Entourage of Shadow
Entourage of Shadow was made to project force of the dark gods physically. They are not as powerful as avatars, because they are wholly physical. They were conjured using knowledge contained in Whispering Shadows. The Unholy Trio was able to pool their Essence to manifest themselves, and find a way around the Godspeak Accord. This was the driving power of the CY 2300 Fall of the East, when the The Dark Veil moved to engulf the eastern lands. Great heroes were empowered to fight these entities, and they were slain many times. Once they were even imprisoned for thousands of years where their influence and power vanished. Supposedly, none of them can die permanently, but the herald was last killed thousands of years ago.
An unforeseen result was the creation of an additional entity, the Herald of Shadow. It is this entity that discovered the means of summoning the Black Heralds of Everdark. It turns out that the others can only manifest as long as the herald can as well. It is said Morphoerastlynn foresaw an even greater devastation as part of the result of the Chaos Storm, and that he slew Cessair, the herald of the Entourage of Shadow around CY 7800; To this day the entourage has never reformed. The Shadow Serpent of Svveny Dale was the next attempt by the dark lords to project their physical manifestation upon the realms.
King of Shadow – Mardochaios
Queen of Shadow – Zilla
Knight of Shadow – Alvah
Herald of Shadow – Cessair
The Herald of Shadow, “Kess-ayer”, was a strange entity of the entourage. Sometimes they would be sent to bargain, sometimes to announce, sometimes to amuse. It speaks with a voice that switches between male and female, and something in between. As a figure it has androgynal features and smooth dusky skin. Its teeth are black, as is its skin and eyes. It hardly looks living. It vexes even its creators with insults and threats, especially the easily-goaded Sun Stealer; In his rage he has killed the herald several times. At times it has refused to take its charges seriously, referring to itself in a variety of rude and pejorative ways. These include a persona of “Phil, Prince of Insufficient Lighting” (Princeps Satis Lucendi) and “Sunny, Son of Sun Stealer, Stealer of Sons” along with “Sonny, Sun of Son Stealer, Stealer of Suns”.
Chronicle of the Entourage of Shadow
Information Sources: Mundane Reference | Associated Phenomenology Only | Specific Lore
Pervasive Knowledge / Very Easy Difficulty
Common Knowledge / Easy Difficulty
The Unholy Trio have agreed upon the royalty who will inherit and rule this world of Helca when they leave it behind and escape it. These immortal blasted souls, disfigured and hideous, filled with anger and violence. They are merciless and without fear. These things have been stripped from them. It is a foreign concept, one for which they will never lament for nor even be aware of.
iCore™Rare Knowledge / Very Hard Difficulty
CHRONICLE > A a Living World campaign tale set in the Grand Duchy of Dunstrand of the [Fantasy] Steel Realms (Helca) setting.
Things have gone on for too long. While the heartlands tear themselves up in war and the Dark Lands have been silent, the arbiters of darkness have reorganized. They have brought in and transformed a new royalty through pain, torture, and excruciating transformation. It is a process that reflects “taking” of those in the highest office of service to each of the trio.
They had no allies they could sacrifice, they had no external source that they could squeeze life out of. It is a dark gambit. For centuries, the plan has failed to crystallize. However, the death of the lich Lord Zoras the Despoiler has sharpened the purpose and vision of Everdark and his siblings. With that weakness, he was finally able to convince them to enter into a pact to reform the herald.