The Shadow World

The Shadow World is a world of  magic and mystery, and of daring deeds in the face of sometimes overwhelming odds. And it is so on many levels.

The learned of the Shadow World know of it's nature. It's a world hanging in the balance, very literally speaking. Fully one half of the planet, the East, is caught behind a dimensional veil, in a reality that defies our own. This fact lends the many wondrous powers of magic to the world, but it is also a constant cause for concern. Will the balance tip? Will the world be swallowed up by the chaotic forces of shifting levels of existence? Well, maybe , but only a few dedicated and highly powerful individuals of human and not-so-human origin operate in direct connection to these questions.

To the run-of-the-mill adventurous observer, Shadow World is a vast and diverse world where a number of continents and islands dot the western hemisphere. On each of these continents, kingdoms and empires struggle for dominance and control, and people live out quite ordinary lifes toiling the earth, making plows or constructing machines. Shadow World has a wider technological spread than the average fantasy world, ranging from peoples living in the stone age to empires living the Renaissance (sans the guns. The Shadow World lacks a fastburning chemical compound that can take the place of gunpowder).

Behind the daily lives of the peoples of Shadow World lies the Essænce. This force of magic is a consequence of the unique position of the planet, and it can be felt everywhere. Invisible to the eye, the Essænce permeates all things, but some places more than others. Invisible rivers and streams of magical energy circle the globe, sometimes causing storms or coriolis lights or other meteorological phenomena, events that often have profound effects upon places, people or creatures caught within them.

The Essænse can be utilised by magicians and priests of various types to create wondrous feats of magic. It also allows strange powers to develop in individuals, and evolution bears the mark of magic ever present. All kinds of creatures and folk walk the Shadow World, all striving for excellence and selfdetermination. Some will always do this on the backs of others, and many tyrants exist to be battled.

The close connections with other dimensions also allow mystical demons and spirits to enter the Shadow World from time to time. Cataclysms have riddled history, with periods of rebuilding in between. The Loremasters, wise elves and men, struggle to cushion the bad times and  enlighten the world while working to curb evil influences. Their task is a lonely and enormous one. A prime adversary is the minions of the Unlife, a little understood but eeriely intelligent force of destruction that seems to walk hand in hand with the Essænce.

Shadow World thus also becomes a world of veils behind veils. You can never be sure that things are as they seem, if some darker (or even lighter) plot lies behind seemingly straightforward happenings, if doers of good are in fact agents of darkness or vice versa.

As a GM you have the option of portraying the Shadow World in a number of different guises, mixing them (or not) as you please. High heroic fantasy or dark, dismal and hopeless horror - the times and troubles of the Shadow World hold the potential for all fantastic genres.

Welcome to

Shadow World