Guiltythree/Archive

**Last Updated:** January
24, 2024

## "Shadow Slave" Background and Setting

List of the background and setting of the *Shadow Slave* provided by the author on his discord server.

Character Inspiration/ClarificationChat with Guiltythree:

Just to avoid misunderstanding: while I do know that "profane" means secular, in the context of the novel, I use it as a replacement for "unholy".

Nephis didn't have the Nephilim Attribute until after she finished her First Nightmare. Most likely.

Her innate Attribute is Dreamspawn, the rest came later. Just like Sunny's innate Attribute is Fated, and the rest came later.

I am 90% sure that she had another Attribute, which evolved into Nephilim when her Aspect evolved from Fire Keeper to Light Bringer. Or it was simply a new one.

It's 60% Lucifer reference and 40% Prometheus reference.

Lucifer the Light Bringer, Morning Star

Nephis the Light Bringer, Changing Star

Plus the whole fallen angel - Nephilim connection

Since Nephilim were children of fallen angels

Sunny's Child of Shadows is the result of assuming the role of a temple slave in the First Nightmare.

"Innate Attribute" is not an official term.

Sunny was born during the eclipse of the winter solstice. The longest night of the year.

Sunny's fated attribute did not come from the eclipse, it's just that the eclipse is one of the symptoms.

It's just how fated heroes are usually born in unusual circumstances, like in the heart of a storm or at the key moment of a battle. A bit of mythopoetic logic.

Sunny is a gremlin or an imp at best.

I wanted to add a lot of demonic symbolism to Nephis, but not a demon as they are shown these days, the "original" meaning of a demon as a fallen angel.

Mixed with the Greek understanding of a "demon" - daemon

But basically, one of the interpretations of how daemons were different from theoi (gods) is that daemons possessed similar powers, but were fleeting, and thus much more terrifying - they appeared, caused catastrophic change (sometimes good, but mostly bad), and disappeared. You couldn't reason with them as you could with gods, by making sacrifices and so on, so that's why they were feared.

That's a deep-cut academic interpretation, though. And the whole thing is further compounded by the fact that there were also other daemons, who were basically spirits of things, like a daemon of a river, or a daemon of a home, etc.

Spellweave

There is the Spellweave. That is what we've seen the most because Sunny studies Memories (and one Echo) - both Memories and Echoes are creations of the Spell. So Spellweave comes from the creator of the Spell. Then there is a cruder version of Spellweave, which is how the Prince of the Underworld created magic. Why is there such a similarity? Who knows :] And then there is everything else. Point is, Spell magic is not the only all-encompassing type of sorcery. Sunny's Aspect comes from Shadow God, so of course, it wouldn't use Spellweave :]

Runes and Unknowns

Everyone sees the same runes, the details changes depending on their Aspect, but mostly it's the same. Unless people have different perceptions, like if they're blind. Then the Spell finds other ways to express itself.

There are two types of runes that the Spell doesn't translate and just puts "unknown".

The creatures connected to the -unknown- that Sunny met were indeed connected to a type of darkness.

Unknown and -unknown- is what Sunny calls the runes that the Spell doesn't translate.

The Spell does spell out "unknown" in the translation, but the runes themselves do not.

There are runes that the Spell translates as -unknown-, but when Sunny looks at the runes and not the translation, they do not spell "unknown" in the rune language he knows. They are unfamiliar runes that cause headaches.

And the Spell doesn't translate it correctly, just skips with a placeholder word -unknown-

There are two types of these forbidden runes.

Government and Legacy Clans

While great Legacy Clans are more powerful in the Dream Realm, government is more powerful in the real world. The government is responsible (in terms of the Spell) for policing the Awakened who break the law and defending people against the Gates, among other things.

The government has an army, special Awakened forces, and Masters whose duty is to deal with Gates. But - a Gate opens somewhere, and all those government soldiers need time to arrive. Local Awakened are the quick response team, their job is to hold monsters off until the cavalry - government forces - arrive.

The government might have its own small Citadels in the Dream Realm, but not too many. Mostly, their Awakened have enclaves, sort of like embassies, in the Citadels of the established clans, and serve as a bit of a connective tissue between the three Great Clans.

Clans don't have cities/countries in the real world. They have estates and holdings, but are simply high ranking citizens (at least on paper).