Fey Courts and Servitors 101 In truth, the whole place is meant to befuddle and confound visitors, leaving them somewhat exhausted before they arrive to speak to any guild member of importance. Dead-end staircases, doors leading nowhere (but which a Blue Barber may have just exited from), secret passages, rotating fireplaces, or chimneys containing hidden stairs are all elements of the halls. The most likely destinations for visitors are often locked and marked with a sign reading “Closed for Cleaning” or simply “Closed.” Breaking into a closed chamber is grounds for expulsion or even imprisonment, though in many cases only the primary entrance is closed. A secondary, hidden, or servant’s entrance may still be perfectly serviceable. One of the stranger elements of the halls is the shrine to the Demon Lord of Night, Alquam, which can be seen primarily as an azure dome from outside the building. Choral praise to the darkness is rendered there by devotees who call themselves the Alabar Chorus and who include a half-dozen rather famous gnomish bards and jesters. It’s unclear just how sincere this group is, for they claim it is little more than a friendly gathering of wine, song, and macabre storytelling. Court of Midnight Teeth Ruler: Countess Phylomara Gladrienne, Countess of Flesh and Secrets, Mistress of Midnight Teeth, Mistress of the Blue Barbers, Patron of Gnomes, The Divine Gossip, Baroness of Gloom, Conjuror Supreme, Lady of Hungers, and Keeper of the True Mirror (see Tome of Beasts 2) Important Personages: Court Mage Trissmena Istovash, the Invisible Illusionist (LE gnome archmage); General Inspector Kubberolus Gingercrick (LE wyrd gnome field commander, see Tome of Beasts 3); Guildmaster of the Blue Barbers Garrolo Goldenlock (NE wyrd gnome bandit captain); Ingo Ingomarrick, Royal Mirror Polisher (LN erina gladiator); Keeper of Ravens Visilius Barbatus (N human keeper of ravens, see Chapter 9); Librarian-in-Chief Melora Sadrienn (LN gnome assassin) Population: 5,600 (2,300 wyrd gnomes, 1,500 umbral humans, 800 shadow fey, 500 quicksteps, 300 erina, 100 sable elves, and 100 ravenfolk) Great Gods: Hecate (patron), Ailuros, Alquam, Charun, and Santerr Illosi Trade Goods: Mirrors, scroll paper, silk cloth, fine wines, spiced sausages, illusion seeds, leatherwork, and woolens (in order of importance)
102 Book of Ebon Tides functions as the traditional seat of the Moonlit King, though he only walks its halls when the strange seasons of fey rule turn and his Winter Court ascends—a turn of events that has not been seen in centuries. It has been many years since the seasons last turned, and in all that time, the Moonlit King was banished to the faraway Tower of the Moon. Rumors run rampant now that the Moonlit King has left the Tower, and whispers circulate through the halls that he’s taken a demon lover or learned secrets of radiant magic from Hecate herself. His new cloud court drives his wife, the Queen of Night and Magic, to distraction. Whatever the truth of these whispers, the courts agree that the queen now seeks to replace her wayward king. The court functions in his absence with consorts and courtesans, servants, and the usual TOWER OF THE KEENING WINDS A prison for rebels, nobles, traitors, and unfaithful royal spouses, the Tower of the Keening Winds is made of gray-black stone and heavily warded to reveal invisible or ethereal infiltrators (who appear as glittering outlines in gold or silver while on the premises). The guards include a dozen mages and knights, led by the Commander of the Keening Tower, Kubberolus Gingercrick, and supported by two dozen trusted and carefully trained gnomish servants. The tower’s prisoners include both the serious and the ridiculous, including the ghost of Keening Kangovar (LE ghost), a swindler of the treasury; His Majestic Radiance Chancellor Umberwick (LN shadow fey ambassador, see Creature Codex), a royal pretender to the throne of the Golden Oaks; the heretical Seer of the Twin Light, called Starfire (NE shadow fey priest of Sarastra); the warlord Neeka Nook (NE shadow goblin bandit lord, see Tome of Beasts); and various arcane frauds, charlatans, and dispensers of bright, shining lies, including Yssandros the Clever (CE human mage), Arbecca Tollshi (LE shadow goblin moonshadow catcher, see Chapter 9), and the arboreal, blood magic wielder Redfur (NE bearfolk druid, see Chapter 9). The tower’s most famous royal prisoner is surely Mistress of Pearls, Baroness of the Purple Pavilion, Marina Nikla (LE gnome thief lord, see Creature Codex) a longtime companion and courtesan of Countess Phylomara, who abandoned the queen for a lover among the gnomes of the Court of Pale Roses for a time. So enraged and heartbroken was the countess that, when Nikla returned for a diplomatic visit, she seized her and locked her up. Relations with the Court of Pale Roses have been icy ever since. Court of Night and Magic Ruled by Sarastra, the Queen of Night and Magic, this is among the largest and best organized of the shadow fey courts with a central position astride several shadow roads and with towers and wardings to control those roads. The Court of Night and Magic also has a long association with mortals as well as with a number of powerful demons and devils, including connections with Akyishigal, Lord of co*ckroaches, and his roachlings and with Alquam, Lord of Night. Highborn Rulers.The true rulers of the shadow fey reside in the upper portions of the courts, in the Winter Palace and the Royal Halls. The Winter Palace
Fey Courts and Servitors 103 petitioners hanging about the entrance to the Royal Halls. The Gray Ladies dwell here, three ancient shadow fey crones with an affinity for spiders and weaving. They spend their days spinning silk and whispering to one another, searching for individuals they can use to bend fate to their whims. Ultimate power over shadow fey society rests with Her Transcendent Majesty Sarastra Aestruum, the The Nature of Shadow / from the Book of Ebon Tides My various arcanists, priests, and jesters have long debated what makes the Shadow Realm malleable and unique. My own thought is that it is both an echo of the worlds of mortals and a place whose people understand that echoes have substance—and light and radiance are every bit as powerful as elemental earth, air, fire, and water. My realm is one made of elemental light and elemental darkness, and this makes it entirely different than realms of crass clay or raging fire. Our truths and our lands can be bent to serve my vision for the elves. Court of Night and Magic Ruler: Sarastra Aestruum, the Queen of Night and Magic (see Tome of Beasts) Important Personages: Akyishigal, Demon Lord of co*ckroaches (see Tome of Beasts); Analissa, Verousha, and Lyssalyn, the Ladies of Nightbrook (NE night hag priests of Hecate); Hander Svenk, the Black Prince (see Courts of the Shadow Fey); Kaedrin Blackwing, Commander of Horn and Gold (see Tome of Beasts 2); the Lord of the Hunt (see Tome of Beasts); Revich, the Blind Seer (see Courts of the Shadow Fey); Yleira the Swift, Baroness of the Sable Court (LE shadow fey forest hunter, see Tome of Beasts) Population: 660,000 (100,000 shadow fey, 300,000 shadow goblins, and 260,000 various fey, supplicants, and traders) Major Enclaves: Corremel, the City of Lanterns, population 50,000 (see Corremel, the City of Lanterns above); Hunt’s Retreat, population 7,700 (4,000 shadow fey, 3,000 shadow goblins, 500 wyrd gnomes, and 200 umbral humans); Dalliance, population 5,300 (see Dalliance below); Wormwood, population 3,500 (1,800 shadow fey, 900 shadow goblins, and 800 wyrd gnomes); Tower of Horn and Gold, population 600 (see Tower of Horn and Gold below); Court of Night and Magic, population 300 (150 shadow fey, 100 shadow goblins, and 50 supplicants to the court); Nightbrook Court, population 100 (see Nightbrook below); Sable Court, population 100 (shadow fey) Great Gods: Sarastra (patron), Anu-Akma, Charun, the Hunter, and Laughing Loki Trade Goods: Secrets, fey wine, metalwork, jewelry, memories, illumination magic, and shadow magic (in order of importance)
104 Book of Ebon Tides Queen of Night and Magic. She dwells in the Royal Halls along with the upper crust of shadow fey society. Only the most respected supplicants receive invitations to enter the Royal Halls for audience, and of these, most receive only a sliver of the queen’s attention. They make their obeisance, ask a favor, and quickly get handed off to court functionaries. A lucky few, however, manage to catch the queen’s interest. No matter the apparent circ*mstance, this always furthers the queen’s designs or appeases a momentary whim. Her Majesty’s direct attention is never taken lightly, and sudden alliances or rivalries spontaneously spring up around visitors so “blessed.” The Royal Halls also host honored guests, usually envoys from other fey courts. The courts also contain a strange pit called the Black Well of Night. A cavern at the bottom of this well houses Akyishigal, the Demon Lord of Roaches, and his roachling servants, creatures of filth and evil. The demon lord chafes under his current servitude to the queen and seeks potential allies to turn the tide against his “hostess” and win his freedom. HUNT’S RETREAT Nestled at the midpoint of a hunting path between the road bisecting the forest and the cliffs of the courts of the shadow fey stands a stone lodge. This is Hunt’s Retreat, a haven for the hunters and trappers who work the Blackwood and the Forest of the Firebirds. It serves as shelter to the weary traveler or lost soul wandering the woods, but it carries dangers of its own. The Black Prince lodges here during his hunting excursions, and the powerful fey lord of the Wild Hunt, the Lord of the Hunt, camps with his retinue just outside the retreat before sounding the horn and charging into the forest. SABLE COURT The Sable Court is a small forest court, nestled in tree branches high above the dark Sable Forest floor, built into and around the trunks of great shadow oaks. While it resembles a high elven forest dwelling, the Sable Court reminds the local inhabitants (particularly the Ladies of Nightbrook Court) of their place as vassals of the queen. Appointed by the Queen of Night and Magic, Baroness Yleira the Swift oversees the shadow fey and the hounds of this court. The Sable Court can be reached only by flight, aerial magic, a dangerous climb in the sight-line—and bowshot—of the forest sentries, or the series of lifts manned at all times by shadow fey guardians. The Sable Court serves as the base of operations and training ground for the shadow fey forest hunters. Those shadow fey unfit for life in the courts or in the more civilized settlements often seek to join the hunters. Deadly assassins, forest guides, and iron-tough trailblazers all rise from the ranks of the forest hunters. Court of One Million Stars Ruler: Prince Valendan (N male selang, see Tome of Beasts, archmage) Important Personages: Cylentha the Silver Mistress (LG deva); First Consort Shemani (CE living star, see Creature Codex); Phaerliggath, the dragon of Void Reach (NE adult void dragon, see Tome of Beasts); Radiant Chancellor Ectius, Ambassador to the Stars (N lunar elf radiant lord, see Chapter 9); Second Consort Tremanca (CG shadow fey enchantress, see Tome of Beasts); Verskas Bright Eye (NG sprite) Population: 1,850 (900 shadow fey, 300 courtfolk halflings, 250 witchlights, 200 celestials, 100 shadow goblins, 70 umbral humans, and 30 starry courtiers, or living stars) Great Gods: Gytellisor (patron), Black Goat of the Woods, Lada, Sarastra, and Umbeserno Trade Goods: Star metals, liquid fire, stardust, void essences, memory philters, celestial silks and satins, and stellar radiances (in order of importance)
Fey Courts and Servitors 105 WORMWOOD In the northernmost quarter of the shadow fey domains stands the gate town of Wormwood. It guards the road south into the dark woods that leads to the courts of the shadow fey and eventually to Corremel, keeping away the haunts and ghouls of the plains. A formidable wall with stout shadow oak gates at the north and south encircles the small settlement. The inhabitants of Wormwood are all battle-tested soldiers with a few spies and assassins thrown into the mix. Wormwood also serves as a bulwark against the umbral vampires and their minions from Oshragora, the City Fallen into Shadow (see Chapter 7). They regard travelers with scrutiny and heavy suspicion and take a pitch-black view of anyone carrying relics from the umbral vampire city without express leave of the Queen of Night and Magic or another high-ranking shadow fey noble. Court of One Million Stars Stars and moon rarely shine directly over the Shadow Realm. Though often hidden by its dreary sky, stars still occasionally gleam in all their glory, and one in particular shines bright. Above the cloud cover rests the most enigmatic of dark fey gatherings: the Court of One Million Stars. Delicate spires of silver and pearl spiral up from great discs spun of dreamstuff and starlight. Clusters of these floating platforms and towers gather, bound by gracefully arching bridges forged from moonbeams woven with silver. Prince Valendan, a noble selang wizard, rules over the Starry Court with an aloof manner and quiet wisdom. The prince makes it a point to meet every visitor to the court at least once, though few receive a second audience. His strange appearance repels some, but he is far less bound to chaos or evil than most selang. THE STARRY COURT The Starry Court serves as the heart of the Court of One Million Stars, a magnificent spire of pearl and silver, spiraling like an unicorn’s horn from the court’s center and audience chamber. This seven-sided structure of white stone features seven gates, one on each of the building’s sides, that lead into a great hall. Courtiers cluster around the wings of the chamber with those of increasing station closer to the center. When present, Prince Valendan sits in the precise center, resting upon a tripod seat of silver and silk. The spire rising toward the stars houses the prince’s personal chambers as well as those of his consorts and the other royal figures of the Starry Court. Balconies dot the outer surface of the spire, allowing a breathtaking view of both the stars above and of the surface of the Shadow Realm below. A series of magnificent gardens surround the court, home to a wide array of plant life from the Shadow Realm as well from the mortal world. Walkways of crushed pearl trace paths through the central gardens and the seven outer gardens. Floating lanterns shining with pastel light illuminate the walkways, and each outer garden anchors a moonlight bridge, leading to another section of the courts. Notably, one of the bridges is blackened and shattered, ending a few yards from where it begins, destroyed long ago by devastating magic. Fey from all walks of life visit the Starry Court to study illumination magic, the stars, and celestial movements. Dark pixie scholars can spend decades tracking the movement of a single star, meticulously recording every hint of prophecy in anticipation of a momentous event—the starfall. WHEN THE STARS WALK THE WORLD The stars are not just points of light burning in an uncaring sky. They are living things of power and unfathomable knowledge. When momentous events shake the world, a star might deign to leave its bower of black velvet and fall to the mortal world or to the Shadow Realm. When it lands, it becomes a creature of luminous beauty and impenetrable mystery. Once in physical form, these starry emissaries appear cloaked and hooded, shrouded in a luminous aura of starlight. They tend to be aloof, and on the rare occasions when they exchange words with a supplicant, understanding isn’t guaranteed. The emissaries speak in a strange manner, often reusing terms, but with vastly different contexts and meanings from one part of a statement to the next. Magic such as tongues and comprehend languages can help but never provides a perfectly clear meaning. Even more unsettling, the courtiers believe that when such a sojourn ends, the star never leaves unaccompanied. Who or what vanishes with the star varies with each visit and isn’t always apparent. Such starfalls are rare, but at least one emissary from the stars remains as a permanent fixture within the Court of One Million Stars: First Consort Shemani.
106 Book of Ebon Tides THE HEAVENS SEEK ANSWERS The heavens have taken a special interest in the Court of One Million Stars. Cylentha the Silver Mistress descended to the Shadow Realm nearly 200 years ago and has yet to return home. Many believe that she is searching for something. She advises Prince Valendan who keeps her counsel quite private. Certain courtiers would offer a treasure trove of stardust diamonds and prophecies of future glory to understand why the celestial spends so much time at a court filled with fey decadence and void followers. When Cylentha isn’t offering advice to the prince, she spends most of her time in her observatory. This unadorned platform holds no gardens nor decorations of any kind. Seven blue-white balls of light, like miniature stars, surround the observatory, which appears as a round building surmounted by a dome of iridescent pearl. Inside, the dome allows a perfect view of any star, every far-flung celestial cloud or nebula, and the farthest reaches of the utterdark, perhaps even offering a glimpse into the Void. WHISPERS FROM THE VOID The Starry Court reaches toward the stars, but that necessitates drawing close to the cold, vast emptiness between the heavenly lights. In that endless nothing, ancient things stir and whisper their secrets. A careless or foolish investigator can tap into those whispers and glean their secrets, but such knowledge of course has its price. The Void seeks to spread its influence just as the Shadow Realm has, but it has a more difficult time finding purchase in the world. Despite the Void’s destructive influence, Prince Valendan hasn’t forbidden study of its magic yet, though he takes an interest in anyone who seeks it. One of the more recent and momentous visitors to the Court of One Million Stars, the void dragon Phaerliggath, is from the cold dark beyond the stars. This hoary old wyrm has long drifted within the utterdark, and like all of his ilk, he has seen far too much of it. The dragon’s mind has very much frayed. Phaerliggath claimed an entire spire of the Starry Court when he arrived and rarely emerges from his commandeered lair. The spire, once magnificent, now crumbles and falls into decay and is called Voidreach. Phaerliggath entertains visitors from time to time, but only those guests truly captivated by the Void ever visit a second time. Phaerliggath seems disturbingly willing to share the forbidden secrets of the Void with those brave or unhinged enough to seek him out. Lady Cylentha makes occasional visits to the dragon’s tower, and investigates anyone who speaks with the dragon. She is polite during such inquiries, but won’t take no as an answer to her questioning. THE SPIRAL-DOWNS While enclaves of the Court of One Million Stars dot the skies above the Shadow Realm, the largest concentration of starry courtiers live in a group of spires known as the Spiral-Downs. Connected to the Starry Court by a moon bridge, the Spiral-Downs are connected platforms that hang in the sky, joined by moonlight bridge staircases, forming a spiral of ascending status and power. The lowest and largest platform houses the largest residential spires where courtiers of the lowest station reside. Each ascending platform is slightly smaller, more ornate, and houses fewer residents than the platform below it. The loftiest platform boasts verdant gardens, ethereal music, delicate spires spun of starlight and dreams, and the elite of the Starry Court. RISING ABOVE Visiting the Court of One Million Stars is no easy task. Unseen paths lead to it from the surface, paths nearly impossible to decipher without an invitation or a guide. Occasionally a witchlight chooses to lead a pilgrim from the Shadow Realm up to the stars, leaving a trail of glittering light that somehow remains solid during the climb. Shadow fey wizards speak in hushed tones of star bridges that appear only in certain locations of the Shadow Realm and only during certain sidereal alignments. Rare glimpses of the stars through the realm’s gloomy sky can offer such an illuminated mind enough insight to calculate where and when such a bridge will open next. Each path to the Court of One Million Stars ends at a gatehouse where warriors of the court guard against hostile incursions from the surface. The most formidable of these gatehouses, Vigil, stands unblinking over the only path leading from the surface to the Starry Court. Vigil appears as a hovering disc of tightly fitted tiles. A gate of spun silver, seemingly delicate but nearly indestructible, bars both the entrance from the surface and the bridge to the Starry Court. Twisted spires like horns defend the disc’s edge, and a bronze dome in the center provides shelter for the wardens. The gate wardens, the fiercest warriors among the court, closely question any newcomers.
