Shadows
shadows.png

History

Shadows are half-corporeal entities, able to alter their solid nature at a whim.

A long time ago, before the Titans came to the Elemental world, there was an age of magic and wonder that no mortal will know again. During this age, many magical feats were accomplished that truly puts in perspective how futile the magic controlled today is.

When magicians speak of those times, they speak of three events in particular that demonstrate the power then wielded that is now lost. The first of these was caused by Aman, who they said created the moon itself. The second of these is an object that was created that possessed infinite wonder and could not be described by any other words. The last of these, by Ul'rath, was the creation of the shadow people.

Ul'rath was a young magician, and although powerful in his own rights, he was very much at a loss when he became smitten by a girl from the neighboring kingdom. Day and night he would court her, singing ballads, showing off magical feats, or in any way possible trying to get her attention. The girl was not easily swayed, and most agree she treated him unfairly by stringing him along for her amusement when she had no intention of marrying him.

Although it was normal at the time that daughters were wed off, the kingdom the girl lived in had some laws that put all the power in the hands of the women. The laws said that any girl to be married had to question the manhood of any suitor and she would do so by proposing an act or a quest that the man had to accomplish. Of course, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that if the girl was interested in the man, the task was often as simple as throwing a rock or drinking a cup of ale. If the girl really did not like the man, an impossible task was set.

Eventually, Ul'rath had manipulated the girl's father into promising the girl to him, and thus the girl's only choice was to use the law to question his manhood and turn him away. Alas the girl was living in a world she did not understand. She asked for Ul'rath to give her his shadow as a token of his affection, to the mirth of all onlookers. The girl's father laughed but Ul'rath set his mind to the task and one week later arranged for the demonstration. At noon that day, Ul'rath poured all his magical power into achieving this goal and he succeeded in pulling his shadow from the ground.

But the shadow was more than something Ul'rath could give away. It was a real, living entity, a corporeal two-dimensional being that had been forced into three dimensions by the magic of its maker. Thus, the Shadows were created.

The story of Ul'rath ends there, although it is known that the girl eventually married him and that he lived all his days without his shadow.

Many things are questioned when discussing the shadows. Are all shadows sentient? Or do they gain sentience when "created"? What is a shadow really, if it is not the darkness left behind by light that is stopped by something? How do the shadows multiply, as they have been doing since their creation?

The shadows will speak only rarely and under duress as to the truth of such questions. They explain that they existed as two-dimensional beings, and that to explain what they remember before their making would be impossible. "Imagine", they say, "a world with no color – no light, no dark, no other combination of the spectrum. Then a man asks you to describe the color blue. That is what it means to understand the before and after of a Shadow." The first shadow made by Ul'rath, that calls itself Rud, was asked the same question and famously pointed to the sky and shouted – "Blue! Blue! Blue!". Thus, the Shadows are tolerated as they seem to not recall anything that happened to them before their making – their "making" being when they were torn from the two-dimensional existence into a corporeal form. As to how precisely they are made, that is mostly unknown, although Rud and many other shadows have become quite adept magicians themselves and ever since the Shadows first appeared as a race, the shadows of some people have gone missing, never to return.

The Shadows themselves appear to have a physical form, and they can of course affect things around them like any normal man. But they are not always solid and a person can see through them most of the time. When attacked, they can grow less solid and thus avoid many wounds they would normally take. They wear special shadowforged armor that consists completely out of non-living shadows. This shadow armor mimics the real armor worn by other races. Strangely, shadows use "normal" weapons and shields, although exactly why that is has never been clarified.

Faction Strengths/Weaknesses

Strengths

Shadowforged Armor Armor and weapons cost half the normal production and metal. They also cost 25% less Crystals. Upgrading trained units cost half as much as it normally would.

Faction may not build Weaponsmiths or Armorer improvements and automatically raze any they find
Uncertain Fame The Shadows are trusted less than the other factions. After all, they are a bit strange around the edges. If they prove their intentions, the people of the wastes will flock to their banners.

Faction suffers -25% Growth in all cities. For each Quest completed, faction gains +0.5 Faction prestige
Shard Duality As a Kingdom, the Shadows naturally spread the life of such factions around them. However Shadows are not like other Kingdoms, for their life always begins in another's death.

All improvements that produce Life Shard power also produce Death Shard power
Flexible Ideology This faction can recruit Empire and Kingdom champions
Otherworldly Sight All armies led by a Shadow sovereign or a Shadow trained unit gains +1 Sight

Weaknesses

No Ranged Weapons This faction's armies cant use ranged weapons like bows and magical staves. Champions are still able to use the ranged weapons they find.
No Natural Birth Each Shadow unit requires 1 Shadow resource per member. The faction starts with 20 Shadows. Each 300 Population in all controlled cities produce 1 Shadow per turn as they are collected from the dead
No Magma Forge This faction may not build or benefit from Magma Forges

Bloodline

Bloodlines apply to all units of this race.

UnitstatIcon.png Blood: Shadow +10 Dodge against any Ranged attack. Shadows gain +10 Dodge against Beasts. Shadows gain +15 Resistance to physical attacks and suffer -50 Lightning resistance. Shadows gain +5 Moves during the first round in tactical combat.

Shadows count as:
Humanoid
Genderless

Shadow Champions may not pursue the Path of the Defender. Shadow Champions may not learn the following spelltraits: Fire3, Fire4 or Fire5.

Special Traits for Unit Designs

These traits are exclusive to this faction and can be used for their Unit Designs.

Trait Cost Effect
Shadowbreaker 12HourGlass_Icon.png When this unit attacks any enemy, there is a 1 in 15 chance that the enemy suffers the Broken Shadow trait. It does not expire at the end of combat. The trait reduces Spell Mastery by 10, and the unit loses 10 Accuracy when attacking any Shadow.
Fluid Edges 8HourGlass_Icon.png Unit gains 10 Dodge but also suffer -25 Fire Resistance.
Killing Shadow 12HourGlass_Icon.png
1Icon_Crystal.png
Unit ignores 15% of target Defenses from armor. This stacks with other similar bonuses.

This trait costs 1 Crystal per unit member
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License