Shadows

The Shadows are a group of mysterious and highly dangerous beings led by a powerful primordial known as Void. Not much at all is known about them, but one thing is sure: they hunt and kill Plainswalkers. The true reason behind the act is unknown, but it’s speculated that they get rid of any Plainswalkers in a specific realm so that they can do something they call “assimilation”.

## Shadow ranks:

Thanks to the -admittedly limited- amount of information given by Plainswalkers that managed to get some information and survive an encounter with one, it was learned that Shadows divide themselves into 4 main ranks:

* Servitor
* Orchestrator
* Harbinger
* Dark Knight

Each of the ranks possess increasing levels of strength, with the Dark Knight being the most powerful. It’s hypothesized that there might also be another class above Dark Knight, but information about it has either never been found, or the informator has been lost by said Shadow killing them.

## How Shadows are formed:

When a person with the potential to become a Plainswalker dies, they get sent to Limbo, a space at the fringes of the multiverse. A Rift connection (the small, glowing light) stops the limbo world from collapsing in on itself, and offers an escape to Plainswalkers. However, the connection is not always strong enough to prevent this from happening, or it can (very rarely) not form at all. The limbo world would collapse, and then it and the person then fuse into each other, turning the dead person into a vessel of great power- a Shadow. Their memories and the good bits of their personality are ripped out, and evil thoughts and desires are enhanced. The power overloads the person's body, destroying their physical form and using the material that makes up the limbo world as a shell. This shell can be reshaped, allowing Shadows to shape-shift. The power keeps on pouring into the shadow until they are immolated by it and get blasted to the realm Void. There, they are greeted by Void, and take a name for themselves. The Shadows see themselves as crusaders of darkness, ready to enact Lord Void’s will of making the realms become one.

## Where Shadows live, Or the Realm of Void:

Void is the home of the shadows. It expands with each realm the Shadows conquer (including residents and landmarks), drawing it into itself and assimilating it. The new realm merges landmarks and locations into Void at random. There are three suns there that burn black in a red sky, and the only colours are blacks, greys, and the glowing red of a shadow's eyes.

There are non-Shadows living in Void. These are the inhabitants of the assimilated Realms. They live in tribes that war with each other for resources like food and water, as there is very little that survives the merger. Food has to be grown, although the ground has very little nutrients in it, and water sources often evaporate away under the burning heat of the suns, making both of them precious. Life is hard there, and everything must be fought for. The strong take what they need from the weak.

The Shadows either make use of these inhabitants as playthings or entertainment, enjoying their petty squabbles, or testing their own abilities against them. The Shadows always win.

Shadows do have a hierarchy. At the top is Void, creator of the realm, and King. The level below him are the Dark Knights; death machines who are deployed specifically to kill Plainswalkers. They act as shock troops too, storming into a realm and culling its defenders. Below them are the Orchestrators. They are the ones who destabilise a realm and conduct its assimilation.

## Shadows and possession:

Shadows can possess any sentient creature, excluding Plainswalkers. They are impossible to expel unless the subject they’re possessing is extremely strong willed, or unless the subject is injected with Rift energy. (Said energy is gathered by Rifthearts who condense the stuff into a liquid form and store it in special containment units.) During the aftermath of being possessed, there would be side-effects such as increased aggression, red (but not glowing) eyes, and hints of a dark, mist-like aura around the person. These effects can be nullified by a shot of Rift energy.

It's nigh-impossible to possess a Riftheart, and even the ambient rift energy in a regular PW is painful for Shadows to be around, as the PW’s connection to the rift starts tearing apart the Shadow’s life-force.

## Shadow windows:

Shadows travel the realms by literally tearing a hole in the fabric of the realm they’re entering. Imagine poking a hole through a piece of paper, and you get the picture. The torn parts have a glowing red edge to them, and the gap between them leads to Void. The Shadow goes through and the tear closes behind them.