The Thrappled Lemmings and the Columns of Laughing Madness (Rangers of Shadow Deep)

 Despite the loss of Aelfwyn weighing on their minds, the Thrappled Lemmings could not rest and grieve. Most of them had recovered from their wounds and ordeal in the Shadow Deep's twisted jail. Bergsveinn was still too badly hurt to join them for the next mission, but the fight had to go on. The Shadow Deep did not care about their loss. It probably cheered and rejoiced at one skilled Ranger less.

"I know it's hard," the Captain told Aethelwyrd, "but I need you and your team to head back into the Shadow Deep. We are being driven back on all fronts. Dark, uncanny sorcery is at work. Our soldiers are losing the will to fight because of the spell mirrors that have suddenly appeared in the enemy's ranks. However, we captured one of these mirrors and our own conjurors have ascertained that there is a temple far behind enemy lines. From there, foul magics are cast through the mirrors. Go there and destroy the temple. It is a place of chaos and evil, but I think your team is best suited to it. I'm attaching Drogo Strongshot and Atli Strongarm to your team for this mission. Here is a map of how to get there. Gather your team, brief them and set out as fast as you can."

Aethelwyrd nodded grimly. This was what her team needed; a chance to strike at the Shadow Deep and avenge Aelfwyn. She turned and left the Captain's office.

Atli (left) and Drogo (right) are keen to show the Lemmings what they are made of

A week later, the Thrappled Lemmings stood in front of the Neo-Aegyptian gates into a large mound.  Aethelwyrd had led them true and they were well supplied and ready for revenge. They entered the darkness of the mound and were forced to light lanterns to see where they were going. The darkness was total. A short while later, the tunnel opened into a cavern with rocky pillars reaching from floor to ceiling. Runes flared to life on these columns and crazed laughing disoriented the Lemmings as Temple Guardians stalked forward intent on slaying them.

Aethelwyrd issued hasty instructions, "Check the runes on the columns. There might be clues there. And slay those damned guards. Remember Aelfwyn and Doggo!"

In the Hall of the Laughing Columns

The Lemmings sprang into action, except for Kalfr who got disoriented and raced off in the wrong direction to start with. Aethelwyrd led the way, rushing to the first pillar and reciting the runic inscription on it. The light on the column went out. Others of the Lemmings tried the same but could not work out what the runes said. The Temple Guardians charged and another Guardian appeared out of the darkness.

"CHARGE!"

Aethelwyrd cut down the nearest Temple Guardian and charged a second, grievously injuring it. Kalfr sought to emulate her and was cut down, but Incunabulum avenged him by blasting the Guardian into pieces with a magic bolt spell. Onund sought to aid Aethelwyrd against the oncoming Guardians but was himself badly wounded. And the insane laughing still continued.

Aethelwyrd cut down another Guardian, but not before Onund was taken out of the fight. Ash, seeking to aid Atli was also cut down, but Atli wounded the Guardian again. It was now bleeding badly. Another Guardian charged Aethelwyrd as Drogo managed to spell out the runes on the column nearest him. There was a crashing of rock and a faint glimmer of light showed where a way out had suddenly opened in the far wall. Incunabulum also worked out the runes on the column near him, but it had no effect. More Guardians charged into the dark cavern and the laughing resounded harder.

Now that Drogo had learned his letters, he raced eagerly forward to the next column and recited the runes on it too. Then he put a crossbow bolt through the eye of an oncoming Guardian.

"Hah, didn't see that one coming!" he gloated at the slain Guardian.

Incunabulum blasted two Guardians with a fireball that killed one of them, while Atli  slew his opponent only for another Guardian to charge him out of the darkness. He wounded this one but was himself cut down. Aethelwyrd raced around an oncoming Guardian and recited the runes on it. A trap door suddenly opened up in the floor near where they had entered the cavern. At the same time, a blade swung out from the column, but Aethelwyrd nimbly ducked under it. The remaining Lemmings raced towards the back of the cavern and the first door that had opened up as another Guardian appeared out of the trapdoor that had just opened up.

