Once the radiant heart of the Solir civilization of Itela, the City of Shadows was originally named Itela, the Golden City—a magnificent metropolis resting upon the dashing cliffs which overlooked Dragon's Reach. Founded by Avatar Rozan, the First Avatar of the Sun, Itela flourished as the capital of the Solir Empire, standing as a beacon of light, knowledge, and divine harmony for countless ages. Crafted from white-gold marble, its towering spires reflected the sun’s embrace, and the very air shimmered with the radiant energy of its people. It was a place where Solir scholars mastered Sun-Rifting, where great temples paid tribute to the divine, and where Avatars of the Sun ruled in guidance of Unknown' will.
For centuries, Itela stood untouched by war, a city of divine enlightenment where the power of the sun flowed freely. It was here that each Avatar of the Sun resided, from Rozan to his successor, Lumina, whose presence alone kept the city in eternal daylight. Yet, all that was glorious met a harrowing end in the wake of Malekith's betrayal.
The Sundering of Itela
Malekith, the false Avatar of the Sun, turned upon Lumina in his quest to claim absolute dominion over the sun’s power. Within the halls of the Avatar’s Tower, he tore the celestial fire from her being, sundering her divine connection and unleashing an unholy solar flare that scorched The Sun Realm. Itela—once the crown jewel of the Solir Empire—was devoured by the very light that once sustained it. Its mighty towers melted to slag, its once-verdant gardens burned to cinders, and its people either perished in the flames or were cursed beyond death.
In the wake of this betrayal, the sun that had forever shone above Itela was swallowed in eclipsing shadow, and the city was forever twisted into a realm of ghosts and wraiths. The once-golden streets are now blackened ruins, haunted by the endless echoes of the dead. The Solir who once lived in splendor now wander as lost specters, trapped between life and death, their forms flickering like dying embers—forever searching for the warmth of the sun they once knew.
At the city's highest peak, overlooking the Dragons Reach bay, stands the ruined Avatar’s Tower—now a monument to Malekith’s treachery. Where once it was the throne of divine avatars, it now serves as a rift to The Shadowfell, from which an eternal black vortex swirls—choking the land in endless darkness (see: The Umbral Gateway). Nevarath, the Fallen Guardian, an entity of sorrow and vengeance, eternally stands watch over the portal, ensuring that none may enter… nor escape.
A City of Cursed Souls
Itela, now the City of Shadows, is a place where no living soul treads lightly. The ruins are unnatural, their shadows shifting with a will of their own. The dead whisper from the crumbling balconies, watching unseen, and those who wander too deep into its streets are said to lose themselves to the city’s curse, becoming part of its endless lament. Some say that fragments of Lumina’s essence still remain, hidden in the heart of the ruins, waiting for the day when a new Avatar of the Sun may rise to restore what was lost.
Until that day, the City of Shadows remains a graveyard of fallen glory, a haunting echo of the Solir’s betrayal, and a solemn reminder that even the brightest light can be devoured by darkness.