Rangers of Shadowdeep – Descent into Darkness – Swampland
I painted a custom board, and 3D printed the cliffs specifically for this mission - back in 2022. And I'm finally playing the scenario now - a mere four years later. The board warped due to the paint, so it spent several years being pressed flat, and that definitely worked!
The group gazed over the land that was once Lorenthia.
They had climbed down the crudely cut stairs that the denizens of the Shadow Deep had carved into Alladore. The foul mists now overhead, the team now needed to delve deeper into Lorenthia. They may be the first Alladorean rangers to enter since Lorenthia fell.
They looked over a vast swamp; deep, foul water pooled at the edge of the cliffs they had descended through. Swimming seemed inevitable.
Etienne whispered "Hold here - let me prepare some spells to help us."
Only Dogbreath seemed unaffected by the foul miasma of the Shadow Deep that pervaded everything around them - but he was still harboring his injuries from before, and just nodded. Waldemar, however, struggled with the foulness, and started to cough and choke.
"Quiet, fool!" Etienne murmured as he finished perusing his scrolls. As Waldemar got his coughing under control, the group could hear movement in the muck of the swamp, past the deepest water.
They had climbed down the crudely cut stairs that the denizens of the Shadow Deep had carved into Alladore. The foul mists now overhead, the team now needed to delve deeper into Lorenthia. They may be the first Alladorean rangers to enter since Lorenthia fell.
They looked over a vast swamp; deep, foul water pooled at the edge of the cliffs they had descended through. Swimming seemed inevitable.
Etienne whispered "Hold here - let me prepare some spells to help us."
Only Dogbreath seemed unaffected by the foul miasma of the Shadow Deep that pervaded everything around them - but he was still harboring his injuries from before, and just nodded. Waldemar, however, struggled with the foulness, and started to cough and choke.
"Quiet, fool!" Etienne murmured as he finished perusing his scrolls. As Waldemar got his coughing under control, the group could hear movement in the muck of the swamp, past the deepest water.
"I think the time for quiet is over" Sir Lucien said.
"Quite!" Etienne responded, then, his voice rising, uttered the words of the spell he chose, wrapping extra incantations around the spell to allow it to affect two of his team. Suddenly, Waldemar and Sir Luciene felt more buoyant in the deep water, and realized that there would be no challenge swimming across the deepest of the water.
They moved to begin crossing the deepest water - even with Etienne's spell, the going was slow. As they finished moving, they spotted the source of the movement in the muck.
Some of the fallen Lorenthians were now rising, their corpses, animated by the foul magics of the Shadow Deep, moving to attack.
Elarion swam a short distance, and then with skill the rest of the group could only marvel at, pushed himself out of the water enough to fire his bow at the closest zombie.
While he definitely earned admiration for the elegance of his maneuver, the execution did not hold up, as his arrow flew wide.
Dogbreath attempted to swim across, but gasped and sputtered, failing completely. He was able to get a loose grasp on the steps, and waved the party on. "Ain't gonna froggin make it" he gasped as he coughed up the lungful of water he inhaled. "Getcher on and pulp those meatbones."
"Quite!" Etienne responded, then, his voice rising, uttered the words of the spell he chose, wrapping extra incantations around the spell to allow it to affect two of his team. Suddenly, Waldemar and Sir Luciene felt more buoyant in the deep water, and realized that there would be no challenge swimming across the deepest of the water.
They moved to begin crossing the deepest water - even with Etienne's spell, the going was slow. As they finished moving, they spotted the source of the movement in the muck.
Some of the fallen Lorenthians were now rising, their corpses, animated by the foul magics of the Shadow Deep, moving to attack.
Elarion swam a short distance, and then with skill the rest of the group could only marvel at, pushed himself out of the water enough to fire his bow at the closest zombie.
While he definitely earned admiration for the elegance of his maneuver, the execution did not hold up, as his arrow flew wide.
Dogbreath attempted to swim across, but gasped and sputtered, failing completely. He was able to get a loose grasp on the steps, and waved the party on. "Ain't gonna froggin make it" he gasped as he coughed up the lungful of water he inhaled. "Getcher on and pulp those meatbones."