Ash and Atli face off against the foe

The Guardians were fewer now but still coming. As the remaining Lemmings slew the last Guardians in the cavern, Aethelwyrd and Drogo took the chance to loot the fallen, while Incunabulum raced out of the exit. Aethelwyrd quickly followed him and Drogo sprinted towards the exit only to be swarmed by two Guardians who had suddenly emerged from the darkness near it. He fought heroically but soon fell.

As those who had been knocked out slowly made their way through the exit, sneaking past the two remaining Guardians, the Lemmings regrouped beyond the door. For most, their wounds were minor, but Onund was badly wounded and would take a while to heal.

"I found Drogo," Kalfr told the others, "He's dead. Those Guardians cut him to bits."

The others muttered grimly.

Aethelwyrd: "We still need to carry on."

"Yes." The chorus of assent was unanimous. The best revenge and memorial for the fallen would be to defeat the Shadow Deep once and for all.

Another scenario where the rolls went against the heroes a lot. They got their licks in but were cut down far too easily by the Guardians. Each hero that fell was one-shotted, which was rather annoying. Worse yet that I rolled a 1 for Drogo's survival, resulting in him dying on his first time out. Let us hope that this is not a sign of things to come in the Temple of Madness.

The Thrappled Lemmings and the Jailbreak (Rangers of Shadow Deep)

 Battered and hurting, the Thrappled Lemmings tumbled through the door away from the deadly lava pits. They were in a large room with several surprised guards.

"How? ... What? ..." one of them asked wittily.

The guards cannot believe that the Inescapable Trap of Inevitable Incineration did not kill the Lemmings

Despite their wounds, the Thrappled Lemmings sprang into action like a well oiled, but ever so slightly dysfunctional machine. Incunabulum blasted the Orc archers standing in the corner with a fireball. One of them was badly burnt but the other managed to duck out of the way. Aethelwyrd used her magic ring to blast the other one with a bolt of eldritch force that all but tore it in two, before charging the Temple Guardians sitting at the table in the centre of the room. The others split up to start looking for a way out. 

As Kalfr opened one door, the stench of rotting meat wafted out, bringing with it a Giant Fly. The guardsman, whose name they had not yet caught, raced up and cut the fly in two.Ash ran and opened another door, immediately wishing he had not. In the centre of the room beyond was a Skeletal Ogre. Aelfwyn sprinted over to him and shot an arrow at the beast but missed, because he was puffing too hard from the sprint.

Aethelwyrd and Onund attacked the nearest Temple Guardian, who was made of sterner stuff. Aethelwyrd parried the Guardian's blow, but Onund was cut down immediately. The other Guardians joined the fray. Fighting in a frenzy, Aethelwyrd was wounded by one but cut the second down while wounding the third.

"Suck that, scumeaters!" she spat as the Guardian died on her blade.

Taking a second to aim, Aelfwyn fired and slew the Skeletal Ogre. The guardsman raced to the next door and through it open. A large, jovial looking Ogre came through the door. He was carrying an empty flagon in one hand but was hurt and seemed to be looking for someone to take the lack of ale and his wounds out on. Kalfr ran up to him ready to fight, but also recognising that the Ogre might not actually be the bad guy here.

"Hey, big guy," Kalfr spoke soothingly, "We're trying to get out of here. There's ale in it for you if you can help us."

"I'm Gorbin, not Big Guy," replied the Ogre, "Yeah, I'll help you. Ale and busting heads are what I do, and these guys busted my head so I am not happy ... or maybe I just have a hangover."

Yay, we made the leadership roll to get Gorbin to join us. That will come in handy.

While this was going on, Ash had thrown open the door to another room and found an armoury. His eyes lit up as he spotted moveable goods that he could move. Eerie wailing arose in the room and suddenly ghoulish hands rose out of a grate he was standing on and grabbed Gorbin's ankles. He found himself unable to move.

