Shadowbane

This chapter will be used for character profiles/art and to explain everything else related to Shadowbane. It's mostly designed for those currently reading the story to reference it in case they don't understand something, but new readers can also check out the art/characters and see if it'll be for them. There are art previews of yet-to-be-written parts of the story, so if you don't want to see those, don't look at the very bottom of the chapter.

Barriers/Enhancements/Gifts

Barriers:

Barriers recharge on their own over time, and unless the person is gifted in defense(gifts explained below), they will only protect you against damage that was generated through the use of mana or ether. The barriers strength is based on a percentage of your overall strength.

^

EX: A fireball created through a spell/ability will be blocked by your barrier, but that doesn't mean you can just jump into a pit of fire. It won't protect you, and you'll have a very bad time.

All humanoid creatures(with exceptions like Rei) have barriers. Monsters cannot use barriers. Although there are exceptions, like the Tengu Lords.

Also, as an extra note, they only stop a percentage of impacts from attacks. A fireball exploding on you can reel you a bit with your barrier up, but someone hitting you in the face with a high-speed air attack can easily break some bones, even if your barrier is still active.

Lastly, they slowly diminish overtime while they are active, and it's for this reason that people only activate them when they are in danger.

Enhancements:

Enhancing is the act of pouring mana into a specific part of your body(or a weapon) and reinforcing it.

Your mana drains at a rate proportional to how much you're currently enhancing.

You also lose mana proportional to the damage inflicted on any parts of your body that are currently enhanced, which includes damage you inflict on yourself while attacking. After all, punching a brick wall with the power of a mallet would normally completely destroy your fist, so your mana will need to ensure that doesn't happen.

There is a maximum limit that you can enhance, proportional to how much strength you have overall. Going over that(over-enhancing), stresses your body and soul out, causing backlash and weakening that part of your body afterward.

Enhancing weapons is much more tricky and requires a large amount of training. Also, the moment the weapon leaves your hands, it quickly loses the aura you created on the weapon.

Gifts:

This is rarely talked about in SB, as they are quite rare, with the exclusion of defense which can cause some major problems for Rei.

Gift of Strength

The ability to over-enhance themselves with none of the normal detriments. However, there is a debuff added that greatly lowers their ability to defend themselves, including from self-harm. As a result, they stick to over-enhancing their speed to avoid attacks while using weapons to damage others. Using their fists is the same as purposely destroying their own hands.

This is a very rare gift. One in a million have it.

Keith has this gift.

Gift of Defense

Your enhancements fuse with your barrier, becoming a single ability. Because of this, your barrier can now protect you against physical damage. And not only does your barrier still recharge on its own, but you can also infuse mana into it now as well.

The debuff associated with this gift is their inability to enhance weapons, which greatly reduces the amount of damage they can do. As a result, gift of defense users need Artifact weapons more than anyone else(explained in the artifact section), or managing to learn a really good unique ability that does a lot of damage(like Janet's purple bombs).

They are the bane of assassins. Therefore, Rei hates them and fears them the most.

This is a somewhat rare gift. One in five thousand have it naturally. This is also the only known gift that you can acquire in your soul realm if you're lucky enough.

Ishar and Seifer are the only Gift of Defense owners right now at the end of book 1/chapter 40.

Gift of Mana

The apex of gifts. All of your mana costs with spells are lowered to what they'd cost if they were abilities.

The rarest of gifts. Only a few have ever been known to exist naturally. The other way they were once obtained was through an Eldritch that could gift it to those it deemed worthy, but this quickly led to the death of that very same Eldritch, as the nations around it refused to allow such a being to exist.

Soul Realms, Spells, and Abilities

Soul Realm:

A soul realm is an area inside your soul that you can mentally enter. By default, it takes on the form of the area you consider 'Home'. There are ways to change it, but it requires training.

In your soul realm you can reproduce anything you've seen in life, but you can only experience them if you actually understand that part of them. Merely seeing a Lemon in real life isn't enough. You need to actually eat one to be able to eat one in your realm and taste it.

