Borderlands of the Shadowed Keep
The Shadowed Keep stands at the end of an overgrown trail upon a wooded bluff overlooking a steep-sided valley. A small pack of wolves dwells in the wood as does a black bear. Characters wandering the woods may also encounter small hunting parties of bandits and goblins skulking in the gloom.
Beyond the Shadowed Keep, several other locations of interest lie in the woodland to the south of Dulwich. While this adventure cannot provide comprehensive detail of all these locales some of the more prominent and interesting are detailed below to enable further design and development.
Cartography: Tommi Salama
Local Features of Interest at a Glance
Beyond the Shadowed Keep, several other locations of interest lie in the woodland to the south of Dulwich. Many other sites of minor note stud the woodlands. Such locales include isolated cottages (the homes of charcoal burners, hunters and the like) as well as logging camps, bandit hideouts and so on. Additionally, characters exploring the woods are likely to encounter many of its denizens—some benign, some ambivalent and some malign.
Elle’s Mere: Elle’s Mere is a rarely visited, reputedly haunted place. Tavern tales, whispered rumours and local legends name the lake’s shaded waters as home to ghosts, water spirits and worse. Even the trees growing about the lake are said to come alive to slay those venturing too close to the lake.
Forest of Gray Spires: While not part of Ashlar, the Forest of Gray Spires forms its southern border. Deemed all but impenetrable, wild rumours cluster thickly about these brooding woodlands and the legion of strange, slender rock spires thrusting upwards from the plateau on which the forest stands.
Adventurers often use Dulwich as a base from which to explore the forest. Many of the legends hanging over the strange forest speak of ancient inhuman empires and their glittering treasures. The Picaroon Peninsula lies hundreds of miles west and south of Dulwich; no known land route exists through the forest, but that doesn’t stop the occasional explorer or traveller claiming to have forged such a route.
Shunned Valley of the Three Tombs: Hidden deep in the forest lies a marshy, boggy valley. Woodsmen and hunters shun the place—kept away by rumours of a terrible beast lairing within and of a ghost haunting the valley’s boggy mere. But, as well as great danger, treasures magical and mundane may yet lie unclaimed in the valley for three unexplored tombs, built by ancient hands, stand amid the mud and reeds. (For more about the valley, refer to Shunned Valley of the Three Tombs—an adventure for 1st-level characters).
Slaughter Meadow: This wide swath of undead-haunted greensward nestles amid the surrounding forest. Valentin Ironwolf won a great victory here when he defeated the orcs of the Severed Hand and the Blood Moon goblins at the Battle of Slaughter Meadow. Undead are said to haunt the old battlefield.
The Demon’s Bowl: Here, a steep-sided natural amphitheatre plunges downwards several hundred feet. A rugged outcropping of jagged rock at the bowl’s lowest point has given rise to numerous rumours of demon worship and foul sacrifices hanging over the place. A nameless hamlet of shacks and rude cabins straggles through the bowl. Some of the folk dwelling in the bowl suffer with leprosy; few visit the place, as a result, and Wido Gall’s troops stay well clear.
Tower of Kivutar: The bandits and goblins lurking in the southern woodlands have learnt to avoid the Tower of Kivutar. Herein dwells the wizard Kivutar Ilmarinen (LG old female human wizard 9). She is a recluse of sorts, but occasionally wanders the woods near her home to gather berries, herbs and other things she needs for her experiments. Despite a foul reputation, Kivutar is a good person and helps those in need if she can.
Valley of Bones: Piercing the foothills of the nameless range of tree-crowned hills rising up to form the mysterious plateau on which stands the Forest of Gray Spires the valley is a place rich in local legend. The kobolds of the Ebon Scales once claimed the valley, but Valentin Ironwolf annihilated them. The Valley of Bones is named for the battle’s aftermath.
Vongyth: Vongyth fell to the depredations of a pair of mated dragons two centuries ago. The dragons have since been slain by the Crimson Swords adventuring group, but adventurers still go missing searching for the ruin. It is generally assumed something terrible yet lurks in the eternal dark of Clan Nurthen’s fallen home.
Want to Explore the Shadowed Keep?
Hidden deep in the borderland forest, bandits lurk in the ruined castle of a long-dead border lord. Their incessant raids draw a band of neophyte heroes to the derelict keep. There they discover fouler, more odious dangers lurk below the ruins.
Dare you brave the terrors of the Shadowed Keep to crush that which lurks within or will darkness shroud the surrounding lands?
Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands is an adventure for 1st-level characters compatible with the 1st edition of the Pathfinder roleplaying game. Designed for the Duchy of Ashlar campaign setting the adventure can be easily inserted into a GM's home campaign.
Get the free map back for Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands here.
Early 2025 Edition
This is the Early 2025 edition of Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands. This edition is the culmination of multiple playtests, additions, suggestions, revisions and corrections spanning over a decade of play and development.
Update Log
Web Enhancement: Newly organised stat block appendices designed to make running this adventure even easier. Download only.
Early 2025 Edition: Dread Shrine of the Supreme Warlord adventure added along with a new tavern location: The Ozloc & Dragon.
