The Shadows

**The Shadows**, also known as the **Darkness of the Shadows** and the **Shyth** by the Suezians, was a supernatural aspect of the Cosmius. Those who used the Shadows were known as Ghosts. Unlike the Anjo'nians, who were famous for using the Azure, ghosts drew power from raw emotions and feelings such as anger, hatred, greed, jealousy, fear, aggression, megalomania, and unrestrained passion. Powerful beings known as Cosmius Adepts were able to master the Darkness of the Shadows.

## Definition

The Shadows was a dark and evil aspect, a metaphysical power that was created by A'hllas, the Shadow God. The first known users of the Shadows were the ancient Ethrons, an alien species that conquered Suezeus during the Ethron Era. These aliens were able to harness the Shadows to harness power. The large use of the Shadows caused the planet to become corrupted, evil, dark, covered with shadows, fog and dark clouds.

In 1680, after the fall of the Ethron Supremacy, the new Suezeus King Asolas, whom instantly fell to the Shadows created a new government, the Ghost Empire.

## Nature of the Shadows

The Shadows and the Azure are commonly said to be rivals. The difference between the Shadows and Azure appears to be in how they feel to those who are aware of them. The Azure at times has been described as a flowing river: soothing, constant, with hidden strength. In contrast, the Shadows have been described as a roaring fire: obviously powerful, seductive, and potentially dangerous. Dom whom was prone to both the Shadows and the Azure mentioned the difference between the two sides. He claimed that while the Azure represented the compassion and tranquillity of all beings of the galaxy, the Shadows focused on individual passion and strength.

The Shadows was seen as having been used for selfish purposes, although many Ghosts who were accused of such selfishness claimed that the Shadows were simply a means to achieve an end. One of the most notable examples was Vincent Grey, a former Lux Republic who embraced the Shadows with the intentions of saving his wife after she was captured by the Ghost Empire, even at the expense of the Lux Republic. Many found the Shadows to be addictive, unable to resist its pull the more they were subjected to it. Even as their physical bodies slowly decayed and deformed, Ghosts became more powerful in the Shadows.

### Allure of the Shadows

The Ghosts call it enlightenment; however, no records explain exactly how a conversion to the Shadows takes place. For some, the Shadows was extremely attractive and almost impossible to reject. Every time a person in tune with the Shadows, they became more addicted to the power it brought them. The Shadow's severely corrupting influence could take control of the certain individual in certain moments, for example, as soon as King Asolas first got in tune with the Shadows, it completely took control and changed him.

Some believed the Shadows to be more generous than the Azure, as it provided power, strength, and determination. Some fell to the Shadows for the sake of knowledge, such as Vincent Grey in his fight to discover a way to save the lives of his wife.

Often the call of the Shadows was felt following a personal tragedy, as Tom Thompson and Michael Thompson experienced following the death of loved ones. Others turned to it due to need or distress, such as Evan Partrac. In addition, it was possible to be drawn to the Shadows by proximity to a nexus of Shadow energy, such as King Asolas.

Fear was most often the starting point in a slide to the Shadows—for, like a plague, it could quickly and rampantly affect individuals, groups, entire populations of cities, and even planets; and like a stream that becomes a raging river, it led naturally to anger, chaos, and unbridled power, if left unabated. When fear was thus allowed to fester and go unchecked, it could take hold and create a concentration of Shadow energy that bordered on being something that approached a vergence or nexus. Those who were Cosmius Adepts could, often with great facility, detect such concentrations. Such detection occurred, for example, by a young Tom Thompson and King Asolas: "*I can feel the power in this one. I can sense lightness and darkness in him. Love, friendship, compassion competing with fear, desperation, anger*."

### Corruption of the Shadows

The Shadows, much like a strong, addictive narcotic, affected not only the mind of the user but the appearance as well. As one immersed oneself deeper within the Darkness of the Shadows, its malevolent power took a toll on the body. Apparently that the reason for this physical degradation was because flesh and bone lacked the endurance to channel the immense power of the Shadows indefinitely. But non-Cosmius Adepts whom were exposed to Shadow energy would also be severely physically altered, as seen with the humans in Eznius back in the Ethron Era. These humans whom were treated horribly and were tortured mentally and physically by the Shadows, their physical forms deformed over time until they were known as Sathrons.