Likewise, as a human you are able to test abilities on humans since your soul understands them quite well.

Spells

You are able to learn them in the real world, but only someone mad would do that. Inside your soul realm you have infinite mana and don't risk backfiring a spell you don't understand, which could leave you crippled.

Technically everyone can learn any spell they want, but people quickly learn that they are meant to only use one or two different elements. The cast time and mana drain are greatly increased on spells your soul isn't designed to cast. Also, the elements you're attuned to are the only spells you can naturally learn without someone else teaching you.

There are easier ways to know what kind of spells people are meant to use. Their personalities, for example. The soul reflects onto the person, and vice versa. An arsonist has a 100% chance of being attuned to the fire element.

Plus, there is an even greater reason to stick to elements you're meant to use... Abilities.

Abilities

Abilities are spells designed entirely for you based on the elements you are attuned to. Abilities learned without any outside help are always unique(Janet's bombs for example). But you can also focus on a single spell you love and use it over and over and over in your soul realm in the hopes that it'll turn into an ability.

The more abilities you learn, the less chance you'll have to learn more. The first one is easy, while the next one is very hard to unlock. People with three abilities are extremely rare.

Pros of abilities

Much lower mana cost and channel time.

And you are able to change the ability in different ways. Altering spells is extremely difficult and almost nobody can do it, but abilities can always change. You continue to unlock extra ways to use them as you train/use them.

Technically your barrier is considered an ability and can be expanded upon too. In chapter 9 Albel speaks of how he tried to adapt his barrier to nullify real fire, he does that by standing in fire in his soul realm while imagining the barrier completely negating the damage. It took him months of doing that until he finally unlocked a new feature to his barrier, but it was for fire he cast, not real fire. You don't always get what you want, but this is still a very useful upgrade for him.

Reimia's aura and abilities explained

Her aura is the veil that surrounds her soul. When she "activates" it, the veil merely expands outwards, surrounding her entire body instead of her soul.

How light works with her veil:

Types of light sources generally don't matter. The sun and the Tengu's blue flora are the exclusions. Light from the sun doesn't hurt her nearly as much as most light sources do, but that doesn't mean she can just stand around on a bright sunny day with her veil activated. It will quickly drain her mana if she's being hit directly by the sun, but hiding in a well-lit alley from ambient lighting won't hurt her all that much. Direct lighting >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ambient lighting.

Distance from the light source matters in proportion to the strength of the light.

Light can hurt her with her aura off, but it needs to be super powerful(like all the lights Alicia was casting in chapter 36)

Her veil/aura activated is when light becomes a massive problem for her. Now light can hit the veil directly, and the veil is linked to her soul. When the Eldritch in chapter 6 blasted her it was basically hitting her soul directly, which messed up her mana flow, regen, the veil, and even her body overall became much weaker.

She cannot use any abilities or enhance herself while her aura is up, and deactivating her aura sends out a pulse to any living creatures nearby that terrifies them, revealing her location in the process. It's best if she remains at least 15 feet away when she removes her aura. She can enhance herself and then turn invisible, but after that the only thing she can do is release the enhancements, she can't power them up.

She steals abilities from any souls she devours, but it's not guaranteed, and any upgrades the person had with the ability are also randomized.

These stolen abilities only work until the devoured soul is completely drained of energy.

Artifact Weapons/Armor

Equipment created using an Eldritch's soul. The equipment leeches the souls of the dead to empower itself, getting stronger over time. So the more you kill, the better your artifact gear is. Artifact weapons are almost a necessity for those gifted in defense, as they struggle to harm others without a weapon that enhances itself.

It's unknown whether Demon or Xerathian souls have been used.

THE WORLD

Mother

The "Planet" in the center of the images above(#1 is more accurate) is Mother. All the moons/planets surrounding her are locked to Mother, but none of them rotate. Instead, they have day/night cycles depending on where they are in relation to the sun and whether Mother is currently lit up. Mother conveniently gives off nearly the same amount of light/heat that the sun gives despite the vast distance between the two.