Etienne nodded as he continued forward, but was sucked beneath the surface as he hit a sinkhole.
He came back up sputtering, then swam forward a bit before casting a Teleport spell, by chance appearing next to the corpse of a Lorenthian soldier. Looking at the body, there was a signet ring on its hand, so he took it - hopefully, they could find a survivor in Alladore and return it.Elarion continued his swim, and then fired at a zombie - this time, using the skills of a Varakian Archer to cause the arrow to burst into flame as it struck the zombie, destroying it. Sir Lucien moved forward, and Waldemar followed, taking up a position to try to best fight the approaching zombies.
Suddenly, with howls and barks, a patrol of Gnolls, favorite servants of the Shadow Deep, appeared in the distance.
Note: I goofed up here a bit; I wanted to use primarily "oldhammer" - vintage metal/plastic Warhammer Fantasy miniatures from the 80's and 90's, and was using the warhammer Orcs I own from that time instead of gnolls. But, for this mission, I forgot to do that.
Etienne, being a famed Scrollmaster of Melnoth, summoned into his mind the incantation that allowed him to hurl a explosive ball of fire at the Gnolls, killing one.
Elarion fired a smoke arrow, blocking the enemies' view, allowing them to form a better defensive position.
Lucien moved, and one of the zombies reached him, attacking. Lucien was ready for the attack, and eviscerated the zombie, ending its animated evil.
The gnolls and other zombie were moving around, attempting to find the party while Waldemar continued to move forward.
With a crack of thunder, a heavy rain started to fall, cutting visibility down severely. While this would keep the gnoll archer from targeting them, it also reduced Elarion's abilty to shoot his bow at the enemy.
They continued their slow march through the swampland. Waldemar stumbled upon a broken ruin with arcane writing enscribed upon the surface. "Etienne! This is more your speed!" He described the runes to Etienne, who realized they were a fragment of a magic spell. Etienne committed them to memory.
They heard a buzzing from behind them. One of the giant flies must have followed them down. With how slow they were moving, it certainly would catch them.
The enemies continued to hunt the team. One of the gnolls reached Sir Lucien and attacked, but Sir Lucien cut it down. A gnoll archer fired at Waldemar, but the rain ruined his shot. Elarion attempted to shoot at the giant fly, but missed.
Looking forward, Etienne noticed a zombie in front of them, rising from the muck.
They continued to move; Elarion shooting & killing the fly pursuing them. The gnoll archer injured Sir Lucien with an arrow, as another zombie rose from the muck.
Elarion continued to move, firing at the closest zombie, missing it. The zombie reached Etienne, attacking him, but Etienne managed a crude counter-attack, slightly damaging the zombie while he was unscathed. The gnoll archer landed a solid shot on Sir Lucien, injuring him badly, while a third zombie rose from the muck.
Waldemar attacked the closest zombie, but it managed to severely injure him. Etienne attempted to attack the zombie, but was unable to harm it, while Elarion moved up and cut the zombie down. "As our friend Dogbreath would say, that's how you do it." The other zombie attacked Elarion, but even knee deep in muck, he was able to avoid the attack.
The remaining gnolls and zombie moves, as did Sir Lucien.
Etienne moved and attacked the zombie, but was slightly injured in the attack, while Elarion stepped into the attack, cutting the zombie down.
Elarion fired a smoke arrow, blocking the enemies' view, allowing them to form a better defensive position.
Lucien moved, and one of the zombies reached him, attacking. Lucien was ready for the attack, and eviscerated the zombie, ending its animated evil.
The gnolls and other zombie were moving around, attempting to find the party while Waldemar continued to move forward.
With a crack of thunder, a heavy rain started to fall, cutting visibility down severely. While this would keep the gnoll archer from targeting them, it also reduced Elarion's abilty to shoot his bow at the enemy.
