on the chin if I wanted to spare Goldenglow from the damage.
I felt safe for a bit as our dedicated tank took the attack but I was not prepared for the Black Knight adjusting to my strategy as well.
3 hits landed despite Viridian’s decently high EVA and had him flying off into the darkness. Which would also trigger a Brain Trauma amongst other things thanks to Ptophobia (D).

As Viridian hit his arms whilst smashing into pots, he decleared (screamed) Dormenatus 4 towards the dreaming (which was the maximum he could muster) and he was able to avoid a severe arms injury this way.., for now. His armor was still completely gone at the arms after he crawled back up onto the Citadel floor though, his eyes markedly older (+1ACC from Age 1). Lying on the floor this new perspective still had him reeling (+4 insanity).

Vandal took the opportunity to Leap in to the monster’s blind spot: and with no extra EVA on the monster, 3+ to hit was finally low enough to find 4 hits and remove a token! That +1ACC had to go!
From the line-up of wounds the Polished Gorget shattered, leaving an Iron behind for us to loot. And after 3 wounds, in an uncharacteristic moment of fear the Black Knight charged away from us, towards the furthest reaches of the map.
Vandal also encouraged Viridian, to have him block and move back towards the group.

Goldenglow then dashed into the monster’s blindspot, ready to unload on it with 2+ to hit and 2+ to wound .. but she rolled a 1, 1, 2 & 1 – failing almost everything!
Sapphire then broke through the line off pots to ring the next closest Bell Altar – which potentially put her into the line of fire and she got hit in the face instead again?! Why are these bells fighting back!?

9 cards remaining, 3 +1TGH-tokens remaining – Right Swing Ahead was played and Goldenglow was the target this time.
She quickly surged into the flow, and the monster moved over her in response as it suffered a singular wound. The monster then turned to attack, hitting her 3 times on 2+, Goldenglow dodged 1 body hit as her armor was completely taken apart wherever she got hit by the brutal beating. Luckily Iron Will was steadfastly holding her in place, but the damage tore into her anyhow.

After Sapphire tried to put some distance between her and the monster, Vandal dash/leapt into the blindspot. With 3 hits he removed one of the two +1DMG-tokens from the legendary trait, but this minor triumph was short lived: he hit the trap!
Hit 3 times in return, he immediately suffered a severe arm injury (a Lantern 10 – just a knockdown)..

.. and then got launched with 16 knockback straight into a statue. Ultimately bouncing twice he left the Citadel with 14 knockback remaining.. which, even with a 9 rolled for Scramble to Survive, he did not, in fact, survive.

Ready for at least a bit of revenge, Goldenglow activated .. and got a perfect hit! Whilst not a critical wound, 34 secured 3 wounds at once for us!

The monster jolted forwards once again from this unexpected beating and Viridian finally took the chance to hit it from behind as well – actually finding 2 more wounds!
He surged and dealt a critical wound to the Unarmored Paw – but only had 3 survival left which meant he couldn’t gain the extra EVA – a shame even if it would have been too risky to take advantage of.

2 cards left, +3TGH-tokens – Right Swing Ahead was the first card to be replayed and before the monster even got a chance to turn around, Viridian sensed an opportunity to kill!
He surged!
2 hits did connect, yet he failed the 4+ to wound the Pearl-Eyed Pauldron. Not all hope was lost just yet as the Hyperelastic Sword drew a replacement once.. and it was the Obsidian-Eyed Pauldron – the other shoulder – which he also failed.
A deadly missed/fumbled roll!
He did wound the Coarse Scruff but this ended with him getting smashed into the closest Elastomer Statue! The Ethereal Dreamer was not protecting him nearly as much as it did with Indigo, as Viridian was flung off the edge with 6 knockback remaining and a 5 rolled was not good enough to keep clinging on to the edge.

Driven to desperation, Sapphire moved in to attack as well. Using the Cult Speaker Knife rather than the newly built axe, a 7+ to hit wasn’t looking great, but she actually managed to get 2 wounds out of this line of attacks!
And of course I got carried away as well, missing entirely to take these crucial pictures!? I am truly sorry!
And Sapphire continued to not be deterred – she needed a 10+ to wound on 2 dice (sharp) and managed to get 1 .. which did not kill just yet!
After checking her impairments for good measure (a tad late on that one) I had her surge as well for 2 more hits! These revealed the death blow! The monster still had 3 +1TGH-tokens, so whilst she did manage to push through to our victory with a wound, the monster survived yet again as it ran into the darkness of the wide spread-out halls of the crumbling Citadel!

Overall, I’d call this outcome a pyrrhic victory at best, but hey, we did it after all.

Sapphire (+1STR) reached age 2, and Goldenglow was now set to retire for good as soon as we arrived back in the settlement. We were also able to upgrade the Bell of Challenge all the way to Level 4 and we got to roll on the Darkened Workshop event.
With +2 to the roll, Sapphire achieved a 9 and we got to draw 9 basic resources in addition to 3 more armor patterns. I picked 3 of the missing count patterns, but as we were missing 1 for the complete set, it won’t be having any impact that really matters.

Finally we also got the bonus for having Collective Toil, which would be +2 to all endeavor rolls next year.
We’ll get 5 endeavors by the looks of it next Lantern Year, so maybe we could get something going with them.
Hopefully.

Funnily enough this was one of the closest times I’ve ever gotten to the Black Knight’s death till now. Which I am unsure of if it would have been a better or worse outcome to get or not.
Or, scratch that – after checking the event I saw that Sapphire and Goldenglow would not have been physically strong enough to even carry the huge sword back to the settlement.

***

With yet another nemesis encounter bested we have one more fight against the Lvl3 Red Witches to go .. but to be honest, I don’t know about our chances when it comes to fighting Seer and her entourage.

But I am getting ahead of myself: first we will have to deal with the threat lurking beneath the Lantern Hoard – the Watcher! It will have finally awoken on its own by the next settlement phase!

But I am going to leave at that for today – one more nemesis has been triumphed over!

As always, thank you very much for your time, if you are supposed to let sleeping dogs lie, what are we to do with jellyfish?
Amathul