Major Players:
The Forces of Shadow are
dominated by a series of very old, powerful covens. These covens dominate
lesser groups of the Shadow and so forth in turn. Each of these covens are tied
to their racial heritage, the genetic memories that drive their unifying
spirit, and also fuel their ages-old hatred and loathing for both man and each
other.
All beings of Shadow have
the following traits in common:
Veil of the Shadow: all such entities, tied inextricably to the Shadow planes, are
veiled within its confines, and when destroyed, are also reclaimed by this
nether-essence when destroyed. The lore of the supernatural suggests that they
believe the Shadow is the lingering tether they hold to their native dimensional
realm, a plane close to Earth, from which all beings of Shadow originate. Some
(the vampires, ghouls, and such) believe they were exiled from this dimension,
which they call Gehenna and other names. Others, such as the Elohim, believe
they chose to leave it and do not wish to return. They see Earth as paradise,
the Elysian Fields of which they long ago sought out and found.
The ancient history of
the Shadow has pervaded much occult lore, if one can seek it out. All
beings of Shadow believe they descend from an ancient legacy. The Elohim
contend that their oldest ancestors were the very Annunaki proto-gods of old
Mesopatamia. The vampires ascribe so many supernatural myths of predation to
the legacy of their ancestors.
All beings of Shadow, veiled
in shadow, cannot be discerned for what they really are by man. It is
believed that the essence of Shadow protects its own, obscuring its kin in a
clever mental illusion. As such, the legacy of the Shadow Slayers is
frightening to the beings of Shadow, for this small percentage of humans are
gifted with the powers to penetrate the illusion.
The veil of shadow
waxes and wanes with the eons, and astrological charts have been known to
exist which seem to divine when these periods of strong and weak shadow are
forthcoming. During periods of weak shadow, the veil becomes easier for mortals
to penetrate, and such periods are a time when the supernatural are more
readily exposed, hunted, and destroyed. The last great period of waning shadow
was during the middle ages, and then later the renaissance. Waxing periods of
Shadow mean that the veil has become noticeably stronger, and the veil is more
difficult to penetrate, such that open acts of destruction can go unnoticed by
mortals, who become like easy cattle. Such periods always seem to mark a rise
in the number of Shadow Slayers, as well. The present day is one such period of
Waxing Shadow.
The beings of Shadow
operate under an ancient pact, called the Concordance in the present, which
sets aside specific rules of conduct among their own kind. Specifically, it
requires that no being of Shadow be allowed to fray or damage the veil under
which they have protection. A being that damages the veil, and exposes it or
others like it to the mortals in an egregious manner, is punished for his
transgressions. However, it is very difficult to do this; such an being would
have to go public, and openly display his or her supernatural talents to
mortals. Even then, the veil will work to deceive, and mortals will take him to
be huckster or stage magician in all likelihood, but his brethren will know,
and seek him out for destruction.
The beings of Shadow
have held a secret war for countless generations. At times one faction may
ally with another, but they all struggle to maintain their sense of superiority
in the world. The Lycanthropes are age-old enemies of the vampires, for
example, but loose allies with the Elohim. The Elohim are enemies of the
vampires, see the lycanthropes as occasionally useful, and are violently opposed
to the Old Spirits (whom they fought against in the ancient days to be
recognized as gods by man, before pacts of secrecy drove all beings of Shadow
in to darkness). The Old Spirits, of course, are enemies of all, even
themselves, and occasionally have been allies of all factions at one time or
another.
Most beings of Shadow
strongly believe in the notions of a defined war of Order and Chaos.
They subscribe to the notion that agents of their factions are split down these
principles, and that it stems from a much older legacy of worship to the True
Gods, the gods which they all know, in fact, exist and are the true seeds of
creation. These gods are ancient and largely unknown by mortals. The most
esoteric and learned of occult writings reference these deities, which are
sometimes confused by old beings of Shadow who have long been misidentified as
deities by men of old or occult agents in the modern day (Baal, for example, or
the Elohim Sol, who are both currently active).
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Current Factions:
The Vampires: a series of covens defined by their type, and led by dark queens
and kings. They answer to no one save the True Lord of Night. The vampires
worship a selection of ancient deities believed to be their creators, including
Khoth, Nerul, and Yitzam. They believe that their homelands of the Shadow were
the true Gehenna, Pandemonium, and Hades.