They continued their slow march through the swampland. Waldemar stumbled upon a broken ruin with arcane writing enscribed upon the surface. "Etienne! This is more your speed!" He described the runes to Etienne, who realized they were a fragment of a magic spell. Etienne committed them to memory.
They heard a buzzing from behind them. One of the giant flies must have followed them down. With how slow they were moving, it certainly would catch them.
The enemies continued to hunt the team. One of the gnolls reached Sir Lucien and attacked, but Sir Lucien cut it down. A gnoll archer fired at Waldemar, but the rain ruined his shot. Elarion attempted to shoot at the giant fly, but missed.
Looking forward, Etienne noticed a zombie in front of them, rising from the muck.
They continued to move; Elarion shooting & killing the fly pursuing them. The gnoll archer injured Sir Lucien with an arrow, as another zombie rose from the muck.
Elarion continued to move, firing at the closest zombie, missing it. The zombie reached Etienne, attacking him, but Etienne managed a crude counter-attack, slightly damaging the zombie while he was unscathed. The gnoll archer landed a solid shot on Sir Lucien, injuring him badly, while a third zombie rose from the muck.
Waldemar attacked the closest zombie, but it managed to severely injure him. Etienne attempted to attack the zombie, but was unable to harm it, while Elarion moved up and cut the zombie down. "As our friend Dogbreath would say, that's how you do it." The other zombie attacked Elarion, but even knee deep in muck, he was able to avoid the attack.
The remaining gnolls and zombie moves, as did Sir Lucien.
Etienne moved and attacked the zombie, but was slightly injured in the attack, while Elarion stepped into the attack, cutting the zombie down.
Sir Lucien stumbled into a sinkhole, but even injured, it was no problem for the mighty warrior to escape.
The way clear, the group was able to climb out of the swampland onto slightly higher ground, finding refuge.
While they rested and patched up their wounds, they heard quiet footsteps approaching. Readying their weapons, they waited.... then they heard Dogbreath whisper "Oy! Wuz able to trick the gnolls inta helpin me outta dat swamp. Den I pointed them da wrong way. Heard dem saying something bout survivors an how dey wuz gonna get krunked. Deyz gunna need help. I know da way, so if we getz dere furst, we can do the krunkin'."
Etienne looked at Dogbreath, who was covered head to toe in mud and muck, and smelled of wet decay. He cast a quick cantrip, cleaning the filth from all of the party, refreshing them. "Ey! I wuz finally feelin myself. Mud'z good fer ya!"
"Ah, but if we approached these survivors covered in mud, they'd probably think we were with the Shadow Deep and fight us."
Dogbreath grumbled something under his breath.
"How far are the survivors?"
"Bout three hours, but the krunkin won't start till night. So weez got time."
"How can you tell what time it is?"
"By da smell", Dogbreath replied with a grin.
The way clear, the group was able to climb out of the swampland onto slightly higher ground, finding refuge.
While they rested and patched up their wounds, they heard quiet footsteps approaching. Readying their weapons, they waited.... then they heard Dogbreath whisper "Oy! Wuz able to trick the gnolls inta helpin me outta dat swamp. Den I pointed them da wrong way. Heard dem saying something bout survivors an how dey wuz gonna get krunked. Deyz gunna need help. I know da way, so if we getz dere furst, we can do the krunkin'."
Etienne looked at Dogbreath, who was covered head to toe in mud and muck, and smelled of wet decay. He cast a quick cantrip, cleaning the filth from all of the party, refreshing them. "Ey! I wuz finally feelin myself. Mud'z good fer ya!"
"Ah, but if we approached these survivors covered in mud, they'd probably think we were with the Shadow Deep and fight us."
Dogbreath grumbled something under his breath.
"How far are the survivors?"
"Bout three hours, but the krunkin won't start till night. So weez got time."
"How can you tell what time it is?"
"By da smell", Dogbreath replied with a grin.
I didn't use Challenge Mode, and we were mostly unscathed - but it came close. This scenario was mostly about avoiding the enemy and getting off the board - until the very end, when three zombies spawned right in front of us. But, a few lucky rolls won the day!
