The Shadow Lands draws it name from the Valley of Shadows. This valley is located in the midst of a horseshoe shaped pair of mountain ranges.

It is a hair over 100 miles in length, but only 40 miles wide at its widest. Most of the valley is from 12 to 21 miles in width.

The valley runs perfectly north-south with the northern limit of the valley terminating in a series of cliffs hundreds of feet tall. The southern limit of the valley opens up like a 40 mile wide bell that runs out into the vast Southern Plains.

The capital is located near the northern cliffs, called Deephome due to being so far up the valley, and is home to nearly 5,000 citizens.

There are four notable cities;
Cramberton with 3,500 citizens and the valley's only university.
Helmar's Station with 3,100 citizens and straddling the Rhone River.
Alberton with 2,600 citizens and the busiest markets and bazaar outside of Deephome.
Trent with 1,700 citizens and is known for the ancient ruins the city is built upon.

There are many towns ranging from 300 to 600 citizens, hamlets and villages of 100 to 300 citizens are uncommon, but frequent.

The Rhone River runs the length of the valley from the cliffs to the north and out across the Southern Plains. The Rhone averages about a quarter mile in width, but rarely exceeds 60 feet in depth. once the Rhone River runs into the Southern Plains it expands a bit averaging a half-mile in width, but is only 70 feet in average depth. The Rhone River runs south to southeast for nearly a hundred fifty miles where it runs into the southern coastal plains and the Argosian Sea.

To the east is the Spine of the World Mountain range. This range of mountains extends 130 miles south of Deephome in the Southern Plains. But, the range runs nearly 1,200 miles north across the continent. these peaks tower over the valley as high as 17,000 feet. but, only averaging 10,000 or so in altitude over the valley.

To the west is the Golden Spires Mountain range. this range extends south of Deephome some 100 miles. these mountains run into the Spine of the World Mountains, terminating in towering cliffs just miles north of Deephome. The Golden Spires average 8,500 feet in altitude with several peaks topping 10,00 feet.

The valley is hilly, often forested, has many streams and ponds, with a long narrow plain along the center of the valley that is referred to the river plain. The high mountains to east and west means that the valley spends a large portion of every in shadows cast by these peaks. Hence the name the Valley of Shadows, and the the Shadow Lands.

There are two main thoroughfares in the valley.
The King's Road is an ancient road that leads from the built-upon ruins that became Deephome  to the Spine of the World Mountains just before the valley opens into the Southern Plains. The King's Road continues on under the mountain to the capital city of Voshloria, the seat of the Voshloric Empire. This is a dwarf kingdom founded by the dwarf king Voshlo the Daring some 1,000 years ago.
The Southern Trade Road runs from Deephome, crosses the Rhone River, and continues south out into the Great Plains where it crosses several trade routes to the southwest before terminating in the little town of Donnah in the southwestern marshlands some 800 miles away.

The valley is in a temperate weather zone, so the seasons aren't harsh northerly or sweltering southerly climates. But somewhere in the middle offering plenty of rain, very little snow, too many insects, and a lot of mud.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:26, Sat 10 Feb.

The Shadow Lands has a handful of long term 'bad guy' threats:

Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Bugbears often sneak into the valley through caverns and mountain passes fleeing rivals, persecution for their crimes in other settled areas, or to hide out and raid farms and traveling merchants before they are hunted and forced to flee the valley.

Common banditry is the one true plague of the valley, seemingly everyday people that travel among the roads and trails are occasionally deceptive members of a roving gang of bandits looking for their nest opportunity are the most common menace in the Shadow Lands.

Traveling north along the Spine of the World Mountains will take one to the Mist Lands, also called the Misty Lands and the Giant Lands. Traveling south from those lands, giants of varying sort have been known to wonder into the valley and take up residence. This ultimately leads to bloodshed, destruction, and a call to arms. And it happens more often than anyone would like to consider.

The Shadow Lands is located along the fringe of the Southern Plains. The plains are home to nomadic barbarian clans. These clans will come into the valley from time to time. Sometimes they seek to trade, other times they wish to sit out the winter off the plains, and, regrettably, sometimes they come into the valley to raid.

There many ruins in the world, the Shadow Lands are no different. Deephome was built out the ruins of an ancient citadel that predates any sense of modern history. Ruins offer a two fold problem; those that come to the ruins seeking wealth and glory and the denizens of these ruins that are often best left undisturbed.

There are two beasts that are known to cause trouble in the Shadow Lands; Ank Kegs and Axe Beaks.

And what do we know about those?

the axe beaks keep the to the deeper woodlands while the ank kegs tend to be found along the river plain and the farmlands. axe beaks kill more people, usually lumberjacks, hunters, trappers, foragers, and prospectors. the ank kegs tend to destroy farmlands by tunneling under them, eat a lot of sheep, and occasionally kill the odd herdsman, farmer, or laborer.