Gorbin decides that the Lemmings are a good fit for him

Aethelwyrd attacked the wounded Guardian but could not get past his defences and was wounded once more. She ducked away from the two Guardians, blood spraying everywhere. They followed her up and in two blows she lay unmoving on the floor. The Orc archers shot Bergsveinn, who also fell to the floor in a bloody heap.

With Kalfr's help, Gorbin tore himself free from the ghoulish hands. The pair charged the Orc archer and cut him down. Ash and Incunabulum rushed into the armoury and grabbed everything they could carry as the guardsman opened another door onto an empty room. and the others moved to check more rooms. A skeleton crawled out of the ground behind Aelfwyn.

The Temple Guardians charged Aelfwyin and Kalfr. Gorbin moved to aid Kalfr and crushed the Guardians head as Aelfwyn desperately fought off the Skeleton and the other Guardian. As everyone rushed to aid Aelfwyn, the guardsman threw open a door.

"Hey, guys, I've found the way out. Hurry up and let's get out of here!"

A skeleton crawled out of the ground near him.

As Aelfwyn slew his skeleton, the Guardian took Ash out of the fight with a mighty blow. Gorbin slew the other skeleton.

"Come on! Keep up!" yelled the guardsman as he exited the room.

Suddenly a huge crashing noise emanted from the lava room. Dust and small stones spilled from the ceiling. Gorbin and Kalfr fell to their knees as the whole room shook mightily.

"Earthquake!" cried Gorbin.

As Incunabulum fled the room and the others struggled to get to their feet, a Giant Fly emerged from under the table in the centre of the room. It buzzed angrily over to Aelfwyn and swatted him to the floor. Kalfr rushed to help his comrade but only his armour saved him from harm. Gorbin raced to help his new chum and swatted the fly with one swipe of his mighty thews.

Moments later Aelfwyn had shot his last arrow

Another fly buzzed out of an open door and attacked Gorbin. He crushed it with a huge fist. Then he and Kalfr grabbed their fallen comrades and sprinted out of the exit to the open countryside above.

As the battered Lemmings made camp, they examined their wounded comrades. Aethelwyrd and Onund came round fairly quickly. Their wounds were minor. Bergsveinn was badly hurt. His wounds would take time to heal. Aelfwyn, alas, would never move again. The fly had slain him. The Lemmings hung their heads in grief and sorrow. They would raise a mug of ale to him when they returned to base. They had lost too many comrades to the Shadow Deep and this only stiffened their resolve to fight on and do whatever damage they could, before they too fell. The magical weapons they had recovered from the armoury did nothing to reduce their sorrow, but they would certainly be used against the Shadow Deep.

That was not a good fight. So many dice rolls went badly against my heroes. And then I rolled a 1 for Aelfwyn and he turned out to be dead. It feels like I have lost a lot of companions in this campaign. Certainly more than I would expect to lose given that they only die on 1-2 on d20. And Bergsveinn's mum is really going to have some choice words for me sending her son home badly wounded again. Better hope the treasure calms her down a bit!

On the plus side, the treasure tokens from the armoury turned out to be a Staff of Elemental Strike and a Two-Handed Weapon of Elemental Strike. Both will come in very handy, and Gorbin is now available to join the Lemmings. He could prove useful too.

The Thrappled Lemmings and the Inescapable Trap of Inevitable Incineration (Rangers of Shadow Deep)

 The Thrappled Lemmings awoke in a dim chamber with rocks and rubble all around them. Checking themselves over, they realised that none of them were seriously hurt, although they still bore wounds from the last fight. Despite being overwhelmed, they had been lucky, but they wondered why they were still alive. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they searched amid the rubble around them and recovered their weapons and equipment. One unexpected surprise was the presence of Bergsveinn.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was sent after you with a message from the Captain. Unfortunately, I arrived just in time to see you getting captured, so I tried to sneak away to let the Captain know. Unfortunately, I got caught and thrown in here with you," he slurred through his badly broken jaw, "My mum's going to kill me!"

