.DAM Challenge Haunted Forest Briar Wood

Briarwood Keep is a ruined castle located south of Silverlake in Weildon within a dense forest few dare to venture due to the stories of hauntings and the undead which roam the forest. Based on a map handdrawn in 2018, which was inspired by part of the ruined clifftop Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire. "I came, with no illusions, to explore the old ruins of Briarwood Keep, to find the location of my ancestor’s remains and pledge my allegiance and to find a way to bring them back and learn their secret of undeath and power. I ignored the old tales saying a Lich once used this keep, for I knew all too well that was who my ancestor was. A great advisor of kings in the north, they took power when the old king died and ruled with an iron rod, yet fair, as what little history there is tells. Yet, Thalzoun Amarel sought power beyond the mortal, seeking a form of immortality, messing with the old magics of the land, causing shadows to rise, bringing about the near demise of the dragons and most mortal beings in what subsequently became known as The Upheaval. Village, town and cities fell. Temples sank into the ground or were destroyed. The people mostly fled. Many travelled south, east and west to regions less affected by the Upheaval. Few remained in the lands of the Eaoldland, yet remained they did, rooting out a life in the shadows of former villages and towns. They survived! They survived, just as the memory of Thalzoun survived in a few. Just as Thalzoun survived, his soul split into five shards, waiting to be joined at the right time, waiting to be reunited with his original remains here at the keep. Little did I know how corrupted the forest had become. Haunted by those who came to seek fabled treasure, watched over by the mistress of the forest, one who has hatred in her heart, is of the forest herself, protecting the keep from all who dare enter. Cold mists creep and crawl over the land settling in the hollows. Thorny briars protect the keep from interlopers moving an