The characters are on a mission to distribute seeds and dried fruit through the Belthara Circle. As they traverse the perilous Ukra'Dor trail, the party passes through the section between the Odo-Kraal Narrows and the Gargoyle camp.

Or

Followers of the Jade Shadow trek through the pass into or out of the Vale. As they traverse the perilous Ukra'Dor trail, the party passes through the section between the Odo-Kraal Narrows and the Gargoyle camp.

The Watcher

Introduction: The Call of the Cave

The party is traversing the perilous Ukra Dor trail, surrounded by the oppressive Odo Kraal Narrows, when they begin to notice something amiss. The path, once familiar, seems to play tricks on their perception: a landmark stone on the left now appears on the right; moss on the trees grows in erratic spirals. As they move forward, time becomes elastic—steps that should have taken minutes seem to take hours, and trails left behind reappear ahead, as if pursued by their own footprints.

When they finally reach the point where the skeleton known as Azrun watches over the trail, the world around them becomes dreamlike. The sound of the wind and the mountains fades, replaced by an oppressive silence. The air trembles around the skeleton, and twigs thrown from it hang suspended for a moment, floating in an altered density, before falling. The group tries to adjust their route, but the trail doubles back on itself, forcing them to return repeatedly to the same place: in front of Azrun.

Suddenly, the air becomes heavy and huge rocks slide down, closing the canyon in front and behind, mixed with a living mist that rises together like impassable walls; everything blurs except the fixed presence of Azrun. Behind them, the mountain breaks into a jagged crevice revealed by a corridor of mist. The group feels the judgment of unseen eyes, their claustrophobia growing, until the only possible route is the passage that Ukra'Dor herself imposes on them.

With a trembling whisper acknowledging the verdict of the living place, they are left to face the dark call that reverberates from within the cave — no return, no alternative, only the inevitable confrontation with the secrets that await them beyond the darkness. One of the group members, pale and trembling, whispers:

"Ukra'Dor has decided. To move forward, we must confront what lies within."

With no choice, the group enters the newly revealed cave.

Part 1: The Dreamlike Environment

The cave is a place where reality seems to dissolve. The damp stone walls pulse gently, as if breathing. The torchlight is gradually swallowed by the darkness, creating shadows that dance and contort like human figures in agony. The mist moves with subtle intelligence, enveloping each member of the group and whispering indistinct words—sometimes promises, sometimes threats.

Challenges:

1. Personal Illusions

Each character witnesses visions of loved ones or their greatest fears, projected by the mist. It takes wisdom to resist the illusions. Failure can lead to hysterical outbursts or even isolation from the group.

2. The Living Silence

The further they advance, the more deafening the silence becomes. As if their energy is slowly being drained, the group needs the physical stamina to resist the psychological pressure, which causes debilitating headaches and makes communication difficult.

Part 2: Echoes of the Failed

Deeper into the cavern, the party finds inscriptions on the walls, written in an ancient language. They tell the story of Azrun, a Stargazer who defied Ukra Dor by attempting to steal the power of Belthara’s circle for himself. As punishment, he was transformed into an undead guardian, condemned to watch over the passage forever. His curse is to fuel the time loop of the trail, ensuring that no one escapes without facing judgment.

As the party deciphers the inscriptions, they hear whispers growing around them. The mist slowly condenses into shapes, creating humanoid silhouettes that slowly approach. The travelers realize that they are surrounded by spectral echoes—the tormented spirits of past Stargazers who failed their missions.

Challenge:

1. The Spectral Echoes

Each echo attacks the party with physical and mental attacks. They drain life energy and create disturbing visions. Fight, succumb, or escape is the only choice.

Part 3: From Fog, He Speaks

In the heart of the cavern, the party finds a pulsating altar, made of bones and covered in glowing runes. It pulses, emitting a reddish light that synchronizes with the characters' heartbeats. Atop the altar is a small crystal - floating, it begins to resonate as the party approaches.

Suddenly, the spirit appears, shrouded in mist and dense necromantic energy. Its voice echoes through the cavern, deep and relentless:

"Insolent ones! How dare you enter my domain? Free me or face eternal judgment!"

Part 4 - Ending

4.1 Ending 1 – The Eternal Vigil (Combat and Moral Choice)

The characters face Azrun, but preserve the altar.

 Faced with the threat of Azrun's specter, the group chooses to fight. The ancient Holder fights like a living shadow: summoning fragments of his pain, creating illusions. After an exhausting battle, the group defeats the entity or seals it temporarily.

Discovery: The runes in the cave also reveal that the altar keeps the time cycle stable, containing breaches through which extra-temporal horrors try to infiltrate the world.

 Final Decision: The group decides not to destroy the altar — saving the Vale, but condemning Azrun to perpetual vigil.

 Final Scene: As they leave the cave, everything behind them disappears like mist. Azrun's skeleton returns to his stone throne, dry-eyed and alert. The path opens. The silence remains. And so does the curse.

 4.2 Ending 2 – The New Pact (Alliance and Ruin)

The group listens to Azrun and destroys the altar, joining him.

Azrun does not resist — he speaks. He offers an alliance and with that they will rewrite the ancient pacts of the gods together. The group, shaken by the revelations, desires for power or revolution, accepts.

Consequence: The altar is destroyed. A tear opens in time. The Vale screams. Creatures invade the present; fossil beasts gain flesh again. Azrun disappears between the cracks, leaving promises of revenge and liberation at the right time.

Final Scene: As they leave the cave, the sky over the Vale is split. Unknown stars shine. The ground trembles. But the players have in their hands an ancient ally who walks among the shadows.

