Shadow Outlanders

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"*The darkest shadows are borne of the brightest lights.*"
— ???

The **Shadow Outlanders** were the physical form of the twisted soul energy of the legendary heroes, The Outlanders, captured and kept in the spirit plane Kymygo Dunahasa during their interdimensional odyssey to pacify Moros. The darkness present in the heroes' hearts, equal in magnitude to their light, caused the rapid growth of the bizarre spirit dimension in which their spirit energy was given a dark shell. The phantoms remained in the new plane following the heroes' triumph in Emanation, and guarded it for the next decades while beckoning for incomprehensible dark deities and energies to enter Aquila, upsetting nature and order therein. They were ultimately erased by another group of heroes in the early 4840s, but their having existed is a source of equal parts great fear and great interest to Aquilan philosophers, scientists, and practitioners of religion, all of whom ponder the depraved depths of the Aquilan spirit, *most* hoping they never surface.

## The Phantoms

### **Abhorred Ranger** (Shadow Samuel)

* Abhorred Ranger
* Relentless Abuser

 Execution
 Dark Woodland Call
 Predator
 Verde-Noir Facade
 Shadow Flare
 Alpha Cluster

 Perverse Vitality
 Great Slam Dunk

Shadow Samuel dwells in the First Delusion of the spirit plane, which takes the physical form of an array of woodlands and wetlands resembling old Krak de Chevaliers. It is populated by villagers who have been brutally beaten in body and spirit by the phantom, who has caused their crops to wilt and their livestock to wither. Opting to help the villagers and learning the truth behind the real Samuel's way of life removes the spirit barrier on a foggy marsh nearby, where the phantom manifests. Once encountered, he mocks the party's selfless and humanitarian actions, and calls twin servants to aid him before vowing to erase the party from existence. His defeat after an undoubtedly tough battle leads to the villagers thanking the heroes profusely before the earth heals and the dimensional pocket is deleted, returning its spiritual energy, including Samuel's, to its corresponding location in the real world. The party is then irreversibly ejected from the empty plane.

The Abhorred Ranger, upon analysis, is a perverse reversal of the real Samuel's loves of nature and its inhabitants, as well as his leadership abilities and general kindness. Unlike the real Samuel, the dark Ranger is a bloodthirsty tyrant who absorbs the power of the Earth for its personal gain. Conversely, Samuel was a good, if naive, hero who cared for the weak during his journeys.

### **Creedless Rogue** (Shadow Amare)

* Creedless Rogue
* Cruel Kunoichi

 Raven's Ascent
 Dark Wayward Wind
 Vigilante
 Chaos Devil's Blade
 Shadow Flare
 Beta Cluster

 Hypnos Breeze
 Nightmare Knife

Shadow Amare dwells in the Second Delusion dimensional pocket, which takes the form of a large savannah with patches of desert and a serene coastline. The geography is reminiscent of eastern Voshe. There is a small, struggling village in the savannah by the coastline that is struggling financially and in spirit due to repeated raids by a band of pirates that raze the village with blades and fire and kidnap natives, somehow brainwashing them into the organization. The village is apprehensive of any newcomers, who must prove their benevolence by protecting their village from the bizarre demons prowling the area. Once the villagers' trust is earned, they can build a small raft for the party out of acacia wood, which can be hauled to a small dock at the coastline and sailed to the pirate ship.

The ship is revealed to be a massive luxury north Mendean-build cruise liner replete with opulent restaurants, paintings, showcases, displayed decorations, and traps for intruders. Every hall within the cruise ship is guarded by either demons or brainwashed dimensional natives. Amare's shadow sails the liner from the Commander's Quarters. Upon reaching him, he attempts to charm the party into becoming part of his crew with promises of wealth and fame. Their refusal prompts the shadow to mock the heroes' humility before manifesting two female humanoid shadows and attacking. Should the party best the agile and clever shadow, they are wrapped in a warm light and whisked back to the village, which is revealed to be modeled after Amare's hometown of Voshe. Inexplicably, the kidnapped natives have returned and are free of control, and the villagers thank the party before the spectral world fades and the group is ejected back into the core of Kymygo Dunahasa.

The Creedless Rogue is a dark reversal of the real Amare's love of exploration, sailing, and treasure, as well as his selflessness and jovial ways. Unlike the real Amare, who encourages those around him, the Shadow perverts the emotions of those around him and renders them subservient. It is also avaricious for the sake of it, whether Amare only stole from the very wealthy or the very long dead, giving much of his loot to those in need across Kilran, Ertdor, Occa, and Aphelion throughout his own travels with the Outlanders.

