Shadowbane Lore Archives

Collection of Shadowbane Lore includes rare documents

Dianthe, Amazon Sentry

Stay where you are! I am a Huntress, daughter of Phaedra's empire, chosen of the Palomi Tribe. We claim these lands, and have no patience for intruders. If you would join the Palomi, or to serve us, seek my Majestrix on the isles within. We will need every spear we can raise to drive the dark beasts and pawns of Chaos from these woods. Indeed, the Vorgrim Legion now masses here, and we are hard pressed to drive them out. But if you will not serve, begone! Phaedra's folk have have always dwelt apart, and we want nothing more than to make a refuge of these isles, or else find in them the means to return to Delgaana, our vanished homeland. If you are choose to enter these woods, beware!

What claim have the Amazons to these woods?

How soon you folk of the *civilized* lands forget ... When Phaedra's father drove her from her rightful throne, she led the great exodus of like-minded women south, guided by the wisdom of Hevralis of the Beasts and Vashteera, Mother of Panthers. They halted in many places along their way, building temples and refuges and trying to build a new realm far from the petty Kings and minions of the All-Father, and all the other oppressors who are blind to the power of the Mother Goddess. In each case they were driven out, either by foul creatures or the armies of the Kings they had spurned. Finally Phaedra led her sisters to the great valley Delgaana, where they built a realm undreamed of in these lands.

Since the Turning many tribes of Amazons have wandered the fragments, looking for a way back home. We found this former refuge, where foundations of the temples raised by Phaedra more than a thousand years ago still stand. We have reclaimed them, and restored them, but evil lurks in these rainy woods, and our work is far from over.

What minions of Chaos dwell here?

A foul necromancer has made a home among the ancient ruins of this place, and an entire host of twisted Goat-men, worshippers of the Banelords, are working their dark rites on lands once sacred to Vashteera. They have drawn many allies to themselves -- twisted Rat-men, Giants, and darker things. The hardened warriors of the Vorgrim Legion have also sent emissaries among them, though to what end we cannot tell.

What is this Vorgrim Legion?

That is a black name, once was held in high honor, but now stained with the taint of sin, Chaos, and treachery. The Legion was born of folly, during the War of Scourge, when the mightiest in the armies of Elves and Humanity joined together to form an elite army where the Firstborn and the Sons of Men would fight side by side, under joint command. The Legion won it's greatest fame during the middle years of the conflict, when they managed to halt the advance of Chaos on many fronts. After the retrieval of Shadowbane and the turning of the tide, Malog the War God emerged from his long seclusion to answer the All-Father's call to arms. Malog himself to command of the Vorgrim Legion and led it to many victories. In their pride, the Legion slowly renounced its ties with the lords of Elves or Men, following their mighty general to death and glory.

The Legion's fate was sealed when Malog tried to betray the All-Father to His doom in the Pit of Chaos. The warriors of the Vorgrim were abandoned and trapped with their dark master. Malog's treachery poisoned the name of the Vorgrim Legion forever: the tales and songs of its exploits were deliberately forgotten, and the few surviving members of the Legion renounced it. But now the Legion moves again. Ever since Malog, reborn as Morloch the Destroyer returned to Aerynth, warriors and devotees of Chaos have appeared wearing the ancient suits of armor used by the Legion of old. Morloch is combing ruins and ancient places for the enchanted relics of the Legion, and some fear that the Maimed God intends to reform the legion and use it to conquer all the fragments of Aerynth. Whatever their dark purpose here, they shall rue the day they trespassed in the realms of the Amazons!

Done