Fey Courts and Servitors 107 Court of Pale Roses Home to an enormous community of wyrd gnomes, the Court of Pale Roses is young by fey standards, steeped in magic and open to a degree of civil relations between shadow fey, wyrd gnomes, and umbral humans. With a tolerant ruler and open doors, the place is home to many, with occasional visits by tiefling arcanists, quickstep duelists, and even bearfolk druids who share the secrets of their groves with this fey court but no other. Its ruler is King Frulio Cornutus, a young and vigorous shadow fey whose obsession with arcane workings and enchantments brings him many followers—and those who pretend to some arcane knowledge but whose true purpose is spying for weakness at the court. Gardens of Illusion. Illusion seeds (see Chapter 10) grow in great profusion in the court’s namesake gardens, watered by chill, dark buckets of half-frozen water draw up from the Somering Well, a planar spring with great powers of fertility and growth. This connection runs through a root of Yggdrasil somewhere underneath the court itself, and only the shadow fey and a few trusted gnomes know where to find it. The gardens themselves are warded by magic and watched by a group of shadow fey guards sworn to the king, called the Rose Guard. The Young King’s Fancies. The young King Frulio is wooing the puckish Lady Vindesol of the Linden Tree, an elf maid from the Summer Lands with a love of birds and fine embroidery. He is also a frequent visitor to the halls of the cat-goddess Ailuros, and some say he is Ailuros’s favored king among the fey. He has commissioned prayers, scents, and holidays for the cat goddess. King Frulio enjoys putting on great festivals combined with shows of strength, arranged by General Murena, a wyrd gnome with an eye for a keen warrior. The king lavishes praise on his alchemists and gardeners alike, who both add to the court’s growing reputation, and he has founded the Royal College Alchemical, a place for the study of natural philosophy with an emphasis on botany, enchantments, and philters and potions. Cultish Fervor. From time to time, the Court of Pale Roses seems overtaken with some new fashion: clothes, a particular cantrip, a fashionable memory philter (see Chapter 10). At the moment, the cult of the Void, as proclaimed by the satarre priestess Ellec Ish-Vardes, is in vogue, and it is considered elegant to at least pretend to know what these doom-ridden creatures rattle on about. Most sable elves seem to find it amusing more than revelatory, but the satarre has brought some tiefling underpriests to aid in ministering to the shadow fey and wyrd gnomes. Her Court of Pale Roses Ruler: King Frulio Cornutus, Duke of Roses, Count of Spiders, Lord of Illusions, Lord Mayor of Lurgestown, Baron of the Void Immaculate (LN shadow fey first servant of Hecate, see Tome of Beasts 3) Important Personages: Alchemist-in-chief Olmed Carroso (N human mage); Chancellor of the Royal College Alchemical Igo Natterbutt (NG gnomish distiller, see Chapter 9); General Flavestor Murena (LE wyrd gnome field commander, see Tome of Beasts 3); High Priest Vares the Silent (CN shadow fey apostle of Laughing Loki, see Tome of Beasts 3); Keeper of Roses, Aiyesh bin Teleros (N human druid); Lady Vindesol (CG high elf mage); Mistress of the Cloisters Ellec Ish-Vardes (NE satarre first servant of Vardesain, see Tome of Beasts 3) Population: 2,450 (1,300 wyrd gnomes, 600 umbral humans, 300 shadow fey, 100 quicksteps, 50 tieflings, 50 bearfolk, and 50 satarre) Great Gods: Hecate (patron), Ailuros, Baccho, Charun, and Laughing Loki Trade Goods: Flowers, weavings, ale, glasswork, and ceramics (in order of importance)
108 Book of Ebon Tides goal is to establish a direct link to the cold waters of the lower branches of Yggdrasil or the River Lethe and in time bring the king under her sway (and the court with him). She believes that corrupting enough of the fey courts will lead to an enormous Great Tide, which will sweep away all settlements and indeed all land in the realm, leaving formless chaos and pure Void. Court of Sparrows A minor court owing fealty to the much more extensive Court of Mice and Ravens, the Court of Sparrows is a tan stone stronghold that has taken a recent turn. It began as a whimsical or at least polite court, founded by courtfolk halflings breeding sparrows, ducks, geese, and chickens for royal banquets—a place of jesters, farts, and jugglers—and visitors came for the cuisine and entertainment. The castellan was Traverty Peaseblossom, a courtfolk halfling bard widely loved by both his people and his poultry. Change of Rulers. A few years ago though, the court was stormed and overtaken by King Marrow, a trollkin warlord with a company of intimidating and ruthless followers, including trollkin, bearfolk, and a few umbral humans. They’ve made it their home base and retained the halflings, and their arrows are now fletched with extremely fine goose feathers. Prince Peaseblossom fled via a secret passageway somewhere in the castle, and he may now be a wandering minstrel at another court entirely. The place’s change of ownership was not marked (as would be traditional) by a change of name to, say, the Court of Trolls or Court of Hammers. Being not quite bright enough to rename the place has worked out well for King Marrow though, and so long as the eggs and ducks and other foodstuffs flow to the nearby courts of the major fey, no one seems to mind who is in charge. King Marrow also raids the shadow roads and hunts in the Queen’s Forest, all the while eating a great many eggs. The halflings now in the role of servants sometimes creep away to seek service elsewhere, but for many of them, having a great big trollkin warlord “in charge” saves them from a lot of tedious diplomacy and bootlicking of the shadow fey snobs, sable elf visitors, and greedy umbral human merchants. Duck Eggs and Diplomacy. The lady castellan, the master of wands, and the commander of foot are Marrow’s captains of trollkin soldiers, trollkin wands, and bearfolk heavy infantry, respectively. However, a considerable degree of power is shifting to the Royal Keeper of Ducks, Mardovac the Foul, who happens to be Marrow’s son and heir. Mardovac is charged with wringing every ducat out of the courtfolk halflings and their flocks of ducks and geese, and he seems to have Court of Sparrows Ruler: The Undefeated King Marrow of the Court of Sparrows, Bondsman of King Reynard, and Commander of the Greenwood Company (NE trollkin field commander, see Tome of Beasts 3) Important Personages: Commander of Foot Sventonna the Quick (LN bearfolk gladiator); Lady Castellan Grinholda (CN trollkin shaman, see Creature Codex); Master of Protocol Hithbert Humbervale (LN courtfolk halfling merchant captain, see Tome of Beasts 3); Master of Wands Ardinaldo the Clever (CE human battle mage, see Creature Codex); Royal Keeper of Ducks Mardovac the Foul (CG trollkin bandit lord, see Tome of Beasts); Soothsayer to His Majesty and Court Healer Ploofi Flatfoot (CE shadow goblin apostle of Santerr Marossa, see Tome of Beasts 3) Population: 800 (300 courtfolk halflings, 200 bearfolk, 130 trollkin, 100 shadow goblins, and 70 umbral humans) Great Gods: Laughing Loki (patron), Bengta, the Hunter, Santerr Marossa, and Umbeserno Trade Goods: Duck eggs, duck meat, chickens, goose feathers, fletching, fine yew wood, small woodwork, and salt meat (in order of importance)
Fey Courts and Servitors 109 a greater knack for that than thievery and ambuscade. So while the elder captains thrive on banditry, Mardovac keeps amassing coins and power among the trollkin and halflings. Meanwhile, Hithbert, the master of protocol, sends useful diplomatic notes to King Reynard. The fey lord of the Court of Mice and Ravens finds the entire situation vastly amusing, though if a shipment of fresh duck ever arrives at his halls late, he will surely come to pay a visit to King Marrow in person, as “one ruler to another,” and perhaps install his own, more trustworthy vassal. Or he might just stay a while—until the eggs run out entirely. Court of the Moonlit King This court was once part of a dual crown with Ludomir as its king and Sarastra his wife and co-ruler. However, with the Moonlit King’s descent into strange magic and times of pure fantasy unlinked to the facts of the Shadow Realm, most of his followers drifted away—and the crown with them. All that remains of the Court of the Moonlit King is a set of names, spells, philters, titles, a handful of servitors, including lunar devils (see Tome of Beasts) and quicksteps (see Creature Codex). His old lone tower and labyrinth still stand, and various small groups (or shards) of followers and friends remain loyal, including hundreds of followers among the bearfolk, lunar elves, minotaurs, and erina who seek to restore the king’s title and cast down Sarastra, so the Moonlit King may shine once more. Currently, this means they are building a new and highly magical court in the skies, the first major new court in some time. The Labyrinth of Moonlight. The Court of the Moonlit King was once found in the King’s Tower at the center of a frequently changing maze, which still exists and is inhabited by eye golems, lantern dragonettes, witchlights, shadow goblins, and more. However, because this maze is surrounded by the territory of the Queen of Night and Magic, it has been largely abandoned as a seat of rulership. The Moonlit King maintains an embassy there to landbound fey but has proclaimed his new domain is “the sky and the moon and all the territory they touch.” A Wandering Court. The Court of the Moonlit King is currently nomadic, wandering over vast distances and often keeping its people together by the most tenuous of messengers, code phrases, and meeting points. The lesser lunar devils (see Chapter 9) sometimes carry small fey, quicksteps, and others from these cloud fortresses to the earth and forests, but just as often, they use luminous staircases at radiant wells to ascend or descend, or they ride griffons or use flying spells and cloaks of the raven (see Chapter 10) to travel from earth to sky. The Court of the Moonlit King is one of high magic and mystery, and clearly the restored King is gathering power and increasing his number of followers month by month. Alliance with the Minotaurs. With the Court of the Moonlit King now mobile and active, striking out for new sources of power and bending radiant wells into luminous cloud palaces, it has become easier for his ambassadors and loyal followers to gather allies. The strongest of these are the minotaurs of the mortal world, who revere the moon and her champions. The cloud-palace of the Moonlit King is a place best known as a rumor more than as a place that many have visited. The king’s newfound power from radiant wells intrigues all shadow mages and those who study illumination magic, but its details are scarce.
110 Book of Ebon Tides The Singing Tower. The tall white tower of the court is unmistakable, and at most hours of the day, a slow, low howling can be heard from it. These are the wails and moans of Queen Kalaslurr, whose voice draws in and slowly devours any visitors she finds entertaining. Rumors claim that these are sometimes old lovers and at other times foes, rivals, or simply those whose appearance she finds pleasing. She is easy to gain audience with, but her attention is difficult to survive as the distant moan is a song of terror when heard within the tower. The queen’s servants among the wyrd gnomes are often made deaf by her song, or they (so it is said) destroy their own eardrums to better serve her. The only servant who has no fear of the queen’s dire singing is the bearfolk bard Umberell, for he has long since learned the knack of a counter song. He will teach this to any bard or talented singer who seems trustworthy and honest. The Demon’s Hall. A black stone binds seven ice demons who serve Queen Kalaslurr without hesitation, tearing apart foes, fetching gentian flowers from alpine meadows, or threatening travelers for tolls or information. They are her hands, bringing her interesting news, a talented cook, or a worthy morsel of mountain goat. The demons are named First Hand, Second Hand, All Thumbs, Wicked Frost, Silver Eye, Little Cook, and Wanderer. Frost Bogie Workshop.The smallest and strangest of the inhabitants of the court are the ice bogies (see Tome of Beasts 2), small snow fey who obey any order given to them by anyone but who positively worship the ice demons and the keeper of scrolls and keeper of song, as well as the queen, the chamberlain, and the queen’s champion Illebor. When not fetching ale or collecting pine nuts from the forest, they often carve small wooden trinkets, card and spindle woolen yarn, or clean and tan furs of fox, rabbit, ermine, and beaver. Dalliance Where the Nightbrook spills into the River Lethe, Dalliance sits like a fat but happy leech. Its people make their living as traders for forest dwellers and trappers and, for the Court of Night and Magic and the Court of Roses, as woodsmen and occasional hunters. The water fey from Nightbrook Court sometimes visit with dark philters in hand, and it is sometimes host to a goblin troupe of actors or Court of the Moonlit King Ruler: Ludomir Imbrium the XVI, the Moonlit King (see Tome of Beasts) Important Personages: His Radiance, Popplan Lusteron, the Minotaur (LN minotaur archmage) Population: 2,200 (1,000 shadow fey, 400 minotaurs, 300 bearfolk, 300 erina, 100 lunar elves, 50 quicksteps, and 50 wyrd gnomes) Great Gods: Hecate (patron), Ailuros, Bengta, Charun, and Valeros Trade Goods: Silver jewelry, moonstones, sweet moonlit wine, lunar magic, and illumination magic (in order of importance) Court of Winter’s Love The coldest and most desolate of the fey courts is the Court of Winter’s Love, ruled by Kalaslurr, the Lady of Ash and Sorrow, a ghost whose touch and voice destroy most mortals who meet her. The court itself is home to ice bogies and snow maidens, various ice demons, and a thriving community of quicksteps, who all seem immune to the fey lady’s song and terrifying presence. Most of the court’s inhabitants stay far away from its ruler—other than the devoted shades of Kalaslurr, her ghostly court of undead courtiers, all of whom are immune to her deadly presence. The head chamberlain, Porthan, is also the chief priest of Charun and one of the few voices that the queen considers when deciding where to send her demons next.