### **Tragic Vanguard** (Shadow Ned)

* Tragic Vanguard
* Apathetic Yeti

 Wisdom Of Years
 Dark Somber Snowscape
 Lone Wolf's Howl
 Glacial Drift
 Shadow Flare
 Gamma Cluster

Shadow Ned dwells in the Third Delusion of Kymygo Dunahasa, which takes the form of a long snowy mountain belt under which runs a system of complex ice caverns. The spiritual inspiration for this place is unknown, and attempts to investigate are muddied by the general lack of detail around Ned Edgewalker's life, but it is believed that it is modeled after some place in far Northern Kilran. The landscape has no human inhabitants, and is in fact barely habitable. The player party must make their way through the ice caverns with the help of the benevolent animals within to find the calm taiga enclosed by the mountains.

Upon their arrival, the party finds an old but well-kept cabin, and investigation reveals Shadow Ned residing within. However, it is welcoming and pleasant, much to the party's confusion. It encourages the heroes on the mission and recognizes that it is, indeed, inadvertently calling for the infiltration of Aquila by outer Dark gods. It heals the party and honorably confronts them in a fair yet tough fight, accompanied by two mythical animals.

Upon defeat, Shadow Ned does not immediately disappear; instead, it thanks the heroes for "saving" him, and assures them that "I passed quickly and with no regrets." It fades away in a bright light before the party is whisked back to the core of Kymygo Dunahasa. It is unclear whether the Tragic Vanguard was a real dark shadow or something or *someone* more meaningful. In personality, it was similar to the real Ned in its humble isolation, hospitable disposition, and honor.

### **Decadent Hero** (Shadow Ulysses)

* Decadent Hero
* Vain Duke
* Conceited Duchess

 Aquila Ripper
 Dark Shining Will
 Coward's Mask
 Herald of Dusk
 Dawn Flare
 Delta Cluster

 Vice and Tyranny
 Corrupt Shield

 Hunger and Pride
 Perverse Vitality

Shadow Ulysses, the dark counterpart of the former Outlander "leader" Ulysses Cannonwalker, dwells in the fourth and final delusion of the spirit plane, in a pocket dimension that takes the form of a magnificent city influenced by contemporary Eletsyan architecture and art projected to a far future. The metropolis is on an island surrounded by a sea of hell-flame. The city also lives in extreme poverty and fear despite its luxurious appearance, as the Shadow absorbs its wealth and regularly demands bloody sacrifices of dissidents and often ordinary citizens in return for keeping the city from being absorbed by the fiery sea. The heroes must research and explore the city, searching for pockets of resistance to fuel and then join in order to overthrow the tyrant and take the fight directly to the Shadow. The party must unify the three dissident parties - the Stelgas, Tergas and Aries - to create a powerful coalition while fending off the bizarre demons in the form of distorted Aragonese police and other humanoids.

Once the alliance is created, the party can lead them to the doors of the central castle-mansion and demolish the golden doors to break in. The heroes must coordinate a pincer attack of the central throne room and eliminate all demons protecting the halls in the way. Once the party reaches the throne room, they find the Shadow and two demonic royalty finishing a banquet. The Shadow interrogates and mocks the party, not understanding their selfless leadership and willingness to endanger themselves for a greater good. He offers them a choice: he will abdicate peacefully if the heroes leave the room, or cast their corpses into the hellfire should they fight him and inevitably. Should a player select the former, they will immediately be betrayed and the Shadow will fire a dark wave at the party, halving all their HP. In either case, the Decadent Hero will laugh maniacally at the heroes' supposed foolishness before engulfing the room in dark flame and engaging them in battle alongside his two servants.

Shadow Ulysses is popularly agreed to be the most difficult of the four dark Outlanders, using powerful and gimmicky attacks himself as well as effectively coordinating the attacks of his two servants. Most notably, the Shadow begs the player for mercy if both its servants are killed and its HP becomes critical. However, obliging this request will cause him to betray the party yet again and reduce their HPs to 1 with a powerful spectral wave. This is a dangerous choice, but boosts the party's good alignment meter considerably.

