The Shadow Isles, homeland to the Shendar and the source of the deadly Essiphualë Fungus, is a highly hostile environment barely any outsider has ever come out of alive. While deadly to any who don’t have a place there, the Shendar living within the Shadow Isles consider their lives there to be fairly peaceful, while they spend their days growing in numbers, sending infiltrators out into the open world, and otherwise prepare the next void invasion.
History
In the times of pre-cataclysm, the Shadow Isles were seen as a beautiful vacation resort near the shores of Daendroc. Usually referred to as Nyalone, the isles were inhabited by various Elven villages. As the void invasion came closer, the local Nelfin of the close-knit communities belonged to the first ones succumbing to void worship. Shortly after, Nyalone already became well known as one of the most densely populated places when it came to Shendar population. Not even the Cataclysm could change this. Although the massive hills and cliffs seen on the Shadow Isles today are one of its results, the surviving Shendar knew how to use it for their advantage to create incredible defenses against the outsiders.
To keep themselves in relative isolation, safe from the counter-attacks by outsiders, the Vice Demon of Malice aided in the creation of the Essiphualë Fungus, released upon the Shadow Isles for it to serve as a permanent hold for the Shendar. At that time, more and more tribes of Shendar retreated to the Shadow Isles, given its current name due to the visual effects the Shadow Fungus had on its flora the time the Shadow Council was founded. In Elvish as well as Common, the name “Nyalone”, which used to stand for the beauty and peacefulness of said isles, has been forgotten, replaced by “Shadow Isles” or “Dae Tolle” in Elvish, anaccurate term for the corrupted, gray islands and the ash-like skin tone of the Shendar living there.
Since then, barely any outsiders have set foot onto the new homeland of the Shendar, most of those who made it back alive having had to suffer for months from the effects of the so-called shadow disease, the result of breathing in the Essiphualë spores which only void corrupted beings, such as Shendar or Drowdar, can tolerate. The Shadow Elves since have mainly lived in peace on their territory as they took care of preparations for the next void invasion, occasionally sending out infiltrators to spy on other lands. Save for the Night of the Fallen Star, the Shadow Isles have never mobilized their armies to invade enemy lands, not having been invaded themselves due to the deadly environment they live in that would bring any army to an almost immediate fall.
Over the many years, the numbers of the Shendar on the Shadow Isles have been constantly growing, while more and more infiltrators are being sent to foreign nations to collect information. Meanwhile the Essiphualë is being spread further across Daendroc, in an attempt to expand the influence of the Shadow Isles. Said attempts are however often countered by the Talar, who burn down large parts of the infected forests to contain it mostly to the Shadow Isles only. The Shendar continue to worship the void and to try to draw the next void invasion closer.
Etymology
Before the Shadow Isles were given the name they carry today, they were referred to as “Nyalone”, an Elvish word ironically describing the beauty and peacefulness one would find there. After the creation and spreading of the Essiphualë, the Shadow Isles, as translated from the Elvish “Dae Tolle”, gained their name due to said fungus having corrupted the entirely landscape. As it is common for the effects of the fungus, the once green and blossoming jungles have turned into a corrupted landscape, gray and covered by oversized mushrooms and thick layers of mold. As areas taken over by Shadow Fungus commonly look like shadows of their former selves, the Shadow Isles received the name they carry today.
Geography
Anything that lies behind the golden beaches of the Shadow Isles, consist of dense Essiphualë-corrupted jungles scattering across deadly mountains and hills. These take in all different shades of gray, covered by thick layers of gray mold with the occasional brown and crimson colored mushroom to be found on top of plant life and the ground. Said mushrooms can take many different sizes, sometimes even reaching up to several meters in height. Abandoned villages, often overgrown by plant life and fungi, as well as often crushed by e.g. fallen rocks as a result of the Cataclysm, are a common sight across the Shadow Isles. The amount of Essiphualë spores in the air cause what seems to be a thick gray fog wherever one goes. With the deadly fungus in the air, the unstable environment as caused by the Cataclysm combined with the blurred eyesight and traps set up by Shendar tribes, as well as void corrupted animals wandering the jungles, make the Shadow Isles the possibly most deadly place one could find on Aloria.
Climate
As it is common for Daendroc, the Shadow Isles are at an all-time-high climate, always warm and muggy. As the dense jungles, thick layers of mold and spores in the air block off the majority of sunlight however, deep inside the isles, the climate can often be several degrees cooler. Rain is not an uncommon occurrence, and the different seasons have very little effects on the climate of the Shadow Isles.
