Diametrically opposed to the Spirit World, the Shadow realm is a bleak dimension cloaked in eternal darkness filled with decay and dread. This dimension was created by the First Gods as an afterlife for the souls of the dead, but once its keeper perished in the Godswar the realm was left alone and forgotten. The Shadow Realm began to take its current form after a mysterious entity known as Shade found the plane and made it their own, crafting a domain of eternal darkness from which they could influence the material plane.
Explorers who have entered the Shadow Realm describe it as a dark reflection of the material plane where everything is decayed and corrupted. The sun never shines in this land of endless night and all life is twisted by the realm’s dark influence. Most of this plane is inhabited by undead and creatures of pure darkness that prey on unwary travelers, making it a risky endeavor to all those brave souls who enter. All creatures that die in the Shadow Realm will have their souls trapped there for all eternity and join the ranks of its undead inhabitants.
Even in this land of true darkness there are some places where light can still be found. For reasons unknown there are certain areas in the Shadow Realm free from the undead where humans can travel safely. While these places are easy to enter, they are also near-impossible to escape and unwary travelers who enter them might forever lose the chance to escape. Because of this, permanent settlements have ended up forming in these areas by those lost in the shadows ranging from villages to even cities.
These places have a large population of strange humanoids known as Umbrals who descend from humans who were lost in the Shadow Realm long ago. Umbrals are similar in appearance to humans, but their skin and hair are drained of any color and are often born with the ability to use shadow magic. While travelers are sometimes wary of Umbrals due to their dark appearance, they are not malicious by birth and some are even willing to help others lost in this dark plane. Nevertheless, the long time they have spent in the Shadow Realm has made them apathetic and wary of strangers.
Similarly to the Spirit World some areas of the Shadow Realm are ruled by powerful creatures of darkness known as Dread Lords. These beings are often powerful undead or beings of true shadow, ruling over vast domains where their dark rule is absolute. Luckily for the inhabitants of the material plane, Dread Lords are often disinterested in anything beyond their domains and are more focused on tormenting the poor souls trapped in them. A terrifying aspect about these dark domains is that some of them were originally part of the material plane but due to dark rituals or rifts between both dimensions their inhabitants ended up trapped in the Shadow Realm. This is often a fate worse than death, luckily this phenomenon is extremely rare in Giinosia and it remains something out of legend. But Shade is a fickle entity, and sooner than expected they may want to add a new place in the material plane to their dark collection.