Race: Tieflings, Humans
Government: Shadow Autocracy
Theme: Secrecy, control through fear and knowledge, power drawn from shadow and absence
The Umbra Dominion was born from a schism—both religious and philosophical—during the early Third Era, when a faction of scholars, priests, and arcanists rejected the absolutism of celestial doctrine. They believed that light alone could not explain or govern the world, and that shadow was not evil, but a necessary counterpart to existence.
Settling in lands perpetually touched by twilight, these dissidents discovered ancient shadow forces and living darkness that could be shaped, bound, and weaponized. Over time, their society reorganized itself around secrecy, surveillance, and control. The Dominion teaches that truth is dangerous, and that stability is best maintained when information—and power—is carefully restricted.
The Umbra Dominion represents order through concealment: a state where fear, ignorance, and shadow are tools of governance rather than symptoms of decay.
The Dominion is ruled by absolute authority cloaked in obscurity.
Key elements of governance:
The Umbral Sovereign
Supreme ruler whose true nature is unknown
Said to be bound to the living shadow at the heart of the Dominion
Rules by decree, unseen and unquestioned
The Veiled Directorate
Inner council of shadow-lords, spymasters, and arcane overseers
Manages intelligence, magical research, and provincial control
Members are known only by titles, not names
Prefects of Dusk
Regional governors enforcing Dominion law
Control taxation, conscription, and shadow surveillance
Accountable only to the Directorate
Public governance exists largely as illusion. Real authority operates behind layers of secrecy.
The Umbra Dominion’s forces prioritize intimidation, disruption, and absolute control over open warfare.
Professional soldiers augmented by shadow-binding rituals
Capable of fighting in low visibility and darkness without disadvantage
Serve as the Dominion’s primary military force
Assassins, infiltrators, and saboteurs
Used to destabilize enemy leadership and spread fear
Rarely acknowledged publicly
Internal security and counterintelligence force
Monitors citizens, suppresses dissent, and enforces ideological conformity
Employs magical surveillance and memory alteration
Semi-sentient manifestations of bound darkness
Used as guardians, shock units, or living barriers
Difficult to destroy permanently
Allied with:
Ashkara Covenant – Shared pursuit of forbidden magic and rejection of celestial authority
Free Isles of Kharos (Secretly) – Smuggling, espionage, and deniable operations
At War with:
Solarian Imperium – Religious schism and ideological opposition
Starfall Principality – Attempts to seize or corrupt the Fallen Star
Lunarch Ascendancy – Shadow interference with lunar ley-lines
The Umbra Dominion does not seek recognition or approval. It seeks control of what others refuse to see, believing that in the end, all empires fall into shadow—better to rule there first.