What Dwells Within?

Beyond the familiar kingdoms, forests, mountains, deserts, and seas of Vacari lies a realm far more difficult to understand.

The Abyss.

Much about this place remains unknown.

Its true boundaries are uncertain.

Its oldest histories have not been fully uncovered.

Even those who possess knowledge of the Abyss understand only fragments of everything hidden within its depths.

But one thing is certain.

The Abyss is not empty.

Dragons make their homes within its darkness.

Creatures unlike those normally encountered throughout Vacari dwell there.

Dark sorceresses possess connections to its power.

And some beings within the Abyss do not need to leave it willingly.

They can be summoned.

The inhabitants already known are dangerous enough.

The greater concern may be those Vacari has yet to encounter.

A Realm Beyond Understanding

The Abyss should not be mistaken for merely another distant region of Vacari.

There is something fundamentally different about it.

Darkness permeates the realm.

Ancient powers move within it.

Creatures have developed there that possess abilities rarely encountered elsewhere.

Knowledge of the Abyss usually arrives through fragments—an encounter with one of its inhabitants, an ancient account, the appearance of a creature where it should not exist, or the actions of someone who knows how to reach into its depths.

Each discovery answers a few questions.

It usually creates several more.

The Abyss does not surrender its secrets easily.

Dragons of the Abyss

Among the most formidable inhabitants connected to the Abyss are its dragons.

Several distinct kinds are known.

Each possesses its own characteristics, abilities, and relationship with the darkness surrounding them.

They should not be mistaken for a single unified species simply because they share the same realm.

The Abyss contains diversity of its own.

And its dragons are among the clearest examples.

Shadow Dragons

Shadow Dragons are creatures shaped by darkness.

Their connection to shadow makes them particularly dangerous when concealment and uncertainty already favor them.

Against such creatures, simply locating the enemy can become part of the battle.

Darkness provides more than cover.

It becomes part of how they survive and hunt.

Their presence is one reminder that within the Abyss, shadow is not merely the absence of light.

Sometimes it has teeth.

Abyssal Dragons

Abyssal Dragons possess an even more direct connection to the realm from which their name originates.

They are powerful inhabitants of the Abyss whose presence beyond its boundaries can introduce a form of danger unfamiliar to many of Vacari's defenders.

They do not behave like the Noble Dragons protecting Vacari's kingdoms.

Nor should their abilities be judged according to the expectations created by better-known dragon kinds.

The Abyss shaped them differently.

Anyone confronting one must learn that difference quickly.

Specter Dragons

Among the more unsettling draconic inhabitants are the Specter Dragons.

Their nature places them closer to the strange boundary between physical creature and something far more difficult to define.

Fighting an enemy becomes considerably more complicated when ordinary expectations about form and substance cannot be trusted.

The Specter Dragons are another example of why knowledge about the Abyss remains so important.

Strength alone is not always enough.

First, someone must understand what they are actually fighting.

Nightshade Dragons

Nightshade Dragons also make their home within the Abyss.

Dark, dangerous, and adapted to a realm hostile to most outsiders, they add another distinct draconic presence to the creatures dwelling within its depths.

Like the other Abyssal inhabitants, their existence demonstrates that this mysterious realm possesses its own living hierarchy.

The Abyss is not barren.

It is inhabited.

And many of those inhabitants are predators.

Dragons With More Complicated Connections

Not every dragon connected to the Abyss originates there.

That distinction matters.

Some dragons have relationships with Abyssal forces that are considerably more complicated than simply calling the realm home.

Among them are Mirage Dragons and Dreadfangs.

Their histories and connections demonstrate that influence can cross boundaries.

A creature does not necessarily need to have been born within the Abyss for the realm—or those associated with it—to become part of its story.

Understanding those connections may eventually prove as important as understanding the creatures that live permanently within the darkness.

More Than Dragons

Dragons may be among the largest and most immediately terrifying beings associated with the Abyss.

They are far from the only ones.

Other creatures inhabit its depths.

Some have already crossed into the stories of Vacari.

Their abilities vary dramatically.

So do the methods required to survive them.

What unites them is something considerably more troubling.

Each known creature raises the possibility that countless others remain undiscovered.

The Shadow Wraith

Among the creatures associated with the Abyss is the Shadow Wraith.

It does not rely solely upon physical strength.

It thrives upon something every mortal creature understands.

Fear and despair.

That makes confronting a Shadow Wraith particularly dangerous.

A battlefield already produces fear.

Loss produces despair.

The creature can exploit emotions that may already be present before it arrives.

Against such an enemy, courage becomes more than an admirable quality.

It becomes a defense.

The Maelstrom Serpent

The Maelstrom Serpent represents a very different kind of danger.

Where the Shadow Wraith turns emotional weakness against its victims, the Maelstrom Serpent commands devastating storms.

Wind.

Water.

Violent weather.

The environment itself can become part of its attack.

Such a creature does not need to strike every opponent individually when the storm surrounding it can devastate everything within reach.

Its existence demonstrates the enormous range of powers possessed by creatures connected to the Abyss.