Late 2024 Edition: Shunned Valley of the Three Tombs (with all new maps by Tommi Salama) added to the adventure.
Early 2024 Edition: Extensive expansion of the town of Dulwich.
Late 2023 Edition: Extensive proofing and editing.
Running the Shadowed Keep
Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands is designed for a group of 1st-level characters. The adventure is set in the Duchy of Ashlar, which is part of the Gloamhold campaign setting, but can easily be inserted into your own campaign world. The keep’s location—a bluff surrounded by dense woodland—is generic enough to fit any but the most atypical campaign. Similarly, the one-time ruler of the fortress is nothing but an adventurer made good and not the scion of some noble house.
The Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands is a sandbox adventure—the characters can explore the various zones of the keep in almost any order. Thus the characters will find some areas easier than others, and they may never even discover other portions of the complex (particularly locations D14 – D16). Similarly, there is no time pressure during this adventure—the characters can explore the Shadowed Keep at their leisure. If you would rather a faster-paced adventure, consider placing a rival group of (black-hearted) adventurers in the area also intent on exploring the ruins. This gives the characters an impetus to explore swiftly and potentially sets up a climactic fight with the rival adventurers somewhere in the ruins!
Once the party has cleared the keep the characters can move on to their next adventure or they can claim the fortress as their own. In this way, the keep can become the focus of an entire campaign as the characters battle to clear the surrounding woodland of enemies (or explore the deeper caverns below the keep) while repairing the shattered fortress. The obstacles to successfully completing such a task are legion. (Refer to “Further Adventures” for more details.)
Characters completely exploring the keep and defeating all its challenges should reach 4th-level by the end of the adventure.
Hidden deep in the borderland forest, bandits lurk in the ruined castle of a long-dead border lord. Their incessant raids draw a band of neophyte heroes to the derelict keep. There they discover fouler, more odious dangers lurk below the ruins.
Dare you brave the terrors of the Shadowed Keep to crush that which lurks within or will darkness shroud the surrounding lands?
Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands is an adventure for 1st-level characters compatible with the 5th edition of the world’s most popular roleplaying game. Designed for the Duchy of Ashlar campaign setting the adventure can be easily inserted into a GM's home campaign.
Get the free map back for Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands here.
Early 2025 Edition
This is the Early 2025 edition of Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands. This edition is the culmination of multiple playtests, additions, suggestions, revisions and corrections spanning over a decade of play and development.
Update Log
Web Enhancement: Newly organised stat block appendices designed to make running this adventure even easier. Download only.
Early 2025 Edition: Dread Shrine of the Supreme Warlord adventure added along with a new tavern location: The Ozloc & Dragon.
Late 2024 Edition: Shunned Valley of the Three Tombs (with all new maps by Tommi Salama) added to the adventure.
Early 2024 Edition: Extensive expansion of the town of Dulwich.
Late 2023 Edition: Extensive proofing and editing.
Running the Shadowed Keep
Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands is designed for a group of 1st-level characters. The adventure is set in the Duchy of Ashlar, which is part of the Gloamhold campaign setting, but can easily be inserted into your own campaign world. The keep’s location—a bluff surrounded by dense woodland—is generic enough to fit any but the most atypical campaign. Similarly, the one-time ruler of the fortress is nothing but an adventurer made good and not the scion of some noble house.
The Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands is a sandbox adventure—the characters can explore the various zones of the keep in almost any order. Thus the characters will find some areas easier than others, and they may never even discover other portions of the complex (particularly locations D14 – D16). Similarly, there is no time pressure during this adventure—the characters can explore the Shadowed Keep at their leisure. If you would rather a faster-paced adventure, consider placing a rival group of (black-hearted) adventurers in the area also intent on exploring the ruins. This gives the characters an impetus to explore swiftly and potentially sets up a climactic fight with the rival adventurers somewhere in the ruins!
Once the party has cleared the keep the characters can move on to their next adventure or they can claim the fortress as their own. In this way, the keep can become the focus of an entire campaign as the characters battle to clear the surrounding woodland of enemies (or explore the deeper caverns below the keep) while repairing the shattered fortress. The obstacles to successfully completing such a task are legion. (Refer to “Further Adventures” for more details.)
Characters completely exploring the keep and defeating all its challenges should reach 4th-level by the end of the adventure.
This digital download comprises all the maps (including both tagged and non-tagged versions) for the Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands adventure. The download now also includes maps for the Shunned Valley of the Three Tombs, which was added to the Late 2024 edition of the adventure, and the maps for the Dread Shrine of the Supreme Warlord added in 2025.
All maps by Tommi Salama.
About the Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands
Hidden deep in the borderland forest, bandits lurk in the ruined castle of a long-dead border lord. Their incessant raids draw a band of neophyte heroes to the derelict keep. There they discover fouler, more odious dangers lurk below the ruins.
Dare you brave the terrors of the Shadowed Keep to crush that which lurks within or will darkness shroud the surrounding lands?
Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands is an adventure for 1st-level characters compatible with the 5th edition of the world’s most popular roleplaying game. Designed for the Duchy of Ashlar campaign setting the adventure can be easily inserted into a GM's home campaign.