TEXT: Lands in Shadow for 
  Shadow of the Demon Lord
  ~Credits~
  Writing and Design:
  Robert J. Schwalb
  Editing  Jay Spight
  Art Direction  Kara Hamilton and Robert J. Schwalb
  Proofreading, Graphic Design, and Layout  Kara Hamilton
  Illustrations  Jack Kaiser and Svetoslav Petrov
  Cartography  Cecil Howe
  Borderlands of Tear is ©2016 Schwalb Entertainment, LLC. 
  All rights reserved.
  Shadow of the Demon Lord, Lands in Shadow, Borderlands of Tear
  Schwalb Entertainment, and their associated logos 
  are trademarks of Schwalb Entertainment, LLC.
  SCHWALB ENTERTAINMENT, LLC
  PO Box #12548, Murfreesboro, TN 37129
  info@schwalbentertainment.com
   www.schwalbentertainment.com
  1
  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 
  ﬁ rst 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.
  
  Written in Blood
  Just ﬁ fty years ago, the land that would become Tear 
  was a lawless wilderness, a war-torn and savage 
  landscape deemed too dangerous to settle, cursed, 
  and even worthless. No nation had ever tamed the 
  lands cradled by the Shield Mountains, though many 
  had tried. Not even the Witch-King was successful 
  testing his armies against the rampaging beastmen 
  and monsters infesting the place. Instead, the 
  Borderlands was considered the womb of all troubles, 
  for it birthed innumerable armies of beastmen and 
  spawned frightful things that crept and crawled into 
  civilized lands.
  Into Exile
  The fate of the Borderlands changed when the old 
  emperor sent his youngest son, Horus, away. Horus 
  had squandered his youth and fortune on food, 
  drink, lovers, and everything else that caught his 
  eye. Wherever he went, he left behind bastards and 
  broken lives. He took without thinking, always acting 
  without regard for what came next. If confronted, he 
  showered his critics with coin and then moved on to 
  the next thing that interested him, preferably far from 
  the drama he had created. An embarrassment, the 
  emperor called his young son to court and gave him a 
  task: tame the Borderlands he had called Tear, or die.
   Horus knew little of war and less of leading troops 
  in battle, but he was cunning and was a quick study. 
  He lost nearly half his forces in the ﬁ rst week and 
  half the remainder by the end of the month. Left with 
  a fraction of his initial force, fear for his life, forced 
  sobriety, and newfound experience with beastmen’s 
  tactics made him able to muster his soldiers to 
  win their ﬁ rst victory against a force many times 
  larger than their own. Not only did they hold, they 
  slaughtered the braying fomors and snarling wargs, 
  driving the rest back to the shadowed woods that 
  spread across the Borderlands’ westernmost reaches. 
  Assembling an Army
  The victory against the beastmen won a reprieve 
  long enough for Horus to petition his father for 
  more troops and more coin to gain supplies and 
  mercenaries. His father had died in his absence, and 
  the throne passed to the eldest son, who saw Horus as 
  a rival and hoped to rid himself and his reign of the 
  troublesome youth. With little additional help coming 
  from Caecras beyond the initial loan of orcs, Horus 
  turned to the Duchy of the West, but he found neither 
  aid nor answer from the quivering duke. Horus had 
  one last hope: the Holy Kingdom. 
   Horus sent envoys to the Matriarch, arguing they 
  had common cause to purge the beastmen from 
  the Empire. He oﬀ ered the matriarch tribute from 
  his lands in exchange for soldiers and supplies, but 
  no matter how generous his oﬀ ers, his envoys were 
  refused. The Matriarch wanted one thing from the 
  young warlord: penance and devotion to the Cult. 
  Irreligious, Horus balked at the demands, but had no 
  other choice. He invited a representative of the faith to 
  receive his pledge to serve the cult and the New God.
   Bishop Abernathy, the head of the Bearers of Faith, 
  came at the head of an army and there, before the 
  peoples of the Borderlands Horus knelt and confessed 
  his wickedness, repenting for each deed, until the 
  priest had heard enough and asked for the young 
  man’s oath, which the young man spoke.
   Bolstered by the forces and coﬀ ers of the 
  Holy Kingdom, Horus built an army of rangers, 
  adventurers, mercenaries, and more to ﬁ ght the tide 
  of darkness washing down from the mountains, 
  and began a decade-long war against beastmen 
  Void callers and the abominations they called from 
  the darkness. In the end, Horus and his armies had 
  crushed the beastmen of the Shield Mountains, 
  destroying them all.
  The Great Works
  Much work remained to tame the land. The region 
  had been a lawless place into which adventuring 
  types would go to ﬁ nd their fortunes or swift deaths. 
  Horus saw in the wrecked and ruined landscape 
  the potential for more, a land where civilization 
  might grow and ﬂ ourish. He might have returned 
  to the Alabaster Throne, his work complete, but his 
  obsession had become his legacy. 
   The next four decades are remembered as the 
  Period of Great Works. During this time, Horus 
  wrested the land from darkness and brought it into 
  the light. The ﬁ rst work was the building of the Span, 
  a great bridge reaching across Deepings Gorge to 
  facilitate trade with other provinces. While work was 
  underway with that immense project, he oversaw the 
  building of four great keeps that would stretch like a 
  belt across the borderland’s middle and protect the 
  lands he had conquered. And, as those strongholds 
  took shape, he oﬀ ered grants of land to people in the 
  Empire, providing them with plots on which they 
  could make their homes. Horus accomplished all he 
  set out to, but his eﬀ orts had left him an old man. 
  Where there was once a callow youth was a seasoned 
  veteran of war and politics, one respected across the 
  whole of the Empire.
  Dark Times
  The Alabaster Throne passed from Horus’s father 
  to Horus’s elder brother and then to his nephew, a 
  young, foolish man, temperamental and with more 
  enemies than friends. Horus never returned to 
  2
  
  Caecras, but he heard rumors about his nephew’s 
  excesses, and he wrote to him, urging him to follow a 
  better path. He refused to change, and it earned him a 
  death at the hand of Drudge, the self-styled orc king. 
