Location Overview

Shank’s Wood is a dense, ill-reputed forest a short ride southeast of Sandpoint, a tangle of old logging cuts and game trails that locals treat as a risky shortcut rather than an outright forbidden place. Caravans and farmers still edge through its southern reaches when they are in a hurry or trying to avoid watchful eyes.

The wood’s reputation comes from bandit ambushes, strange lantern-like lights over the bog, and the way ordinary sound seems to vanish beneath its canopy. Voices dull, hoofbeats muffle, and even the crash of combat feels swallowed by the trees. The forest functions as a pressure valve for the region’s unrest: petty criminals, frightened runaways, smugglers, and stranger things all slip into Shank’s Wood when the law—or their own past—presses too hard.

PCs usually come here to track bandits or a missing person, escort caravans using the shortcut, hunt dangerous game, or chase rumors of eerie ruins and ghost lights. The tone in play is close, dim, and watchful. Mundane threats—snares, pits, toll-taking bandits—sit atop subtle, Thassilon-touched wrongness sleeping just beneath the soil. As such, Shank’s Wood makes an ideal early proving ground for Sandpoint’s new heroes and a place to foreshadow wrathful Thassilonian magic without committing to a full dungeon.

Geography & Environment

Approach from Sandpoint and the Lost Coast Road

Shank’s Wood lies inland from the Lost Coast Road, its southern edge about an hour’s ride from Sandpoint. A rutted, overgrown logging track peels away from the main road at a half-collapsed waymarker stone, winding into the trees. Hunters and smugglers have kept the track passable for foot traffic, light wagons, and sure-footed mounts, but low branches and leaning trunks force travelers into single file.

Low, scrubby hills fringe the wood. From their crests, PCs can glimpse the dark treeline and the thin ribbon of the old road before the forest swallows all sightlines. These vantage points are useful for scouting—but they also expose travelers to lookouts from within the trees.

Old fire pits, broken crates, and the occasional shallow grave along the approach show that people keep trying to reclaim this route despite its dangers. GMs can use these traces as clues to recent activity or as red herrings when multiple factions (bandits, Shoanti, smugglers) use the same paths.

Forest Interior

Within the wood, fir and cedar crowd together, trunks straight and close. Thickets of salal and ferns fill the gaps, granting frequent cover and slowing movement off-trail. The canopy cuts sunlight sharply; a bright morning on the Lost Coast Road can become dim twilight a dozen steps under the boughs. This contrast favors ambushers and makes it easy to misjudge distance.

Game trails and the old logging road provide the only reasonably swift routes. Fallen logs, moss-slick stones, and shallow streambeds create natural chokepoints and raised platforms ideal for tactical encounters. Climbing on the slick terrain is risky, but the high ground can be decisive in missile-heavy fights.

Waterways and Low Marsh

A narrow, meandering creek threads through the central wood, cold and only knee-deep in most seasons. Its muddy banks record tracks clearly, making it an excellent trail for rangers and hunters to follow. The same mud tugs at boots and wagon wheels; careless parties bog down, becoming easy prey for ambushers.

Downstream, the creek widens into a shallow bog choked with reeds and mossy hummocks. Here the ground is treacherous, with sudden pockets of sucking mud and hidden channels of deeper water. Heavier creatures and armored PCs risk getting stuck or even submerged. After heavy rain, water levels rise and low trails vanish under murky pools, forcing detours and changing routes between visits.

Ambient Sounds and Omens

Most of the wood carries normal birdsong and insect drone, but these sounds drop away abruptly near certain clearings and patches of half-buried stone. These silent zones are reliable cues for GMs to signal danger, unseen predators, or the presence of ancient magic.

At night, distant screams, the crack of branches, or faint metallic clanks drift through the trees. These can originate from bandit skirmishes, frightened animals, a rogue construct stirring near Runemark Stonefall, or something stranger beneath the bog. Varisian and Shoanti guides treat unusual animal behavior here—flocks detouring around empty space, deer refusing to cross a particular trail—as signs that old curses or bound spirits are restless.

Notable Features

The following features serve as anchors for scenes and encounters within Shank’s Wood.

A. The Old Logging Road

The old logging road cuts roughly east–west through the southern half of the wood, a sunken track lined with rotted stumps and half-buried sawblades. Moss-grown axe heads, broken sledges, and rusted chains testify to Magnimar’s push into Shoanti land decades ago, a push that ended in blood and bad omens.

The road remains the fastest way through the forest and the most obvious ambush site. Bandits set deadfalls and triplines from the embankments above the road, building makeshift barricades in the narrowest points to serve as impromptu toll gates. Diplomatic PCs can talk their way through or negotiate terms; aggressive ones may try to seize the chokepoints and claim the road themselves, inviting retaliation.

