Shade Scout

Hire fee:
50 gc.
Upkeep fee:
20 gc.

»Captain, I have found him,« hissed the young Dietrich loudly. Fortunately, the inn was so noisy, that the hissing did not get further, than to the neighbouring table, occupied by half-drunk Ostlander, who was only interested in a woman sitting on his knee.

»Found whom?« asked the one-eyed mercenary, looking up from his tankard of beer. »You were not supposed to find anyone, you told me that you know a merchant, who will sell you a blunderbuss.«

»Sorry, captain, he insisted that he has already sold it. But on my way back, I met an elf.«

»An elf?«

»You remember what Karl talked about? Those elven rangers, who always find a way, always hit their target and always discover ambush?«

»Karl was crazy. Elves live on an island in western sea.«

»Well, this one is waiting outside the inn. He told me that he is willing to work for us, if we can pay him.«

If this was a joke, it was a bad one. However, Dietrich looked serious. Gerhard Blau Auge, captain of a mercenary warband, which came from Reikland month ago to search for riches in the ruins of Mordheim, left the tankard on the table in a company of copper coin. Time to go out anyway. A ranger, able to discover an ambush, would be certainly helpful, though. Last week, two archers of his warband died to sudden attack of crazy Sigmarite nuns.

Out of the inn, Gerhard looked around, seeing no-one. »That was a bad joke, Dietrich. You owe me a beer tomorrow.«

»But captain, it's no joke! He told me he will wait here!«

»So where do you have him?«

»Behind you,« a low voice sounded.

Dietrich jumped aside, reaching for a dagger. Gerhard unsheated a sword and, without looking, turned around, aiming his blade to approximate height of grown man's shoulders. The hooded figure quickly ducked below his sword, blocked it with cruelly looking dagger and pressed a sword against the mercenary's throat.

»I hope that you will now believe me, that I am able to do the job,« said the shade scout. »Now we can talk about money.«

Many warriors of Druchii Shade clans get enlisted into armies of Naggaroth. They serve as scouts or guides, or are assigned special missions, sometimes as a bodyguard of an assassin. Many of them get left on battlefield or behind enemy lines, dead, dying or injured. Some of them are captured, and their captors rarely show mercy to spies of the dreaded Dark Elven host.

However, some of those shades survive, or even manage to escape. They roam the the country, surviving from day to day. The more patriotic among them try to return home, and even offer their service to Witch King's generals again. The rest of them consider themselves outcasts, selling their services and expertise to almost anyone, who is willing to pay.

May be Hired

Any warband may hire the Shade Scout, except those, which contain High Elves (i.e. High Elven, Shadow Warriors, any warband employing Elf Ranger or Elf Mage, etc). Warbands, which include dwarves, may hire Shade Scout, but for twice the price.

Rating

A Shade Scout increases the warband's rating by 20 points plus 1 point for each Experience point he has.

Profile
MWSBSSTWIALdSv
545331518-

Equipment

Sword, repeater crossbow.

Skills

A Shade Scout may choose from Shooting, Speed and Druchii special skills, when he gains a new skill.

Special rules

Excelent Sight: Elves have eyesight unmatched by mere humans. Shade Scout spots Hidden enemies from two times as far away as other warriors.

Natural Stealth: The first thing that Dark Elf scouts master is the art of moving without being seen or heard. If a Shade is Hidden, enemy models suffer -1 to their Initiative value for determining if they can detect it or not.

Seeker: When rolling on the Exploration chart, the Shade Scout allows you to modify one dice roll by 1.

Kindred Hatred: The Dark Elves have been fighting the High Elves for many centuries. The wars between these two races have been very long and bloody affairs. The Shade Scout Hates any High Elf warriors including High Elf Hired Swords.

Loner: Having lived alone for a long time, with no-one to rely on, Shade Scout learned not to expect any help. Shade Scout is immune to All-Alone tests.