The Shadowlands

==Shadowlands==
This article aims to contribute further to Blizzard's current interpretation of the Shadowlands and introduce new ideas/theories and lore for the Realm. Do not take this page as Canon, this lore however will be used and contribute to The Blighted Lands Phase. 
The Shadowlands is the spirit realm of Death, opposite in every regard to its counterpart, The Emerald Dream. Spirits from the mortal plain come to the Shadowlands after death. It's most commonly referred to as being "all grey and dark with swirling clouds." 
Unlike the Emerald Dream which is speculated to have been forged or shaped by Titan-Keeper Freya, The Shadowlands has no history defining its creation. Many entities from all over the cosmos have interacted with the Shadowlands in some form or another, usually in the pursuit of power, immortality or both. For example, the Nathrezim of the Burning Legion, and their dark lord Kil'Jaeden, used magics they had learned there to create Frostmourne and later The Lich King. Titan Keeper Odyn used his magics to create the first Val'kyr, some of which later became Spirit Healers. 
==History==
(For Canon History See Wowpedia )
Before life began and before even the universe existed, there was only the Light. The Light existed as a boundless sea of living energy, swelling across all of existence, unfettered by time and space. Yet as the ever-shifting sea expanded, pockets of cold nothingness appeared, giving birth to a second, opposite force: the Void. The growing tension between the two opposing energies eventually ignited a series of cosmic explosions that gave birth to the physical universe, the Great Dark Beyond.
The cataclysmic birth of the cosmos sent shards of fractured Light flying through the cosmos, suffusing the newly formed planets of the universe with the spark of life and giving birth to countless life-forms, the most common of which were the primordial elementals. Occasionally, these shards of Light would gather and form clouds of Light from which powerful beings would emerge, among which the benevolent naaru.
The most unstable energies created by the cosmic explosions coalesced into an astral dimension known as the Twisting Nether, A Realm of Chaos where Demons reside. As Life and Nature bloomed across the cosmos, came the Emerald Dream, the Birth of Life, and as this Life died, came forth the realm of Death, the Shadowlands. 
Similar to how Demons arose from the chaotic energies of the Twisting Nether, nameless, faceless beings were born in the Shadowlands. Over time they watched the living, learning speech and even taking on forms or disguises to walk amongst them. When these beings saw mortal spirits confused and lost in their Shadowlands, These entities took pity on them, and began guiding the mortal spirits to their final rest in the Shadowlands, Thus calling themselves, Guides. 
Since their creation, The Guides had admired and envied the mortals and their lives. What had aroused them most, was the concept of Love. In the begining there was only two, Dante and Kay . Dante was wise and strong, tasking himself to defend the Shadowlands. Kay was kind, compassionate and benevolent, setting the example, she rose to find peace for all those she could and to guide them to eternal peace. The two guides formed a bond that was literally beyond Mortal comprehension, utilizing the Holy Light they kept Peace and Order in the Shadowlands.
At this time, the Shadowlands was by no means a Shadow Land at all, It was created to serve as the final resting place, and so was an unending world of eternal twilight.
Over time the Void Lords would grow jealous of this peace, and their attempts to corrupt the entire Shadowlands through using the malicious spirits of the Abyss failed each time as Dante used his great powers to guide the malicious spirits once more back to the Abyss. So they would develop a new plan to have the Abyss rain in eternal death. 
The Void sent their agents into the Shadowlands, disguised as distressed souls, they lured the benevolent Kay into a sickening trap before pulling her into the Void where the Void Lords themselves dwelled. There they corrupted her, like a flip of a coin they turned Kay from a being of Light, into a being of immense Void. Though that was not the end of their plan. They then had Kay return to her partner Dante in the Shadowlands and betray him, making it seem she had genuinely never felt love for him at all, they corrupted Dante himself without even needing their Void Magics at all.
The betrayal was more than Dante could bare, The Shadowlands errupted in flames, literally burning the Light from its face, and forever, the Shadowlands would become a true Shadow Land. From the epicentre of his betrayal would form an immense swirling vortex which could consume the smoke of the fires, twisting the twilight, mirror realm of reality, into a grey and cold place, forever enshrouded with the swirling smoke. The Void Lords took their oppertunity, invading the realm to finish the job and claim it as part of their Void. Dante would have none of this, reacting in unspeakable rage, he lashed out at Kay, the Void Lords and their servants, containing their corruption, forming a prison for the void, he created the Abyss, the second plane of the Shadowlands.
