The Expedition of the Shadow Realms

"Teleportation, summoning, necromacy, demonology and oneiropathy; all these require traversing the planes beyond our own, but we know so little of the places we take from. With teleportation limited to our own lands, the secrets are all, but fully discovered. The spectral planes are inhospitable to living mortals. These leaves but only one plane to discover fully, the Shadow Realms.

"Through centuries of old texts, many creatures have passed into this obscure region of existence. Only the most sighted of us have seen the effects they play on our world from there, but the extent of those works are limited.

"A few, trifling items have been found to have been brought through, but there are still mysteries to unlock. That is why I, Chavel Dareux, plan an expedition to the Shadow Realms. One of our own has found ways into this realm and we shall follow and observe this realm from within."

Interview from Chavel Dareux, 4th Age, 1667, two years before he and his expedition crew were declared missing, their research incomplete.

Chavel Dareux may have been onto something. The Shadow Realms appear to have interaction with the world in all the smallest details, but goes practically unnoticed a great deal of the time. The first artefacts to have been discovered was one Ring of Visibility; supposedly made within the realm using a forge from the real world. This ultimately created a key link between the two dimensions and unveiled it to those who could not previously see it.

An expedition was mounted and paid for, with a group of scientists, labourers and mercenaries of differing backgrounds, all with intent of finding what hid there and why. The expedition took off, with their entourage leading them into the realm, but they were never seen again. The theories behind their disappearances are many, some simply suggesting that they may have perished upon trying to enter.

With remnants of their notes being kept safe, secondary expeditions have been sent, but found no trace of where or how the expedition originally took off. The ring of visibility also had been lost, passing through collectors' hands, the purpose not exactly being understood.

However, it appears it might fall to one adventurer to locate the mysteries of the realm and finally discover what happened to the expedition crew.