The Dark lands of every moon/planet are the areas at the bottom of their spheres. The parts facing the vortex of clouds emanating from Mother.

Gaia

A beam of light that people believe goes through the entire universe(although no one has been able to prove this). There are multiple ways to enter Gaia, but the only known way at this point of the story is to take a portal to Mother and enter Gaia through her since Gaia goes straight through her(image above).

Gaia is a realm with its own set of rules. There are crystals in each region that everyone attunes to, and everything they do contributes to the crystal, which influences everything in the region. If all humanoid creatures attune to the crystal, then the region is normally one like Earth a few thousand miles from the equator(not always, some are tropical, some are snow landscapes, etc.)

However, if an Eldritch is made of rock that uses lightning for all its abilities/spells, then the region it controls will be entirely made of rock and have a constant barrage of thunder in the region. Regions can have multiple owners, which makes for some weird mishmashes.

So long as you can protect the crystal your soul is attuned, you're technically immortal in Gaia. But if you fail, and someone or something else takes over the crystal, then you lose all of the crystal's benefits. Immunity to disease/viruses/aging, and you can no longer respawn at the crystal. Battles for crystals take ages because the defending force can keep coming back to life, but it's not infinite. It drains the crystal doing this, so sieges are the best way to wipe out a nation and take the area for yourself.

Also, Eldritch/Demons/Xerath cannot create portals into Gaia. They also can't influence people's minds so long as they are attuned to a crystal. This is the biggest selling point of Gaia. Chaos magic/rituals don't work either. They can still enter the normal way like everyone else(and do), but it requires them to be much more crafty, and without sacrifices, Demons lose a large amount of their power.

Honestly, explaining Gaia would take ages, so for now I'll leave it at this. At the very least this shows why Rei and her unit were so hellbent on escaping to Gaia.

The Xerath

First set of images are of the land as it becomes corrupted by a Xerathian Broodling.

The next two are after the Broodling evolves to a god. The corruption throughout the land becomes alive.

The Corrupted boats talked about in chapter 11.

And lastly, a Xerathian god. The image features a nester type that never moves and only engages in combat when it needs to defend itself. The nesters core strength lies in its ability to create powerful spawn at a higher rate than other Xerath can. They also spread their corruption over a much larger area.

Viktor's Xerath

Ghorak

Gheist

Shoth

Eldritch

The Eldritch fall into several different categories.

Some Eldritch create their own nations. They do this by corrupting humans, which alters the humans forms until they begin to look like the Eldritch corrupting them. Example: The Kitsune god was a massive fox-like monster.

Most Eldritch however, are mindless.

Eldritch also have the ability to spread a "Domain". Spreading their domain will result in the land around them becoming corrupted in an image that matches that specific Eldritch. Example: An ice-based Eldritch will alter the landscape around him until it is completely frozen over. The time it takes for this change to take place is based around the Eldritch's strength, and where he's spreading his domain. Changing a desert would take far longer than a chilly swamp would.

Map of Urza:

Um, yeah... It's not very good rofl. IT'S THE FREE VERSION ;-;, THIS IS AS GOOD AS I COULD DO WITH IT! But it should give you an idea of where everything is at least, which is good enough for now. One day I hope to make a better map, but that requires money, of which I have none. Aetheria will desperately need one too, and not one that looks like this.

Urza was originally designed for my older version of Shadowbane, which was called something else entirely(I uploaded it in the November 2022 writathon). In that version, the Urza arc lasted much longer and all of those cities had names. However, in this version, Urza is just a small part of the story.

Races:

Nei'lah

All hybrids through the Nei'lah god have black demonic wings. Some humanoid creatures also have long canines.