No single strategy can counter them all.

The Wraithbound

Then there is the Wraithbound.

A creature capable of feeding upon the life force of its prey.

The danger is immediate.

Life itself becomes the resource the creature seeks to consume.

Weapons capable of injuring an ordinary beast may provide little reassurance against something whose nature operates according to entirely different rules.

And like the Shadow Wraith and Maelstrom Serpent, the Wraithbound represents only one known example.

The word known matters.

Shadows Unveiled

Vacari's encounters with strange creatures connected to darker forces did not begin with the current conflicts.

As far back as the events of Shadows Unveiled, beings emerged that demonstrated how much remained unknown about the darker reaches surrounding the world.

At the time, individual encounters could appear isolated.

Another enemy.

Another dangerous creature.

Another mystery requiring survival before understanding.

But as more connections have emerged, those encounters have begun to look less isolated.

Pieces of a much larger picture are becoming visible.

The picture itself remains incomplete.

Those Who Reach Into the Abyss

Creatures are not the only beings connected to the Abyss.

There are those capable of reaching toward its darkness.

Dark sorceresses have connections to its depths and to powers that most inhabitants of Vacari would never attempt to touch.

That knowledge creates possibilities far more dangerous than simply encountering an Abyssal creature by chance.

A creature that remains within the Abyss is a distant threat.

Someone who knows how to bring that creature into Vacari changes the equation entirely.

Summoning From the Darkness

Not everything within the Abyss must cross its boundaries on its own.

Some things can be called forth.

Summoning such beings is not necessarily simple.

Rituals may require knowledge.

Preparation.

Power.

And specific individuals capable of fulfilling different parts of the process.

The greater the creature, the greater the requirements may become.

Which raises an uncomfortable question.

If the beings Vacari has already encountered are only those that could be reached before...

What could someone with considerably greater power summon?

A Priest and Extraordinary Dark Power

There is something else within the Abyss.

Something not yet fully revealed.

Bringing it forth requires more than an ordinary spell.

A priest is needed.

So is an individual possessing extraordinary dark power.

Why?

That answer remains hidden.

So does the identity of the entity itself.

Perhaps ancient records contain fragments of the truth.

Perhaps someone already knows exactly what waits there.

Perhaps the ritual has requirements that reveal something about the creature's nature.

For now, those questions remain unanswered.

The Abyss is keeping that secret.

What Else Is Waiting?

Every creature discovered within the Abyss changes what Vacari knows about the realm.

Shadow Dragons.

Abyssal Dragons.

Specter Dragons.

Nightshade Dragons.

The Shadow Wraith.

The Maelstrom Serpent.

The Wraithbound.

Each has emerged from darkness once largely unknown to the civilizations of Vacari.

None provides a complete picture.

If anything, they suggest the opposite.

The Abyss is vast enough to contain beings that remain undocumented.

Some may never have crossed into Vacari.

Others may exist only in ancient stories whose origins have been forgotten.

And some may be waiting for someone powerful enough—or foolish enough—to call them forth.

The Danger of Incomplete Knowledge

Not knowing everything about the Abyss creates its own danger.

An army can prepare for an enemy it understands.

A mage can study a known form of magic.

Dragon riders can develop strategies against creatures whose abilities have been witnessed before.

The unknown offers no such advantage.

Vacari's defenders may know what a Shadow Wraith does because someone survived one.

They may recognize the danger of a Maelstrom Serpent because its storms have been witnessed.

But there is no preparation for an ability no one knows exists.

That uncertainty may be the Abyss's greatest weapon.

The Darkness Beyond

The Abyss remains one of the great mysteries of Vacari.

Its inhabitants are dangerous.

Its magic is poorly understood.

Its connections to events beyond its boundaries continue growing.

And the deeper those connections reach, the harder it becomes to dismiss the Abyss as a distant realm whose darkness can simply be ignored.

Something is stirring there.

Perhaps several things.

For now, Vacari knows only fragments.

Dragons moving through darkness.

Creatures feeding upon fear, commanding storms, and consuming life.

Sorceresses reaching toward powers best left untouched.

A ritual.

A priest.

Someone possessing extraordinary dark power.

And somewhere beyond everything already discovered...

something else waits to be summoned.

What is it?

For now, the Abyss is keeping that secret. 😈

🎥 Featured Video: The Abyss of Vacari — What Dwells Within?

Journey beyond the known realms of Vacari and discover some of the dragons, creatures, and dark powers connected to the mysterious Abyss.

This cinematic lore feature explores Shadow Dragons, Abyssal Dragons, Specter Dragons, Nightshade Dragons, the more complicated Abyssal connections of Mirage Dragons and Dreadfangs, and terrifying creatures including the Shadow Wraith, Maelstrom Serpent, and Wraithbound.

But those are only the inhabitants already known.

Something else waits within the darkness—something requiring a priest and an individual possessing extraordinary dark power to summon.

What is it?

For now, that secret remains within the Abyss.

▶ Watch The Abyss of Vacari — What Dwells Within? on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dFMkI5aXZvI