4.3 Ending 3 – The Cycle That Does Not Exist (?)

The group touches the altar... and the world blinks.

In an instant, the absolute silence is replaced by familiar sounds: the cold wind of the Valley, the distant song of birds. The characters wake up in their travel bivouac, amidst the vegetation of the surrounding Valley, as if they had only dozed off. The memory of the cave, of Azrun, of the altar — everything fades like a poorly stitched dream..., but something is wrong.

Another member of the group is there talking to them as if nothing had happened. But there is something in his gaze — as if he does not really recognize them, or as if he is reciting rehearsed lines. He announces that they are “two days from the Gorge of Odo Kraal”.

The name makes everyone's bones tremble.

The group tries to question him, but the words escape like smoke. Around them, the trees seem... out of place. The shadows creep with small delays. And the moss, once again, grows in spirals. When they look back, they see old footprints, already sunk in the mud.

Final Scene:

One of the players, while washing his face in a stream, notices a scar on his arm—one that wasn’t there the day before. Another finds an amber fragment at the bottom of his backpack with runes identical to those from the cave he “never” visited. In the distance, at the edge of the mist, the figure of Azrun seems to peer through the trees...

Hy @EukalyptusNow !

The cliffs were not reversed. I just maximized their size. I also have a lot of problems with them, because they look very "hard" visually. I miss the Mike Schlei style of negative cliffs, like someone looking from the bottom up.

As for the extensions of the bridge, I used the tree trunk from the monthly lumberjack symbol > tree trunk without branches. I hid it in the back after the bridge was already made... so I needed to create a specific Sheet for it. Later, I tried to hide the joints with some vegetation.

Also note that on the bridge, I created a sheet just to put some sand on top and give it a more "used" look and notice that on the green sheet of the upper greens, I added an internal glow with a brownish color to differentiate it from the floor below (river) and try to achieve the effect of a ravine.

P.s.: Lower Cliff lines are imported from Sue Richards Darkland Style

Cheers

While trying to use as many images as possible, I realized I had forgotten the volcano, but I also realized that its smoke was obstructing the images in a place on the map where the view is very attracted. I decided to remove it.

3 - Skeleton Coast - south part and Fishemans Isles

Marsumilambi

3 Skeleton Coast - Ipiuba and Monastery of the Sand

The frozen north... and even has a wishing well 😰

3 Zone - The Skeleton Coast

This time we're going with a ready-made mini adventure adaptable to any system, made in an unpretentious way to spend time with friends. =)

The Tower of Ancient Deceit ☠️

1.Introduction

On nights when lightning slashes the gray skies and the fog creeps like a living thing, the cracked bell in the ruined tower tolls alone. No wind shakes it, no mortal hand touches it—but its call echoes through the Death Forest.

The stories say that this tower, once a watchtower, was meant to warn the world against an ancient threat. But now that its guardians have vanished and its walls have crumbled, who or what watches over the depths below?

As the adventurers explore the ruins, they discover a forgotten staircase beneath the tower, hidden by rubble and volcanic ash. When they manage to open its door, a damp wind blows up from the depths, carrying the smell of rotting earth and something worse.

Someone or something awaits them down there.

2.The Underdark

What lies beneath the tower is older than the forest itself.

The passage leads to a set of forgotten chambers carved into the rough stone, decorated with unholy symbols and carvings that writhe in the torchlight, as if refusing to be read. The stone feels sweaty, hot to the touch, as if something throbs beyond its layers.

Further down, the passage opens into a vast hall, its cracked columns towering towering.

And the bell in the tower begins to toll again.

3.The Presence in the Shadows

The explorers are not alone.

Something ancient and infamous creeps in the shadows of the underworld, a being whose silhouette can never be seen in its entirety, as if its form does not belong entirely to this world. Its bony claws scratch at the walls, its breath a hot, damp breath, carrying the smell of things dead for centuries.

The Watcher, the last guardian of the prison, still roams these great chambers, its body twisted by its eternity of vigil. But he is no longer a protector—he is a blind, hungry aberration, driven only by the desire to protect this place at any cost.

And if the explorers go further, if they descend into the depths where reality itself twists…they will discover that the prisoner is still there. Waiting.

4.The True Purpose of the Tower

A small, abandoned library, tended for centuries, tells the story that the tower was built to watch over an unfathomable evil imprisoned beneath it. A being from before the dawn of man, sealed away by a forgotten order, watched over for centuries.

But the truth is much worse. The tower was never a watchpost. It was built to keep the ignorant at bay. And the prisoner was no monster…but a forgotten God.

5.The Prisoner

What lies (or lay) beneath the tower is called, in ancient whispers, Karalor, Who Pulses Beneath the Earth. He is no demon, nor an aberration—he was a god of vitality and thought, worshipped in the earliest times by the first peoples of this world.

But one day, other gods feared his rise. They manipulated mortals, twisting their myths, turning Karalor into a villain, and convincing civilizations to imprison him.

"Karalor never devoured souls."

"He never spread terror."

"He offered knowledge and health… and was silenced."

And the Sentinel, the last guardian of the seal, had fought furiously to prevent any change in order.

The bell in the tower is not a warning to a monster.

It is a call for help.

6.Options

Now, the adventurers have a choice before them (feel free to add another possibility):

1. Do they depart and leave the tower behind? The forest will once again consume the tower, and the cycle of fear will continue, the bell echoing until the end of time.

2. Will they attempt to reinforce the seal? To do so, they will need to discover how the ancient gods betrayed them, and perhaps pay a terrible price to prevent Karalor from returning.

3. Will they free the prisoner? But is Karalor a benevolent god, or merely a long-forgotten entity whose true purpose surpasses human comprehension?