Crotia

Humanoid crocodiles that were exiled from Urza for their constant warmongering. After Xelba fell, it was inevitable that Urza would turn their eyes toward the Crotia next(as the Xelba nation was very close to where the Crotia lived). Most of the Crotia use to worship the Nei'lah god, and as a result over sixty percent of Crotia have the Nei'lahs' iconic black wings.

Elves

Hybrids to an unknown Eldritch who live in the largest known structure in all of the moons and planets surrounding Mother. Their main city is one giant building that is powered through means that only those in charge understand. However, everyone suspects it's related to the machines, as machine parts sell for a very high price, especially their power cores.

They live in the frozen wastes on the southeastern end of Aetheria's most northern continent. Travelers come from all around hoping to find relics in the ruins that will make them filthy rich, while there are others who come to kill the machines and sell their cores. However, only the best of the best are able to retire from gathering power cores. After all, most of them die on the job.

CHARACTERS:

Reimia

I have an endless amount of Rei images, but I'll stop myself from posting more than this.

The main character of Shadowbane. As a young girl all she ever did was watch TV, play with her toys, and sit in her Father's garage listening to him and her Uncle argue as they worked on their next shipments. Her Mother was normally in there too, as it was a family business, but her sister Sera was usually absent, as she was training to be a Mech-pilot.

After she was sacrificed, she spent many years in the Xerath's realm just trying to survive. While there she changed into a strange hybrid creature that no one had ever seen before. But without this, she never would have escaped that realm. Instead, she would have slowly died alone in that small cave she called home.

For those who want more backstory(everything that occurred before the start of Shadowbane):

TLDR version: Rei grew up in the nation of Xelba as a soldier who investigated monsters, crimes, etc. While also helping her unit capture Humans and Kitsune as sacrifices for Viktor's broodling. Her friends died while she was trying to free them from their curses. She also ended up dying in an attempt to get revenge on Viktor.

Full Version: She escaped the Xerath's realm by stealthing into a ritual that the Satyr were doing in conjunction with Viktor. The very same ritual and man who had sent her to that realm. Except this time she was returning back to our realm. From there on out she lived in the underground beneath Xelba; Viktor's nation. However, she was caught one day as she attempted to absorb the soul of a few people leaving a bar. Fortunately or unfortunately for her, Viktor and his brother(Bear, his nickname since he was massive. Rei never found out his real name) were the ones who saw it happen. They had an area they would hide in to discuss their plans going forward, and it was in an area where they could spy on most of the city through a spell his brother controlled. At first, Viktor was going to just sacrifice her to the Xerathian broodling he was feeding, but Bear convinced him to leave her in his care.

From there on out, Bear raised her and trained her as best he could in the hopes she'd become an inquisitor of Xelba. Inquisitors were elite fighters who took on many roles. Combatants who took care of monsters or captured people to sacrifice to the Xelba's 'God'(the broodling). They also investigated any other problems that may have arose in the nation. She entered the trials, and succeeded quite easily, but there was a problem. She couldn't be cursed because of what she was. Xelba requires all of its citizens to be cursed, so there were plenty of people in power who opposed not only her as an inquisitor, but they saw her very existence as a slight against the country. Viktor forced it through though, as he realized there and then that he could make use of her. Rei, who had been alone since her family was killed, was starved for any sort of attention or Father figure, so she had begun to see Bear(who she called 'Master') as someone she could look up to. So when Bear suggested she join one of the inquisitors units instead of going purely solo, she agreed. And that's where she met all of her new friends.

Most of them were believers in Viktor's great dream of conquering Urza and all of the nearby planets and moons with the help of Viktor's 'God'. However, over the years, they began to really be disillusioned by the nation as a whole. They slowly realized just how fucked up Xelba was, and really wanted to escape to a place where they could live in peace. It just so happened, that Viktor had promised inquisitors that once they served their nation for long enough, their curses would be removed and they'd be sent to Gaia, so they could spread his nation there. But no one had any proof that the inquisitors who left, had actually made it to Gaia, and at one point Bear insinuated that the suspicions they were harboring were much closer to the truth. Which meant that any inquisitors who 'retired' to Gaia, were actually being fed to the broodling(who was now a God, but Viktor was keeping it dormant while still feeding it).

