Ok, whew! I literally finished the forest exterior the day of the game…that’s cutting it close! But, I think things came together really well. Last time on Mapping Keep on the Shadowfell I built the cliff face and populated it with shrubs and bushes, as well as experimented with a technique for using dried weeds as trees. We all know it’s the details that matter, though, so here I am to finish the job and add the things that will make this terrain memorable.

First off, remember the King’s road map from Parts One and Two? Well, there’s a second road encounter on the way to the forest lair, so I changed the terrain up a bit after I scavenged bushes for the forest lair piece. This is how it turned out.

Back at the forest lair, it was time to make some new bushes using the same technique I used for the King’s Road. I knew I didn’t want to cannibalize completely, because there was a lot of specific terrain around the river. So, I pulled apart some more microfiber and laid it down.

By now you know what the end result of the shrubs looks like, so I’ll just let you see it in some of the other pics. We also needed the trash pile of wood and rubble that goes next to the standing stones, and while I was working on bushes Mrs. Droid came through with an awesome pile. (This actually got done right around Free RPG Day, so the free mini got included in the pic.

Next up…the waterfall. Grrr. This one took me a few tries to get right. I stumbled on the correct procedure the first time around, but I used a cutting board from the kitchen to pour the template onto and it came out with a bunch of slices. So, I bought a new cutting board and applied a thick layer of water effects to it. I measured the size of the waterfall area on the cliff face and then laid down a right angle ruler and applied the glue.

One tip I found is that if you’re doing a big waterfall like this, don’t worry about the tiny tube they give you to squeeze it out of…pop the lid off, squeeze it out, and apply it like a big glue marker. After you’ve rubbed a thick layer on, you can use a toothpick to thin it out in parts and “comb” it so it seems to be falling. Here it is after it dried.

It says to let it dry for a day, so I did, but I’ve actually found that over the course of two days it dries completely clear no matter how much Water Effects you use. Those white parts you see left here disappeared after another day. Et voila! We have our waterfall!

I peeled the glue off the cutting board very carefully to retain its shape, and then applied it to the finished cliff wall and river. I used a bit of extra water effects to help glue it down, but it stuck pretty well on its own. I also cut holes in the waterfall with an Xacto knife after it was applied (very carefully!) so I could have the water falling around the three jutting stones I had cut and painted. All in all, it worked out pretty well.

The thing that worried me was that the cliff and base were two separate pieces, but the waterfall was connected to both. I’ve been using some small wooden skewers for a variety of things during the project, so I took six of them and forced them through the back of the cliff and into the base, thus fusing the two pieces together. It made it much easier to transport, and ensured that the waterfall wouldn’t be ripped apart.

The last thing to do was to apply some spackle to it to create whitewater effect, which Mrs. Droid did a fantastic job on. We didn’t have time to cover the spackle with a layer of Water Effects, but if we had I would have done so, as it would have created a better look. As it is, though, I love how the waterfall turned out.

The final piece of the puzzle was to create and install the standing stones. Now, I must admit, when I finally put them down, I completely spaced and put them int he wrong place. As a result, the wood clutter and standing stones are flipped on the final map, but it didn’t hurt during actual play.

I didn’t take pictures during this process because I was in a big hurry, but Mrs. Droid had a great idea for doing them and so I followed her lead. I cut the stones out of a pebbly styrofoam instead of the insulation I use for most of the pieces. I wanted to give them a different texture to enhance the “out of place” feeling the players would get from them. Then I had the idea to make them like cooling lava. So, I painted them orange and then Mrs. Droid drybrushed them black with a bit of silver so they’d look ashen. I think they turned out great.

I held them onto the mat by sticking a toothpick into the bottom of each one and then pressing them onto the map. Then I sifted through one of our bags of small aquarium rocks and created the stone layout in the center. Here’s the party cleric exploring it in the aftermath of their battle with the kobolds.

We already played our lone battle on it, as I alluded to, and the players really enjoyed the level of detail and immersion that the terrain is bringing to the game. The only problem I now have is that I’ve got to create two entire pieces by next Tuesday’s game. Argh, what have I done?!

So, after all that work, here are a few shots of the finished product.