The Shadows
What are They?
Where there is light there must be darkness, predators must hunt their prey to survive, without the drive of natural negativity they would simply starve from over-kindness.
This is the purpose of the Shadows.
Named 'Shadows' by the Estuary clans, Shadows are essentially the negative spiritual essence of the world. They keep the negative balance, where their counterpart, named 'Shimmers' by the Estuary clans, keep the positive balance. With the non-sentient work of these beautiful spirits, the world is constantly kept at a precise balance, giving and taking where it is needed.
Until humanity rose.
Due to climate change, human destruction, and planetary collapse, Shadows are now overabundant. They were never supposed to be evil, but the mass amount of them is causing people and animals to become evil, it's turning the world into a nightmare. The Estuary clans must fight to stay alive, and not lose their lives and their clanmates to this overpopulation of negative spiritual energy.
What do They Do?
Normally the Shadows would give just enough negative impact to predators to encourage them to hunt young or weak prey. Just like the domestic cats, almost all animals have the self awareness and capacity to understand right and wrong, and it’s that bit of negativity from the shadows that helps a wolf, for example, to decide to kill a weak and vulnerable elk. If it weren’t for this natural energy, the wolf would suffer from lethal selflessness, letting the elk survive out of kindness and then starving as a result. This is the purpose of the Shadows, without them the world would collapse.
Due to overabundance, Shadows cause two things;
'Possession’
Creatures completely covered in shadows, their bodies look like voids in time and space, they absorb no light. This is caused by Shadows being so abundant that their spiritual essence leaks into the living and physical plane of existence, making it so that creatures who are plagued by Shadows end up looking like shadows, the clans call these ‘shrouds’. The appearance of shrouded creatures is often so appalling to those who see them that they become petrified by fear and confusion. Being shrouded also causes a number of symptoms, such as irrationality, cataplexy, and psychosis.
'Infection'
Plagues, famine, and disease. Shadow infections can be contracted by being attacked by shrouds. Those who are infected are sickly, and very vulnerable to developing lethal conditions. Think of how someone who is stressed is more at risk of having a heart attack, in TSL's world, the Shadows cause this. The clans have some treatments for mild infection, but ultimately most Shadow infections end in death.
Where there is light there must be darkness, predators must hunt their prey to survive, without the drive of natural negativity they would simply starve from over-kindness.
This is the purpose of the Shadows.
Named 'Shadows' by the Estuary clans, Shadows are essentially the negative spiritual essence of the world. They keep the negative balance, where their counterpart, named 'Shimmers' by the Estuary clans, keep the positive balance. With the non-sentient work of these beautiful spirits, the world is constantly kept at a precise balance, giving and taking where it is needed.
Until humanity rose.
Due to climate change, human destruction, and planetary collapse, Shadows are now overabundant. They were never supposed to be evil, but the mass amount of them is causing people and animals to become evil, it's turning the world into a nightmare. The Estuary clans must fight to stay alive, and not lose their lives and their clanmates to this overpopulation of negative spiritual energy.
What do They Do?
Normally the Shadows would give just enough negative impact to predators to encourage them to hunt young or weak prey. Just like the domestic cats, almost all animals have the self awareness and capacity to understand right and wrong, and it’s that bit of negativity from the shadows that helps a wolf, for example, to decide to kill a weak and vulnerable elk. If it weren’t for this natural energy, the wolf would suffer from lethal selflessness, letting the elk survive out of kindness and then starving as a result. This is the purpose of the Shadows, without them the world would collapse.
Due to overabundance, Shadows cause two things;
'Possession’
Creatures completely covered in shadows, their bodies look like voids in time and space, they absorb no light. This is caused by Shadows being so abundant that their spiritual essence leaks into the living and physical plane of existence, making it so that creatures who are plagued by Shadows end up looking like shadows, the clans call these ‘shrouds’. The appearance of shrouded creatures is often so appalling to those who see them that they become petrified by fear and confusion. Being shrouded also causes a number of symptoms, such as irrationality, cataplexy, and psychosis.
'Infection'
Plagues, famine, and disease. Shadow infections can be contracted by being attacked by shrouds. Those who are infected are sickly, and very vulnerable to developing lethal conditions. Think of how someone who is stressed is more at risk of having a heart attack, in TSL's world, the Shadows cause this. The clans have some treatments for mild infection, but ultimately most Shadow infections end in death.