Soul Shadows

Definition

Soul shadows are a class of being that is defined by a few key traits:

• Soul shadows have no physical body
• They have torn or fractured souls that are incomplete
• They appear as silhouettes with glowing, featureless eyes
• They are all driven by their emptiness
• They are vulnerable to sunlight and generally any strong light UV or higher

Any mortal species can generate a soul shadow, and the process is almost always traumatic and results in the death of the mortal body. The highest concentration of soul shadows at present is the Talonis star system where an IAS Shadow named Eyanna watches over younger shadows, and she and her kin form a defensive boundary around the star system against any force that tries to enter their space.

As far as Spindizzy goes, the resident soul shadow is Verada and her pack.

Formation

Mortal fission

Mortal fission is the process by which a mortal soul is stretched between physical destruction and mental persistence until it splits. In most cases, the tear is not something the soul can survive and it is normally destroyed by the force that devoured the physical aspects of its existence. In this case the life is destroyed and there may not be enough soul left for an afterlife, and this form of death dominates when no counter force is applied during the fission event.

When a tertiary force, usually another powerful spirit or other form of anchor for a soul to hold onto to be held by, fission remain asymmetric but is biased in the direction of the retaining force instead of the destroying force. The green-eyed IAS Shadow is the best example of this form of soul shadow, and they were created when the darkness between the stars devoured the life of a lone planet as if fell away from its star while the life force of the planet itself tried to hold onto those lives. The result are nearly complete souls that have no body and can persist in space.

Mortal fission is the most common process for new shadows and other shadow like societies to emerge, usually from the ruins of another civilization.

Ritual

Rituals can be used to anchor a soul on one side and expose it to the great devouring forces in between stars to make new shadows. However, powerful beings, usually shadow gods or other deity level entities, can take the soul of a mortal, tear a piece off to toss to the afterlife as a tithe, and keep the resulting shadow as a servant or any other purpose they see fit. The shadow sisters of the three lunar gods in IAS are an example of this, and Eyanna, Verada's mother, is an example of one of these shadows as are all blue, red, and silver eye IAS Shadows.

Fusion

this represents the rarest form of soul shadow formation, and it occurs when two shadows or a mortal with shadow affinity and a shadow fuse two portions of themselves that then takes on its own life. Normal shadows are not normally durable enough to survive this form of shadow creation, but some of the hardier, evolved shadows are capable as well as full-souled mortals who can survive losing a little of themselves. Male and female gender or their equivalent generally apply with the female carrying the new shadow for a time before it is capable of existing on its own.

Shadows produced from soul or spiritual fusion are generally tougher than their relatives with those made from a full-souled parent and an advanced shadow being typically the most gifted and likely to survive later stages of evolution. Verada is the best example of one such shadow. She is the daughter of Eyanna a fully evolved shadow demi-goddess, and a mortal wolf shade, a mortal who traded just a little soul for a connection to shadows and their power. Despite the sheer number of shadows in the Talonis system, such events remain very rare but are not impossible as mortals and shadows exist in peace there, a rarity in the universe.

Motivation

Emptiness

Shadows are generally motivated by their emptiness and a need to fill it. Like anyone with a hole in their life, they can choose constructive or destructive ways to fulfill this. Shadows have tried everything from devouring mortals or objects of magical power to seeking enlightenment at foreign shrines and to any god that might listen to them. Some shadows feel that there are certain truths to be discovered about their world or themselves that will make them into something more complete, and some of those are even successful in that their properties change. Unless a shadow has reached their final evolutionary state, they are all motivated by their need to fill their emptiness.

Verada as a psion fills or at least dampens her emptiness by listening to the thoughts and emotions of those around her and interacting with them. She stays in the company of others as being in isolation would leave her empty and alone in the literal sense.

Social Behaviors

Shadows tend to cluster together to avoid being alone and focused on the void that is the missing parts of their soul. They also tend to avoid places of absolute darkness because they start to lose track of their borders. Given a choice, shadows prefer dim light no brighter than moonlight on a full moon but can tolerate most synthetic lighting. If shadows only have one place of dim light, they will crowd close to it rather than being left in darkness.

Shadows cannot normally walk in sunlight without being killed, so they tend to hide in other shadows and in places most normal folk would consider dangerous. Their appearance is often thought of as hideous, and so they shy away from most creatures of the day and most people. Those that interact with shadows are usually a bit off and so shadows are wary sorts. Some that grow more desperate or aggressive may parasitize a mortal through their shadow and use them as a puppet.

Evolution

Shadows are very fluid and vicarious beings, and their bodies are no different. There are three primary evolutionary states for shadows: shadows, inklings, and mysteries. The naming convention is not universal, but the traits usually follow through in a similar progression. The defining aspects of shadow evolution including reduced vulnerability to sunlight, reduced aggression due lessened emptiness, and finally a stable state that almost passes for a complete, healed soul.