Suddenly, the Lemmings found themselves blinded by torches springing into life some distance away near a door on a ledge on the far side of the cavern. Where there was a way out, there was still hope. Then they spotted the skeleton warriors guarding the door. Never mind. They could fight their way through. Then the flagstones behind where they stood started to drop into a great lake of lava below.

Skeletons bar the way to a high ledge and the door out. Please note that the ledge is far away, not small.

"Run!" yelled Aethelwyrd, "Get to the ledge as fast as you can!"

The Lemmings did not need telling twice. They sprinted for all they were worth towards the ledge as the flagstones behind them fell away. Aelfwyn and Bergsveinn fired at the advancing skeletons on the run, but missed.

Suddenly a massive boom echoed through the chamber. The skeletons retreated towards the ledge and a huge part of the floor just behind Aelfwyn and Bergsveinn dropped away. Aelfwyn cursed.

"Don't let my mum hear you say things like that," squeaked Bergsveinn, "she'll wash your mouth out with lye and that is not a pleasant experience, I can tell you!"

Aethelwyrd led Onund and Incunabulum onwards. Incunabulum launched a flaming ball of fire at the oncoming skeletons and fried one to a crisp but was wounded by another skeleton that charged him while he was doing this. Aethelwyrd and Onund were also beset by skeletons, but as each approached her, Aethelwyrd cut it down. Onund was not so lucky, slaying one and being wounded by another. The others continued to charge forward as fast as they could.

A skeleton arose from the rubble just as another huge section of the floor fell away. Incunabulum was wounded again as he desperately fought the skeleton before him, but Aethelwyrd slew it. Ash had found something in the rubble but was attacked by a skeleton before he could investigate it. He slew the skeleton and found a dead Alladorean soldier. He grabbed the silver Star of Alladore from the corpse to return it to the Rangers' headquarters and sprinted over to the ledge. Kalfr and Bergsveinn chased after him.

Meanwhile, Aelfwyn had founded a wounded Lorenthian guard.

"Come on, mate," he reassured the guardsman, "We'll get you out of here."

A much smaller section of the floor suddenly fell away as a giant fly buzzed in above the lava.

As the floor falls away, the giant fly pursues the fleeing Lemmings

The Lemmings raced for the ledge, hoping they could climb it in time. On the way, Onund found a Potion of Healing. Ash started scuttling up the wall like a spider, while the others sought to get a purchase and begin the climb. The fly buzzed closer. An undead ogre crawled out of the rubble right next to Onund. A bit more of the floor fell away. The Lemmings could feel the heat of the lava on their backs now.

Incunabulum blasted the Ogre with a bolt of eldritch lightning and ran round it to the wall up to the ledge. Aethelwyrd followed this up by charging in and slaying it. Ash scuttled the last bit up the wall and raced to the door.

"Dammit, it's locked!"

Kalfr finally got purchase and started climbing. Aelfwyn helped the wounded guardsman get started climbing. The others were still trying to get started. Another skeleton climbed out of the rubble as a massive chunk of the floor fell away once more.

Aethelwyrd finally reached the wall up to the ledge and started climbing. The fly and the skeleton attacked Aelfwyn, who was wounded by them. More of the floor fell away as the Lemmings struggled to climb and then two robed acolytes pushed through the door, whose lock Ash was trying to pick. Too quickly for Ash, the door clicked closed once more. The acolytes cackled.

"Get that damned door open!" yelled Aethelwyrd. That was all the encouragement he needed. With a slick twist of his wrist, Ash tumbled the lock and the door swung open. The acolytes looked dismayed. They looked even more dismayed as Aethelwyrd tumbled over the edge of the ledge, rolled to her feet and advanced on one of them snarling.

One of the acolytes cackled as he attacked Ash and struck him to the ground. The other cackled as he attacked Aethelwyrd only to be slain in a frenzied attack by the ranger. The skeleton and the giant fly attacked Aelfwyn who dealth with both as if he were born to fight hand to hand. The last of the floor fell away. Incunabulum and Bergsveinn managed to grab hold of the wall and start climbing. Alas, Aelfwyn plummeted towards the lava with the floor, unable to get a purchase on the wall.

