The Shadow Plane

Just as most creatures cast a shadow, the Material Plane has a dark, connected reflection in the Shadow Plane. This plane, itself buffered in the Ethereal Plane’s mists, serves as a barrier against and a material expression of the Negative Energy Plane, a realm of entropy and dissolution. Because of its nature, the Shadow Plane is a twisted mirror of the Material Plane, bearing a likeness of most Material regions and worlds but distorted in form. What the Shadow Plane reproduces emphasizes darkness, tedium, decay, and abnormality.

Geography

EXPLORATION The Shadow Plane has consistent properties that distinguish it from other planes. Unless indicated otherwise in the following sections, elements of the plane function as they do on the Material Plane.
LIGHT Bizarre dim illumination covers the Shadow Plane, its source never apparent and always unstable. This changeable gloom creates shifting shadows everywhere. Light sources can brighten this dimness, but the range of any light source is halved. This half-light pervades in outer space, which seems like a starless void of perpetual shadow. But this appearance is false; in fact, dark stars burn in the distance, shedding faded twilight on the planets that circle them.
MAGIC Shadow effects are enhanced on the Shadow Plane.
NAVIGATION Like the Material Plane, the Shadow Plane is an immeasurable domain, expanding out in every direction. For every area that exists within the Material Plane, a Shadow Plane reflection exists, although these versions might be in slightly different places and unrecognizable as the counterparts they are. However, the Shadow Plane continually shifts as it flows into other planes of existence. Creating a precise map of the plane is difficult, despite the esence of landmarks.
Certain magic, such as shadow walk, allows creatures to take advantage of the plane’s shapable nature. Because of this aspect of the plane, before the advent of the Drift, some species flirted with using the Shadow Plane as a means of achieving faster-than-light travel. The shadow drives of velstracs and those who serve Zon-Kuthon were among the most prevalent of these technologies. Some remain in use to this day, especially among velstracs. Such engines transition a starship from the Material Plane to the Shadow Plane, replicating the effects of the shadow walk spell on an interplanetary scale.
Starships that use shadow drives travel at incredible speeds, though they are slower than vessels that use Drift engines, especially over vast distances. Shadow drives grant no special advantage for travel to Absalom Station, as shadow drive travel is based on how far a vessel actually is from the station.

Localized Phenomena

HAZARDS On the Shadow Plane, dangers unseen on the Material Plane lurk in unexpected places. Some of these hazards exist in shadow space, putting even those who think themselves safe inside starships at risk.
Sapping Nebulae: Darker clouds in the darkness of shadow space, small regions of sapping nebulae can doom travelers with apathy and life-sapping negative energy. These hazards are charted in well-traveled areas of shadow space, allowing astrogators to avoid them. However, in the Vast of shadow space, the draining energies of sapping nebulae can penetrate starships and cause living creatures to give up on life itself. This ennui doesn’t kill directly. Most victims die of their own apathy and detachment from reality.
Voidboils: The Shadow Plane’s proximity to the Negative Energy Plane can be inimical to life. Normally, this influence is, at its worst, a source of negative emotions and a lack of vigor in living beings. However, the relationship between these two planes can result in direct leaks of negative energy called voidboils. These leaks seem to be attracted to the living, especially living creatures native to the Material Plane. Voidboils take various forms and can occur even on starships traveling shadow space. A voidboil can be predicted, however, by the dark, tumorlike growths that appear on objects moments before the phenomenon erupts.

