For some reason, I don't enjoy writing a personal narrative for Rangers of Shadow Deep as much as I do for other games. I enjoy playing the game, but the writeup is more of a turn report than a story. It's possibly because the preface is essentially provided for me.

Etienne and his team have pushed through the swamp. The land has become firmer, so travel was easier. The rolling black clouds above still cast everything in a perpetual twilight and ash and smoke drift in the air. The land is quiet - no birds sing, no insects call. Etienne pondered their mission - enter the Shadow Deep and scout it out. Find out what they can of the enemy and their plans.
As they hiked, losing track of time because of the perpetual dimness, they finally noticed a broken structure - a partially collapsed stone farmhouse. As they crept closer, they saw shifting shadows inside. Continuing to get closer, they heard whispered voices of several people - definitely human, and from the accent, Lorenthian.
Etienne called out quietly, "Lorenthia". Quiet. He called out again, then received a response. "Friends". Cautiously approaching, they found seven Lorenthian survivors - a man-at-arms, two archers, and four civilians.
Etienne spoke again "Lorenthia is destroyed. Alladore stands. We can take you there." As he finished speaking, a horn sounded in the distant gloom.
Suddenly, the floor in the farmhouse exploded in a shower of dirt an stone, as a collosal worm burst from the ground. Screams from the other room let Etienne and his team know a giant spider had dropped from the rafters, and their lookout shouted out "Zombies incoming!"
The team, along with the Lorenthian soldiers, braced for an onslaught.



Dogbreath, standing on the wall of the farmhouse, which gave him a view both within the ruin and without, fired his arrow at the Burrow Worm, striking a severe blow.
Etienne opened the door, and Sir Lucien moved in, attacking the Borrow Worm - but the hide of the worm deflected his sword. The Worm sunk its mandibles into Sir Lucien, injuring him.
Inside the other room, the giant spider attacked one of the archers, who fired point blank, killing it.

The zombies shuffled closer. The Lorenthian man-at-arms moved up to attack the Burrow Worm, but was killed immediately by the worm.
The other archer fired an arrow at a distant zombie, striking it but not causing any damage.
Waldemar, always greedy, dashed for something shiny that he saw in the distance.

Elarion, who was also standing on the wall of the ruined farmhouse, fired his bow at the Burrow Worm, killing it.

In the distance, a pack of Orcs started approaching the farmhouse. Two archers, two fighters, and a boss.
"Incoming!" Etienne shouted. "Orcs coming in!

Etienne flung a fireball at the orcs, but they had cover and the fireball barely injured one archer.
Elarion fired his bow at an orc archer, and the orc dropped to the ground.
Dogbreath fired at a zombie, damaging it.

The orcs advanced, the surviving archer firing at Elarion, injuring him.

Waldemar made it to the treasure he was seeking, which turned out to be a Fish Glass - which would have been useful as they were navigating through the swamp, but here, it was fairly worthless. But, he pocketed it anyway.
Sir Lucien moved outside of the farmhouse.
From the distance, a fierce troll emerged from the darkness, heading towards the farmhouse.

Etienne reached deep into his well of magik and flung two fireballs simultaneously. The fireball that he cast at the troll injured it, and the other killed one of the incoming orcs.

Elarion shoots at orc archer, injuring it, while Dogbreath dropped the other zombie. However, the orc archer fired at Elarion, taking him out.
Waldemar dashes towards the battle.
The Lorenthian archer once again misses the orc leader, but Sir Lucien struck a telling blow, seriously injuring him.


Etienne cast a Magic Arrow spell at the troll, injuring it, while Dogbreath fired at a zombie, but missed.
Sir Lucien attacked but missed the orc leader; once again, the orc leader had no difficulty hitting Sir Lucien, who was teetering near unconsciousness from his wounds.
The nearby orc fighter attacked Sir Lucien, missing.

A zombie injured Etienne, but Etienne was able to kill the other zombie that was attacking him.