Many Ghosts experienced a change in the pigmentation of their eyes, as their normal eye colour would transform into luminous, sulphuric yellow, a blood red or dark orange, usually with fiery red rims around the irises. Further transformations could also occur could also turn the white of the eyes black or reddish in colour, as well as the skin around the eyes. The skin would lose pigmentation, becoming pale and mottled while veins became increasingly visible. At some point, the user's voice could also be altered, becoming a few pitches lower and raspier.

The effects generally progressed over time and immersion in the Shadows, and would not immediately affect one's appearance. Tom Thompson suffered none of these effects during his brief bout of intense anger that allowed him to disarm King Asolas.

The dark side could have an even greater effect on the mind, as the user often stopped trusting people and become quick to anger. Following Evan Partrac's transformation into the monstrous cybernetic Ghost, he believed his old friend Tom Thompson killed his crush Claire Finley, he also blamed him for his severe burns. His paranoia and anger lead him to hunt for him and attempt to kill him. Continued immersion in the Shadows could even result in insanity, as in the case of Tomy and the Shadow Apprentice. Tomy went insane after he was exposed to an extreme amount of Shadow energy when he was resurrected by the Shadow God and Asolas. The Shadow Apprentice whom was a Fallen, went insane in his home after the Shadows tortured him due to his betrayal to A'hllas.

## Strength of the Shadows

A common point of debate among the Anjo'nians and their dark counterparts was the strength that laid behind the darkness. A major claim of Ghosts was that the stronger, darker emotions that fuelled their power also lent them an edge over other Cosmius-sensitives. The Anjo'nians, and other groups who held to the Azure often claimed that the Shadows was a shortcut to power, but also to suffering and destruction. It is true that many Ghosts noticeably advanced in their command of the Cosmius following their conversion, like Vaylia Neilson. The Ghosts often claimed that the Zêirí were weak and foolish for not tapping into the Shadows, which they considered to be the stronger side of the Cosmius. While the darkness did provide for a more visual display of power, such as Shadow Storms, the Zêirí were capable of the same amount of power, but could not apply it in such terrible, destructive ways. However, these powers came with a price. Abilities such as Shadow storm and the unique variant of Shadow drain employed by Asolas required extraordinary immersion in the Shadows, and the practitioners of such dark powers invariably suffered significant physical mutation. Asolas for example was severely mutated as the Shadows consumed him from within.

Conversely, while the Shadows could provide its practitioners with destructive capabilities beyond that of Azure practitioners, it fell short of the Azure when it came to biologically sustainable healing. While the Shadows could be used to improve one's vitality and repair one's body as the Azure could, the results of utilising the Shadows in such a manner were almost always temporary. Nearly all Shadow based healing based powers worked only so long as the practitioner actively channelled the Shadows, and whatever malady the power was meant to treat often returned in full force the moment they ceased to do so. Dom's and Asolas' use of Shadow healing abilities present a few good examples. In Asolas' case, while he was at one point able to hold off the effects of being severely drained by the Shadows by strengthening himself through the pain and suffering of others. The Azure, on the other hand, could provide accelerated healing in a permanent, biologically sustainable fashion. However, there are a few Shadow practitioners who have demonstrated the ability to heal themselves in a more permanent fashion.

It was also noted by Professor Nelor that the Shadows was quick to aid a Cosmius-user in combat, often to great effect. Tom Thompson utilised the power of the Shadows to defeat Shadow King Asolas Danatheon during their final duel, drawing on his rage to bolster his combat effectiveness for a short time. Dom, after his transformation into a Graye, proved able to essentially stalemate the No'med Asolas during a duel, despite Asolas' overwhelming power in the Cosmius. The combat prowess exhibited by these individuals may have been the result of a lack of moral restrictions Ghosts placed on themselves. When in battle, however, the Shadows itself lent to their ferocity and determination.

One weakness that apparently lay in the Shadows, which could be seen as giving the Zêirí the upper hand, was the strife inescapably associated with it. The No'med could never ultimately destroy their foes because they were bound to, sooner or later, turn upon each other, with each one constantly striving for more power at the expense of others, and seeking to dominate everything around him. This flaw became particularly pronounced if there was no reigning No'med to keep the lesser ones in check.

