1. Characters

Isolde von Schattenmeer

Heir of Schattenmeer, Custodian of the Shard

Isolde von Schattenmeer


9e5f0414-f96c-408d-bdda-8a92b382ab26.pngIsolde von Schattenmeer, the eldest daughter of Baron Edgar von Schattenmeer and heir to the Von Schattenmeer dynasty's rule, stands as a key figure in its enduring legacy. was born under an omen-laden blood moon, her first cries drowned by the wailing winds that tore across the Schattenmeer. From her earliest days, the lake’s black waters called to her, whispering secrets only she could hear. While her kin trembled at the stories of drowned spirits and cursed reflections, Isolde was drawn to the shadowed depths. She wandered its jagged shores, her pale reflection rippling beneath the surface as though another world lay waiting to claim her. Where others saw doom, Isolde saw destiny.

Her connection to Vlad von Carstein’s cursed legacy burned like a brand upon her soul. The elders of Grabsturm Keep spoke in reverent tones of the ancient shard buried in the depths of Schattenmeer, a fragment of the shattered Schattenspiegel that once housed Vlad’s dark essence. Though not bound by blood, Isolde was marked by fate, her life entangled with the cursed lake and the restless power it concealed. She embraced this burden, seeing in it not a curse but a path to immortality and dominion over death itself. With unyielding resolve, she vowed to master the lake’s ancient power and claim the secrets hidden beneath its storm-lashed waves.

On her sixteenth year, the lake finally answered her call. Guided by visions of her reflection walking beneath the water, Isolde plunged into the icy depths. When she emerged, she held the shard of the Schattenspiegel, jagged and dark as night, its surface gleaming with her fractured reflection. It filled her with both Vlad’s ancient power and a haunting curse: her soul now intertwined with the lake and the mirror. Her reflection, ever shifting and monstrous, revealed glimpses of what she might become—a queen of undeath, her storm-borne armies sweeping across the Mortal Realms.

Isolde embraced her destiny, forging The Reflection of Ruin, a warband of vampiric nobles, spectral mariners and drowned knights who rise from the lake’s depths to carry out her will. The storms that ravage the Ravaged Coast are hers to command, the chaos of the shifting tides mirroring the tempest in her soul. Though her path is fraught with peril and whispers of madness, Isolde remains resolute. She seeks not only to rebuild the Schattenspiegel but to forge a new empire of undeath, where even the gods will tremble before her eternal storm.



The Shard’s Path: Isolde’s Quest for the Mirror’s Restoration

Isolde von Schattenmeer’s relentless pursuit of the Schattenspiegel’s scattered shards has become the centerpiece of her dark ambitions. Despite her spies scouring the Mortal Realms, no additional shards have yet been discovered. The lack of progress only deepens the mystery of the mirror’s true power—for with only the single shard retrieved from the depths of the Schattenmeer, neither Isolde nor her advisors can fully understand the nature of the artifact when whole. Nevertheless, Isolde prepares for the moment when the shards might reunite, her calculations and experiments already moving beyond what is known.

The cornerstone of this research lies with Wilhelm Nachtmahr, the enigmatic necromancer leading the Wavesworn. Once a master of celestial magic within the Azyr Order, Wilhelm’s descent into necromancy came after prolonged exposure to the Schattenspiegel’s fragment. His methods are as inscrutable as his motivations, blending arcane precision with a chilling lack of empathy. Under his guidance, the Wavesworn have turned their attention toward the Emeraldscar Necropolis, a desolate expanse in the western deserts named Embersands.

Rumors suggest that the Ossiarch legions stationed there are conducting experiments with a substance known as Mortkhat, said to possess the ability to restore vitality to the dead. Wilhelm Nachtmahr posits that Mortkhat may hold the key to stabilizing the chaotic energies of the shard, its restorative properties potentially counteracting the mirror’s destructive tendencies. However, Mortkhat’s secrets are jealously guarded, and any attempt to acquire or replicate it would undoubtedly draw the ire of the necropolis’ guardians.

The Shard in Her Grasp, the Throne Beyond Reach

Isolde von Schattenmeer rides in bitter silence, bound to the will of the father she once sought to overthrow. Baron Edgar von Schattenmeer reigns with absolute authority, his monstrous rebirth cementing his dominion over the dynasty. She had planned his downfall meticulously, believing his transformation would strip him of reason, reducing him to a mindless beast. Instead, he had emerged stronger, sharper, and utterly beyond her control. His contempt for her failure is absolute—not through anger, but through dismissal. He does not fear her, nor does he consider her a threat. To him, she is merely a tool to be wielded, a lesson in ambition unfulfilled. And so, she obeys. For now.

But the shard is hers. The fractured piece of the Schattenspiegel, the very artifact that remade Edgar, rests in her possession—yet its power still favors him. The tie between her father and the mirror is too strong, its dark will still entwined with his being, refusing to bend to her grasp. She has the key, but he holds the door. Yet Isolde is no defeated heir. She knows there are more fragments, more power to claim. If one shard is not enough to break his hold, she will find another. Edgar sees her as a failed usurper, an heir forever beneath his wings, but she knows the truth—his reign is not eternal. One day, the Schattenspiegel’s will shall be hers, and when it is, she will tear him from his throne as he once tore her from hers.