Tenebris - the Shadow Realm

''' What is Tenebris? '''

"It's like space, except, more spacey." - An unnamed scholar.

Tenebris, also known by names such as the Void, Carach Angren (Iron Jaws in Elven), the Gateway, Unlight, or commonly the Shadow Realm, is the allegedly empty space separating the various realms of existence and acting as a limbo, or a gateway between the worlds through which everyone must travel in one way or another to reach into another realm. This 'realm' itself though is not accessible to most passers by due to its nature as a complete absence of light, and as such doesn't exist in the normal space-time, rendering most travellers unable to ever truly enter. Instead, various dimensional magics and sciences are commonly used to create a tunnel through the Void, known in Norse legends as the Bifröst or the Rainbow Bridge due to its blinding glow varying in all the visible spectrum of light. In reality though, this space between worlds is hardly empty and hides many a secret and danger.

 Origins, Composition, and Landscape 

None know for certain when, why and how Tenebris came into existence, though even the eldest of beings know to tell it has existed as long as anyone may remember. Various legends state it is the primal Void which existed before time began and any of the currently known realms were created, and indeed in several myths it is considered a timeless plane which paradoxically exists in both the beginning and the end of the universe. The Unlight of Tenebris, of which most of the 'realm' is composed of, is seemingly more than simple absence of light. Even those very few who have spent their lives studying the enigma that is Tenebris are perplexed by its nature, and the predominant hypothesis is that it is in fact the absence of existence itself, feeding on whatever light, energy and matter may enter through the holes punctured into the fabric of reality. A common such a rift are the singularities created by collapsing stars the mass of quanta which at any point exceeds the Planck mass.

The landscape, in addition to the Unlight, is composed of matter (mostly rocks and crystals) that survive the entry to Tenebris intact, having for one reason or another not been destroyed by the eroding effects of the Unlight, and are locked in time and place by its nature as a 'realm' out of time. At times though, a traveller of Tenebris may find larger chunks of land with traces of life and vegetation long since petrified or turned to dust and, rarer still, remains of civilizations which may have once existed in the vastness of all creation. This is in part the reason for its naming as the Iron Jaws by the Elves, for in their legends it devours all and is where worlds come to die.

 Denizens of Tenebris 

Tenebris is home to a variety of different beings both benign and malign in nature, though the way the environment feeds on the soul and erodes the being makes sure none who enter may exit unscathed, being forever changed by the Unlight and made anew into beings only vaguely reminiscent of their former selves.

The Lost are beings who have fallen into Tenebris for one reason or another and are forever lost in its vast emptiness, waiting for their doom as they are slowly changed by the eroding power of the Unlight.