Shadowfell

The Shadowfell, also known as the Demiplane of Shadows or the Shadowlands, is the home to shadows, dread, and the dark feelings of life. To wander through the plane is to risk losing yourself in misery and apathy - why put a stop to the lich when everything you do is meaningless and fleeting? The Shadowfell is not a place for mortals to visit on a whim, and many who do visit are forever changed by its dismal appearance.

Geography

Crossing the plane is fairly easy and is much like walking through The Material Plane. As the Shadowfell is a reflection, you will often find forests or mountains in the same locations as The Material Plane, though their appearance can be far darker. Lush forests of The Material Plane may be dying swamps, home to sinister shadows and creatures attracted to your campfire. Or a castle that sits atop a mountain cliff may be reflected as the ruined halls sitting along a mountain line that resembles the wicked teeth of some horrifying creature.

Ecosystem

Walking through the Shadowfell, the first thing you will notice is that all color has been sucked out. Living things still grow, though they appear drab and grey, and while they still provide food it is far from nourishing. On top of that is the constant and pervading chill that hangs in the air, it is always chilly here, even when the weak sun appears from behind the heavy clouds in the air. The air of Shadowfell is heavy with despair and sorrow; it infects your lungs and hangs there in your body, sucking out your energy.
The land is always dull and at night it is like walking through pitch blackness. Lighting torches do little to dispel the darkness and a campfire's warmth is gone from its feeble light, in fact, it is incredibly dangerous to have a light source in the Shadowfell as the dark creatures who inhabit this world are drawn to it.

History

The Plane of Shadow is home to shadow-creatures and shadowstuff, the raw stuff that creates the shadow-creatures. The more shadowstuff a shadow-creature had, the more powerful they were. Each of these shadow-creatures started as the shadows of creatures from The Material Plane, though many found ways to become untethered to their original owners. Mortals from The Material Plane with enough magical-ability could briefly visit the Plane of Shadow and travel great distances across their home plane as the Shadowlands are far more mutable.
The Ravenloft setting is home to the most evil of creatures, trapped forever in their demiplane prisons. This plane is best known for the vampire lord, Strahd Von Zarovich, though Ravenloft was also the home to Vecna, the God of Evil Secrets. When a creature became so horrifying and evil, it was said that the Dark Powers would cause fog to rise around their domain, and would then fall into Ravenloft. Here, the evil creatures would become prisoners of their own world. While they had all the power in their domains, they could never leave until they atoned for their evil or others came along to destroy them.
In 4th edition, all of this was combined to create the Shadowfell - a plane of shadows, the demiplanes of dread, and The Raven Queen who oversees that all souls pass through Letherna.

Tourism

Looking into the Shadowfell, there is not much here to entice most adventurers. The dark shadows permeate not only the land, causing everything to come across as muted grays, blacks and whites, but it even infects the hearts and souls of the adventurers. Throughout the Shadowfell is the overwhelming sensation of melancholy. Visitors to this plane feel the constant chill on the air and the damp in their bones. Even the sun, when it does shine through the heavy clouds, is weak and far away, doing little to warm the skin. Many that live in the Shadowfell are seen as cold and apathetic, and visitors can quickly fall into that same despair.
Journeying through the Shadowfell is no more dangerous than journeying through The Material Plane, though there are areas that are more dangerous than others. Traveling the plane can be fairly difficult as the land itself is morphic and is constantly in a state of change, though you wouldn’t be able to tell by observing it.
The Shadowfell is a place that visitors come with a set mission in mind and then leave. Through the ruins of cities and the dead forests, adventurers must always be on guard; for if the melancholy doesn’t dull your spirits, the natives may get to you.

Type

Plane of Existence

Location under

Inner Planes

Included Locations

• Barovia