Name : Shadoania

Type : Deepest Shadow

Points of Access :Various

% Explored : 5%

Principle Geography : Inland Continental

Major Season : Four Seasons; mild

Culture : Hunter/Gather

Religion : Ancestor Worship/Animism

Currency : Barter

Location & Entrance ways : Not yet determined.

Climate :

Winter; Light snows freezing ponds for about 2 months.  Temp. 20 - 40 degrees

Springs; cold and rainy.  Temp. 35 - 50 degrees

Summers are warm and clear.  Temp.  65 - 90 degrees.

Autumns are cool and windy.  Temp 50 - 70 degrees.

Environment :
All powers work normally.

Geography :
Sylvan woodlands, pastoral meadows, grasslands, low mountains, hills, and shallow valleys texture the landscape.  Slow moving rivers fed by numerous streams and creeks.

Flora & Fauna :
Sylvan Forests composed of hardwood trees (Walnut, Oak, Elm, Hickory, Birch, etc.) with an undergrowth of ferns, and flowering bushes that ripen to berries in the fall.  Mushrooms and truffles that grow here are edible.  Within these forests are deer, bear, rabbits, wolves, foxes, boar hogs, bobcats, owls, sparrows, woodpeckers, turkeys, bats, ants, spiders, beetles and such.

 

Grasslands range outward in the lowland areas containing elk, bison, horses, cougars,  hawks, mice, rabbits, and other animals common to these areas.  The grasslands are composed of a natural wild wheat that rises from 2' to 4' in height.  Easy enough to cultivate and mill by hand.

 

Pastoral Meadows with low grasses and a profusion of flowers in spring and summer.  Hummingbirds, blue jays, cardinals, countless varieties of butterflies, occasional field mice, and snakes.

 

Majestics:

This shadow contains one very ancient dragon.  She(?) is so old she pre-dates the Logrus.   She spends all her time sleeping and her size is geographic.  Looking for all the world like one of the countless low hills that travelers may encounter.  Trees and bushes grow from her hide which is mostly covered by a thin coating of rich topsoil.   Steam rises like geysers from her mouth once per hour when she exhales.   A faint scent of brimstone and sulphur is noted.  This creature weighs in the thousands of tons and is flatly un-killable by any normal means.  Even trying to provoke it would require a colossal (and suicidal) effort.

 

In the sylvan forests and meadowlands a strong faerie presence exists.  Pixies, sprites, will-o-wisps, animated trees, dryads, and shadow unicorns can be encountered.  They are typically playful, and tend to enjoy their jokes though they are never malicious unless provoked.   They have been known to be helpful to lost travelers and people suffering injury.  Some of the wildlife also falls under the heading of faerie in this shadow.  The larger and more garish looking butterflies are of the fair folk.  So too are the queen bees that occasionally journey out into meadows with their escort of normal bees.  A rare spider, or unusual hummingbird has also been found to be more then it seems. The fairies tend toward a magical nature.  Lesser fairies utilizing power words, greater fairies employing a subdued form of sorcery, and the extremely rare noble fairies employing sorcery or conjuration and can sometimes take on more then one form.

 

Faeriesm (What else can I call it?) seems to be more of a quality then a race in this shadow.  Encounters with unusual plants and animals, although rare, can happen.  People new to this area should keep an open mind.  Reconsider before harvesting the giant talking mushroom.

 

Principle Civilizations :

Tribes of humans live in the grassland areas exhibiting a culture and technological sophistication on par with the American Indians.  They ride horses and hunt the larger game animals using spears in groups.  Traditional nomadic hunter gatherers.  They are not xenophobic but tend to very cautious of strange people.  The consider the forests haunted and, with the exception of shamans, they do not venture into them.  They practice ancestor worship and their funeral areas are considered sacred.  Outsiders venturing into these areas are dealt with harshly.  They wear clothing comprised of leather festooned with stone beads.  The shamans know power words and primitive conjuration.

 

The Sylvan forests are home to small bands of elves.  They are vegetarians, and metal is poisonous to them.  They employ bows for defensive purposes.  Their magic is geared towards the stewardship of the forests that they manage.  They grow specialty plants that they cultivate for clothing, shelter, and tools.  Their’s is a live and let live philosophy.  They don’t mind strangers in their forests but they tend to keep an eye on them.  They practice a religion based on animism only with plants as the focus.  Individual elves each have a totem spirit that they identify with based on trees.  These people are very stealthy having refined the use of camouflage and concealment to a high art.  Their priests employ power words and a primitive sorcery.

Centaurs seem to bridge a gap between elves and humans.  They range far and wide, hunting with bows.  They are more at home in meadows and lightly wooded areas then in the grasslands or sylvan forests.  Solitary creatures that are rarely encountered save from a distance.  They usually know several power words.

Imports & Exports :

Barter is the sole means of exchange for the inhabitants within this shadow.  No commerce with other shadows is noted.


General Notes: This is a underpopulated shadow.  Travelers can range far through all areas of this shadow and encounter people of whatever race maybe once in a given week.

Encounters with fairies being maybe once per month.  Wildlife densities are strong.