Born in Terees mind long before their existence became necessary, the Shadow Guard started as a vision. In this terrifying, exhilarating dream, Terees saw herself in a dark field with twenty figures arrayed around her, locked in combat with unseen foes. Just like her vision of the endless war that would consume all of Mernac without One Tongue, chaos ruled. Waves of fire, frost, streaming light, and solid dark joined the hail of arrows raining down on all sides. Silver swords swathed in blue-black smoke clanged against an oppressive darkness creeping ever closer as the seconds marched on.
We belong not to light. The soft, melodic words coursed through the air, rising and falling in cadence, sounding like twenty voices united in one song.
The next moment, a different woman spun into the place Ryna had been. This one, solely of the Race of Man, seemed younger, little more than a child by most standards. Her dark hair streamed wildly in some unseen wind. Piercing blue eyes glared intently over Terees left shoulder. With a shout stolen by the wind, the young woman hurled her sword towards Terees. Arleas Kaedani. Mother to Quinshards. The name and title sailed through Terees as she ducked right to avoid the sword. Given Divine Shared Knowledge. That piece of information stunned Terees, she almost didn’t finish her duck in time. A dull thud sounded followed quickly by a horrific screech and soon a Sectis head rolled into view. Turning away, Terees looked back to where the young woman had been, but she was gone and another crouched in her place.
We belong not to darkness. The same chorus lifted this new declaration.
In her crouched position, with her weight on her toes and her elbows resting on knees, the woman appeared very much at ease, but her green skin glistened with sweat. The smoke and steam curled up around her ankles, but she paid it no mind. Her head tilted slightly right, and she wore a smile that accented her small, sharp-looking tusks and said much about her. It chided and challenged an unseen foe somewhere to Terees’s left. Ember tor’Ravenwing. Amazon. Half-orc, half Wood-Elf. Weapon’s Master. Kalir'ras Expert. The utter stillness about her touched something inside Terees even as a mental image of an Amazon hooked staff appeared to her. The woman’s strong features and the aura about her gave resemblance to an emerald sword brandished in a reluctant warrior’s hand.
Terees nearly lost her breath when she realized she would wield the emerald sword, smashing hidden enemies with her. Again, triumph, heartache, and a touch of terror filled Terees.
We call the shadows home. The declaration peaked on “shadows” and faded on “home” like a shadow surrendering to sun.
On and on the vision stretched, full of noise and familiar yet unfamiliar faces. Who are you? Terees cried to the vision figures. Just as she thought the question, her unDragon, Pyroglyph, appeared and everything else faded.
“Friends, Maker and Mother. Shadows. Guards. Guardians, Protectors, and Servants,” answered Pyroglyph with a toothy grin. She hissed soft laughter. “But you know this.”
“Do I?” Terees asked, battling despair. “My memory fails me more every day.” A Shadow Guard. Terees nodded, both sickened and excited. Her heart lurched. Protection from what? She knew that answer too but couldn’t give it voice, couldn’t even consider it. Her mind rallied and brought forth the vision of strife beyond measure. Should I tell them? That question haunted her for several days.
Eventually, Terees shared her vision with her brothers and sisters, just before an evening meal. Each reacted precisely as expected. Dulan burst into tears. Canola wailed mournfully. Sola flushed with distress. Siberlee paled. Kala fainted and Bu caught her. Trajen glared at Bu. Roadius laughed then Tellen and Tul each smacked him for being flippant. Quont leered at Terees with a crafty, conniving look. Witriss frowned. Barak grew quiet; his handsome face became unreadable. Werk paled to a pasty white, like a mortal approaching death. Linthur muttered something about Werk and stupid potions. Abuba laughed, then cried, then laughed and cried. Gorb looked indifferent. Elsen started a small fire then put it out with conjured dirt. Picu complained that they were all ignoring the lovely feast. Fear seized Terees’s heart as she saw the tensions rise and fall around and within her siblings. She slipped away to her study to think.