B. Shank’s Hollow Camp

North of the road, a shallow depression forms a natural bowl in the forest floor. Steep earthen banks, tangled roots, and ringed trees conceal Shank’s Hollow from casual passersby. Local stories argue whether this was once the hideout of the notorious Jubrayl Shank or of the cruel foreman whose name the later bandit stole. Either way, the hollow has housed outlaws for generations.

Currently, Shank’s Hollow serves as a semi-permanent camp: a mix of lean-tos, fire pits, and a half-collapsed dugout hut built into the bank. Crude cages or rope pens hold captives, pack animals, or stolen goods. Rough tunnels—part old root-warrens, part deliberate excavation—connect the camp to concealed exits on the hillside. In play, this gives verticality and escape routes: bandits can vanish into tunnels, flank from hidden ladders, or try to bury intruders under loosened soil.

C. The Bog of Lanterns

Where the creek spreads into the low marsh, the Bog of Lanterns forms a shallow, mist-shrouded pond threaded with raised islets of firmer peat and twisted roots. Reeds and cattails obscure sightlines beyond a few dozen feet. By day, the bog is a buzzing, mosquito-ridden obstacle; by night, it becomes a stage for eerie lights.

Flickering orbs glide over the water or hover near the islets. Some are illusions and alchemical lamps rigged by the Lantern Crew to frighten superstitious travelers and lure them toward prepared kill zones. Others may be genuine will-o’-wisp–like entities or stranger fey that feed on the fear and death the smugglers generate. PCs who rely on the lights to pick safe footing risk stepping into deep channels or quick mud; careful mapping, poles, or improvised rafts help mitigate the hazard.

D. Runemark Stonefall

On the wood’s northeastern fringe, a low hillside has slumped away, exposing a tumble of cyclopean masonry jutting from the earth like broken teeth. Among the toppled blocks stands a single upright stone, half-buried yet unmistakably shaped and carved with faint, angular runes of wrath. Lichen dulls the markings, but they still prickle at sensitive minds.

Disturbing the upright stone—scraping away moss, striking it, or moving nearby blocks—can trigger lingering Thassilonian magic. PCs might experience sudden emotional surges of anger, brief visions of legionaries in rune-marked armor, or awaken a dormant guardian such as an animate statue or bound elemental. The site provides clear, physical evidence of ancient ruins below, something scholars in Sandpoint or Magnimar will pay for or demand to see.

E. The Silent Glade

Deeper in the forest, a nearly perfect circular clearing interrupts the trees. No shrubs or ferns grow here; only short grass and pale fungi cling to thin soil. The air feels thick and heavy, and birds and insects give the glade a wide berth. Sound dulls at the edge as if pressing through wool.

At the center rests a waist-high, moss-covered boulder shaped into a crude altar, its surface stained with old, dark marks. Shoanti stories speak of duels of honor and grim sacrifices made here to seal pacts against Thassilonian invaders. Today, the Silent Glade is ideal for confrontations with cursed animals, a bound spirit enforcing forgotten taboos, or a Shoanti guardian who interprets any trespass as desecration unless PCs can prove their intentions.

Factions & NPCs

Jasla “Shank” Vinder – Pragmatic Bandit Matriarch

Disillusioned former dockhand turned bandit leader, Jasla uses Shank’s Wood as both refuge and weapon. She recruits rough laborers, failed fishermen, and ex-soldiers who feel chewed up by Magnimar and ignored by Sandpoint.

Jasla’s primary motives are to protect her crew, punish caravans tied to merchants she blames for past abuses, and amass enough coin to vanish inland. She responds to PCs with wary professionalism: initial demands for tolls or disarmament can shift to negotiation if she senses they share enemies. If she feels cornered or betrayed, she escalates quickly to brutal ambushes and hostage-taking, potentially leveraging captured townsfolk to stay the sheriff’s hand.

The Lantern Crew – Smuggler-Bandits

The Lantern Crew is a loose network of smugglers and cutthroats using the Bog of Lanterns and the old logging road to move contraband between Sandpoint, distant farms, and contacts toward Magnimar. They cultivate the wood’s ghost stories, staging “hauntings” with colored lamps, minor magic, and planted corpses.

Their motives are simple: profit and anonymity. They fear official reprisal from both Sandpoint’s guard and Magnimarian enforcers more than they fear monsters. When PCs arrive, the Lantern Crew prefers misdirection and staged scares. Only if exposed or robbed do they resort to lethal violence, possibly trying to frame goblins or “forest spirits” for their crimes.

Varisian Guide or Storykeeper

Many Varisian families who camp near Sandpoint know Shank’s Wood as a place of “bad stories.” A cautious scout or storykeeper might serve as guide, warning of cursed stones and taboo glades.

