Difference between revisions of "Shade"
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Shades exist in two general states, enraged and non-enraged.{{book ref|sfs}} Shades are enraged when those around them violate the Simple Rules by moving quickly at night, lighting a fire, or drawing the blood of another. Whether or not a shade is enraged impacts both the behavior and appearance of a shade wildly. During the daylight hours, non-enraged shades are fully transparent and therefore invisible and respond to violations of the Simple Rules more slowly than they do at night. When night falls, non-enraged shades appear as ethereal, translucent, white figures that glow softly in the night. A shade's own luminescence is faint, but they may be illuminated more strongly by [[glowpaste]]. They move lazily, floating just above the ground with waves of white an arm's length long trailing behind them. As most shades are formerly people, they take the shape of the person they were before becoming a shade. However, older shades begin to lose their distinct human forms and their features begin to shift and become indistinct. A shade's eyes are said to be dead looking, void of emotion and any sign of life. Unlike many species of Cognitive Shadows, shades are not as self-aware as other Cognitive Shadow.{{wob ref|2110}} They may retain some memory of the people they once knew in life, but even this is uncertain.{{book ref|sfs}} They do not typically react to people or events in the Physical Realm, although whether they cannot see or simply do not care is unknown. In their normal state, they wander aimlessly and without purpose unless their attention is drawn and they enrage. Shades are naturally lightly repelled by living creatures, unless they have become enraged. Therefore walking slowly and carefully is usually enough to avoid accidentally touching one. Populations of shades in specific regions of the Forests fluctuate, which can dictate how many people travel through that area.
Violation of the Simple Rules is the only known way to cause a Shade to enrage and take notice of the Physical Realm.{{book ref|sfs}} Quick motion will only draw their ire during the night, and appears to be the least dangerous rule to violate as shades enrage more slowly. If a shade begins to enrage due to quick motion, falling still may cause the shades to return to their more placid state. Kindling a fire also is a violation of the Simple Rules and will draw the attention of a large number of shades. However, the light of a flame blinds shades, leaving them confused and dazed. If a fire is kindled shades will enrage quickly with no hope that they will calm down until they have tried to attack the perpetrator. They are drawn first to the source of the fire and then will look for any quick movements around it. It is worth noting that it is the act of lighting a fire, not the presence of fire itself that enrages the shades. Fire-crazed shades can still be fought with careful strategy and coordination, defeating the nearby shades and moving away from the source of the fire. Drawing the blood of another person enrages shades the quickest and causes them to be the most aggressive and dangerous. They will seek to kill the person who drew the blood first, but their rage puts anyone nearby in extreme danger. It is worth noting that blood produced by accidents or normal body processes does not enrage the shades. The blood must be exposed to the air in order for shades to notice it; the Threnodites believe they can smell it. Even if blood is drawn in a place protected by silver, shades will still throw themselves at the barriers and attempt to enter. Enraged shades will still be drawn to recently deceased corpses that are still warm, which they will still wither away.
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