Fey Courts and Servitors 111 jugglers. However, the small town’s real wealth comes from trading pleasure, games of chance, and debauched entertainments to anyone willing to pay. Three pleasure houses—the River House, the Red Door, and the Cat’s Paw—are fine, stone-walled manors that cater to anyone and everyone, from the most straightforward hunter seeking wine and friendly companions to the dissolute gnome princes who demand exotic entertainments. Any bit of intoxication and any form of company is available if Court of Winter’s Love Ruler: Queen Kalaslurr (LE ghost), Lady of Ash and Sorrow, Keening Mother of the North, Mistress of Snows, Keeper of the Winter Gate, Friend to the Seven Hands of Ice Important Personages: Chief Duelist and Champion to the Queen, Illebor Circon (LE quickstep, see Creature Codex); High Priestess Silloon Honeyeater (CN shadow fey priest of Bengta); Keeper of the Scrolls Tikkaw Tokkaw (N ravenfolk doom croaker, see Tome of Beasts); Lord of Illusions and Keeper of Song Umberell Tumwater (NG bearfolk merchant captain, see Tome of Beasts 3); Master of the Hunt Arros Freor (NE human keeper of hounds, see Chapter 9); Most Devout Steward and Head Chamberlain Porthan Villeros (LE shade apostle of Charun, see Tome of Beasts 3) Population: 1,350 (400 shadow fey, 350 quicksteps, 200 wyrd gnomes, 200 umbral humans, 50 snow maidens, 50 bearfolk, 50 ice bogies, and 50 shades) Great Gods: Hecate (patron), Ailuros, Alquam, Baccho, and Charun Trade Goods: Ice, sunstones, fine furs, and woolen yarn (in order of importance) Dalliance Ruler: Lady of Whims and Fancies, Her Divine Debauchery, Baroness Lupina Valdross (LE shadow fey enchantress, see Tome of Beasts), Matron of the Red Door Important Personages: Lady of Small Mercies, Viscountess Ellana Hibiscalla (CG human spy); Master of Coin Tristoffos Illemartos (LE shadow fey knight of the road, see Creature Codex); Master of Shades Lord Correto Anders (LE human mage); Matron of the Cat’s Paw, Meli Hawthorne (N wyrd gnome merchant captain, see Tome of Beasts 3) Population: 5,300 (1,900 shadow goblins, 1,500 shadow fey, 1,300 umbral humans, 400 wyrd gnomes, 180 quicksteps, and 20 shades) Great Gods: Baccholon (patron), Ailuros, Charun, Hecate, and Santerr Illosi Trade Goods: Furs, timber, requiem, wine, and brandy (in order of importance)
112 Book of Ebon Tides one asks the right house and offers a fat coin purse. This is a well-known secret, but Dalliance is famous for keeping its secrets very well hidden. Whatever goes on behind the walls and doors does not leave town. Shades and Requiem. Master of Shades, Lord Correto Anders, keeps a string of ghosts, haunts, and shades of various kinds working for him to bring requiem from Soriglass to Dalliance. The addictive, soul-bending substance is combined with other pleasures of the flesh in ways best left to the completely debauched customers of the small River House where it is offered. Blackmail and Extortion. While most of Dalliance is honest in its whoring and pleasure seeking, Master of Coin Tristoffos is a spymaster and a blackmailer of umbral humans, shadow fey, and shadow goblins alike. He pays extremely well for gossip, for news, and for well-founded speculation. He is most often found questioning the staff at the Red Door, which leads some to believe his information is first and foremost for Baroness Lupina’s ear. Very few who share information with Tristoffos are willing to share information about a client’s personal secrets though, only about their political aims, their religious quirks, or their business ventures. (Which is certainly still enough to keep Tristoffos in business.) The River Spirits. The waters near Dalliance are quite active with water fey, including river spirits (see Chapter 9), shadow river lords (see Creature Codex), and rusalka (see Tome of Beasts). They are led by a lorelei (see Tome of Beasts) in love with various fey at various times, who sings in the brightest moonlight and welcomes gifts from suitors as well as songs and poems from bards and passing travelers. In return for song and elegance, she provides safe passage along the Dalliance stretch of the river as far as Corremel. Langmire’s Court A minor court popular among young fey gentlemen, Langmire’s Court is full of gamblers, secret lovers, and indolent wastrels, very loosely owing fealty to the Court of Winter’s Love. The court itself has dozens of small outbuildings, but three great halls are at its heart. Gnomes, halflings, and shadow goblins all serve as cooks, maids, and house servants in a constant bustle of servile attention—and they also take most of the profits at the end of the day. Long Hall. While the whole sometimes resembles a bacchanalian festival at night, by day, Long Hall is a bright, smelly place with flaking black paint on the walls and a crew of hardworking halflings clearing away the mess and preparing some extravagant display of flowers, scenery for a musical play, or some similar entertainments. The gambling here begins at moonrise and continues into the morning with vast sums of coin, magic, and even land and entire mansions frequently wagered. The Lord of Misrule, Oshlan the Chef, prepares the entertainments, hires singers, brings in flocks of trained birds, and Langmire’s Court Ruler: Lord of Misrule Oshlan the Chef (NE halfling bandit lord, see Tome of Beasts) Important Personages: Keeper of Cards Phildra VII (LE tiefling mage); Keeper of the Dice Naldos Even-Handed (LN human bandit captain); Sister Fox (CN shadow fey priest of Loki) Population: 3,800 (1,300 umbral humans, 800 shadow fey, 600 shadow goblins, 600 halflings, and 500 wyrd gnomes) Great Gods: Laughing Loki (patron), Ailuros, Charun, Hecate, and Santerr Illosi Trade Goods: Carved bone dice, inscribed books and cards, inks, hides, gold ingots, herbs and potions, woolen and linen cloth, and leather goods (in order of importance)
Fey Courts and Servitors 113 generally makes Long Hall a wonderland for the wealthy and foolish to spend their coin. Rumor has it that Oshlan owns the entire estate of several young shadow fey nobles and holds the keys to mansions in Corremel, Merrymead, and Fandeval as well. Loki’s Golden Hall. Perhaps the largest shrine to Laughing Loki found anywhere, this somewhat garish wooden temple features gilded pillars, silver nets, and a statue of the god himself in a pose of mirth and good spirits. The statue changes its poses from time to time in a series of minor miracles (or the shaping work of the priests and jokers who maintain the shrine—some believe they have a series of five or more statues displayed at various times). A small number of priests here serve as entertainers and gossips as often as they minister to the spirits of those who have lost everything gambling with cards or dice, and their green and golden cloaks are a common sight in the Long Hall where they are often asked to bless dice or pray with those who hazard enormous sums in Loki’s name. Servant’s Hall.This is home to the wyrd gnomes, halflings, and shadow goblins who truly keep Langmire running. Family life, weaving, cooking, and instruction for the young of the court are all part of Servant’s Hall. Visitors are rarely brought in. The main doorway is guarded by two gargoyles instructed to stop anyone taller than a shadow goblin from entering. Nightbrook A minor court owing fealty to the Court of Night and Magic, Nightbrook Court occupies a hunched building of stone and black wood in the Sable Forest. The structure resembles a temple more than a seat of nobility, and strange glyphs adorn its walls and domed roof. It stands at the headwaters of the Nightbrook, a small black waterway that eventually joins the River Lethe. The shadow fey of Nightbrook Court seem strangely at home on the Shadow Realm’s waters. They live and work along the Nightbrook, offering passage on small boats or rafts from one shore to the other or even downriver to another settlement—for a price, of course. The vengeful spirits that swarm in the black rivers seem indifferent to them, though none outside the court’s confines know why. Three sisters rule Nightbrook Court: shadow fey women with sour expressions and back-curving horns. Their wiry, long black hair bears a streak of white in their otherwise midnight tresses. Despite their perpetual glowers, the Ladies of Nightbrook— Analissa, Verousha, and Lyssalyn—welcome guests with surprisingly warm hospitality, particularly mortal guests. The sisters are, in truth, a coven of night hags. They work tirelessly to locate blackhearted people whose dreams they can haunt, hounding the hapless victims to death, so they can steal their evil souls. They bring these souls to the headwaters of the Nightbrook, and in a dark ritual that requires a memory philter (see Chapter 10) holding emotions of loss, longing, rage, or bitterness, they twist the souls into hungry shades. Once infused with those hollow emotions, the ladies pour the souls out of their soul bags into the river to join the others. These souls draw the memories from those they drown and carry them back to the sisters. Good-hearted visitors to Nightbrook Court have no fear of being murdered for their souls, but their memories remain at risk. The ladies require a constant supply of appropriate memories to create Nightbrook Court Rulers: Ladies of Nightbrook—Analissa, Verousha, and Lyssalyn (NE night hag priests of Hecate) Important Personages: Master Shipwright Regunn Vorbeck (LN human merchant captain, see Tome of Beasts 3) Population: 100 (50 shadow fey and 50 shadow goblins) Great Gods: Charun (patron), Alquam, Black Goat of the Woods, Hecate, and Santerr Illosi Trade Goods: Boats and timber, herbs and potions, woolen and linen cloth, memory philters, and leather goods (in order of importance)
114 Book of Ebon Tides their spectral spies. If they can bargain or purchase such memories from mortal visitors, so much the better, but they aren’t above helping circ*mstances along to create the memories they require. Perhaps a husband chokes to death on his sumptuous (and cursed or poisoned) dinner in the court’s dining hall, and the sisters offer to soothe his widow’s anguish by taking the memory from her. Tower of Horn and Gold High in the peaks of the Mistcall Mountains west of the courts of the shadow fey, where gray snow falls like ash from a pyre, an ancient tower broods—the Tower of Horn and Gold. So high its apex scrapes the perpetual cloud cover, the tower’s black stone is hewn from the mountains, though it takes its name from the cladding adorning it. Rows of great, curving horns jut from the tower’s surface, giving it a wicked, serrated silhouette. Beneath these foreboding trophies, shadow-mined gold bands the stone. The metal, a wavering blend of gleaming yellow and Tower of Horn and Gold Ruler: Kaedrin Blackwing, Commander of Horn and Gold (see Tome of Beasts 2) Important Personages: Nest Matron and Eldest Weaver Cuilliarna (elder shadow drake, see Tome of Beasts), Sir Parnath the Golden, Captain of the Knights of Horn (LE shadow fey wyvern knight, see Creature Codex) Population: 600 (400 shadow goblins, 150 shadow fey, 50 shadow drakes) Great Gods: Sarastra (patron), Anu-Akma, Gytellisor, the Hunter, and Santerr Marossa Trade Goods: Shadow gold pitch-black, gives the tower a striated appearance that both catches and absorbs any stray beam of light. The tower represents one of the oldest remnants of the shadow fey’s first incursion into darkness in their desperate bid to remain powerful. While it commands one of the best vantage points in all the Shadow Realm, the Tower of Horn and Gold is no mere watchtower. It protects a cleft in the mountains, leading to tunnels that have never seen a single mote of light. Shadow drakes have long lived and died in these caverns, and they maintain a loose, tenuous alliance with the fey occupying the tower. In exchange for the drakes’ defense of the tower and occasional service as messengers or mounts to the high-ranking knights, the shadow fey have given the drakes leave to hunt in the surrounding lands. Most important, the shadow fey mine the tunnels for the elusive shadow gold veins that run through them. The drakes take a generous share of the yield. Shadow gold is in many ways the same as the gold mined in mortal lands, but it holds the essence of shadow within it. Most of the goblins here mine and smelt the metal without pause or holiday, for the shadow fey and drakes require it (while the others maintain the tower and prepare the food, clothes, and tools for the goblin miners and fey knights). In its raw form, shadow gold appears as a mottled mix of gold and black. When the metal is cast or forged and then polished, its color and luster become indistinguishable from normal gold. Only when the metal is molten, nicked, bent, or scratched is its true nature revealed. Any damage to the metal shows the shadow within. The shadow fey mint coins of shadow gold and trade it generously to mortals in payment or bribery. It is said that with each shadow gold coin one accepts from the fey, one loses a bit more of one’s will and soul to them. Greed remains a powerful force, and shadow fey diplomats, emissaries, and spies liberally buy whatever and whoever they need with the tainted coins. Witch Queen’s Court The Court of Nicnevin, more often called the Court of the Witch Queen, stands high on a windswept mountain and is a place of somewhat dangerous repute. While the court itself is in a sheltered valley in the mountain’s foothills, Nicnevin’s abode is somewhere under the mountain itself, where she spends the nights of a full moon. The court’s strange halls include not just beautiful, spiral-pillared dancing
Fey Courts and Servitors 115 chambers and hearths filled with herbal, steamladen cauldrons but also active mines, smelters and chimneys, and forges for copper, silver, and iron. The Witch Queen’s interests are many and varied, and her followers include a surprisingly large number of umbral humans and bearfolk as well as fey. Long Halls and Eternal Cauldrons. The Court of the Witch Queen is built with mountain storms and snows in mind, with enormous timbers holding up a slate roof and extending deep into the mountains. Some of its long halls resemble stave churches of the mortal Northlands. Others are more akin to the onion domes of the east or the simple turf huts of the plains. In each great hall boils a cauldron, usually for a stew but occasionally for magic working, potions, and the distillation of souls and essences. A pair of elderly women, human or alseid, is often tasked with stirring, heating, and maintaining the cauldron for a period of time, always taking turns to deliver a fine meal or a well-turned potion to one of the hags or shadow fey who decide each cauldron’s next purpose. Refuge for Humans and Dwarves. The fey ruler herself depends on umbral humans and dwarves far more than most fey lords and ladies, and she welcomes hags, alseids, and many others to her mountain eyrie. In return, they show great loyalty to Nicnevin, often creating works of magic for her court. The Dolorous Mountain is known as one of the few active iron mines in the region, and access to cold iron weapons and armor gives the court an important advantage in dealing with other fey courts. Even the Witch Queen’s Court Ruler: Nicnevin, Queen of Witches (see Tome of Beasts) and Lady of the Dolorous Mountain, Mistress of the Moonsilver Ring, Keeper of the Cauldron, and patron of hags, witches, and hedge wizards Important Personages: Cauldron Maker and Master Smith Clagrieda Ironborn (LN dwarven ringmage, see Tome of Beasts); First of the Night Hags, Utarna Terrosi (NE night hag); Potion Mistress Jingalla Portana (NE human mage) Population: 2,100 (600 umbral humans, 500 shadow fey, 400 shadow goblins, 250 dwarves, 100 alseid, 100 ravenfolk, 100 quicksteps, and 50 various hags) Great Gods: Hecate (patron), Ailuros, Alquam, Baccholon, and Kupkoresh Trade Goods: Copper, herbs, fine woven cloth, wool, crystals, iron, and dyes (in order of importance)
116 Book of Ebon Tides iron arrows that the Witch Queen’s followers are known for are quite valuable to assassins in Corremel or duelists in Dalliance. Crystal and Copper, Herbals and Charms. The Witch Court is a practical one compared to many. Nicnevin seeks followers to dig out valuable crystals, ores, and stone from the mountain (dwarves and umbral humans), to gather herbs and roots from the river valleys (ravenfolk and alseids and shadow goblins), and to enchant potions, charms, and trinkets that strengthen and sustain her followers. Fallen Courts Over the eons of fey rule in the Shadow Realm, many rulers have fallen into oblivion, living on only in songs and legends. Others built such fine halls and castles that they were rebuilt and transformed into newer halls when a new dynasty ascended to power. And a few were abandoned, though their halls remain as sites where dark magic is worked, where curses still linger, or where furtive plotters gather against some foe. These fallen courts are wellremembered and still visited from time to time. Blackwolf’s Court. A notorious court for warmongers, tournaments, duels, and deeds of prowess, Blackwolf’s Court was one of the few fey courts ruled by a quickstep, Prince Blackwolf, who gathered a group of powerful shadow fey, a horde of shadow goblins, and a particularly talented human wizard named Onri Farromir, the Mage Prince. These masters of nocturnal combat and strategic dueling overthrew the Nightbrook Court and ruled it independently of the Court of Night and Magic for more than 25 years, teaching sword skills and banditry to anyone who swore allegiance. Blackwolf was eventually cut down by Reynard, the Fox Lord of the Court of Mice and Ravens, who kept Nightbrook for a time, until the tides drifted too far, and he gave it then as a gift to Sarastra. Botethar’s Court. A court of the shadow goblins under King Botethar, it is remembered both for its astonishing lunar towers and astrological hexes as well as for its employment of dwarven masons, rarely seen in the Shadow Realm and likely brought to build Botethar’s tallest and most ambitious temple spires to Hecate. Court of Drizzling Fire. This was a court of dancers who wove enchantment through movement and conjured both cold fire and impossibly potent enchantments in this school of patterned, dual-casting ritual magic. All its secrets were lost when the site was long ago overrun by the darakhul. The remaining elements became the foundation stones of Gloomhaven. The last rulers of the Court of Drizzling Fire were Her Grace Tommika Telanni, a shadow fey countess, and her consort, His Grace Ondros Paraselli. Some believe the pair became darakhul themselves and rule again in the Twilight Empire. Court of Knives. One of the stranger fallen courts, the Court of Knives was founded by an esoteric sect of dwarven ringmages and grew into a place of smithing and wizardry—where quickstep duelists paid great sums for enchanted moon steel, where shadow fey enchanters sought out particularly well-made rings and bracers, and where ravenfolk warriors bought axes that could cleave stone or steel alike. The king and master smith was a dwarf named Olbert the Lame, a twisted and thin-bearded fellow who some said was a son of Volund, the smith-god. The court fell into ruin when Olbert refused to sell a vorpal shortsword to a prince of the shadow fey, despite being offered a king’s ransom. Assassins killed Olbert not long after, and his followers fled a plague of wraiths and darakhul. Court of Silver Words. Once a court of sable elves devoted to spoken magic, poetry, and history, the Court of Silver Words was a beacon of learning and justly famous for a scriptorium that generated both magical and mundane books and scrolls. Many of these volumes still exist, though many others are lost. The Book of Ebon Tides itself was said to have been written here by the last ruler of the Court of Silver Words, the young Princess Tephanora, who was murdered when the book was stolen by shadow goblin rogues said to have taken the volume to Fandeval—though it has traveled far afield since. The well-carved marble and limestone buildings of the court still stand, and occasional visitors leave offerings of honey, flowers, candles, flags, stones, and small written notes at a memorial statue of the princess.
Book of Ebon Tides While the fey courts are among the best-known settlements of the Shadow Realm, other races have their own strongholds, cities, and even nations here. The most significant of these are the strange goblin city of Fandeval, the ghost city of Soriglass, and the halls of the bearfolk at Merrymead. The darker lands include the Twilight Empire of the darakhul, the reeking pits of the roachlings on the Whispering Plains, and Oshragora, the City Fallen into Shadow. Each is described here. Fandeval, City of Goblins The shadow goblin and umbral human population of the Shadow Realm is large in number but often subservient to shadow fey or darakhul rule. Not so in Fandeval, the City of Goblins, a realm of strange customs and traditions dating back to the establishment of the free city’s goblin rulers, including its moon towers, gangsters, and scavengers at the mouth of the River Styx. In the case of Fandeval, the city was granted to the Barkwater soothsayers for services rendered to the Crow Prince, a fey lord who has since abandoned his own court—but his gift is still remembered fondly by the shadow goblins. In gratitude, they still carry his messages or tokens to Queen Valda in the Court of Golden Oaks (see Chapter 6). Realms Beyond the Courts The Crow Prince & the Goblins While he ruled, the Crow Prince shared treasures, fiefdoms, arcane lore, and more with the ravenfolk, shadow goblins, and umbral humans who encouraged and supported his work in illusion arcana, in ancient shadow roads, and in lunar prophecies and moonlight weaving. The shadow goblins were extremely valuable in the last of these elements, and the Crow Prince rewarded their generosity with his own. The quest he now pursues may involve the goblins in some form. Occasionally he visits Fandeval to consult its soothsayers and scholars. 7
118 Book of Ebon Tides Small towers throughout the city are used to shout out the hours of moonrise, midday, and moonset as well as to watch for signs of fire in the largely wooden city. The shadow goblins get their timber from the nearby forest, and while most think of the city as riverine or swampy, it is just as much a producer of barrels and ships and of carts for the shadow roads. Waterfront. Fandeval itself lies on the Black River Styx, and it makes what it can of those waters, in boatbuilding and in the very active fishmongers’ market and costermongers’ stalls for its freshwater oysters. The shadow goblin fortunetellers often use fish guts or oyster shells in their soothsaying, so their stands also clutter the waterfront, between reeking pubs and well-watched warehouses. Despite the wider reputation of shadow goblins as lazy and thieving, among themselves, they take care to watch over their friends and neighbors. The largest house in the waterfront district is Grandfather’s House, for the waterfront of Fandeval is controlled by Grandfather Clay Nethersmoke, a particularly rotund shadow goblin. His network of corrupt lieutenants, dock bosses, watchmen—even judges, mooncatchers, and guildmasters—enforces the practice of skimming a touch of silver from every shipment on every barge. While he is a loyal supporter of His Majesty, Grandfather Clay collects a toll from the sale of most goods, whether brought through the city gates or made within the city, including everything from common fish and beer to memory philters, nets, and other enchanted goods. Cat Legion. Among those who patrol the city are a group of quite notably quick and lithe catfolk, the descendants of visitors from a distant desert land who choose to serve the goblin king, Flibbarn, as an elite guard and fighting corps. The Cat Legion is fond of keeping its privileges as the finest warriors and sharpest-eyed bodyguards to His Majesty, and they also serve as special messengers and agents of the king’s will against the shadow fey, the ghouls, and others. Grandfather Clay seems to have some arrangement with the legion, for his shops and warehouses are rarely disturbed while those of his enemies are sometimes shut down and illegal goods confiscated. Wading Giants. Three river giants (or Styx giants, see Chapter 9) make their homes on the eastern shore of Fandeval and provide transport both into the Shores of the Great and Endless Sea The dark and roiling waters of the sea, churning beyond the marshes, are dangerous, and the shadow fey, shadow goblins, and umbral humans all know that the ebon tides are strong and destructive here, often creating reefs or shoals or towering waves. Fishing is a dangerous proposition, and most fisherfolk stick to the marshes, the river, or the tidal flats. The small Saltworker Tribe of shadow goblins uses kettles and timber from the Salt Wood to boil away water, creating bushels of a fine, dusty, flavorful salt that is sold in Fandeval and throughout the Shadow Realm. But no trade extends far on the Shade Sea. The rumors of islands somewhere beyond the horizon, created by archmagi or called up from the depths by great priests of Charun, have never borne out. The sea is the limit and boundary of all land that the umbral peoples know, and their ships always keep to the coastline.
