Plane of Shadow
Gloom, despair, hopelessness, and loss are just some of the words that can be used to describe the feelings that weigh down travelers who enter the Plane of Shadow. It is an echo of the Material Plane, but it holds only a dark reflection filled with darkness and a creeping sense of being watched. Forests hold sinister shadows, mountains loom taller and more ominous, and everywhere the natural order seems twisted and bent towards a darkly malevolent end.
The nature of the Plane of Shadow draws evil and undead creatures to it, and this attraction has led many planar scholars to link the realm to the Negative Energy Plane. There certainly seems to be some truth to this connection, and it’s worth noting that the Plane of Faerie – another echo plane, but one filled with vibrant and often violent life – seems just as strongly linked to the Positive Energy Plane. Are these two sides of the Material Plane the result of the Positive and Negative Energy Planes? Or are the Positive and Negative Energy Planes a result of the Shadowfell and Feywild? Debates continue in scholarly circles.
From a more conventional standpoint, the Plane of Shadow is a place where fell creatures dwell, and its location on the other “side” of the Material Plane makes its interference much more common than other decidedly evil outer planes, such as the Abyss or the Nine Hells. A pervasive gloom in a forlorn crypt, the shadow cast by a tombstone in the moonlight, or the yawning darkness beneath a creaking gallows all can contain portals to the Plane of Shadow, allowing monstrous creatures to slip between the cracks and wreak havoc.
The Shadowfell is also the home to the Domains of Dread, unique and isolated realms locked away from the rest of the plane by insidious Dark Powers. These unknown macabre masters of darkness draw powerful humanoids away from the Material Plane at their darkest moment, trapping them and their lands. Barovia, home of the vampire lord Strahd von Zarovich, is the most famous, but other domains exist, scattered across the Plane of Shadow.
Monsters of all types stalk the gloomy wilderness of the Shadowfell, and havens of civilization are hard to come by. The most famous is the city of Gloomwrought, with its legion of mysterious keepers maintaining order. Other famous sites include the Nightwyrm Fortress, the Onyx Palace of the Raven Queen, the Moon Towers, and the Circle of Midnight Stones, just to name a few. Truly, in a realm possessed of so much darkness and despair, heroes are needed to push back the encroaching shadow at every opportunity.
Lay of the Land
As an echo of the Material Plane, the Plane of Shadow holds many of the same basic geographic features as its mirror. However, they are distorted, often more brooding and sinister in appearance. The sky is always dark, cloaked often in thick gray clouds, but even when they pass, there is no moon, sun, or stars that shine overhead. Most major natural features in the Material Plane have a “shadow analog” in the Shadowfell, such as mountains and forests, and even cities have a dark mirror. Few of them are inhabited in the Plane of Shadow, however.
Just as in many Material Planes, twisting below the ground of the Plane of Shadow is a labyrinthine maze of tunnels and caves. Known as the Shadowdark, in the Plane of Shadow, this region is unnaturally cold and only gets colder the further into the ground one explores. Some planar scholars have theorized that there is a massive portal or vortex leading to the Negative Energy Plane somewhere in the Shadowdark, but if it's true, it has yet to be found.
There are some strange exceptions to these general guidelines. The most prominent of these are the Domains of Dread, each an isolated realm surrounded by obscuring fog that reaches beyond the planar border. These pockets of the Shadowfell are held together by powerful entities known as the Dark Powers, though their exact makeup and nature are a mystery, and each domain serves as a prison for those trapped inside. The center of each domain is a darklord – a creature, usually sentient but not always, that has gained the favor of the Dark Powers and exercises some control over the mists that bind the domain and even some denizens within it. Each darklord is as much a prisoner as other inhabitants, however, through the influence of the Dark Powers, they have extended or even immortal lifespans.
The most famous Domain of Dread is Barovia, a gothic land ruled by the powerful vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich. From his imposing seat of power at Castle Ravenloft, Count Strahd works towards multiple ends, including how to break free of the mists and return to the Shadowfell proper. Another well-known and feared domain is the Necropolis, a bleak region dominated by countless mindless undead under the direct control of the region’s scheming master, the lich Azalin.
