Shadowfell

The Plane of Shadow was one of the planes of existence in various cosmological models. Its purpose and characteristics evolved as new cosmologies were formulated. Other names for this plane included Shadowland, the Demi-Plane of Shadow, the Shadowfell, and simply Shadow. "It is the toxic plane of darkness and power. It is the hidden place that hates the light. It is the frontier of worlds unknown."

Shadow Plane in the Great Wheel Model
When the Great Wheel cosmology was in vogue, the Plane of Shadow was considered only a demiplane. Demiplanes formed out of the proto-matter that ebbed and flowed about the Ethereal Plane, creating a finite plane with its own Border Ethereal whenever a critical mass was achieved. The largest of these was called the Demiplane of Shadow, and was made up of both positive and negative energy in equal measure. For those traveling through the Ethereal Plane, the curtain of vaporous color for the Demiplane of Shadow was the color silver. Wizards could shadow walk directly to the edge of the Shadow Plane and travelers could use this plane as a transitive plane to traverse many Prime Material miles/kilometers very quickly. If any were brave enough to cross the Demiplane of Shadow, it was possible to find the borders of other planes of reality.

Very little was known about the Shadow Plane other than it was a dim and dismal place, home to a mysterious form of undead called shadows, other "shadow" creatures such as the shadow mastiff and shadow dragon, and a race of humanoids known as shades. Known as "shadowstuff", the material of the Shadow Plane could be manipulated by illusionists to form semi-real monsters and quasi-real evocations that were still effective (to a lesser degree) even if the target successfully disbelieved the illusion.

Shadow Plane in the World Tree Model
When the World Tree cosmology model was introduced, the Plane of Shadow was upgraded to an infinite plane that coexisted with the Prime Material Plane&mdash;touching it at all points and having the same basic geography &mdash;but only accessible at night or from shady areas using the shadow walk spell. Naturally occurring intermittent portals called vortices appeared between this plane and the Material Plane in seemingly random areas of heavy shade or darkness. The entry and exit point of a vortex were unpredictable as was their duration, lasting a few days at most. The Plane of Shadow was no longer connected to the Ethereal Plane, even though it was coexistent with it. Rapid movement between points of the Prime were still possible by stepping into the Shadow Plane and skirting the edge before stepping back into the Prime, but arriving at a particular destination was much less precise than before. Intrepid travelers could still reach other universes by traversing the Shadow Plane and locating the border with an alien world such as Oerth for example.

Description
The most striking and immediate impression a visitor to the Plane of Shadow experienced was the lack of color and light; no sun, moon, or stars adorned the vault of the inky black sky, and all things looked as if the color had leeched out, leaving nothing but black and white, which in the dimness were more like "dark black" and "light black". Sources of illumination only penetrated half as far as normal, flames and fires put out less heat, and spells that dealt with light or fire were less predictable and prone to failure. Shadow spells on the other hand, were enhanced. On the other hand, any normal light source on the plane could be spotted at a distance of up to ten times its normal range of illumination, such was the contrast to the constant gloom. Even a light source that only put out shadowy illumination, like a darkness spell or a lantern burning shadowlight oil, could be seen up to five times its range of illumination.

Gravity and time were the same on the Shadow Plane as on the Prime, but because the Shadow Plane was magically morphic (and divinely morphic in the realms of Shar and Mask) the landscape was a dark, twisted echo of what existed on the Prime. Upon entering the Plane of Shadow, the local features were usually quite similar: casting shadow walk in a forest put you in a shadow forest; casting it under water dropped you in a similar body of water, etc. But from that starting point, the landscape diverged rapidly away from the familiar, and on subsequent visits from the same starting point it diverged in different ways, making mapping the Shadow Plane a useless endeavor. Landmarks were usually recognizable but altered in some bizarre way: buildings might be constructed in a different style, built with different materials, at a different location, and/or in any condition from dilapidated ruins to its normal appearance, for example, or otherwise strange and distorted. Similar sites were sometimes called "shadow-analogues".