Realms Beyond the Courts 119 Fandeval, the City of Goblins Ruler: Flibbarn Barkwater, His Majesty the King of All Goblins and Master of the Moons, Duke of the Golden Field, Baron of the Black Water Fleet, Lord Mayor of Fandeval, Potentate of All Tides and Elements, Lord of the Cat Legion, and Protector of the Blue Chambers (LE shadow goblin moonshadow catcher, see Chapter 9) Important Personages: Dour Dillos Zanabbe, Bargemaster of the Guild (LN halfling bandit lord, see Tome of Beasts); Grandfather Clay Nethersmoke, master of the docks (LE shadow goblin thief lord, see Creature Codex); Her Luminance Salarra Mortre, high priestess of Hecate the Silver Goddess (NE human first servant of Hecate, see Tome of Beasts 3); Master Shipwright Adalbarr Lunkvoll, Guildmaster of the Shipwright’s Guild (LN human merchant captain, see Tome of Beasts 3); Royal Keeper of Cats Jennai Petticlaw (NE shadow goblin druid); Royal Netmaker Kotteran the Quick (LN shadow goblin scribe, see Chapter 9); Ullestro of the Vale, Duke of the Lunar Light (CN sable elf mage); Vespilla Fleabite, Luminous Princess and Consort to King Flibbarn (LN shadow goblin enchantress, use shadow fey enchantress, see Tome of Beasts); Population: 40,000 (20,000 umbral humans, 17,000 shadow goblins, 1,000 sable elves, 1,000 catfolk, and 1,000 shadow fey) Great Gods: Santerr Marossa (patron), Anu-Akma, Charun, Hecate, and Kupkoresh Trade Goods: Fish, beer, grain, white oak ships, wool, salt, moonstones, and leather (in order of importance)
120 Book of Ebon Tides Sodgrass Marshes and across the river from near the Styx Tower to the Goblin Plains to the east. These giants, nicknamed Memory, Sorrow, and Loss, use glistening mooncatcher’s nets (see Chapter 10), made only by the mooncatcher goblins and priests of Hecate in Fandeval, to pull souls and memories from the water. Once they are netted and bottled, these are traded to the mooncatchers and wizards who transform them into memory philters (see Chapter 10), healing draughts, and sometimes into moonsteel weapons (see Chapter 10). Moon Towers and Moonlight Masses.The city of Fandeval is famed for its moon towers, which are each topped by a globular dome that lights up at night. Built as shrines to Hecate—and as acts of ostentatious devotion by the wealthy—these towers also house the Lady of Darkness’s priests. The brightest moon tower is connected to the Cathedral of the Dark Moons, which holds private services for initiates of the goddess’s inner mysteries at each of the new moons and full moons (both moons reach their greatest and least brightness in synchrony). Her Luminance Salarra Mortre leads these ceremonies, and her various blessings and sacrifices include the Transformation of Moonlight, which turns lesser fey into shadow goblins. Other ceremonies are said to turn silver into memory philters or to weave nets for the Styx giants. Groves of the Wardens The bearfolk groves of the wardens are druidic sites and training grounds for bearfolk shadow gnawers. Several have grown into small villages or settlements, but their primary function remains as training grounds for bearfolk wardens and guardians against shadow. The primary groves are briefly described here. Eagle Grove. Up in the hills by a stream’s headwater stands a single stone temple to Umbeserno, a pilgrimage site for the bearfolk God of Dreams. His priests maintain the grove and teach shadow gnawers and others how to protect themselves against shadow corruption. They also sell amulets and holy draughts of mead to aid in winter’s sleep. These sales and pilgrimages end in late fall when the temple priests retire to their own slumbers until spring. Hawthorn Grove. Favored by birch sirens and river giants (see Chapter 9 for both) as well as treants and various ogres, unicorns, and alseids, the Hawthorn Grove remains the most senior school and seminary for young druids of all kinds in the Shadow Realm. As many as two dozen initiates receive tutelage here at any given time under the auspices of Lady Rowan (CG bearfolk druid, see Chapter 9). Leaping Salmon Grove. A small bearfolk settlement with a rickety wooden bridge over a narrow point of the Styx, Leaping Salmon Grove was once purely a druidic circle but has since grown into a small town of almost 1,000 bearfolk, wyrd gnomes, and erina, most of them fisherfolk. They smoke and preserve much of their catch for trade. Lost Grove. Far from the larger bearfolk realms, this grove once stood near the Whispering Plain. A ritual gone awry at a time of great flux in the ebon tides broke it loose from the wider bearfolk realm, and it drifted in a matter of months across the Whispering Plain and finally came to rest near the Silver Hills. It is still a potent stone circle of power, ably led by a fierce defender, Lord Istler (LG bearfolk knight of shadows, see Chapter 9), and his company of shadow gnawers and two lunar elf archers, nicknamed Folly and Flight. Moonstone Grove. Known for its druid school and its enormous standing stones, tall trees, and a moon tower, Moonstone Grove is too quiet to interest most fey and too tranquil for most goblins. The chief druid and village elder is Franelle Elderberry, a human woman who has spent her life among the bearfolk. She left the fey courts and retains a deep dislike of the shadow fey and shadow goblins generally. Sleeper’s Grove. High in the mountains, this deeply scented grove of pines is inaccessible in winter. The druids here are skilled in winter magic and know many avian forms for shapeshifting, leading some jesters to refer to them as the “owlbearfolk.” It is the site of dozens of tombs for honored bearfolk, especially royalty and archdruids. It stands high in the mountains with a few year-round guardians and caretakers, led by Chief Tomb Warden Tromble Dorran (LN bearfolk gladiator). Small bands of ravenfolk visit from time to time, perhaps to speak with the dead. The guardians frown on this but do not prevent it. Three Hives Grove. A center of honey production, as its name implies, this grove is a ramshackle collection of bearfolk cabins and a wooden palisade—a sleepy timber town. It also features an arcane well of power, a radiant well that somehow emits moonlight and arcane power that the local druids harness to turn into moonstone, moonsteel,
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122 Book of Ebon Tides and other useful substances of pure, solidified radiance. Lunar devils and followers of the Moonlit King have visited repeatedly, perhaps to trade arcane secrets with the Beekeeper in Chief, Lord Aparombo (CG bearfolk thunderstomper, see Chapter 9). Veiled Grove. Barely connected to the capital of Solvheim by a narrow track, the Veiled Grove is a sanctuary and holy ground where any outlaw or exile may find shelter, be they bearfolk, shadow fey, or a shade from Soriglass. Its trees are enormous pines of a kind not often seen, their trunks reddish and their leaves tending to dark-plum shades. The druid of the Veiled Grove is Rumbella Nuuneva, a grandmotherly bearfolk who seems able to pierce illusions and sense the truth of corrupted hearts. A small spring in the Veiled Grove is used to cleanse shadow corruption from those who fall prey to it, attracting occasional pilgrims and wayward adventurers. Merrymead, City of Revels A city of joy and light and strength is unusual in any kingdom, but in the dark landscape of the Shadow Realm, Merrymead seems a mirage. Built of great oak timber daubed with clay and painted in bright, warding patterns of flowering vines, every rooftop studded with beehives, and wandering droves of pigs grown fat from acorns, Merrymead is a lively point in a shadowy forest, and it enjoys frequent trade as it sits at the crossroads between Fandeval, the Moonlit Glades, and the forests of the shadow fey. It is an especially seasonal sort of city, having a much faster, even frenetic pace in high summer and fall, compared to the sleepy winter and the difficult days of spring. The city’s role as a crossroads extends beyond the roads within the Shadow Realm. One of its roads leads back to the mortal world, to a sophisticated, well-ruled human city with a large temple to a goddess of cats, hunters, and perfumes. The Honey Fair. Each year at high summer, the King and Queen of Merrymead open a trade fair, one of the few in the Shadow Realm. It is open to everyone who can obey its rules: fair speech, fair bargains, and no brawling outside the Royal Ring. Many deals are struck for great vats of honey and The Coming of the Bearfolk / from the Book of Ebon Tides The bearfolk came to the land of shadows in two great waves: first were the druids and their servants, and then the warriors, chewing shadows and destroying the darakhul, the vampires, and others. Their forests here grow quickly, and their roads are strengthened with radiance, but the bearfolk remain vulnerable in the sleepy winter months. Over the centuries, their presence has gone from a few wanderers and stone huts to a northerly realm of its own. Everywhere they settle, the snows are thicker and the forests a bit healthier. Their druids can remove shadow contamination from even the worst afflicted, and their warriors are a match for anyone. A Road to Midgard The forest paths to the northeast of Merrymead contain a shadow road to Midgard’s Western Wastes. Those many layers of fern, bracken, and undergrowth eventually lead directly into the temple of Ailuros in Bourgund, and worshippers there are sometimes surprised by the sudden appearance of bearfolk. In addition, each year at the honey fair, the bearfolk king of Björnrike or the bearfolk queen of the Arbonesse opens the Honey Road for a week. They then extend an invitation for bearfolk of the realm to come to their sunny lands, strengthening the bonds between the bearfolk of the Shadow Realm and those of the lands they came from, long ago.
Realms Beyond the Courts 123 mead, for lengths of bearfolk timber and goblin moonsteel, and even for strange treasures dug up from Soriglass or brought down from the stars. The trade fair sometimes even carries on into mortal lands when a bear king of the mortal world opens a shadow road, as the Honey Fair ends, and extends an invitation to travel the Honey Road to bearfolk lands in the mortal world. The Slumbering Winter. The city of Merrymead is still populated in winter months, but its bearfolk do very little but sleep, dream, and wake for brief periods to see the snow. During the slumbering months, the regency is granted to a trusted human, such as the high priestess of Charun, the boatwoman Linne Mallemele, or else the high priest of Umbeserno, Snuffling Tilda, Keeper of the Snoring Temple— who, as all priestesses of the Lord of Sleep, enters the winter sleep late and wakes early. One of the priestesses watches over the bears and keeps the city’s business moving, albeit at a sedate pace until spring. Their primary goal is to provision the city well for the spring hunger. The Spring Hunger. Come the spring and the snowmelt, Merrymead stirs and wakes itself, extremely thin and hungering. Darakhul in particular seem to understand the bearfolk hunger in a way that gnomes and humans don’t quite, and their merchants always forge through the late snows to bring fish, spring lamb, potatoes, and other provisions to Merrymead. Vast amounts of food are devoured in just a few weeks as the bearfolk awaken family by family, and the price of spring provender is double that of the rest of the year. In short order, the festivals of Bengta and Charun are held, the shrine of Umbeserno holds the rite of Waking the Last Sleeper, and the dream season ends with bearfolk returning to the hives, fishponds, groves, and fields. Moonlit Glades The Moonlit Glades is the most prominent ray of light and hope in the Shadow Realm. Here the bearfolk dwell and tend their small patch of home against the darkness, and their numbers grow steadily from year to year. While the bearfolk are natives of the Shadow Realm, they remain as vulnerable to the plane’s corruptive influence as any visitor from the mortal world. That generations have lived and died within the shadows without falling to its temptation represents a minor miracle—and a sign that the bearfolk understand shadow’s temptations better than most and that their druids and gods protect them. THE MOONSWEPT NORTH The Moonlit Glades nestle deep in a black pine forest of the Shadow Realm’s far north, corresponding loosely to the lands of ice and snow in the mortal world. The moon shines its face upon the glades as Merrymead, the City of Revels Rulers: His Sonorous Majesty King Zaim Gundervolk (CG bearfolk druid, see Chapter 9) and Her Gilded Majesty Queen Hollibee (LG bearfolk apostle of Bengta, see Tome of Beasts 3) Important Personages: Double Time Karlo von Karlose (CN quickstep, see Creature Codex); Ferryboat’s Keeper Linne Mallemele, high priestess of Charun (NE human apostle of Charun, see Tome of Beasts 3); Fragrant Servant Sayzanette Belleflor, high priestess of Ailuros (CG human priest of Ailuros); Her Solemnance Snuffling Tilda (NG bearfolk first servant of Umbeserno, see Tome of Beasts 3); Lady of the Forest Alossa Tergehar (LN human druid); Master of the Hives Ingmore Meadbeard (NG bearfolk druid, see Chapter 9) Population: 11,000 (6,500 bearfolk, 2,000 umbral humans, 1,600 shadow goblins, 500 darakhul, and 400 wyrd gnomes) Great Gods: Bengta (patron), Ailuros, Charun, Kupkoresh, and Umbeserno Trade Goods: Honey, wheat, oats, ironwork, maple and pine wood, and pork (in order of importance)
124 Book of Ebon Tides if blessing the bearfolk in their desperate struggle. Shadow roads to Soriglass and the fey courts offer the most reliable and timely path of entry into the glades, and the bearfolk have wrested control of these paths from the shadow fey. Stone and silver cairns mark the borders of the Moonlit Glades, and moonlight always bathes these markers. Bearfolk druids conduct rituals at these stones, renewing the magic that holds shadow’s touch at bay. Each bearfolk settlement similarly features a standing stone or cairn at its center, creating another layer of protection for its residents. Given their relative safety from the more powerful denizens of the Shadow Realm, the bearfolk have nurtured their claim of the dark land. The Moonlit Glades have secured numerous pure resources here, and the bearfolk fight furiously to maintain them. Waterways in the Moonlit Glades run clear, glittering like rivers of molten silver beneath the moonlit sky. The spirits that haunt rivers and streams in the rest of the Shadow Realm grow quiet and peaceful within the bearfolk’s borders, allowing travelers to drink unmolested. The bearfolk tribes maintain a strong druidic tradition as well as the worship of their own gods, Bengta and Umbeserno, and the Green Gods in their masks as Freyr and Freyja. These divine servants spend most of their time tending to agriculture, tending to their fruits and vegetables free of shadow corruption. Even the beasts are more like their material counterparts here, and their meat is wholesome and nourishing. Few things rouse the ire of the bearfolk more quickly or more violently than poachers. Settlements in the Moonlit Glades are small and dispersed, but each remains in close contact with the others. Runners, hunters, druids, and priests make regular rounds between the villages and the capital settlement of Solvheim, carrying news, delivering requests for aid, and reinforcing close ties with the surrounding tribes. Originally the population of the Moonlit Glades was purely bearfolk, but over the The Bear Kingdom of Midgard A proud people, the bearfolk originally hailed from Björnrike, the Bear Kingdom in the Northlands of Midgard. The ruler of Björnrike, Mesikämmen the Bear King, foresaw a terrible doom growing in the Shadow Realm that threatened all his people. He gathered his most trusted warriors and druids and charged them with an impossible task—to enter the Shadow Realm and fight back the corruption at its source. His brave subjects set forth on a forbidden shadow road without hesitation and never looked back. Moonlit Glades Ruler: Gulfwyr Moonrage, Chief of the Moonlit Glades (CG werebear bearfolk chieftain, see Creature Codex) Important Personages: Elder Whitepaw (CG bearfolk druid, see Chapter 9); Hierophant Ernalda Berlasdottir (NG bearfolk druid, see Chapter 9); Kordan Wodenson, reaver chieftain (LN wolf reaver dwarf, see Tome of Beasts) Population: 27,000 (21,000 bearfolk, 3,500 umbral humans, 1,500 dwarves, 500 half-elves, 400 shadow fey, and 100 various werebears, alseid, and others) Capital: Solvheim, population 12,000 Other Settlements: Eagle Grove, Hawthorn Grove, Leaping Salmon Grove, Sleepers Grove, Three Hives Grove, Veiled Grove Great Gods: Bengta (patron), Charun (called Hod), Freyr and Freyja (Yarila and Porevit), Thor, and Umbeserno Trade Goods: Medicinal herbs, pure food and water, silver, moonlight honey (in order of importance)
Realms Beyond the Courts 125 years, it has adapted to include humans, elves, and others. Other races from the Kingdom of the Bear have come to the Shadow Realm, initially to maintain contact between the shadow colony and their kin in the mortal world, but eventually many integrated into the existing bearfolk communities. Humans are the most prominent of these newcomer races, but a contingent of reaver dwarves who venerate bear spirit totems found their way here and decided to settle. The dwarves represent an invaluable asset to the Moonlit Glades since they are among the few seafarers willing to sail on the fog-shrouded black waters of Frost Gulf. Even these stalwart sailors don’t venture far from land, but their crafts allow the bearfolk and their allies unprecedented, swift access to other areas of the Shadow Realm, when the shadow roads become too dangerous or don’t lead to the proper destination. The Rivers Styx and Lethe are far safer for the moonlit reavers to navigate though, and they occasionally raid darakhul, goblin, and shadow fey villages along the waterways. Some renegade shadow fey call the Moonlit Glades home, though they must go to extraordinary lengths to prove their honorable intentions and win the bearfolk’s trust. Half-elves as well as a fair number of alseid and werebears are scattered throughout the population. The Moonlit Glades have a calming effect on werebears, and even during the full moon, these lycanthropes find their more destructive urges curbed. Werebears often seek the way to the glades, so they can live out their lives in righteous service with less fear of losing themselves to the curse. TIES THAT BIND: RULERS OF THE GLADES Despite their differences, the peoples of the glades consider each other to be family. A diarchy consisting of the chieftain and the hierophant rules the nation. The chieftain oversees martial defense and civil government, serving as the highest authority to settle disputes among tribal leaders. The hierophant represents the spiritual center of the Moonlit Glades and is the most trusted counselor on magical matters, including for the elevation and ordinance of new druids and clerics and for consultation on matters of shadow corruption, the flow of the ebon tides, the management of boundary stones, and similar issues. The Chieftain. The current chieftain, Gulfwyr Moonrage, is a massive grizzlehide bearfolk werebear whose pitch-black fur is deeply frosted with silver. A terrifying opponent in battle, Gulfwyr earns his deed name hundreds of times over, channeling his rage into the destruction of his foes and the protection of the Moonlit Glades. His restraint regarding the werebear curse borders on the stuff of legends, and he has never infected another creature. Outside of battle, Gulfwyr is wise and fair, and many already consider him a living ancestor. He brooks no foolishness when deciding disputes and is quick to punish a party bringing frivolous suits. Living in the depths of the Shadow Realm, there is always more at stake than spite or selfishness. The Hierophant. Ernalda Berlasdottir, the hierophant, provides the spiritual and magical counterpart to Gulfwyr’s battle prowess and civic dictates. A slender but tough purifier bearfolk, she decorates her long, red-gold fur with braids, beads, feathers, and silver charms. The most powerful druid in the Moonlit Glades, she takes great care to learn of any shadow incursion into the relative purity of her home. She provides the single greatest source of healing and restorative lore in the entire realm: there is no affliction that she can’t identify, if not relieve. She devotes her time to maintaining the moonlit wards that protect her home and pursuing cases of shadow corruption. The Wanderer. A strange sight in the holdings of the Moonlit Glades, a venerable bearfolk with snow-white fur, called Elder Whitepaw, calls no settlement nor village home. Instead, he wanders from town to town. The shaman’s demeanor can be strange and sometimes off-putting, for he converses at random, answering unheard questions or shifting with no warning or preamble from a discussion with present individuals to one with figments of his imagination or beings otherwise imperceptible to any but himself. Despite his strange habits, Whitepaw is the only bearfolk other than the chieftain with a direct line of contact to Hierophant Ernalda. Though his wandering seems random, Whitepaw is deeply in tune with the healing and awakening spirits of nature within the cleansed Moonlit Glades. Elder Whitepaw has a deep knowledge of the spread of shadow corruption and the influence of dark entities, such as the umbral vampires, cultists of the Black Goat of the Woods, and the undead, but communicating that knowledge is often difficult. Whitepaw often stumbles into agents of the Lantern Bearers or a visiting band of adventurers and offers them a task or request of great import. Individuals who perform admirably earn Whitepaw’s favor and the goodwill of the bearfolk.