Finding one of these Domains of Dread is rarely a chance encounter, and the mists that surround and bind each one seem to be a direct extension of the Dark Powers themselves. The mists can extend through the multiverse, though they rarely move beyond the Material Plane, and they can draw unsuspecting people into their prisons.
Cycle of Time
Time passes in the Plane of Shadow exactly the same as the Material Plane, but no sun or moon exists to mark the passage of time. Day and night are filled with the same inky twilight with no discernible difference between the two. However, each of the isolated Domains of Dread within the Shadowfell behaves under its own rules. Most do have a day-night schedule with a sun that rises and sets, but it's all part of the prison built by the Dark Powers and maintained by the domain's dark lord.
Surviving
The Plane of Shadow seems to share the same air as its mirror, so creatures that can live and breathe in the Material Plane have no inherent problems in the Shadowfell. A creature can survive in the Plane of Shadow as long as they can live off the brackish, foul-tasting water that runs in the lakes and rivers and find food that hasn't spoiled (something that happens at an accelerated pace). Any non-native humanoid that takes a short rest in the Plane of Shadow risks fell despair (described under Hazards & Phenomena).
Getting There
Spontaneous portals to the Plane of Shadow from the Material Plane are common, and they only appear at night. Few permanent portals are known to exist, and the ones that are known exist below ground where the sun never shines and darkness prevails. The appearance of a spontaneous portal to the Shadowfell is difficult to predict, but certain organizations, such as the Tenebrous Cabal and the Shadow Hand Guild, have worked to understand and catalog the triggers.
A spontaneous portal appears in a place of darkness and shadow and usually only when certain conditions are met. Some of those conditions are known. For example, nights where the moon or moons are obscured in the sky on the Material Plane are prime triggers for spontaneous portals, as are certain festivals and holidays that honor the gods and goddesses of shadow and darkness. Cemeteries, graveyards, and crypts can all hold portals to the Plane of Shadow, often in new construction over old ground.
Certain spells in older tomes and spellbooks are known to pierce the veil between the Material Plane and Shadowfell as well, but the secrets of these have been lost to most of the current arcane world.
Traveling Around
Movement is no more hindered or helped in the Plane of Shadow than in the Material Plane, but distance becomes a somewhat elastic concept over time. A group of travelers that enters the Shadowfell from a forest within the Material Plane may find themselves in a similar forest, though dark and twisted. Traveling outside the forest, however, travelers can find the landscape takes on larger deviances, but these differences are fluid. Maps are usually without merit on the Plane of Shadow.
However, this landscape distortion can be a boon when utilized properly. If an entrance to the Material Plane can be found in the right region, great distances can be traveled over much shorter timespans.
While on the Plane of Shadow, light sources are greatly diminished. Every light source provides radiance in half of the normal area, while in the Shadowfell, spells and effects that provide illumination have their durations reduced by half. The ever-present darkness of the plane seeks to snuff out all light that enters.
Powerful & Mighty
While there are no definitive rules of the Plane of Shadow, there are enough powerful entities and influential organizations to keep adventurers on their toes.
Dark Powers
What are the Dark Powers? Few know the exact details. They are malevolent entities of near god-like status that dictate the creation of the various Domains of Dread. Within each individual domain, a dark lord or group of dark lords hold supreme power, including controlling the mists that form the border between the realm and the rest of the multiverse. But the Dark Powers are the true masters behind the scenes, and it is by their will that the Dark Lords suffer and rule in their pocket prisons.
Some warlocks have reached out to the Dark Powers to make bargains for power and influence, but these deals are always done through a proxy of some sort. There does seem to be multiple Dark Powers and sometimes they seem to operate through agents against each other, but for the most part their machinations are difficult to discern. Shadow demons, shadows, and nightshades are common representatives of the Dark Powers across the multiverse, and there are some scholars who believe they are advanced nightshades of monumental power.
