Dicey Stories

Newly arrived in Wesmere, Tric and Heppa settle in and meet Neia, an ambitious young shaman.

In this episode, we meet Neia, a character from the User-Made Content campaign A War of Life and Death, and the information she shares with Tric and Heppa is basically a summary of that campaign. We also get our first look at Wesmere. As the home of the Ka’lian, the most prestigious elvish council, this forest is a pretty big deal. It has its own paragraph on the Geography of Wesnoth reference page on the video game’s wiki. That’s where I got the names for its villages and other prominent features. The description of the Ka’lian itself, to come in a future episode, is based on how it appears on battle maps.

This arc contains spoilers for the Battle for Wesnoth campaigns Eastern Invasion, Liberty, The Rise of Wesnoth, and A War of Life and Death, a User-Made Content campaign by Mystical_Warlord. There are also references to Heir to the Throne and The Sceptre of Fire.

Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here.

Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Mariah and Arx search for a way out of the Hospital for Experimental Miasma Treatment.

Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Bruised and battered, Tric and Heppa leave the Grey Woods for Wesmere, bearers of the woses’ call for aid.

The first Wesmere elf we meet, Filvarel, is a minor character from Scene 13 of A War of Life and Death by Mystical_Warlord. This user-made campaign has many more types of units than mainline Battle for Wesnoth, and Filvarel is one of those, an Elvish Guardian. The description of his appearance and equipment is based partly on the art that was in the video game when I played it. I also wanted to indicate that Wesmere was a more industrially developed forest than Estbryn. We’ll be meeting a lot more characters from A War of Life and Death in the next arc, including more non-baseline units.

Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here.

Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Mariah gets Arx released from Dr. Bingyi Khan’s care.

Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Society of Shadow remnants clash with Tric and Heppa deep in the Grey Woods.

This combat features more units from the Battle for Wesnoth video game. Donella, like Efa, is styled after the Bandit and was fighting alongside a Poacher. In the video game, the Bandit has a morningstar attack, while the Poacher has both a bow and a dagger. The new type of undead in this combat is a Wraith, and yes, in addition to its blade, it does have a wail attack in the video game.

Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here.

Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Cleve and Mariah overcome physical and emotional challenges on their way to the hospital where Arx is imprisoned.

Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Following the fight against Gaenyn, Tric and Heppa return to the Society of Shadow encampment to ensure no stragglers linger.

Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here.

Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Cleve and Mariah attract some unanticipated attention during the Planetfall Day festivities.

Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

The shadow mages launch their ambush… as do the elves and woses.

One of the inspirations for setting our tabletop Wesnoth game in the aftermath of Mal-Ravanal’s war was me playing through A War of Life and Death, a User-Made Content campaign by Mystical_Warlord. It is set in a similar timeframe, and at the very end of this arc, we’ll even meet a character from it. The caravan attack in today’s episode was heavily inspired by its Scenario 15.

Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here.

Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Mariah, Cleve, and Takuto enter the main dome of Morgan Industries.

Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!