Lore of Shadows
The Lore of Shadows, also known as Grey Magic, refers to a class of magic and spells that show the dominant colour and hold the elemental characteristics of the Realm of Ulgu, the realm of shadows.[1][3a] The secrets of the magic of Ulgu are legion, for it is smoke, and subtlety, and lies. Grey magic is the art of illusion, of elusive possibilities, hidden within obscuring mists and hazy intentions. It is the magic of charlatans, with misdirection and shadow wrapped about its daring trickster heart. It can also bring hidden justice to those who have escaped retribution.[3a]
There are none who possess greater mastery of the magic of Ulgu than Morathi, save perhaps the Shadow King Malerion.[3a] It is for this reason that the worship of Malerion extends to the Battlemages of the Grey College wise enough to know the true source of their power.[5c] Since the Age of Myth, the High Oracle of Khaine has taught her many disciples, the Daughters of Khaine, how to weave deadly illusions and summon lethal darkness using its power.[3a] Amongst these disciples are the Bloodwrack Medusae, serpentine creatures, which are in fact Daughters of Khaine blessed by a portion of Morathi's power. These creatures can be found being borne into battle atop Bloodwrack Shrines, where they utilize a stange mirror known as a scáthmre. Not only does this mirror reflect the medusae's sinister gaze, but also a shadowy projection of their hatred.[3c] The males found amongst the Daughters of Khaine may also occasionally grow into potent sorcerers of shadow known as Doomfire Warlocks. Born of weakened mind and spirit, some will grow to be nurtured by the shadows themselves, developing an affinity with the darkness and an ability to absorb the mystic energies of Ulgu.[3d] Amongst the denizens of the Cities of Sigmar, the Darkling Sorceresses of the Darkling Covens are known to utilize the Lore of Shadows.[7e] Hailing from the lands of Ulgu, these powerful sorceresses and wizard-queens remained apart from the other refugees fleeing to Azyr during the coming of Chaos, and formed their own cults and hidden orders rather than granting their expertise to the various aelvan conclaves or the Collegiate Arcane.[6a].
While present in the Realm of Ulgu, some spells in this lore become intuitively known to wizards in addition to their other spells.[1][2]
List of Spells
Name | Casters | Description | Sources |
---|---|---|---|
Labyrinth of Sorrows | Wizards in the Realm of Ulgu | The wizard traps the enemy in a prison of their own despair. | Malign Sorcery - Spells of Ulgu, pg. 77 |
The Enfeebling | The wizard saps the energy from his enemies, draining them of their will to fight. | Malign Sorcery - Spells of Ulgu, pg. 77 | |
Phantasmal Guardian | The wizard summons a creature of pure shadow to protect himself from harm. | Malign Sorcery - Spells of Ulgu, pg. 77 | |
Bridge of Shadows | The wizard summons a portal of pure shadow. Allies that march into this gateway emerge from a shadow elsewhere on the battlefield. | Malign Sorcery - Spells of Ulgu, pg. 77 | |
Aetheric Tendrils | Insubstantial tentacles unfurl from the shadows to grasp and drag the enemy towards their doom. | Malign Sorcery - Spells of Ulgu, pg. 77 | |
Judgement of Shadow | The shadows of Ulgu are alive, and they hunger. By speaking thirteen whispered words of power, one for each of the realm’s great Dominions, a caster can bid the darkness to swallow up their enemies. | General's Handbook 2020 - Realm of Battle: Ulgu, The Realm of Shadow, pg. 107 | |
Umbral Leap | The caster becomes one with the darkness, traversing the battlefield in a flicker of shadows. | Broken Realms: Morathi - Realm of Battle: The Helleflux, Ulgu, pg. 76 | |
Mystifying Miasma | Wizards that know the Lore of Shadows Wizards in the Realm of Ulgu |
The wizard creates a numbing fog that causes their foolish foes to listlessly stagger and stumble. | Age of Sigmar: Core Book (2nd Edition) – Realm of Battle: Ulgu, the Realm of Shadow, pg. 260 Soulbound Core Rulebook - Grey Spells, pg. 276-277 |
Crown of Asphyxiation | Noxious fog surrounds the wizard, causing nearby foes to stumble and choke. | Malign Sorcery - Spells of Ulgu, pg. 77 Soulbound Core Rulebook - Grey Spells, pg. 276-277 | |