Waldemar rushed towards the orc archer.

And then a second Troll appeared in the distance. With Elarion down, and Sir Lucien severely injured, things were not looking good.

Etienne attacked the zombie that was attacking him, and destroyed it, while Waldemar and the orc archer exchanged blows. Dogbreath fired at the troll, missing.
The orc archer attacked Waldemar, who was able to parry and strike back, killing the archer.
The orc leader attacked Sir Lucien, who was able to deflect the blow, and strike back, dropping the leader. Likewise, the orc fighter attempted to attack Lucien, who, as injured as he was, dropped the orc fighter as well.
The trolls advance towards the farmhouse.
Four more orcs appeared in the distance.



Since Etienne was no longer being attacked, he cast an Armour spell on Sir Lucien, in an attempt to keep him alive. Dogbreath fired at the wounded troll, his arrow striking true, and the troll dropped.
Waldemar sprinted towards the surviving troll, while the troll moved towards Etienne. Sir Lucien dashed towards the troll, putting his shield between the troll and Etienne.

The team heard a buzzing in the distance as a couple of giant flies buzzed into the area.
Etienne dug deep into his magical abilities to recall his Magic Bolt spell, casting it.
Dogbreath fired an arrow at the troll, injuring the troll severely, while Waldemar advanced. The troll moved up and attacked Sir Lucien, taking Sir Lucien down.

The orcs started to attack through the window of the farmhouse, but the archers inside fired at the orcs, killing one.

Another giant spider appeared.
Waldemar wound up and attacked the troll. Where Lucien's heavy attacks failed, Waldemar's dexterity also failed, and Waldemar was battered to the ground. Etienne retreated into the manor, as his wounds were deep and his magic expended.
The orc attacked the Lorenthian archer through the window, wounding him.
The troll wound up and attacked Dogbreath, who was anticipating the attack. Dogbreath's sheer Orcish brutality allowed him to strike the troll deeply, finally dropping it.

One of the orcs fired an arrow at one of the Lorenthian children inside the manor, but missed. The Lorenthian archer attacked the giant spider, but the spider was able to sink its fangs into the archer, killing him.
The remaining civilians fled the room, cowering near Etienne, while two more giant flies appeared in the distance.


Dogbreath climbed down into the manor, firing at the spider, but missed. Etienne, swearing to protect the civilians, struck at the spider, killing it.
The orc archers also entered the farmhouse; one fired at one of the Lorenthian survivors, killing him, while the other archer fired at one of the children, injuring him.

The flies buzzed closer

Etienne kills one of the flies, but the fly injured him again, while the other enemies attacked, but missed. Then, an earthquake struck, shaking several of the survivors and enemies to the ground.
Dawn suddenly broke, and the enemies started to retreat, but not before one of the orcs cut down a Lorenthian child, laughing as he left.
Sir Lucien, Waldemar and Elarion would live, although they were shaken up quite a bit. After catching their breath for a few minutes, Etienne and the team buried the fallen Lorenthians, and then began the long trek back to Alladore, escorting the few survivors.

Pre-game Traps roll successful: Gain one free Shooting +3 attack
Leadership roll fails. Man-At-Arms not promoted to Knight.
Game lasts 12 turns
Initial Enemies - Red 6, Red King, Red Jack
Burrow Worm in Farmhouse; Giant Spider in Farmhouse; 3 Zombies at table edge. We probably could not have drawn a worse set of starting enemies.
Waldemar: Full Recovery
Lucien: Full Recovery
Elarion: Close Call
Two Lorenthian survivors rescued
Etienne earned 70XP.

This was a long one - 12 turns. And I just didn't have the energy to write a full narrative. But, I have completed all the core rulebook missions!
Time to start branching out into the add-on missions, starting with Blood Moon.
I had hoped that I would be able to get all the missions done, but the author just released another one.
So by my count, I have 46 scenarios left to complete. But I will get through them.