126 Book of Ebon Tides AGAINST THE DARKNESS When the bearfolk first walked the shadow roads, they had only the faintest idea of what awaited them or even what foe they sought to thwart. The peril they faced was deceptively minimal at first: the occasional shadow or unquiet spirit, predatory beasts that sought their first taste of uncorrupted flesh. These dangers were faced without difficulty, insulated from the most insidious creatures of shadow by their remote location. All too soon, they learned the true danger of the Shadow Realm remains one’s own imperfect nature. Their numbers began to feel the force of corruption, and division struck their ranks. Melancholy gave way to paranoia, and that gave way to conflict. As the corruption spread, those who proved more resistant tried in vain to help their fellows, which only added fuel to the fire. Before long, the corrupted bearfolk turned on their own kin, and the blood spilled drew the attention of the umbral vampires. One day they were simply there, arising from dark ruins the bearfolk had never seen before. The warriors fought valiantly, but with their ranks reduced by spreading corruption, they knew they were doomed. It was then that the druids’ last desperate plan succeeded, and hope kindled anew. Using the last drops of pure water brought from their home along with silver mined in the Shadow Realm, the druids drove back the darkness empowering the invaders. Through this victory, the bearfolk discovered how shadow corruption—coupled with acts of betrayal, murder, and the resulting despair—bored holes through the veil between the Shadow Realm and the mortal world. The umbral vampires slipped through these widening cracks, their timeless nature drawing them to places where shadow bleeds into the world. In the light that shone from the heavens, the bearfolk saw the truth that led them to this place and resolved to oppose the spread of shadow from within. Bolstered by their new discovery, the bearfolk rallied and drove the wretched creatures back into their ruins. These strange slivers of the City Fallen into Shadow melted back into the darkness as moonlight overtook them. The bearfolk’s knowledge brings them into conflict with powerful forces within the Shadow Realm, namely the darakhul of the Twilight Empire and the umbral vampires of Oshragora. Each of these has a terrible knack for finding rifts and cracks to exploit, and the bearfolk know they pose a risk of large-scale shadow corruption pushing into their homeland here as well as their mother lands in the mortal world. ALLIES IN THE LIGHT The Moonlit Glades form a solid bastion of hope in the Shadow Realm. The nation is protected from shadow corruption and from the worst depredations of shadow creatures because of its moonlit wards. The bearfolk understand how pervasive shadow is. Bearfolk and their allies are occasionally corrupted, but they hold the key to long-term survival: they can perform a ritual passed down from the first settlers of the Moonlit Glades that can scour shadow corruption with cleansing moonlight. The druids regularly conduct rituals to maintain the moonlit wards around their borders and in the center of each settlement. Because they can remove shadow’s touch, the Moonlit Glades became the center of the network now known as the Lantern Bearers. Though the bearfolk never teach their purification rituals to outsiders for fear that forces of shadow will find a way to corrupt or circumvent them, they are willing to use their gifts to aid outsiders struggling against shadow corruption. The relative safety and purity of the Moonlit Glades is recognized throughout the Shadow Realm, and the hidden allies of light know the place may be their only hope in desperate times. A few far-flung settlements of bearfolk and their allies have been established far from the Moonlit Glades. Each revolves around a standing stone inlaid with silver or a stone-and-silver cairn as in the glades, holding back the shadow. Usually away from well-traveled areas, these outposts always have a specific purpose. Most often they observe an area where the barrier between the Shadow Realm and the mortal world has worn thin. They watch to ensure that incursions from the Shadow Realm can’t push through these eroded doorways. These villages and small forts also serve as a sanctuary or last-ditch salvation for friendly travelers lost in the darkness. Guides from the Moonlit Glades are fascinated by the strange glowing crystals that float through the Shadow Realm—the witchlights. The bearfolk and their ilk aren’t entirely sure what to make of these constructs, but they have seen them time and again lead travelers out of danger—and sometimes to exactly what the lost souls need to survive. They don’t fully trust the witchlights though since they resemble will-o’-wisps. Although there are no confirmed reports of witchlights harming or misleading travelers, they are suspicious enough to warrant healthy caution.
Book of Ebon Tides Oshragora, the City Fallen into Shadow Once men and women, the umbral vampires now exist as twisted fiends sustained by the power of shadow and hungry for the life they once held. Not undead but instead fully creatures of the Shadow Realm, umbral vampires resemble pale, gaunt humanoids with long, pointed ears and sharp features—darkness weeping like smoke from their eyes, mouth, and nose—and their touch drains the life and vitality from their victims. They drift through the City Fallen into Shadow, a crumbling ruin twisted through space and time. Albent Stadium. Athletic feats and prisoner blood sports are held here to amuse the vampire overlords. Burning Towers. The city has at least two towers wrapped in perpetual flames, usually a deep orange although sometimes purple—sometimes it is three or four such towers, when visual or temporal distortions double them. These towers were built over radiant wells that were tampered with, and lines of arcane power provide a constant stream of phlogiston to burn without any other fuel. The umbral vampires avoid them, but fire elementals sometimes dance in the flames, and some believe a shadow road to the City of Brass once began in one of these towers. Castle Darros. The castle and the nearby barracks are home to Lady Elenya and her handmaidens, a group of wraiths, as well as her court of shadow goblins and human thralls.
128 Book of Ebon Tides City Hall. A fine, half-timbered building that is one of the few structures in very good repair, this hall is the hub of commerce, industry, and plotting for the creatures that dare to visit the city. Its basem*nt is the Ratskellar, the only tavern in town, and the fare is notoriously poor. The specialty is fried purpure, a sort of lilac-colored fish native to the city’s river. Lord Nalgevar maintains an audience chamber somewhere in the dungeons beneath the hall. Dusk Guildhall.The vampires that often visit their umbral cousins founded a guild here, devoted to the spread of the city’s people and power. As a strange sort of explorer’s society, they exchange information and pursue targets among the darakhul, humans, and shadow fey. Most members are dhampir, vampires, vampire spawn, or shades. Some of the Dusk Guildhall members seek a close alliance with Soriglass. Storm Tower. This tall, Gothic tower with its many gargoyles, bloodthirsty vines, and elaborate balconies is home to the city’s umbral vampires, and features eight large bronze doors at its base. As the home to many of the city’s commoners and the most habitable of its buildings, the Storm Tower is a useful crossroads between all the splinters of the city, no matter how they twist in space. Lightning and flickering witchfire often illuminate the tower and azza gremlins and spire walkers (see Tome of Beasts for both) are often visible. The city’s rulers are rarely found here though, instead favoring Castle Darros and City Hall. The ghouls of the Twilight Empire believe an ancient artifact is buried somewhere beneath the tower and frequently send spies or scouts to attempt to recover it (thus far, without success). Violet River. This tributary of the River Styx runs though Oshragora silently and largely without hindrance. Sometimes, the river seems to flow into a portal or void, and at other times, it appears seemingly from nowhere in the middle of a city street. SUNDERED HISTORY The greatest cautionary tale of the Shadow Realm is undoubtedly that of the umbral vampires. Once residents of a thriving metropolis, the rulers of this long-forgotten city were powerful spellcasters whose might put to shame even the greatest sorcerers of this current age. They were wise and just and used their power to preserve the glory of their people. And their decline began subtly. In an effort to prevent the inevitable march of time, the great archmages twisted it and diverted its flow. The entire population of the great city freed themselves of the shackles of age and death. For generations, they existed in this state, developing even greater magic, fine art, and architecture to rival the palaces of the gods. But for all their wisdom and might, they were blind to the danger set before them. As the river of time in the world around the city flowed on, it began to erode the spells holding it at bay. Eventually the spells failed, and the city drowned in all those many years it had denied. In the rush of uncontrolled magic and rampantly fluctuating time, the entire city vanished from the mortal world. Only the barest traces remain because the entire city was pulled into the darkness between worlds. The people of the once-great city felt the ravages of shadow corruption, but they were trapped in chaotic temporal storms. They spent an eternity in that closed loop of time, devoured by shadow, reborn and consumed again and again until finally the timestorm abated. When the winds of history settled, Oshragora, the City Fallen into Shadow, was born. Great, towering ruins appeared in the landscape of the Shadow Realm. Cobbled streets cracked and twisted, following new paths dictated by shadow’s distortions. Buildings that once touched the sky now stand in a frozen jumble of collapse, held in unstable pockets of temporal stasis. These pockets fail, unwind, and reassert themselves at random. Bits of the city crumble or reassemble before an observer’s eyes. The city defies conventional understanding of geography and space, even among other places in the Shadow Realm. While the rest of the plane shifts over the course of months or years, the City Fallen into Shadow seems to change without a predictable pattern or schedule. INSCRUTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE Oshragora isn’t sufficiently organized to be called a city-state, much less a nation. An unknown number of umbral vampires lurk in its crumbled buildings and shadow-choked alleys. Despite repeated attempts, no scouting force or explorer has ever made an accurate estimate of the city’s cursed population. Umbral vampires simply slip between the cracks of reality as if they’re still shifting through time and space. One half-mad shadow fey hunter raved that she fought and slew the same umbral vampire for weeks while lost in a forest that continually coiled back on itself. The umbral vampires’ motivations remain obscure—or at least prone to chaotic shifts. On
Realms Beyond the Courts 129 occasion, one might be willing to speak with visitors rather than simply devouring their essence, but these conversations always prove frustrating. The vampires mention events out of chronological order and make references to people and places no sage can identify. In spite of this, they give the impression that they understand far more than they’re able to effectively communicate. Shadow fey emissaries are certain that a ruling council still exists somewhere in the city, but the place’s unstable nature has made it impossible to find. The Queen of Night and Magic has proclaimed that she will trade an emperor’s ransom in treasure and secrets for a reliable connection to the umbral vampires’ dark council—or at least to Lord Nalgevar. Despite the difficulty of operating within the city and communicating with the vampires, other creatures exist there. Undead shadows thrive in and around the city (and in the splinters of the city that appear elsewhere), drifting in the wake of umbral vampires. For some reason, the shadows don’t attack the umbral vampires, suggesting either some mastery the umbral vampires hold over the shadows or at least a perceived kinship. Ghouls from the Twilight Empire also make frequent trips to the city. Through covert means and interrogation, the shadow fey believe that the Twilight Emperor of the ghouls searches for some lost artifact hidden in the city. Whatever this artifact is, it likely has power over time, and it might even have been a part of the magic that doomed the city in the first place. Other stranger visitors appear in and around the city and its splinters, such as shadow mages and eonic drifters (see Tome of Beasts) who step between the past and future as one might cross into the next room, enigmatic travelers of the aeons. This is hardly surprising given the city’s tumultuous relationship with time. Due to the city’s unique nature and potent magic, travelers from all realms and times find themselves drawn to it. EVER REACHING The other denizens of the Shadow Realm shun the umbral vampires and drive them back with blade and spell whenever their paths cross. As a result, the umbral vampires can’t readily make use of shadow roads or even those spots where the planes connect to the Shadow Realm. Though much reduced from their former glory, they remain powerful and devilishly cunning. Perhaps their most disturbing talent is the ability to find weak spots in the barrier between the realms. This shadow reflection of the mortal world, where despair, blood, and darkness tear rifts between the worlds, draws the vampires, and their presence seems to hasten the opening of doorways to the Shadow Realm. Thankfully, the umbral vampires seem compelled to remain close to the ruins of Oshragora, so they exist in a limited area. Just as the city seems to warp the land around it, or at least to move in some fashion, so too does it occasionally shed pieces of itself. These splinters of the city, sometimes as little as a single ruined building and other times an entire neighborhood or district, simply appear elsewhere. As with the other distortion effects of the city, a splinter might emerge miles away and remain for days or weeks at a time. The splinters drag umbral vampires and other denizens along with them, depending on the size of the splinter. A single building might contain one umbral vampire and a host of shadows. A district, on the other hand, might release an onslaught of a dozen or more umbral vampires on the surrounding area. The bearfolk from the Moonlit Glades have kept a watchful eye on Oshragora after a few disturbing appearances of splinters within their domain. They grow increasingly worried with each vampire encounter but don’t have enough useful information to plan a suitable defense. So far, they’ve contained the umbral vampires in a dozen splinters until the splinters vanished, but their lack of arcane knowledge hampers their efforts beyond pure reaction. They’re quite eager to learn how the splinters function and how to keep them at bay. Using the Oshragora 8-Section Map The City Fallen into Shadow is splintered along a fourfold axis, dividing the city into eight segments around the Storm Tower at the center. When using the map, you can either keep segments A, B, C, and so forth in clockwise sequence up to H, or you can shuffle the segments as PCs explore it. The blue barrier lines mark the map but are rarely visible in the city itself: these are where the splinters move, grind against each other, or rotate to shuffle the city’s geometry. The Storm Tower is always the center and often visible from any other section.
130 Book of Ebon Tides Oshragora, the City Fallen into Shadow Ruler: Lord of Oshragora and Master of the Violet River, Keeper of the Sanguine Shrine, and Seneschal of the Salamander City, Iktorros Nalgevar (CE umbral vampire, see Tome of Beasts) Important Personages: Elenya the Proud, Lady of the Castle Darros, First Spawn of Iktorros (NE umbral vampire, see Tome of Beasts); His Excellence Cilestros Margevan, high priest of the Hunter (NE lich); Treposs Palendulo (LE human archmage) Population: 600 (100 dark folk, 100 umbral humans, 100 shadow goblins, 50 darakhul, 50 derro, 50 satarre, 50 shades, 50 selang, and 50 umbral vampires) Great Gods: Alquam (patron), Goat of the Woods, Hunter, Santerr Illosi, and Vardesain Trade Goods: Statuary, trained gargoyles and gremlins, amulets, wolf pelts, and fish (in order of importance) How to Use Temporal Distortions in the City effect and using the new one. Creatures that spend more than a day in Oshragora slowly see less and less of such distortions as the city seems to acknowledge them as natives within a week. TABLE 7–1: TEMPORAL DISTORTIONS d8 Temporal Effect 1 Perception slows, causing everything that moves to become blurry and indistinct. All creatures in the splinter are affected by the blur spell. 2 Everyone in the splinter hops between two different timelines. Each living creature is affected by the blink spell. Affected creatures are safe from attacks when they jump to the other timeline. 3 Time is inconstant in the splinter. Each creature that rolls an even result on its initiative roll gains the effects of the haste spell. Each creature that rolls an odd result on its initiative roll gains the effects of the slow spell. 4 Each creature in the splinter gains a slightly out-of-sync double. Each time a creature targets you with an attack, it must roll a d20. On a result of 1–10, the attack hits your double. On a result of 11–20 the attack hits you. Your double’s AC and hit points are equal to yours at the beginning of combat. Your double can’t move or take actions independently of you. 5 Time jumps backward in short bursts. At the end of each of its turns, each creature regains 10 hit points, up to its maximum hit points. On the first round after it dies, each creature that is dead must roll a death saving throw. On a success, it regains 10 hit points and resumes living as though it had never been dead. 6–8 No temporal effect. The degree of chaos and weirdness visible on the streets and among the ruins is up to the GM. To add some level of strangeness to exploration, roll on the Temporal Distortions table every time creatures pass from one section (or splinter) of the city to another, ending any prior
Book of Ebon Tides The most recent addition to those scrutinizing the city includes the Court of One Million Stars. These strange fey drift through the ruins while enshrouded in starlight, which pains the shadows and umbral vampires. They study the city, but they meticulously avoid the areas of distorted time. Only one such creature has engaged in the briefest exchange while about its task. After obliterating a pack of umbral vampires with an incandescent wave of starfire, the luminous creature whispered to the only surviving adventurer, “The Void calls to the Void. It must not be allowed to answer.” The adventurer recounted his story to Revich, the blind angel in the Court of Night and Magic, before hurling himself from the top of the angel’s tower. Soriglass, City of Shades Built in aeons past along the banks of the River Styx by the sable elves, the city of Soriglass is an enormous mausoleum—a ruin more famous for its crypts, ghosts, and shades than for any particular power, art, or wealth. Its inhabitants collect tomb-dust to make the drug called requiem (see Requiem, Drug of the Afterlife sidebar), and visitors often come to explore one of the two main dungeon complexes of the region: the Cloisters of the Outer Void, largely held by ghouls, satarre, and undead; and the Pit of the Squamous Fiend, said to connect directly to the lower layers of the Eleven Hells, inhabited by enough fiends and aberrations to make that seem likely. Both are death traps, brimming with fiends and undead, with connections to various deadly sorcerers, frothing cultists, and satarre doomsayers, and the two locales have been ruled by a succession of lich lords, minor demon lords, and evil high priests. They are too strong for the local king of the shades to root out, but fortunately they spend most of their time and energy fighting each other rather than honest travelers or the citizens of the city. Bright Barge Dock. While Soriglass has no bridge across the Styx, as does the Court of Golden Oaks, it does have a small community of halflings, Styx-loving satarre, and umbral humans who build, load, and work barges up to Vysanth—a pilgrimage town devoted to Charun—and down the river as far as the goblin city of Fandeval. The mistress of the Bargeworker’s Guild, Happy Fillbec, is a strong,
132 Book of Ebon Tides no-nonsense leader of the barge captains and crews, and she brooks absolutely no foolishness when it comes to cargo and payments. Visitors to Soriglass often come by boat rather than by road, and her work securing safe, effective barge traffic on the Styx is one reason why. Soriglass, the City of Shades Ruler: Tomarrich the Howler, His Spectral Majesty and High Lord of Soriglass, the Keeper of the Final Portal, Warden of the Violet Marshes, Lord Protector of the Boneyard Pass (CE wraith) Important Personages: Happy Fillbec, Bargemaster of the Guild (NG riverfolk halfling merchant captain, see Tome of Beasts 3); Her Luminance Ingalla Vert, pantheist priestess of Hecate and Santerr Illosi (NE darakhul first servant of Santerr Illosi, see Tome of Beasts 3); Valish the Starcatcher (LE satarre void speaker, see Creature Codex) Population: 2,000 (1,000 umbral humans, 600 shades, 200 darakhul, 100 shadow goblins, 50 satarre, and 50 halflings) Great Gods: Anu-Akma (patron), Charun, Hecate, Santerr Illosi, and Vardesain Trade Goods: Papyrus, purple dyes, silver, moondust, requiem, and statuary (in order of importance) Castle of Frozen Tears. King Tomarrich the Howler rules a small court of shades, minor phantoms, and necromancers who use the rich array of tombs and ghosts here as raw materials in the performance of dark magic. He dreams of gathering the darakhul to his side, though in practice he is very much a TABLE 7–2: 10 GHOSTS OF SORIGLASS d10 Result 1 Old King Usen. A human lord of a long-forgotten land, who asks visitors to find the bones plundered from his tomb. 2 The Pale Innkeeper. A human woman known for serving fresh ale that turns to blood or salt water. 3 Cursing Marbella. An elven woman who cannot be seen but who swears in Elvish. She seeks vengeance against her killer. 4 The Watchman. A human city guard whose shouting could wake anyone but who can never grab a prisoner. He is looking to find and catch a thief and earn his rest. 5 The Drowned Man. Tangled in kelp and bits of net, he walks the streets, perpetually leaving a damp trail. If given a small sacrifice (spilled drink, bit of smoke or incense), he tells tales of the dark, ebon sea and the riverboats . . . and of a treasure he buried with his crew, long ago. 6 The Moaning Joker. A gnomish woman who always seeks to fill a ghostly goblet for a toast and who weeps that she can no longer enjoy water, wine, nor mead. Tells terrible jokes. 7 The Empty Princess. An eyeless princess surrounded by a nimbus of burning void energy. Within her gown and sleeves is a tapestry of beetles, flies, and scorpions. If caught in a mooncatcher’s net, these insects yield a rich purple dye. 8 The Gray Knight. A silent, armored knight with helm and sword who stands watch over a tomb each night. Those who seek to pass into the tomb must defeat him for three nights in a row to lay his spirit to rest. 9 The Gnawing Ogre. A fat, spectral ogre who chews on any meat or bones left in the graveyard. Some say he devours the living as well and can only rest if he eats his fill. 10 Ingortellek, Giant of the Ancients. A red-haired giant who speaks in strangely stilted tones and who seeks to return down the River Styx to a final rest—if only someone would perform the burial rites.
