Chaos Wars II

Quest #7 - The Captured Mine


Wandering Monster - none


To be read to the Heroes at the start of the Quest:

The mayor of Scarredish meets you at the edge of the city.  "Thank you.  Thank you my friends for removing those horrible monsters from our mines."  You can tell by the frown that crosses his face that an unhappy thought has just crossed his mind.  "The horrible beast that is roaming the star-iron mine is still there, I'm afraid.  There is not much help I can give you - most of our men are needed in the iron mines to get ore to make weapons for the Emperor's Army."  He pauses for a moment, thinking, then says, "There is one thing I can do, though."  

He leads you though down streets and through back allies to a small blacksmith's shop.  "This is Hunther", the mayor states, introducing you to the smith.  "Don't let his small shop fool you - he is the best weapons-smith in the Empire."  Turning to the blacksmith, the mayor asks "Hunther, is there anything you can do to help the Emperor's Heroes drive the creature from the star-iron mines?"

Hunther looks at your weapons, and says, "I can put a keen edge on all your edged weapons; swords, daggers, spears, and the like.  That way they will do more damage when you attack."  Hunther takes your weapons, and begins work.  He returns in an hour with your weapons, and soon you are at the entrance to the star-iron mine.

This mine is smaller than the regular iron mine - it is obviously worked by fewer men.  You hear a faint sound coming from far inside - a distant howling that makes your hair stand on end.


Quest Notes:

Hunther puts a special edge on any 'sharp edged' weapon (swords, spears, daggers, etc) giving it an extra attack die.  The edge only lasts during this quest.

To complete this quest the Heroes need to kill the Balrog in the mine and exit the quest from location 'A'.

The quest requires 7 straight cave passage tiles, 6 corner cave tiles, 4 T-cave tiles, 1 blocked passage tile, 2 Cave Room #5 tile, and one 4-Rooms tile.

If you prefer, there is an alternate version of quest #8 that does not use the cave tiles.  Instead it uses the regular HeroQuest board.  If you use this map, all doors on the board are open doors - do not place any closed doors on the board.

If you wish, you may use the darkness rules found with the cave tiles.  If used, make sure you allow the players to get torches and/or lanterns before entering the cave.

There are no wandering monsters in this quest.  Remove the Wandering Monster cards from the treasure deck before playing.



Balrog:

Movement:     10 
Attack Dice:   3 with whip
               4 with sword
Defense Dice:  6
Body Points:  12
Mind Points:   4

The Balrog regains 1 lost Body Point every second turn.

The Balrog may attack with its whip and sword every turn.  Both weapons may be used to attack the same Hero if he is in range, or each may attack a different one.  Both weapons may attack diagonally.  The whip may attack any Hero that is 2 squares away from the Balrog.

Instead of attacking with its weapons, the Balrog may also cast Ball of Flame.  The Balrog may cast this spell any number of times, but only once per turn.

Finally, the Balrog can use its wings to fly over the Heroes.  It can fly over them at any time during its movement to either get away from them or move to attack them from behind.

This quest only has one monster - the Balrog.  You can use the Gargoyle miniature for this monster.  This monster is tough - it may take the Heroes several tries before they defeat it.  If the Heroes leave the quest to heal themselves, the Balrog regains 1/2 of any Body Points that it might have lost at the time the Heroes leave the quest.  You can either allow the Balrog to begin regaining its lost Body Points once the Heroes re-enter the quest, or only allow it to begin regaining Body Points once the Heroes make contact with it again.

Use the floor plan of the level wisely.  Allow the Balrog to run off and hide when wounded, only to ambush the players later once it has regained its Body Points.


Quest Location:

A.  This is the start and end of the quest.   To finish the quest the Heroes must destroy the Balrog and exit here.




Quest completion:

Once this quest is completed, the quest pack is finished.  Read the following to the players:

"You exit the star-iron mine, and return to Scarredish.  The mayor greets you at the city gates, and listens intently while you describe your battles with the horrible creature from the star-iron mine.  When you tell of the monster's defeat, the mayor begins shouting and singing.  He takes you to the local inn, and sends a boy to fetch the doctor to heal your wounds.  He tells you that the miners are digging again, and soon the wagon trains full of ore will begin traveling to fuel the Empire's need for iron."

"You are wounded, sore, and tired, and decide to rest for a while.  You've earned it!  A pretty girl brings you a mug of ale, and you lay back to await the local physician."
