The Path of Twilight

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During the Age of Dragons, this path of sorcery was developed by the dragon queen Naydene, and was feared by any who ventured into the south of Kith Kanaan. When the dragon was captured, the resulting conflict corrupted the landscape and introduced horrific monsters into the region. The art of shadowmancy was lost for generations, and was soon forgotten except for in superstitions and in myths.

Within the last century, the path was rediscovered and refined by Kyn’Elwynn, the Shadow Mage. The path saw only limited use, however, until Naydene escaped her confinement and begun once more to terrify the people of Kith Kanaan. The dragon re-opened her lair in the Southern Wilds, but her reign was cut short and she was slain. With her lair unprotected, explorers from R’Tal were able to explore her storehouse of knowledge and find the secrets of this path, bringing it into the public eye once again. Since then, it has spread into Cordona, and beyond.

Within the heart of the shadow realm are the egregoroi, who shape and alter the region as they sleep and dream. The apprentice is brought into the Mirror, the region of the shadow realm which reflects Creation, and led to the border of the Mirror and the heart of the shadow realm. There, the apprentice remains for days or weeks, sleeping and meditating, allowing themselves to open to the dreams of the egregoroi. Once the apprentice has felt the slumbering consciousness that spreads through the Realm, the mentor begins to teach the apprentice how to alter the realm themselves.

It is believed that the dreams of the egregoroi are reflections of events within Creation, and that the Mirror is a reflection of those dreams. Things that happen in Creation are replayed in the Mirror, along within things that could have been if things had played out differently in the past. When a veneficus performs an invocation, they overlay their own imagination onto the Mirror, and rather than making the Mirror a reflection fo Creation, they draw the energy of the egrogoroi into Creation and force Creation to reflect the Mirror world they have shaped.

It is debated if the egregoroi know that their power is being used, and as such most veneficus are very careful with how they cast their spells. Stories have been told of strange things happening in regions where powerful shadow magic has been used, and some veneficus have told stories of dreams where they felt themselves observed and studied, or have seen themselves in the Mirror, repeating actions of the past, as if sections of their lives were being replayed.

Titles: Veneficus, Ombramancer, Ombramagus, Shadow Magus