Tugertent, Lunja, Tanirt, Afra, Amalu, Amenzu

Shadows are an ancient and Eldritch race, holdovers from The World That Came Before prior to the creation of light. Specifically, they are all that remains of a strange, hive minded mass, akin to an Outer God in power. A being of endless appetite, it gained knowledge, power and more minds to add to it's ever growing collection via the destruction of dying races, a wandering scavenger of rotting worlds and their fading species.

However, with the sudden introduction of light, they found themselves trapped on the first world they could find, diving down into it's roiling, boiling, shallow seas to hide from the blazing sun and glowing lava. There they remained, unable to escape from their new watery prison. Their size hindered them, too big to properly protect themselves from something as all encompassing as the light. The choice was painful: remain here at the bottom of the sea until the sun burned out, or destroy themselves.

'Death' however, was not exactly the outcome, nor was it intended. Sure, they were technically 'destroyed', but only in the sense that they no longer existed as they once were. The mass began to break apart, each essence it devoured, each mind that made up it's collective shivering away from the rapidly dwindling shape of the black mass.

One of the millions of this mass dove deep into the new oceans, and remained there, it seemed to be the safest place for them. There they remained for eons, assuming whatever shape the top predator had and consuming anything in their path in order to build their strength and intelligence. As life evolved, so did they, slowly learning about legs and dinosaurs and making their way onto land with the first land animals.

Eventually, mountains and land movement moved their ocean, the land becoming a lush forest, and they lived among the beasts there, continuing as they always had without feeling any particular reason to change. They learned of a new creature, the mammal, and quickly set about altering their diet to consist of them. The reason was simple: they were just more intelligent, and the desire to grow and improve was simply an ingrained instinct. When the meteor hit and plunged most of the planet into darkness and cold, they slipped into their burrows and caves, quietly culling whatever beast they could find.

Slowly, their forest became a massive, arid desert, and they wandered that, discovering a new animal: The human. Of course, they altered their diet again, and slowly gained human intelligence. The more humans they consumed, the more they began to identify with them, and the feeling of guilt began to taint their meals. This would eventually drive them to cut back, and then eventually cease almost entirely. Almost entirely, let it never be said they won't make an exception.

At some point, they assumed the shape of one of the nomadic tribes that wandered the northern deserts of Africa, they themselves wandering from caravan to caravan. Still as always in search of knowledge and growth, but now perhaps through more conventional, if somewhat slower means.

 

SHADOW FACTIONS

 

There are three powerful factions. Shadows have no concept of naming things, they don’t see a reason to as most of them are hyper intelligent beings that recall things perfectly without having to give them a label. However, for ease of describing them, we’ll go by eye color.

Blue shadows seek reunification. They wish to merge together again as the hivemind they once were, and plunge the planet into a darkness that would keep them all safe and ensure the safety of shadows as a whole. They devour most any shadow they run into, but typically leave humanity alone.

Red shadows are individualists. They do not wish to merge with other shadows, and tout themselves as superior beings (which, intelligence wise, isn’t too far off). They usually react violently when encountering other life and other shadows, and seek to establish themselves as the dominant life on the planet. As close to malicious as you’ll get.

Purple shadows, like Amalu, are in the middle. Mediators, peace keepers and judges, they try to keep either side from gaining the upper hand. Or at least they'll tell you that's what they're doing, if asked. They're not lying, but it should be noted that shadows are just as prone to bias and subjectivity as anyone else so one shadow's idea of peace keeping and justice could be another's idea of being a turncoat and a self-righteous dick.

Naturally, they’re despised by every side but their own.

Amalu is no exception to this rule. They usually treat most of their own kind like chess pieces, things that can be moved and manipulated like pawns on a board until they achieve victory. Their take on humanity is that they are a young, inexperienced species that requires a level of oversight and protection, and they've become quite fond of the species as a whole.