Shadow Field Notes 5

The physicality of the shadows.

The shadow-kind are just that -- literally made of shadow, owing as much to metaphor as to reality.  The shadow-stuff of which they are made is held together not by bone and tendon, muscle and skin, but by a sort of surface tension, anchored by the glowing patterns that adorn them.  This is why shapeshifting comes so easily to the shadow-kin;  in order to change their form, they have only to reshape their surface.  If this surface tension is broken, they are wounded;  without the patterns to constrain their chaos into form, they cease to exist.  Any resemblance to the living things of the mortal world is no more than that -- ideas and archetypes, reflected in the shadows they cast.

As such, shadow-kin are not subject to most of the biological needs and limitations known by mortals.  They need not have internal organs, unless as a feature of the shape they have chosen to take.  When wounded, they do not bleed;  what escapes their ruptured surface is not blood, but wisps of shadow.  They do not need to breathe, having no metabolic requirements for oxygen, and therefore are incapable of drowning.  They are impervious to non-magical drugs and poisons that rely on mortal body chemistry to work (including alcohol).   Nor do they need to sleep, except perhaps occasionally to rest the mind, or after great exertion, or when wounded.  Even then, their sleep more closely resembles a state of deep meditation than the physical state of sleep as experienced by mortals.  They rarely dream.

The one thing the shadow-kind do share with all living beings is that they must use energy to exist, and must replenish that energy.  They may regain energy by feeding from mortal suffering, usually caused by the shadow-kin themselves.   They may also consume the substance of either their fellow shadow-kin or the shadows of mortals -- comically labeled as "shadow-goo" by some -- for nourishment.  This shadow-substance normally disperses quickly when removed from the being it belonged to, but if caught in time, may be eaten raw, prepared, or even fermented.  This last is a tricky process, difficult to master, but the resulting brew is one of the few ways a shadow can become intoxicated.

Shadow-kin are, of course, adversely affected by light.  Weaker shadows suffer the most;  they may be damaged even by sufficiently bright indoor lighting (a lamp, or a large fire), and certainly will be hurt by sunlight.  As shadow-kin gain in power, they become less vulnerable to these sources of light, until they may withstand indoor lighting and indirect sunlight.  The higher orders of the shadow-kin may walk unharmed even in the noonday sun.  However, it isn't just the brightness of the light that matters -- it's the type of light.  Natural light is less of a problem than magical light, and the radiance of the light spirits is the worst of all.  Only the Zalmunna can bear the full radiance of a Sideran, just as only a Sideran's light can pierce the darkest shadows of the Zalmunna.  Exposure to the Light Realm will destroy all but the most powerful shadows, and even the Zalmunna can't stay there indefinitely.

Being made of shadow results in some other interesting physics as well.  The shadow-kind have no body temperature:  their surface is neither warm or cold to the touch.*  Because they can reshape themselves at will, they can also change their density, and thus their weight.  This lets them perform seemingly impossible acrobatic maneuvers during combat, for example.  However, they can't quite lighten their weight enough to escape gravity entirely;  even at the lowest densities they will slowly drift downward.  In this state they are also vulnerable to being blown about by wind.  In truth, most shadow-kin prefer enough weight to keep them on the ground and make movement practical.  

Sex is the area where the metaphorical is most strongly at play.  After all, the shadow-kin are not born, but are spawned from the essence and principle of chaos.  Therefore, there is no biological need for sex, or indeed for gender.  A shadow-kin's sexual organs can often be nebulous;  sometimes they are entirely absent, or may only be manifested at need.  Still, pleasure is a powerful motivation, and the shadow-kin are not immune to its blandishments.  Sexuality thus runs the gamut from completely asexual individuals to androgynes to individuals with fully defined gender identity;  from homosexual to heterosexual orientation; and anything and everything between.

Interestingly, while shadow-kin cannot reproduce sexually with each other (there's enough newling shadows as it is) they can, and occasionally do, reproduce with other sorts of beings, including mortals and even light spirits.  However, the mixing of shadow and light is generally avoided, as there is no telling what the results will be.


*Dimas' fire is an exception;  it always feels hot, though he can will it not to burn (and usually does, or he'd set everything on fire everywhere he went -- an impracticality even for Dimas.)