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• BLACK CHASM HIVE •
In a dark, decrepit region of Bretonnia, north west of the Loren Forests, there lies a horrid blight on the landscape. Black Chasm, a vast Skaven lair. Clan Pestilens and Clan Eshin fight for supremacy over the canyons, with neither gaining the advantage over the other. Recently, a third party has entered the fray. While mining for warpstone, a group of Pestilen miners accidentally discovered a large, natural cavern. Much to their surprise, the walls of the cavern had been hollowed out with small hexagonal squares, each about 2 feet deep, and two feet tall. A sticky yellow substance seeped from each yellowish hexagonal hole and dripped down the wall. Fearfully, the Skaven backed away. There was suddenly a loud buzzing sound, and the caverns of Black Chasm were filled with giant bees, swarming from their once hidden lair out into the cavern systems where the two Skaven clans fought. The miners were engulfed by dozens of foot long bees, with stingers the length of a human hand. Not realising what they had unleashed, the two Skaven clans continued to fight, until the bees became too much of a hassle. Skaven were being killed in their hundreds, all by the armies of giant bees. Eventually, warpstone mining ceased altogether, and the clans were being depleted. The two Warlords met on neutral ground and discussed what was to be done about this new threat. Both agreed to form a truce until they wiped these giant bees (of which they assumed had been created by the raw power of warpstone) from their caverns. Small groups of Pestilens and Eshin were formed and heavily armed, and a voyage into the hive where the bees had originally been released began. When days passed, the Warlords began to get worried, for no word of the parties had been heard. They decided to get suited up in the finest warpstone armour and investigate for themselves. Calling on the power of the Great Horned Rat, they summoned an immense demonic form from the void. With seething power, and crackling energy, the form of a mighty Vermin Lord rose from the ground, swathed in mystical purple bands of power. Once the dark magic had subsided, the creature stood, coated in thick fur and with black bands of power that encircled its wrists and ankles. The Vermin Lord growled, a guttural sound that sent shivers of fear through the human captives that were nearby, being readied for a sacrifice to the mighty demon from the warp. Once the Vermin Lord had eaten his fill, it stepped out of the summoning pentagram and waited for its next orders. The two mighty Warlords and the Vermin Lord proceeded towards the hive… Meanwhile, in another section of the Black Chasm, the Warriors are enjoying a good round of monster bashing when they suddenly hear a loud buzzing sound from around the corner. Being slightly puzzled, they finish of the last Skaven, and prepare to face the onslaught ahead. SPECIAL RULES This adventure starts slightly differently from all the others. The Warriors have just descended a set of stairs down to the second level of the Black Chasm, therefore they are in the middle of the dungeon and have no idea what lies ahead of them as usual. However, unlike other dungeons, since they are on the second level, the stairs leading up will only take them to level one, instead of out of the dungeon. Therefore, there is no escape for the Warriors during this adventure. They must press onwards into the gloom. Warriors rolling on the Escape Table must subtract -1 from the roll. Also, the Warriors start off the adventure having a fight in whatever room or passage they begin in, with a large swarm of giant bees. Once the Warriors have been placed, roll 3D6 for the number of bees encountered, and fight a battle as normal. Gain treasure for the combat as usual.
Giant Bee Ambush 3+; Bee Sting; Dodge 5+; Fly. Bee Sting Whenever a Giant Bee rolls a 6 to hit a Warrior, he has managed to use its sting on him. The Warrior takes 2D6+2 damage instead of the normal 1D6+2 damage. However, because the Giant Bee needs its sting to survive, it dies immediately after its sting attack. Remove the Bee from the board. No treasure is gained from this kill. The Bee’s sting attack is NOT poison. Because of the nature of these caverns, there are bound to be lots of Skaven running around everywhere, trying to escape the Giant Bees. Whenever the Warriors encounter Skaven, there will always be an extra 1D6 Skaven Clanrats and 1D3 Skaven Storm Vermin, even if there was none of these creatures to begin with. Whenever the Warriors get an Unexpected Event that reveals an Event of some kind, roll 1D6. On a roll of 1 to 3, the Event is ignored in favour of a small swarm of Giant Bees attacking the Warriors. There are 2D6 Giant Bees. Fight a combat as normal. Upon reaching the Objective Room, the Warriors are greeted with a strange site indeed. A half eaten Skaven Lord lies crumpled in the corner, moaning loudly for all to hear. Giant Bees swarm at the top of the cavern far overhead. The Walls of the hive are covered in thick layers of honey, dripping out of large hexagonal holes in the wall. Two terrified Skaven Warlords are standing next to the dying body of the Vermin Lord, desperately trying to reach the strange female beauty at the back of the room, sitting upon a throne of warpstone covered with honey. Upon closer inspection, the Warriors see that the gorgeous woman has yellow and black striped skin, long flowing yellowy brown hair, gorgeous orange eyes, and wears not a stitch of clothing on her body. However, an evil sneer appears on her face as she crosses her very feminine legs, making the Warriors temporarily forget their predicament. They also notice a large pair of membrane like wings attached to her supple back. Getting back to the problem at hand, the Warriors join the battle. The following rules apply when fighting this final battle.
