Introduction
Welcome to what i believe is my fourth plane shift. This time, we are going to Lorwyn; or rather, Lowryn-Shadowmoor. This plane is unique as it has no day-night cycle; rather, it has two states, Lorwyn, eternal day and late spring, and Shadowmoor, eternal night and late autumn. Every 300 years in a magical event called The Great Aurora, Lorwyn shifts to Shadowmoor and vice versa.
Lorwyn
Lorwyn is the "day" state of the world. The plane, in both of its halves, is often referred to just as "Lorwyn" for the sake of simplicity. Lorwyn is devoid of winter or night, locked a in a constant state of late spring and the sun never quite manages to make that trip past the horizon. It is a beautiful land of large forests ringed by mountains with a million little lakes and springs connecting a large underground system of waterways. Lorwyn is a haven of goodwill; even the fae only cause minor annoyances at best. Its animals exist in a harmonic, untouched state, and the only reason for conflict is tribal rivalries between Lorwyn's eight sentient species, that i will get to in a bit.
Shadowmoor
Shadowmoor is the "night" state of the world. Shadowmoor, being a complete opposite, or parallel, if you think of it that way, of Lorwyn, is a realm of constant night and late autumn, filled with darkness of both physical light, or lack thereof, and mind. Animals here are trying to kill you; and do so with unnatural cunning and brutality. The rivalries are still present, but now it is a fight for survival, as the people of Shadowmoor struggle over what few safe resources they have. Nightmarish horrors of the night have reemerged when the Aurora comes to hunt the living again. The waters are dark and murky, the trees twisted and rotting, its meadows barren, hollow wastes.
Art Credits
Cover art is "The Great Aurora" by Sam Burley. This art is "Oona, Queen of the Fae" by Adam Rex.
The Great Aurora
To an outside visitor, The Great Aurora might seem a natural part of the world; something which it definitely isn't. The Great Aurora has more detail than meets the eye, which i will list here.
- After an Aurora, nearly all creatures won't remember ever living on the other half of the world, and think that it has always been like that.
- All sapient creatures experience a massive change in behavior when an Aurora passes based on which state the plane is currently in. Faeries are the exception to this, but those changes, which do NOT change the races' abilities, will nonetheless be listed in their entries.
- The Auroras are caused by an enigmatic entity known as Oona. Oona is the mother and leader of the faeries, and her magic is th reason why the faeries don't change much between Lorwyn and Shadowmoor. She also always keeps her memories when the Aurora happens, allowing her to plot across both worlds. Oona is immortal and remembers what happened since the very beginnning of the world and the first Aurora.
Races
An interesting side note is the fact that Lorwyn-Shadowmoor is devoid of humans. It probably won't have that much effect because, lets face it, we have to admit humans are quite boring with all the other options out there. Anyways, as promised, i will list the race's lore on Lorwyn, that on Shadowmoor, and if needed, racial traits.
Elves
Ironically, elves were the only race that actually changed for the better on Shadowmoor. On Lorwyn, elves' culture was determined by beauty. The more beautiful an elf was, the higher they ranked. Their strict social castes, from lowest to highest, are: faultless, immaculate, exquisite, and perfect. Other creatures are considered "eyeblights", and the elves delight in their slaugher. On Shadowmoor, the elves were forced to give up their lording pride for the greater good, protecting what few remnants of life and beauty remained. They use the traits provided for elves in the Player's Handbook, except Drow don't exist.
Kithkin
Kithkin are small, agile humanoids. The minds of each kithkin community are connected by a magical bond called "thoughtweft". As such, kithkin have the talents and knowledge of all other kithkin in their community. On Lorwyn, they are peaceful farmers that want nothing more than to have a good life. On Shadowmoor, they had to rejoice in xenophobic secrecy, having to stay constantly on guard from the forces of darkness. Here are their traits:
Ability score increase. Your dexterity score increases by 1, and 2 other ability of your choice also increases by 1.
Age. Kithkin live about as long as humans do, if they age a little earlier.
Alignment. Kithkin tend towards strong law, always valuing the community and its order over personal desires. They are mostly good, but other alignments aren't unheard of.
Size. Kithkin are short, standing no more than 4 feet at most. Your size is small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 ft..
Thoughtweft. You have the skill proficiencies, languages, and knowledge of other kithkin in your community. This doesn't work across planes or dimensions.
Cunning advantage. Kithkin are small and cunning, knowing how to outwit enemies much larger than them. When you successfully hit a creature at least two sizes larger than you with an attack, you may have it take extra damage of the type the attack dealt equal to your level. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Kithkin.
