Secrets of Midnight
2022 / 03 / 16
The land of Eredane is shrouded in secret. As the Shadow spreads its influence, it’s advantageous to hide its true nature. But as heroes explore the world of Midnight, they’re bound to discover deeper conspiracies. What revelations await you in Midnight: Legacy of Darkness?
The Shadow has many secrets, and they are detailed in the final section of Midnight: Legacy of Darkness, a 372-page new edition of the classic Midnight setting. The secrets of Midnight are meant for the eyes of Dungeon Masters only, giving them everything they need to run adventures in Eredane. It details the lands that Izrador’s forces have occupied for millennia, the Northern Marches as well as the system by which they rule occupied Erenland and the tactics with which they are attempting to conquer the last free people of Eredane.
Only through trials and tribulations, through hard fought battles, can the information in this section be revealed to players. If you are planning to play in a campaign utilizing Midnight: Legacy of Darkness, turn back now. I f you’re planning to run a campaign in Eredane, read on for a preview of what awaits you and your players.
Midnight: Legacy of Darkness is designed as supplemental material to the D20 system core rules. Some rules are expanded upon in this product, but it requires a copy of the core rules to play.
The Northern Wastes
The frozen wastes of the Northern Marches are a blasted land formed when Izrador was first banished to Aryth. The Marches are a barren place so befouled by the essence of the Shadow that the air is thick with poisonous fumes and the ground trembles, cracks, and boils as the very spirit of the world suffers his foul presence. Winter is eternal, and the sun glows with a waning light, offering only perpetual twilight and false warmth.
Orcs, Goblinoids, Giants, and even mysterious, feral humans known as wildlings live in the Shadow of the Mad God. The kurasatch udareen, guided by the will of Izrador, are the undisputed rulers of the Northern Marches. By tradition and the power of their magics, their governance of the orc legions is absolute.
Though the orcs are the backbone of Izrador’s might, they are also his first victims, and evidence of the grim fate that awaits all peoples of the world upon Izrador’s inevitable triumph. In the ancient past, Izrador corrupted the orc’s ancestors, tricking them into his worship and twisting their culture into one more suitable for his endless war. Though it is a secret he has done his best to bury, there are a few orcs who have learned the truth of their past, and now have vowed to oppose the Shadow for these deeds.
Though the southern peoples believe the North to be an inhospitable wasteland, there has long been a civilization there, even before the time of the orcs. This has led to the formation of ancient ruins scattered all along the frozen wastes.
Beyond the northwest reaches of the great valley that splits the Marches lie the remains of one such ruin. Wracked by the Sundering and the passage of countless eons, the vast ruin now lies entombed beneath ancient glaciers. The thick ice protects the remains from the ravages of the Shadow, but there are secret ways into the ruin’s icy halls and the dark places beneath. Though legend claims powerful magical treasures lie waiting in this lost city, it is likely that things much fouler than the Shadow’s minions guard them.
Eredane is a dangerous place, but nowhere is more dangerous than the treacherous Northern Wastes. Players finding their way here must be cautious on how they proceed, less they be crushed by servants of the Shadow.
The Shadow
The secrets held within Midnight: Legacy of Darkness even reveal the nature of Izrador himself.
Izrador is evil. Not like a legion warlord is evil, or like the deeds of a person can be evil, or even like a fallen demonic spirit is evil. He is the source and manifestation of the elemental darkness of the universe. His intent is the poison that befouls the realms of demons and corrupts the hearts of mortals. He does not simply do things that are evil and therefore earn the mantle of evil. He is evil, and it is from him that lesser darkness and corruption earn their titles.
Izrador’s only worldly manifestation consists of a shifting black smoke that, while incorporeal, can coalesce into a solid-seeming mass of any shape. When communing with his servants, Izrador typically takes the form of a massive, shadowy figure with a featureless face whose body seems to absorb the very light around it. Why he assumes this form or what others he might take are unknown even to his most trusted minions.
To regain his ascendancy, Izrador needs power. Great power. In essence, the power of a god. With his divine strength crippled, the Shadow’s only course is to draw that power from the raw arcane energies that flow from the world of Aryth itself. The power of a god, though not without limits, is vast, and to achieve his desire, Izrador not only needs magical power—he needs all of it. It is this monumental undertaking, the collection of all the magical energy of Aryth, that Izrador’s every act and minion has been set to. It is also the culmination of this goal, and not Izrador’s armies, that is the greatest threat to Eredane. In truth, the loss of magic threatens the very existence of Aryth itself.
Secrets Revealed
These are just a few of the secrets held within Midnight: Legacy of Darkness. The nature of evil, the trust behind the frozen wastes of the north, these are just some of the tools at your disposal during a campaign set in Eredane. What other secrets will your players uncover in their journey? Find out when Midnight: Legacy of Darkness releases Spring 2022.
