The miner's picks slammed into the rocks wall of the now elongated cave.
Carts for gold and silver were ready for extraction down the tunnel, but
were still empty. Other smaller bins were empty as well, each had a label
hanging off of it. It had taken years for this seam to stop producing.
When it was first discovered it had produced enough wealth to sustain a city
around the mine. The times had shifted though. With the seam producing
less every day, it was only a group of scavenging miners that picked away at
the wall. Hope of finding a second seam drove them on. That and the little
bits of metals or gems they game across from time to time. It made enough
to hold the group of four's hunger at bay and even occasionally enough to
spend a night on the town, but never did it make more than that. It was on
this particular evening that they came across a jewel of unknown type.
While this was not necessarily uncommon, this one jewel was strikingly
beautiful. An opal, clear with clouds of midnight and bolts of blue mist.
The miners were mesmerized by the stones beauty, but not enough to keep it.
It was time to take the measly haul from this month to the market. It was
busy as always in the market district, but they made a straight line for the
local jeweler. What better place to sell jewels? They dumped their small
bags contents onto the glass showcase. The opal rolled away by itself,
catching the light just right to nearly roll off the counter unseen. The
jeweler gaped slightly, partially at the stones beauty and partially out of
surprise. There had been an inquiry the week before for such a stone. By
that evening the miners had walked away far richer than they had originally
expected and the jeweler had made twice that much in return.
The Opal
The black opal now rest on a three pronged stand in the study of a long
and others the table. The shadow began to grow. Small oil lamp. The
liquid was thick and oozy, black as tar and held a sickeningly bitter sweet
aroma. It was perfect timing, the moon was precisely at its newest stage
and shed no light. Even the stars were somehow dimmed on this night. The
liquid had thickened into a malleable mass and was being shaped with fervor
around the opal. It was still hot and no doubt the mans hands would be
blistered or worse, but he worked on. Speed and accuracy of forming and
smoothing it around the stone. As the liquid hardened on the outside of the
stone and it was placed back on the three pronged stand. It began quietly,
a tired chant from the worn out man. Not once did his voice falter over the
course of the next hour. Over and over he recited it, till at long last the
casing on the stone began to glow. His voice raised loud in a new chant.
The glow cracked and flickered violently. Thunder shook the room and wind
howled past from what seemed like all directions. The man lost
consciousness and slumped over the table, but as he did he hit the stand.
Over the stand toppled and the stone fell with it off the table. The stone
hit the floor with a flash of lightning, the casing glowed brighter and
brighter until it shattered. Pieces flew in every direction, pelting the
room with debris. The opal hovered and slowly, tendrils of black began to
form around it. Tiny tendrils touched the floor and others the table. The
shadow began to grow.
The Shade
As the tendrils became thicker and grew, they reached out at the world
around it. They stretched with power outward, reaching at nothing in
particular, but did not stop stretching till they came in contact with
something. The tendrils grew in number and density, becoming thicker and
darker with each passing moment. Soon the shadowy substance had touched
nearly everything in the room. It was then it started to liquify and absorb
the things it had touched, turning them into shadows as it did so. A
figurine on the table near the now unconscious man. It was the first item
to be absorbed, the thin figure of a young woman. It took hours, but
eventually most of the items had been turned into the liquid shadow and
incorporated into the growing shade. The last item to turn in such a way
was a book, but as it did so the tendrils drifted toward the man, gaining
mass as they crossed the room. Shadows seemed to escape the room as the
tendrils pulled back in, forming a undulating mass of dark matter. As the
man began to open his eyes, he saw a few tendrils thicken and wrap
themselves into a not exact arm. A leg stepped out from the mass, and then
another. The shadow now rapidly changed form, becoming more and more exact
in its movements. Two legs, two arms, a head, a humanoid stood before the
man. He began to weep. The shade tilted her head slightly and reached out.
The shade's hand reached out and touched the man's head. He writhed in pain
as his body began to turn black, disintegrating into a sickly sweet smoke.
Time passed as the smoke was inhaled and each memory assimilated into the
form of shadow. Much had been learned and much had to be done now.
The shade had learned exactly what had happened and what the man had tried
to do. Shades had been a lesser race that threatened a large part of the
realms under Serin. They had lost the battle and been imprisoned in
crystals and buried far away from the reaching hands of the world. Time
passes though, and history had revealed their existence. It had been said
that you could encompass the gem in magic and draw power from it, draining
the very essence of the shade. It was luck that the man had not performed
the ritual safely and correctly. This allowed the shade to be released,
free once again.
Description:
The air darkens here, holding the form of a solidified shadow. Its
general shape takes the form of a thin humanoid, approximately five feet
tall. As it becomes more solid and defined, further details emerge. Large
eyes are seemingly composed of flawless obsidian with a circle of shattered
sapphire at their centers. Thin lips curve into razor points, thrusting
across smooth cheeks of night. Onyx threads stream from her head, curl
slightly, and disappear at mid back. Even what little covering forms around
the body is aphotic leathers, but reveals black skin and the curves of a
young woman. A lightning black opal, at first glance, seems to be a pendant
on a chain. With further inspection, there is no bail on the stone nor
chain around her neck. It appears the opal is embedded in the center of her
chest, nearly seeming as if it is supposed to be there.
what ever became of her
we may never know
[reply to Asiril]
Wake up to getting attacked because you're in the midst of counting syllables. I really liked what I saw in this character.
[reply to Amiendre]
and also entertaining
hard to talk quickly
[reply to Asiril]
[reply to Vanisse]
also hard to execute
too bad I lost her
[reply to Asiril]