Bearfolk's last stand in the Shadow Realm, as told by a Bearfolk Purifier Shaman.
When first walking the shadow roads in support of our King, we had had only the faintest idea of what awaited us. The peril was small at first; the occasional shadow or unquiet spirit, predatory beasts that sought their first taste of uncorrupted flesh. These dangers we fought with pride. Soon, though we learned the true danger of the Shadow Realm. One’s own imperfect nature, and self-doubt. Division struck deep into the tribe and melancholy gave way to paranoia, which birthed conflict.
Before long, the corrupted among us turned on their own kin, and the blood spilled drew attention from ancient ones. Vampires of shadow, arising from dark ruins we had never seen before. The warriors fought with honor, but with their ranks reduced by spreading corruption, they knew they were doomed.
It was then, with the last drops of pure water brought from our ancestral home, that the druids’ desperate plan succeeded. Blessing silver mined in the Shadow Realm with the precious water of life, they drove back the darkness empowering the mad invaders. Bolstered by their new discovery, the tribe rallied and drove the wretched creatures back into their ruins. These strange slivers of the City Fallen into Shadow melted back into the darkness as moonlight overtook them. Now the settlements are protected by Standing Stones inlaid with silver, guarded by servants of the light in a constant battle against creeping shadow.