Gaining the attention of the Dark Powers is rarely a boon to mortals. They tend to have a cruel sense of irony when dealing with lesser creatures, a trait exhibited by all of the darklords they choose to imprison within a Domain of Dread. There are some wild theories that say the Dark Powers are actually agents of benevolence, and by removing powerful individuals and imprisoning them in misty realms within the Shadowfell they are tipping the scales of balance towards good.
Warlocks and other beings that have dealt with the proxies of the Dark Powers know that this is probably not the case, or at least not the case with all of them. Perhaps they are moving towards a cosmic balance, but it’s not out of some sense of justice or temperance that they infuse evil beings with great power and elevate them to the status of dark lords.
The Raven Queen
One of the great powers of the Plane of Shadow is the enigmatic figure known as the Raven Queen. She has the powers of a god, and she possesses great influence over the spheres of death, winter, and fate. In the Material Plane, cults have sprung up to worship her, and from these followers the Raven Queen draws great strength. Does that make her a god? It certainly seems to qualify, but some planar scholars are not so sure.
Little is known about the Raven Queen’s background. Rumors say she was a mortal sorceress who impressed an ancient god of death. Did she betray the god of death and steal his power? Or did she simply claim what was left behind? Can a god of death die? These questions all swirl around the background for the Raven Queen, but regardless she seems to have stepped into the mantle of a deity with dominion over death.
In the Plane of Shadow, she rules from the Onyx Citadel, a massive structure that moves around the Shadowfell at the Raven Queen's wishes. Several temples run by deranged cultists lay scattered about the plane as well, and she has an ongoing feud with Orcus, Demon Prince of the Undead. The two have sparred through proxies countless times across the multiverse, but the Plane of Shadow is where their most fierce showdowns have taken place.
Shadow Hand Guild
Thieves and rogues have a natural affinity towards darkness, and many of them find solace in the gloomy twilight of the Plane of Shadow. The Shadow Hand Guild takes that a step further, however, and has actually established a home on the Shadowfell in Gloomwrought, the City of Midnight. Gloomwrought is a dark city ruled by various factions of petty and corrupt nobles, but underneath it all operates the Shadow Hand thieves. They rule from an elaborate series of sewer tunnels beneath the streets of the City of Midnight, and from there they run an extensive network of spies and informants. They watch not just the actions within Gloomwrought but as many major cities as they can.
Within their sewer tunnels, powerful wizards in the Shadow Hand Guild have constructed viewing portals that allow them visual access to many other cities. They operate a series of two-way portals as well, partnering with thieves’ guilds in major cities to provide easy access. Few but the most powerful members of each of these external guilds even knows about the Shadow Hand’s existence – most just feel a slight breeze as a shadow passes from a darkened corner into the night-filled streets.
The masters of the Shadow Hand Guild seem interested in accruing magical items and trinkets from across the multiverse, and they hoard these in secret vaults hidden within their sewer tunnels below Gloomwrought. Some of these they use as tests for initiates into the guild, while others are meant to deter or destroy uninvited guests.
Tenebrous Cabal
The Tenebrous Cabal is a loosely-knit organization of wizards and clerics dedicated to death and necromancy. They do not have much of a formal power structure and usually operate as individuals with their plans and schemes, but they do have one grand resource – the Bleak Academy. This large school in the Plane of Shadow is dedicated to the art of necromancy, and all members of the Tenebrous Cabal are graduates of the academy.
The Tenebrous Cabal was founded long ago by devotees of the archlich Acererak, and they constructed the original Black Academy over the site of the infamous Tomb of Horrors as a means of honoring their patron and teaching their skills to new generations. Through the actions of heroes and the indifference of Acererak, the Black Academy in the Material Plane was destroyed, but not before much of the knowledge was secreted away by the school’s vampire masters. They worked to recreate the academy in the Shadowfell, and there they built a dark and magnificent campus shaped like a great skull. They renamed it the Bleak Academy and created the Tenebrous Cabal to continue the study of the necromantic arts.