Due to the ever-changing landscape, the Plane of Shadow was subject to relatively frequent but very small earthquakes (called shadow quakes) that resembled an earthquake spell in an area about two hundred feet (sixty meters) in diameter. For those on the ground, damage was equivalent to a Prime earthquake, but shadow quakes could also disrupt the shadow walk spell and dump unfortunate travelers onto the Shadow Plane in the middle of the disturbance at a place very likely unknown and far from their destination.

Some areas on the Plane of Shadow seemed to have an affinity with the Negative Energy Plane and life-draining undead such as shadows, ghosts, and vampires. These "darklands" had a minor negative-dominant trait and unprotected visitors immediately felt the life force being sucked from their bodies&mdash;unless they exited the darkland quickly, all that was left of them was a pile of ash. Someone with protection from negative energy could stop and admire the utter desolation in an otherwise forlorn landscape, and perhaps make the acquaintance of the truly inimical undead. Thankfully, no natural vortices opened into darklands regions, preventing the unwary from stepping through into almost certain death, and keeping the creatures that thrived there from having easy access to other planes. Material Plane locations such as desecrated burial mounds, haunted battlefields, and necromantic foci frequently had a darkland echo on the Shadow Plane.

Other less dangerous but quite unsettling echoes occurred in areas analogous to towns and cities in the Prime Material Plane. They were nothing more than mirages, but familiar faces and places seen through the macabre mirror of the Shadow Plane could be very demoralizing. Structures might appear altered, dislocated, destroyed, or replaced entirely by something else. Mirages of the living had visages of distorted nightmares, but were still recognizable enough to give travelers a jolt of fear and revulsion.

Air, water, and food existed on this plane, supporting plants, animals, and some humanoids adapted to the shadow environment. Visitors could survive indefinitely if they were willing to endure thick, foul-smelling water, food that oozed dark blood, and a pervasive nip of cold in the air. A visitor could never feel warm, would often hear or sense the presence of things that weren't there, and could never shake the feeling of being watched. It was a constantly unsettling place. Over time, exposure to the Plane of Shadow altered living things, increasing various traits and abilities but also some vulnerabilities. Emotions and the ability to experience them seemed to fade over time for those imbued with shadowstuff.

The morphic nature of the Shadow Plane could produce strange effects, mainly in areas like the Black Rift that were especially morphic, and with events that had a particular affinity with the plane, like death. For example, in the Black Rift alone, a pile of bodies caused more skeletons to appear, until there were thousands. More bizarre were the strange biers upon which dead bodies spontaneously appeared, apparently drawn from wherever they rested, anywhere in existence, only to disappear after a few seconds, presumably to wherever they'd come from. Stalactites in a cave dripped ephemeral shadowstuff, which was reabsorbed into the plane rather than form a puddle. Even common mushrooms bore realistic humanoid faces, capable of twitching or blinking. More significantly, forests of grasping tendrils sprouted from some surfaces and reached for passersby, similar to the black tentacles spell.

Inhabitants
Probably the most dominant race of beings on the Plane of Shadow were the shades&mdash;ancestors of ancient Netherese humans who resided on the plane in their floating city for centuries and acquired many abilities from immersion in shadow essence. Malaugryms may have been superior to shades, having the advantage of being shapeshifters and practically immortal unless killed in some fashion; but their small numbers, fierce independence, and difficulty in mastering interplanar travel made them much less organized and effective.

Other creatures that were either native to the plane or attracted to it included bodaks, cloakers, darkweavers, ephemera of all kinds, veserabs, liches, nightshades, shadar-kai, undead shadows,  shadow dragons, shadow mastiffs,  shadurakul, spectres, and wraiths. Occasionally, animals and monsters would wander or fall into a vortex to the Shadow Plane and become trapped there. Those that survived eventually took on shadow-given abilities, carved out a niche in the ecosystem, and preyed on whatever attracted their attention. Examples included apes, basilisks, bears, owlbears, rats, umber hulks, and wolves. Such creatures could give rise to dark creatures, shadowy counterparts of natural creatures.

Shadow demons also inhabited this plane. These fiends were responsible for the creation of the race known as krinth, having interbred with Netherese slaves.

