The counterpart to the Feywild is the Shadowfell. It is a place of darkness, misery and depression. In the Shadowfell lies the Cimmerian Empire, a dark and gloomy reflection of the Kingdom of Kildar from years past in the Material Realm. This domain of dread has the same shape and landscape features as Kildar, but all in twisted and sharp ways.
Strange Locations
Umbra: The Shadowfell’s Veiled City
Umbra is a city of duality and despair, uniquely straddling the boundaries of the Material Plane and the Shadowfell. Located deep within the Underdark, its undercity exists simultaneously in both planes, a result of the catastrophic planar rift that tore through the ruins of Torrica. Above, in the Shadowfell, lies the city’s upper counterpart, a spectral and twisted reflection of the once-great capital.
The Undercity
The undercity of Umbra is a labyrinth of dark tunnels and caverns steeped in the Shadowfell's oppressive energy. This realm is dominated by Grand Mother’s Lich Coven, who have transformed it into a bastion of necromantic power. The city’s air carries a heavy, spectral gloom, and the land itself seems alive with the despair and torment of its inhabitants.
While the undercity physically resides in the Material Plane, its constant entanglement with the Shadowfell ensures that its essence is one of shadow and decay. Those who dwell here live under the iron grip of the Coven, struggling to resist the encroaching corruption of the Shadowfell’s influence.
The Upper City
High above, in the Shadowfell, lies the upper city of Umbra, a warped mirror of Torrica’s former glory. Governed by the Dark Lady, this realm is a haunting echo of the past, filled with structures twisted into ominous forms by the Shadowfell’s energy. Time flows strangely here, and the city is perpetually cloaked in dim light, casting long, eerie shadows over its haunted streets.
Bound by her banishment to the Shadowfell, the Dark Lady cannot enter the undercity or the Material Plane, making her influence in Umbra indirect yet pervasive. Her presence shapes the upper city, instilling it with her will and serving as a constant reminder of her looming power.
The Tenuous Alliance
Though the Dark Lady and Grand Mother share control of Umbra, their alliance is one of necessity, not trust. The Dark Lady seeks freedom from her banishment, while Grand Mother uses the city as a foothold, furthering her dark ambitions. This fragile cooperation ensures that Umbra remains divided, its rulers vying for ultimate dominance.
A City on the Brink
Umbra is a city defined by its fractures—between planes, rulers, and its people.
The Anti-Occupation Faction dreams of overthrowing the Coven and escaping the Shadowfell’s grasp.
The Pro-Occupation Faction enforces loyalty to Grand Mother and the Dark Lady, believing resistance to be futile.
Neutral Citizens simply seek to endure, caught in the crossfire of rebellion and oppression.
As tensions rise, civil unrest threatens to ignite, and the future of Umbra teeters on a knife’s edge. Will it remain a bastion of shadow and despair, or will its people find the strength to reclaim their city from its oppressors?
History of the Dark Lady
The Dark Lady, once known as Umbraxis, was a fearsome blue dragon hailing from near Il-Heban in Kildar. Her journey from a cruel and ambitious dragon to a shadow dragon and eventual Dreadlord of a Domain of Dread is a tale of unrelenting ambition, violence, and dark transformation.
Early Life Among the Blue Dragons
Over a thousand years ago, Umbraxis was raised by her blue dragon parents, who cherished cruelty as a sign of strength. Unlike her siblings, she sought her parents' approval through sadism, particularly enjoying the torment of her personal caretaker. Her parents, amused by her violent tendencies, encouraged them, providing her with power, wealth, and more servants to dominate. This led her down a path of ever-growing cruelty, as she believed that committing horrendous acts was the true means of obtaining power.
Umbraxis soon became known as one of the most dangerous and feared of her brood. Her parents, entertained by her brutality, fostered her ambitions, and she grew stronger, more ruthless, and more determined to expand her influence.
War Against the Feywild
The pivotal year 0 was a turning point, not just for Kildar, but for the Feywild as well. Umbraxis, driven by her insatiable desire for power and conquest, led her followers into the Feywild, abandoning her domain in Kildar. This decision would unknowingly set the stage for cataclysmic events of year 0.
In the Feywild, Umbraxis initiated a brutal war, recruiting the Fomorians, offering them promises of restored glory and revenge against the Fey. With the Fomorians serving as foot soldiers, Umbraxis waged a campaign of devastation, ultimately killing the reigning Archfey in single combat. The catastrophic events in Kildar in the year 0, including a massive earthquake, devastating tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, happened at the same time as the war in the Feywild, while historians agree about a correlation, they continue bickering about the causation.