Most members of the Tenebrous Cabal are evil, and many are undead creatures seeking to expand their mastery over magic. Many horrors have been birthed in the shadowed halls of the Bleak Academy over the years, but not all who pass through become undead-loving necromancers. Some students and teachers are dedicated to understanding necromancy and its place in the grand arcane scale, and this kind of study does not lend itself to evil actions directly.
The Umbral Chief
Long ago, on a distant Material Plane, there was a great barbarian chief from the savage tribes of the windswept steppes. He rose up, united his people, and drove them forth to conquer the civilized lands. He did this through influence from the Shadowfell, and he commanded great powers of shadow and deceit that he used in his bloody path of conquest. His enemies called him the Umbral Chief, and his legions of shadow-touched barbarians were ruthless and without mercy.
Eventually, the Umbral Chief was defeated, but in defeat, he was pulled into the Plane of Shadow for all eternity. Now he serves as a force for destruction and change in the Shadowfell. The Umbral Chief still leads his shadowfell army, and his most loyal followers are known as Umbral ones far and wide. They thunder on black shadow steeds across the gloom-filled landscape of the plane, and occasionally, they cross into the Material Plane to wreak havoc and vengeance against the light.
The Umbral Chief is an undead behemoth of frightening strength and cunning. The final resting place for his bones lies in a secret barrow somewhere in the Plane of Shadow, and rumors say that a single bone shard from the Umbral Chief’s physical remains can grant fantastic powers to mortal warriors. Few have found the barrow of the Umbral Chief, but those who have sought it out say it lies somewhere in a great valley of darkness, guarded by hideous shadow monsters like no other.
Creatures & Denizens
Undead monsters are common in the Plane of Shadow, owing to its strong connection to the Negative Energy Plane. Other monsters do prowl the Shadowfell, however, so travelers should be on the alert for more than just undead.
Aberrations
There are many monsters that slither, lurk, or crawl through the Shadowfell that defy easy categorization. One of the most insidious are the balhannoth, who create elaborate illusions by tapping into the memories of nearby travelers in order to lure them into their lairs. Bone weirds resemble vaguely-serpentined shaped piles of bones that lurk in cracks and other darkened holes. They have the ability to subsume the bones of victims, leaving them paralyzed and weak. Few creatures compare to the vile appetites of the banderhobbs, who are created under rituals that infuse shadow with flesh; they are thankfully rare even in the Plane of Shadow.
The smallest of the Shadowfell's native monsters is the odem. Physically, they appear as little more than wisps of grayish vapor, but they have the ability to completely uproot the mind of a victim and take over for their own devices. Their motives are mysterious, and there are some that take their host bodies on “joy rides” of wanton mayhem and destruction, but just as many use their time in control of a physical body to study and learn about the world at large.
Humanoids
The Plane of Shadow is populated largely by humanoids, many of whom transitioned to the Shadowfell generations ago and simply made a life for themselves. Many cities, such as Gloomwrought, are populated with a wide variety of people who fall into this category. Humans, dwarves, dragonborn, and more can all be found among the native inhabitants of the Plane of Shadow.
Elf
A rare subspecies of elves known as shadar-kai have dwelled on the Plane of Shadow for generations. They serve the Raven Queen, a powerful entity with command over life and death, and watch the border between the Shadowfell and the Material Plane for the choicest souls to take to the palace of the Raven Queen. Physically, shadarkai appear as withered pale elves, with ashen gray skin and an overall corpse-like appearance. They are fearsome foes who have mastered a wide variety of unique weapons and combat tactics, making them dangerous in a fight.
Meazel
Humanoids that escape into the Plane of Shadow sometimes devolve into hateful creatures known as meazels. These cowardly beings have completely given themselves over to the hate and rage of the Shadowfell, and they lurk near known gates and portals to the Material Plane as “guardians” of their new home against any that come in bringing hope or joy.