Art Credit
Art is "Ballynock Cohort", by Jesper Ejsing.
Merrow (Merfolk)
The merrow are Lorwyn-Shadowmoor's aquatic race, and can't move on land without magic. They look like blueish humanoids with the lower half of a fish, and intricate fish-like sails adorn their faces. On Lorwyn, they control a massive system of aquatic routes, used for trading, commence, and sending messages. On Shadowmoor, they become malign in their goals, stealing from and murdering the land-folk for their own greedy benefit. These are their traits:
Ability score increase. Your dexterity, constitution, and intelligence scores each increase by 1.
Age. Merrow age at about the same rate as humans.
Alignment. Merrow tend towards law, tending to be rational and orderly in their ways. On Lorwyn, they flicker on indifferent neutrality, and on Shadowmoor, they are cold, calculating traitors, tending towards evil.
Size. Merrow are about as large as humans, albeit quite taller considering the length of their fish tails. Your size is medium.
Speed. Merrow have great difficulty moving on land, and you have a walking speed of 10 ft.. However, you also have a swimming speed of 50 ft..
Amphibious. You can breathe in water and in air.
Merrow Cunning. You have proficiency in two of the following skills of your choice: deception, arcana, history, and insight.
Darkvision. You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Merrow, and one other language of your choice. Most merrow do know how to write, however that is impossible underwater.
Boggarts (Goblins)
Boggarts, as goblins are called in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor, are small, mischievous humanoids. No two boggarts are alike in their distorted physical features. They are found in almost every color possible, from red to green to purple. They might have horns, tails, spots, and many more. On Lorwyn, boggarts are selfish, chaotic pranksters driven by raw, sadistic desires, doing whatever they want for the most part. Their suicidal, destructive tendencies outpaced only by their staggering birth rate. On Shadowmoor, boggarts are animalistic savages. They live to eat, devour and destroy. They are little more than animals, just intelligent enough to be counted as sentient, if barely. They use the traits provided for goblins in Volo's Guide to Monsters.
Flamekin
Flamekin are, at a base level, humanoid fire elementals. Their bodies are made of pure fire, yet plates of ebony black make cover much of their bodies, with the fire still showing from their joints and eyes. They are known to have small horns. Flamekin do have a measure of control over their flames, allowing them to wear clothes and armor and interact with objects and people without burning them. On Lorwyn, they are passionate and enthusiastic, often helping out with tasks that involve fire such as smithing. On Shadowmoor, they are called cinders, ashen beings who quite literally want to watch the world burn. These are their traits:
Ablity score increase. Your dexterity score increases by 2, and your charisma or intelligence score increases by 1.
Age. Flamekin spawn fully mature, and live around 50 years; however aging has no physical effect on them.
Alignment. Most flamekin are chaotic, driven by raw impulse. On Lorwyn, they are often good and happy to assist others; on Shadowmoor, they turn to evil, delighting in watching others suffer.
Size. Flamekin are about as tall as humans, yet weigh very little considering the fire that makes the majority of their bodies is weightless. Your size is medium.
Speed. Your speed is 30 ft..
Made of fire. Your type is elemental, not humanoid. In addition, you are immune to fire damage.
Flame within. You can control your fire, causing it to only burn things when you will it to. When you want it to, you can light an object on fire by touch, and when you touch a creature this way, you can make an attack roll against it. You use dexterity for this and are proficient with it. On a hit, it takes 1d4 fire damage.
Luminous. You shed a 5 ft. aura of dim light around you. At any time, you can activate this aura or turn it off.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Primordial. Primordial is called "the language of the gods" as it is the tongue of the fabled Greater Elementals.
Art Credit
Art is "Ashling the Pilgrim", by Wayne Reynolds.
Treefolk
Treefolk are, as their name suggests, sentient trees. The look like ordinary trees with 2 branches suggesting the shape of an arm, and a gnarled face wrought out of the wood. When they walk, their trunks seem to split into 2 legs supported by roots. Treefolk are born as normal trees, staying dormant for anywhere from several dozens to several thousands of years, before a spark of sentience comes. They are ancient and wise, living archives of the plane's history older than any other being. Treefolk of different tree types have different roles. For example, oak treefolk are mighty warriors, whilst rowan treefolk tend to wield arcane magic. Here are their traits:
Ability score increase. Your constitution and strength scores each increase by 2, and your wisdom score increase by 1. However, your dexterity score decreases by 2.
