The Plane of Shadows

==== What is the Origin of the Plane of Shadow? In some conflicting stories (more specifically FR), the Plane originated as a Demiplane and slowly expanded outward as it was created by an Arcanist, however in others (Greyhawk) it always was. Can it be assumed that the Realm is older than Greyhawk in terms of age? ====

In the oldest times, Water and Fire met, and Air and Earth met, and where they clashed there were Steam and Dust. In those times, Positive and Negative met, and where they clashed there was Shadow.

The Planes became more distant, giving way to a greater reality, a different order. Dust and Steam vanished, forming anew as quasielemental planes. Shadow, however, slipped into the Ether.

Contained as it was, Shadow was a demiplane, enrobed in the shell only the Deep Ethereal could provide. It was the greatest of demiplanes, though, for it was barely containable as such. From behind the edge of the horizon, just beyond mortals' ability to see, Shadow waited in the Ethereal for visitors, travelers and explorers.

When the fulcrum of the multiverse shook and the new order trembled, Shadow broke free, rushing through the Deep Ethereal like oil through water, rushing toward the Material Planes and enveloping them as it pushed its way out of its accidental prison. Still tied by a million tiny threads to the Ethereal, but supporting its independence with similar cords to the Astral, Shadow secured itself as a new Transitive Plane lurking at the borders of the Material Plane.

==== How would you describe Shadowstuff? I've never actually seen any physical description of it (assuming you can even hold it with your hands) and have only heard it was a big blob of darkness that appears almost alive (that last line concerns me on that note). ====

Have you ever seen Mary Poppins? There's a scene in which she turns billowing smoke from a chimney into a staircase. The nebulous edges of the smoke conceal what exactly is solid and what is just darkness, but the result is still a functioning stairway. Shadowstuff is much the same way. It is akin to the non-Newtonian fluid made from cornstarch and water, only airy. To brush it, it is a smoky nothing, but to squeeze it, it becomes solid. Another way to envision it is to picture long, thin strings of black/purple/grey silk. Hold them at one end, and you could pass your hand through the dangling ends as though cutting through a silky gauze. Give it a twist, though - braid it, in the case of the strings - and it becomes both solid and quite firmly strong.

In any event, shadowstuff has that nebulous, vaguely smoky quality to it. In color it ranges from a deep black to a dark purple hue to a dank, foggy gray. In texture it's a bit cool to the touch - even if you aren't "touching" it - and soft but firm, like a velvet coating over steel. It's odorless, tasteless and isn't quite where you expect it to be - usually 1-20 mm deeper in than where it looks like it is, depending on the amount and the consistency.