Realms Beyond the Courts 133 Requiem, Drug of the Afterlife Requiem is a potent drug that allows its users to speak with the dead when smoked. Made from death’s head mushrooms, the cremated ashes of sentient beings, and various other unsavory components, it gives its users visions of the dead but is highly addictive. It comes in two forms: a muddy substance called clay and a refined powder called bliss. REQUIEM CLAY (INHALED) Price per Dose: 750 gp When you smoke requiem clay, you summon the spirit of a single deceased person that you personally knew in life. The spirit’s image is visible, and its voice can be heard in whispers, but it cannot touch you. You can ask the spirit up to five questions, as the speak with dead spell. The spirit knows only what it knew in life, including the languages it knew. Answers are usually brief, cryptic, or repetitive, and the spirit is under no compulsion to offer a truthful answer if you are hostile to it or if it recognizes you as an enemy. The spirit can’t learn new information, doesn’t comprehend anything that has happened since it died, and can’t speculate about future events. Afterward, you suffer 3 (1d6) poison damage per question asked and must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC 10 + 1 per question asked) or become addicted to the drug. If you become addicted, you suffer one level of exhaustion 1d4 days after you last smoked the drug and gain a further level of exhaustion for each week that requiem is not smoked. Levels of exhaustion gained through requiem use do not reduce as normal after taking a long rest. Smoking requiem again eliminates levels of exhaustion gained from abstaining. At the end of each week, you can make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. Two consecutive weekly successful saving throws are necessary to break the addiction through abstinence. Alternatively, the addiction can be broken with a lesser restoration or heal spell. REQUIEM BLISS (INHALED) Price per Dose: 2,500 gp When you smoke requiem bliss, you experience feelings of euphoria. You summon the spirit of a single deceased person whose name you know. The spirit takes on the physical characteristics it had in life and might touch you, though it cannot harm you. You can ask the spirit questions as the speak with dead spell with the following exceptions: you can ask up to ten questions, and the spirit cannot lie to you. In addition, you are simultaneously granted the benefit of the contact other plane spell (without taking psychic damage or going insane) as the summoned spirit consults with others and relates information about a single question that would otherwise be unknown to it. You suffer 3 (1d6) poison damage per question asked and must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC 12 + 1 per question asked) or become addicted to the drug. If you become addicted, you suffer two levels of exhaustion 1d4 days after you last smoked the drug and gain a further level of exhaustion for each week that requiem is not smoked. Levels of exhaustion gained through requiem use do not reduce as normal after taking a long rest. Smoking requiem again eliminates levels of exhaustion gained from abstaining. At the end of each week, you can make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. Three consecutive weekly successful saving throws are necessary to break the addiction through abstinence. Alternatively, the addiction can be broken with a lesser restoration or heal spell. minor vassal to Emperor Vilmos Marquering of the Twilight Empire, which is always nearby and in his thoughts. The castle itself is made of finely worked blue-white stone, luminous over the plains or from across the Styx. Low Temple of the Ghouls, High Temple of Hecate. While Charun has several thriving shrines and priests in Soriglass, the most active temple is the Great Vault of Vardesain and Santerr Illosi, where ghoul and darakhul pilgrims come to pay homage to a religious relic: the Bone Cloak of Vardesain, said to be made from the fingerbones of more than 400 darakhul and one bone from an avatar of Vardesain himself. This relic is brought out by the priests on holy days, and darakhul wrapped in it are said to gain relief from the endless hunger and to be cured of various ailments of the undead. Her Luminance Ingalla Vert is the keeper of the cloak while the high priests of Vardesain from both Vysanth and Ossean often make the trek to visit the relic themselves, but neither priest cares to spend much time at the Great Vault. The Cathedral of the Luminous Moon was once the largest temple to Hecate in the Shadow Realm. With the long decay of Soriglass though, its stained-glass
134 Book of Ebon Tides windows are empty sockets in a weathered shell. High Priestess Vert leads other darakhul priestesses and several human adepts and initiates in the rites of the moon, and all are welcome in the black pews and at the full moon blessings of weapons, armor, livestock, and wands. Rumor has it that the chancel is enchanted to ward against evildoers, protecting the altar and its platinum dagger and chalice. The cathedral’s real treasures are kept underground and include a lock of Hecate’s silvery hair and a bottled piece of her sacred shadow, both relics of the faith. They are brought out for pilgrims to see each full moon and new moon. Sixty Cyclopean Tombs. Outside the city of Soriglass but always moving in its wake when the ground shifts and the land ebbs or flows, the Sixty Tombs are a cluster of mausoleums and pillared shrines with occasional obelisks. Their script it not related to modern Umbral but to an ancient dialect, and the bones found within them are more akin to those of ogres or trollkin than to humans or fey: heavy, tall, and of an imposing scale. Hidden passages, buried tombs, and major undead are always rumored to live among the Sixty Tombs, though few know quite where to find them. Necromancers and priests of Charun often visit to investigate their mysteries. Tenebrous Plain A plain of tall, luscious grass downstream from the Forest of the Firebirds stretches out around a tributary of the River Lethe. Gnarled trees and skeletal, leafless shrubs contrast sharply with the serene greenspace. The shadows cast by the plants, both living and dead, fall in strange directions with some stretching farther than others. A fast-moving tributary flows through the plain, winding its way around clumps of vegetation. This offshoot of the River Lethe is fickle, alternating between flowing with the same inky blackness as most water sources in the Shadow Realm and running as clear and cool as the most refreshing stream in elven lands, based on the whim of Oma Rattenfanger (see Chapter 9), the Keeper of the Plain. It is difficult to say what causes her to show such generosity, but tales tell of countless mortals who make offerings in the Tenebrous Plain, eager for the untainted water. On some occasions, the inky blackness disappears from the riverbed, leaving behind perfectly drinkable water. However, tales also tell of ungrateful young adventurers greedily guzzling the clear water only to have it swirl with black motes Pits of the Roachlings While many regions of the Shadow Realm resemble the mortal world, some areas adrift in the shadows are much stranger than that. In particular, the Pits of the Roachlings are an entirely bizarre form of terrain made by congealing, spinning, and reforming the raw shadow into what can best be described as demonic termite mounds or perhaps hollow dunes and curved pits. A roachling pit of this kind is usually found on the plains where it appears as a gentle hollow or dip in the landscape with an enticing body of water at the bottom surrounded by reeds or trees. The water is indeed pure rainwater, drinkable and crisp—but the gentle slope around that water is often quite slippery, making it difficult to leave the area around the water. Creatures must make a strong effort to climb back up the slope, requiring a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check. At other times, the roachling pit may resemble a set of stones or a small mesa (again, usually with a pure water spring) that sinks into the shadowy plain when approached. Creatures that stay near the water overnight or for a long rest slowly sink with the stones and the pool of water, and on waking, may find themselves 30 or 40 feet below the level of the surroundings. The walls of the pit are commonly pockmarked with niches, tunnels, and small dwelling spaces, often inhabited. In either case, the nearby ground is riddled with roachling (see Tome of Beasts) tunnels—and various lesser demons and devils such as rattok (see Creature Codex), quasits, imps, and lemures may make their homes there as well. True to their heritage, roachlings can indeed survive almost anywhere, including in the Shadow Realm. Their communities rely on trapping various game (which roachlings can devour without danger of corruption) and on a limited amount of trade with the more civilized races. The primary foe of the roachlings are darakhul, who find roachling flesh entirely palatable. The Twilight Empire organizes frequent “roach hunts” on the Whispering Plains and elsewhere to feed its expanding population.
Realms Beyond the Courts 135 while they’re drinking it. Some say lost souls who have been mistreated by those they revered are likely to find aid from Oma Rattenfanger, but others say such individuals are never seen again, recruited into her eternal service. HIDDEN DANGERS While most creatures of the Shadow Realm avoid Oma Rattenfanger’s domain, there are still plenty of dangers awaiting those who travel the Tenebrous Plain. Oma Rattenfanger is the keeper not just of the plain itself but of its inhabitants too, including the orphans of the black (see Tome of Beasts 2). These feral, childlike creatures were mistreated youths who seek revenge on those in positions of authority. While orphans of the black are not often loyal creatures, those from the Tenebrous Plain are fiercely devoted to Oma Rattenfanger. Anyone attempting to harm her must contend with these savage souls. Oma Rattenfanger has granted sanctuary to other creatures seeking shelter from the mortal world or from other portions of the realm. Shadow-touched plants such as shadow blights and razorleafs (see Creature Codex for both) find comfort in Oma’s domain. Others, such as a grove of weeping treants (see Tome of Beasts), have been on the Tenebrous Plain as long as Oma and watch over both the keeper and the plain. A single feyward tree (see Tome of Beasts) roams the plain, protecting the area from fey creatures looking to trespass. It doesn’t harm Oma or those in her care though, a mystery the tree’s victims do not have a chance to solve. Twilight Empire The Empire of the Ghouls exists in the Crossroads region of Midgard and beyond, tunneling through the mortal world. But the darakhul are also active in the Shadow Realm, and their empire here is, if anything, even more dangerous, as it relies on alliances with shadow dragons and a cave dragon lich, Dreadwing. Their ability to walk shadow roads and to visit Evermaw, the planar realm of the undead, also makes the Shadow Realm’s darakhul exceptionally dangerous. The realm is ruled by an emperor who considers Nicoforus his “imperial cousin,” and the two nations seem to exchange ambassadors, trade in goods, and conduct various supporting activities to aid one another as might two somewhat distant nations in any other realm. The primary difference is that the ghouls in the Shadow Realm have the ability to feed on the strange trees of the Crackling Forests (which means they hunt and devour humanoids somewhat less often)— plus they are fewer in number here compared to other undead realms or even in most human lands, where the undead are a larger presence. To the north and west of the Blackwood where the shadow fey dwell lies a great pit in the Shadow Realm’s landscape. A series of deep depressions gouge the dark earth, diving deep into thick shadows and darkened tunnels. In these Black Iron Depths thrives an exiled arm of the Ghoul Empire known as the Twilight Empire. These darkness-touched ghouls thrive in the shadow of the Ironcrags, searching for a way to breach the barrier between darkness and light. Their undead bodies absorb the essence of shadow through the flesh of their meals (shadow fey and other living creatures of the realm), and every ghoul of the Twilight Empire bears the mark of that shadow—their teeth appear pitch black. Driven out of the Ghoul Empire after a failed coup, renegade ghouls fled deep into the Underworld. Starving and broken, they found a shadow road in a lightless cavern filled with twisted abominations. The Crackling Forests Originally found in the Dry Lands of Evermaw, these alien trees are not green and woody but rather cartilaginous masses of splintered bone with leathery leaves, and they exude an air of menace and move rather more vigorously than normal trees (though not enough to fight off a ghoul or woodsman). A rather small number of these trees now grow in the Shadow Realm, imported from Evermaw, but getting more of them to survive and flower is extremely difficult, for the ghouls devour the saplings too quickly to amass a proper forest. When cut or broken, the trees themselves bleed a black milk that undead find nourishing and pleasant (though living creatures describe it variously as rancid, foul, or rotten). Ghouls, vampires, and other corporeal undead delight in cracking open the hairy bark and gorging themselves on the thick syrup. For such creatures, devouring a pint of black milk is as restorative as devouring a living creature.
136 Book of Ebon Tides ensuing battle and bloodshed briefly activated the road, and the commander of the traitorous legion led his troops into the Shadow Realm. The road led the ragged ghouls into the shadows. The ghouls collapsed the tunnel behind them, sealing the shadow road and blocking pursuit. Safe from further reprisal, they set about building a new empire. Bargol’s Watch. This small, fortified manor house and its outbuildings protect a small village of tanners and bonecutters and serves as the unofficial embassy between the darakhul and the fey—and occasionally between the darakhul and the umbral vampires of Oshragora, when that strange city drifts close by. The steward of the watch is a hard case, a former leader of the legions’ shock troops who was retired here after he lost his right hand to fey magic: Captain Ingelmarr Rothand despises the shadow fey, gnomes, anything light and cheerful. He keeps the holding in fine condition, marches and drills his small garrison frequently, and generally tolerates no nonsense and encourages no untoward laughter, carousing, or joy of any kind among his troops. He spends most of his time in the Great Tower, which stands 70 feet tall and commands an excellent view of the chasm nearby. The troops mostly hate him except for his lieutenant, Valmira Brandorf, a warlock who spends most of her time conjuring spirits, imps, and animal spies to gather information from the manor’s visitors. Bearfolk merchants, fey road wardens, even gnomish distillers all occasionally visit the house to trade Twilight Empire Ruler: Emperor Vilmos Marquering, the Black Fang (NE darakhul general, see Chapter 9) Important Personages: duch*ess Angvyr Ssetha the Lady of Chains, Slave Mistress of Chaingard (LE darakhul captain, see Tome of Beasts 2); duch*ess Mikalea Soulreaper, Lorekeeper of Ossean (NE darakhul necrophage, use necromancer, see Creature Codex); Duke Borag the Executioner, Warlord of Gallwheor (NE darakhul captain, see Tome of Beasts 2); Duke Eloghar Vorghesht, Regent of Evernight (NE darakhul high priest of Vardesain, see Creature Codex); Duke Wierdunn Bonehand, Warden of Blackstone (LE darakhul captain, see Tome of Beasts 2); First Captain Ingelmarr Rothand, Steward of Bargol’s Watch (LE darakhul gladiator); Her Witchlight Resplendence Tiberessa Vert (LE darakhul priest of Santerr Illosi); His Carmine Eminence and High Patriarch of Zhurahk, Devros Perghallen (LE darakhul priest of Vardesain); Kassimir Valengurd the Confessor, adviser to the Black Iron Throne (NE darakhul necrophage, use archmage); Protector of Souls Sen-Nefer (LN darakhul priest of Anu-Akma) Population: 65,000 (30,000 slaves [various bearfolk, elves, umbral humans, shadow goblins, shadow fey], 10,000 lesser ghouls and ghasts, 7,000 darakhul, 6,000 imperial ghouls, and 6,000 shadow goblins), plus Zhurakh houses one legion of 6,000 active soldiers (90 percent of which is lesser ghouls and ghasts) Capital: Zhurakh, City of Bone and Iron, population 15,000 (6,000 slaves, 2,500 lesser ghouls and ghasts and 500 darakhul, plus one legion of 6,000 ghouls) Enclaves: Chaingard, population 2,300 (1,200 slaves, 870 lesser ghouls and ghasts, 200 imperial ghouls, and 30 darakhul); Gallwheor, population 1,000 (600 slaves, 250 lesser ghouls, 100 iron ghouls, and 50 darakhul); Blackstone, population 750 (450 lesser ghouls and ghasts, 200 slaves, and 100 imperial darakhul); Evernight, population 700 (350 lesser ghouls and ghasts, 200 slaves, 100 darakhul, and 50 priests of Vardesain); Ossean, population 600 (400 slaves, 100 lesser ghouls and ghasts, 50 necrophagi, and 50 darakhul sages and scholars); Bargol’s Watch, population 350 (200 slaves, 100 ghouls, and 50 darakhul) Great Gods: Vardesain (patron), Anu-Akma, Mavros, Santerr Illosi, and Sarastra Trade Goods: Iron, weapons, armor, gemstones, and relics from the City Fallen into Shadow (in order of importance)
Realms Beyond the Courts 137 goods with the darakhul or trade information about the position of Oshragora or the movements of elder shadow drakes. Blackstone. Home to the Twilight Empire’s shock troops, the Ravenous Legion, Blackstone broods over one of the few roads into the Black Iron Depths, guarded by the gate-fortress Gloomhold. The warden of Blackstone, Duke Wierdunn Bonehand, scours the populace for ghouls strong and cruel enough to join the Ravenous Guard, a group of a hundred imperial ghouls. Blackstone is also home to the Temple of the Faceless Warden, home to the faith of Anu-Akma among the darakhul. Its chief priest is the Protector of Souls Sen-Nefer. Chaingard. The largest settlement on the surface, just on the edge of the Black Iron Depths, Chaingard stands as the foreboding main gateway into the Twilight Empire. This city serves as the receiving point for all slave traffic. duch*ess Angvyr Ssetha, the Lady of Chains, oversees the slave supply with meticulous efficiency. She enjoys greeting high-ranking emissaries to the empire in a haughty, sneering manner. The Shackled Legion guards the walls and gates, directing the flow of slaves with brutal efficiency. Despite its title as a legion, it is a motley group of hunters, slavers, and guards more familiar with cruelty than a battlefield. Evernight. Hewn from the black stone and iron ore of the depths, Evernight sits on the edge of a dark lake. Ruled by Duke Eloghar Vorghesht, high priest of Vardesain, Evernight is the center of faith for the empire. A grand cathedral to the ghoul god dominates the city’s center, its black altar stained darker with the blood and flesh of countless sacrifices. The Midnight Company of 100 elite darakhul defends the city, boasting warrior clerics and dark reflections of paladins among its ranks. Gallwheor. Whereas Blackstone produces terrifying shock troops, Gallwheor provides the finest tactical minds in the Twilight Empire. Duke Borag the Executioner, Warlord of Gallwheor, never lost a battle during his time in the Ghoul Empire or since their exile into the Shadow Realm. The Headsmen are a group of assassins and stealthy killers known for their deadly efficient strikes to the heart of any opposing force. Rumor has it they have slain bearfolk nobles, fey ladies, and gnomish princes who spoke against the emperor. Kaerim’s Deep. Widely believed to be the work of the ghouls, this deep canyon is not known to be inhabited by the darakhul, bearfolk, or others. Occasionally pale giants or cave dragons are seen on its narrow paths and tunnels, but the region is avoided by most. Ossean. The first stop after the steep and perilous Clanking Descent from Chaingard, down the sheer cliffs of the Black Iron Depths, Ossean receives first pick of any new shipment of slaves. Amid the boneclad buildings, the Twilight Empire’s necrophages labor and study under the direction of duch*ess Mikalea Soulreaper, Lorekeeper of Ossean. Her apprentices and loyal necrophages hone their practice and ply the secrets from the flesh and souls of captives, guarded by the Bone Company’s arcane and martial might. Its ranks swell not just with stout ghouls but also with dark wizards, darakhul necrophages, and eldritch knights who blend arcane magic with the strength of steel. In addition, the settlement hosts a powerful priestess of Santerr Illosi, Her Witchlight Resplendence Tiberessa Vert. She has for decades built a repository of scrolls, tomes, and grimoires, chronicling the ghoul expansion and the unique fusion of shadow magic with necromancy (see also Chapter 4). She has also befriended nearly 100 witchlights, who seem to enjoy her company and
138 Book of Ebon Tides sometimes carry messages for her in some form of luminous code. A dozen or more always accompany her like a veil of lights. Zhurakh, City of Bone and Iron. The deepest city of the Black Iron Depths, Zhurakh serves as the seat of the Twilight Emperor and as the unbeating heart of the empire. The Twilight Emperor learned from his failed coup, and his secret police saturate every level of the city, ever watchful for signs of dissent. For this reason, would-be conspirators avoid the City of Bone and Iron completely. Nearby, the Endless Falls take a seemingly endless plunge into the black depths of the Shadow Realm. This is the Twilight Emperor’s favorite place to deal with traitors and criminals, personally casting them into the depths. The most elite twilight soldiers, the Blackmaw Legion, stand ready to enforce the emperor’s will. In addition, Zhurakh is the seat of the Carmine Temple of Vardesain and the seat of power of the redhanded master of the faith, His Carmine Eminence and High Patriarch of Zhurahk, Devros Perghallen. The temple itself is carved of disquieting red stone that seems to ripple and move in torchlight, the walls resembling a bloody abattoir. The place is a source of power for the entire priesthood, carved with sacred writings and with a new testament of corruption, praising the lord of hunger and confirming his blessings on Emperor Vilmos. The temple is the seat and first house of the inquisitors of Vardesain, who enforce the feeding laws and keep a watchful eye on the darakhul and their servants alike. EMPEROR IN EXILE Vilmos Marquering, called the Black Fang, once commanded the Iron Legion in the White City in the mortal lands. His coup was well planned and brilliantly executed. He turned key conspirators to his cause, several close to the true emperor, and those he couldn’t turn he killed and replaced with loyal cat’spaws. When he struck, Vilmos learned just how deep the emperor’s secrets ran and how woefully inadequate all those careful preparations truly were. He barely escaped, and the most powerful warriors of his legion were reduced to dust by the emperor’s magic. With what must have been Vardesain’s intervention, Vilmos and his surviving allies fled to the Shadow Realm. The Twilight Emperor now rules from his Black Iron Throne in the heart of the Black Iron Depths. Vilmos reforged the battered remnants of his coup into a fighting force and anointed his five most trusted lieutenants as his dukes. Each duke assumed command of a city within the Depths and sought to raise a twilight legion to defend that stronghold in the Twilight Emperor’s name. The Black Fang is wary of even these trusted advisers, for he remembers that betrayal arises from those closest to power— and thus he keeps these half-legions weak enough that they cannot challenge him. Further, their commanders’ devotion is enforced through magic, by a black-mithral bracer recovered from a strange ruin near the Depths. If any of his dukes turn on him, they’ll swiftly find themselves at the points of their own legion’s weapons. The Coming of the Ghouls / from the Book of Ebon Tides The ghouls came to the shadows already half-corrupted, and they took to the shaping of the land with uncommon speed and tireless efficiency. Their necrophages quickly mastered the art of fixing land into a permanent form, and their use of rune-marked bone wands to break the forests, fields, and walls of other inhabitants of shadow makes them much-feared. Their numbers remain relatively small compared to the shadow fey, goblins, humans, and bearfolk, but their arcane aggression and wild ambition make them extremely dangerous. Their gods have already carved a bloody home for them from the land, and it seems to threaten all their neighbors.