Nagpa
The nagpa are among the most powerful of the Raven Queen’s servants. They are hideous bird-like beings, bent and corrupted by foul magic, who meddle in grand affairs meant to bring calamity and catastrophe to the world at large. They are power-hungry schemers with far-reaching goals of utter destruction, and they work behind the scenes on an almost inconceivable scale to put plans into motion.
Skulks
Meazels are the result of travelers giving over to the hate of the Shadowfell, but more often mortal creatures simply succumb to the relentless despair. These unfortunate victims become skulks, invisible wanderers in the Plane of Shadow possessed of little more than simple cruelty at any costs. Summoners can pull a skulk into the Material Plane, but in the Shadowfell they gather in large numbers in hollow ruins and the empty mirrors of populated cities.
Undead
The Plane of Shadow has a strong connection to the Negative Energy Plane, and it is widely believed that its creation is the result of that plane’s influence over the Material Plane. Regardless, undead of all sorts haunt the ruins and dark wilderness of the Shadowfell, from zombies and skeletons on up to the more powerful types. A crumbling fortress may be the lair of a lich, while a death knight may dwell within a castle it once held in life. Gwiddons are undead druids who have given themselves over to the dark power of the Plane of Shadow and tend to gardens filled with dangerous plants, including shambling graveyards and corpse flowers.
Of special note are the nightshades. Massive and powerful creatures born of necromantic energy and shadow given form, there are three known types – nightwalkers, nightcrawlers, and nightwings. They are monsters of pure nightmare given form and anti-life agents who seek nothing more than total annihilation of living creatures.
Hazards & Phenomena
The Plane of Shadow is a dangerous place for the unprepared. The very air saps the will to live out of visitors, and spontaneous hazards like necromantic seepage and darklands can cause sudden and very real problems. Travelers to the Shadowfell be warned!
Darkland
Darklands are regions of intense cold and dread in a concentrated area on the Plane of Shadow. This effect is more than just a physical cold, however. If a creature is immune to both necrotic and cold damage, it is immune to the effect of the darkland, but only if it is immune to both damage types.
It is theorized that darklands are regions where the border between the Plane of Shadow and the Negative Energy Plane is thinnest. Sometimes this has an obvious source, and sometimes the source can be stopped so that the power of the darkland eventually fades away. In the Shadowdark, below the surface of the Shadowfell, darklands are much more common and less obvious in their causes.
Fell Despair
An intangible but omnipresent feeling of dread and despair hangs over the entire Plane of Shadow. Creatures entering it from the Material Plane feel it immediately – an oppressiveness as if the darkness had weight and was pressing in from all sides. It’s been described as suffocating and insufferable. For characters, spending too much time in the Shadowfell risks an effect known as fell despair.
Necromantic Seepage
Pools of black and purple sludge occasionally bubble up from the ground in the Plane of Shadow, creating necromantic seepage. This thick fluid is lethal, and any living creature that touches necromantic seepage risks Soul rot, a terrible disease that seeps a creature's will to live out slowly until it dies and becomes a new denizen of the Plane.
Sites & Treasures
The Plane of Shadow is rife with wicked locations, evil cultists, and all manner of dangerous places, and sometimes characters have a need to pierce the veil of worlds and find these locations. Other times, they may find that the borders between the Shadowfell and the Material Plane are thin enough to draw out some of these fell sites and objects!
Balefire
A sword forged by death giants long ago, Balefire is a relic of ancient design and terrible purpose that drifts through time according to some unknown will. It is possessed with an intelligence that rivals many mortal wizards and has the ability to transform itself from one type of sword to another. It often disguises itself as a mundane dagger or shortsword, waiting to be picked up by the right wielder, before it latches its psychic tentacles into a target and consumes them with a burning rage.
Balefire can be commanded to ignite in purple flames, similar to a flame tongue sword, but its flames deal psychic damage rather than fire. The sword’s name also refers to the curse of balefire that consumes wielders that choose to hold on to it for too long – the insidious weapon causes madness as its power burns through the brain of the holder.
