Shadow // Darkness

Lurking in the shadows, like legends.

The darkness was his ally. The heist a minor success. The thief was running away from the approaching law enforcers but he was not worried. He knew how to escape their grasp. He only had to find the next dark alley to slip into, mutate his appearance into that of a different person and he will slip away scot-free. With nimble steps he slithered into the alley of his choosing and was about to stop and prepare his spell when he stumbled over a hobble in the ground, followed by a repressed 'Ouch!' He had not even time to process what made him trip as a big Drake emerged from the shadows like a predator and grabbed the unfortunate thief with pitch-black limbs, pulling him partially into the shadows, restricting his movement.
The drake grinned at the thief, flashing his teeth as his scales shifted back to a crimson red.


"And that is the fall of you, criminal. In these perimeters are the shadows your mortal enemy. You should have known better."

The Darkness is the usual ally of all kinds of criminals, filth and charlatans. These lowlifes feel safe the moment their identity is obscured by darkness and start to drop their guard. But they shouldn't. Because there might be someone lurking in the shadows, waiting for their prey or actively travelling through the matter where light doesn't strike. An Unseen is always a factor that is usually discarded as an improbable case. Given the sheer rarity of the shadow walkers, many criminals take the risk of not checking every shadow for the treacherous bumps being easy prey for these sorcerers.

Submerge // Drag under

He was tasked to intercept the thief. Stay stealthy, the old surprise and corner tactic. Asking that from a drake usually was meant as a taunt or joke, but he had the symbiotic abilities to do exactly what was asked of him. He exhaled and inhaled, letting the Veil run through his massive body, attuning himself to the shadows his feet were currently touching. The shadows react to him opening himself to them via ripples and he crouched, setting one foot down, into the shadow, below the tangible. Stepping down into the shadow realm more and more of his body got consumed by the black embrace, up until only the back of his head remained, an inconspicuous large pebble in the street. Now the waiting game began. He glanced up, through the foggy dark mirror to the real world, and stood focused, readying his grip. Patience is the virtue of the predator.

The shadow realm is a hypothetical mirror universe which can only exist within solid space, having many exits to the real world via mirrors, disguised as shadows to the unknowing. This realm is void and empty, and only Unseen can be found in that exclusive place. The realm is what the Unseen requires it to be. It has steps to descend or a pitfall for emergency dives into the dark beyond.


While Unseen are the only mages able to willingly travel into the shadow realm can they force others to join them in the weird space. If an Unseen grabs someone or something they can submerge it into the dark realm, forcing them into a stage of partially shadowcharged being able to withstand the impossible position without getting crushed, but unable to move or even feel anything below the access point into the shadow.

It was an alarming feeling. Getting stared down at the red drake, while only his head was still present in the tangible world. That must be how a paraplegic must feel he thought. What if that was what was currently happening to him? He looked up to the drake, fear in his eyes, unable to do anything but exist. But the cop's heart was not made of stone and he sighed.


"Don't look at me like that. You are a thief, not a murderer. I could cause you a rude awakening but I won't. Keep calm, we are no monsters."

Aquired Through
Symbiosis with a -todo-
General Name
Unseen

Related School

Exotic manifestation of the gate of corruption

Related Element

Strong association to the Earth element / weak association to the fire element

Effect Duration

As long as there are shadows present

Effect Casting Time

Like stepping into goo

Range

Touch-based

Physical Alterations

At first glance an Unseen does not receive any mutations or adaptations through their symbiosis that will make it easier for them to withstand their own powers or hard-countering any other magics. If one however takes a closer look at the skin/fur/scales/feathers of the Unseen one can spot a general makeover of the mentioned. The surface of the humanoid is able to absorb sunlight in such an extreme measure that it temporarily blackens them overloading the skin with melanin. The shaded body makes the Unseen difficult to track when partially submerged in the shadows. Some use this skin tone shift also for disguising means if they have to submerge amongst the masses quickly.
That physical ability is however rendered completely useless in the absence of natural sunlight. In the darkness, they have to rely on their very element.

Flashlights

Like any being relying on a specific state messing with it will cause harm to the user. The shadow realm is an impenetrable fortress, but the mere usage of a flashlight or a rapid change of light will harm the Unseen if they are currently submerged. There even have been records of unseen having vanished from one day to the next only to find a suffocated corpse lying somewhere in the evening when the shadows returned to spit the unfortunate soul out one last time.
This fear of getting snuffed out in such an honorless way caused many Unseen over the ages to research deeper, reaching into the Veil to fathom a technique to keep their own shadow alive. And some succeded, having turned their cast shadow into the deepest shades of black, unable to be extinguished by anything but the strongest floodlights.