Book of Ebon Tides DEALINGS WITH DARKNESS The Twilight Empire has grown swiftly. They make regular raids on the living: communities of fey, the Moonlit Glades, goblin settlements, and any other breathing creatures they can find. The twilight ghouls manage their food sources efficiently, and they rarely suffer a ravenous beggar ghoul to exist among them. Living in the Shadow Realm means greater difficulty in finding sources of living flesh, so the twilight ghouls forged peaceful contact with the shadow fey courts. Since the shadow fey control the vast majority of shadow roads, they can arrange passage for ghoul raiding parties to the mortal world and ensure their safe return with their precious cargo of “food.” In return, the Twilight Emperor assigns legionnaires to help maintain shadow roads that pass through particularly dangerous sections of the realm as well as those known to draw unwanted trespassers. The Queen of Night and Magic found the sudden appearance of a ghoul empire intriguing and amuses herself by keeping tabs on their doings. Lately, she has grown concerned at the increasing ghoul activity in and around the City Fallen into Shadow. Their activities somehow elude her most powerful magic and her canniest spies. She contents herself with the strange magical relics the ghouls unearth through trade and favor for the time being, but that won’t last long. Her Majesty isn’t known for patience once her curiosity is aroused. Ever since the chance discovery of the Twilight Emperor’s magical bracer within a splinter of the City Fallen into Shadow, the Black Fang’s ambitions have kindled anew. He hasn’t forgotten his humiliating defeat and still dreams of one day returning to the mortal world and seizing power in the Underworld. The umbral vampires and their city suggest a means. The Black Fang charged his necrophages to learn everything they could about the umbral vampires. The cost has been steep, for gleaning secrets from the vampires has lost several a ghoul wizard their sanity, but it has been worthwhile. The Twilight Emperor now knows of an artifact orrery hidden deep within the City Fallen into Shadow that can give its wielder mastery over time and space, said to be hidden in the Storm Tower of Oshragora. He currently lacks the forces to strike into the city, so he sends scouting parties to search for signs of the so-called Eye of Veles. RAIDS TO THE MORTAL WORLD The Shadow Realm ghouls thrive in the Black Iron Depths, but that doesn’t mean they are all content. Many harbor deep resentment because of their exile, and they channel that sullen anger in different directions. The cadres of lesser ghouls who blame the Twilight Emperor for his failure and for dragging them into exile don’t have the stomach to take direct action against their new empire, but these pockets of resistance are starting to organize. The hidden traitors know the road home is a long one, but they’re working to recruit allies of higher station and with greater knowledge who share their discontent. If they can find a legion officer or a necrophage wizard who understands what they’ve lost, they might discover a way to return to the Ghoul Empire. The loyal ghouls, on the other hand, know that just on the other side of an intangible but nearly impenetrable barrier awaits a nation of flesh and blood unaware of the danger that essentially walks among them. These ghouls hunger for dwarf flesh and have turned their efforts to finding paths through the veil between the Shadow Realm and Midgard, seeking to open the floodgates for the slaves, food, and death waiting in the Ironcrag Cantons and the Crossroads region of the mortal world. Connections to Evermaw: The Road of Bones In recent times, the twilight ghouls have made an effort to forge paths to the Evermaw—a planar realm of the undead ruled by Mot, god of the undead, and Vardesain, god of hunger. As part of this, a black path called the Road of Bones has been laid from the palace in Zhurakh, which requires blood magic to open and leads directly to Evermaw. Darakhul, satarre, vampires, fiends, and others find this an extremely useful and direct method of crossing from plane to plane, and the emperor collects a toll for using the road. It is unclear how the necrophages and priests of Vardesain built it, and the shades of Soriglass are mad with curiosity to understand how it was formed. The Road of Bones brings stability, trade, and income to the empire from both sides.
140 Book of Ebon Tides The gods of the Shadow Realm are a strange mix of those of the fey and those of the dark and with a few borrowed gods from the bearfolk, from the Nurians, and from the darker divine realms. The gods rarely found elsewhere are those gods of the shadow goblins and the bearfolk, whose worship is less common in the mortal world and whose mysteries in shadow are more powerful and more useful in the Shadow Realm’s twilight forests. Some of them offer access to the Keeper and Shadow domains (see Chapter 3). Great Gods of the Umbral Pantheon Hecate, Ailuros, Anu-Akma, Bengta, and Charun are the most widely worshipped and recognized gods of the Shadow Realm. Even if they are not worshipped in a particular settlement or nation, they are known by name, and their many temples, groves, and worshippers outstrip both the lesser godlings and the dark gods. Umbral Pantheon 8 AILUROS (BASTET) Goddess of Deer and Hunters; Queen of Perfumes; True Child of Aten; Mother of Alchemy; Patron of the Alseid; Wife to the Endless Ocean; Mistress of All Hounds Domains: Cat*, Hunting*, Lust*, Moon* Alignment: Chaotic Favored Weapon: Bow and arrow Ailuros is the wild and free goddess of moonlit nights and joyous hunting, a force for chaos and the patron of the alseid. With her hounds at her side, her lithe form, and her glowing moonlit arrows, she is sometimes thought of as half-fey herself, a member of the Great Hunt. She is a goddess of excellence and desire, the patron goddess of perfumers, alchemists, and those whose trade is beauty. With the scent of the trees and woodland streams in her hair, she and her hounds hunt wolves, foxes, and wild boar, protecting the livestock and crops of farmers and shepherds as well as driving away vermin.
Umbral Pantheon 141 Gods and Masks Similar to the deities of Midgard, the gods of the Shadow Realm are not individuals but rather archetypes or incarnations of universal forces. They aren’t people in the same sense that individual mortals are. Though they all arise from the strength of their priests and the cosmos, the same god can look and act entirely differently from one region to another. The beliefs of the faithful similarly vary from place to place, even among those who purport to worship the same deity. Many gods of the Shadow Realm go by multiple names and even switch gender and appearance when it suits them. As a result, the gods are unknowable and mysterious, and their faiths embody shifting channels of power. Savants believe that only five or six gods might truly thrive in a city, perhaps only three in a town, and one in a village. Shrines devoted to more than a few gods rarely prosper—the priests of these supernumerary gods find that their ability to heal or to intercede with the faithful through divine magic is limited: their power is constrained to a single domain, their prayers go unheard, and their sacrifices are of no consequence. But the heart has room for many gods. Faith in the Shadow Realm is not a matter of choosing a single god but of choosing the right god for a particular need or occasion. In practical terms, this means that pantheist priests (see the Midgard Heroes Handbook or the Southlands Player’s Guide) are sometimes found in the Shadow Realm. The gods seem determined to hide their true identities from worshippers, and sometimes they pretend to be other gods entirely. This sort of deception is common: Ailuros might be Bastet and Bengta might be Isis. Although malleable and changeable, each of the gods of the Shadow Realm retains a core identity that the god’s faithful recognize, even if some of the details might change. The true god, they say, casts different shadows for different worshippers. Her hair is golden, her clothes made for the hunt. A solar or lunar disk hovers over her head, and she wears bracelets in the form of deer or serpents. Worshippers Ailuros attracts a strange medley of worshippers in keeping with her wild and freedom-loving nature: alchemists, trappers, dancers, perfumers, tailors, and vintners adore her as do many among the alseid, catfolk, elfmarked, gnomes, and halflings. Gnolls occasionally offer her sacrifices, though they tend to call her Bastet. Symbols and Books Ailuros’s symbol is a deer, her sacred animal. She is also often depicted with bow and arrow, her hunting weapons, and with her hounds. Ailuros has relatively few sacred texts. The Path of the Huntress is a volume of hymns, parables, hunting lore, and even poetry sacred to her followers. The Grove of Sirens is a collection of esoteric prophecies, revelations, perfumer’s lore, and guidance for blessing the making of incense and guiding hunters.
142 Book of Ebon Tides Shrines and Priests Ailuros accepts only women into the priesthood, though men are welcome as worshippers. Some of her priestesses are alseid, werewolves, or bearfolk, and many are also alchemists, hunters, rangers, or trackers. Her greatest shrine in the Shadow Realm is the Scented Church of Merrymead, where the Fragrant Servant Sayzanette Belleflor leads the faithful, most of them bearfolk, in prayer and ritual. Masks Ailuros is called Bastet in Corremel, and she is often associated with the Hunter. Sometimes she is associated with gods of the eastern winds or with draconic gods of fragrance, gambling, and luck. Other Faiths Temples of Ailuros and her priestesses are on excellent terms with worshippers of various elven gods, and her priestesses are sometimes elves. Anu-Akma’s priests respect those of Ailuros, who provide perfumes and incense used in the death god’s rites. Baccholon treats her with respect and fondness. The Hunter also often seems to find common cause with Ailuros. Her enemies are the dark goddess Marena (who perverts both lust and death), the moon goddess Hecate (who dares intrude on Ailuros’s oversight of the moon), and the jealous faith of Kupkoresh (whose followers consider Bastet a demonic abomination, not a goddess at all). Her faith despises various vermin-cults, such as reptilian gods, rat cults, and the like. What Ailuros Demands Take pleasure in life and live for the day. Hunt and kill your food when you can. Take joy in destroying serpents. Visit the perfumers frequently and offer up gifts of scent and spice to the goddess’s altars. To divine the future, read the entrails of an enormous, unblemished animal, and sacrifice such a creature before any great endeavor. Ailuros in Midgard Ailuros is popular in the Grand Duchy of Bourgund, where stands the High Temple of Perfumed Night. This temple is the starting point of a shadow road into the city of Merrymead. The bearfolk know of this route to the mortal world, though they rarely mention it. Divine Domains Some gods listed here provide their followers with access to cleric domains found elsewhere. These are marked with an asterisk (*) for Deep Magic and with a double dagger (‡) for Tome of Heroes. Domains described in this book can be found in Chapter 3. ANU-AKMA God of the Underworld; Judge of the Dead and Guardian of Tombs; Guide of the People of Khem; Purifier of Souls; Preserver of the Worthy; King of Jackals; Patron of the Gnolls and Ghouls Domains: Death, Justice*, Travel* Alignment: Lawful Favored Weapon: Flail, scythe Among the golden sands of the Southern deserts, Anu-Akma guards the tombs of royalty and stands against the scourges of age, madness, and the evil undead. Deep underground, his worship as AkmaApophis takes a darker turn, combined with the rites of a devil he conquered long ago. There he is venerated as the greatest patron of the Ghoul Empire and Lord of the Underworld. And in that form, he came also to the Twilight Empire of the ghouls and thus into the Shadow Realm. Anu-Akma promotes purity and preserves order, watching over the timely and dignified death of all. His priests anoint those of royal blood to rise again as mummies or liches, and gnoll mortuary guards and guides protect the vast ossuaries and cemeteries from desecration. His ghoulish followers, meanwhile, await each human or goblin burial as a new source of flesh for feasting while Anu-Akma preserves the souls of those unfortunate corpses. When portrayed by humans and desert folk, Anu-Akma is a tall and muscular jackal-headed man whose flesh seems made of the starry night sky. His eyes are golden, and he wears the garb of Southland royalty. Beneath the earth and in the Shadow Realm, his images portray a faceless darkness beneath heavy robes and mummy wrappings. He holds his arms wide, welcoming all into his cold domain.
Umbral Pantheon 143 Worshippers Anu-Akma is worshipped by umbral humans of Southern heritage—especially the elderly and ill, hoping for an easy journey to the afterlife. The ghouls and darakhul also follow Anu-Akma faithfully. Symbols and Books Anu-Akma’s symbols are a golden ankh and a golden scythe. In some cases, the scythe blade is curved inward, and the handles are placed so that the scythe resembles an ankh. Other symbols include the vulture, three human skulls, or a human skull with golden ankhs painted around its eye sockets. His most famous holy text is The Preservation of Bodies and Migration of Souls. The funerary wrappings of AnuAkma’s high priests include the complete text. Shrines and Priests Anu-Akma’s temples are warm, small, and comfortable for the elderly and infirm. Divinations tell his followers when death approaches, and they are encouraged to move into a temple, eating and growing strong for their journey into the Underworld. These temples are guarded against the unclean ghouls that whisper lies and horrors to the faithful. The current high priest in the Shadow Realm is Protector of Souls Sen-Nefer of the Twilight Empire in Blackstone. Masks The greatest mask of Anu-Akma is Anubis. The two are so conjoined that no one is certain which face is the true one. Charun is rumored to be a mask of Anu-Akma, and both churches distrust each other. Darker still, the hunger god Vardesain might be a mask of Anu-Akma. Among the ghouls, he is sometimes called the Earth Father and confused with Charun or Khespotan. Other Faiths Anu-Akma pretends to be a servant, but those who know him see a king. When his priests meet those of other faiths, they know the truth of things and conduct themselves accordingly. In the end, even the priests of other gods rest in the tombs and cemeteries that Anu-Akma watches. What Anu-Akma Demands Respect the ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and their resting places. Rob no tomb. You are the purifier of life and a custodian of death, so prepare those around you for their journey and destination. Remind even the youngest that time is short. Be strict and efficient in your work: laziness serves no one, least of all yourself. Destroy anyone who blasphemes against the paradise of the Underworld. BENGTA THE BEAR MAIDEN Goddess of Dawn and Honey; Mother of Hives; Patron of the Bearfolk; Maiden of Morning; Saint of Sweet Lavender; Flower Bringer; Strength of the Mountain Domains: Justice*, Keeper (see Chapter 3), Life, Nature Alignment: Good Favored Weapons: Battleaxe and greataxe Bengta the Bear Maiden is the keeper of healthy communities and the champion who stands against all their threats. She is the ferocious aspect of Lada, the Goddess of Dawn, who takes the form of a radiant bearfolk. The Bear Maiden is much beloved in the Northlands where she is primarily worshipped. In addition to righteous wrath, Bengta presides over dawn, strength, and of course honey.