   As with much of the Empire, Horus was shocked 
  by the news of his nephew’s death. Dignitaries from 
  other provinces have since come to his court, oﬀ ering 
  pledges of allegiance if he would move against the 
  new orc emperor. So far, Horus has made no move 
  against the orcs and focuses instead on protecting 
  what is his, knowing war looms on the horizon. 
  Scars of War
  One of the smaller provinces in the Empire, Tear 
  covers a triangular stretch of land bounded by the 
  Shield Mountains on two sides the Deepings Gorge 
  on the other. The land is largely hilly, growing steeper 
  as it climbs toward the mountains. Dense forest covers 
  the west, while pastures and farmland sprinkled 
  with light woods cover the east, where settlers have 
  cultivated the land for growing. Most settlements also 
  stand in the east, most of which are tiny towns and 
  villages. Four fortiﬁ ed keeps form a girdle across the 
  center of the province and protect what is known as 
  the Borderlands. 
   Although the ﬁ ghting against the beastmen ended 
  years ago, the landscape still bears the signs of the 
  bloody struggle. Crumbling fortiﬁ cations, huge 
  craters left by spells, and mass graves can be found 
  all across Tear. Farther west, the work is not yet done, 
  and terrible things move between the trees and creep 
  across the hills, biding their time until they are strong 
  enough to take back what they believe is theirs.
  Shield Mountains
  The Shield Mountains form the province’s northern 
  and southwestern borders and rise high into the sky, 
  their caps smothered in snow year round. Pines and 
  cedars cover the lower slopes on both sides, eventually 
  surrendering to naked rock. In the summer months, 
  waterfalls drop from the dizzying heights to feed the 
  many streams and rivers that enrich the farmland to 
  the east, though no waterfalls are as those that feed 
  Maiden Falls. 
   Game trails and tracks oﬀ er paths up the 
  mountains, though they are used by goats, bears, 
  deer, and other wildlife, along with the occasional 
  ambitious tracker who braves the many dangers 
  reputed to haunt the mountains still. Caves also 
  dimple the mountains, though most are now emptied 
  of inhabitants aside from a few bats. Farther west, 
  the caves are more numerous and dangerous, as they 
  oﬀ er shelter to all manner of things the people of Tear 
  have yet to drive oﬀ  or even attempt to do so. Scouts 
  and rangers venturing beyond the Borderlands bring 
  word of gorgons, trolls, beastmen, and other monsters 
  hiding in the shadowed valleys and deeper caves. 
  Recently, rumors have swirled about strangers passing 
  through the province and disappearing into the caves. 
  While many were thought to be prospectors, the 
  weird lights and strange thunderous noises echoing 
  from the west have led many to suspect these travelers 
  of some darker purpose.
   Sentinel Peak: One mountain stands out from the 
  rest of the Shield Mountains: Sentinel Peak. Once 
  holy ground to the beastmen who believed their 
  vile god communed with them at its summit, the 
  Tearans cleared the mountain of the abominations 
  and raised there a great stone spire from which they 
  could see the entire province. A small garrison of 
  grizzled veterans, who each serve for ﬁ ve years, holds 
  the tower. Their primary duty is to watch over the 
  province and, if sentries spot danger, light the great 
  pyre at the tower’s top to alert the keeps, who then 
  pass word back to Holdfast. As the soldiers are not 
  permitted to leave their post, a small community 
  has grown up around the base of the mountain and 
  provides the soldiers with food, supplies, and other 
  goods and services by way of sure-footed donkeys who 
  know the way up and down the mountain paths.
  Accursed Hills
  A thin band of rumpled, broken hillocks runs along 
  the edges of the Shield Mountains. They take their 
  name for the roving bands of beastmen who roamed 
  them long ago and from which they launched raids 
  into the lands east and south. Few of the original 
  inhabitants remain, but the ones still there prove 
  dangerous to explorers and attacks from the hills 
  are quite common, proving the necessity of the 
  Borderlands’ keeps. 
   One can still ﬁ nd crude, leaning monoliths jutting 
  up from the hilltops, their surfaces covered in the 
  graﬃ  ti scrawl used by the hateful people or unsettling 
  eﬃ  gies made from wood, skin, and fur secured 
  together to resemble human corpses tied to wooden 
  stakes driven into the ground. Bones hide in the hills’ 
  tall, brown grasses, the gnawed and shattered remains 
  of people and animals that met their ends here, while 
  old weapons rust nearby, the blades still stained from 
  the blood spilled here.
   The Beastlord’s Horn: The most infamous place 
  in the Accursed Hills is a particularly high hill 
  completely denuded of grass and worked into the 
  likeness of an enormous skull. The Beastlord’s Horn 
  stabs out from the top. Standing 30 feet high and 10 
  feet in diameter, it is certainly not unique in terms of 
  size or stature, but the crawling lines of crimson light 
  that appear on its surface when the light of Tarterus 
  shines upon it suggests some fell power resides 
  within. 
  3
  
   It was here that the dreaded beast lord, Caiman the 
  Deﬁ ler, made his ﬁ nal stand against the army of Tear. 
  The ﬁ ghting raged here for nine days, and in spite of 
  the appalling casualties, neither side would surrender. 
  Horus was victorious in the end, but it came at the 
  price of nearly 5,000 souls whose blood drenched 
  the ground. Some claim the souls of the dead 
  soldiers linger here and replay their ﬁ nal moments as 
  phantoms. 
  Forest of Screams
  The largest coniferous woodland in Tear, the Forest 
  of Screams, gathers at the base of Sentinel Peak and 
  spreads south until it reaches the shores of Maiden 
  Falls. The trees grow so thick that light scarcely 
  pierces the canopy, leaving the forest ﬂ oor blanketed 
  by rust-red needles and little else. Like the Accursed 
  Hills, the beastmen claimed this place, and in its 
  gloom they rutted and killed, made sport of their 
  victims, and oﬀ ered vile prayers to their hideous gods. 
