Properly introducing the Shadow Elves, the new race of the Shadow Realm community-made expansion (News)

What happened to Meandor and the troops that followed him through the Shadow Gates? What is the nature of the threat lurking in the Shadow Realm? How will the Shadow Elves be played? This first article on the gameplay of Shadow Elves presents their lore and the broad lines of their gameplay, together with some screenshots from their line-up.

Au Articel par Hiliadan

As explained in the three previous articles about the Shadow Realm community expansion (A glimpse of the new race and Initial progresses on the expansion and the first article announcing the expansion), a team of volunteers is currently working on a new expansion for AoW3 which will bring 1 new layer, the Shadow Realm beyond the Shadow Gates, full of dangers and high rewards, 1 new race, the Shadow Elves, and 2 new Dwellings, the (living) Archons, secluded in the Shadow Realm, and the Dark Elves, fierce warriors concealing themselves deep underground. In recent weeks, there was a lot of progress thanks to the hard work of: vfxrob on models for the Shadow Elves, Draxynnic, Gloweye and Hiliadan on the line-up of the race, Dr_K on the Archons and the preparations for the new race, as well as Charlatan – who left the project -, HousePet and others. The project is thus moving at a good pace toward completion, even if significant work is still required to integrate the Shadow Realm layer into the Random Map Generator (RMG) and fill it with sites, roaming units, etc.

Who are the Shadow Elves?
Before presenting how their gameplay specificities, let’s introduce their story, masterfully written by Draxynnic (the text may evolve before release).


The Sealing of the Shadow Gate
(Much of this introductory section is a summary of relevant background lore that has previously been published by Triumph: see http://aow.triumph.net/lore-galore-age-of-wonders-world-timeline/ for more details)

The defeat of the All-Devourer in the year 382 of Queen Julia’s Rule (236 years before the start of Age of Wonders 3) precipitated an exodus of armies from Athla into the Shadow World. First to leave, having no claim on Athla itself, were the Archons (who had formally relinquished their claim on Athla during the final battle against the All-Devourer) and the Syrons. Shortly afterwards, delegations from this initial wave returned to Athla, requesting assistance from Athla’s wizards in claiming other worlds that had been discovered in the Shadow World. Many of the wizards responded to the call, including Meandor.

While those who know the truth have not spoken on it, it is clear that something went wrong. Within fifty years, as viewed from Athla, and possibly over a thousand from the perspective of those in the Shadow World, most of the wizards that had entered the Shadow World had been lost. A century after the founding of the Commonwealth, a delegation of Archons arrived seeking reinforcements, but were largely ignored by the Commonwealth Synod, and left with few additional recruits. Thirty years afterwards, Meandor returned.

Having remained distrustful of humans, Meandor refused to divulge his news to the Commonwealth, speaking only to Merlin and Julia. Nevertheless, a rumour spread that a new power had been found in the Shadow World, sparking a second exodus into the Shadow World by wizards seeking to claim it. Whatever the reason for Meandor’s return, it was evidently enough to spark drastic action.

While Julia stockpiled supplies to tide Athla through the cataclysms to come, Meandor gathered a large army and used it to destroy Sunbirth Citadel, the city which had been built close to the last remaining Shadow Gate on Athla. He drove the population of the area away before directing his army through the Gate. Before anyone else could react, Merlin enacted his ritual to seal the Gate, protecting the people of Athla from whatever might have been happening beyond the Gate… but leaving those who had already passed through stranded.

(Here ends the summary of official Age of Wonders lore. What follows is extrapolation from official lore for the purpose of the mod, and may vary from the direction Triumph takes in future instalments.)

The reinforcements from Athla, led by Meandor, made the difference. Whatever dire threat to Athla had prompted such drastic action was held off for long enough for the gate to be sealed, and with the sealing of the Gate, efforts to seize Athla through the gate slackened, the attacker or attackers instead seeking to influence agents within Athla to reopen the Gate from Athla’s side.


The Shadow Elves
In order to gather an army quickly without attracting the notice of the Commonwealth, Meandor could afford to recruit only those that he trusted implicitly. Dead men tell no tales, and in a twist of irony, the army that Meandor led to reinforce the Archons in the Shadow World included the largest gathering of undead seen in Athla between Julia’s coronation and the resurrection of Melenis. However, despite having been absent from Athla for over a century, Meandor retained allies among the living as well, and the most numerous of those were the Dark Elves he had once ruled. Many of the eastern Dark Elf fortresses were emptied, their garrisons departing to march hundreds of miles through the caverns beneath the earth, emerging into the light only after they had gathered at the rallying point close to Sunbirth Citadel.

The majority of the Shadow Elves were part of this army, or are descendants of those that were (time passes strangely in the Shadow Realm). Some Wood Elves that were also part of the army have been assimilated into the fold, and other Shadow Elven groups are survivors of previous expeditions into the Shadow Realm by Serena, Arachne, and even Meandor’s initial forays.

