Army of Shades

First deployed during The Last War, the Army of Shades were one of the most devastating attack forces used by various empires during The Rending War. Finally deployed by the Empire of Basat to destroy the High Ashad Isha at the very end of the Rending conflict, Isha famously met with the Shades' leader, Nikah and convinced her to join The Five Nations and protect The One Hundred Thousand from the Empires' combined forces. This was considered one of the most critical shifts for the Empires, which led to their eventual downfall.

History

The Shades were first developed by the Empire of Keshwar as an assault unit to take on and overwhelm the growing empires in the early pre-history of the Five Empires. This gave Keshwar a great advantage over other cultures growing up on the eastern continent, allowing them to dominate great swathes of territory previously controlled by the Empire of Tikhtai and Basat. They were designed using Forced Kata Extraction and other forms of Kata-based technologies, giving them increased speed and endurance, the ability to survive in the hyperarid terrain of Keshwar's northern territories without the need for a strong supply chain. They remained undefeated and were only limited by the difficulty of creating Shades in the first place.
When the Last War ended with an effective stalemate, The Council of the White Tree determined that Forced Kata and other related technologies should be banned and the Shades destroyed. What happened to them in the intervening period between the end of the Last War and their appearance in the Rending War is not known. The first mention of them in any surviving documentation is found in Tallats Codex, which provides only hazy details of the acquisition of a number of coffins and caskets, including that containing the Shades' leader, Nikah.
The Codex goes on to describe Tallat's attempts to revivify and strengthen the Shades over a number of years. Some additional evidence from the patchy journals of Lor and his later interrogation by members of the Council of the White Tree, suggests that while Tallat's work was being funded from an early stage by House Mukh, and that senior members of more than one of Basat's most powerful Houses were providing assistance. This may even have included locating and transporting the Shades' caskets and giving Tallat protection from Council agents.
Despite receiving help from these Houses, the Shades did not re-emerge as a significant force in the Rending War until its conclusion. It is thought by later historians that House Mukh may have intended to use the Shades as shock troops much earlier, but the need to capture The God Machine from Keshwar outweighed the advantages to be gained by waiting.
The decision behind the desire to wait may also have been partly a result of the Basati desire to maintain or restore the status quo, albeit with ostensible control of the Council of the White Tree. Using the Shades too early may have been seen to be too destructive of Basat's chances of maintaining control and trading advantages. Amnari historians make this claim largely on the basis that the Shades were only deployed when it became clear that there was no way that order would be restored to Basat's (or, more accurately, House Mukh's) advantage. The Shades appear to have been sent into Keshwar after the destruction of House Mukh by Talija.
Regardless, their appearance in the newly-created Duum Canyon prompted many to believe that they would be able to overwhelm Isha and the assembled Avatars. Isha went out to meet Nikah at what would become the At-Alesh: The First Temple of Isha, where she apparently convinced Nikah to shift allegiance and lend support to The Five Nations instead. The Army of Shades took on the external defence of the canyon to the north, preventing the Empires' other armies from reaching the caves. Nikah was also instrumental in providing assistance by sending Shades into the Gap Chamber during The Rending itself.

Type

Shock

Founding

(Pre-FEA)

Dissolution

0 FEA-1AIA

Overall training Level

Elite

Assumed Veterancy

Veteran

Used by

• Congress of Stom
• Empire of Basat
• Empire of Keshwar
• The Council of the White Tree