  As with everywhere else in the province, soldiers 
  entered the woods and slew the beastmen they found. 
  Eventually they withdrew, having run out of beastmen 
  to kill, it has never been conﬁ rmed if they completed 
  their task since the forest is so large and dark. Of late, 
  there have been sightings of fomors and wargs, as well 
  as ogres and dire wolves.
   The Witches’ Huts: Before Horus tamed the land, 
  the Borderlands attracted outcasts and exiles ﬂ eeing 
  persecution in the Empire. From cultists to criminals, 
  renegades to heretics, these peoples settle in these 
  lands, ﬁ ghting against each other and the monstrous 
  hordes at large in the wilds. Among the worst were 
  three sisters who had ﬂ ed to the Borderlands over a 
  century ago, narrowly escaping the witch hunters’ 
  pyres. While called witches, these women were far 
  worse. They claimed to be the brides of Diabolus and 
  conjured up devils for coupling, secret knowledge, 
  and, of course, magical power. They settled in the 
  Forest of Screams after securing their safety from the 
  beastmen with shows of dreadful magic, which cowed 
  the monstrous humanoids enough that they could 
  tolerate the vile women in their midst.
   Ancient by human standards, the three witches—
  Esmerelda, Drusilla, and Anise—extended their 
  lifespans through foul bargains with the infernal 
  powers. Eﬀ orts to dislodge them have all met with 
  failure and the trees around their huts groan with 
  the weight of those dead heroes who spent their lives 
  cheaply in the hopes of ridding the forest of its most 
  infamous denizens. The witches use magic to hide 
  their monstrous appearances and lure young men 
  and women into their clutches with blandishments 
  and promises of pleasure, wealth, and power. Those 
  who fall prey to their temptations ﬁ nd their lives 
  4
  
  abbreviated, their bodies serving to entertain the 
  witches and to feed Hell’s appetites for souls.
   Finding the witches is no small feat as their huts 
  have a habit of moving about on their own. Some 
  claim to have seen these huts lurching between the 
  trees on scaly legs, while others claim they ﬂ y over the 
  forest, the cackling of their mistresses sounding from 
  within. As if their wickedness and fell powers were 
  not deterrents enough, the witches have bent a small 
  tribe of ogres to their will, making them slaves and 
  using them to sate their own unholy desires.
  North Wood
  A small patch of trees covering the Accursed Hills 
  where they overlook the Lake of Sighs, the North 
  Wood has fed the province its supply of lumber over 
  the last ﬁ ve decades and has been much reduced as a 
  result. Still, the North Wood is an idyllic place, with 
  wildlife and edible ﬂ ora enough to sustain the peoples 
  living nearby.
   Raven Clan: Three clans of Woad—the Badger, 
  Raven, and Wolf—settled in the Tumbledowns, a 
  range of cold and windy hills a few miles east of 
  the North Wood. For the last few years, the clans 
  have been raiding into the Northern Reach through 
  mountain passes known only to them. As the halﬂ ings 
  have stepped up their defenses, the Raven clan has 
  shifted its attention west. Their scouts have started 
  poaching game and attacking the people they ﬁ nd 
  in the forest. Stories of these savage warriors, skin 
  painted black and raven feathers tied in their hair, 
  spread fear throughout the surrounding farmland 
  and the garrison commander at East Keep is being 
  pressured to take action against these brigands.
  Lake of Sighs
  The second largest body of water in Tear, the Lake 
  of Sighs, and the Weeping River ﬂ owing south from 
  it into Deepings Gorge, marks Tear’s eastern border 
  to the Holy Kingdom. Relatively untouched by the 
  people of either province, the lake and lands around it 
  team with wildlife, and is a pristine and beautiful area 
  in a region tormented by strife and calamity.
   The Stranger: Few people visit the Lake of Sighs 
  for it’s said to be under the protection of the Stranger, 
  an ancient beings who has watched over the Lake and 
  surrounding lands for centuries. Said to be 9 feet tall 
  and as furry as a bear, he reveals himself at times and 
  in places he chooses, preferring to watch over the land 
  from some hidden place. Some believe the Stranger 
  is a mantle worn by many diﬀ erent people over the 
  centuries, one assumed after the death of the previous 
  Stranger. Others believe the Stranger is an ancient 
  faerie lord. Either way, the Stranger possesses great 
  magical power and only fools would cross this ﬁ gure 
  for he can rouse nature itself to destroy anyone who 
  would bring suﬀ ering to the lands he protects. 
  Borderlands
  The Borderlands include a narrow band of territory 
  between the unclaimed west and the Claims to the 
  east. Famed for the four keeps that stand guard 
  against the dangerous things still afoot in the west, the 
  keeps and their occupants exist to prevent enemies 
  from harassing or harming settlers. For this reason, 
  the Borderlands are a lively place, with patrols setting 
  out or returning to their keeps, adventuring bands 
  stopping here before pressing on into the unknown, 
  and merchants setting up shop to sell their wares to 
  the tough and grizzled people who live here.
  The Keeps
  Four keeps stand in a row separated by 50 miles or so 
  of wilderness. From west to east, they are West Keep, 
  Mid Keep, Near Keep, and East Keep. The keeps all 
  look alike. Each stands on a man-made hill of piled 
  rocks and dirt and features an open yard enclosed 
  by 30-foot high walls of stone and mortar. On the 
  western side, where two walls meet, stands a 50-foot-
  tall tower with arrow loops through which archers can 
  ﬁ re down at attackers and a turret holding a ballista 
  pointed west for the same purpose. Each keep has 
  a number of smaller buildings within its walls that 
  include a smith, tavern and inn, market, barracks, 
  and commander’s quarters, which is a small stone 
  building attached to the barracks. A collection of 
  wooden buildings cluster around the keep outside its 
  walls and in them live farmers, laborers, and artisans.