Realms
Only two deities were known to have claimed the Plane of Shadow as their home:
 * Mask, the Master of all Thieves and Lord of Shadows had a realm on this plane called Shadow Keep. It was made out of shadowstuff and was extremely difficult to see even when standing right next to it.
 * Shar, Mistress of the Night and Lady of Loss, once resided in a high tower called the Palace of Loss. It had no apparent means of entry or exit, but her followers had no trouble gaining access. She sometimes kept prisoners there so she could enjoy their suffering. After the Spellplague, she moved her abode to the Towers of Night and left behind a deep dark hole guarded by evil creatures. This Foundation of Loss exuded palpable grief and was reported to contain a portal to her home in the Towers of Night.

History
The earliest known conscious interaction of the peoples of Toril with the Plane of Shadow was in the time of the Imaskari empire. In the Late period, circa &minus;3500 DR, the archwizard Madryoch the Ebon Flame was focused on researching the secrets of the Shadow Plane and plotted to use its dark power to overthrow Lord Artificer Omanond. His plans were thwarted by a young adept named Hilather. Knowledge of the existence of the Plane of Shadow was presumably lost with the fall of the Imaskari empire because it was some three thousand years later, in the Year of Plentiful Wine, &minus;533 DR, that the Netherese rediscovered it and began their study.

In 1235 DR, the Black Horde attacked Faerûn. The Horde defeated Eldrith the Betrayer, who would go on to betray Baldur's Gate. They killed her and she was reborn out of hatred. In her soul of hatred, the Onyx Tower was created and tied to her life. The Onyx Heart was located in the Plane of Shadow and only with its destruction could the Onyx Tower be destroyed.

An adventurer and their companions were exploring the ruined Netherese city of Undrentide in the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR. In an Arcanist's Tower, they slipped through portals into its dark reflection on the Shadow Plane, where they encountered shades. The adventurer later escaped impending doom by traveling back to the Plane of Shadow using a magic mirror.

Although the souls of the dead did not begin to be drawn to the Shadow Plane until after the Spellplague and Shar transformed it into the Shadowfell, it was possible to trap a soul there. Notably, this happened to a king of Damara, Gareth Dragonsbane, in the Year of Rogue Dragons, 1373 DR, by a cabal of wizards allied to the lich Sammaster. King Gareth's soul was rescued in the following year by a phalanx of paladins led by the smoke drake Brimstone.

In the Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR, Sharran and Cyricist cultists based in the Shadow Swamp on the Plane of Shadow, plotted to tear apart the Weave from the Black Rift. Adventurers pursued them through the Dusk Lord's Passage to the Shadow Swamp and disrupted their efforts, and found the Black Chronology among their detritus. That same year, a rift to the Shadow Plane was opened in the skies over Sembia and the city of Ordulin was destroyed when a shadowy tract of land fell on it.

In 1376 DR, eight brave heroes ventured into the Plane of Shadow and defeated one of its guardians, Mordoc SeLanmere, and destroyed the Onyx Heart.

