Shadowfell

> *“The Shadowfell is a place of black, grey and white, a dismal shadow of the Material Plane. It brings visions of skull-like rocks, dark forests with snaring branches and castles long crumbled to ruin. Adventurers who somehow find themselves there may encounter a circle of tombstones, a grove of grasping bracken or a haunted quarry where the dead work.” - Cirume, Scholar of the Shadowfell*
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## Description

The most striking and immediate impression a visitor to the Shadowfell experiences is the lack of colour and light. There is no sun, moon, or stars adorning the vault of the inky black sky, and all things look as if the colour had been leeched out, leaving nothing but black and white. There is a constant faint glow that seems to come from the sky itself, a light grey. Though this is the case, a light source only illuminates half the distance it normally would, flames and fires put out less heat. Any words spoken sound as though they are being said in a small box, voices carrying half the distance one would expect.

In the distance are jagged black mountains that cut into the sky like the maw of a beast, the stone it is made out of looks almost like glass. Occasionally, visages of crumbling towers and castles can be seen, twisting forests that emerge from the ground or gouges in the earth where blackened rivers of souls pour through.

Before the Titanomachy, the Shadowfell was known as the Negative Material Plane. It had less of an influence from Quine, more of a fledgling plane that was used as a storage space for souls. However, after the Titanomachy, Quine decided to get involved in its completion, asserting itself as more of a sibling to the Feywilds and sharing some of its traits.

## Phenomena

It is well known that the Shadowfell is a domain of Morbeth. However, it is lesser known that it is also a domain of Quine. As such, the Shadowfell is a place of very powerful illusion magic. Illusions cast in the Shadowfell have the strange habit of becoming somewhat real. The landscape itself is made entirely of illusions, given shape by the Shadowfell itself as required.

The Shadowfell is sentient to a similar extent the Feywilds is. However, where the Feywilds exemplifies fun and excess, the Shadowfell is focused entirely on necessity. It provides only what is necessary to its inhabitants, no more and no less. Though this is the case, it is not unusual for sudden drastic changes to occur, whole new structures and features emerging from the landscape in a matter of minutes.

Divination magic, such as those to specifically locate creatures and objects, do not work in the Shadowfell. Time also passes differently, an hour in the Shadowfell being a matter of minutes in the material plane. Much like the Feywilds, the Shadowfell’s movement is condensed. Moving 10ft in the Shadowfell is equivalent to about 100ft in the Material Plane.

The Shadowfell is also known to ‘leak’ into the Material Plane, causing all manner of strange occurrences. Dryad Groves exist in part to keep these leaks in check, preventing them from spreading by drawing on opposing magic from the Feywilds.

## Notable Locations

Though the Shadowfell tends towards a landscape of blank nothingness, occasionally large structures and features will appear, illusions made manifest.

### Domains of Dread

The Domains of Dread are places where naughty souls go for punishment. Particularly those who upset the natural order of death or the souls of  'evil' undead such as vampires. These domains are essentially prisons, those of the soul's own making. They are, however, rare to come across as the Shadowfell is particular about moving them away most of the time, keeping them hidden and obscured from errant souls.

### The Spine

The vast mountain range that sprawls from the centre of the Shadowfell like the jagged vertebrae of some long dead beast. It is said that this is the spine of a long dead Nightwalker, grown fat from overconsumption of souls.

### The Citadel

A large citadel carved into the edge of the mountains. This was where the Heart of Kyojin was found.