This NPC’s motives center on keeping kin safe, honoring old warnings, and proving that Varisian lore deserves respect. They try to steer PCs away from Thassilonian sites like Runemark Stonefall and the Silent Glade, bargaining secrets or safe shortcuts in exchange for promises not to disturb certain places. If PCs break their word, the guide may become a sharp-tongued critic or even a rival informer in town.

Shoanti Warder or Spirit-Watcher

A Shoanti warder from a nearby quah watches Shank’s Wood for signs of ancestral unrest. They move silently through the trees, leaving subtle marks that only trained eyes spot.

Their motives are to prevent desecration of old stones, avenge intrusions, and read omens of Runelord influence. They confront PCs at the Silent Glade or Runemark Stonefall, demanding explanations and proof of respect. Honorable conduct and aid in cleansing corruption can earn the warder’s grudging alliance; looting or mockery of sacred sites may mark the party as enemies of the quah.

Adventure Hooks

• A merchant’s heir vanishes after taking a “shortcut” through Shank’s Wood with a small escort. The embarrassed family hires the PCs quietly, hoping to recover the heir from bandits—or from something worse—before the town guard uncovers compromising details about debts, smuggling, or a forbidden romance.
• Farmers on the forest’s edge report livestock disappearing from night pens, with strange lights drifting between the trees. Following the trail reveals either mundane theft by the Lantern Crew hiding their rustling behind ghost stories, or a more sinister predator using the smugglers’ tricks as cover.
• A Varisian elder begs the PCs to stop a new logging push backed by Magnimarian investors. If the cutters pass a particular stone marked with faint runes, the elder insists, they will “wake the wrath beneath the hill.” Protecting the loggers, sabotaging the project, or investigating Runemark Stonefall all put the PCs between profit and prophecy.
• Sheriff Hemlock asks the PCs to break a known bandit camp in Shank’s Wood before growing raids inspire local goblin tribes to join in coordinated attacks. The mission can be a clean strike, a negotiation for amnesty, or a messy attempt to turn the bandits against a greater threat.
• A Shoanti emissary approaches Sandpoint with hard eyes and an uncharacteristically humble request: help cleanse a defiled glade in Shank’s Wood that has begun to spawn restless dead. In exchange, the emissary offers forbidden lore about Thassilon and its marks on the land.

Secrets & Mysteries

• The original “Shank” was not a heroic outlaw but a Magnimarian foreman who covered up a massacre of Shoanti workers during the first logging push. Later bandits adopted his name as a bitter joke, and Shoanti spirits still hunger for his blood-debt.
• Runemark Stonefall caps a partially collapsed Thassilonian chamber still sealed below. Minor magic leaks upward, subtly warping emotions toward anger and amplifying conflicts among those who camp nearby.
• The Lantern Crew’s ghost-lights began as deliberate hoaxes, but genuine will-o’-wisp–like entities now haunt the bog, attracted by the terror and betrayal the smugglers cultivate. These predators sometimes claim victims the Crew never intended to kill.
• Jasla secretly keeps a meticulous ledger of every corrupt contact in Sandpoint and Magnimar who has bought stolen goods or paid her for favors. In the right hands, the ledger can upend local politics—or make its bearer a target for assassination.
• A Shoanti warding ritual at the Silent Glade failed decades ago when a chosen sacrifice refused to die. The bound spirit there remembers the refusal and fixates on anyone who resembles that person, seeing them as a chance to finish or finally break the ancient oath.
• One of the carved wrath runes at Runemark Stonefall occasionally brands itself faintly onto the skin of those who touch it in anger, marking them as favored prey or potential pawns for a distant Runelord-aligned force.

Ties to Rise of the Runelords

Runemark Stonefall offers early, low-stakes exposure to wrath runes and Thassilonian masonry. Scholars in Sandpoint can identify the markings as ancient, foreshadowing later dungeons and giving PCs a name for the magic that lingers in the region.

Clues discovered in Shank’s Wood—disturbed graves near the Silent Glade, strange carvings, or emotional surges around the runes—echo themes of wrath and uncontrolled violence that run through the Adventure Path. PCs who piece these hints together may recognize similar signs much later and anticipate dangers others miss.

NPCs tied to the wood can recur. A reformed bandit from Shank’s Hollow, a grateful Shoanti warder, or a Varisian guide who survives early excursions might later guide the party to other ruins, vouch for them with suspicious factions, or call in old debts when larger threats emerge.

Bandit and smuggler connections from the Lantern Crew and Jasla’s ledger can link frontier crime around Sandpoint to corruption in Magnimar, providing side quests or alternative explanations for well-known villains’ resources. Finally, magical residue from the buried Thassilonian chamber may resonate with Runelord-related artifacts found later, giving attentive PCs flashes of insight, ominous dreams, or shortcuts into deeper mysteries without changing the core path of the campaign.