Realms of Shadow

Realms of Shadow, edited by Lizz Baldwin, is the eighth anthology of stories from the Forgotten Realms. The stories follow the Return of the Archwizards trilogy and many are about the lost nation of Netheril.

"When Shade Enclave returns from thousands of years of exile in the Plane of Shadow, all of Faerûn is open to its dark designs.

When a tribe of kenku confront the archwizard who gave them magic but kept them as slaves, the skies rain death.

When a knight of Cormyr journeys to the ruins of Tilverton, he begins to understand the terrifying power of the archwizards.

When phaerimm roam the world, enslaving orc and human alike, the great powers of the world must depend on an ally as deadly as their enemy."

Trial By Ordeal
By Lisa Smedman

The Year of Perditions Flame -470 DR

Lord High Justice Andoris Derathar of Karsus Enclave must solve the mystery of a crime, the theft of a wizards notes concerning the Nether Scrolls, committed by either an enchantress or her shadow double, but neither have any memory of the events..

Assassin's Shadow
By Jess Lebow

The Year of Emerald Groves -467 DR

The Low Netherese raider Cy is recruited by his commander to assassinate Lord Shadow of Shade Enclave. Little does he know that his commander, Lume, has sent countless others like him to accomplish this task before him, and none have succeeded..

Too Long in the Dark
By Paul S. Kemp

The Year of Sundered Webs -339 DR

The powerful Netherese archwizard Zossimus is content in his lavish mansion on Shade Enclave, even as the Princes of Shade have straddled it on the border of the Plane of Shadow, leaving the enclave to float in eternal twilight. But as Karsus challenges Mystryl for her divinity and the Weave fails the twelve princes draw upon the Shadow Weave to keep the city flying, pulling it wholly into the dark demiplane. Yet Zossimus' wife despairs of living forever in the dark..

Darksword
By Troy Denning

20 Flamerule, the Year of the Moat 1269 DR

Melegaunt Tanthul a Prince of Shade Enclave and powerful shadow mage seeks out Bodvar of the Moor Eagles. Bodvar is a proud Vaasan, leader of his clan. The powerful wizard saves Bodvar, but the wise northlander is weary of the mages mysterious magic, and rightfully so. And as the Vassans take up the swords crafted by the archmage to defend themselves against anihilation, the clan enters into a dark bond with Shade Enclave..

Liar's Game
By Jessica Beaven

The Year of Starfall 1300 DR

That Curious Sword
By R. A. Salvatore

Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle are offered a job by a barman in a tavern in Heliogabalus to recover an idol. They break in and find it but are confronted by a shade and his shadow mastiffs. He forshadows the return of the netherese and offers an alliance with them in exchange for Charon's claw, revealing it to be a netherese item. Entreri refuses and they begin to fight. Seeming to want to go back to a shade, Charon's claw resists Entreri so the assassin kills his opponent with his vampiric dagger instead. Jarlaxle holds up a mirror to the victorious human to reveal his skin has turned slightly grey, theorizing that he has absorbed some of the shade's essence.

A Little Knowledge
By Elaine Cunningham

Astride the Wind
By Philip Athans

The Fallen Lands
By Murray J. D. Leeder

When Shadows Come Seeking a Throne
By Ed Greenwood

King Shadow
By Richard Lee Byers

The Shifting Sands
By Peter Archer