History

DENIZENS The Shadow Plane has a peculiar ecology, much of it a twisted version of that found on the Material Plane. This generality is especially true about simpler life forms, such as vermin and plants. Flora and fauna of the plane emphasize its entropic nature, so fungi and similar agents of rot are especially prominent. Sentient species also exist here, some native and others as interplanar exiles or immigrants. The following creatures are some of the Shadow Plane’s most common or well-known sapient species. Countless other beings dwell on the plane, many still awaiting discovery in the depths of shadow space.
D’ZIRIAKS A species of humanoid termites, d’ziriaks have a civilization on the Shadow Plane, with numerous hive cities. Each d’ziriak has a unique and intricate glowing pattern across their exoskeleton, and the light from this display is unaffected by the Shadow Plane’s gloom. Similarly, d’ziriak cities rise from underground layers in illuminated spires that act as beacons in the sinister dimness that pervades the Shadow Plane. Most d’ziriaks are content to remain in the city into which they were born, but these creatures are willing to converse and trade with travelers to their native plane. They craft and sell intricate luminous items, from the practical or martial to the merely decorative. This light art extends to d’ziriak starships, which have radiant plating and ample lighting to better detect hidden threats within shadow space.
IXCALIADS The ixcaliad species of outsiders seems to have arisen during the Gap. Even their name remains a mystery—no Shadow Plane native remembers or has records of where these creatures come from. Lacking a standard form, an ixcaliad is an assembly of gelatinous goo binding together an assemblage of eyes interconnected by violet veins. An ixcaliad has no fi ed form and is instead capable of reshaping its body into diffe ent configur tions depending on the task that lies before it. Ixcaliads appear in regions of the Shadow Plane to pursue inscrutable ends that involve exploration and confrontation, and these mysterious errands occasionally have violent outcomes. To date, no one has managed to successfully communicate with this species, learned what their goals are, or determined why ixcaliads appear when and where they do
SHAES Humanoid-shaped outsiders of wispy shadowstuff, shaes claim they were once humanoids who have since transcended fi ed form. They consider themselves superior to beings that have not similarly ascended and wear masks and form-fitting clothing to interact with other humanoids, who might otherwise have a hard time discerning a shae. Some shaes use their mystique to gather humanoid followers who hope to learn the shae secret of transformation into living shadow. Shaes once had a primary citadel within the Shadow Plane, but this place disappeared with Golarion during the Gap. Most shaes now live within a shadow star system they call Sheth, where few non-shaes are allowed. From there, shaes travel shadow space in elegant starships, seeking new pleasures and novelties.
WAYANGS Ancient historical records state this species of small humanoids once thrived on the Shadow Plane before undertaking an exodus to the Material Plane. After the Gap, however, it was revealed that several tribes of wayangs had returned to the Shadow Plane and, apparently, created a civilization on Yutanah, a hidden world within the Vast of shadow space. Wayangs still express their spiritual beliefs through ritual scarific tion and bleaching their gray skin, and they love bright clothing and jewelry. Unlike their reclusive ancestors and kin, though, some wayangs now travel the stars on both the Shadow and Material Planes in elaborate festival starships crafted to house and amuse guests on long-term voyages. Travelers looking for safe and entertaining passage through shadow space can rarely do better than wayang festival ships, so wayangs charge a premium for the privilege.
OTHER DENIZENS Numerous other species exist within the Shadow Plane. Kayal have spread throughout shadow space, like their human counterparts on the Material Plane, to become one of the most populous sapient beings in the shadow version of the Pact Worlds. Svartalfar were exiled long ago from the fey First World, and they now dwell on the Shadow Plane, hoarding wealth and knowledge, especially of their former home. Shadow giants also inhabit the Shadow Plane, and they have long relied on alliances with evil humanoids to advance their technology and standing.
The most infamous of the Shadow Plane’s inhabitants are the velstracs, who left Hell eons ago for the darkling plane. They have far more interest in those who dwell on the Material Plane than in the native species of the Shadow Plane. These flesh artists travel shadow space and the Material plane in baroque vessels, hunting for victims and dark enlightenment.
Alongside the velstracs on the Shadow Plane are the mutilated. Once a dead mortal’s soul has been judged, it becomes a being known as a petitioner, an outsider with only vestiges of its former personality and memory. Those souls deemed to be aligned with the values of velstracs travel to the Shadow Plane and are known as the mutilated. Through torment, velstracs aim to transform the mutilated into new velstracs. Those that fail in this transformation are used by velstracs as labor, currency, and raw material for fiendish objects and pets.

