Ashen Rise — The Gray Highlands

Ashen Rise — The Gray Highlands

Ashen Rise — the ogre that hunted Shvub-Mah through the highland ruins

Ashen Rise

Overview

The road north from the destroyed Licktoad village runs through Ashen Rise — long, gray terrain. This is where the party traveled after the village burning. Two notable structures are visible from or on the rise.

Canon Status

"Ashen Rise" as a location name does not appear in any extracted We Be Goblins! module. Rise of the Runelords (Skinsaw Murders chapter) confirms that Habe's Sanatorium is "built against the limestone escarpment called Ashen Rise." This is the same location — the campaign's use of the name is confirmed by the RotR source. Status: approved.

Habe's Sanatorium (Saintly Haven of Respite)

A squat three-story stone building built against the limestone escarpment. Narrow 4-inch windows. Stout wooden doors throughout. Sour incense smell. All interior doors lockable.

Purpose: Privately run sanatorium for the insane. Run by Dr. Erin Habe (human expert 4). His research methods push ethical and moral boundaries. Funding comes from Caizarlu Zerren, a necromancer posing as a kindly retired businessman, who lives in the basement.

Campaign relevance: The party passed Habe's Sanatorium on the road north. They did not enter. Shvub-Mah's eyes lingered on it. The others moved on. This is the canonical outcome — passing but not entering is established campaign fact.

Note: In Rise of the Runelords, the sanatorium is relevant to the Skinsaw Murders chapter (a patient named Grayst Sevilla carries a message from Foxglove). This chapter has not been played; the sanatorium's internal events are not campaign canon at this time.

Shvub-Mah's Ruin

Above the sanatorium, set back from the path where a ruin sits half-swallowed by the hillside. Associated with Shvub-Mah — the campaign account describes it as his place, the closest thing to home for a crumbling structure on a hill above a madhouse. The party rested here.

Canon status: "Shvub-Mah's ruin" does not appear in any extracted module. Either GM-created or player-named. Confirmed campaign canon — it is where the party rested and where Shvub-Mah has a personal connection.

Notes

• The party traveled north from the destroyed Licktoad village through Ashen Rise. South was ashes. There was nothing left behind them.
• Devil's Platter (a wide, dark, flat rock formation) is visible to the east from the Ashen Rise corridor. The party traveled between the mountains and the Devil's Platter on the way south toward the Birdcrunchers.