Shadow Isles

This Article is in accordance with the version 0.94 of Runarcana RPG

“The land known today as Shadow Isles was once a thriving and stunning kingdom but was destroyed by a magical cataclysm. The Black Mist covers the isles permanently, and the land itself is cursed, corrupted by evil witchcraft. The living beings that know can be found at the Shadow Isles have their lives slowly drained from their bodies, attracting more insatiable and predatory spirits of the dead. Those who perish inside of the Black Mist are doomed to haunt those melancholic lands for all eternity. Even worse, the power of the Shadow Isles is an ever-growing force growing each year, allowing for the spirits to grow the range to which the dead can mow souls throughout Runeterrra”

Once known as the Blessed Isles, the archipelago that is today know as the Shadow Isles had a golden past, filled with gardens, libraries and universities filled the whole territory, teaching houses existed everywhere with the intent of spreading knowledge, knowledge which was combined with a harmonic existence with the magic that proliferated everywhere in those lands.

The architecture was composed of architectonic puzzles with hidden meanings and filled with symbolism of the occult, a reflex of civilization that kept itself isolated thanks to the white mist that guided travelers away from the island. It was a society that was in an eternal search for self-knowledge.

As a result of this isolation, the Isles didn't have the most expressive army, many of the people living there were searching for self-knowledge, be it in the ways of art, learning, or even in the many exquisite crafts.

The fertility of the Isles was tremendous, not only thanks to its abundant magic but the advanced agricultural technologies and techniques which harmonically utilized the land, never forcing it too much or depleting its arcane energies.

Such prosperity made possible that even without an expressive military force, they could conquer other lands, having as a goal the evolution of technology in those regions through the wisdom shared by the new rulers of those regions.

This same prosperity attracted the greed of opposing nations who sought their own objectives, sending an assassin to end the king's life.

Characters

When creating a character from this region, you gain the following traits:

Languages. Choose one between: Helian or Spiritual

Skill. Choose one between: Arcana, Deception, History, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, or Survival.

Activity. Choose two proficiencies from the following options: A simple or martial weapon, apothecary or guide: navigator

The Curse

During the murder attempt, a victim was made, not the one the assassin was hired for, but his wife. The queen, being poisoned by a small wound in her arm, became infirm.

It wasn't by lack of trying, the best priests, surgeons, and mages worked in a cure, even the King's magic, powerful and driven by the magic of the Isles, wasn't able to nothing more than do slow the effects.

Everything came to a close when the queen perished and the king, mad and filled by anguish, began to search desperately for a way to revert this disgrace.

Having sent his emissaries in search of a cure around the world, the King also began a reign of horror and violence in search of a way that he could save his loved one.

In the end, in his final and larger act of madness, going against everything he ever learned and practiced in most of his life, the King tried to violate the natural laws, trying to subvert magic and bend it to his will.

Such insult to the equilibrium came with a high cost, the Blessed Isles became a lugubrious and dreary place, such as the actions of the king, they became a parody of what once was life and beauty, in which spirits that were once alive howled in agony stuck in a state between life and post-mortem.

Helia

Helia, once the capital of the Blessed Isles, is located at the shore. As a result, many parts of the city were flooded right after the crumbling of the Isles. Beyond the capital, many other ancients wonders remain lost, abandoned, or simply too cursed for even the maddest, courageous or luckiest living being to survive in daring to enter these lands. Once a great gallery of ancient artifacts that stored items of many cultures and ages, now it is nothing more than a crater in the Shadow Isles.

Any mortal that steps in the Shadow Isles will attract the specters of the fallen, maybe the Widow of the songs, a collector of birds that tried tofree them when the disaster came and now roams through the island, searching for songs that he can not remember anymore, or even one of the many humble registrars e archivists of the Blessed Isles that died on their pulpits, without even noticing the disaster that fell upon them. These lost souls now write descriptions of their torments in an infinite scroll fervently and conveying them to any living being.

Yet, through so much insanity, there is still a glimpse of light here and there, like the Shepherd of Lost Souls that seeks to protect the weaker spirits of predatory aspects.

Although the weaker spirits can only manifest during a torment, more powerful entities can do it every time, sometimes wandering beyond the Shadow Isles. The most powerful specters maintained more of their own personality and wishes even after the Ruin, and they became predatory spirits that can hunt the weak and vulnerable for all eternity.

Warning

While the Shadow Isles is listed here as a region for the players and masters be aware of, adventuring in it is highly discouraged for beginners’ adventures. This Isle is a place of suffering and lingering pain, adventures here must be careful to translate the everlasting danger at every second, and the destiny of those who dare to invade these lands is almost always death.