   West Keep: A vicious band of brigands known as 
  Wyvern’s Claw has been terrorizing the countryside 
  around West Keep, waylaying merchants, murdering 
  travelers, pushing deeper and deeper into the Claim 
  to make oﬀ  with livestock, children, and anything 
  else they can carry. The garrison commander, Nevil 
  Defries, has been ineﬀ ective at dealing with the threat 
  and people whisper he has become melancholic to 
  the point he might commit suicide. Pressures from 
  Holdfast have certainly not helped, so he has patrols 
  out at all times, committing so many soldiers to the 
  ﬁ eld he has left the keep unprotected. 
   Mid Keep: Having heard about West Keep’s 
  troubles, garrison commander Holly McCroy 
  dispatched reinforcements to shore up the weakened 
  forces ﬁ ghting against the Claw, though she has 
  been reluctant to commit too many troops as she 
  has problems of her own. Someone or something is 
  killing her people and leaving their corpses mangled. 
  The attacks have been few and the time between them 
  great, but they continue.  
   Near Keep: Having witnessed the worst of the 
  ﬁ ghting to bring peace to the region, Near Keep has 
  enjoyed over ten years of peace. Locals attribute the 
  successes to Hargrum Beetlebrow, a tough dwarf 
  veteran who came to Horus’s aid late in the war of 
  conquest and became his boon companion. 
  5
  
   East Keep: Aside from the troubles with the 
  Raven Clan, Reginald Zalls has enjoyed his time 
  as garrison commander, growing fat on the land’s 
  largesse. His fellow garrison commanders hold him 
  with no little contempt, seeing him as a feckless brute 
  with a penchant for bullying and harassment of his 
  underlings. The soldiers under him seem to share the 
  same feelings as the other commanders. 
  The Claims
  The Claims make up over half of the province and 
  are where people from all over the Empire have come 
  to carve out new lives for themselves on the frontier 
  on their claimed plots of land. An idyllic countryside 
  of rolling pastures and ﬁ elds, with tiny villages of 
  wood and stone houses huddled together alongside 
  the many streams ﬂ owing toward the Gorge, and all 
  connected by a myriad of roads and paths on which 
  locals haul their crops and lead their livestock for 
  sale at the larger settlements. This is the land Horus 
  sought to create and it’s the land he has since sworn 
  to protect. 
   Most farms grow grain—wheat, rye, and millet—or 
  they raise livestock such as sheep, pigs, and goats. The 
  rich pale ales for which Tear is famous come from 
  these farms and are in high demand all across the 
  Empire. While some farms produce cotton and hemp, 
  locals use wool and leather for clothing, importing 
  lighter-weight materials as needed. 
  Maiden Falls
  The largest body of water in Tear, Maiden Falls is a 
  churning lake fed by seven waterfalls spilling down 
  cliﬀ s nearly a mile high that form the southern 
  shore. To the north, one ﬁ nds a tangle of fallen 
  trees and branches. The lake takes its name for 
  an old legend of a beautiful faerie princess who 
  ﬂ ung herself from the cliﬀ  top to escape a troll who 
  sought to take her as his wife by force. Her death 
  caused the mountains to weep, forming the lake 
  below.
   The Stone House: Maiden Falls’ old statues 
  and weird arches suggest these lands might have 
  once been held by the fair folk. One particular 
  place of interest is a strange boulder called the 
  Stone House. On certain clear nights, when the 
  stars burn bright, their light opens a wooden 
  door in the side of the rock. Through the door, 
  one is supposed to hear the sounds of revelry and 
  laughter, but locals know better than to open it. 
  The faeries living inside the rock welcome any and 
  all into their midst but they never let them go. To 
  enter through the door is to leave one’s life behind 
  forever and to become the plaything for spiteful 
  and wicked beings.
  Holdfast
  Tear’s only true city, Holdfast stands at the center of 
  the Claims and is a sprawling city of stone and timber 
  threaded with narrow, cobbled streets. Protected by 
  the Borderlands’ keeps, the city never built an outer 
  wall. Instead, the city just kept spreading out in all 
  directions as new people came there to ﬁ nd work and 
  live. Now, with the troubles besetting the Empire, 
  Horus has masons working day and night to raise a 
  wall to contain as much of the city as possible, fearing 
  an invasion from the east. 
   Since its founding, Holdfast has enjoyed steady 
  growth until it reached 10,000 people last year. Now, 
  though, refugees from Caecras have been drifting 
  into the Province at an increasing rate. The inﬂ ux has 
  brought new people of varying talents and skills that 
  have contributed to the defense of the city and the 
  province, but there isn’t enough housing for them all. 
  As a result, a tent town has formed just outside the 
  city’s growing wall and has gained a reputation for 
  being a ﬁ lthy place, rampant with disease and crime.
  The Span
  The signature creation of Horus’s Great Works 
  was building a bridge across the Deepings Gorge. 
  Anchored by twin fortresses at either end, the Span 
  opened trade to the province, allowing merchants 
  and travelers easy access to its interior for the ﬁ rst 
  6
  
  time ever. The Span was only possible by the aid 
  and ingenuity of Hargrum Beetlebrow, Horus’s 
  dwarf friend and companion who now rules Near 
  Keep. Hargrum drew up the plans and oversaw 
  the construction, which was largely carried out 
  by dwarfen builders hired from High Stone in the 
  Northern Reach.
   The Span reaches 10 miles across the Deepings 
  Gorge, connecting Tear to the Holy Kingdom and 
  aﬃ  rming the ties between the two provinces. Two 
  rows of high stone towers hold the bridge up and rise 
  high above, decorated with enormous stone statues of 
  those warriors who fought against the beastmen. 
   As good as the Span was and is for trade, it also 
  robs Tear of its main line of defense, the Gorge. An 
  invading force needs only march across the bridge to 
  reach the interior. For this reason, Horus had identical 
  fortress built at either end. Anyone seeking entry 
  or exit from Tear must pass through gates heavily 
  guarded that can be sealed with stone plugs to close 
  oﬀ  access. The fortresses are called Westward and 
  Eastward. Protecting the Westward fortress falls on 
  Tear, while the Holy Kingdom garrisons the other.