Dante would take it upon himself to never see Death as something Holy and Good again, realising the Void was just as neccisary a force as Light. Death is just a peaceful and neccisary process of time, and so in the Shadowlands would remain three seperate planes. The Mirror, the reflection of the mortal plane which is shrouded in the grey echo of Dante's betrayal, and mirror to reality. The Abyss, the darkest depths of Death itself, inhabited by the Void, malicious spirits such as Hakkar and any restless and violent spirits. 
Kay's cold spirit would be forever watched over by Dante, now calling himself Virgil,  to ensure she would never escape the voids of the Abyss. Though, from her cold heart, remained a small piece of her origional, uncorrupted self. This piece of her would escape her prison in the Shadowlands and become a Guide once again, yet having forgotten her previous life. This new Kay gathered the surviving noble and holy spirits of the Shadowlands creating the third  plane called the Mists. A holy land of Twilight that would be the final place in the Shadowlands that still reflected its origional state, a place where Life took its final rest, and final peace. 
Virgil would never discover this new Kay, now calling herself Beatrice had been his once great love. He tasked himself once again with defending the Shadowlands, as well as keeping watch over the Abyss to ensure the wicked Beatrice and the Void would never again threaten the peace of Death. Beatrice would resume her role, shaping the Mists into a place of light, and guiding the peaceful dead to their final rest.
As time passed, the Val'Kyr would emerge in the Shadowlands through the efforts of the Titan-Keepers, and when these Val'Kyr broke from Titan-Keeper Odyn's and Helya's influence, they became servants of the Guides. 
Necromancy is often referred to by Mortals as the Magic of raising the Dead. To The Guides this is not the case. The Guides themselves were formed by Necrotic Magics, and to them Necromancy is moreso the power to control and bind spirits. Necromancers use this power to bind and control the Undead, but it does not mean it is the sole purpose of necromantic magic to do so. The Guides use the magic simply in their pursuit of guiding the dead to their intended final rest. 
==Occupants==
The Shadowlands is occupied by various spirits, shades and entities. Most noteable are The Loa , The Val'kyr , which include Spirit Healers , and The Guides. 
Inhabiting the Shadowlands is every creature, tree and being that has ever died. It would become very crowded if not for the fact that the Shadowlands, Like the Emerald Dream, does not obey the laws of Space and Time as Reality does. 
The occupants of the Shadowlands usually live in relative harmony, on occasion the Guides and there servants will defend their realm from entities of the Void or Burning Legion, sometimes they will actually make mutual pacts with these entities. It is important to remember that the Shadowlands and Necrotic Energy is it's own school of magic in its entirety, thus the Denizens of the Shadowlands are not aligned specifically to The Light or the Shadow, rather the Shadowlands is perhaps the only realm in the cosmos which allows the two to co-exist. Virgil may be a guide of Shadow, trapping the restless dead, and Beatrice may be a guide of Light, guiding the peaceful dead, but both never fight one another. 
In short, the Denizens of the Shadowlands live in relative peace , and will tolerate anything in their realm that does not intend on using the Shadowlands or its powers for undesired purposes. 
Of course the occupants of the Shadowlands will vary depending on which part of the realm you are considering. The Abyss, the Mirror or The Mists.
In the Abyss you will encounter creatures of unimaginable nightmare and malice, Spirits torn from their lives unwillingly who cry out in anger and fustration. You will find these spirits have the ability to pull in the souls of their murderers to join them in the Abyss granting them a fitting punishment for their crimes in life. There is also dark, evil spirits such as Hakkar and other creatures which could come straight out of a nightmare. 
The Mirror is a plane that reflects the mortal world almost exactly, though anyone would easily tell the difference. As in the Mirror the sky is a constant storm of swirling grey smoke, the world itself is also void of color, appearing as a faint blue-grey color. Here resides the lost and wandering souls who are not angry, or agitated ,but just upset, lonely and unwilling to rest due to the circumstances of their demise, or if their resting place has been befouled. The Mirror is the first place a new soul will arrive to, and as well as wandering spirits and shades. It also accomidates the Val'kyr and Spirit Healers.
The Mists is a plane of eternal twilight. The sky is a gradient of gold and black, stars can be seen, and further, even Golden Auroras. The cause of the glowing however is not a sun, but rather an enourmous golden world-tree which constantly chimes with musical sounds. This Realm is inhabited by the peaceful dead, those who have passed on willingly and have found eternal rest. The Spirits here can watch over the mortal plain and even appear into it at will if the needs arise, appearing as golden shades.