Mission 3, Scenario 3: The Defense of Sanguine Abbey

As the Ranging Party emerged damaged and bloodied from the bog lands, they became alarmed by screams in the distance.

As the Rangers drew near, they realized where they were. Despite all the foul corruption spread in the lands, the Sanguine Abbey still stood. However, God only knows what lies within. 

The Ranger's split up to over the major entrances of the Abbey. 

To the Ranger's surprise, a few monks and Lorenthian Soldiers still lived and defended the Abbey. Their faces were grim and hope had faded from their memories. 

 Valerian, Cornelius, Alaric, and a Lorenthian Knight named Balerius held the Northern flank and clashed with zombies while Quintus made way to treasure in the distance. 

As combat erupted throughout the Abbey an un-welcomed screech came from the Shadows. It took the deaths of a Lorenthian Archer and monk to bring down the wicked TWO-headed troll. Not to mention Rogvaldas had one last remaining bit of vitality before getting healed by Valerian.

The defenders regrouped around and in the Abbey as the night was still young.

The marauding Orc Hunting Parties had now arrived in significant numbers.

Two foul spiders emerged from within the Abbey and surprised the defenders

As day began to break the remaining Orcs fled the area, the Abbey had been held. The Ranger and Monks took what books they could carry back to Alladore, as the Abbey would now be undefended against the corruption of the Shadow Deep. 

Mission 3, Scenario 1 and Scenario 2: Descent into the Shadows

Sadly, I failed to take sufficient pictures of the action. Probably due to the fact that these two scenarios gave me more difficulty than all the prior scenarios and simultaneously felt underwhelming and anti climactic. These two were definitely my least favorite scenarios from the initial campaign. I also swapped Lukian the Hound for a Guardsman named Alaric as Valerian had gained a level and some recruitment points. 

Alaric was the descendant of Northmen who had fought as auxiliaries in the Aquilian Empire. After the fall of the Aquilian Empire these Northmen were integral in the formation of Alladore's standing army. Alaric's family had a long tradition of serving as officer's in Alladore's Army. 

Alaric was the commander of Tor Varden in the months prior to Lorenthia's engulfment by the shadow deep. He had now seen the evil of the shadow deep first hand as he was the poor soldier tied to signal pyre at the top of Tor Varden. He watched helplessly as the Shadow Deep's corruption took hold of the ancient tower.

The Rangers followed the trail of Shadow from Tor Varden, taking them to the precipice of the Shadow Deep. The Ranging party descended into a rocky chasm unsure of what lay ahead. 

the trail ahead was windy and treacherous. The party would have to move slowly and surefooted to prevent any misteps.

Valerian lead the way with his Northmen companions in toe. Odd flying creatures had quickly become aware of the Ranging party and assaulted the Rangers.

Melee broke out but these bizarre floating creature's were no match for the combat prowess of the Rangers

And here the pictures stop... Varus the Rogue was knocked out by falling boulders in one hit, and the rangers had to slowly scale the scree as they made way to the bottom of the path. Many "Shadow Flies" were killed and they were underwhelming foes. 

At the Bottom of the stairs there was a foul mist and stench. A deep pool of dark water had formed and surrounded the bottom of the stair case. If the rangers wished to move forward they would have to wade through the pool. God only knows the creature's lurking within the waters. The ranger's became tense as the unknown was thrusted upon them. 

The Rangers swam forward, but Cornelius lagged behind as the foul water gave the Arkanist great difficulty.

And again the pictures stopped as aquatic zombies swarmed the party as they were about to reach the shoreline. The party was stuck in the water longer than I would've liked. Besides a swarm of Zombies an Orc patrol appeared in the distance and the Orc archers took advantage of the harsh marshland and shot Rogvaldas. The party was beginning to take casualties in amounts previously not suffered.

Mission 2 Scenario 3: The Top of Tor Varden

The heroes entered the top of Tor Varden through a small hatch. They were unseen as they emerged single file from a small hatch. A large signal pyre occupied the center of the Tower. A man was chained to the pyre top, likely as a sacrifice to the Shadows.

A Shadow Knight had taken hold of Tor Varden. Its plan was to light Tor Varden's pyre with fell magic, strengthening the shadow deeps hold on the territory.

The heroes gather strength before confronting the darkness

They make way unseen

The rest of the party emerges, except Lukian whom was left to guard the wounded soldiers in the lower levels. 

The orc was killed when the Heroes charged in. The Shadow knight would not go down easily. Luckily ,Valerian had recovered a magic blade in the Orc encampment on the Ethel River, Gaius and Rogvaldas were proving incapable of combating the Knight. 

The rear group split up, with Varus making a sprint for cover while Cornelius and Quintus took position at the walls and prepared for oncoming archer fire.

The Shadow Knight had knocked all the toughest rangers to their knees, but Valerian and the Shadow Knight remained locked in combat, man to man.

My pictures fall short here, Varus through an exploding cocktail at an Orc archer with no effect. Quintus and Orc archers exchanged arrows, until he and Cornelius charged out and finished the job. Most importantly, Valerian killed the Shadow Knight, before the risk of lighting the Pyre was imminent. 

Valerian charged out of the tower walls to bring the fight to the Orcs. Of course they were no match for the Ranger Captain. 

The ancient tower of Tor Varden was cleansed, and now offers a beacon of hope to the Kingdom of Alladore.

For those curious about the walkways: (1) Foamcore board with the paper peeled off on the side that is carved (2) draw lines into the foam with a pencil and a ruler (3) GENTLY score the wood panels with a wire brush to create a wood effect and brush off the created foam dust (4) paint with your preferred wood colors.