THE WORLD OF SHADOWS

[dhil]

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.

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WHITE SHADOWS

[dhil]

The weakest of all the shadows are White Shadows. These shadows are newly formed, factionless, near mindless creatures that exist only to feed and grow. Depending on where these white shadows appear, they could become purple, blue or red. No faction will hurt a white shadow, as it is their only means of making more of themselves, and it's far more likely that a faction would just steal some of their neighbors white shadows and raise them to think like themselves.

White shadows don't simply spawn out of the ether of course, they must come from something. The only specific faction capable of actual reproduction are blue shadows, who like their original progenitor eons before, will split off pieces of themselves and send them out into the world. This isn't in the interest of simply reproducing, rather it is a method of eating; sending out hordes of spawn to devour everything in their path, knowing that while many might be picked up by other shadows, there will still be hundreds more that will find their way back to them and return to the hivemind.

White shadows can defend themselves, and are somewhat more frightening than any faction, as they don't possess any sort of reasoning or logic, they're just little walking black holes. Most white shadows are no larger than a child, but grow as they feed until they've absorbed enough knowledge and power to either return to the blue shadow, or develop into a red or purple one.

White shadows serve under more powerful shadows in return for food and general protection, mostly from light, as a white shadow cannot make their own shell to protect themselves and must rely on an older shadow to do so. They do errands for their mentor, and in turn, protect them from harm and attack if need be. The more white shadows a master shadow has, the more powerful and well protected they are. Amalu is well known for having a large flock of white shadows around them at all times, and is generally considered near untouchable because of it. They rarely venture out without their flock, and take great joy in raising each and every one of them to full fledged purple shadow status.

Once grown, the white shadow develops a bond with their mentor, rather like a child to their parent, and it's generally accepted that if their mentor ever has need for them again, they will return and assist them as an equal.

It can take years for a white shadow to fully emerge as a full fledged shadow, the more they eat the faster they grow.

The faction well known for fast growth and intimidating power are the red shadows. Blue is the slowest due to them vastly preferring to absorb other shadows and often refusing to even leave their burrow or pit. Purple, as usual, sits neatly in the middle.

However, the faction well known for churning out the most of their own faction is purple, thanks to avid shadows like Amalu, and shadows Amalu has inspired. Again, the slowest one to grow is blue, and red hits the middle.

SHADOWS and CREATURES OF THE NIGHT

[dhil]

Anything that can claim to be nocturnal or supernaturally drawn to the night counts. From the most impressive vampire to the fattest, dumbest possum.

These beings are the only ones that can tolerate listening to the voice of a shadow, and come out of it saying that it was a positive experience. As a shadow itself is an entity that is primordial, the very first of the entities of darkness on earth, their voice has a soothing, calming effect on other species akin to them. Some vampires have claimed listening to a shadow speak is more soothing than a mothers lullaby, more calming than the soft rumble of ocean waves or distant thunder.

Demons will find little use in a shadow, as they don't seem to possess any sort of soul that would be able to be taken from them. Though their voice is just as calming, most demons would just as soon avoid them as shadows are rather obnoxious with their rigid faction structure and desperate attempts to recruit others into their ongoing tiff with each other.

Vampires might find them a little more interesting, if only due to the powerful effect their blood has. However, despite the rush of energy and heightened abilities gained by drinking shadow blood, imbibing it usually means being overwhelmed by the shadow itself and forced to play the puppet to them until the high wears off. Unless the vampire is one of exceptional power, it's generally hard to fight off the control.

Other uses for shadow blood are magical, chiefly being as a sort of poor mans invisibility spell. If smeared with shadow blood, a person or object can be effectively hidden in darkness without detection until the blood dries.

Due to the fact that it is so hard to get, and does not last for a considerable amount of time however, most people don't even bother with it. In the end, shadow blood is more hype than anything else.