  Deepings Gorge
  One of the greatest natural landmarks on Rûl, 
  Deepings Gorge is a crescent shaped chasm that 
  extends some 300 miles, reaches 20 miles wide at its 
  widest point, and descends over a mile into the earth. 
  Ruins clinging to the chasm walls suggest people 
  have lived in the Gorge at various times. Caves pock 
  the walls, leading to places infested with all manner 
  of strange and terrible things, foremost of which are 
  beastmen and troglodytes who conduct brutal and 
  bloody war against each other over ﬂ esh, water, and 
  supplies.  
  Tearans
  Settlers came in droves following the victory over 
  the beastmen, and after ﬁ fty years the province 
  has become one of the most cosmopolitan places 
  in Empire. Humans, halﬂ ings, dwarfs, orcs, and 
  others live and work together to make something for 
  themselves. The spirit of cooperation prevails over 
  the petty disputes and old grudges that would divide 
  people in other lands, for most people know they are 
  all in it together.
  Soldiers 
  The ﬁ rst people to come to the Borderlands did so to 
  ﬁ ght. Mercenaries from the Patchwork Lands traveled 
  north for the promise of coin, while devout warriors 
  donned armor and strapped shields to their arms to 
  join the holy crusade against the darkness. Dwarfs 
  from High Stone and elsewhere pledged hammer 
  and axe to Horus’s causes in exchange for mining 
  rights, and even frontiers-people took up arms. It is 
  from these soldiers that many Tearans claim descent. 
  Veterans of that conﬂ ict remain, some retired, others 
  looking after new recruits and overseeing their 
  training. Some hold political power, while others 
  hammered their swords into plowshares to make 
  something for themselves and their descendants.
   Despite its small size, Tear has a large standing 
  army with numbers exceeding ﬁ ve thousand, even 
  after Horus ordered nearly half to stand down. The 
  provincial forces focus on securing its lands by 
  patrolling the Borderlands and ranging into the wild 
  places to track down brigands and the occasional 
  monster. Others garrison the Borderlands’ keeps 
  or the fortress protecting the Span. The remaining 
  soldiers work on infrastructure. When not drilling, 
  they pave roads, build bridges, and help reinforce and 
  defend the Claims.
  Farmers
  The oﬀ er of cheap land and freedom lured people 
  from other provinces to settle in the cleared areas 
  of Tear. Most came from the Duchy of the West to 
  escape its feudalism. In Tear, people could own 
  land and keep or sell what they produced without 
  having to give over a large share to the landowners. 
  Yes, Tear levied taxes, but the revenues went to make 
  improvements and defense, tangible rewards that did 
  more than enrich the elite. Thus, the opportunities 
  Tear aﬀ orded outweighed the risks, and people spilled 
  out of the Duchy for years until the nobility cracked 
  down on emigration. People continue to trickle into 
  Tear, however, and most people working the Claims 
  were born in other lands.
  Artisans
  Skilled artisans have always been in short supply and 
  so people looking to hang a shingle somewhere found 
  they had little competition in the province. Smiths, 
  gem-cutters, tinkers, and more drifted into Tear, 
  though most settled in Holdfast. Incentives oﬀ ered 
  by the provincial government encouraged artisans 
  to take on apprentices, which in turn shored up the 
  shortfalls. Such incentives included housing, extra 
  food rations, and tax relief. These measures have 
  largely been abandoned, however, now that refugees 
  have been entering the province. 
  Merchants
  Before the Span, merchants would have to descend 
  the switchback stairs cut into the sides of the Gorge, 
  picking their way across treacherous terrain while 
  avoiding the nasty things that lived there, and then 
  make their way up the other side. The diﬃ  culty and 
  dangers made such ventures too expensive and risky 
  7
  
  for most merchants to brave. Now that the Span 
  has been completed, merchants from Caecras, the 
  Northern Reach, and the Holy Kingdom bring goods 
  to Tear regularly and the province exports almost as 
  much, oﬀ ering grains and lumber in exchange. The 
  threat of war has, however, dampened some of the 
  initial enthusiasm, and the economy has suﬀ ered 
  as a result.
  Refugees
  After Caecras fell to the orcs, people from the city and 
  the lands around it ﬂ ed for safety. Bands of vengeful 
  orcs tore through the capital, sacking the homes of the 
  rich and powerful, slaughtering anyone who got in 
  their way and enslaving the rest. The Holy Kingdom 
  absorbed many refugees, but the Duchy of the West 
  refused and either drove them back into Caecras 
  or marched them north to ﬁ nd their fates in Tear. 
  Of course, many refugees sought Tear out, seeing 
  in Horus the last, best hope for the Empire. Some 
  have staked their own claims, others have joined the 
  military, but most gather at Holdfast, hoping for the 
  governor’s protection.
  Government and Politics
  A province created by the emperor himself, Tear is 
  nominally part of the Empire still, even if it has not 
  yet recognized Drudge as emperor. The province has 
  halted all trade with Caecras and has ceased paying 
  tribute to the Alabaster Throne. Both acts suggest 
  Tear makes ready to declare its independence, though 
  Horus has yet to do so. 
   Tear remains on good terms with the Holy 
  Kingdom. Critics claim the Holy Kingdom continues 
  to prop up Tear in exchange for the Cult of the New 
  God’s favored status and oﬃ  cial religion in Tear. 
  Apologists claim Horus was genuine in his contrition 
  and only through his newfound faith was he able to 
  defeat the monstrous threat within his province. In 
  any event, dignitaries from both provinces have been 
  traveling back and forth to secure a stronger alliance 
  in the face of hostilities from Caecras.
   Where Tear and the Holy Kingdom beneﬁ t from 
  a strong alliance, Tear and the Duchy of the West 
  stand at the brink of war. In Tear’s most desperate 
  hour, the Duchy refused to help, leaving the Tearans 
  to fend for themselves. Since then, the two provinces 
  have clashed over territorial and trade disputes. After 
  coming to the brink of war time and again, the current 
  troubles in the imperial capital have caused the duke 
  to change his tune and seek out an alliance, going so 
  far as to oﬀ er tribute and the hand of his youngest and 
  prettiest daughter. Horus refused both. This refusal 
  has seen the Duchy ﬂ oundering and entreating aid 
  from anywhere they can ﬁ nd it.
