Shade
Shades are the spirits of the unquiet dead, bound to Middle-earth by unfinished business. Some have been placed under a curse while others simply linger in the mortal world, attempting to complete a task or bound to an area by the violent and sudden nature of their deaths.
Types of Shades include:
- Corpse-candles - Weaker Shades that manifest as glowing balls of light that swarm around adventurers. They often lead travelers astray in dangerous bogs and marshes.
- Curthádi - Unique to Haradwaith, Curthádi are the unhoused spirits of Kintai Elves whose physical bodies have faded over time. Rather than become the peaceful, whispering Väiri spirits of Kintai folklore, Curthádi are filled with rage or sadness and refuse to accept their current circumstances. They haunt the dead oases that were once their homes.
- Cuthraul - In Enedwaith and Dunland, Men fear to travel by night due to the Cuthraul (Dunlendish for Demon). These shadowy spirits of Ancient Evil only appear after dark, often accompanied by the demonic goats known as Druggavar.
- Darkwaters - Spirits that bring life to befouled rivers and streams using the water itself to give themselves corporeal form.
- Fell Spirits - Shades that were summoned out of the Void beyond the world to animate the bodies of Wights, transform enslaved Men into deathless Gaunt Men, and give intelligence to the Watching-stones.
- Oath-breakers - Vile traitors placed under a curse as penance for their betrayal of commanders and kings. Only by making amends for their sins will they at last know peace.
Shades are considered normal difficulty and are always aggressive. They are particularly weak to Westernesse damage, and some are resistant to Common and Physical damage.
They are found haunting areas such as Angmar, the Fields of Fornost, Evendim, Enedwaith, and Parth Celebrant. Specific Shades can also be found in Bree-land, the Lone-lands, Forochel the Paths of the Dead, and the Vales of Anduin.
Most shades fall under the Dead genus though there is a fair selection that fall under the Ancient Evil genus instead.
Background
J.R.R. Tolkien portrayed several types of ghostly spirits in his works, including the Oathbreakers or Dead Men of Dunharrow and the "candles of corpses" seen in the Dead Marshes. Unnamed spirits were said to have animated the Barrow-wights and the Two Watchers of Cirith Ungol (inspiring the category known as "fell spirits" in the game).
While the Curthádi are a game creation, Tolkien did establish that the bodies of Elves would fade over time, eventually reducing those who remained in Middle-earth to unseen spirits. Other forms of shades in The Lord of the Rings Online were invented for the game.
Index
A list of all known sightings: