The Shadowfell
A place where the lines between thought, matter, spirit, and space are blurred. The souls of living creatures pass over to the Shadowfell after death, where The Raven Queen guides them, cares for them, and rules over them for as long as they remain. Where they go from here, no mortal knows.
A Landscape of Thought
In the Shadowfell, the line between thought and reality is nebulous. For the untrained mind, this is a hazard. Many living creatures who cross the veil find themselves in a nightmare-scape populated by their greatest fears. For the well-trained however, it can be an asset—and because the Plane of Shadow runs parallel to the Prime Material, it's one that can be useful even in the land of the living. Wizards bend the material world to their will by exploiting the thought-sensitive properties of the Plane of Shadow. For this reason, in some cultures, wizardry is considered an art rather than a science and referred to as "shadow weaving."Mirror World
The basic geography in most of the Plane of Shadow mirrors and parallels the material plane, but twisted and warped into a confusing nightmare version. In many places, you can even find shadowy copies of people, which mirror what the real thing is doing on the other side. This allows those on the Plane of Shadow who know what they're doing to easily monitor events on the material plane, and sometimes even interfere, without risk of being detected. For the undisciplined mind, however, this method can be unreliable and even dangerous. The Shadowfell's geography is also notoriously nebulous. It is, by definition, a place where space and distance are fluid and ever-changing. Because of this, traditional navigation is utterly useless there, even in an area that parallels a location one is intimately familiar with on the material plane.Fauna & Flora
The Shadowlands are inhabited by the wandering souls of the dead, and much stranger things native to the Shadowfell itself, their natures every bit as inscrutable and alien as the plane the call home.
History
Before the Raven Queen ruled the Land of the Dead, The Unliving Prince sat on her throne, and before that The Grim Reaper occupied it for untold eons. It is said that whoever sits on the throne of the dead rules over this plane only by leave of The Shadowlord, its true master. It is hotly debated by theologians and scholars whether the All-Knowing One created the Shadowfell or the plane and its master came into being together.
RPG Note
The Plane of Shadow takes the place of the Ethereal Plane and the Astral Plane for the purposes of any spells or abilities that require such a plane.
Alternative Name(s)
The Plane of Shadow, Land of the Dead, The Other Side, Beyond the Veil, the Shadowlands, the Upside-Down, the Ethereal Plane, the Aether
Type
Dimensional plane
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Related Myths
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