D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Broken Leash of Blackrock Keep

# Intrigue# Urban# Beast

Blackrock Keep, once a bastion of order, now festers under a silent war. The warg pack—the keep's living siege engines—are being driven mad by hallucinogenic chaff in their feed, causing them to break their tethers and terrorize the lower wards. Veteran players are drawn into a conspiracy where the line between savior and butcher is drawn in blood and straw.

Chronicle Prelude

The Outer Ward of Blackrock Keep: a cramped, soot-stained district of tanneries, beast pens, and grooms' quarters, where the stench of rawhide and fear hangs thick in the air. The daily screams from the untethering wargs are becoming the town's grim clock.

Environmental Traits

The Keep's warg population, vital for its defense against external threats, is being systematically poisoned into feral madness. Players must navigate the factions responsible, uncover the method, and decide the fate of both the beasts and the keep itself before the next full moon triggers a mass breakout.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Head Groom Silas
A grizzled man in his late fifties, with a thick, braided beard streaked with grey and hands covered in old scars and new calluses. He wears a heavy leather apron over worn woolens, and his eyes hold a deep, weary compassion. He carries a coiled lasso and a bandolier of small, fletched darts.
Iron Commander Vorlag
A towering, powerfully built man in his forties, his face a roadmap of old battle scars. He wears battered but well-maintained plate armor, devoid of decoration. His presence is one of grim, unwavering authority. His greatsword is sheathed across his back.
Groom Apprentice Mira
A young woman in her early twenties with ink-stained fingers and a nervous habit of twisting a lock of her dark hair. She wears a clean but patched version of the Groom's leather apron and carries a satchel of grooming tools and scrolls.
Sergeant Kael
A man in his late thirties, looking older from stress and sleepless nights. His armor is standard-issue but poorly maintained, and his eyes constantly scan the restless warg pens. He has a worn leather pouch on his belt.
Old Breeder Hemlock
A hunched, nearly blind old man who spends his days tending the great hearth in the Inner Ward Canteen. He smells of woodsmoke and old leather. His milky eyes seem to see nothing, but he listens to everything.
Feral Warg Alpha
A monstrous, oversized warg with matted black fur and glowing, feverish eyes. Foaming spittle drips from its jaws, and its movements are a mix of unnatural, jerky aggression and moments of terrified confusion. Its old iron tether chain drags behind it, broken.
Keep Apothecary Lyra
A sharp-eyed woman in her forties, dressed in a clean, stained linen shirt and leather trousers. Her workspace is meticulously organized with jars of herbs, alchemical reagents, and distillation equipment. She wears a leather apron and carries a mortar and pestle.
Union Mole Guard Tobias
A guardsman who appears average in every way—medium build, unremarkable features, standard armor. He has a slightly nervous energy and avoids direct eye contact. He is stationed near the canteen's back door.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Oasis of the Scorpion's Kiss

The Gilded Cries of Salt-Spray Rock