Shadows

This is the base form for any soul shadow. While they do occupy a three dimensional volume, their bodies only appear in silhouette because their surface is similar to an event horizon. If one doused a shadow in powder, their true shape can be revealed. Shadows also have glowing eyes without features because this reflects their soul. Eyes are a window into a soul, and a soul shadow is a simple spirit without frills or details because it is a partial soul which means they have eyes but no details to them aside from their shape. This is still enough for them to be expressive.

Shadows cannot exist in sunlight. They will vaporize and vanish if they are thrust into such intense light. They can teleport in a manner from one shadow to another, and they are safe in the shadows of structures and people. Symbiotic relationships between shadows and mortals can occur, and usually the shadow sleeps inside of the mortal's otherwise 'empty' shadow although the telltale sign of a strange shadow shape is often present. On the sinister side, a shadow can attack a person through their shadow and take control of their body in a manner similar to possession.

Physically, shadows are very light with an effective mass of only a few pounds. Shadows over five pounds are very unusual. This gives them some interaction with gravity. Shadows are physical beings and can be grabbed, shoved, and carried, but their physical self carries a complication for such efforts: shadows are fluid. A shadow can change its size by more than double, and they can bend, fold, stretch, and otherwise distort themselves into anything that still suggests their base species. For example, Verada as a shadow could change her size anywhere from 4 to 7 feet tall without effort.

Shadows always feel cold to the touch. They long for warmth, but they can only feel pressure and not heat.

If a shadow eats or otherwise fully envelops something, it vanished. No one to this day knows what happens to it, but it stops being in ths plane the shadow is in. This includes people. A cautious shadow can nearly envelope a person and provide a sort of inky armor without harming them so long as they don't complete the seal around them.

Inklings

Inklings are the point where a shadow starts a new path. Very rare, less than one in a million shadows will find their way to being an inkling because ever shadow's path there is different, and therefore trying to teach a method is usually fruitless. The largest change that happens to shadows when they become inklings is that they stop being vulnerable to sunlight and other powerful lights. This doesn't spare them from magical sources or incredibly powerful gamma sources, but they can take a stroll in the sun and understand what warmth is as they gain the ability to feel heat and cold although they can ignore the latter.

Inklings require truths. Most of these sort of truths could be found in the self-help section of a bookstore, and some of them need much more introspection. The trick to a truth for a shadow is that the shadow must fully understand and be able to embrace several truths to give it a framework that makes it stronger. There are some basic truths a shadow must have. For instance, a shadow must internalize that there is nothing outside of it that can truly make it whole. this sounds simple, but if you spend hundreds of years knowing only emptiness, this can be a big leap. There are others regarding the outside world that are more unique to each shadow, and some of the hardest are those in which a shadow learns to empathize with something else much bigger than itself.

Verada learned her truths in a moment of trauma when she had to be saved by her mother Eyanna and Talon. She can to understand that only she can complete herself, that her interactions outside while not enough help her do this, but she also came to understand that the Silver Goddess of IAS, Eyanna's creator and the origin of the first IAS Shadows, must have felt when the first green eye shadows were made. These things expanded her being outside of the little world she had been living in with truths that could not be forgotten or cast aside. They added to her being in a special way, and this is now the inkling begins.

Inklings can stand in sunlight, can feel warmth, and they can sometimes be seen in faint volumetric shape but usually only from the corner of an eye. They are still fluid and can walk through shadows and hide in them, but they cannot possess mortal bodies. They can still shelter in a shadow of a mortal if they are willing, but they rarely need to.

Mysteries

Mysteries are well named. The number that exist is questionable, but Eyanna is one known example. In her case, she was made and destroyed twice over before she finally became what she was, and that took an external force to spur her growth. in Eyanna's case, her truths were different and her exposure to Talon's power was also a factor. Mysteries do have one greater truth that is hard to swallow because it comes in two parts. First, a mystery will never be a complete soul and become like a mortal, which is often depressing enough to crush most hopeful inklings. However, the second half of this key truth is that they are whole enough. It goes in the face of most shadows and their dreams to give up and just be 'good enough' and not be whole.

Beyond that, it may well take a thousand grand truths to finally yield an inkling that could ascent, and even then it may need help. Eyanna does not tell others her secrets, and that is in part how the name mystery came about. They do have some interesting properties though.

Mysteries can bear young with mortal beings. If the mother is a mystery, than the child will be born a strong shadow. If the mother is a mortal, then then the offspring will usually be a shade, or a mortal with strong shadow magic in it. Shadows born from mysteries are 'less empty' and more complete than fission or ritual made kin.

Mysteries are also powerful focusing agents for other shadows. The presence of a mystery can sooth, but not remove, the emptiness of associated shadows. This makes it easier to deal with mortals, easier to keep a society together, and most mysteries actually like instilling that calm. They often carry special names like 'shadow mother' and are revered as a god or goddess where they do appear. Most mysteries tend not to be warfaring because the road to becoming a mystery often wears down such aspirations, but it would not be good to anger an existing mystery and its kin.