Queen Bee Armed with Barbed Whip; Armed with Wasp Bow; Dodge 3+; Fly; Hypnotise 5+; Queen Bee Magic 1. Barbed Whip If there is a Warrior within 3 spaces of the Queen Bee (but not adjacent), she will attack with her whip (only once per turn). The whip does 1D6 + 5 Wounds. However, some of the barbs remain in the Warrior’s flesh. It takes him 1 Attack next turn for him to remove them all. Wasp Bow This bow is used instead of the Queen Bee’s normal sword attack (no Warrior is adjacent) or Barbed Whip attack (no Warrior is within 3 squares). The bow fires tiny small wasps instead of arrows. Roll 1D6. This is to see how many wasps are fired from the bow. Now roll 1D6 for each wasp against the Queen Bee’s Ballistic Skill. Deal out damage as normal for missile weapon fire. Each wasp does 1D3 unmodified Poison damage. Queen Bee Magic At the start of every Monster’s Phase, roll 1D6 to see which spell the Queen Bee casts. 1 Honey Salve The Queen Bee waves her arm in the air, and a thick layer of honey falls from the ceiling, coating all the Giant Bees in the room. All Bees immediately gain 1 Permanent Wound, and heal any Wounds they have lost so far. 2 Bee Swarm Raising both arms directly above her, the Queen Bee sends thousands upon thousands of tiny bees directly into the Warriors. Each Warrior must lose 1D6 unmodified Wounds and must lose 1D3 Attacks next turn as they fight off the annoying little creatures. 3 Prison of the Wasp A random Warrior suddenly finds himself trapped within a large yellow crystal hexagonal prison. While in this cell, he cannot attack, be attacked, cast spells on anyone but himself, have spells cast on him, use magic items on people outside the cell, or be given bandages or provisions. At the start of every turn, the Warrior may try and break out of the cell. Roll 1D6 and add Strength. If the result is 7 or more, the Warrior shatters the prison and may fight as normal. If it is less, he does not escape this turn. If the Warrior remains trapped within the cell for more than 6 turns, he dies of suffocation. The cell will shatter when the Queen Bee is killed. 4 Warpstone Fade The Queen Bee’s image starts to shift and blur. For this turn, she has the Ethereal -1 ability and her Dodge 3+ is increased to Dodge 2+. 5 Bee Sting A random Warrior suddenly feels a sharp twinge in his neck. He suffers 2D6 modified Wounds and must roll 1D6. On a roll of 1, he has been poisoned and loses 1D6 extra unmodified Wounds. If these Wounds reduce him to 0 Wounds, the Warrior is dead. 6 Summon Bees The Queen Been begins to sing, and the walls and ceilings come alive with the writhing of dozens of Giant Bees that had been hiding all this time. Roll 2D6 for the number of extra Giant Bees that must be placed. Any that don’t fit are ignored. Roll for Ambush as usual. Conclusion When the Queen Bee and the Skaven Warlords are dead, all remaining Bees are removed from the board. The Warriors have won. As well as normal treasure, each Warrior finds 1D6 x 100 gold pieces and a Treasure Card. With the Queen Bee dead, the hive will soon perish without its leader. On the way back to the surface, the Warriors locate a book, which has been written by a Skaven Seer. It tells of how a young female human captive escaped her bonds one day and fled deeper into the Black Chasm. Her captors ignored her and after a few days had forgotten all about her. The girl had ended up wandering the caverns in a state of insanity, until she collapsed from exhaustion within a large cavern. There, she lived on honey that she found from a small beehive located on an overhang. However, as the years went by, the raw warpstone she was exposed to slowly mutated her into what she loved most. Her bees. With years to learn, she soon had full control over her bees and mutated them using the warpstone at her disposal. After mastering the power of the warp, and having full control over her now Giant Bees, it was time to get revenge on the puny rat things that had caused her to be down here in the first place. It was then the Skaven miners had uncovered her hidden lair. It was time to kill all the Skaven in Black Chasm, and time for her revenge! The Warriors will be glad to be out of this place.
Black Chasm Hive by Michael Brockhouse. |