The same evening she shared her dream, Clina 2, 24, Terees timewalked for the first time. She walked to the year 666 and watched a different vision, no less violent than the first, except that in this one she saw a litany of years and names. The list read like a scroll of casualties from some unnamed war. She recognized the twenty names. Protectors. Servants. Disciples. Shadow Guards. Thus, was the Shadow Guard born. Before returning to her study on Clina 2, 24, Terees visited twenty times and twenty people from various Races of the Light and Dark.
When she returned from her long night timewalking, Terees locked her study and forwent all nourishment and fellowship for seven days. During this time, she wrestled with the meanings to her two most disturbing visions. Understanding some of what her servants would struggle against and suffer during the war to come, pained Terees, but knowing the lives they would touch and save brought her a measure of peace. After this period of time, Terees finally understood a rather simplistic answer to her many questions about light and dark, good and evil. She’d always considered herself strictly light and good, but the future would require something different, something adaptable, something like Pyroglyph yet different.
To that end, Terees sought blessings from her siblings, knowing that one day a terrible split would come. The book Twenty Guards, Twenty Gifts recounts each of the Shadow Guards and what gifts the gods donated. Unlike the other Disciples who only get one godly power, the Shadow Guard, through their bonds, have access to all twenty Gifts, albeit in a diminished capacity. For example, Arleas Kaedani received Terees’s own gift of Divine Shared Knowledge. She, therefore, has the most direct link to the Mother’s thoughts and endless knowledge. Ryna received Quont’s gift of Complete Attraction, so she can overthrow anyone’s will with naught but a seductive smile. Ember chose Tellen’s gift of Martial Weapons Proficiency to compliment her already considerable skills in handling a Kalir'ras, an Amazon hooked staff.
The Twenty Gifts Given to the Shadow Guards:
Siberlee: Enlightening Empathy – ability to feel an opponent’s weaknesses,
Witriss: Virtue – ability to imbue allies with temporary strength and will
Sola: Foresight – ability to see thoughts
Dulan: Minor Heal Other – ability to heal others
Canola: Irresistible Dance – victim must dance
Kala: Breathe Underwater
Terees: Divine Shared Knowledge - specific campaign ques; they know what I know
Barak: Pure Soul – Cleanses all ill affects of magical attacks
Quont: Complete Attraction, make any mortal submit to your will
Roadius: Manipulate time – timewalking, stop time
Gorb: Trouble Greed – ability to draw enemies to oneself away from allies and innocents
Elsen: Ethereal shadow – Ethereal forms can walk through walls, fires, pools of acid,
etc without harm.
Picu: Ignore Pain
Tellen: Martial Weapons Proficiency – can handle nearly any weapon with professional ability
Bu: Vampiric Touch - heal self at opponent’s expense
Trajen: Divine Jealous Protection – make an opponent jealous so he will protect you because he wants to kill you
Abuba: Random Action - sleep, retreat, attack allies
Tul: Righteous Rage - ability to harness rage for a short time
Linthur: Taunt - provoke opponent to point of acting stupid
Werk: Disease Resistance – can resist magical and conventional diseases
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Granted the ability to timewalk, the Shadow Guards traverse the kingdoms of Mernac, treading a line between the light and dark. Technically servants of the light, the Shadow Guard will do any task necessary to preserve the greater good: harmony. Each handpicked Disciple to Mother Terees knows the true meaning of right and wrong. They may die a thousand times and more, but their strength of will and conviction shall never wane.
When Shadow Guards suffer mortal wounds, they die like any other, but instead of passing to an afterlife, their spirits travel to the Shadowlands and retrieve their bodies from the Soul Keeper. From there, they travel back to Mernac proper and land in the Shadow Catcher, a chamber in the Ooloo’s
The Shadow Guards main strength and weakness is one and the same entity. Their bonds connect them in such a way that strong emotions and sensations, good or ill, pass from one to another. Only Terees may withdraw from the tight Shadow Guard bonds. She rarely does so however, for her presence lends the soothing peace necessary to function amidst such emotional and physical unrest. She has fought for many seasons to keep such knowledge from the Fathers and their servants, but only time will tell if she will have continual success in this regard.
As the war between the Mothers and Fathers stretches on, the call for more Shadow Guards rises. So far, Terees has fully activated three Guards, but the time to unleash the full might of the Shadow Guard draws ever nearer as the Fathers’ darkness deepens.
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