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Description
Common Names: Shadow, Darkness
Academic Name: Umbra sapiens
Clade: possibly heavily-mutated Hirudinea
Lenght: 2 meters
Weight: unknown
Diet: emotions
Intelligence: Sapient
Abilities:
-Light as air itself
-Can become immaterial for limited time
-Fuses with other creature's shadows
-Shapeshifting
-Flight
-Shadow-walk

Shades are perhaps the most puzzling creatures to roam this world. Once thought to be undead monstruosities that return from the grave to prey on mortals, today's research has uncovered at least part of their legacy, and many experts agree the undead theory would have been their favourite alternative to the truth. Material and biological just as much as humans are, Shades are incredibly ancient beings who seem to have powers well beyond known biology.

For instance, Shades mostly move by floating, hanging in the air as if they don't have a care in the world. While this may be their primary way of locomotion, if needed they can pick up the speed and effectively fly, though it's unknown how much distance they can make. Their final way of getting around is the so-called "Shadow-Walk": Shades effectively phase beyond the material plane and become actual, effective shadows, that move along surfaces. In this state, they can effectively hide from anything, though they can only keep it up for a short time.

Speaking of their.."more solid part", Shades possess a body not much stranger than their abilities. While they have been reconnected to Leeches due to similarities in internal organs, nervous system and moist skin, they have no segmentation to speak of, and most importantly they have functional, articulated limbs. This however, only lasts as long as the Shade wishes, as they can alter their physiology to any shape and size they want. While they can't change their base black coloration, they are able to shift their form as needed, even changing certain parts's density to fit its needs. Current scientific knowledge is unable to explain how this occurs.

While these creatures may have a biology that defies our understanding, there is a feature of theirs that beats them all: their way of feeding. Shades feed on emotions, and the stronger they are, the better. Mainly, they feed on negative feelings, such as anger, hate and sadness. In some way, these seem to affect the creature itself as well, as a Shade that has gorged on someone's anger is much more aggressive than normal; the data on these beasts is scarce because the feeding method defies imagination: Shades are parasitic, and once they feel the psychic tingling of dark thoughts, they shadow-walk their way to the chosen victim and merge with its shadow, then entering a kind of dormant state in which they passively feed on the emotions given off by its host. For the most part, the host will never even know the Shade's there, merely feeling a slight 'encouragement' to pursue its darker thoughts. Once the source of emotion ends, be it because the victim decided to embrace more positive thoughts, or that it was incapacitated in some way, the dark leech it carried leaves and uses the accumulated energy to find new hosts. Negative emotions call to them, and the more intense, the more Shades will be interested. There appearently is no set limit to the amount of Shades that can coexist within a single individual, though too many may very well overwhelm someone and make them soccumb to their negative emotions, thus die.

Shades are hermaphrodites, and mating takes place usually when they just left a host and are full of energy. As one may expect, this is a fully biological process that must be carried out in corporeal form. As both individuals possess male and female parts, the two creatures impregnate each other, after a brief but spectacular aerial courting known as the 'Dance of Shadows'. After mating, both parents leave in a hurry to look for new hosts. Shades leave small clusters of eggs hidden in always dark spaces, close to a source of nourishment, the same the parent will use as host. This way the adults ensure the young are fed and safe, as the Shade will react should anyone discover the youngs or endanger them. When hatched they're transparent and worm-like, and will seek dark and moist places to grow, still close to a host.

While seemingly invincible, shades have a very obvious weakness: light. While they can go about during the day, exposition to direct sunlight will quickly dehidrate its skin, effectively burning the creature in a matter of minutes. Shadow-walking allows it to go from one place to another more freely, but it consumes a lot of energy. In all their forms, they hate fire, as it will burn them like the sun in their solid form and, if it hits their shadow form, they will be pulverized almost instantly.

NOTE: Shades have recently demonstrated a new power: hosts of considerable willpower aware of the creature's presence may strike a deal with it, opening its heart and whole body to the darkness. The Shade then merges with the host on a deep, molecular level, as well as it links the two souls together. The resulting creature is a thing that should not be, as such the host is dead by all means, with only the Shade keeping its soul from "crossing over". The host will then need to become a predator itself, bound to the darkness for eternity. The creature, now possessingthe host's looks and both its and the Shade's abilities, will need to reintegrate its bodily fluids, as such attacking living beings to consume their vital essence, blood. These unholy beasts have been called a number of names, but fairly the most common is "Vampire".

Luckily, Shades rarely, if ever, accept to make deals with mortals.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And here they are!

