Etu Enur

the Shadow Realm

Etu Enur, sometimes just Etu, or the Shadow Realm, or the Plane of Shadows, is a plane of existence is part of Enur, the realm between Aldern (the material plane) and Beyond Aldern (the outer planes). It is a dark empty realm of rolling flatlands with a sickly grass growing. There are reflections of the 'real world' within the endless landsthat are known as Shadowfell. These spots tether the two realities together, in a melancholic reflection of each other. Sickly trees stand where their natural counterparts grow, as do decaying building, inky infested waters, weather hills. As Etu Enur seeps into the world at the Shadowfell, so does a bit of the world seep over into the Shadow Realm. There is little color in the realm except what is brought in, even that will bleach out. The sky is eternally black. There are no stars or suns, nor moons. Nothing burns within, only fire brought with the traveler entering burns, though dim and blue, giving no warmth. These fires extinguish quickly if the carrier leaves the Shadowfell. Cold gray and yellow wisps of illuminated fog swirl throughout providing the only light in the plane. No wind blows, there is no warmth in the air, nor cold for that matter. There is just nothingness.

Those that have traveled to Etu Enur claim the disorientation of the endless dull landscape grows the longer one stay. Soon people forget where they are, how they got there. Their lives before fades, like dreams forgotten. Everything fades into the hazy nothingness of the lands around them. Many find themselves falling into feelings of emptiness and depression as soon as they enter. Those that succumb lay down, letting themselves remain in an eternal emptiness. Those that resist wander aimlessly, lost in empty memories and landscapes. Stumbling into Shadowfells intensifies these feelings, a reflection of a forgotten memory that will plagues the mind until the soul gives up.

Little is known of Etu Enur's origin. The Jenuwan Order records it as being created with the rest of Enur at the end of the mythical Aggelomachy. Some Elf scholars claim its creation was a slow evolution after the legendary Juhl created the Shadow. Others claim, like Enur, it existed at the creation of the world as a dark reflection of the material world before Alu spread life in it. Still others scholar believes its cold darkness is created as other deeper planes of existence, unknown to mankind leech into Enur. Whatever it is, it is a bleak realm of despair that will pull the hope for those that enter it.