Tourism

With the advent of Drift travel, the breadth of the galaxy now lies open to exploration. But in the Shadow Plane, such exploration has long been available. The distances between stars are vastly reduced thanks to the plane’s shifting nature, and in fact pre-Drift space exploration led to the discovery of countless worlds. The dangers of such travel, however, mean that Material Plane exploration is already outpacing previous discoveries within and through the Shadow Plane.
ABBEY OF NEVERS Led by the elder velstrac Aroggus, the velstracs left Hell ages ago. They traveled to the Shadow Plane, where Aroggus built the Abbey of Nevers. The abbey is a physical structure partly composed of shifting shadowstuff and fille with phantasmagoric pleasures and nightmares. Although velstracs have spread across the Shadow Plane and beyond, Aroggus remains, in spirit form, in his refuge. He can take physical form in various constructs within the abbey, preferring an ornate suit of powered armor some consider to be the prototype of the kyton bloodsuit, but the reality is that the abbey itself is Aroggus’s body and mind.
ATHARAXUM A Shadow Plane copy of a remote world in the Material Plane, Atharaxum is a place of deep black oceans. Jellyfish like alien fauna flo t within these repressive seas, each providing dim beacons for explorers to follow. Underwater complexes of transparent aluminum and hardened glass lie hidden within the depths, administered by shaes. These mysterious beings specialize in genetic engineering and the development of biotech, a science incompatible with their own shadowy forms. Transports sporadically pick up cargo from these facilities, taking sealed containers to drop-off points across the Shadow Plane. Only Atharaxum’s shaes know the goal of their research, but it’s clear that these shaes require a secluded locale to keep their work concealed from outside eyes.
DEPOSITORY OF TRUTHS Disciples of Eloritu maintain the Depository of Truths in the center of a portion of shadow space where six stellar anomalies, each a stable portal to the Negative Energy Plane, exist in synchronous orbit with one another. The depository is a space station surrounded by magically reinforced outer shielding, and the scholars and crew who operate it rarely admit outsiders. Countless relics, and much veiled information pertaining to magical secrets and specific magical rituals, reside within the depository. Many of the texts and items kept within the depository are dangerous, and the facility’s staff remains vigilant against intrusion; the priestly technicians of the depository are committed to preserving the secrets in their charge against any breach in security. A final failsafe exists that will deactivate the station’s stabilizing fields and allow the entire complex to tumble into one of the nearby portals. It’s believed that the Depository of Truths is one of the few places in the universe to hold secrets unavailable on the Material Plane’s fabled library world of Athaeum.
EXECUTIONERS’ NEST Traversing the open expanse of shadow space, the Executioners’ Nest is a capital-class starship that rarely docks. Worshipers of Lao Shu Po run the starship as a training ground for assassins. Elder assassins use communion with their deity and other divination methods, as well as direct observation, to select candidates from across the Shadow and Material galaxy alike. Potential assassins receive an invitation to a rendezvous on the Shadow Plane. Those who accept the invitation and survive the rigorous journey face a final test before induction into the assassin clan. Meditative seminars expanding on the best practices for infiltration, poisoning, sabotage, and undetectable murder are routine within the confines of the ship’s interior. In rare circumstances, the Executioners’ Nest and its crew of master assassins use derivative shadow engine technology to travel to other planes of existence via plane shift, deploying in force on missions of extreme importance to Grandmother Rat’s interests.
The one-eyed Silent Strike (N male Ysoki operative) commands the Executioners’ Nest and is the most notorious of its master assassins. The venerable ysoki teaches only three students every 6 years, and his teachings are thought to be some of the most brutal murder techniques known to mortal followers of Lao Shu Po. Upon completing their instruction, the students receive a final mission to assassinate their two fellow apprentices. The winner of this final task is allowed the honor of returning to whatever life they wish, now further enriched by Silent Strike’s teachings. It is known among the ship’s residents and students that Silent Strike is in possession of a leaking water barrel, which nears empty. The rumor is that once the barrel empties, Silent Strike will call upon his surviving students and orchestrate a contest to assassinate him. Whoever succeeds takes the title of Silent Strike and control of the Executioners’ Nest.