Notable Locations

 * Chaulssin : Located almost ten miles (sixteen kilometers) below the surface of northwest Faerûn, beneath the northernmost peak of the Rauvin Mountains, this was originally a drow city that was captured by shadow dragons in the Year of Shambling Shadows, &minus;221 DR. Under the influence of shadow dragons for hundreds of years, the city was slowly absorbed by the Plane of Shadow until their overthrow in the Year of the Darkspawn, 634 DR. Abandoned in the Year of the Splendid Stag, 734 DR, the fringe of the Shadow Plane continued to ebb and flow through streets and buildings filled with dangerous Shadow creatures. Chaulssin was reestablished in the Year of the Shadowkin Return, 1136 DR, by House Jaezred as a base for the shadow dragon–blooded drow assassins.
 * Chaul'mur'ssin : This city was established on the Plane of Shadow by the inhabitants of Chaulssin after fleeing an advancing army from Menzoberranzan in 734 DR. The Chaulssinyr hastily traveled through dangerous caverns until they found the abandoned lairs of their shadow dragon progenitors and claimed them, eking out an existence. Eventually the city thrived and became a power that demanded respect.
 * Mulsantir : Travel between the Shadow Plane and the Prime Material Plane was possible in certain places in Mulsantir at certain times of day. Shadow Mulsantir contained a Temple of Myrkul, in the place where a Shrine to Kelemvor stood on the Prime. Within this temple was found a portal leading to Kelemvor's domain, the Fugue Plane.
 * Shadow Swamp : The Vast Swamp between Cormyr and Sembia had a Shadow Plane counterpart, called the Shadow Swamp. Although the environment was similar in many ways, it was a great black swamp, where the water was dark and still and only moved sluggishly through the channels. Nevertheless, the landscape was different; there seemed to be more water than in the fast-growing Vast Swamp. Sites in the Vast Swamp had echoes here: the Lost Refuge in the material world had a counterpart in the so-called Shadow Citadel, which followed the same plan but was even more ruined. A portal called the Dusk Lord's Passage linked the two. On the other hand, a flooded fissure that formed an ordinary lakebed in the Vast Swamp was reflected in an empty canyon in the Shadow Swamp, known as the Black Rift. Swamp water flowed in on all sides, yet the water at the bottom never rose and never seemed to drain out, an entirely unexplained phenomena of the plane. The Black Rift was especially morphic—although it remained more-or-less the same shape overall, local changes in terrain were extreme and bizarre. The interplay between the magical Weave and the Shadow Weave was especially malleable, a trait which attracted the followers of Shar.
 * Sphur Upra : Located nine miles (over fourteen kilometers) below the surface of east Faerûn, between the surface nations of Mulhorand and Murghôm, this city was established on the Shadow Plane in &minus;2954 DR by five gloaming families seeking security and community. After almost 3,500 years, they expanded their city by creating portals to the Material Plane in the Year of the Spitting Viper, 534 DR, and became a major trading post for goods between the two planes.
 * Thultanthar (City of Shade) : This floating enclave of Netherese origin entered the Plane of Shadow just before Karsus's Folly brought down the empire in Year of Sundered Webs, &minus;339 DR. Over the centuries, its population acclimated to the new environment and became known as shades. In the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, Thultanthar was brought back to the Material Plane and became known as the City of Shade. The inhabitants then began the rebuilding of the Netherese empire.

Phenomena
An unsuccessful attempt to build a gate to the Shadow Plane could result in what was termed a failed Shadow Gate. A being that stepped through one was taken only momentarily to the Plane of Shadow, but in that moment a "seed of shadow" was implanted in their flesh. This could cause their flesh to be subsumed by shadow, and they would see it mist away into darkness. Many died, reduced to bare skeletons, but those who survived acquired the powers of a dark creature.

Rumors and Legends
The special and unique nature of this plane caused not only cosmologists to speculate about its origins, but visitors and planar travelers as well. Some believed the Plane of Shadow had spontaneously formed as a demiplane out of the Ethereal Plane. Others believed that it was created by the primordials as an echo of the Prime Material Plane.

However, most cosmologists and planeswalkers with a sense of adventure liked to talk about the legend of the Shining Citadel. Briefly, the legend postulated that the Plane of Shadow was once bright and colorful like the Material Plane, but at some point in the distant past a mysterious group who worshiped the plane's creator took all of the light, color, and most of the life-force from the rest of the plane and concentrated it into a mighty citadel. One would think that a structure containing most of the energy from an entire plane of existence would be hard to miss, but no one has ever found the Shining Citadel, except perhaps, as the legend states, those who venture into the deepest parts of the Plane of Shadows and never return.

A theory bandied about among sages stated that the Underdark was bottomless because it eventually became the Plane of Shadow. The only evidence supporting this hypothesis was that permanent portals to the Shadow Plane were increasingly common the deeper one delved.

Shadow Plane in the World Axis Model
In 1385 DR, the Year of Blue Fire, Shar succeeded in engineering the murder of Mystra by Cyric, plunging the multiverse into years of upheaval and chaos called the Spellplague. The Elemental and Energy Planes collapsed into the Elemental Chaos but not before Shar managed to manipulate some of the necrotic energies from the Negative Energy Plane and inject it into the Plane of Shadow. Such was the power of this combination that the souls of the dead began to be drawn to this altered plane and had to pass through it before reaching their final judgment on the Fugue Plane. Shar called her new creation the Shadowfell.

Appearances

 * Novels:
 * The Shadow Stone
 * Adventures:
 * Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave
 * Video games:
 * Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
 * Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II
 * Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide
 * Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer