The Shadowfell

The Raven was a noble elf that through the loss of his wife, referred to as the Raven Queen, was swallowed by a portal into the Shadowfell along with her corpse. The Raven had access to knowledge of the plane due to his interest in the different planes and knew what it would take to invoke the ritual to ascend. With that he spent months working towards the ritual, the entire time keeping his dead wife’s corpse with him, until finally he invoked the ritual. When he did things did not go as planned, and his being was merged with his wife, changing him into what he is now. With his new power, he shaped the demi-plane around him into the city of Ravenkeep and created his own worshippers, the Shadar-Kai. The Raven is cold and unfeeling, longing to learn how to separate his wife from his being so he may bring her back and feel something once again.

Vrakmul does not remember his time as a living being; he only remembers cold undeath. His time in the material realm was spent plotting a way to leave it in pursuit of power. This lead him to his aspiration of ascending in the Shadowfell, a plane known for its undead. After a failed attempt at the ritual, he was successful the second time and withstood the ritual to ascend. He formed his demi-plane into the city of Rosok and created intelligent undead to reside in it. These undead serve Vrakmul and Vrakmul alone. Often he will send these undead to the material realm to reap death and destruction, while also gathering items that he needs to break free from his demi-plane. Vrakmul is cruel, cunning, and focused on his goal: to conquer every plane and fill them with undeath.

Mask was once but a human. A skilled thief by trade, he would execute heists for the highest bidder. One of these bidders was Vrakmul, who wanted him to steal the components for the ascension ritual and a magic item that would give Vrakmul easy access to the Shadowfell. After successfully stealing these items Mask pulled his greatest heist yet. He traveled to the Shadowfell and stood guard as Vrakmul worked on the ritual. At the last moment Mask rushed forward and forced Vrakmul out of the ritual circle, stealing his title as a deity. Mask’s demi-plane is a massive fortress named Blackstone, full of his stolen goods and his faithful servants. Mask is charming; due to him being stuck in his demi-plane, he will often bless mortal thieves and bandits out of boredom. Over the years, Mask’s boredom has taken a darker turn. Mask has begun to steal emotions or memories from those he makes deals with as to add these things to his collection of stolen goods.

Since her birth two years after the Calamity, Fol the gold dragon lived the equivalent of an adventurer’s life for a humanoid: slaying monsters, saving damsels, and even fighting other dragons. Fol enjoyed this and she found that being heroic was almost as good as the gold it provided. Plots, however, hatched to end the heroic Fol. A group of powerful cultists knew that they could not kill Fol, but they could lock her away for good. After an intense and painful battle, Fol was forced into the Shadowfell; but even then she did not allow the negative emotions to cloud her. She continued her heroic antics as she aided those with the misfortune of being taken to the Shadowfell. Fol took up battle with the Skull Lord Vrakmul, thinking herself blessed with the upper hand. But as she moved in to finish him off, she suddenly felt strange. Surrounded by glyphs, Fol could recognize the ritual for ascension. Trapped within the closing ritual, Fol became a deity, her demiplane a timeless mountain that climbs infinitely into the sky. Fol has since broken free from her prison, delighting in helping adventurers in the fight against Vrakmul. Though her scales have since darkened to those of a shadow dragon, Fol aspires to the image of paragon, and seeks to become a beacon of hope in a world of darkness.