This all comes from an idea I had about this creature and what I could call it, then came up with the Shade concept. Since I recently re-watched Hellsing, I just thought "hey, my Shades do that too!" then it hit me: vamps! You see, vampires are usually demonic in nature, results of a mortal making a deal with a dark, supernatural entity. Since I have no real 'dieties' to speak of, I decided to make a Vampire sort of a cross of Venom and Alucard...cause I'm that awesome

Description
Common Names: Shadow, Darkness
Academic Name: Umbra sapiens
Clade: possibly heavily-mutated Hirudinea
Lenght: 2 meters
Weight: unknown
Diet: emotions
Intelligence: Sapient
Abilities:
-Light as air itself
-Can become immaterial for limited time
-Fuses with other creature's shadows
-Shapeshifting
-Flight
-Shadow-walk

Shades are perhaps the most puzzling creatures to roam this world. Once thought to be undead monstruosities that return from the grave to prey on mortals, today's research has uncovered at least part of their legacy, and many experts agree the undead theory would have been their favourite alternative to the truth. Material and biological just as much as humans are, Shades are incredibly ancient beings who seem to have powers well beyond known biology.

For instance, Shades mostly move by floating, hanging in the air as if they don't have a care in the world. While this may be their primary way of locomotion, if needed they can pick up the speed and effectively fly, though it's unknown how much distance they can make. Their final way of getting around is the so-called "Shadow-Walk": Shades effectively phase beyond the material plane and become actual, effective shadows, that move along surfaces. In this state, they can effectively hide from anything, though they can only keep it up for a short time.

Speaking of their.."more solid part", Shades possess a body not much stranger than their abilities. While they have been reconnected to Leeches due to similarities in internal organs, nervous system and moist skin, they have no segmentation to speak of, and most importantly they have functional, articulated limbs. This however, only lasts as long as the Shade wishes, as they can alter their physiology to any shape and size they want. While they can't change their base black coloration, they are able to shift their form as needed, even changing certain parts's density to fit its needs. Current scientific knowledge is unable to explain how this occurs.

While these creatures may have a biology that defies our understanding, there is a feature of theirs that beats them all: their way of feeding. Shades feed on emotions, and the stronger they are, the better. Mainly, they feed on negative feelings, such as anger, hate and sadness. In some way, these seem to affect the creature itself as well, as a Shade that has gorged on someone's anger is much more aggressive than normal; the data on these beasts is scarce because the feeding method defies imagination: Shades are parasitic, and once they feel the psychic tingling of dark thoughts, they shadow-walk their way to the chosen victim and merge with its shadow, then entering a kind of dormant state in which they passively feed on the emotions given off by its host. For the most part, the host will never even know the Shade's there, merely feeling a slight 'encouragement' to pursue its darker thoughts. Once the source of emotion ends, be it because the victim decided to embrace more positive thoughts, or that it was incapacitated in some way, the dark leech it carried leaves and uses the accumulated energy to find new hosts. Negative emotions call to them, and the more intense, the more Shades will be interested. There appearently is no set limit to the amount of Shades that can coexist within a single individual, though too many may very well overwhelm someone and make them soccumb to their negative emotions, thus die.

Shades are hermaphrodites, and mating takes place usually when they just left a host and are full of energy. As one may expect, this is a fully biological process that must be carried out in corporeal form. As both individuals possess male and female parts, the two creatures impregnate each other, after a brief but spectacular aerial courting known as the 'Dance of Shadows'. After mating, both parents leave in a hurry to look for new hosts. Shades leave small clusters of eggs hidden in always dark spaces, close to a source of nourishment, the same the parent will use as host. This way the adults ensure the young are fed and safe, as the Shade will react should anyone discover the youngs or endanger them. When hatched they're transparent and worm-like, and will seek dark and moist places to grow, still close to a host.

While seemingly invincible, shades have a very obvious weakness: light. While they can go about during the day, exposition to direct sunlight will quickly dehidrate its skin, effectively burning the creature in a matter of minutes. Shadow-walking allows it to go from one place to another more freely, but it consumes a lot of energy. In all their forms, they hate fire, as it will burn them like the sun in their solid form and, if it hits their shadow form, they will be pulverized almost instantly.

NOTE: Shades have recently demonstrated a new power: hosts of considerable willpower aware of the creature's presence may strike a deal with it, opening its heart and whole body to the darkness. The Shade then merges with the host on a deep, molecular level, as well as it links the two souls together. The resulting creature is a thing that should not be, as such the host is dead by all means, with only the Shade keeping its soul from "crossing over". The host will then need to become a predator itself, bound to the darkness for eternity. The creature, now possessingthe host's looks and both its and the Shade's abilities, will need to reintegrate its bodily fluids, as such attacking living beings to consume their vital essence, blood. These unholy beasts have been called a number of names, but fairly the most common is "Vampire".

Luckily, Shades rarely, if ever, accept to make deals with mortals.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And here they are!

This all comes from an idea I had about this creature and what I could call it, then came up with the Shade concept. Since I recently re-watched Hellsing, I just thought "hey, my Shades do that too!" then it hit me: vamps! You see, vampires are usually demonic in nature, results of a mortal making a deal with a dark, supernatural entity. Since I have no real 'dieties' to speak of, I decided to make a Vampire sort of a cross of Venom and Alucard...cause I'm that awesome