Origins & history

Before it became Shadowfang Keep, the castle belonged to Baron Silverlaine and overlooked Pyrewood Village. The Scourge invasion brought the old order in Silverpine to an end. Seeking a weapon against the undead, Archmage Arugal used research associated with the mage Ur to summon worgen.

The creatures fought the Scourge, then turned on the people they were supposed to protect. They overran Silverlaine’s home and killed its inhabitants. Arugal retreated into the captured keep and embraced the worgen as his children. He did not create the worgen species: the curse had an older druidic history.

Why we enter

Arugal’s influence spreads beyond the walls into Silverpine and Pyrewood. The Forsaken investigate disappearances and the transformations afflicting the area, then send agents against him. Entering the keep means striking the source of a local campaign of curses while confronting the ghosts of the household it destroyed.

The story inside

The lower passages introduce the prison and the beasts occupying the castle, including Rethilgore and Razorclaw the Butcher. Baron Silverlaine and Commander Springvale remain as restless reminders of the former household. Their presence gives the expedition two overlapping enemies: Arugal’s living followers and the dead left in their wake.

Odo the Blindwatcher, Fenrus the Devourer and Wolf Master Nandos guard the ascent. At the summit, Arugal uses his magic against the intruders. His defeat and beheading end his command of the keep during the original campaign, but cannot undo every curse already released into the forest.

Aftermath & legacy

The castle’s continuing reuse reflects how little lasting peace the fall of Lordaeron brought to Silverpine.