The Worldshadow

The Worldshadow, also referred to as the Shadow of the World or simply the Shadow, is the innermost reality and the metaphorical spindle around which all other reality is wound. It's the domain of Lore, god of time and darkness, and is a place of perpetual night where time stands still. Generally thought to be the 'true' version of reality which was the first to be created out of the loose magic of the Evernight, all other fixed planes mirror the Worldshadow's original state.
Common perception of the Worldshadow is of a beautiful, forbidding, and vaguely unsettling land of darkness. It's thought of with the faint awe most mortals associate with a god's realm, but few people other than the timewalkers who call it home have any real desire to visit it themselves.

Physical Qualities

The Worldshadow is physically very similar to the Old World that mortals are familiar with, though in the pristine and untouched state that existed before the birth of civilization, and has geography similar enough to remain recognizable. While it may share the same geography, however, the Worldshadow is very different from its offshoots in several fundamental ways. It's theoretically the same size, but distance and time warp strangely and travel is much faster there than in the real world. It seems to completely ignore the passage of time as it would normally apply to its inhabitants. Mortals don't age while in the Worldshadow, meaning that the timewalkers who live there are effectively immortal until exiting the shadow when called into service by their god.
The Shadow is constantly dark and the temperature is cool, while not threateningly cold; while those who live there adapt to these conditions and can see quite well, the first impression of newcomers or strangers is often of pitch darkness and bitter chill. However, it’s also a world filled with pale shadows, echoes of the real world. Crossing between worlds spills the light of day into the Shadow, if only for a fleeting moment, and it leaves a sort of afterimage for a time. In places where crossings are made frequently, the Shadow becomes a patchwork reflection of the real world composed of glimpses from many different times. These afterimages gradually fade back into darkness; typically over years, but a noticeable fade for those to whom time means nothing
The only lasting exception to the unrelenting 'night' of the plane are beacons of pale light that dot the landscape here and there, marking the places where timewalkers pledged service to Lore and entered the Shadow for the first time. Their entry causes a great flash letting other timewalkers know that another has joined their number, and leaves a pale afterimage of the world as it was at the time they crossed over. These places are thought to be a gift from Lore, a memory of their own place in time preserved in a way that will never diminish despite their unnatural lifespans and which serve as their reminder of a world that will inevitably move on without them.

Access

The Worldshadow can only be deliberately accessed by its native creatures and those who serve Lore in some capacity, though it's possible for others to accompany them. For timewalkers, travel in and out of the Shadow is typically possible only during dawn and dusk of the corresponding spot in the Old World or Genesis; for the natural inhabitants of the shadow, such as nightmares, crossover can be done at any time. The Reaper is also capable of freely crossing in and out of the Worldshadow without restriction, due to their connection to all of the Great Gods.
For whatever reason, the natural wildlife of Genesis seem capable of slipping in and out of the Worldshadow at times and seem largely unaware of the distinction between it and the natural world (though they typically only move through it in transit from one shard to another). This provides them the critical ability to maintain natural migration between shards, whether seasonal or gradual, and lessens the effects of population depletion and inbreeding. Substances such as earth, air, and water also transition in and out of the Worldshadow to some degree at the borders of Genesis. It’s thought that the shards and the Shadow are integrally tied together in their basic fabric, lending ammunition to those who believe Genesis was created directly from the Worldshadow's blueprint. It’s a topic of some speculation among magical scholars.

Rulers and Inhabitants

Lore is the undisputed ruler of the Worldshadow, and the only of the gods who lives in the inner planes of the spindle rather than the remote outer edges. It's theorized that he does so to safeguard the place against being reclaimed by the Blood Gods. Lore is thought to spend most of his time without physical form, his consciousness and awareness spread throughout the Worldshadow in its entirety, but he frequently manifests to interact with his followers in a more straightforward manner.
The Worldshadow's permanent inhabitants are primarily the timewalker servants of Lore, who make homes for themselves wherever they so choose; they have no real need to eat or sleep and a fluid perception of time, so tend to live as they please with little regard for the mortal needs that once ruled their lives. Many band together into communities for companionship during the long night of their existence, with the vast differences in their lived experiences outweighed by the solidarity of their current state.
In the distant past, the Worldshadow was also home to the original race of vampires; accordingly, that makes it the original home of the vampiric offshoots who developed into modern elves. While the elves left voluntarily to live in the light, the original vampires were destroyed in the events of the Blood Wars and the instigating members of their race were banished to the The Otherlands where they now choose to live in the unformed void of the Evernight.

Quick Facts

Inner/Outer Spindle: inner
Magic Saturation: high
Governed By: divine
Reachable: yes