GLACIAL STAR Luminous suns are few and far between in shadow space, but the Glacial Star is one. This blue-white sun is a navigational beacon, known for a pulsating light that most starship sensors can spot even in shadow space and use as a guide. Upon closer inspection, though, the star bears little resemblance to the burning masses found on the Material Plane. Instead, the Glacial Star is a sun transposed from the Material Plane and frozen by some now-forgotten magical event. The resultant ice is harder than diamond, though light still flares through, simultaneously refracted by the icy surface and bounding through countless tunnels that lead into the star’s interior.
At the heart of the Glacial Star, among portals to the Positive Energy Plane, is a permanent portal to the Plane of Fire, the result of powerful wish-crafting orchestrated by efreet of the Dominion of Flame. The frozen sun acts as a gulag of sorts, where political prisoners and other dissidents are sent to live out their days. Warden Jhezzala (LE female efreeti soldier) runs the prison with a literal iron fist, a prosthetic forced upon her for some previous failure. Jhezzala knows her position is just a glorified exile, but she enjoys her position of power, meting out punishment upon those who defy her strict laws. The warden has spent the last few decades preparing for an eventual return to her home plane, offering access to the planar gateway at the heart of the star for exorbitant prices.
JUBILANT ARGOSY The flotilla of the Jubilant Argosy is one of several wayang festival fleets that ply the silent void of shadow space. Under the leadership of Iurgilli “Gilli” Kivot (N wayang envoy), the “party armada’s” wayangs hold ceaseless and sometimes ritualistic revelries within their ships, and these events somehow repel the depressing atmosphere and native predators of the Shadow Plane. Paying passengers are welcome, and goods from the Material Plane also command a high price here. However, despite the relative safety of wayang vessels, some passengers have gone missing. The Jubilant Argosy is also notorious for inconsistent manifest reports. Many believe that the missing people become part of the ongoing festivals, willing or otherwise. Conspiracy theorists posit the wayangs use ritual sacrifice to maintain the security of their fleet through occult means.
NEEDLE COPSE The Needle Copse is a shadow fey hideout located on the Shadow Plane counterpart of Castrovel. The site specificall covers the wilderness of the Material Plane’s Ukulam continent. A refuge for fey seeking to escape the rampant rise of technology, the Needle Copse is a vast, gray-leafed forest replete with thorny underbrush; some of these thorns are over a foot in length. Shadow-infused fey, particularly svartalfars, caper within the copse and maintain dozens of minor settlements. Thanks to unique magic, the copse enhances non-neutral colors, making them glow vibrantly. Blood that falls to the forest floor, for instance, forms a glowing trail that malicious fey can follow.
PALACE OF BOUNDLESS ELEVATION The Palace of Boundless Elevation is home to Quareez, the Razored Word, a mighty and alien velstrac in service to the even more alien velstrac Anyalaritus, who rose to power during the Gap, possibly even to the status of demagogue. Countless structures cover the surface of the moon, which orbits a world, named after the Razored Word, in the Shadow Plane’s Vast. Inanimate material on the moon is mutable, allowing Quareez to control the Palace of Boundless Elevation at a microscopic level. The moon also glows, despite the dimness of the nearby star. To the velstracs, mutilated, and creatures held captive on the world below, the shifting nature of the moon manifests as the facial tics of a maimed face continually staring down at them. Quareez collects the greatest of the mutilated and other hostages, those most willing to pursue the velstrac way, and transitions them into new velstracs using methods known to only the Mouths of Anyalaritus.
SHADOW ABSALOM STATION As Absalom Station travels the orbital path of old Golarion in the Material Plane, Shadow Absalom Station does the same on the Shadow Plane. Shadow Absalom isn’t a similarly unified structure, though. Instead, the station is an amalgam of space debris, asteroids, and collided starships that somehow form a functional living space. How exactly they do so is a mystery lost to the Gap. The station got its name after the Gap from reports of its counterpart on the Material Plane, and as an homage to the pre-Gap Shadow Plane city of Shadow Absalom. In the same way that its counterpart on the Material Plane serves as a major hub, this space station is a primary center for trade and relative safety on the Shadow Plane.
