Shadow Council

They thrive in the darkest hours, with whispers that breed chaos. Beware the Shadow Council, for they are twilight’s lurking dread.

- Sagecaster Friwind, Eldermage of the Gray Company

A chill wind whispers through the haunted halls of ruined Oz Malid, Veilmarrow, and Duskreach. It carries a name that has inspired dread across the ages; the Shadow Council.

Like warlords and assassins whose terrifying tales are written in blood, so too, this covert brotherhood makes its mark. The Council, also known as the Veiled Hand, has carved its name into the very fabric of Summerdark’s history. A signature written with a more insidious ink; fear.

Sagecaster Friwind once said to me, "'A storm is coming,’ and at its eye, lurks the malevolent Shadow Council to claim us all. At least, they might if we aren’t ready for them.’"

- Danrion Uave, herbalist, historian, and member of the Embermyst Fellowship

Surviving the cataclysmic fall of the Age of Twilight, this clandestine brotherhood endured to weave their twisted narrative across each age. Their work is a tapestry of shadow and flame, fear and manipulation, all for their twisted dreams to reforge Summerdark into their vision of a draconian order. Plans created to suit the pleasure of the reining Gorgon Lord.

So, after the dark end of the Third Age and the bloody years of the Betrayer War, a single question remains. Are the Free Peoples truly free from the clutching grasp of the Shadow Council? Or are they living in the calm before the storm?

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Structure

Only a little is known about the Council and how they are organized. What anyone knows comes from scattered records recovered from their strongholds by moorstriders, Embermyst Fellowship members, and others at great personal risk.

Like any organization that peddles power and manipulation, the Council maintains a strict structure. A hierarchy designed so that only the leadership knows the group’s full, and ultimate, plans. This gives them layers of armor. Protection against others like the Gray Company, who try to capture members of the Shadow Council to uncover the group’s dark schemes.

The Council has four Spheres, shrouded in secrecy, with the innermost Sphere having the most control and power over the organization.

Gorgon’s Voice

The darkest and innermost Sphere are the Gorgon’s Voice, a single person or group that rumor says can communicate with the current Gorgon Lord. It’s their job to interpret the will and plans of the Gorgon Lord, and craft their own to further the Council’s influence. This is the most powerful of the Spheres, and the most secretive.

Symbol of the Shadow Council by Kummer Wolfe

Founding Date

Unknown. Rumored to be from the Age of Twilight before the First Age. Was first mentioned in the Second Age.

Type

Secret, Brotherhood

Alternative Names

The Veiled Hand

A Crack in the Armor

The Shadow Council, for all its power and influence, isn’t without an Achilles’ heel. Their main strength of shrouded secrecy is also their greatest weakness. The Council’s reliance on encoded messages and hidden intermediaries is effective for control. But it also leaves them vulnerable to internal threats.

If rumors are to be believed, this internal strife has crippled the Shadow Council more than once over the course of their long and bloody history. Their intricate web of secrecy is a formidable barrier. But it also acts as a breeding ground for treachery, deceit, and internal power struggles. So their desire for absolute control over the Free Peoples might be the very tool that could unravel their tightly knit tapestry of corruption.

Meeting of the Council by Kummer Wolfe

No one knows the true name or names of the Gorgon’s Voice. Of all the Spheres, only the Obsidian Circle communicates with them. When they do, the Circle does so through encoded messages and intermediaries which might even be members of the Gorgon’s Voice themselves.

Obsidian Circle

Outside the Gorgon’s Voice lies the Obsidian Circle, the Council’s main governing body. They are comprised of the most potent arcansmiths. These corrupt mages directly report to the Gorgon’s Voice and manage the aspects of the Shadow Council and its plans. They are also believed to be the ones who control the Midnight Forge and oversee the arcane activities of the Council.

Veiled Cabals

These are small groups of arcansmiths and other practitioners that operate in various parts of Summerdark, carrying out the orders of the Obsidian Circle. Each Cabal works independently to a degree if it fulfills the goals set by the Circle. They act as the eyes and ears of the Council, carrying out the Shadow Council’s dark designs in far regions.

The Shrouded

These are the foot soldiers of the Council. Their informants, assassins, and others that are used to spread chaos and achieve the Council’s goals. Typically, the Shrouded’s ranks are filled with corrupted members of the Skarn Tribes or other individuals manipulated into service of the Shadow Council.

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Culture

Even the air darkens when the Shadow Council convenes, whispering cryptic secrets in a language woven from dread. Their culture is as an eclipse; an insidious dance of darkness that seeks to suffocate the light.

- Sagecaster Friwind, Eldermage of the Gray Company

Culture is not a word easily applied to a group like the Shadow Council. Their culture, if it could be called that, is shrouded in enigma and ambiguity. But, in the end, becomes something of a ‘culture’ for them.

The Shadow Council’s culture is built on a foundation of secrecy, hidden loyalties, and its sinister hierarchy of its Spheres. Their strength lies in the mastery of manipulation and trafficking of secrets. This is reflected in their dealings with each other as much as those they influence.

Their language and means of communication are cryptic. Intricate codes and sigils that are the cornerstone of their correspondence. It is the cornerstone of their security, but also shows the high value they place on intelligence and the art of subterfuge in their brotherhood.

The Council’s rituals and practices, rooted in secrecy, are intertwined with the sinister essence of the Midnight Forge. It’s a dark thread that drives them to exhibit a ruthless pragmatism, that isn’t swayed by morality or honor that the Free Peoples cherish. In fact, the reverence the Council holds for the Midnight Forge and its twisted essence acts as a dark mirror to how the Free Peoples have for light, life, and freedom.

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History

No work about the Shadow Council would be complete without a mention of their history. This corrupt group is rumored to be ancient and may even predate the First Age. Some stories, which are almost myth, whisper that the Shadow Council was born from the ashes of the lost civilizations. Ones that perished during the Age of Twilight, leaving the Shadow Council to survive the cataclysm that reshaped the world.

Many believe that the Shadow Council carries with them forbidden knowledge and magic from that antique age. One of these forbidden and corrupting items would be the infamous Midnight Forge itself. Though, some believe the Council was created to do the mysterious bidding of the Forge itself.

But their ominous presence wasn’t widely acknowledged until near the middle of the Second Age. It was when the powerful Arcansmith, Colrin Nightsunder, notorious for his dark experiments, declared himself a member of the Shadow Council. From there, he began a reign of terror that spread over several kingdoms until his violent demise. This was the first known recorded attempt by the Shadow Council to assert dominance over the Free Peoples. But, to some historians, the truth is probably this is when they first partially attempted to emerge from their beloved shadows.