Into the Shadow Deep

The first mission of Rangers of Shadow Deep requires survivors, which brought me to acquire two sets of Gripping Beast peasants (https://www.grippingbeast.co.uk/Civilians_Livestock–category–33.html ), one set of men and one set of women.

And while I was painting these nice ‘extras’ I decided to add giant rats to the list of monsters ready to play in Mission 1.

Early days of RPG miniatures painted for the first time in 2020! Reaper Bones giant rats were next.

As the first two scenarii call for wooded areas, and having already tackled the infected trees (see http://legamingdude.com/the-infected-trees-modeling-and-meta/ )I decided to 3D print a series of trees from one of my favorite files provider, Printable Scenery. I chose the Gnarly Trees with Canopy from their Clorehaven series, which will provide a good diversity of shapes for a diverse forested area. As five models are available, I decided to print 2 of each, estimating that spacing them properly on the table would provide enough diversity to the terrain.

Alas, quite a few of my prints were interrupted while printing trunks and I was faced with the perspective of trashing this good amount of plastic. I then considered topping the unfinished trunk with spackling paste and painting them as stumps. I then used a method I learned from Bard’s Craft excellent video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab59vHFA5mU ) to add mushrooms to the stumps. This simple method is quite simple and only requires a glue gun, toothpicks and of course paint.

When I decided to use the Printable Scenery Winterdale Gnarly Trees for the Rangers of Shadow Deep Infected Trees from the Missing second scenario (https://www.printablescenery.com/product/winterdale-gnarly-tree-pack-50/) I just had a basic concept of the trees appearance (very little past the ‘spooky’ attribute).

Then my wife (an artist whose taste and creations remind me daily what it means to have artistic talent, which is something I am very short of 🙂 ) suggested I give the trees a whitish aspect so as to enhance their sinister look and suggest disease. I therefore primed them black and drybrushed them with a white craft paint, producing their current look which differentiate them starkly from the other trees on the table. I also used a coarse ground cover to contrast with the smooth covers used for other trees, which I will highlight in an upcoming post.

But there was still a problem, one that only came to the surface once the prints were completed: enormous skulls were embedded in the trees (one can print them without the skulls but I had decided that skulls would reinforce their ominous presence). By enormous, I mean far larger than any 28mm scale human skull would be! While this would be a non issue for most individuals, as the terrain will be seen from a distance and disappear behind the heroes and the adventures they live, the size incongruity kept on bothering me and led to my creating this bit of meta for my Rangers game, which I feel abbates my annoyance with the skull proportion while adding quite a bit of narrative flavor to this piece of terrain:

For as long as ancestral memory recollects, forest trolls have been paired at birth with a specific tree, according to shamanistic signs gathered upon their arrival to this plane of existence. Many a tree is shared by several trolls, revealing that their lives, past, present and future, are intertwined. The birth tree is the focus of a multitude of rituals and ceremonies throughout a troll’s life and it is not unusual for trolls sharing a tree to become life mates. Upon a troll death, their body is released to Gaia but their head is deposited within the tree roots, ornate with intricate painting and crude jewelry. By following this ritual, it is ensured that a troll, upon rebirth, wil find their tree and continue the cycle. Given the significance and cultural role of the birth trees they are considered sacred and fiercely guarded by the troll tribes.

As the Shadow Deep corruption expands upon the land, the birth trees are affected by the dark energy and mutate to adopt a twisted aspect of their former selves. Forest trolls seem to ahve disappeared from their tribal grounds, although the occasional temeritous traveller reports grotesque troll-like creature haunting the deep woods and attacking any living creature on sight.

What is certain is that the former birth trees have become hosts for the sinister mutated spiders, born from the evil energy infecting the land. These creatures use them as nests and ambush points, luring unfortunate travellers under the dried limb before they realize the nature of the trees, too late to avoid an attack. This is why spider cocoons are usually not left near the trees so as not discourage closer inspection.

The nefarious influence of the Shadow Deep has turned the birth trees into lifeless, light grey husks, only the bleached skulls of their former owners testifying of their origin.

As I mentioned in my introductory article on the game , collecting miniatures ahead of a mission is one of my favorite things as it allows me to delve into the dusty drawers of forgotten miniatures or browse the virtual shelves of eclectic creators for the perfect actor.

As I happened to have several spider miniatures in one hobby drawer (probably due to an earlier intent to delve into the Shadow Deep), I unearthed said miniatures and proceed to priming, painting and varnishing them. The following models span 40 years of RPG miniature creation, from one of the earliest spider models i purchased in Bath England (I believe from Woolworth) to newer D&D models acquired at my local Floridian game store. Can you spot the Dungeon Crawl Classic reference?