Luclin, Maiden of Shadows

Why she left

For untold ages the goddess dwelt in Norrath’s darkness, watching the other gods squabble, until she could stand no more and moved to the world’s ringed moon. There she let Veeshan’s seeds of life germinate and nurtured whatever crept out, and she stayed neutral in the war between Tunare and Innoruuk, “bewildered by their foolishness.” For a long time her moon stayed hidden from Norrath behind a veil, made by a pact between Brell Serilis, Prexus and Tunare.

The Maiden of Shadows

Luclin rules the Plane of Shadow. She is small, about four foot nine, slim and elfin, with solid black skin, pupil-less silver eyes and short grey hair with long side locks. Shadowy mist swirls at her feet, and she carries a staff of silver and platinum shaped like two twining tendrils ending in cupped hands, above which floats a small black orb with an oily sheen.

Her love of dark corners has earned her the devotion of many rogues, who offer a quick prayer when they need the shadows’ protection. In the Guild Lobby a Disciple of Luclin welcomes visitors to the Alcove of Shadow and calls her “the ruler of the twilight — that which exists between light and dark, life and death,” the dusk of existence through which fallen adventurers must pass.

Life on the moon

“Though it seemed a bleak and distant world to those who watched it from Norrath, Luclin was a place of life and vitality.” Insectoid shik’nar lived in their hives, galorians in the rugged wilds, tegi tribes across the whole orb, and beneath the surface burrowers, fungal fiends and tentacled thought horrors.

The Akheva

Her “most favored offspring” were the Akheva, made in her image and given dominion over her moon: immortal stewards, towering, four-armed, horned and pale, with blank eyes, their society matriarchal and strictly divided into castes. They ruled in her name for many ages before collapsing in a bloody civil war. Their first stronghold, Ka Vethan, was destroyed by the Maiden’s Scar, a storm summoned by the priestess Aten Ha Ra in her war against her rival Akelha’Ra. Aten Ha Ra now rules from the citadel of Vex Thal, while Akelha’Ra’s outcast loyalists still haunt the ruins.

Everyone’s refuge

Then the refugees came. The moon became a destination for everyone fleeing Norrath: the Shissar escaping the Green Mist, Combine loyalists escaping Seru, Seru’s Inquisitors chasing them, and the Vah Shir, thrown there by an Erudite war. At last Al’Kabor opened the spires, and adventurers poured in by the thousand, to Luclin’s fury.

A moon’s ending

In EverQuest II’s history the moon does not survive. The ancient elf Aataltaal watches Luclin break apart in the night sky as burning fragments streak overhead.