The Infected Trees

After the investigation of the deserted village, Hwyll and his companions stopped to bandage their wounds and build a pyre for the dead before following the tracks they discovered into a forested area festooned with thick, clinging webs. Among the darkened trees could be seen large arachnid creatures the size of hounds creeping and scuttleing. Also barely visible in the gloom were large cocoons hanging from the branches, some of which wriggled and writhed and some that sat ominously still...

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I really enjoyed every aspect of my first game of Rangers of Shadow Deep; from creating my ranger and his companions, setting up and playing the game and then writing up the adventure for others to read. And here is Hwyll the ranger's next adventure in the Shadow Deep...

Mission 1: The Missing

Scenario 2 ~ The Infected Trees

Following on from scenario 1: Mouni the tracker found her way back to the group having being knocked unconscious after a violent shove from a rampaging zombie whilst the guardsman Malaka was carried to safety and cared for with a bandage and a swig of hard liquor.

Once again Hwyll, the Autumn Elf from far off Carterhaugh, is accompanied by his companions: Mouni the tracker, Osimund the conjurer, Vlaka the rogue, and two brave guards men from the king's own regiments: Joco and Malaka.

And who is the lady on the right? Read on and find out!

My "Spiders" ~ I am a hopeless arachnophobe with a very real fear of spiders.

I can't even make model spiders unless they look very toy-like. These are my space bugs that I'm going to use as substitutes.

The gloom beneath the trees was deep but not so dark that Hwyll couldn't fail to see the giant creeping, arachnids with his keen elfin eyes. Mouni the tracker had led them to this spot but not quickly enough  to avoid the spiders (failed TN12 Track Roll - which would have seen one less giant spider). On the way she searched for Farlight Leaf to aid in their archery, but failed to locate any (another failed roll - This time TN 12 Survival).

Ahead of our heroes (on the top table edge) sat four Nest Trees covered in thick webs - each containing hundreds of egg sacks, each with thousands of eggs. They would have to destroy these trees by the most expedient method available: Fire!

The puffs of white fluff represent the cocoons hanging from the trees.

On Hwyll's left, Vlaka the rogue moved forward to investigate one of the cocoons. He cut it open and a dead body fell out. Straight ahead the elfin ranger spied a creeping monster and let loose an arrow which failed to hit the scuttling horror.

 Meanwhile Joco advanced into the twilight under the trees.

No sooner had the companions set forth than movement could be seen ahead as many jointed legs quickly sprinted towards them. The closest creature ran straight at Joco but he managed to keep it at bay with his long spear.

In front of the other three companions another arachnid appeared. As soon as it was in the open Mouni sent a shaft straight through it's chitinous body (Shoot Roll 20 - Critical Hit!) & the vile creature writhed on the forest floor for only a few seconds before death took it.

The three moved forward as they perceived no further threat in their immediate area.

Right in front of Hwyll and Vlaka another great brute landed on the forest floor and looking up they saw yet another Nest Tree. (Event Card ~ another randomly placed Nest Tree).

Thinking quickly, Hwyll loosed an arrow at the newly arrived crawler and pinned it, dead, to its own tree. He then moved towards Joco to help him dispatch his foe, Unfortunately he was too late and the many legged beast darted forward and stung the guardsman (even with +2 from Hwyll's intervention Joco rolled bad and lost the fight). Meanwhile Vlaka set tinder and flint to the Nest Tree and set it ablaze. But not before "liberating" an interesting looking item from the tangle of webs.

As if from nowhere, cresting the low, central rise and leaping from branch to branch an arachnid landed at the feet of Osimund and prepared to attack the hapless conjurer (it used two move actions so could not attack immediately).

A choice: a second spider creature had moved up quickly, close to Malaka but he was better able to defend himself. Mouni chose to go to the aid of Osimund who had little to no fighting skills.  With a deft swing of her staff she stove in it's head and its many eyes blinked out.

Malaka searched yet another of the cocoons. He was completely unaware of the danger lurking up behind him as he gazed at the swollen rotting corpse within.

Thanking the tracker, Osimund said; "Now ti's my place to give aid where needs be." He spoke an arcane word and a flash leaped forth from his staff. It struck the spot where the second arachnid had stood just seconds before... (He cast a Magic Bolt spell: +5 Shooting attack - but only inflicted 1 pt of damage).

