A single ember is sometimes enough to spark the largest flame, a simple torch may protect from the malformed darkness. Such a flame is the Pilgrim’s Beacon, a safe haven in the Banner Wastes. Seek the light, adventurer, from which we all stem from, and to which we all may, hopefully, return one day.
Welcome back everyone, to our third iteration of our Broken expanse series, the collaborative adventure line I started last month alongside Kelfecil's Tales and Heroic Maps. If you've missed our previous release and would like to know what the setting and region is all about, check the previous post here.
Our adventure continues Westwards, passing by the Bannerfall Field, one of the largest battle sites within the Banner Wastes. The ground is scattered with remnants of many forces, banners, fragments of armor, and broken weapons left behind over time. No single formation remains intact, though the spacing of poles suggests where lines once held.
The Banner Wastes
The Banner Wastes mark the southern approach into the Broken Expanse. Torn standards, broken supply lines, and scattered remains show where armies once marched toward Eldwark. This was a contested path long before the fall of the Unmoving Vale, and the land still carries the weight of those clashes.
Pilgrim’s Beacon stands above the road, its flame visible across the open ground. Travelers look to it for direction, for orientation, for something that still holds. Few question who keeps it lit, or why movement gathers beneath it.
Across the region, battlefields remain exposed, caravans lie abandoned, and the ground itself shifts where blood and passage have worn it thin. The blight has settled into these scars, taking hold where the land has already been broken.
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The Banner Wastes is the third release in The Broken Expanse, a location-focused mini-setting built around exposure, movement, and positional danger. This release explores the southern entry into the region, where visibility replaces concealment and every step forward can be seen from afar.
Rather than presenting a fixed adventure path, this release provides a fully developed region centered on open terrain, disrupted routes, and layered encounters. The featured battlemap at Pilgrim’s Beacon focuses on controlled approach, elevation pressure, and coordinated threats built around light and movement.
This material supports open exploration, repeat visits, and player-driven outcomes. Movement concentrates along known paths, threats adapt to those patterns, and the land reacts where pressure builds.
This Adventure, alongside the regional maps, battlemaps, and pdfs are available to the Dragon Tamer or higher patrons. Thank you for your continued support!Rewards
A zoomed-in regional map of the Banner Wastes
x7 detailed points of interest with lore, usage guidance, and situation tables
A featured battlemap set at Pilgrim’s Beacon
Three original blight monstrosities (CR 1, CR 2, CR 7)
GM-facing environmental pressure, blight behavior, and reactive tables
Recommended Use: Open terrain encounters, controlled approaches, high-visibility threat zones
Download the zip here.
Pilgrim’s Beacon marks the first major point of convergence for those entering the Banner Wastes from the south. It stands along the primary approach that once guided movement toward Eldwark, making it both a landmark and a natural gathering point. Travelers, scouts, and supply groups would have relied on its light to orient themselves before continuing deeper into the Expanse.
The site concentrates several core themes of the Banner Wastes within a single location. It combines visibility, exposure, and the remnants of structured travel with signs of repeated disruption. The climb toward the beacon creates a controlled approach where movement can be tracked, making it ideal for encounters shaped by positioning and timing.
Preview of the PDF:
Collaborators
Writing, Layout, and narrative by Kelfecil's Tales.
Hope you guys enjoyed our second month of the Broken Expanse! As always, I'd love to hear what you think and how you incorporated these releases to your DMing! Next up will be our Saints of Ruin monthly release, super excited to show you all this one. Take care adventurers!~Demetrius