The Shadowlands

The Shadowlands... As some would put it, a mystery wrapped up in an enigma. Exactly what caused such corruption and desolation is unknown, how the carefully balanced Absorbtion Crystal could possibly bypass all its magical failsafes and explode, why, the chances must be a million to one.

Yet it did happen, somehow. The Crystal suddenly went cataclysmic, blowing a huge crater in the ground and scorching the land for miles around, and while in the recent years the Shadowlands are slowly being overtaken by the Sea of Sand and Refuge, the Shadowlord has never been more active.

His great factories and workshops have recently spun up, their forboding forms belching forth great pillars of fire and brimestone into the nights sky. Rumour has it that legions of Undead and Kaag' have been seen mustering at Dar'Mendir, the great fortress of the Shadowlord. The Pit has also recently begun churning out great engines of war and pain, both on land and sea.

It is clear that the Shadowlord intends to once again invade Davaria and bend the remains of the Old Humans of Kalethissan to his will...

Could use some tile variation at the very least, although it'd look better with little rocks and dead grass all over the ground too.
A lot of the trees look like they're floating.
...And a darker water color would probably fit in better.

Except for the second and fifth picture, the whole thing looks pretty bland, although that might be the look you're going for, so...

Whoops, forgot to explain some stuff.

This is a chunk of a large War of the Ring styled map, hence the water color (tho if you look at the Shadowlords Fortress, you can see black water there... yes it stays black while the big sea is blue. Don't ask me how i did it, thats my secret.)
The map contains desert, mountains, forest and corrupted land, hence the lack of tile variation.

Trees floating? heh, should probably fix that :P

I may add some rocks and shrubs and stuff, depends on how i go with the rest of the map, i don't want to cramp everything up and make it unplayable.

Ahh, if it's for a War of the Ring map then you probably shouldn't do much; hardly anyone sits and admires the terrain when playing those, heheh.

Maybe just put some blight here and there though. At least that will make it look a little less plain.

Its spost to look plain, everything is dead :P

Well of course, but there is a difference between plain looking plain and dead looking plain.
Heheheh...

Phoenix your work is a bright light in these dark times of war3 terraining.

Still you have the time and patience to put time and effort into making terrain, and it looks good too :)

Good job

I like the mood and the setting. The background story is sweet too.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, i bring you!

The Temple of Kar'Aldir
Constructed ages ago by the Aldir, the ones who created the Shadowlands and the Shadowlord with their folly. The Temple was designed to be the first defence against the Shadowlord, penning him in his land.

Built in the middle of the desert wasteland that is the Shifting Sands, as the millenia went by the Temple slowly sank beneath the dunes. Eventually its power was broken and its halls were forgotten, its subsidance precursing the first major invasion from the Shadowlands.

However, where once the Temple stood there now resides a great beast of unknown origin. Named The Worm, for its appearance, the Worm appeared a few hundred years ago. When the Shadowlord attempted to remove it, feeling that its presance would threaten his forces when he attempted to invade next, the beast opened its maw and spat forth legions upon legions of strange bug-like creatures.

The creatures are now known as The Swarm, they act with single-minded intensity to spread the Shifting Sands and wipe out all other life, but they appear to have a particular hatred of the Shadowlord. It is believed that should one kill The Worm or enter its maw, one would end up inside the long lost Temple of Kar'Aldir.

But nobody has managed to even scratch The Worm. Whatever it is guarding in the temple, its protection is perfect and unstoppable...



The Entrance to the Temple. You get out through a carefully disguised waygate. Can you guess what the waygate looks like?


The Hive, thats what that big green pulsating thing is.


The Worm, see all the little tentacles? Aww, so cwute :D