   Tearans, generally, adore their governor and 
  his youthful exploits have been forgotten. Horus’s 
  likeness appears on every gold crown minted in 
  the province and his personal colors are those of 
  the province: a black jackal on a white ﬁ eld. Horus 
  surrounds himself with competent and capable 
  advisors, who have begun to shoulder more and more 
  of the responsibilities of governance as Horus is not 
  the man he once was. 
   Aside from the brewing war against Caecras and 
  the Duchy, Tear has one other problem. Horus never 
  married and thus has no legitimate heirs. If he dies, 
  succession would be a crisis. Some believe the Holy 
  Kingdom would move to annex the province, while 
  others suspect the Tearan military would take over. 
  Horus’s closest advisor, a mysterious magician named 
  Eris, is secretly searching for any bastards that might 
  still be alive in the capital and elsewhere and return 
  the most suitable heir to Tear. 
  Horus
  At seventy years of age, Horus’s best days are behind 
  him. Still, he cuts an impressive ﬁ gure, standing over 
  six feet tall, whip thin, with sharp features, and a 
  mane of thick gray hair. He wears a long moustache 
  but keeps his scarred face otherwise clean. 
   Wherever Horus goes, he commands the room. 
  His deep, sonorous voice captures people’s attention 
  and his manner and seriousness give everything he 
  says gravity. He is much changed from his days as a 
  wild youth, when he was an incorrigible rake and 
  reprobate. He’s now mature, disciplined, and devoted 
  to his corner of the world. 
   Not all is as it seems with him, however. His 
  professed faith has never been more than a sham, a 
  necessary deception to secure aid from a powerful 
  ally. He goes through the motions and tolerates the 
  priests, but he secretly despises the cult of the New 
  God and would happily cut ties if he could do so. 
  Horus has also started to lose his mind. His thoughts 
  wander, and he forgets people and details. He has 
  begun to lean on Eris (see following) more and more, 
  following her guidance over that of any of his other 
  advisors.
   The troubles in Caecras do worry him, but he has 
  some great aﬃ  nity for orcs after ﬁ ghting alongside 
  them for so long. His reluctance to make his claim on 
  the Alabaster Throne sources from what he sees as 
  the rightness of the orcs’ anger and fear of plunging 
  his small province once more into war. Pressure from 
  other provinces, however, is nudging him toward 
  some action, though whether he will take a stand 
  against Drudge or pledge loyalty to the orc king or 
  something else remains to be seen.
  8
  
  Eris
  Ten years ago, Horus received an unusual visitor. 
  Naming herself Eris, she claimed to be a seer and 
  person of great learning, and she oﬀ ered her council 
  to the aging governor, as she had received a vision 
  of dark days ahead. Skeptical, Horus questioned her 
  closely, discovering she had studied at the Tower 
  Arcane but had broken with the ancient society 
  to seek her own path. He demanded proof of her 
  abilities, and she delivered, revealing the location 
  of a beastman band that had come down from the 
  mountains and settled in the Forest of Screams. 
  After conﬁ rming her story and dealing with the 
  invaders, Horus welcomed her to his court, and in 
  the years that followed, she climbed in his esteem 
  and earned his trust.
   Eris is a woman of indeterminate years, with long, 
  braided back hair, pale skin, dark circles around her 
  eyes, and a faint bluish hue to her lips. In the manner 
  of the wizards of the Tower, she covers herself almost 
  completely, wearing a high-necked dress that drags 
  on the ﬂ oor, gloves to cover her arms, and a shawl 
  around her head, leaving only her face visible. Unlike 
  the wizards, she does not favor a particular color. In 
  fact, her clothing shifts from blue to red to violet, to 
  orange, almost as if it changes to reﬂ ect her moods.
   Although she has given no sign of duplicity, and her 
  prophecies have all proven accurate, she is not well 
  liked in Holdfast. Rumors swirl around her, whispers 
  of witchcraft, devil-worship, and worse. Some suggest 
  she has come to ruin Horus, and others suspect she 
  serves some darker force. 
  Marshal Crellen Baslan
  The commander of Tear’s armies, Crellen Baslan is a 
  few years older than Horus, having accompanied him 
  to the Borderlands and being an integral part in the 
  purging of the beastmen mobs. His time serving the 
  governor cost him his left arm and rendered his face a 
  ragged mass of scars. He has recently suﬀ ered a stroke 
  and is now conﬁ ned to a wheeled chair pushed by his 
  servant, Philip. He might be weakened physically, but 
  his mind remains sharp and Horus gives his council 
  heed, knowing his oldest friend would never steer 
  him wrong. 
   Crellen understands he has few days left in this 
  world, and if war returned to Tear he would not be 
  able to lead the armies as he once did. So, he has 
  been grooming men and women to take his place. His 
  chief supporters and students include Myra Rath, a 
  talented ﬁ ghter who spent her youth ﬁ ghting for the 
  petty barons in the Patchwork Lands, Guy Forsythe, 
  a minor lord from Caecras who, if reports can be 
  9
  
  believed, lost his family to the orc uprising, and 
  Camden Carr, a young savant with a sword and 
  a penchant for using magic. All three are loyal to 
  the marshal and any of them could take his place, 
  though none know who among them will ﬁ nally 
  claim the marshal’s title. 
  Bishop Mazen
  The latest of a string of bishops sent by the Holy 
  Kingdom to look after Horus’s spirituality, Bishop 
  Mazen belongs to the Swords of Astrid, an order of 
  inquisitors charged with ferreting out heresy and 
  purging the world of demonic inﬂ uence. A dour 
  man with an unhealthy countenance, he is never 
  seen without the black robes of his oﬃ  ce and at 
  oﬃ  cial court functions he dons his skull mask to 
  remind petitioners and visiting dignitaries of the 
  cult’s authority in these lands. 