Like his predecessors, he eventually falls, and explodes into searing flames rather than fading into darkness. The party is then whisked away to the town's fountain square, where they are greeted by the villagers, animals, and denizens of all four freed dimensions. The crowd states that they remember their true nature; they were all victims of dark beings in the past millennia who were denied a peaceful passing and were doomed to wander the spirit realms as victims of darkness for all eternity. Furthermore, they claim to know exactly who the Outlanders and the current heroes are, and wish them success on their imminent journey to the jet-black cosmos, materializing the Orb of Hope to help them light their way in the extradimensional plane. With that, the dimension and the crowd - within which are visible a certain humble and content scraggly old man and his smiling, pale-faced younger friend - fade into a beautiful shower of light.

The party is taken back to the core of Kymygo Dunahasa, where they can pick up four newly-generated shards of memory that will lead them to a final sleeping hero within the plane. With the Shadow Outlanders defeated, the heroes can advance to Emanation to face their final challenge.

## Related Phantoms

### **Zeralith**

*The Lightbringer, Sorcerer of the Morning Star*

* Primary Moveset
* Standard Spells I
* Standard Spells II

 Fevered Flagellation
 Wild Bolt
 Wheel of Pain
 Nova
 Timeflare
 Paradise Forgotten

 Gravitas
 Godsray
 Aurora
 Glaciate
 Abate
 Invoke Beast

 Manaburn
 Shatter Memory
 The Storm
 The Swell
 The Surge

Encountered in the optional area, the Boundless Miasma, the point of convergence between the Emanation and the Beyond. Within the unstable heart of the Miasma, past a gauntlet of the realm's most sinister phantoms, lies a seemingly impossible confluence of Light glimmering faintly in the infinite shade. Here dwelleth the sorcerer Zeralith, a powerful magus whose true name has long been forgotten by the universe. Now known simply as Zeralith - literally translated as "Lightbringer" - this pitiful avatar of torment serves as a conduit for the echoes of Light shed by the Outlanders in the past, with his garish realm of Pandaemonium forming a nexus of Light so total as to leave nearly all of Kymygo Dunahasa in naught but the yawning Shadow. It is likely that in another time Zeralith formed a strong enough friendship with the Outlanders to be able to bear a portion of their Light-drenched souls which may have consumed them otherwise. The reason for his presence in the Miasma is unclear, with the once great magus now condemned to an eternity of servitude as the dark dimension's avatar of Light.

The Miasma may be unlocked after encountering most of the Shadow Outlanders and winning their Shards of Memory, which serve as keys to the captive realm. It is dominated by a mysterious presence known as the Paradox, permeating the entire area with unstable auras of Light-aspected energies. The region is filled to the brim with dangerous abominations condemned to a life of servitude, most of them manifesting as crude but powerful imitations of common monsters. Deeper still is the boundary of the paradox heart, past which lies the Pandaemonium. Upon entering the dark capital of the Miasma, adventurers are assailed by its mournful sentries, the Time Wraiths, whose unique properties make them difficult enemies to overcome. Zeralith himself resides within the nexus towards which the wraiths are inevitably drawn. He will attack immediately and without remorse, unable to resist his duty to snuff out all traces of impurity so as to maintain the integrity of the Light.

Should Zeralith finally be defeated after a harrowing battle, his twisted form will unravel and reveal his true soul, taking the shape of his mortal reflection. Realizing his mind and spirit are his own once again, he will call out to the Outlanders and, receiving no answer, make a solemn oath that they will see each other once more in time. The forgotten magus will then take notice of his liberators and, despite not knowing them, show a measure of gratitude before his spirit dissipates entirely. Though he is still strange to you, upon his final departure you swear you can hear the name "Ben."

Owing to his mastery of the arcane as a mortal, Zeralith is a formidable spellbinder and one of the most deadly magic-wielding adversaries that may be encountered. He is classified as a Fell Spectre, a unique variant of combatant proficient in an array of Light, Time/Void, and summoning spells. In combat, the spectre also employs a variety of standard spells interwoven between his 8 "unique" skills, detailed separately in the bestiary entry.

*"You know not what you do!"*

*"A sorcerer of eld knows no limits."*

*"Know your folly!"*

*"Very well. If you will not yield, then you will face judgment."*

*"Burn in the flames of eternity!"*

*"Is this to be our charge for all time? Poorest players on the stage of fate?"*

*"Give in to the Light."*

*"Sickness must be purged!"*

*"The world will not remember you."*

*"Moros is enjoying this, you know?"*

*"Ulysses..? Is that you?"*

*"Furnace, my friend. You were right."*