Aelfwyn plummets while Bergsveinn and Incunabulum climb (the dice represent how far they have climbed. Appearances to the contrary, the ledge is 6" high, but the special effects budget did not run to that).

Aethelwyrd and Onund attacked the remaining acolyte, who responded with fury and cut Onund down. Kalfr ran in and avenged his comrade, kicking the acolyte's body into the lava below as the others all raced to the door. The guardsman managed to scramble through just before the cavern shook once more. Those remaining on the ledge wobbled and nearly fell, but managed to stay upright and not fall back into the lava. Two acolyte archers emerged through a hidden door and drew a bead on our heroes.

"Get through that door!" Aethelwyrd commanded.

The others did not need telling twice. They grabbed Onund's and Ash's bodies and dived through, shutting the door behind them. Aelfwyn piled through the door just before it shut. He was scorched and half naked but still alive.

Get to the choppa door!

"Managed to grab a hold on the wall before I fell but I lost half my bloody gear," he announced to those present, "and I feel like barbecue!"

"There's nothing wrong with barbecue," Bergsveinn replied. He did not get to finish what he was saying before Aelfwyn cut him off.

"Really? Have you ever been barbecued?"

Aelfwyn's acerbic response was cut short in turn as the Lemmings took note of their new surroundings.

In the interests of getting this game to the table rather than faffing with terrain and figures, I decided just to move the frame I use to define the playing area instead of making a lava base for the Lemmings to fall into. This had the disadvantage of leaving me guessing where the Giant Fly should appear, but it worked out ok in the end.

That was a close one. Most of the Lemmings are reduced to 1 or 2 Health for the next scenario, but at least all of them survived, even if Aelfwyn did lose all his non-standard gear. Can the Lemmings find their way out next time, or are they all toast?

The Thrappled Lemmings and the Menagerie of Doom (Rangers of Shadow Deep)

 I've not finished all the stuff I need for this mission, but here's the first part, and I hope to have the rest done in time to play the second part next week, if the Lemmings can survive a midnight assault while they were sleeping.

It had been a hard scouting trip through the Shadow Deep and the Lemmings were tired and hungry. Their supplies had run out the day before and several of them were complaining about the lack of food and decent water. They were a grumpy lot who bedded down for the night in the stone circle that seemed to provide the best cover. And the night was only going to get worse.

Onund hissed a warning to the others, "Incoming enemies!"

Bears and tigers and beast handlers

Aesc mumbled in his sleep, "Just five minutes more, Mum."

Temple Guardians

Kalfr rolled over and buried his head under his sleeping roll.

The enemy approaches as Aesc and Kalfr sleep on

Aethelwyrd, Aelfwyn and Incunabulum leapt to their feet and faced outwards from their camp. Lizardpeople were approaching from one side. It was hard to make them out in the dark but their hissing cries made it clear who they were. A bear, a tiger and other denizens of the Shadow Deep were approaching from the other. As they closed, it was clear that they were as surprised to find the Lemmings there as the Lemmings were to be so rudely awakened from their sleep and more of the Shadow Deep's beast handlers were following closely behind them too.

Fortunate it was that Aethelwyrd had slept lightly and awakened quickly, because the bear was on her in a heartbeat. As Aelfwyn shot an arrow straight through the heart of the oncoming tiger and raced to help Aethelwyrd, she roared a challenge to all approaching and cut the bear nearly in half with her sword.

Crikey, two critical hits in a row and two dead beasts! Let us hope this luck continues.

Then the leading Lizardperson was on Aesc, who stumbled groggily to his feet only to be cut down instantly before he had even got his bearings.

I guess the luck did not continue that much after all.

Meanwhile, two beast handlers were on Aethelwyrd and Aelfwyn. Aethelwyrd cut the first one down while Aelfwyn was winning the other fight but struggled to strike a telling blow. Incunabulum blasted the attacking Lizardperson with a magical bolt, grievously wounding it. Onund found himself hard beset by beast handlers and the archer he had charged. The fight was not going well for him. Kalfr had finally woken up though and ran towards him to help. And then another tiger appeared out of the darkness.

