Shadow’s Vein (Alpha)

Deep beneath the surface is a series of caverns illuminated by light which comes from the rivers and lakes. The water-light supports the growth of plants, which allows the society of Shadow’s Vein to exist. Shadow’s Vein is a nation of exiles sent to die in the caverns, but found a way to survive using the water-light. It made towns along the rivers and lakes and built up its strength. But it was not alone. Ruins of the elarin, the first people to live in the caverns, spoke of horrific creatures that do not belong in this world, yet entered it all the same. Veilborn. It was five years in to the first town’s founding that the veilborn attacked. Monsters that seemed to step out of humanity’s worst nightmares invaded homesteads around the caverns, and while they could be slain, their powers to twist thoughts gave them an edge the exiles couldn’t match. All seemed lost until the attack on Outpost Gamma. There the exiles awakened powers once thought lost to humanity, calling fire, or raising barriers, or any number of other abilities, and beat back the veilborn. Once forgotten magic sprang up amongst the people of the caverns, and Shadow’s Vein carved out its territory against the darkness surrounding it, both literal and metaphorical. Shadow’s Vein has now existed for twenty-five years, though its continued existence is always in doubt. Perhaps you were born here, or maybe you were sent down from the surface. Either way, this is your home, prison, and battleground now.