There is a new king in Elbaria. When the king claimed the scepter of kings, he set off to lay siege on the royal castle, which was occupied by skaven, lead by the dreaded half-god Kaaskop (Cheesehead, a common and rather mild insult in Dutch). Serafina and Heraldo Machiavelli were among the many adventurers to respond to the call to arms, as were Anemone the halfling and Brandaris the dwarf.

On the first day of the siege, everyone was drafted into the army and there were several frontal attacks to test the strength and the morale of the skaven. The castle walls were impenetrable (yes, an actual wall with a fully functional drawbridge!!) and the skaven had a device that shot acid on one of the towers, that very effectively held the forces of the king at bay.

On the second day of the siege, more plans were made. The arch mage Lord Item called upon the assistance of Serafina and Anemone and other mages in the forces to lend their powers in a ritual to create a magical sword that would burn the followers of Chaos. While Heraldo and Brandaris were busy brewing potions to heal and strengthen the king's forces, the dwarves and the highlanders built a catapult and a battering ram. (Yes, these men really spent hours of hard, menial labour to turn a pile of wooden poles, rope and metal parts into a real, functional catapult and a battering ram!!)

During the night, the king lead an attack into the castle, using the catapult to attack the skaven on the towers while the drawbridge was being rammed. Heraldo was with the artillery, shooting skaven off the wall with his crossbow while Serafina was with a small group of brave souls who scaled the wall at the back of the castle with a ladder and some rope. It was a bloody battle, and the acid cannon made many victims, but the castle was taken back.

The next day, Brandaris and Heraldo had to make many more potions to nurse all the casualties back to health. Accomanied by Serafina an Anemone, they spent long hours in the woods looking for herbs. The woods were still crawling with skaven and giant spiders and when the night fell, everyone was advised to take shelter inside the castle. The giant spiders attacked, because they had laid eggs on the roof of the castle, and when they were gone, a necromancer and an old enemy of the king came knocking on the castle gate with his small army of undead. Serafina and Heraldo manned one of the towers, shooting crossbow bolts and fireballs at the undead on the other side of the wall. The battle ended when one of the priests cast a powerful spell to send the undead away.

What an adventure! Most of this weekend was pretty epic and very amusing. Plus, spending time with the Rodenburg brothers always results in many a good laugh. Not to mention Jelka's cheerful presence.
It was great.