Shadow Realm¶
"Others describe it as walking into a dream, where the memories and possibilities are constantly shifting, making it very easy to get hopelessly lost." — the Cosmology Revision (S001)
The Shadow Realm "governs shadow, memory and thought." It is the inner plane that lies against the Material on the astral side, the road by which souls' memories connect to the Netherworld and by which the gods' domains connect to the world. Magic does not work there, but thought does.
Also called: the Shadow Plane, the Shadow Planes, the Shadow Realms, the Shadow.
The edges and the depths¶
"Many visitors to this realm describe it as filled with shadows without light sources where it is close to the material plane. On these edges where the material plane overlaps with the shadow realm, it is like being in a grayscale and shadow filled version of the material plane. The traveler must follow dimly lit areas to stay on the edges, or be drawn further into the shadow realm. Very brightly lit areas are inaccessible and will force the traveler back to the material. Obstacles in the material plane are still substantial unless the traveller leaves the edges and proceeds further into the Shadow Realm."
"For those that venture further in, it is filled with shifting images of places and events long forgotten or how things might become (the possibilities, memories and thoughts of others) ... Once a traveler has left the edge it is nearly impossible to find their way back to the same edge. Occasionally, it is possible to find pockets of distinct memories or thoughts that have been brought to permanent and quasi-physical form by the minds of very powerful beings on the material, elemental or astral planes. These pockets often react the way its visitors expect them to. Many of these pockets have full time residents as well as a strong affinity to the specific plane location where the powerful being's mind resides" (S001; the same text in S013 and S421).
Gateways¶
"Direct gateways exist from the shadow realm to all locations on the material, and it is relatively easy to open a gateway from material to shadow realm. There are loose connections from visions and memories to those spirits in the spirit world that have shared those memories. In the areas of the Shadow realm where thought has taken form, there is often a direct gateway to a place near where the powerful being's mind resides (material, astral demesne or elemental). Gateways from the shadow realm are notoriously imprecise, with small differences putting you hundreds of yards away on the material from where it looks like you will emerge, unless you have never fully left the original plane you were on. Once you have been fully into the Shadow realm, it takes almost a minute to fully materialize when switching planes again, all while you are drifting toward the target plane (think of it as parachuting back into the material)" (S001).
The Compendium's one line on the plane agrees: "A plane filled with shadows with no light sources. Connects directly with the Material Pl[ane]" (S372, S384).
Asomatus Lines¶
The Revision alone records what runs through the depths. "The Shadow Realm is home to threads of psychic energy (Asomatus Lines) which lead to and are captured by Astral Shards. They also represent the only known links to Astral Shards." The lines "traverse the Shadow Realm" and "also serve to anchor Astral Shards/Domains with the Material. They are bound to the fabric of the material and feed energies in both directions." They explain the geography of worship: "Theologians speculate that important shrines and temples are located at positions that intersect with the Shadow Realm adjacent to or near an Asomatus connection that feeds Astral Shards", and the reach of a god, since "more powerful shards have more lines that spread across greater distances" (S001). Astral beings "often empower local shades to protect these entrances to their demesne." The shards and their holders are on the Astral Plane page.
Denizens¶
- Shades: "Emotions give rise to sentient beings bound together with Psychic energy and combined thought and emotion. Lesser Shades are extremely numerous" (S001). In the Sancturi campaign a Shade is also what a wizard becomes who has "merged with the shadow realm"; such a one "must rest in the shadow realm" and can walk through it (S174). The Shade form itself is Creatures' matter.
- Shadow Abominations: "The shadow realm was the early discard pile for failed Einar creations. Many abominations and aberrations are imprisoned in its depths. Some have escaped and adapted to a sort of life in the Shadow Realm, some working towards ways to manifest themselves back on the material" (S001, S013). A creature with "Shadow-realm phasing" hunted the docks of Floren (S170), and the great hollow at Alghert was found to have infected the Shadow Realm too, where "a Great Mental Shadow Beast" dwelt (S181).
- Demons, perhaps: the Revision's "Demon origin theory Delta" holds that "Demons are negative energy Shades. As the Einar drew psychic energy from the Shadow Realm to the Astral, it created an energy deficit on the material ... which formed as negative energy shades: Demons. Supporting evidence: New Demons seem to arrive/spawn in the Shadow Realm" (S001). The competing theories are on Origin of Demons.
Layering, visitors and magic¶
The Shadow Realm is the first step out from the Material on the astral chain: Astral ⟷ Rift / Netherworld / Abyss ⟷ Shadow Realm ⟷ Material (S001). "Either Material or Astral forms may visit the Shadow Plane. Note that magic does not function here. However, strong minds can find it possible to alter or bring things into existence in the shadow realm. With training and experience, some powerful beings are able to wholly bend the plane to their will" (S001, S013). The archive cosmology explains the failure of magic by "the lack of connections with any energy plane" and excepts Astral magic (S421). The newest magic notes agree in substance: Astral Law does not extend to the Shadow, which was "not created by the Creators", and divine energy is not available there (S205). From the Material side the plane can still be worked: the Animus sphere is "the sphere of thought, the mind and the Shadow Plane", and the Shadow college "the study of the border between Material and Shadow Realms" (S205; Shadow magic as "manipulations of the shadow realm" in S371). The augur's art "works directly with the Ethereal Plane and Shadow Planes and their relation to thought, memory and reasoning" (S395). The Celestial colleges count the Shadow among the Outer Planes they manipulate (S208, S304). Apparitions of the dead exist "partially on the material, shadow and astral planes" (S296).
The plane has become part of the Rift's structure: the decay of the Mithis shard "has caused the shard-space to merge with the Shadow Realm and punctured holes directly through to the Material" (S001); see the Rift.
Earlier accounts¶
The Cosmology of 2022 and the archive cosmology class the Shadow Realm as a Transitory Plane, "connected to the Material, Ethereal, Astral, and Elemental Planes" (S013, S421). The history of the earlier ages has the Shadow forged by the Einar after the Primordial War, with the Astral and Ethereal, "so that they could control and make use of the intelligences that would drift in from the Void" (S386); the newest account makes it older than creation (S205). The Acadian notes connect the Shadow Realms to the Astral Plane as "the outer plane crossroads" and count Shadow among its energies (S358). A curse-boon of the Sancturi campaign let its bearer open gates "to the shadow realm, astral plane, abyssal, elemental planes or ethereal plane" (S178), a reminder that the planes a traveller can reach have varied with the magic of the age.
Gap
No source names any pocket of formed thought, any resident of one, or any powerful being known to bend the plane. Nothing says how far the "edges" extend before the depths begin, or whether the Asomatus Lines can be seen.