Notable Landmarks
- The Mountain of Cymnora
- Being the by far highest mountain of the Shadow Isles, located on the southernmost island, holds an ancient Elven stronghold on its peak. Said stronghold carries the same name as the mountain, and currently serves as the base of the Cymnora Shendar tribe. It is rumored that it is the place where the Vice Demon of Malice assisted in the creation of the Essiphualë, thus seen as a holy site to many of the Shendar. Huge strands of Essiphualë emerge from the temple, reaching all the way down the mountain. This majestic sight is one not many have had the opportunity to see yet.
- The Ymanas Mushroom
- Being seen as a miracle of the void and worshipped by the Shendar tribe of a same similar name, this mushroom is a result of the Essiphualë Fungus. Standing at an incredibly height of 27 metres and still growing, this mushroom positioned on the northwestern island is the by far largest mushroom ever recorded as a cause of the Shadow Fungus. Those laying their hands upon it, often face severe punishments, from whipping, up to the removal of limbs and sometimes even execution, based on what was done to the holy mushroom.
- The Village of Uyfebelle
- Those creatures who were not killed by the Essiphualë, instead mutated and adapted themselves to it. One of those creatures include the Great Jungle Cat, who took an even larger and more intimidating appearance than before. Uyfebelle, once having been a fishing village near a lake of the easternmost Shadow Isle, was partially crushed by falling rocks as the Cataclysm erupted, other parts of the village flooded by the nearby lake. Now surrounded by high cliffs and water, the overgrown village houses hundreds, if not thousands of mutated Great Jungle Cats. Rumors say that the beasts guard holy artifacts of the void, some say they even protect shards of Estel. Shendar tribes often attempt to catch one of the cats on the outskirts of the village, to domesticate and breed them for many different purposes.
Government
The Shendar government is controlled by the Shadow Council, consisting of tribe leaders and emissaries who together fall decisions for the state. In the individual tribes, everyone is usually considered equal with the exception of the tribe leader, called the Shaman. See Shendar Politics for more information.
List of Rulers
Since the creation of the state, the members of the Shadow Council alone have been in charge of its decisions.
Foreign Relations
The Shadow Isles hold no allegiances to other states whatsoever, feared and hated by most. As the Essiphualë corrupted landscape is highly toxic to most living beings and an attack is entirely out of question, combined with the fact that Shendar are highly defensive and do not actively invade other nations, they are usually ignored.
Military
Shendar are no outgoing and invasive people. They specialize in building defenses with a multitude of traps around their bases, the individuals specializing in physical as well as magical combat. Most outsiders entering their territory are usually attacked immediately. The Blood Elves go after the motto “Kill first, ask questions later.” See Shendar Warfare for more information.
Economy and Technology
There is no currency present on the Shadow Isles, as Shendar commonly provide for those who need it, as long as they provide for their own brethren as well. The tribes are most often independent and have everything they need. Should that not be the case, a neighbouring tribe comes to assistance. The technology found on the Shadow Isles can be compared to that of the Talar. See Shendar Economy for more information.
Demographics
- 95% Shendar Nelfin
- 5% Essiphualë corrupted Yanar
Culture
Against popular belief, the Shendar of the Shadow Isles are a social and joyful people. Their lives consist of song, dance and art, most often in connection to void worship. They always offer a helping hand to those of their own kind, and genders are treated almost entirely equally. See Shendar Culture for more information.
Symbols
The Shadow Isles as a whole hold no specific flag or symbol. It varies entirely from tribe to tribe.
Trivia
- Due to their immunity to the Essiphualë Fungus, the Shadow Isles are often considered to be a safe sanctuary for certain vampires and those suffering from long-term voidling possession. Those who don’t get killed by the hostile environment, usually find their deaths at the hands of the highly protective Shendar tribes guarding the island. Very rarely however, it happens that the Shendar come to accept said vampires and possessed individuals into their ranks, though those make out less than 1% of the population of the Shadow Isles.
- A group of Talar once believed that the Essiphualë and its effects are nothing but a rumor spread by traitors in order to prevent anyone from launching a direct attack onto the Shadow Isles. Due to this, they travelled to the islands to launch an attack onto the Shendar themselves, each member of the group however then having died as a cause of the Essiphualë before even making contact to the local Shendar. They shrugged off its effects as a minor jungle disease, until their end unwilling to believe that the Essiphualë was the actual cause of their death.
- The Shadow Isles are often chosen as a destination for Yanar which have got infected by the Essiphualë elsewhere. When being discovered by the Shendar, they are commonly accepted into their ranks with open arms, often however then being forced to serve as blood slaves to those infected by the Kydaer Bloodline.
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