Borderlands of Tear: Lands in Shadow for Shadow of the Demon Lord RPG
The last conquest of a dying empire stands between two arms of the Shield Mountains. A province forged from necessity, its territory drenched in blood spilled across countless battles fought over the long years since mortals first stumbled across this land, the Borderlands of Tear stand as a reminder of the Empire that was and what could be once more. The Borderlands were a foreboding and dangerous place—a land that spawned hordes of beastmen, fell monsters, brigands, and far, far worse. Long believed cursed, it took the son of an emperor to bring the territory to heel and establish the rule of law, ensuring stability and peace, but now, with the Empire in turmoil, all eyes turn to the last heir who rules Tear for a way out of these desperate times.
Borderlands of Tear examines a battle-scarred corner of the Empire, detailing its history, people, and places. Written by designer Robert J. Schwalb and illustrated by Svetoslav Petrov, Cecil Howe, and Jack Kaiser, this 12-page entry in the Lands in Shadows gives you everything you need to set your adventures in a wild and dangerous place!
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Mortals with souls stained with corruption go to Hell. Most other souls sink down to the Underworld, a place of different horrors, of quiet misery, protracted grief. Here the torment is not punishment but erasure, as everything you are is eaten away by the coruscating wind. Should you awaken to see its grey deserts, rejoice, for you are not in Hell. Then despair, for other agonies await.
On a peninsula that juts out into the Crescent Bay stands the northernmost member of the Confederacy of Nine Cities, Azūl, the City of Death. Steeped in dark tales, Azūl is a place few dare seek out let alone explore and earned its sinister reputation from its founder, the Witch-King Ashrakal, and from the Black Hand, an insidious guild of assassins who ascended to power in the city by bending the decadent and corrupt Guild Council to their will. Now, Azūl’s people live in terror of the assassins, who have infiltrated every level of society, their blades sharp and smeared with poison to dispatch anyone they deem traitor to the Mistress who rules.
On the Empire’s northeastern edge, perched on the giant rocks that tumbled down into the swirling waters of the Auroral Ocean can be found the Freeholds of Nar. Once a string of fortresses belonging to the doughty dwarfs who mined, prying gold and jewel from the stone’s tight grip. The wealth unearthed and the skill of the artisans established the holds as a place of wonder and riches, a reputation that lasted until, one day, the ring of hammering went silent, the light of torches guttered out, and the dwarfs who had made the place their home disappeared.