Aethelwyrd joined the fray and slew Aelfwyn's beast handler, giving him the chance to race over to help the others. Even though it was a hurried shot as he slid into cover behind a monolith, it still told. The Lizardperson archer was hard hit by his arrow but fired a solid shot at Aelfwyn that left him both bleeding and cursing. By this time, Onund had found his rhythm and was hurting his attackers right up until the Lizardperson archer smashed him across the head and felled him, while Kalfr was badly wounded by the Lizardperson attacking him. Incunabulum unleased a fireball at the archer nearest him, but hit everything around the archer, while leaving him unhurt by it. As all this happened, an Orc warrior appeared out of the darkness.

"Is there no end to these fiends?" muttered Aethelwyrd.

Incunabulum hurriedly enchanted Aethelwyrd's sword before haring off towards a promising looking pile of boxes. Unfortunately, all he found was Shadow Deep Temple uniforms, and not the food he was hoping for, and then the Orc warrior was upon him. Aethelwyrd charged towards the main fight on the other side of the camp. As she did so, Kalfr cut down a beast handler and fended off the tiger's attack for a short while, but soon fell to its claws. The Lizardperson archers' arrows flew wide of their mark but so did Aelfwyn's. The Lemmings were now reduced to half their normal numbers and their only seemed to be more enemies arriving as more Orcs emerged out of the darkness.

Things are not looking good for the Lemmings!

Aethelwyrd charged one of the Lizardperson archers and cut him down just as Aelfwyn took a careful shot at the other and put an arrow through his heart. The Orc warrior batted Incunabulum out of the way without missing its stride and rushed towards the remaining two Lemmings as the other Orcs headed towards the camp fire. The tiger turned its attentions on Aethelwyrd now, who managed to parry its strikes but could not find a gap in its defences. A roar filled the air as another bear emerged from the night.

The enemy charged as the tiger mauled Aethelwyrd. Fortunately, she was able to roll with the punch and was not as badly hurt as she could have been. The Orcs were all charging towards Aelfwyn, and more were appearing even as he fought desperately for his life.

A choking ash cloud suddenly blew across the battlefield. It mattered little to Aelfwyn, who had been cut down by an Orc, and Aethelwyrd succeeding in holding her breath long enough for it to pass even as she cut down an Orc sergeant and the tiger. However, she was no bleeding from a dozen wounds and not certain that she could hold out much longer.

Still, Aethelwyrd took up position between two standing stones and cut deep wounds in the Orc before her, but the bear behind her clawed her once more. The camp was filling up with Orcs waiting their turn to attack her. She fought heroically and slew Orc after Orc, but in the end their numbers told and she fell into darkness as the bear mauled her one more time.

Epilogue

The Thrappled Lemmings awoke in a dim chamber with rocks and rubble all around them. Checking themselves over, they realised that none of them were seriously wounded. Despite being overwhelmed, they had been lucky. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they suddenly found themselves blinded again by torches springing into life some distance away. The torches illuminated a door on a ledge on the far side of the cavern they were in. There was still hope. Then they spotted the skeleton warriors guarding the door and the flagstones behind where they stood started to drop into a great lake of lava below. They would have to move quickly.

Conclusion

That was a tough fight and the first proper defeat for the Lemmings. They started with some great dice rolls, but in the end they were overwhelmed by poorer dice rolls and being outnumbered by the enemy. Fortunately, all of the Lemmings passed their survival rolls with flying colours, so they are all ready to take on this next challenge. In retrospect, I should probably have withdrawn the Lemmings to stand in the centre and let the enemy approach, rather than rushing out to attack, but here is a reason they are known as the Thrappled Lemmings.

On the plus side, this diversion will give me more time to get things ready for the second scenario of the Menagerie mission. If the Lemmings survive the prison, they can head off and seek out what the Shadow Deep is doing with all these creatures.