Since she wasn't cursed and could turn invisible, Rei was given the task of figuring out how to remove their curses so they could all flee to Gaia together. But in the middle of her investigation, Bear went missing. His old watch he kep was found at the bottom of the temple where the Xerathian God was kept. Viktor knew the other faction was responsible, and it was made even more obvious after the other faction brought charges onto Rei for conspiring to remove her units curses. Only Bear knew she was doing that, so the party responsible outed themselves just so they could get rid of Rei too while they were at it. Viktor swore he'd help get the curses removed if Rei helped him get rid of the opposing faction, but she didn't put her full trust into that and was looking for other options on the side.

As a side-note. The curse-creators(Lords) and spawn in Xelba are from a long-dead Eldritch God. They work with the other faction inside of Xelba. A faction that wants to keep control of Viktor and the Xerathian God.

Viktor stood firm and refused to allow the opposite side to banish or kill Rei. But sometime later Rei had been informed that her unit had been gathered up and they were all being sacrificed to the God. She got there just in time to save the last two, but when she arrived, she found it was Viktor and his right-hand man Ash who were doing the sacrificing, not the other faction. She fled, sending her remaining two friends who were still cursed through a portal to another world. The curse allowed the Lords to track those two indefinitely, and if they should be away from the Lords for too long, the curse would slowly kill them. Rei told them not to worry though, for she would be killing the Lords soon, and that's exactly what she did. When the armies of Urza approached Xelba, she used that as an opportunity to create an army of skeletons and raze Xelba's capital city to the ground. Unfortunately, she died while trying to kill Viktor.

Aresa

AND THEN SUPER CUTE VERSIONS

The current owner of Shiva's chateau in Viseux. A seemingly young and naive girl who has a large number of worshipers who pray to her in the hopes that one day Shiva will return and take her rightful place as the ruler of Viseux.

After a lifetime alone in the chateau, she's desperate for friends or any kind of connection with others, which leads to her becoming good friends with Reimia.

Chapter 20 spoilers about Aresa below, with one added part and an image tying into the spoiler.

Aresa is an Eldritch Lord of Shiva who was placed inside the body of a devout follower of hers. This is not how Shiva's Lords are meant to be created, but she had no choice as she was mortally wounded and Aresa still hadn't fully formed inside of her. The human girl was mute and had refused treatment. Because of this, Aresa can't bring herself to heal her throat, as she has always felt guilty for taking the girls body.

This is what she was going to look like if she had fully developed inside of Shiva.

Ishar

A Crotian warrior who has devoted his life to Lord Terra'ka, an Eldritch being at the top one percent of the hierarchy that is hellbent on rooting out all corruption in the galaxy. Ishar is sent with Aresa to Viseux to relay Terra'ka's terms to the leaders there.

He is one of the Crotia-Nei'lah hybrids that make up a large portion of his clan's population.

Alicia

Originally a typical college girl who had an easy life up until the day of her awakening. Terra'ka periodically reaches out to the worlds around Mother, looking for anyone who might have an Eldritch soul parasitizing their own. Alicia was one such person. Terra'ka turned that parasite into her own strength and left a path for her to follow the day she turned twenty-two.

While her awakening was predetermined, the choice to serve Terra'ka or return to her old life was up to her. Terra'ka has no interest in those who don't share in his dream to rid the universe of Demons and Xerath.

Shana

Shana was brought to Viseux when she was barely three years old. Her Grandfather is the only relative she's ever known. He taught her all of his abilities/spells, and how to fight/stealth just like him. She was never told where she came from, only that she was a "Kunoichi" while her grandfather was a "Ninja". Any hope of knowing her origins disappeared when her Grandfather died on her thirteenth birthday.

