The sound of drunken adults laughing echoed down the cobbled street. In twos and threes they clung to one another for support, stumbling off to parties in the estates overlooking the city park.
Alain Hall sat on the stoop of his father’s cigar shop watching the grown-ups go off to their parties. In the apartment above the shop, his parents threw their own party full of garish masks, cheap booze, and boring old music played badly. At nine years old, Alain was already tall and often mistaken for older, but his parents still thought him too young to join in their Longest Night festivities.
With a sigh, Alain pulled his own mask on, a simple skeleton face painted on a piece of stiff black paper with holes for the eyes. He grabbed his burlap sack and set off into Corvis. Let his parents throw their noisy party. The Longest Night was still a good night for children, too. With a scary costume and a clever jape he’d spent days practicing, he hoped before the night was through his neighbors would fill his sack with sweets, the occasional box of matches, and even a penny or two.
He wandered from his neighborhood toward some of the nicer areas nearby—after all, nicer houses often meant better loot on the Longest Night. The gas lamps lining the roads provided the only light. Most shopkeepers had closed their stores early to get to parties by sundown. Other than the occasional mob of pickled students from the university, Alain walked alone.
He’d gone about ten blocks, scoring only a crumbly cookie off a woman too drunk to speak in full sentences, when something caught his eye. On the corner of Kipper Road and Eel Street ahead, a shop filled the street with golden light.“Saltworth’s Sweets,” the sign read in looping script.
Alain picked up his pace and went inside, the door tinkling a little brass bell hanging from the frame
“Hello, my boy!” said the confectioner—Saltworth, Alain assumed. He wore a red and white striped apron and was automatically scooping sweets into a paper sack. “Here for some Longest Night treasure, are we?”
Alain nodded enthusiastically and posed, curling his fingers into claws and uttering a low growl to mimic a frightening risen thrall.
“How horrifying!” Saltworth said. “I can see why you have no fear walking the streets alone tonight. You’ll scare off any ghost or beastie that crosses your path.”
Alain smiled behind his mask and put out his sack. Saltworth tipped his full scoop toward it, but then he paused. The man stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, “You know, your unexpected arrival reminds me of my favorite story about the Longest Night. . .”
Longest Night 2017 is a Halloween-themed casual event that promotes candy, costumes, and some good ol’-fashioned tabletop carnage.
This event is intended to be run as a single-day casual event at either the 25-, 50-, or 75-point army levels. Players are welcome to change their army size, army list, and even which Faction they are playing between games. The Event Organizer (EO) is not required to dictate round pairings, and there are no round timers. Instead, players find a willing opponent, throw down using the special scenario and rules found in this document, and walk away with some fantastic prizes, no matter how many victories they achieve!
In other words, this event isn’t about being the best; it’s about battle for the sake of battle. Oh, and candy. Lots of candy. Costume contests, too!
Read more about Longest Night 2017 here!
Download Longest Night 2017 directly from Privateer Press here!