While elves have traditionally preferred to dwell in forests, they are capable of adapting to life in a new environment within a matter of decades – a talent that allowed the Dark Elves to adapt to living underground after the fall of Inioch’s court. This gave the Dark Elves a head start in adapting to the Shadow World – some, in fact, had already learned to exchange their physical bodies with the essence of shadow, and arrived in the Shadow World already immune to the nausea and disorientation that strikes most mortals on arrival to that plane. While forfeiting their natural form was too much of a sacrifice for most, the Elves that were now stranded in the Shadow Realm devised a ritual to infuse themselves with enough shadow essence to inoculate themselves against the debilitating effects of the Shadow World.

This ritual, applied to Wood Elves and Dark Elves alike, served as a kind of mirror to the Mending, although at the time this symmetry passed unnoticed on both sides of the Gate. Since the reopening of the Shadow Gate, some have claimed that the development of this ritual occurred too close to the timing of the Mending to be coincidence, although the difficulty of accurately tracking the passing of time in the Shadow Realm makes such claims difficult to verify. However, while the High Elves of Athla clearly resemble the Wood Elves more than the Dark Elves, in the Shadow World it is the other way around: in part because the ritual is derived from Dark Elven magic, and in part simply because the majority of Shadow Elves were Dark Elves to begin with. Nevertheless, while many similarities remain, the Shadow Elves remain very distinct from what they were: their wounded souls have been healed (some would say by filling the void inside them with shadow), the spider cults of Arachne have been eradicated from most of their holdings, and they are no longer as motivated by old hatreds as they once were. Instead, their society has been shaped by the needs of survival in the Shadow Realm, and by the need to retain control of their side of the Shadow Gate should it ever reopen... as it did after Melenis’ defeat.


Almost complete Shadow Elf Rogue racial units by vfxrob, work in progress


While the Shadow Elves have stood watch over Athla since the sealing of the Shadow Gate, this does not mean they necessarily welcome the lords and representatives of Athla within their realms. Some remember the direction in which the Commonwealth was heading when they left, and word of the exile of the Elves after they left and of the fighting between the Commonwealth and the Court will only confirm their prejudices. Others are suspicious – and rightly so – that whoever opened the Shadow Gate is likely in league with their enemies, and are wary of being attacked from both sides. Still others tire of a life of constant conflict in the Shadow Realm, and may seek to desert their posts and seek safety in Athla, taking new holdings by force if need be. While Meandor and the Torchbearers seek to keep such incidents to a minimum, the potential for misunderstanding and conflict remains high… and the Shadowborn would like nothing more than to spark another war that will leave Athla ripe for the taking.


Shadow Elf Rogue units (Scoundrels, Assassins, Succubus, Bards) by vfxrob, work in progress



How will the Shadow Elves be played?
The Shadow Elves, Dark Elves and High Elves will be played very differently, even if they of course share similarities. Shadow Elves have developed natural talents to exploit magic forces and either strengthen them or tame them. They excel in the Shadow Realm, where they do not suffer from Shadow Sickness, unlike all races from Athla but the Draconians. Far from their home, the Shadow Realm, they will quickly become demoralised and their home-advantage gone, they may be defeated by Athla’s races.
Dark Elves by contrast will excel in the depth of Athla, moving furtively in its undergrounds, concealed from enemy eyes but seeing everything. Dark Elves are fierce warriors, devastating when they attack, leaving them sometimes critically exposed if their enemy survive their first attacks.

Common characteristics of all the Shadow Elf units (subject to changes before release)
Shadow Elves use Physical, Shock and Frost damage, which represent the “Shadow” damage. The more a unit is intertwined with the Shadows, the more it uses Frost damage. Shadow Elves have new ability to strengthen magic and use Shadow forces: battle summon, area of effect ranged attack blinding enemy units, magical buffs, etc. They can also weaken the magic of their opponents most notably by feeding from their enemies’ enchantments to increase their shock damage. Some Shadow Elf units, more infused by Shadow energy, can mark their enemies with Shadow, increasing the damage other units cause to these enemies, creating synergies between units.
Dark Elves use Physical and Blight damage, and rarely Shock damage. They resist Blight and Shock and are vulnerable to Spirit. They count Spider Matriarch and Bladedancers in their ranks.
Shadow Elves should thus be interesting counters to armies focusing on non-fire elemental damage and battle enchantments. They will provide unseen strategies during tactical battles with their synergies and battle summon. Their weakness to fire will make them especially vulnerable when facing Draconians and Dwarves, among others.

The mount used by Shadow Elves, by vfxrob, work in progress

Future articles will provide more details on the racial and class units of the Shadow Elves. The team working on the expansion also hopes to be able to present more the Shadow Realm layer itself. You can see a third structure that will appear in the Shadow Realm below.


Example of structures that players will encounter in the Shadow Realm, the Ravens Home, by Charlatan, made as a tribute for Ravenholme – several of the structures that will be included in the Shadow Realm were first made in tribute to players who helped Charlatan in his work, and are now included in the Decodence mod