Magical Gust | Wizards fighting within an eldritch mist of sorcerous shadows. | The wizard summons a gust of wind to lift a patch of eldritch mist. | The Realmgate Wars: Quest for Ghal Maraz - Battleplan: Out of the Mist, pg. 98 |
Mistcaller | A patch of eldritch mist is expanded around an area. | The Realmgate Wars: Quest for Ghal Maraz - Battleplan: Out of the Mist, pg. 98 | |
Steed of Shadows | Wizards that know the Lore of Shadows | A coal-black creature with wings of night materialises from the darkness and swoops across the battlefield, carrying the caster swiftly above the fray. | Battletome: Daughters of Khaine (2018) – Lore of Shadow, pg. 54 Soulbound Core Rulebook - Grey Spells, pg. 276-277 |
Pit of Shades | The wizard opens a rift to the infamous Pit of Shades. Terrified warriors fall screaming through the portal, plummeting to a shadowy noplace filled with the incessant wailing of ‘those who dwell beyond’. | Battletome: Daughters of Khaine (2018) – Lore of Shadow, pg. 54 Soulbound Core Rulebook - Grey Spells, pg. 276-277 | |
Mirror Dance | The wizard chants a spell of shifting, revealing a shadowpath between two distant allies that allows them to switch places in a heartbeat. | Battletome: Daughters of Khaine (2018) – Lore of Shadow, pg. 54 Soulbound Core Rulebook - Grey Spells, pg. 276-277 | |
The Withering | The wizard plants overwhelmingly vivid images of frailty and doubt in their foe’s minds. | Battletome: Daughters of Khaine (2018) – Lore of Shadow, pg. 54 Soulbound: Champions of Order - Grey Spells, pg. 99-100 | |
Mindrazor | The wizard summons spectral blades into their allies’ hands, weapons whose edges are honed by the wielder’s faith as much as the victim’s fear. | Battletome: Daughters of Khaine (2018) – Lore of Shadow, pg. 54 Soulbound: Champions of Order - Grey Spells, pg. 99-100 | |
Enslave | The wizard weaves the shadows of Ulgu into the mind of another, controlling their every action. | Soulbound Core Rulebook - Grey Spells, pg. 276-277 | |
Illusion | The wizard manipulates the shadows of Ulgu, creating an illusion to mislead and deceive. | Soulbound Core Rulebook - Grey Spells, pg. 276-277 | |
Mindslip | The mists of Ulgu worm their way into a creature’s mind, leaving them with no memory of the wizard's presence. | Soulbound Core Rulebook - Grey Spells, pg. 276-277 | |
Veil of Shadows | The wizard draws a veil of shadows across their form, distorting it so that they appear as someone else. | Soulbound Core Rulebook - Grey Spells, pg. 276-277 | |
Word of Pain | The wizard utters a forbidden name, wracking their enemy’s body with pain. | Soulbound Core Rulebook - Grey Spells, pg. 276-277 | |
Blind Spot | Ulgu’s magic clouds a mind, rendering it selectively oblivious. | Soulbound: Champions of Order - Grey Spells, pg. 99-100 | |
Infiltrate Dreams | The caster spins shadowy threads of whispered magic to seek out a sleeping creature, intruding upon its slumber and tampering with its dreams. | Soulbound: Champions of Order - Grey Spells, pg. 99-100 | |
No Escape | With narrowed eyes or a confident sneer, the wizard's magic implants a waking nightmare into their enemy’s mind, convincing them their own shadow violently accosts them. | Soulbound: Champions of Order - Grey Spells, pg. 99-100 | |
Shroud of Despair | Daughters of Khaine Wizards that know the Lore of Shadows | Numbing darkness descends upon the battlefield, smothering the foe’s will to fight. | Battletome: Daughters of Khaine (2018) – Lore of Shadow, pg. 54 |
Black Horror of Ulgu Arnzipal's Black Horror |
A roiling black cloud of energy swirls into existence, smoking tendrils lashing out from it to drag those nearby to their doom. | Broken Realms: Morathi – Warscroll: Morathi-Khaine, pg. 99 |
Wizards
The following is a list of Wizards that are known to use a specific subset of known Grey Spells:
Sources
- 1: Age of Sigmar: Core Book (2nd Edition) – Realm of Battle: Ulgu, the Realm of Shadow, pg. 260
- 2: Malign Sorcery - Spells of Ulgu, pg. 77
- 3: Battletome: Daughters of Khaine (2018)
- 4: General's Handbook 2020
- 4a: Realm of Battle: Ulgu, The Realm of Shadow, pg. 107
- 5: Soulbound Core Rulebook
- 6: Battletome: Cities of Sigmar (2019)
- 6a: Darkling Covens, pg. 38-39
- 7: Warscrolls
- 8: Soulbound: Champions of Order
- 8a: Grey Spells, pg. 99-100
- 9: Warhammer Champions: Arnzipal's Black Horror