Church of the Shadow

Mythology & Lore

It is darkness unending, less like a god and more like another world. Life and death do not exist within the Shadow, an engine of utter destruction and madness. Even the other Fractured Gods treat this mad god with caution. In its endless imprisonment, it dreams the infinite depths of the Abyss into reality, along with all its demonic legions. The Awakened Gods had thought it locked away during the Awakening until it nearly returned to ruin the world during the conflicts of the Fracturing. Now, its chaotic mind has fallen into more frightful dreams, imagining nightmarish aberrations into existence deep beneath Valandria. The Shadow's demented cultists work without word from their twisted patron, awaiting the Epoch of Ends, when its freedom will be attained and all beings shall be consumed in deathlessness unending. The few remaining followers of the Knowing Queen are dedicated to ensuring the Shadow is never again unchained. Their goddess led the charge against the all-consuming destroyer god's re-emergence, and though her bravery allowed the other gods of good to shackle their enemy, the victory nearly cost her immortal life. Some say the Knowing Queen can only be fully restored if the Shadow is destroyed for good. Few attempts at depicting the image of the Shadow exist, and the existing texts speak of a creature of rolling, hungry ink and darkness; of a spreading cloud of lightless destruction born from a thousand ravenous mouths. Current references constrain the nightmare with chains of black and gold, barely keeping the dark at bay.