Similar to the Shadow Absalom of old, the central mass of Shadow Absalom Station is a vast orb of radiance contained within a cathedral of blackened stone. This light, known to locals as the Glare, is thought to actively repel the spreading miasma of the nearby realm of Xovaikain. The Glare also provides a unique effect in that creatures passing through it return to their plane of origin at the location where they first entered the Shadow Plane. The advent of the Drift has muddled this formerly reliable form of travel. Now, a few of those who pass through the Glare end up in a habitable section of the Drift instead of on their home plane.
The Cultured Assembly, consisting of the wealthiest trade moguls of the station, regularly convenes to govern Shadow Absalom Station. Most of these council members are business-savvy and excessively rich kayals or the leaders of d’ziriak hive corporations. Other beings fill out the remainder of the roster, including a coven of hags, a shadow dragon, several intelligent undead, a few outsiders from the Shadow Plane and various other parts of the Great Beyond, and some creatures native to the Material Plane. The Cultured Assembly ensures the stability of the station by deciding on everything from mutual defense to taxation. Assembly plutocrats ensure laws are enforced, but they favor trade, making the station a good place to acquire goods that might be less than legal elsewhere.
SHADOW ABSALOM STATION LN space station Population 1,200,000 (55% kayals, 22% d’ziriaks, 11% Material Plane humanoids, 6% intelligent undead, 6% other) Government plutocracy (the Cultured Assembly) Qualities cultured, financial center, insular, notorious, technologically average Maximum Item Level 20th
SHADOW VESKARIUM The worlds of The Veskarium exist within the Shadow Plane just as the Pact Worlds have their own shadowy counterparts. Individual worlds are dark mirrors of their Material Plane versions, but with space travel, some inhabitants have spread across the plane. Monochromatic creatures resembling the Veskarium’s skittermanders are notorious for infesting starships that ply shadow space. These hairless mockeries bear none of the drive for communal teamwork or willingness to help that the Material Plane’s skittermanders possess. Instead, these creatures have more in common with fey gremlins, combining boundless energetic activity with the belief that only by hindering others can you truly help them.
URZHASH-DUUR In the distant past of a forgotten planet, the rulers of that world employed giants to perform extensive underground mining. They delved too deep. A cataclysm ripped the planet apart, leaving it a shattered husk only half its original size. This event destroyed the Material Plane world, but its Shadow Plane version survives as a collection of neighboring planetoids and asteroids tumbling through shadow space. Shadow giants rule this debris. Though the giants once sought war and conquest, their leader Kahagan Duur (LE male shadow giant) made his people rich by broadcasting blood sports throughout shadow space. are Extensive training grounds and gladiatorial combat zones cover the world, and some of them span multiple asteroids in order to allow for three-dimensional battle games; combatants come from all over the planes to prove themselves against Shadow Plane natives. The giants, now grown indolent off the success of their media empire, are content to focus their efforts on improving the appeal of their gladiatorial vids.
XOVAIKAIN This place was once the mountain-fortress of the deity Zon-Kuthon, based on shadow Golarion. After Golarion’s disappearance, Xovaikain expanded to become a planet-sized nebula of darkness that occupied the same orbital space that old Golarion once occupied on the Shadow Plane. Tendrils of smoky shadow reach into the surrounding space, while fie ce but muted lightning storms rage deep within. Inside the greatly expanded Xovaikain, devout mortal Kuthite followers, shadow giants, and other terrifying creatures pay homage to Zon-Kuthon or hunt across motes of tortured landscape, including vile asteroids and artificial structures tethered in the clouds of madness. Xovaikain’s tendrils have numerous areas that act as sapping nebulae. Only Shadow Absalom Station prevents the expansion of Zon-Kuthon’s fluid domain, since the light at the station’s center acts as some sort of gatekeeper or ward.

Type

Dimensional plane

Inhabiting Species

• Creeping Shade
• Gloomwing
• Svartalfar