Rangers of Shadowdeep – Descent into Darkness – The Broken Stairs
Etienne gazed over the treacherous descent into the Shadow Deep. Crude stairs were cut into the fissure that, Etienne was sure, did not form naturally. While he pondered the dangers and risks of heading down the fissure, and being the first Rangers to delve into the Shadow Deep, the rest of the team gathered supplies.
"We are ready, Etienne", Sir Lucien said.
"Then we proceed. Make your peace if you need to."
Not wanting to show the real fear that gripped his heart, Etienne took the lead. The going was slow, for the path was steep. As he carefully walked down, he cast a Spider Crawl enchantment on Waldemar, who took no time in trying it out. Following closely behind, Elarion noticed several giant flies hovering over holes in the ground - probably nests full of their maggots. Maggots that clearly had enough carrion to feast on to grow large.
"We are ready, Etienne", Sir Lucien said.
"Then we proceed. Make your peace if you need to."
Not wanting to show the real fear that gripped his heart, Etienne took the lead. The going was slow, for the path was steep. As he carefully walked down, he cast a Spider Crawl enchantment on Waldemar, who took no time in trying it out. Following closely behind, Elarion noticed several giant flies hovering over holes in the ground - probably nests full of their maggots. Maggots that clearly had enough carrion to feast on to grow large.
Elarion nocked his bow, and his first arrow flew true, killing one of the flies.
The remaining two flies buzzed their way towards the Rangers.
Dogbreath advanced down, sure-footed but still cautious. He fired his bow as well - the arrow nicked a fly, but did not injure it.
Lucien, who was apparently trying to earn the title "the bold", took off at a jog, kicking small stones down the decline. While it appeared that he was going to fall several times, he was able to catch himself and stay upright, advancing beyond the rest of the Rangers.
The ground heaved around them - possibly trying to shake them off like a horse would shake off a fly. Lucien and Waldemar were caught in a rockslide, but both were able to avoid injury.
The remaining two flies buzzed their way towards the Rangers.
Dogbreath advanced down, sure-footed but still cautious. He fired his bow as well - the arrow nicked a fly, but did not injure it.
Lucien, who was apparently trying to earn the title "the bold", took off at a jog, kicking small stones down the decline. While it appeared that he was going to fall several times, he was able to catch himself and stay upright, advancing beyond the rest of the Rangers.
The ground heaved around them - possibly trying to shake them off like a horse would shake off a fly. Lucien and Waldemar were caught in a rockslide, but both were able to avoid injury.
Etienne resumed his careful descent, using his arcane knowledge to simultaneously cast two "Swat" spells - spells designed soley to kill insects. One of the two remaining flies was struck and died. Waldemar advanced towards one of the fly holes, tossing a torch inside. "Oh gods! The stench!" he called out, as the flames leapt out. Lucien continued his descent, more carefully this time. A fly reached him, and attacked, injuring him more severely than they thought a fly should. Fortunately, Lucien was proving to be both sure-footed and highly resistant, for the attack did not cause him to stumble, and, as they would find later, he did not fall prey to one of the many diseases the flies carried.
Dogbreath and Elarion also continued their descent, but could not fire at the remaining fly, as they could not guarantee that they would not hit Lucien.
As they continued their descent, two more flies buzzed out of the furthest hole.
Dogbreath continued to stalk his way down the fissure, firing an arrow at one of the flies, killing it. Etienne followed, casting another Swat spell, killing a second fly. Elarion moves and shoots, killing a third.
Waldemar and Lucien continued their descent - Waldemar pausing to pick up an interesting satchel - his nose quickly telling him int was Anthalas - something that would most likely, and unfortunately, be needed in the future.
Two more flies buzzed up, one from each of the still open holes.
Sir Lucien continued to move down, putting distance between him and the flies. Elarion fired his bow, the arrow destroying the fly. Etienne, seeing that they were nearing the bottom, used his Eldritch Recall to recall the last Swat spell he cast, and pouring everything he had into it, cast it and killed the second fly.
Waldemar, forgetting caution, moved quickly down the fissure, reaching the bottom. The rest of the group followed more carefully.
Even though they started their descent at dawn, at the bottom of the fissure they were under a murky twilight as the sun was blotted from the sky by the thick, dark clouds of the Shadow Deep. All but Dogbreath covered their faces to block out the ash and stink of the place. Finally, the stairway came to an end in front of a boggy pool, dotted with broken ruins and a few sickly trees. Staring out beyond, they realized they would have to swim. "Pause for a moment" Etienne said, "I am going to prepare some spells that should help us through this foetid quagmire."
The team paused, keeping an eye out while Etienne started to open his scroll cases, choosing incantations to commit to memory. As the group's eyes adjusted to the dim light, they could see movement, and the sound of slow wading traveled to their ears. Elarion fired a flare arrow towards the sounds. Before it splashed harmlessly into the water, they saw that the thing moving was once a man. But the man had clearly died when Lorenthia fell, and the evil of the Shadow Deep had claimed his corpse. The zombie, as well as several others, became aware of them.
So they would not only have to cross the foul waters, but do it while avoiding or fighting the undead. What other horrors awaited them?
They feared they did not have long to wait to find out.
A nice, quick and simple game. A bit too simple, and we were in minimal danger. For the next turn, I may look at running it in Challenge mode, because Etienne's magic can defeat the biggest hurdle of that scenario. Of course, with how 'swingy' Rangers of Shadow Deep is, that could go bad very quickly.
