From Beyond This World: Monstrous Pages
From Beyond This World: Monstrous Pages for Shadow of the Demon Lord
It usually begins with random dissections of farm animals, such as pigs, cattle, and even horses. After that, the children go missing—the foolish or the unwanted, the strays and orphans who won’t be quickly missed. Soon, though, they’re found in the same condition as the mutilated livestock, precisely divided into so many oddly shaped parts, spread out and arranged in mysterious patterns, the cuts and slices impossibly neat, well beyond the skill of the finest chirurgeon in Rûl.
For those few who know the meaning behind this, the strange, bloody remains are an obvious sign: the reen have arrived, with an obsessive curiosity that drives them to brutal and horrific experimentation on the denizens of Urth.
From Beyond this World joins other installments of Monstrous Pages by revealing secrets of some of the most notorious creatures found in the world. In the following pages, the reen receive extensive treatment, details that highlight their origins, activities, and new options to make them the perfect antagonists for your Shadow of the Demon Lord adventures!
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You hear the roar of the crowd before you can see any but the tallest towers. Closer, you see the city’s new outer walls, still half-built and swarming with workers sweating in the swampy humidity. Humans, dwarfs, orcs, and others besides, slaves and free, clamber over scaffolding as the black stone walls rise. Another cacophonous roar splits the air as you pass through the gate, its basalt exterior decorated with reliefs and statues of men and women, gladiators, spilling each other’s blood. The city is near deserted, its buildings of gloomy basalt and brilliantly painted wood and plaster facades empty except for patrolling guards and nervous would-be thieves. Everyone else, human and nonhuman, men, women, and children, are gone, gathered at the giant arena of the Crucible for the grand carnival of violence.
All gold flows from Kem, thus giving it the name “City of Gold.” No other city—no province or even kingdom, for that matter—can claim a level of wealth comparable to that possessed by Kem, and the infamous financial power known as the Vault based there. Kem’s influence reaches everywhere, from the Crusader States bounding the Desolation in the north to the holdfasts of Blötland in the far south. The City of Gold has lifted many nations up to the heights of power, and cast down into ruins any who crossed them. And so Kem moves on the world stage with unchecked might, an economic force without rival, whose financial influence translates easily into political and even military power.
Scholars point those curious about the faeries and their ilk to old tomes whose parchment pages hold ancient stories and legends, but the best source of knowledge is the folklore hiding in plain sight. The weary midwife who mops away the tears after losing another beautiful babe to the Goblin King, the portly farmer who scratches his head in wonder over his singing swine, and the stable-boy who keeps an iron nail over his heart lest the pooka get him again—such commoners brim with tales, gossip, and first-hand accounts of the Fair Folk, for they’re the most likely to run across such beings in their day-to-day lives. As outlandish and strange as their customs might be, a traveler would always do well to listen and learn, for the faeries are a tricksy breed, filled with malicious mischief.
In the Emperor’s Secret Service reveals a clandestine organization founded to look after the Empire’s interests. Called the Compact, this group strives to maintain stability and stay ahead of the Empire’s enemies. With the Empire in turmoil and the Orc King Drudge seated on the Alabaster Throne, the Compact struggles to put right what has gone horrifically wrong. With this supplement, you can introduce a whole new element of intrigue into your Shadow of the Demon Lord campaigns!
Along the southernmost reach of the Crescent Bay, a jumbled city covers a narrow, jagged peninsula, like a scab that just won’t heal right. The city of Pruul was once a shining jewel with great wealth, power, and influence that equaled or even exceeded the other cities of the Confederacy of the Nine, of which it is a member. But the city’s relentless greed and avarice caused it to tear itself apart, as a tiny minority of rich got richer, and the massive majority of the poor got poorer. In the aftermath of bloody riots that brought down the city’s ruling elite, criminals and other unsavory elements filled the power vacuum as the only form of stability and order. Although a hollow shell of its former glory, Pruul, now known as the City of Thieves, serves as a hub for rogues, pirates, brigands, escaped slaves, debtors fleeing their debts, and a variety of other misfits and miscreants.
From the devotees of the Old Faith, who guard against despoilers and destroyers, to the zealous followers of the New God, who see evil and corruption wherever they look, religion comes in many forms. Called to Serve explores the priest path in depth, offering guidance for why one might follow this path and the role one might play serving the gods. As well, this supplement includes a slew of new expert paths so characters can go on serving their gods as they did from the beginning and unlock new talents to better advance the causes for which their gods fight. Whether you’re playing a grim priest devoted to the Dark Gods or a pious warrior committed to the New God, this supplement offers a host of new options for fighting the Shadow of the Demon Lord!
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