Another fatal weakness that has been repeatedly illustrated in the Shadows is a lack of focus that seems to stem from a reliance on emotions such as pride, anger, and fear, which heighten powers but also lead to clouded judgement. This issue often leads to No'med being brought low by their hubris, even in situations where victory would otherwise seem assured. For example, Tom Thompson defeated both Asolas and Tomy, despite the fact that he was the less viable combatant in both situations. Younger Asolas was similarly defeated in battle by Michael Thompson during their duel despite drawing on the massive Shadow power of the Ghost. Tomy felt threatened by Tom Thompson and allowed his pride to blind him to Thompson's true power, leading to Tomy's demise. As such, it would seem that the Shadows may offer it's adherents a more tangible sort of power: one that is direct and physical, while the Azure provides a more subtle kind of power, that of focus and understanding. To their detriment, the power of the Azure is one which No'med often fail to understand and tend to underestimate.

It also should be noted that the training methods of Ghosts were often brutal, as exemplified by the No'med. One common result of this tendency was that the weaker No'med often died before ever getting the chance to fight a Zêirí, which may help to explain their high success rate against Zêirí–more weak Zêirí survived their training to fight the strongest of the No'med. Despite this disparity, the followers of the Azure proved victorious in the majority of large scale conflicts with Shadow adherents. This trend was due almost exclusively due to the infighting that inevitably occurred between the various No'med during said conflicts. However the Zêirí were not always victorious in their war against the No'med. A number of times the Zêirí Order has been defeated in galactic conflict, such as the Great Cosmius War against the Ethron Empire.

## Shadow powers

Those who wielded the Shadows found many abilities of the Cosmius easier to use, with some Cosmius powers available only to Dark Azures or Graye. Shadow Zêirí could use some Shadow abilities, but most preferred not to since Shadow abilities had aggressive, destructive, or perversely manipulative tendencies. Tom Thompson, for example, used Shadow fury during his battle against Tomy, which was almost unheard of for a Zêirí to use, unless unarmed. Powers commonly associated with the Shadows are:

* Shadow absorption
* Impetumacy
* Shadow fury
* Shadow drain
* Essence transfer
* Consume essence
* Shadow corruption
* Shadow manipulation
* Shadow pain
* Shadow paralysis

## Shadow organisations

### Graye

The oldest Shadow cult, the **Graye** were considered dangerous heretics by the orthodox Zêirí of the time for giving in to the Shadows. However, the earliest Graye left the order not out of a desire for power, but because they believed that the Zêirí Code was too limiting in its tenets. The legions were exterminated by the Zêirí Order 500 years after the formation of the Ethron Empire. Millennia later, the Graye arose again to fight the order in the Great Cosmius War, armed with alchemic knowledge this time. The conflict ensued for a full century, resulting in the last of them becoming exiles of the Zêirí Order. During the Ghost Wars, Graye joined the Ghost Empire as No'med-in-training. Throughout the galaxy, Graye continued to be a problem, some trying to claim themselves as No'med, though they were merely pretenders seeking greater power. The true No'med made their presence known hundreds of years later, though the pretenders continued their claims.

### The No'med

The most infamous Shadow cult, **the No'med** were a sect of Cosmius-sensitives bent upon the destruction of the Zêirí and domination of the galaxy. The cult was formed from the Cosmius-sensitive Ethrons of Suezeus. These Cosmius-sensitives were worshipped by the Suezians for their powers and "magic." They were proclaimed the Shadow Lords, and established an expanding Empire. The Ethron Empire would eventually fall but the No'med religion would survive, taking on numerous forms over the years. These included the Ethron Supremacy and the Ghost Empire.

The No'med were also seen as the masters of the Shadows, and the pinnacle of dark power. They perfected the art of Shadow mutations, allowing for the use of Shadow magic. The leader of the cult was known as the Shadow King. A'hllas, the Shadow God was considered the embodiment of the Shadows itself, and all power of the Shadows would flow from him.

With such great influence, the No'med religion inspired many cults that weren't technically part of the No'med, nor were they composed of actual No'med. Instead, they were founded and made up of No'med devotees and other Cosmius-sensitives dedicated to prolonging the teachings and the memory of the No'med. Such cults included the Ethron Supremacy and the Ghost Empire, all of whom sought the annihilation of the Zêirí and the rise of the No'med to ultimate domination over the entire galaxy.