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The Shade is an extremely powerful entity in the lore, described as a "roaming plague of darkness" that seems to seek to devour the world and destroy it forever. It is an immense threat to the world of Flight Rising, easily stronger than the gods. It could be considered the setting's main antagonist, or as close to one as there could be.

Description[]

The Shade

The Shade is a roving, mostly-disembodied force of darkness that collectively feeds on magical energy. It is said that the only remnants of the Shade in the current age are millions of fragmented wisps and tendrils that have very minor influence over the flora and fauna of Sornieth. Dragons are still not entirely sure just what the Shade is or what its goals are beyond feeding on magical energy, but it is agreed there's a sort of intelligence, even if it's not fully understood.[1]

The Shade is difficult to describe due to its nature as an otherworldly force. What is known is that its power is utterly immense, able to do battle with eight gods at once and last through a multi-century war before being destroyed. It also appears to be undying, as the combined powers of the eight gods of the First Age were unable to permanently kill it. It can easily put down single deities, such as when it attacked the Arcanist and destroyed the World Pillar. Otherwise, its abilities are vaguely defined.

The entity's appearance is mostly as vague as its powers, best described as an enormous mass of sentient darkness that teems with many hands, limbs and tendrils of smoky blackness, as well as countless sharp-toothed maws in its body of darkness. It is likely that this form is too alien and complex for even divine beings to fully comprehend, as the Arcanist had noted difficulty observing the entity.

Story[]

The Shade Attacking the Barrier

The Shade first arrived near to the end of the First Age, seemingly drawn to the world by the magic generated by the incessant fighting of the gods. It manifested as living darkness and descended as many tendrils and attacked, forcing the warring deities to cease their hostilities and band together to stop the being that sought to devour the world. The following war lasted for centuries, ending in the manifestation of the entity being destroyed and its will banished from the world. The war exacted an immense price on the world, however, leaving it at the brink of death. The result of this catastrophe was the eight gods at the time sealing themselves in the World Pillar to power a planet-wide force field, as to shield the world from the possible resurrection and return of the Shade.

Much later in the Third Age, the Arcanist would unwittingly aid in the full resurrection of the Shade, finding it residing between two galaxies. The Arcanist proceeded to scale the World Pillar and make a display of his powers in an attempt to see the Shade clearer through the barrier that the Pillar provided, but all that was accomplished was the guiding of the entity back to the world of the dragon deities. As the Arcanist's actions had apparently weakened the shield around the planet, the Shade was able to focus its fury upon the World Pillar and destroy it, resulting in a cataclysm that seemingly had enough energy to rend the Shade asunder yet again. The eight gods sealed within were released by the Pillar's end, thus beginning The New Age. The Shade still remains in the world as residual pieces of its immense form scattered across the planet.

Trivia[]

  • It has been stated by Undel that some of the non-beastclan monsters in the coliseum are Shade-controlled.[2][3]
    • Users have speculated that Talona, the Harpy Beastclan's leader may be controlled or influenced by the Shade. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen.
  • Despite being heavily aligned to darkness in appearance, the Shade seems to not be related to or controlled by the Shadowbinder, the god of darkness and shadow. This is likely due to its nature as something not of the Flight Rising world and seemingly more of a chaotic force of destruction.
  • The Shade seems to be meant as the incarnation of the remains of the pre-creation darkness and nothingness that remain in the universe. Alternatively, or perhaps at the same time, it could be seen as a representation of destruction; unrelenting and never-ending.

References[]

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