In the present day, a
movement among the vampires suggest that their destiny is to bring the Shadow
to the mortal realm of Earth, permanently. Certain architects, such as the
Nosferatu vampire lord Edward Gamble and his minions, are attempting to create
occult spells which will drag large volumes of the Shadow Plane in to the
mortal realm, with the intent of transforming an entire mortal city in to a new
Necropolis. They believe this will herald the end times for man, and will merge
the two planes.
Edward Gamble is also in
control of a militant sect of vampires known as The Necropolis Sect.
They are led by Malcom Blaylock and others, and are truly grotesque vampires
who have lived long but suffered much under the hands of mortals, and who now
work as assassins of known Shadow Slayers. They are thaumaturges, summoning
demons from the Shadow to destroy the Shadow Slayers.
The vampires use many
pawns, including risen dead, ghouls, enthralled mortals, summoned demons, and
an occasional bound spirit. They are also well-entrenched within the
communities of man, and in any given city the lord of that domain will have a
firm grip in the civic government, police force, or media (and sometimes all
three).
The vampires are opposed
by several enemies. The Elohim have held an ancient grudge, and will always
seek to destroy the vampire power structure. Some vampires blame the elohim for
Shadow Slayer manifestations, but no truth to the matter has ever been
established on this. The vampires have also attracted the attention of more
conventional mortal interests; Department 7 of the FBI is a well-funded,
very secretive unit which operates against the vampire threat on most occasions
(though it will just as easily target other factions). Finally, a mortal cult
dedicated to Khoth, a subsect of the Rosicrucians who have identified Khoth
with Set, seek to attain occult mastery over the vampires. The Cultists of
Khoth, led be Araham Al’hadim in Egypt and Clarence Monahan in the US, are
well aware of the fire they play with, but have discerned much of the beings of
Shadow, and believe that they are an aberration meant to be controlled by men,
who are in turn empowered by the mystical teachings of Khoth.
The Elohim are a
much smaller but still very powerful faction, and rival the vampires in
tenacity and interest in controlling mortal affairs. Elohim are secreted away
at the tops of tall buildings, nestled in corporate offices, or operating
secluded communities of enlightened mortals who worship them like gods. They
seem to yearn for such worship, and though they contend that they were not
exiled from the Shadow Plane thousands of years ago, but instead left of their
own choice, it seems clear that some ancient legacy haunts them.
The Elohim use minions,
mostly enlightened mortals, and some summoned demons and other spirits. They
never affiliate with the undead, and are violently opposed to the vampires (yet
they do not seek to destroy the vampires, merely contain them, explaining that
the balance of chaos must always be appeased). Only when the vampires get too
strong to the Elohim seek to destroy them, culling their numbers. Some elohim
have been known to approach or manipulate Shadow Slayers, but all contend that
they have no part in the creation of such enlightened mortals.
Lesser factions of power
include Lycanthropes, who are often loosely organized clans throughout
the backwoods of the world, and rarely gentrified. The loose honor system keeps
them united against common foes, but they dislike politics, and seek instead to
keep to their own diabolic desires and aims. They do not like nature, even
though they often hide within it; the embrace of their beastiality drives them
to psychotic passions and madness. Too many lycanthropes were once human, and
the taint of the beast, said to have been granted to them eons ago by dark
gods, along with the racial memories which flood the minds of its victims,
creates seriously unstable personalities.
The Old Spirits are a diverse faction, entities which claim to have been inherent
to the land, though a few occult scholars suggest that this is not possible.
Likewise, such beings are very well versed in hiding in shadow, and their connection
to the Shadow Plane is evident. More likely, they represent a much older
migration of supernatural beings, going back to the dawn of mankind or even
before. The Old Spirits are highly diverse, having long ago changed and
manipulated their forms to reflect the demons and spirits of the day, and are
often identified as manifestations of old mythic monsters and gods. Medusa, the
Minotaur, Pazzuzzu, and the Black Forest Ogre are all known old spirits, and
very powerful. Though not united, each Old Spirit is individually and with its
followers an army in its own right.
Other Shadow beings,
which have no true faction, but are often part of the fray as either
participants or fodder include the Fae, the ghosts and spirits of
the dead, and the monstrous manifestations (horribly mutated beings that defy
classification). The demons, summoned and manipulated so often, are also
suspected by some to be a hidden faction, and perhaps hold the trump card over
all other factions. They may either be summoned from the Shadow Plane, or
comprised of the literal essence of Shadow, and are perhaps the dark guardians
of its gates, placed there to forever bar the beings of Shadow from re-entry.
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