Without a second to spare, the many legged beast leaped at Malaka. The trained guardsman spun and ran his spear straight through the spider's body pinning it to the ground. With his iron shod heal he delivered the coup de grace.

Joco managed to kill his foe and, even though the wound looked insignificant, the kings' man looked pale and began to sweat. Hwyll suspected the spider's venom was at work on the guardsman's life blood. (Special Ability: Poisonous - Any figure reduced below full HP is considered poisoned & reduced to 1 action when activated.)

Vlaka was managing to hold off another arachnid. He was uninjured but it was only a matter of time before he too would be stung. Hwyll dashed to his aid and split the thing in twain with the Sword of Aventine (another roll of 20: Critical Hit!)

With the way clear, Mouni ran to the crest of the central rise and caught sight of another of the scuttling menaces. She aimed her bow and loosed an arrow as a shaft of light broke through the forest canopy driving the hairy legged brute back in a hurry with an arrow protruding from it's hind quarters. (Event card: A Ray of Light & it was wounded but not killed).

The way was quite clear now with no danger present other than the wounded arachnid. Vlaka inspected another of the cocoons and noticed something moving within. Gingerly, he sliced it open only to find a young maiden. Injured but still alive. 

As the rogue helped her to her feet the wounded spider attacked but ran onto the spear of the pale faced, and shaking Joco who had pushed up with an effort to see his companion and the survivor safe and sound.

Osimund found the last cocoon and burst it open with a swing of his staff... Another dead body. But as he let the webbing fall aside a  zombie which must have been tangled in the cocoon's fibers tore free. (I rolled Zombie...but this sounds much more dramatic).

All parties now advanced towards the Nest Trees in order to set them alight. Hwyll lit the first tree but Mouni, moving towards the second, walked straight into a giant web as strong as brambles and just at clinging that was cast right before the tree. (Event Card: Web).

Once again, trusting to his spell casting ability Osimund cast a Burning Light spell that hurt the undead creature but failed to kill it for good. Malaka, close at hand charged and thrust his spear through the walking corpse and laid it low.

 And then proceeded to get tangled in another Web.

With nothing left to fear, the companions broke free of their webs, took to the trees and set them alight. But as the trees and their unwholesome cargo burned a final arachnid shot forth out of nowhere at lightning speed. So fast was it's assault that Hwyll's arrow missed...(Just bad rolling but I should have remembered something...)

 ...And the brute charged right at the tracker, Mouni who, by now, had the measure of these evil creatures and with a deft flick of her staff she crushed the thing like she would one of it's smaller cousins (yet another critical hit).

Aftermath:
This scenario had the potential to be nasty because of the spider's Poisonous special ability. By trying to keep them at a distance and using ranged attacks where possible their full potential was minimized. The only hero to be wounded thus was Joco the guardsman. In most cases where the heroes failed in their melee attacks the spiders actually rolled so low that they didn't manage to penetrate the heroes' armour & failed to inflict wounds.

So, although there was potential to be lethal Hwyll and his companions pretty much breezed through this scenario. But there was a cost... They didn't collect enough experience points for our hero to attain 2nd level. He managed 195xp so - 5 short of level 2. However, the treasure found by Vlaka turned out to be a Blocking Hand Weapon (1) - This means that it has the ability to block and totally ignore 1 single attack. This may not seem much but it means that if it's saved until absolutely necessary it could be the difference between life and death. So it's pretty decent. Hwyll will get this as he's the only hero capable of using it.

Hwyll's bad shooting and what I need to remember... He has the Heroic Ability - Aimed Shot (+5 once per game). I need to keep in mind that as the main character he has more than just the ability to shoot and fight. He has bonuses for both shooting and fighting as well as other things including a couple of useful spells. 

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Conclusion: 

Again, I really enjoyed the game even though it was a bit less nail-biting than the first. One of the great things with the game mechanics is that every attack, even if it's by a fairly innocuous creature has the potential to really knock your characters about. Those spiders are pretty easy to kill but one good hit and they can put the hurt on pretty bad. So that final spider that appeared right at the end could have been nasty if the dice rolls had gone the wrong way.

Thus completes Mission #1.

The next mission is different and will require a different sort of terrain but I already have that sorted. The next scenario involves gnolls & I don't have any gnolls but I do have decent substitutes.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you on the next mission: The Beacon Tower.