Yuletide Tumble – A Mini-campaign for Kings of War

Every year I try to scheme up a campaign with a Yule-time theme. Usually its for Warhammer 40k but this year Mantica is the scene of war.

The Edge of the Abyss took us a step forward towards regularly playing Kings of War. So much that I decided to write up my planned yearly seasonal bash for these ruleset. With a growing player base it also feels more like a real contribution to the game.

Who knows, if I’m lucky somebody else might pick the scenarios up and give them a go. If so, please drop a comment below – and if you have pics or a battle report link them while you are at it!

Yuletide Tumble (LINK)

The rules you find through the link above. But I’ll paste in the fluffy parts below. So if you’re into that, read on after the holiday picture (to get you in the mood at this early date).

Squirrel with santa hat, by petful.com used under creative commons license.

Howling Peaks

Up north in the Ice Mountains lie the Howling Peaks. Old tales tell how the wind carries all the outspoken wishes and desires here where they coalesce into a loud howl that echo in the frozen valleys. The tales say they are screamed to deaf ears, as few knows that they are heard. See, here among the peaks there is a frozen fell where someone different lives. And indeed, this one, Canute, can hear all the voices even though he listens to but a few.

This different peak has through the years been formed – by hand, by will and by nature – to take the shape not unlike that of an ear. From this shape it takes it name. In his hut hidden in the middle of this unlikely shape, the old man sits by the fire and hearkens. Some voices Canute grants a wish, and from some he takes away. But every year his venture peaks around the Winter Solstice and the workshops hidden around the fell lights up.

Krampi
During the Fall all Celestians were not simply split into a shining being of good or a wicked being of evil. Some shifting traits of a more elluding character came to sift away into Mantica, taking varying forms. Especially mystical traits can face temporal variations, or follow the movements of astral bodies or geographical movements. A few cases appear like a possession that changes the psyche, and in some cases even the fysiology, of the victim.

The presence of Krampi among the peoples is considered to be one trait like this. A rare few individuals, most commonly Winter Elves or Rhordians, are increasingly haunted by visions of snow and frost each year as the days grow longer and the winter nears. For four days around the winter solstice they find themselves howling to the Northern Lights, always on the hunt. But for what no one knows, not even these lost themself as their memory is lost as they again travel to their homelands. These are said to be Krampi (sing. Krampus), after an old Rhordian word for the withered, lost shape they return to their daily lives as.

Some, with the flair for diplomacy or leadership, or just a big purse, have been found mustering armies and leading them to the Howling Peaks. The end of this is usually only the economical disaster of said Krampus – as the army is camped for four days waiting for orders from the gibbering individual running lost around the snowy peaks. But some tell tales of how the standing armies become obsessed about the Yuletide…

Praesens

This year the Howling Mountains stirs quite differently. Mayhap some star sign lends power to the tales or maybe its just a random coincidence like the dry pragmatics say. Nonetheless, this year an unprecedented number of Krampi have awoken, and a with them a large number of forces are ready to claim what gifts the old Canute might have. Some armies have been payed, some others stirred by the mighty words of an master orator and some have been coerced. Whatever the case they now are all frenzied for presents!

For us the gaming day is during the last weekend in November, so hopefully I have a few battle reports coming this way too!

Christmas agouti (LINK), used under CC0 license.