Shades

Subject: Shades Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:03 pm

Shades are the creation of Shar, a sort of "vampiric spirit" that exists in the shadows. The first Shades appeared around 589 MoP, during the Black Tower Conflict that defined the era. They were originally created to be scouts and saboteurs, and were little more than gatherings of dark energy with eidetic memories and limited shadow-shifting abilities.

When Shar's tower was destroyed, and Shar herself was usurped by her most powerful creation, Sevim, the Shades went dormant, awaiting their former mistress. It took over one hundred years, but Shar was finally able to achieve apotheosis, shedding her mortal body and reclaiming the Shadow Plane. Despite all of these setbacks, Shar still recognized the usefulness of Shades, and part of her reforms included "upgrading" them.

While Shades once possessed many diverse and specialized forms, Shar elected to combine them all into one highly versatile creature. Shades were no longer dependent on Shar for sustenance, instead becoming self-sufficient and able to function when cut off from Shar's influence. These are the Shades of the new era.

A Shade possesses three forms:

Combat Form - This form grants the Shade significant speed and power, comparable to a young Vampire. They appear as vaguely humanoid creatures of pure darkness, invisible in the absence of light but still capable of perfect sight. Shades in this form can still employ Shadow Magic, and shapeshift parts of their body into deadly weapons. In this form they can be temporarily blinded by intense light, and they are weak against holy energy and fire and only slightly resistant to physical attacks. Silver and metals like it can damage them greatly, with drawbacks similar to those of fighting a vampire.
Hidden Form - A Shade can disguise itself as one of the various sapient species. Shades are, for the most part, unintelligent and incapable of speech, so this is a crude disguise at best.
Shadow Form - This form allows the Shade to become a mere shadow, which can slip through even the tiniest of cracks and spaces. In this form, a Shade can move as fast as any Vampire in the light, but in a dark area, it can be anywhere and everywhere at once. A Shade can shift parts of itself back into physical form, making hit-and-run attacks against its foes before retreating back into the shadows. In addition, Shades can take physical objects, even small creatures, into the Shadows with them. A cornered Shade in this form can be extremely deadly, but also most vulnerable to strong light, particularly that of the Sun. A Shade in this form can be killed within minutes of exposure to the Sun. Holy energy and fire could damage them, but they are not nearly as effective as light.

Killing a Shade is far more difficult than merely destroying its body. A Shade can quickly regenerate most wounds, and even grievous wounds can heal within hours. A Shade needs no food, drink, or rest; like a vampire, it subsists on the lifeforce of others. But Shades are not limited to drinking blood, some gain sustenance from the dark energy that bleeds off of tainted places or creatures. The most powerful Shades can drain the life out of their surroundings with a mere thought, but the Sacred Field prevents sentient creatures from being siphoned of life. However, mages may find their spells partially, or even completely, consumed when used on a powerful Shade.

Should a Shade's physical form be "killed", the Shade will slip into its Shadow Form. There, it will attempt to reach a dark place to rebuild itself and replenish its energy, typically by preying on hapless victims. The Shade must be followed, and sunlight must be brought into its place of refuge through any means necessary if one wishes to destroy it completely. If not, the Shade will eventually replenish enough of its energy to manifest itself once more.

Shades grow in power as they feed and get older; the oldest Shades are capable of using magic and even speaking. Shades almost always shun physical equipment, as it inhibits their ability to fight, but some Shades have been known to carry weapons. Shades may use weapons of Adamantium, but most of all, Shades use materials which can be enchanted. The enchantments these weapons have can vary, but are often quite powerful, and tied to the dark lifeforce of the Shade wielding the weapon - thus, these weapons are rendered useless in the hands of anyone who is not a Shade.

Should a Shade physically wound someone, with or without using a weapon, the victim will experience intense pain and bleeding, and the area around the wound may receive bizarre, permanent mutations. It is believed by some that if a person dies from a wound inflicted by a Shade, they become a Shade themselves. The veracity of this rumor has yet to be confirmed.

Subject: Re: Shades Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:26 pm

where is the dnd stuff

i cant rp this

Subject: Re: Shades Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:28 pm

needs more dnd
zaku can't rp this

Subject: Re: Shades Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:38 pm

dont know if sarcasm or zakasm

Subject: Re: Shades Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:39 pm

im kidding of course. no hard feelings.

As for the lore, Munroe you always do write up the more flushed out lore we've got. This is pretty awesome. And the picture is pretty creepy in it's own right.

Subject: Re: Shades Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:53 pm

Well, regardless of opinions, there will be DnD stuff soon as I get to it. Pumping out monster lore and editing pics takes time, after all.

Subject: Re: Shades Wed Feb 15, 2012 10:54 am

Sounds like an interesting beast to fight in the woodlands. Do want

Posts : 688 Join date : 2009-02-18

But in all seriousness, nice.

» Blue Shades.