The Shadowfell (“plane of shadows”; “shadow realm” in Decadian doctrine) is a cosmological plane parallel to the material plane, with a membrane that is porous in specific places. It is not an outer plane like Ysgard, Limbo, Arborea or the infernal realms.
| Type | Place (parallel plane) |
| Pole | Intermediate negative pole |
| Houses of the Cycle | ☷ Descent · ⛓ Band |
| Spanish entry | Shadowfell |
Nature
Where shadow gathers unchallenged — caverns, ancient substructures, closed forests, abandoned buildings — the membrane weakens and crossing is possible. It is not the negative of the material plane but its other face: light there is an echo of light, presence is attenuated.
Creatures
- Skulks: formless figures adapted to dim light, acting in groups.
- Darklings (oscuros, a popular term from Mascor Blancarba): occasional crossers into the material, without unified taxonomy.
- Intelligent operators who move between planes, chiefly Drakthar.
- Shadow-beasts, animal echoes, incorporeal presences.
Membranes
- Yathrebu beneath Caldero, left partly open by ancient ritual; Drakthar’s base.
- The uchronic Catacombs of Paris, used at times by the Time Bandits.
- Sublevels of the Ardis Vala Mega-Dungeon.
- Deep caverns of Vala Cristalis, where serpentine and Shadowfell doctrine coexist without fusing.
Contained porosity keeps the balance; a fully opened membrane would let the Shadowfell penetrate the material.
Traffic with the Underdark through adjacent caverns is suspected. The Ante-Inferno has membranes toward it in the Pit; Adam the Harlequin has crossed both. There is no direct crossing to the classical infernal planes.
Bonds
- Sila of La Jabalina has a Shadowfell bond from her monastic origin; the plane could reclaim her, as in Yathrebu during the Path of Drakthar. She chose the group, and keeps choosing it.
- Lesser operators tied to Drakthar; figures of the Company of Laughter (possible indirect influence, unconfirmed).
- Tony Malatesta has negotiated with its operators; Teo, the Armless Paladin lost his arm in a Shadowfell operation.
- A crossing is suspected at the Chamber of the Whispering Masks; the Arian Line operates adjacent to the plane; Lucky’s arc may turn against it.