After that, she sold her services to any and all, but quickly became disgusted with those in positions of power, leading to her no longer being hired for high-paying jobs. From there on out she would do odd jobs around Urza while assisting the Guardians Guild whenever Godwin asked for her help. She has always been alone, and friends weren't even a consideration for her. She only approached Aresa when she heard the nobles were trying to gain her favor. It was a small misunderstanding, as Cera was the only one reaching out to her, and not for sinister reasons.

Thanks to this, however, Shana was finally able to obtain a friend, which made her quite happy, much to her surprise. This all happened one year before Rei appeared.

Cera

Born in Viseux to a prostitute. Through some stroke of luck, her mother was able to graduate to that of a noble's wife. Cera was quite happy with her lot in life, until one night when her Mother told her in a drunken stupor that she was a refuge from Xelba; the nation of cultists that the nobles laugh about at parties from time to time.

Cera's Father and Brother were warriors who had died thanks to a specific individual, 'A freak of nature named Reimia'. Her Mother says the girl was quite nice to her, and even visited her shop for over five years at least once a week, until suddenly one day she created an army of skeletons and began killing everyone inside of Xelba.

Seeing her Mother cry about her Father and Brother, hit her quite deeply. From there on out she knew Reimia as a disgusting individual from the past whom she wished she could punish.

Euphemia

Princess to the nation of Kellog. Her family wanted the best for her so they removed her from politics and gave her a village to govern and all of the land to the east of it. While this made her happy, she was still sheltered and struggled to form connections. Thanks to this, she and Aresa became friends rather quickly.

Tyra

Euphemia's head guard and someone she looks at like a mother figure. Tyra has looked after Euphie ever since she was a child after all.

Long ago Tyra served the King directly, but as a reward for preventing the crown from being killed(by her very own brother), she was given the honor of being the princess's head guard.

Seifer

Born to the top merchant in Kellog. Over time he decided to serve the crown directly instead of following in his Father's footsteps.

He is also a shockingly powerful warrior, with abilities that few others posses. Only the royal family and Tyra know the reason why.

Viktor

The Elven ruler of Xelba, and the man responsible for all of Rei's misfortune. All that's known of him is his ability to control the Xerath and his absolute hatred for all other Elves. Current location is unknown.

Ash

Viktor's right-hand man and confidant. Ash despised Reimia more than anyone else.

Rai'ga (Struggling to get a good image of him)

An Eldritch with an unfathomable amount of power. Rai'ga is shrouded in mystery as no one knows what his abilities are other than his ability to find anything or anyone inside his domain. And his domain is shockingly large, but unlike most Eldritch domains, his does not alter the environment.

Rai'ga has the body of a lion with three distinct heads.

The head on the right is a mantis with human teeth.

The middle head is a lynx with seven eyes on its forehead and no mouth.

And the last head is a reptilian bear with a black tattoo-like swirl going around its face in a circle.

The Tengu (Images below are of Lords)

An Eldritch being who strikes terror into the hearts of anyone who knows of his existence. The last known sighting of the Tengu god himself was during the assault on the Kitsune kingdom, which resulted in the Kitsune's God dying. The few Kitsune who survived the assault said that their god managed to destroy the Tengu's legs while also heavily damaging his soul, so it's theorized he's hiding somewhere while attempting to repair it.

All Tengu Lords are given full autonomy, and they don't all follow their God's doctrine, which is unknown to all but the Tengu themselves. Even if his children rebel against him and choose their own path, the God doesn't care, he'll still retrieve their souls upon death and revive them.

Tengu spawn are humanoid creatures that have given their souls over to the Tengu. The Tengu does this by seeking out those who have recently lost everything or those with a burning passion for revenge. He uses their instability to take control of them. Despite the fact that Urza is teeming with such people, only a few are chosen. The reasons for this are only known to the God himself. Not even the Lords know the reason why.

Book 2 character previews

All book 2 images

Book 3 previews

Book 4 previews

Over time I'll edit and add more to this. Right now I know I need to add Demons, and portals.