The Shadow Court

The Shadow Court are a group of twenty-five corrupt elves in the Blades of Light and Shadow series. They make their first appearance in a flashback in Blades of Light and Shadow, Book 1, Chapter 1.

History
Two thousand years prior to the events of the series, twelve powerful mages gathered in the capital city of Valen to push the boundaries of magic. Originally called "the Society for Unorthodox Magic", some believed their intentions were dark from the start while others believed they started with good intentions but were corrupted by what they found. Their pursuit resulted in them tapping into another dimension, a world of pain and darkness, called the Realm of Shadow. They made contact with the Dreadlord who promised them immortality and unimaginable power in return for their servitude.

The circle of twelve elves expanded to a band of twenty-five rogue elves. When King Xaius learned what they had done, the Great War ensued which left hundreds of thousands dead. During a battle, King Xaius and his battlemage and lover, Ellara, fought against the forces of the Shadow Realm. They believed that victory was within their grasp until the revelation that the elves had summoned the Dreadlord. There is no record of what had happened at this last and crucial battle. What is known is that the armies met at the great ancient bastion of Cragheart. The elven mages came together to perform one final ritual that banished the Dreadlord and the twenty-five elves of the Shadow Court back to their Realm of Shadows, but the ritual left every last elf gathered there dead as well.

During the Great War, four Onyx Shards were left behind by the Court. The Shards contain dark magic, are incredibly dangerous, and can bring members of the Shadow Court back to the mortal realm. They can also be used as conduits to corrupt mortals into becoming loyal servants to the Shadow Court or imprison them in the Realm of Shadows if the Shards are touched by bare hands.

Present
In Chapter 2, when Mal Volari opens the glowing metallic puzzle box containing one of the Onyx Shards, Duke Erthax materializes in the Temple of Ellara. Duke Erthax summons two Shadow Hounds to attack your party. He is temporarily stopped when Mal throws his dagger at the archway, triggering a trap which causes the former to be buried in rubble. In Chapter 10, you meet another member of the Court, Duchess Xenia, disguised as Tyril Starfury's friend Kaya. However, she is exposed in Chapter 12 and her life is determinant if you and your party decide to chase her. In Chapter 15, you meet Baron Vostrasz in the Shadow Realm, and depending on your choices, you also have the chance to kill him.

As Tyril states, the boundaries between the worlds are thinning and weakening. The Court uses the Shards to reach out to the greedy, cruel, and weak-minded, seducing them. Those that are too far consumed by the Shadows' corruption have become husks, like puppets with no minds of their own.

The Shadow Realm
The Shadow Realm is a hellish landscape, covered in darkness and overrun by ruins shrouded in death and terror. It is theorized that it is a dark mirror of the known world, symmetrical but tainted with each being here having an opposite there. It is also theorized to be entirely different, with unimaginable horror.

In the Shadow Realm, magic is wild, unconstrained, raw, and tempestuous. Time also moves differently, where a second may be a week or a year, or a month may go by in a minute.

The Shadow Creatures
The Shadow Creatures take all forms -hounds, serpents, spiders, birds, and flame-breathing drakes. It is unknown if they are sentient and independent, living only to slaughter and destroy, or if they are merely weapons at the command of the Shadow Court. They are manifestations of magic made flesh, neither living nor dead.

Members

 * The Dreadlord (Leader)
 * Duke Erthax
 * Duchess Xenia (Status: Determinant)
 * Baron Vostrasz (Status: Determinant)
 * Twenty-two unnamed elves
 * Shadow Gargoyles
 * Shadow Hounds

Trivia

 * The Dreadlord is shown on the cover of Blades of Light and Shadow.
 * Their crimes include treason, conspiracy, and mass murder.
 * The Dreadlord is the monarch of the Shadow Realm, a dimension entirely separate from Morella.
 * In a premium scene in Chapter 12, you can hunt down and kill Duchess Xenia before she flees back to the Shadow Realm.