144 Book of Ebon Tides The Bear Maiden is one mask of the Goddess Lada, though Bengta has her distinct and rich tapestry of legend and myth perpetuated by the citizens of Björnrike. Though most greatly championed by the bearfolk, who share the god’s form, human and dwarf healers, community leaders, berserkers, and merchants also worship Bengta’s golden radiance. In opposition to the gentle-hearted Lada, Bengta represents the righteous guardian who protects communities. The Bear Maiden is a leader who encourages order and cohesion, ensuring all members contribute to creating a successful whole, much like a colony of bees. The other side of this cohesive leadership is the staunch devotion to destroying threats that would threaten the community. This commitment to swift and righteous wrath is what sets Bengta apart from Lada’s kinder divine masks. Tales of Bengta often depict her traveling the rough terrain of the Northlands, battling monsters that infringe upon the people she is sworn to protect. There are many tales centered on her dealings with the fey, in particular the great animal lords. The Bear Maiden’s weapon is said to be spun from the honey of the Queen of Bees herself, though none of the god’s enemies have survived to confirm this rumor. Worshippers Building and maintaining prosperous communities is a crucial aspect of the Bear Maiden’s worship, so she is becoming more popular among merchants of all stripes. Her straightforward devotion to making good things for good people is highly appealing to most dwarves, and it is not uncommon to find her worshippers amongst their ranks. Bengta’s reputation as a keeper makes her popular among all people who travel in large, nomadic units. Many human berserkers, bearfolk warriors, hunters, and devoted parents are drawn to the Bear Maiden’s strength to protect what is most important to them. Symbols and Books The symbols of Bengta are many and include flowering honeysuckle, a single bee (or more often a trio of bees), or a radiant eye of gold and amber. The Bear Maiden’s sacred books include the Promise of Light (a book of prophecies, parables, and stories of kindness, forgiveness, and healing) and the Summer Book (a book of prayers, hymns, and blessings). Both are often made in lavish, hand-lettered editions, illuminated with red, green, blue, and orange inks in a frenzy of devotion and care—some of these volumes are warded against undead and shadow creatures and function as a permanent protection from evil and good spell with a radius of 10 feet. Shrines and Priests Shrines to Bengta often double as functioning apiaries. Bee products are produced and sold to local communities with a portion always reserved to offer to the goddess. It is not unknown for meaderies to also donate part of their profits to the Bear Maiden’s holy sites to cultivate good fortune. Priests of the Bear Maiden often hold key jobs in their communities. Bengta’s devoted most commonly serve as dedicated warriors, government leaders, healers, and farmers. Worshipping the goddess requires active participation in improving one’s social landscape, which means her priests and shrines rarely fit the cloistered model of other faiths. The Coming of the Bearfolk / from the Book of Ebon Tides The bearfolk wandered into the woods one day and found that there was evil falling in every shadow, that fey trickery was afoot . . . and some say, that they could not find their way home. The bearfolk are rich in moon magic, friends to all who mean no ill, and ferocious, raging enemies to liars, cheaters, and drunken deceivers. You shall have no better friend, and you can make no worse enemy than the bearfolk.
Umbral Pantheon 145 Masks Bengta is widely thought of as a mask of Lada, the human goddess of the dawn and of healing. Bearfolk, of course, know that Lada is simply a furless, human mask of Bengta. Others believe Bengta appears to the dwarves as Ninkash. Other Faiths Bengta’s followers get along well with followers of Lada, Ninkash, Kupkoresh, and even Baccholon. They are enemies of Santerr Illosi’s devotees as well as all the dark gods. Alquam and the Goat of the Woods are especially her enemies. What Bengta Demands The Bear Maiden demands placing those who are cared for above all else. She requires selfless action and constant vigilance against evils that would affect close-knit groups. The Bear Maiden encourages her chosen to create joy and prosperity for all within their reach. And whenever this prosperity is threatened, she demands swift action to destroy the cause of said disturbance. A follower who spends their time industriously is likely to receive the god’s full favor. CHARUN God of Death; Master of the Rivers Styx and Lethe; Guardian of Souls; Watcher at the Door; Patron of Sailors and Gravediggers Domains: Death, Ocean*, Portal‡ , Travel* Alignment: Neutral Favored Weapon: Staff Charun oversees the passage of souls: at birth, at death, and in the afterlife, maintaining the proper steps along the natural roads. He protects planar travelers, especially mortals, from demons and celestials alike. Charun uses the undead as tools and servants, though he sees them as the damaged shells of his charges, holding only a few scattered memories. Darakhul, vampires, and liches gain higher regard in his eyes since they retain their personalities. Immortal creatures such as outsiders and the fey meet with Charun’s disapproval because all too often they trade in souls, disrupting their natural migration. Charun wears a hood in most depictions, and his features are never clear. Visions of the god include snakelike hair, a hooked nose, large boar tusks, heavy brows, cold blue or fiery eyes, or a long black beard. Most agree that his arms are pale cream, though others say Charun has blue or gray skin; all agree on the snake tattoos on his forearms. Worshippers All mortals worship Charun to some degree, for all things die, but those who see death on a regular basis become devoted followers: soldiers, executioners, necromancers, and the grieving. The Ghoul Empire considers Charun a weak god suited for slaves. There, Charun’s worship is part of Anu-Akma’s rites (secretly or openly), and Charun offers the hope of escape. Charun is one of relatively few gods worshipped by creatures of the planes, due to his control of planar rivers. Charun the Boatman is a popular figure among the sable elves and various river elves, who consider him a sheltering and welcoming figure after a long life. He is likewise popular among shadow fey, who see his control of the planes and of shadow roads as powerful and worthy of supplication.
146 Book of Ebon Tides Symbols and Books Charun’s symbol is a boat or an oar, but a few of his cults use a folded loop over a river. His holiest book is River Passage, which records his dirges and hymns. Chiron’s Coin explains the clergy’s duties. Shrines and Priests Charun’s holiest sites are graveyards and rivers, and many of these connect to other planes. Temples to Charun provide midwifery, funerary services, and exorcisms. For a significant fee, his priests guide those venturing beyond the mortal realms. Undead are rare within church grounds but common in adjacent graveyards as guardians. All clergy must learn about healing, the undead, or the planes. Masks Anu-Akma and even Laughing Loki are rumored to be masks of Charun. In the Moonlit Glades of the Bearfolk, he is called Hod the Blind, god of caves and darkness, and considered a minor son of Wotan or perhaps a diminished form of Wotan himself. A few even claim the dark god Chernobog as one of Charun’s masks, but this is rank heresy among his faithful. Other Faiths Charun frequently quarrels with Anu-Akma, who also claims ownership over the fate of souls, and with Sarastra, goddess of darkness and magic among the elves and shadow fey. Charun and the grain goddess Ceres are sometimes said to be lovers or married, though Ceres is a minor goddess at best in the Shadow Realm, overshadowed by Ailuros and others. What Charun Demands Bury the dead according to their rites. Leave no body to rot, not even those of enemies. Venture into darkness and learn to walk without light. Protect those entering this world and those leaving it. Honor the remains of the deceased and destroy rampaging undead and thieving immortals. Visit a gravesite at least once a week to maintain it and to meditate on the end of all things. HECATE (SARASTRA) Bringer of Magic; Lady of Darkness; Lady of Sighs; Lady of Tears; Opener of Doors; Mother of Twilight; the Queen of Night; Patron of the Sable Elves and Shadow Fey; Wife of the Ocean; Protector of the Shadow Realm Domains: Darkness*, Knowledge, Labyrinth*, Moon* Alignment: Evil Favored Weapon: Dagger, garrote The ways of the gods are inscrutable to mortals, and the ways of Hecate are likewise inscrutable to the gods. Hecate embodies change and transformation, and her actions seem haphazard. Her worshippers believe she uses her foreknowledge to improve the world while her detractors say her visions of the future have driven her insane. Hecate appears in three forms, depending on the aligned phases of the twin moons: some small splinter groups claim that her inner mysteries include the “light of a third moon” as a source of mystical power. Most worshippers venerate all her forms, but some favor one over the others. During the paired new moons, Hecate appears as the Lady of Darkness, a maiden who moves with a decisive and deadly grace. Capricious and vengeful, her followers are masters of poison, torture, and shadows. At the half-moons, she becomes the Lady of Sighs, a grown, dark-haired woman who appears in dreams to whisper arcane secrets to her followers. She opens all doors, including the one between life and death. She holds a key in one hand and a book in the other. Mysterious and aloof, she favors arcanists, fey, and shapechangers. Hecate’s full moon aspect is the Lady of Tears, elderly and benevolent and holding a lantern or lamp. White or gray-haired, she reveals the future to her servants as she grieves for the pain of the world. Worshippers Hecate is widely venerated in the shadow fey courts, among the goblins and trollkin, and even among the bearfolk and others. Her aspect in the Shadow Realm is a twin goddess and the source of all light, and she is often seen as less dangerous and more civilizing among umbral folk than that of her reputation in the mortal world of Midgard. Her largest followings are among humans in Corremel, the shadow goblins in Fandeval, and a growing congregation of darakhul
Umbral Pantheon 147 in Soriglass and the Twilight Empire. Her temples are growing in importance after a long period when they were neglected, and her followers are optimistic about spreading the faith among the bearfolk. In the bright lands outside of shadow, she is best regarded in the Seven Cities, on the minotaur island of Kyprion, and in Roshgazi and Cindass, the ancient minotaur homeland, as well as in the Green Duchy of Verrayne and the Magocracy of Allain. Most of her worshippers are human, but Hecate also commands sizable followings among kobolds, minotaurs, and lycanthropes. Symbols and Books Hecate’s symbols are the moon, the dagger, the key, the book, and the lamp, and her followers wear small amulets or pins with these symbols. For her priests, her most complex symbol is a triangle within a circle, representing her three forms and the moon. Hecate’s primary book of worship is the Book of Mysteries. It contains rituals and rules for any time of year and offers detailed instructions on how followers should live their daily lives. Her church holds numerous celebrations with the most important at Midsummer, the Harvest Moon, and the Hunter’s Moon. Shrines and Priests Hecate’s most famous Shadow Realm temples are soaring, curving edifices of glittering black and luminous white stone: notable examples stand in the Court of the Golden Oak; in Corremel; in Fandeval, the Cathedral of Dark Moons; and even a pilgrimage site in the ruins of Soriglass, the somewhat decayed Cathedral of the Luminous Moon, where two of her holy relics are often displayed. Her temples all have central rooms or shrines with certain rooms open to view the moon. Her most famous priestess is Salarra Mortre in Fandeval, though she also has several followers of note among the shadow fey. Masks To most, Hecate is her masks, and each of her many faces deserves worship. It does not matter if some claim another name for her, such as Thoth or Athena in the mortal lands. Many elves and shadow fey believe Hecate is a mask of Sarastra, but this view is not widely held among her human followers. A few of her enemies claim her chaos and darkness are a friendlier face for the Goat of the Woods. Other Faiths Hecate has always held herself apart from other gods and their worshippers. Her enemies include Ailuros, a rival goddess of the moon, and followers of Kupkoresh, the sun god, as well as of Anu-Akma, who claims her mysteries as corrupting. Her allies include the elvish Sarastra as well as Bengta and Santerr Marossa. What Hecate Demands Seek and acquire knowledge and learn magic or shapeshifting if you can. Follow the mysteries and obey the orders of her chosen unquestioningly. Attend her services at least once a week. Speak many languages and revere the spirits of the dead. All items of magic and transformation belong to the goddess. Keep no secrets from her priests.
148 Book of Ebon Tides Godlings of the Shadow Realm These seven demigods and saints of shadow are not well-known outside the Shadow Realm, and their followers are relatively few compared to major figures such as Charun or Hecate. BACCHOLON (BACCHO) God of Poetry; Lord of Wine; Master of Revels, Golden Words, and Charming Courtesies; King of Lust and Chaos; Warden of Shadow Roads; Lion Lord of Shapeshifters; Keeper of Prophecies; God of the Third Eye; Patron of the Nymphs and Satyrs Domains: Beer (called Wine)*, Death, Lust*, Prophecy*, Travel* Alignment: Chaotic Favored Weapons: Shortbow Baccholon was once the Prince of Courtesies and Master of the Elves, their patron and paragon. And when the elves left the mortal world and returned to the Summer Lands, he led the procession in person, flowers in his hair and a song on his lips. His human and elfmarked followers fell into a long despair, filled with bouts of madness and drunkenness and bitter wrath. His temples fell into disuse or were reconsecrated to Charun or other gods. Baccholon’s echo is still felt, his poetic hymns and joyous image carved in old elven halls and buildings, but his priests are vanishingly few and often not notably different from beggars and starving poets. A few of his order remember the heights of elven ritual magic, but this could be mere speculation or wishful dreaming— something the god’s followers have always been prone to. Worshippers Baccholon’s few yet vivid worshippers include a debauched followings among certain noble houses, young poets, vintners, seers, and shapeshifters. Oddly enough, he has a small following among the dwarves, ravenfolk, satyrs, and bearfolk, especially among bear-shifters, wolf reavers, and doom croakers, who consider him a patron martyr for shifters and seers. Symbols and Books Baccholon’s sacred books are many and contradictory. Charges of heresy and false prophecy divide his followers into competing groups. His symbol is an amphora or a blue-green-glazed faience—and sometimes a roaring lion. Shrines and Priests Baccholon’s shrines were once as ubiquitous among the shadow fey as among the elves, gnomes, and alseid. The followers of the Laughing Prince have slowly fallen into decay and neglect though, and his tavernshrines are now found principally in Dalliance (with the Shrine of Silver Laughter) and Langmire’s Court (with the Sign of the Twin Cups). Prayers, offerings, and blessings are part of the fare at the shrines as are gambling, dancing, and imbibing, so they double as favorite meeting places for the lesser nobles. Masks Baccholon is sometimes associated with Laughing Loki, Ailuros, or Bengta, though these connections are tenuous at best. Others believe that Baccholon has been corrupted and is a mask of a dark goddess, the Goat of the Woods.
Umbral Pantheon 149 Other Faiths Baccholon finds the followers of Ninkash crude and unworthy. He also seems to have a great dislike for “Mother Holda,” whom he finds suffocating, and “Father Valeresh,” whom he finds too pushy. Baccholon’s charm is great but so is his disdain for everyone who does not acknowledge his glory. What Baccholon Demands Make art and celebrate life to the fullest. Leave no stone unturned and unpainted. Rage, love, and make your mark on all things. Embrace the dragon and the lamb, for both are your children. GYTELLISOR God of Poetry and Wisdom; Child of the Stars; Lord of Rhetoric; Keeper of Secrets; Patron of Artists, Scribes, and Dreamers; Lord of Lost Horizons; Herald of the Far Shadow Domains: Knowledge, Travel*, Void* Alignment: Chaotic Favored Weapons: Rapier, staff Gytellisor resembles a sable elf with fine garments, long hair, and delicate features. He is almost always shown either holding a book and reading or in an orator’s pose, declaiming to his faithful or reciting elven poetry. He often wears a scholar’s robes and a deep-purple crown of stars and lights. Worshippers Shadow fey and sable elves alike adore Gytellisor— in small doses. Always he is the subject of toasts at revels and coronations, at changes of the season and the births of children. But in darker times, in days of war or famine, his silver laughter is forgotten or at least frivolous. At those times, Gytellisor’s priests and adherents point to his hidden lore as a source of strength against any threat. Poets and scribes find him congenial, for his worship always involves poetry, songs, and written invocations. Symbols and Books The symbol of Gytellisor is an open book, sometimes marked with a golden apple or embellished with a chain. His books are many and confusing, and all are written in Elvish, the sacred language used in all his services and works. The most famous is the Book of Prophecies, which is nearly incomprehensible in its antique phrasing and obscure use of analogies, parables, and beautiful but empty language. The second and more accessible volume is the Voice of the God’s Grave, a set of divine pronouncements and aphorisms that are frequently echoed in toasts, in speeches, and in threats. Its chill tone of warning is in sharp contrast to other elven gods, for it makes plain that death and loss are part of the elven tradition, and it is widely considered both clear-eyed and somewhat depressing. Shrines and Priests The shrines of Gytellisor are usually embedded in the various courts, small nooks containing a dozen scrolls or a chained book for visitors to examine. Some of these tiny shrines are enchanted, so the statue of the god speaks a phrase or a complete poem when a candle is lit or when flowers are offered. The only large shrine to Gytellisor is the House of Dream Birds in Corremel, which four priests maintain,
150 Book of Ebon Tides keeping a scriptorium there and copying out sacred volumes and (for pay) any written work that a supplicant brings them. The first servant of Gytellisor there is named Ainoress Gabboneth, a sable elf matron with a round face and silvered hair who teaches literacy and numeracy to the poor. Flocks of white birds bring her fruits and sometimes coins. The birds, she claims, are created from the god’s dreams in order to feed the faithful. Masks Gytellisor is widely assumed to be a minor mask of Thoth or Baccholon. More suspicious minds think rather of the Goat of the Woods or Santerr Illosi. Others believe that Gytellisor is an ancient elven poet-saint who wandered into the Shadow Realm and drank deep from the Well of Mimir, transforming him into a demigod. Other Faiths Followers of Baccholon get along famously with those of Gytellisor, and some bawdy tales say the two were lovers in the Summer Lands or Valera in ancient times. The two gods are often invoked in the same breath by sable elves. The priests of Ninkash frown and declaim against elven indulgence and void cult villainy hidden by pretty words. Likewise, the priests of Kupkoresh fear the power of poetry and forbidden prophecies that priests of Gytellisor often dangle to draw a crowd. What Gytellisor Demands Speak the truth but tell it slant, let loose wild whimsy and outrageous love, revenge, despair. Feel your breath and life in every waking moment and realize that a path once trodden is never the same path twice. Drink deep of kisses, poetry, and love, and damn the consequences. Celebrate your victories with song, with verse, and with joy, and mourn your losses and grief as deeply. A shallow life is a life wasted. KUPKORESH God of Copper; Lord of Light; Master of the Arcane; Patron of Humans and Alchemists Domains: Knowledge, Light, Mercy‡, Prophecy* Alignment: Lawful Favored Weapons: Mace Kupkoresh is a copper-skinned man with black hair and a strong, narrow beard in the Nurian style. He is widely thought to have arrived from the bright lands when Corremel fell into shadow. He has a strong following among humans, who believe his smoky green incense burns away corruption and fosters friendships, alliances, and insight. Worshippers Kupkoresh’s followers are primarily a small community of humans in and around the City of Lanterns as well as followers up and down and the Rivers Lethe and Styx. Fey worshippers can be found The Riddles of the Ancients / from the Book of Ebon Tides A few shrines and buildings of the Ancients remain on their driftwood islands and ruined haunts. Many of these include writing, both prayers and poetry in an antique form of Umbral that sounds rather quaint and stilted to the current ear. The writing is often fragmentary, though familiar figures reappear often: the Moon Goddess, various Mage Princes, and the Keepers of the Tides (presumably mages with power over oak, road, and stone). Two samples are provided here as references: And yea, the Moon bestrode the clouds and turned her face from us, wrapping us in mists, leaving us wandering. We called to the Mage Prince, but he was lost in mire and returned years . . . I pray to you, Keepers of the Tides, for protection against the Dark Hours, for shelter in the storms, for form and shape that do not . . .