Age. Treefolk only reach sentience after being a normal tree for a large period of time, and live for over thousands of years.
Alignment. Most treefolk are lawful, not trusting impulse due to their extensive perspective. On Lorwyn, they are usually good, giving out their wisdom to "mortals" that need it. On Shadowmoor, they become neutral, retreating into the few safe groves that remain for their own safety.
Size. You can choose whether your size is medium or large depending on the size of the treefolk. The statistics don't change, however this will affect things such as being able to move through smaller spaces.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 ft.. This is so as treefolk move more slowly since they are, well, trees.
Sentient tree. Being a sentient tree, this has several effects as follows:
- Your creature type is plant, rather than humanoid.
- You have vulnerability to fire damage, as you are easily flammable.
- You don't need to eat or drink normally, however you do need to stand stationary on the ground at regular intervals..
- You don't need to sleep, however you can still benefit from rests.
- You can't benefit from armor, however you have a natural AC of 13 + your constitution modifier.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Treefolk, and Sylvan.
Faeries
Faeries are the only race that remained mostly the same throughout the Aurora, as they are protected by Oona's magic. This does not, however, exempt them from losing their memory as the Aurora passes. Faeries are tiny, humanoids creatures with gossamer wings and insectile legs and occasionally antennae. They are very mischievous and constantly seek opportunities to prank and trap bigger creatures than them. Faeries do have innate magical powers, which they often use for trickery. Faeries have very short lives, during which they pursue gossip and interesting intrigues. Their traits are presented here; note that playing as a flying race can cause some controversy, so make sure your DM is fine with it.
Ability score increase. Your dexterity score increases by 2, and your charisma and intelligence scores increase by 1. Your strength score decreases by 2.
Age. Faeries are born from Oona in an unknown magical manner, and live only about 3 years, never going above single digits.
Alignment. Faeries stay the same through the aurora, staying at a firm chaotic neutrality with their mischievous nature.
Size. Faeries are about a foot high (give me metric in D&D please), and their wings span about a foot in total. Your size is tiny. This means that you can't wear armor without it being specifically sized for you. You also can't wield normal melee weapons, as making such a weapon smaller makes it lose its potency. However, you can use items such as needles to harm people.
Speed. Your walking speed is 10 ft.. as you are tiny. You also have a flying speed of 40 ft.. As i said, playing a flying character might not be allowed by your DM, so ask.
Innate spellcasting. You have natural magical abilities. You can cast the Minor Illusion cantrip. At third level, you can cast Charm Person at 2nd level, and you regain the ability to do so after a long rest. AT 5th level, you can cast Hypnotic Pattern, and regain the ability to do so after a long rest. Your choice of intellignce or charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Fae Cunning. You are proficient in the deception skill.
Improvising prankster. You can make traps and fight with whatever suitably sized objects you can find. You are proficient with improvised weapons. You also have advantage on checks to make traps.
Languages. You can speak, read and write Common and Sylvan.
Changelings
Changelings are curious shapeshifters, that delight in changing their forms on impulse, creating shapes on a whim and desire. On Lorwyn, they are playful and childlike in demeanor, seeking new experiences and curiosities. Little is known about them as they are very difficult to find. On Shadowmoor, they became vicious, aggressive creatures, hunting in packs to seek the flesh of single-forms. They delight in taking the form of distorted reflections of the very creatures they are fighting, to torment their victims. They use the traits provided for changelings in Ebberron: Rising From the last War.
Art Credit
Art above is "Vendilion Clique", by Michael Sutfin. Art below is "Mirror Entity", by Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai.
Other Creatures
Here is the menagerie of the rest of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor's creatures, sentient or not.
General Creatures
Lorwyn-shadowmoor is home to all manner of regular animals, and fantasy staples; dragons, demons, hags, trolls, mimics, ghosts, and many more. If you want to fit in a particular monster, you probably could.
Giants
Giants are recluses on Lorwyn. They are known to sleep for dozens of years in some distant mountain cave, then wake up with a new name and personality. On Shadowmoor, they are more brutish, stopping at nothing to find their next meal, not caring for whatever unfortunate creatures they stomp underfoot. This leads to the expression "Five-toed grave", meaning death by getting stomped by a giant.
Greater Elementals
Greater Elementals are mythical, extremely rare beings, the closest Lorwyn-Shadowmoor has to gods. The flamekin, being elementals themselves, worship these creatures, believing to be descended from them in some way. Rather than embody the physical things like fire or water, they embody mental ideals or concepts, like hostility or or guile.