   The relationship between Horus and Mazen 
  is anything but friendly. The two have had many 
  heated arguments over whether or not Tear should 
  declare its independence. Horus tolerates the man, 
  but his contempt for him has become increasingly 
  harder to hide. Mazen accuses Eris of bewitching 
  the governor and turning him against the Cult and 
  has sent spies to watch her and gather evidence 
  against her.
  Culture of War
  The eﬀ ort to wrest the Borderlands from the 
  beastmen ended forty years ago, but conﬂ ict has 
  been a constant companion to the Tearans ever 
  since. The province spares no expense in securing 
  its citizens, but the nature of the borderlands is 
  such that there appears to be no end to the awful 
  things creeping and crawling out of the dark. Never 
  certain when conﬂ ict might arise again, all Tearans 
  go about armed, usually with cudgels or daggers, so 
  the weapons don’t interfere with their work. Each 
  child must learn to ﬁ ght with spears as soon as 
  they’re strong enough to carry them so that in case 
  of war, Tear can call the citizens to arms to buttress 
  its military.
   The culture of forever war does not demoralize 
  the citizenry; rather, it bands people together, 
  knowing their neighbors are willing to help defend 
  what is theirs from outside threats. People tend 
  to be welcoming to newcomers, though attitudes 
  toward the refugees has begun to sour as many 
  have not adapted to the Tearan way of life and 
  have caused a great deal of trouble in Holdfast 
  and other settlements. Still, Tearans work to 
  acclimate the new settlers and impress on them 
  the responsibilities of living in these lands.
  Economy
  Tear has accumulated many debts during its 
  formation and owes a considerable sum to both the 
  Holy Kingdom and the Vault (Shadow, page 159). 
  Horus allocates half of Tear’s revenues from taxes 
  and tariﬀ s to repaying these debts, but he secretly 
  fears the present troubles will force the debt-
  holders to demand faster and larger payments. Tear 
  has begun to feel the pinch. People are discovering 
  certain goods have become scarce and expensive 
  (up to 20 percent above list prices). 
   Heartstone Mining Company: Tear gained aid 
  from the dwarfs by granting them exclusive mining 
  rights in the Shield Mountains and thus, once 
  the ﬁ ghting was done, several mining companies 
  formed. The most notable company is the 
  Heartstone Mining Company, a large and wealthy 
  organization founded by Temper Ragnison, a 
  foul-mouthed dwarf exile from High Stone in the 
  Northern Reach. Driven out from his clan for theft, 
  he now works to redeem himself in the eyes of his 
  people by growing obscenely wealthy mining silver 
  from a vein his late business partner discovered in 
  a deep cave. Ragnison drives his workers hard, but 
  pays better than anyone, so he has no shortage of 
  labor to work the dangerous passages. 
   Recently, his operation has suﬀ ered some 
  signiﬁ cant setbacks after miners broke through 
  a wall to a troglodyte warren. A brief and vicious 
  ﬁ ght broke out, leading to the deaths of ﬁ fty miners. 
  Troglodyte raiders continue to harass his workers, 
  costing him a small fortune. He’s desperate enough 
  to hire mercenaries to protect his investment, but 
  these hired swords die just like the rest.
  Law and Order
  An armed population has not led to increased 
  crime or conﬂ ict, largely because of the prevailing 
  sense of camaraderie and commitment to the 
  common cause. Crimes do happen, but justice 
  is swift and harsh. The laws are simple: the 
  punishment ﬁ ts the crime. A murderer dies, a thief 
  loses property of equal value and if no property a 
  hand, an arsonist has his or her property burned, 
  and so on.
   Each community elects a magistrate from their 
  ranks and invests in the magistrate the authority 
  to ascertain guilt and sentence the guilty to the 
  appropriate punishment. Magistrates also settle 
  disputes, oversee the watch, and keep the peace. 
  They serve ﬁ ve-year terms, but can serve any 
  number of terms. 
  10
  
  Defense and Warcraft
  Tear has increased eﬀ orts to fortify the province in case 
  of an orc invasion. Most people expect the attack to 
  come soon, especially in light of reports of the forces 
  mustering in the capital. As mentioned, workers erect 
  walls around Holdfast and smaller communities have 
  begun work on building palisades. Militias form in the 
  smaller villages while the province has been raising 
  taxes to pay its debts and pay its soldiers.  
  Religion
  Due to the agreements Horus made with the Holy 
  Kingdom, the Cult of the New God is the province’s 
  oﬃ  cial religion and it has shrines in every community 
  and a large temple in Holdfast, a temple that looks 
  more like a fortress than a holy place. Priests have 
  absolute authority on all matters spiritual and each 
  magistrate receives guidance from a cult oﬃ  cial. Even 
  Horus must keep a priest close to ensure the continued 
  cooperation between the two provinces.
   The Cult’s power has made Tear an uncomfortable 
  place for followers of other religions, even if the law 
  permits people to worship in accordance with their 
  beliefs. New God cultists actively work to disabuse the 
  citizens of false beliefs and strongly encourage people 
  to ﬁ nd their faith in the Astrid’s teachings. Thus far, 
  the Cult has enjoyed much success, at least as far as 
  they can tell. As most Tearans hail from other lands, 
  they brought with them their faith and thus many 
  people continue to worship the old gods and practice 
  witchcraft, albeit in secret. 
   Recently, a small sect of New God worshipers has 
  formed in the northeastern fringe of the Claims. 
  Founded by a fanatical preacher, he claims Horus is 
  another incarnation of the New God and they 
  believe the time is now for the deity’s return to 
  Urth to become emperor of the world. They are 
  small enough that they haven’t yet drawn the 
  attention of the bishop, but their numbers grow 
  and their message spreads. In time, word of their 
  heresy will reach the bishop’s ears and will draw 
  the wrath of the Cult down on their heads, likely 
  throwing the whole province into chaos. 
