Curse of the Shadowshard | 8th-Level Fifth Edition Adventure (Patreon)

Curse of the Shadowshard

A cursed mirror has trapped a village in the shadow realm where they fight for their lives in a deadly arena!

Curse of the Shadowheart is a Fifth Edition adventure intended for three to five characters of 7th to 9th level and is optimized for four characters with an average party level (APL) of 8. Characters who complete this adventure should earn enough experience to reach at least halfway to the 9th level. A forest village sits filled with shadowy monsters, and a cursed mirror leads to a deadly arena in the shadow realm. This adventure takes place in the Freelands campaign setting but fits into any existing campaign with a small village in a forest with only a few modifications. 

Background

Oakheart was once a quiet village in the Shimmering Forest known for its peaceful atmosphere and exquisite elven woodworking. Under the protection of a druids circle and off the trade routes, the villagers saw few travelers and rarely anything more dangerous outside of the occasional roaming monster.

Renne Morrison lived his whole life under Oakheart’s safety but wanted to see more of the world. After packing a rucksack and strapping a sword to his waist, he spent almost a decade exploring the Freelands with a party of adventurers he met during his travels. After losing some comrades during a particularly difficult dungeon clearing, Renne decided to take his earnings and return home to the quiet he once yearned to escape.

What Renne did not know was that he brought home an evil artifact along with his treasure stash. Renne thought this artifact was a simple silver framed mirror when he discovered it, and he tucked it away without a second thought. It wasn’t until he gifted it to Jolantha Stormswallow, Oakheart’s blacksmith, that the mirror revealed its true nature.

The Shadowshard is a cursed magical mirror from the plane of shadow that is a trap to find gladiators for the Shadow Arena. Those who gaze into it long enough are cursed with the power and desire to cast victims through a planer gateway to the shadow realm, trapping them in a grotesque arena where they must fight for their lives. 

Jolantha Stormswallow fell under the mirror’s sway and used its powers to open a shadowgate, trapping the entire village of Oakheart in the Shadow Arena. The villagers have spent the last year as prisoners, forced to fight in the bloody arena for sport. Oakheart—now called Shadowheart—sits under a veil of dark fog while the monstrous shadows of its former residents roam the streets under the control of the corrupted blacksmith.

About the Shadow Arena

Hidden within the plane of shadow is an arena where the monstrous denizens come to watch—and gamble—on mortals fighting for their lives against shadow monsters. The owner—a two-hundred-year-old vampire named Valerian Darkmantle—uses cursed mirrors called Shadowshards to trap new victims from all different planes of existence. 

NEW MONSTER TEMPLATE - Shadow Variants

NEW SPELL - Conjure Shadow

NEW MAGIC ITEMS - Chandelier of Dancing Lights, Shadowshard, Whip of Dominate Person

FREE VTT MAP - 140dpi gridless and 300dpi gridded shell maps (no interior decorations, with and without roofs!) of the village of Oakheart are available for all patrons!

Adventurer+ Tier patrons click HERE for all of the VTT Maps