Ouphes
Ouphes are annoying little pests known to collect treasures like crows and messing with humanoids dwellings. Ouphes are small creatures with pointy ears and somewhat bestial features, but vary otherwise.
Duergar
The duergar, only present on Shadowmoor, are not very close to the duergar of D&D, even though they are the same on a base level; evil dwarves. They are small, warped, miserable creatures with oversized limbs. They are always bald and lack beards. They only dwell in deep, underground caverns, always at work mining in search for riches to feed their greed, so much so that they believe the surface world to be a myth, raging in violence when proof to it is provided.
Artist Credit
Art is "Collector Ouphe", by Filip Burburan.
Locations
For each of these, i will list whether it is present on Lorwyn, Shadowmoor, or both (yes, that is possible), and oh boy are there a lot, so i wouldn't go into much detail about each.
Gilt-Leaf Wood
Present on: Lorwyn
The Gilt-Leaf is a forest created when an ancient elven perfect ordered hundreds of trees uprooted then replanted in a pattern he thought was beautiful. The fabled capital of Lys Alana lies deep within, unseen from non-elven eyes.
Mount Tanufel
Present on: Lorwyn
This is a sacred mountain, where the spring of the Wanderwine lies and where the flamekin are born. The aforementioned flamekin have founded a monastery called Ember Fell on the mountain in honor of its magical qualities.
Porringer Valley
Present on: Lorwyn
The Porringer Valley is a lowland area that is home to many different people of different tribes, thought most of them (other than the treefolk) are outcasts or just generally ill-thought of tribes like boggarts.
Velis Vel
Present on: Lorwyn
Velis Vel is a mythical, secret cave somewhere on Lorwyn. Only the changelings know where it is, since it is where they spawn from. Once a year, a rare, single ray of sunlight lights the cave. All changelings feel a call to attend this event, convening for their secret purposes.
The Wanderwine
Present on: Lorwyn
The Wanderwine is a massive system of partially subterranean rivers and waterways, controlled by the merrow. It reaches everywhere on Lorwyn as it connects to all lakes, pools, and other water sources across the plane. Its deepest regions are calle the Dark Meanders, as no light reaches them. The merrow have begun to explore these.
The Great Forest
Present on: Lorwyn, Shadowmoor
This is a massive forest covering nearly all of Lorwyn, pierced by rivers connecting the Wanderwine. Many treefolk are born and gain sentience in a part of the forest called the Murmuring Bosk, and guard the place from those that would harm it. Another part of the forest is Wren's Run, which is like a labyrinth made by nature. Elves enjoy hunting there.
The Mountain Ranges
Present on: Lorwyn
Little is known about the seemingly endless mountains that ring Lorwyn, thought to be the physical barriers of the world. Little lives here, only the giants, some rather quirky flamekin, and the godly Greater Elementals. Past them, the mountains's natural terrain makes it extremely dangerous.
Mount Kulrath
Present on: Shadowmoor
The grim mirror to Mount Tanufel of Lorwyn, this mountain hosts the bitter cinders, and the source is still there, but of the Wanderbrine rather than the Wanderwine.
Wilt-Leaf Wood
Present on: Shadowmoor
This is the counterpart to the Gilt-leaf, where the trees are rotten and sickly, the air bitter and harsh, and the creatures warped and murderous. Cayr Ulios, the stronghold of the elves defended against evil, are the solemn equivalent of the elven capital of Lys Alana on Lorwyn.
The Creakwood
Present on: Shadowmoor
This is Shadowmoor's counterpart to the Great Forest, where the trees are twisted and gloomy, and offer plenty of hiding places for the monsters of the night. Like the Great Forest, it has the Raven's Run, a mirror to Wren's Run, except it it pitch black, and monsters hunt any who dare enter, including to great irony, the elves.
The Wanderbrine
Present on: Shadowmoor
The Wanderbrine is the mirror to the Wanderwine. It seems like it was left without care or need to get more deadly and chaotic like an abandoned house. The water is polluted and murky, for the merrow given up shaping the tides and stopped to care for their home.
Glen Elendra
Present on: Lorwyn, Shadowmoor
Glen Elendra is a secret haven warded by dozens of magical barriers that ensure its existence remains but a myth. It is where Oona dwells, manipulating all others from her hidden sanctum. As such, the Glen remained the same on both Lorwyn and Shadowmoor.
Credits
- Made by HorrorSpirit, aka me
- Made with GM Binder
- All image credits listed at the appropriate places
- Inspired by WotC's Plane Shift series