  Adventures in Tear
  Even though Tear managed to drive oﬀ  and 
  destroy the beastmen from the borderlands, 
  the province remains a great place in which to 
  set your adventures. With developments in the 
  Empire and Horus’s status as the last heir, the 
  province is poised to either be a legitimizing 
  force for King Drudge or the launching point for 
  a campaign to liberate the capital from the orcs. 
  Further complicating matters is the growing 
  tension between Tear and the Grand Duchy, a 
  situation that could easily devolve into war. 
   Along with the political considerations, Tear 
  is not as stable as it appears. Over half of the 
  province remains outside of the governor’s 
  control and is home to all kinds of strange and 
  terrible things. Troglodytes, monsters, centaurs 
  crossing over the mountains, and more could 
  destabilize the province enough to allow swift 
  conquest by the invading orcs, if they decide to 
  invade.
   You can use the following ideas to spark 
  adventures of your own design:
  • Spirits of the wars of conquest roam the
  Accursed Hills as phantoms and will not
  rest until the vicious minotaur who killed
  them is put to death.
  11
  
  • An army of beastmen ﬁ nd a route into Tear via
  caves worming under the Shield Mountains.
  Led by an insane Void caller, the beastmen crave
  vengeance and go on a wild killing spree until
  put down.
  • The Duchy of the West sends agitators into
  Tear to destabilize the province. In addition to
  spreading treasonous talk in Holdfast, others form
  into brigands and terrorize the countryside.
  • Cultists hide among the refugees ﬂ owing into Tear
  from Caecras and begin recruiting new members
  to their vile group from the disaﬀ ected people
  living in the tent city outside Holdfast. After being
  discovered by other refugees, people start turning
  up dead, bodies mangled beyond recognition.
  • A shepherd ﬁ nds a beastman relic and uses it
  to release a huge demon that shatters one of
  the Borderlands’ keeps and ravages the lands
  all around.
  • King Drudge decides to test Tear’s defenses and
  sends a small force across the Gorge to inﬁ ltrate
  and destroy the fortress on the western side of
  the Span.
  Disappearances
  Rangers, scouts, and the occasional Tearan patrol 
  venture into the hills to ensure the beastmen do not 
  return to resume their ancient war against civilization. 
  Thus far, the hills have oﬀ ered up little in the way of 
  living things, almost as if nature itself recoils from 
  the cursed place. Reports of disappearance do reach 
  Holdfast from time to time, trackers who never found 
  their way back. After a patrol failed to check in at 
  Near Keep from which it left, the Borderland Keeps 
  have started increasing the number and size of patrols 
  to discover just what is causing these mysterious 
  disappearances.
  Tearan Characters
  Players who create characters hailing from Tear can 
  choose from any of the ancestries described in the 
  main rulebook as well as halﬂ ings and fauns from 
  Demon Lord’s Companion. Other ancestries are rare 
  enough they are largely unknown and would attract 
  considerable attention from common folk. 
   Tearan characters can swap out one profession 
  for any of the following: Artisan (any one), Farmer, 
  Laborer, Patroller, Refugee, and Soldier. As for 
  languages, all people in Tear speak the Common 
  Tongue.
   Finally, Tearan characters can use the following 
  table in place of the background table from their 
  ancestry.
  Tearan Background
  d20
  Background
  1
  You or one of your relatives fought alongside 
  Horus to pacify the Borderlands. You either have a 
  scar from your experiences or a head full of horror 
  stories about the things your relative faced.
  2
  You murdered someone, but you were never 
  caught. There’s a warrant out for your arrest, 
  and you know that if you are ever caught you 
  will be hanged.
  3
  You spent a year or longer at one of the 
  borderland keeps. Add soldier to your list of 
  professions and start the game with a spear.
  4
  You worked in one of the new mines, digging 
  deep to pry copper, silver, or gold from the earth. 
  Add miner to your list of professions and start the 
  game with 1d6 cp.
  5
  You or your parents gained a plot of land in the 
  Claims and you spent much of your life working. 
  Add herder or farmer to your list of professions.
  6
  You were captured by troglodytes and forced to 
  live underground for 1d3 years (add the years to 
  your starting age). You escaped but not with your 
  sanity intact. Start the game with 1d3 Insanity.
  7
  You once crawled down the side of Deepings 
  Gorge and up again.
  8
  You traveled extensively and only recently 
  returned to Tear. Add a language to the list of 
  languages you can speak.
  9
  You were responsible for maintaining one of the 
  shrines of the New God. You recently left this duty 
  after neglecting the shrine, after being called to 
  some other task, or after someone came to take 
  your place. Start the game with a wooden symbol 
  of the New God.
  10
  You earned a living working in your profession. 
  Nothing signiﬁ cant happened to you.
  11
  You found a beastman skull in a ﬁ eld. You have 
  it still, and when you sleep near it you have 
  strange dreams.
  12
  You received an education. You can read and 
  write the Common Tongue.
  13
  You helped build a palisade around your home 
  village. You take pride in your work.
  14
  You traveled into the Accursed Hills and came 
  upon an old stone monolith. Foolishly, you 
  touched it and gained 1 Corruption. You yearn 
  to return to the monolith but keep this desire 
  a secret.
  15
  You belonged to a small community of people 
  who followed the teachings of the Old Faith. 
  16
  You spend a couple years working for a merchant 
  and learned a lot about other lands. Add Scholar 
  (Geography) to your list of professions.
  17
  You belonged to a band of raiders who preyed 
  on towns and settlements in the Grand Duchy of 
  the West. You hurt a lot of people. Start the game 
  with 1 Corruption.
  18
  Horus once stopped to talk to you. It was the 
  greatest moment in your life.
  19
  You are a spy or saboteur sent by the Grand 
  Duchy of the West. You funnel information about 
  Tear to your masters in the south and work to 
  sabotage efforts to fortify the nation. Add spy or 
  saboteur to your list of professions.
  20
  You found an odd bit of treasure on an old 
  battleﬁ eld. Start with a random enchanted object.
  12
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Shadow of the Demon Lord/Lands in Shadow/SotDL - Lands in Shadow - Borderlands of Tear.pdf