The brutal war in the feywild and the killing of the Archfey, was considered an act of such evil that it the Giants and Dragons formed an alliance against her. Some notable figures in this alliance include: Aelthar the Stormgiant, Aurelion the Golden Dragon. Armathar the Silver dragon and the one and only: Grand Mother. After a difficult campaign and climactic battle, the alliance proved victorious. Umbraxis was defeated and exiled into the shadowfell together with her followers. The combined ancient magic of the Giants and Dragons prevents her from ever leaving the shadowfell.
Banishment in the Shadowfell
After her defeat by the Feywild Alliance, Umbraxis was cast into the Shadowfell, a realm of eternal darkness and despair. Weakened and trapped, the Mists of the Shadowfell began to twist her very essence. Her blue scales dulled and became translucent, her once-mighty wings became wisps of shadow, and her breath shifted from lightning to a cold, life-draining mist. Over time, it transformed her into something far darker—a shadow dragon.
Her transformation into a shadow dragon was not simply physical—it was an ontological shift. She became a creature of darkness, her mind and soul remade in the image of the Shadowfell itself. The once-proud blue dragon was now a being of pure shadow, existing both within and beyond the mortal world. Her body shimmered with the eerie darkness of the Shadowfell, her wings now sweeping through the void like endless night.
Conquest of the Shadowfell
Though the Shadowfell twisted her very nature, it only fueled Umbraxis’ insatiable desire for domination. She extended her reach over the bleak, ashen lands, subjugating native shadow creatures, spirits of the dead, and even the very landscape itself. With the remnants of her Fomorian and dragonkin followers, she began her conquest of the Shadowfell, establishing the Cimmerian Empire, unknowingly mirroring the Medvedov conquest of Kildar. Here she has now ruled for hundreds of years.
Despite the immense power she wielded, Umbraxis was forever trapped within the Shadowfell, unable to leave. She ruled the Cimmerian Empire, but remained a prisoner in the dark realm. Yet, a prophecy loomed: A warlock wielding the Black Blade could choose to free her—but unbeknownst to her, freeing her would mean death. For the only release from her shadowfell prison is true death.
Arrival of the Wayward Son
Shortly after the events of Crimson Dusk, Grandmother, matriarch of the Lich Coven, sent her son as her emissary to the Shadowfell. Grandmother sought to expand her power, desiring to harness the dark magic of the Shadowfell and lay claim to Umbra, the realm of the Dark Lady. The Son’s role was clear: negotiate with Umbraxis, the ruler of the Cimmerian Empire, and ensure that Umbra fell under his mother's influence. And as part of the deal, make Umbraxis the warlock Patron of Morwen one of the Twins.
However, the Son’s mission did not go as planned. As he met Umbraxis, a formidable ruler trapped in her prison of shadows, he found not a cruel, power-hungry tyrant, but a broken soul—one who had long ago forsaken her own desires for freedom. The two began as allies, their interactions pragmatic, born from necessity. Yet, over time, something deeper began to form between them. The Son, once dedicated solely to his mother’s ambitions, found himself captivated by the tragedy of Umbraxis’ existence. Her power, her grief, and her relentless determination all spoke to a part of him that he did not knew he had..
Despite the undeniable pull of duty to his mother, the Wayward Son found himself unable to leave. He chose to remain in the Shadowfell, abandoning Grandmother’s ambitions and his role as her emissary. In doing so, he unknowingly sealed his fate. Just as Umbraxis had been twisted by the Shadowfell’s power, so too did the Wayward Son succumb to its influence. He, too, became a shadowdragon, his body warped by the very realm that had claimed his love.
The romance between Umbraxis and the Wayward Son, while passionate, was marred by tragedy. Both were forever prisoners of the Shadowfell, unable to escape or find peace. In their union, they sought to create life, to create a brood of dragons to carry on their legacy. But each attempt ended in failure. The offspring they produced were not dragons, but grotesque, twisted monstrosities—creatures born of shadow and necromancy, monsters of the Shadowfell dying at a young age, only to be ressurected again and agian and again. Though these “shadowbrood” endured, they were no true dragons, only warped reflections of their parents' hopes and despair.
Death of Grand Mother
in 604, the death of Grandmother shattered the fragile world the Wayward Son had built. The death of the matriarch left a void in the Coven, and her son was called back to the Material Plane to guard her phylactery.