Balefire seems consumed with destroying every last vestige of death giant architecture and design, and drives its wielder to hunt down and demolish strongholds and cities once held by the powerful creatures. It holds some unknown connection to Kazzak’tul, and it is rumored that it was originally forged there and played some part in the great castle’s downfall. The secret to unraveling Balefire might be found somewhere in its vaults.
Barrow of the Umbral Chief
The Umbral Chief is a legendary figure within the Plane of Shadow, an individual of great strength and conviction who passed over from the Material Plane by sheer force of will. Long ago, the Umbral Chief was a barbarian king who united disparate tribes of the eastern lands in a distant Material Plane, and he used the powers of shadows and darkness to enhance his abilities. His horde conquered, but eventually he fell and was interred in a great lavish barrow high in the mountains of his homeland.
Then, unexpectedly, the Umbral Chief rose in the Shadowfell from where he was laid. He summoned forth spectral and shadowy forces and now wanders the darkened realm as a force of chaos. His barrow still remains, however, but it has passed fully into the Plane of Shadow. It holds the original bones of the Umbral Chief in an elaborate and richly decorated burial chamber deep beneath the mountains. It is guarded by the shades of the great chief’s most loyal bodyguards, but inside lay the treasure the conqueror collected in his legendary campaigns.
Bleak Academy
Founded by a trio of vampire masters, the Bleak Academy is a gothic school built in the Shadowfell focused on advancing the arcane and divine arts of necromancy. It was recreated from the pieces of the original site after being destroyed in the Material Plane due to its location above the legendary Tomb of Horrors, but since then it has seen quite a revival in faculty, students, and forbidden lore. The vampire masters formed the Tenebrous Cabal to help further their goals, and over the years they have attracted a large number of individuals with interests in the darker magical arts.
The Bleak Academy is built from bone white stone, but the vampires that control it can cloak the ground in a shadowy field to hide it from prying eyes. It also moves, though it’s unclear if this is just a natural part of the Shadowfell or if it’s a deliberate action by one or more of the Tenebrous Cabal leaders. Several towers spike up around the main building, which is shaped like a grinning skull, and in the center sits a planar observatory that only views the Negative Energy Plane. Intelligent undead of all kinds populate the halls, along with would-be necromancers, death domain clerics, and others with an interest and aptitude in necromantic magic.
The library of the Bleak Academy is relatively small but contains the largest collection of dark tomes known in the Plane of Shadow. It is the prize of the Tenebrous Cabal, and one of the vampire masters can always be found within its book-laden chambers. Students and faculty are allowed to peruse the library's collection, but visitors are not allowed to touch any of the books lest they risk the wrath of the Bleak Academy curse (which may be just a rumor, but so far has deterred most would-be thieves).
Circle of Midnight Stones
Scattered through the Plane of Shadow are curious circles of tall, monolithic stone blocks carved out of a unique and otherwise unknown rock. Known as midnight stones, these circles have been found all over the Shadowfell, from mountainous valleys to shadow-haunted forests to dismal swamps. It isn’t even known if there are multiple circles or if there’s just one that moves around with greater frequency than the rest of the plane, but wherever it lands, great evil manifests nearby. The prevailing theory is that a Circle of Midnight Stones is a direct communication tool to the Dark Powers that rule behind the scenes and create the Domains of Dread.
Thick billowing mists have been reported around the stones as well, lending credence to the connection with the Dark Powers, but to date, no traveler or scholar has discovered the truth and lived to tell the tale. Evil creatures in the Shadowfell seem naturally drawn to the Circle of Midnight Stones, and it’s not uncommon to see nightshades in great numbers congregating around them. Do the nightshades have something to do with the midnight stones? No one knows for certain.
Evernight
Cities on the Material Plane usually have a dark reflection in the Plane of Shadow, but often these are empty, eerie locations filled with ghostly sounds but no actual inhabitants. One of the exceptions is the city of Evernight. Some strange plane-warping property of the Shadowfell creates a single Evernight but it is linked to every Material Plane, usually as a mirror of a major Material Plane city.
