Dozens of novel releases were tightly coordinated with ambitious gaming rollouts, in what must have been a program manager’s nightmare. They drew curious book readers into the game by the thousands, and sold millions of fantasy novels to game players. The same year, Ed Greenwood released a 48-page adventure module, FRE1: Shadowdale (for Forgotten Realms Epic), the first of a three-part series for 2nd Edition AD&Dthat featured the same setting and many of the same characters as Awlinson’s novel.īy the late 80s, TSR had really mastered the novel/gaming crossover marketing they’d pioneered with the bestselling DragonLancenovels in 1984. Like Cormyr, it’s a chunk of geography that’s been well explored in previous novels and gaming releases from TSR/Wizards of the Coast, starting with the first novel in The Avatar Trilogy, Richard Awlinson’s Shadowdale (1989). The adventure that begins in Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave and continues in Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land concludes in Anauroch: The Empire of Shade.Īccording to the Forgotten Realms Wiki, Shadowdale is a farming community in the Dalelands, home of the famous archmage Elminster and a place so lousy with ancient ruins and other adventuring sites that it’s a popular place for adventurers to settle. Each encounter contains tactical information for the Dungeon Master and expanded map features for ease of play. It can be played as a stand-alone adventure or as the second adventure in a three-part series. This Forgotten Realms campaign adventure is designed for characters of levels 9-13. The Zhentish yoke lies heavy over Shadowdale - but the Dalesfolk are ready to fight for their freedom, if only they can find true heroes to lead the way! Elminster’s tower lies in ruins, Lord Amcathra governs at the sufferance of the dale’s conquerors, and the very Weave of magic in this embattled land seems to fray with each passing day. Zhentish soldiers, Maerimydran drow, and Sharran cultist have forged a dark alliance to subjugate the peaceful land of Shadowdale. Shadowdale lies conquered! Who can free this oppressed land? So after I read through Cormyr and discovered I had just one third of an epic story line, I went scrambling through the rest of my auction winnings to see if I’d also scored any other parts of the saga. Luckily, I quickly found Part II: Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land, which picks up the thread and hurtles our adventurers deep into the newly-conquered land of Shadowdale. I wasn’t aware Cormyr was part of a series while I was bidding like a fiend in the front row of the Spring Games Plus Auction. It was just one of several Forgotten Realms products I won, and all I knew at the time was that it was in brand new condition and criminally cheap – probably because it was released for version 3.5 and now was nearly two versions out of date. Last month, I took a look at the the first Third Edition D&DCormyr supplement, Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave, released in March 2007. It was a 160-page mega-adventure detailing a vast and sinister conspiracy deep in the Realms, and the first installment of what would eventually be a three-part supermodule.
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