Shadowlost
A lesser-known heritage of humanity, shadowlost are rare beings with very short lifespans. Lithe and gloomy in appearance, they blend into darkness easily and most seem entirely devoid of colour. When seen in the light, they emit wisps of smoke-like shadow, betraying their connection to the realm of souls.
Shadowlost are most commonly born of regular humans. Beings touched by the Veiled mistress in times of death and loneliness are cursed to bear shadowlost children. Such children are commonly mistreated for what they are, reflections of their parents' miseries, and unlikely to grow old enough to ever stand up to their abusers.
Shadowlost are put to great use in combating the influence of the realm of souls, given their remarkable abilities to see and hear the spirits of the dead without magical assistance. Shadowlost children are often employed by the faith to speak to the spirits of the recently deceased to discover truths about important murders, and also to combat the wraiths who lash out at the living from beyond the veil of death.
Parents of shadowlost children are often convinced to turn them over to special orphanage-like homes as young children. As so they can be trained for the duties required of them, and also escape from the torment of the masses, living out their short lives in relative peace. In such places, the Veiled Mistress is vilified as an antithesis of the faith.
The short lifespans of Shadowlost are entirely due to a strange occurrence known as 'the vanishing' which occurs without fail sometime in their early twenties. There are few who can be asked about the vanishing, as it always happens when the shadowlost is entirely alone and in a dark place. To most, it seems as though another shadowlost child has poofed into thin air, but those few who survived have told of how the Veiled Mistress appeared to them, accepting them for all they are and then disappearing without a word. It is incredibly rare for shadowlost raised by the faith to survive their vanishing. One can only assume that the young adults who disappear are whisked away with her. Children she disapproves of perhaps?
Regardless of the how, Shadowlost who survive their vanishing almost always go on to achieve great things. They are natural mages with great presence, determination, and conviction, and aren't known to take no for an answer when it comes to the direction of their lives.
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