Evernight is a city ruled by undead monsters with no regard for law or order. The living are viewed as nothing more than chattel and food for the masses. Vampires, liches, mummies, ghosts, skeletons, zombies, and more wander the streets, and through some unknown accord, peace is kept within the confines of Evernight. They trade and work in the shadow-filled city, and though killings and murders are commonplace events, there are no formal guards or laws.
Rumors persist that certain nobles within Evernight can grant living creatures a special boon that allows them to pass as one of the undead within the monstrous city, but finding and convincing one of the undead lords to do this has thus far proven impossible. Evernight is viewed as a safe haven for the living dead, but most of the inhabitants are selfish, cruel, hate-filled creatures, so “safe” should be regarded as a very relative term.
Gloomwrought, City of Midnight
Gloomwrought is a thriving metropolis in the Plane of Shadow that exists uniquely in the plane only. It does not have a mirror in the Material Plane, and its construction hints at greater mysteries within the Shadowfell itself. It is situated on the shores of a storm-wracked sea of darkness, and its gloom-filled streets are oppressive and cold.
The city is shaped like a crescent along a bay of similar size, with the streets and buildings dipping lower the closer it approaches the water’s edge, creating a bowl-like depression. The city is ruled by Prince Rolan the Deathless, a human noble who has ruled for many more years than a human normally lives. He and the nobles of Gloomwrought govern with the help of the mysterious keepers – strange, somber, normally silent guardians and stewards of the city itself. The keepers were there before the residents, and the warlocks and priests claim they will be there after all the mortals have been consumed by the darkness of the plane. For their own part, the keepers seem interested in maintaining the city itself rather than enforcing any laws or keeping the peace.
The Double Dagger Tavern is a popular watering hole for travelers from the Material Plane seeking guides and information about the Plane of Shadow. Most of Gloomwrought’s citizens are transplants from other planes, though a fair number of shadowborn beings call the city home as well. The Raven Queen has a large following in Gloomwrought, and the Tenebrous Cabal maintains a strong position among the nobles as well.
Kazzak’tul
Death giants are dangerous wanderers of the Plane of Shadow, but once long ago, they commanded great respect from impressive castles. Kazzak’tul was one of their greatest strongholds, and its ruins still dominate the icy shadow-filled peaks where it now resides in ruin and collapse. It was ruled over by four death giant warlords of great power long ago, each one controlling one quarter of the massive stronghold, but infighting and treachery tore the death giants apart. Two were killed, and one was driven out, but it is rumored Kazzak’tul still holds the fourth, who wanders the now empty halls, madness claiming her mind and body.
The vaults below Kazzak’tul were said to hold a great treasure coveted by the death giants, but the stronghold’s remote location has deterred most adventurers from finding the site. Those who have found Kazzak’tul report that ancient wards still protect the lowest levels, and the remaining death giant warlord driven mad by some force vexes travelers.
Moon Towers
The Plane of Shadow is home to a species of elves known as the shader-kai. These mysterious beings keep to themselves, usually shunning the company of other creatures, and their works are rare and just as confounding. Moon Towers are perfect examples of this. These tall thin towers stand in remote regions of the Shadowfell, the result of ancient shadar-kai construction and shadow weaving. They are each roughly 300 feet tall, made of pale gray stone, and at the top sits an orb. The orbs shed dim light in a short radius around the Moon Tower, but within that light, the shadows are deeper and darker than the rest of the plane.
No doors or windows exist to access a Moon Tower, but somehow the shadar-kai are able to get in and operate the orb on top. They can direct its light toward a target up to several miles away, and the result is a deep well of shadows that grants a shadar-kai enhanced power. The exact nature of this power isn’t known, but it is thought that these shadow elves have found a way to tap into a true source of shadow power. Not just an aspect of Negative Energy but a profoundly deep darkness.
Nightwyrm Fortress
Constructed before much of the Material Planes were even formed, the legendary Nightwyrm Fortress is the colossal home of the ancient shadow dragon Urishtar. It sits not on the Plane of Shadow but above it, in a titanic shadow storm that swirls miles and miles above the ground. Within the eye of the storm, the Nightwyrm Fortress moves across the Shadowfell, resting on fossilized stones from the time before the Inner Planes collided and formed much of the multiverse.
Urishtar is one of the oldest beings known to exist, and it has collected treasures and secrets since time immemorial and placed them within the walls of its flying home. Urishtar rarely leaves the Nightwyrm Fortress, instead using agents of shadow to do its bidding across the multiverse. What the shadow dragon’s goals are is anyone’s guess, as it seems to collect both powerful and mundane items and transport them back to the fortress via powerful shadow teleportation magic.
Onyx Citadel of the Raven Queen
Hidden away within the realm known as the Shadow of Shadows is the seat of the Raven Queen herself. Rising from a torrential tornado of souls stands her Onyx Citadel, a grim and monolithic structure constructed of polished black ice that resembles onyx at a distance. The soul storm that surrounds the citadel keeps most intruders at bay, but at the Raven Queen’s whim, the storm can be abated to allow for travelers to enter her sacred home.
Within the Onyx Citadel the Raven Queen holds court. The cold is so great that any living creature that remains within its walls for more than a day freezes into solid blocks. She is attended to by monstrous consorts of all sorts, including massive undead shadows that she sends to do her bidding across the Plane of Shadow. The Raven Queen holds supreme power within the confines of the Shadow of Shadows, and it is whispered that she sees everything that transpires within the Shadowfell through the use of her raven spies, who can be heard but rarely seen all across the land.
Sitting at the edge of the soul storm that surrounds the Onyx Citadel is the Raven Queen’s greatest temple, Zvomarana. Here, acolytes of the Raven Queen come to attempt the grueling steps necessary to become one of her chosen, a sorrowsworn. Most die in the process, but those that succeed ascend to the Onyx Citadel and are tasked with specific duties across the Shadowfell.
Shadowdark
Below the ground of the Plane of Shadow lurks a labyrinth of tunnels and darkness deeper and more sinister than most things found on the surface. This is the realm known as the Shadowdark, and its tunnels stretch on for miles and miles in twisting, confusing pathways. The tunnels cross into massive caverns with lakes of necromantic sludge or shadow ice-filled chambers of supremely evil power. Most of the Shadowdark is enshrouded in a darkland, making travel difficult, if not impossible, for the unprepared, and monsters of darkness and death lurk in the night-filled caves.
There are rumors of a city of undead drow elves somewhere in the Shadowdark, along with illithid elder brains and vampiric versions of normal Underdark denizens. Few have found a good reason to explore the Shadowdark, and those that do come back with nightmares and little to show for it. Legends say the source of the Shadowfell, a great portal to the Negative Energy Plane, sits deep beneath the Shadowdark, which would explain the qualities of the underground realm. Could this portal be closed? Could the connection between the two planes be severed? It seems unlikely, but some planar scholars believe the only constant in the multiverse is change.
Ship of Horror
Oceans of dark water exist in the Plane of Shadow, the mirror images of Material Plane waters, but the storms that wrack the shadow oceans are constant and rough. Few travel them deliberately, but there is one vessel that has been seen that heralds dark and foreboding times. Sailors on the Material Plane refer to it as the Ship of Horror, and it is a moving portal to the Shadowfell that travels the seas, trapping ships in its shadowy wake and sending them to a watery grave in the Plane of Shadow. The Ship of Horror is said to be crewed by undead sailors under the command of a necromancer of terrible power, who is himself trapped aboard the vessel.
The Ship of Horror is only encountered at night, and it is always accompanied by thick mists that cut visibility. It is thought that the ship is itself a Domain of Dread and its captain a Darklord, and certain aspects of the vessel bear this theory out. Rare is the encounter with the Ship of Horror that does not result in all hands being lost at sea in the Plane of Shadow. What does the enigmatic captain want? Some say he searches for a lost love that was swept overboard by a rogue wave, while others say he seeks fresh victims for his crew on their journey of the damned.
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