AMCO
I'm Sorry Dave
- Intent: Continue the time-honoured tradition of "repurposing hostile entities".
- Image Credit: Unnamed Art by Ramsés Meléndez
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Prosperian Soulstones | Hollow Hungerers | Netherworld of the Force | Sith Necromancy | Smoke Demon
- Name: Shrouds
- Designation: Non-Sentient (Shrouds) | Semi-Sentient (Arch-Shrouds)
- Origins: The Primyn Group | The Sith Order
- Average Lifespan: Innately tied to the Force generally and Chaos specifically, any given Shroud could theoretically endure until the end of time itself, though in practice destruction by external forces or a lack of sustenance is all but guaranteed to end their existence.
- Estimated Population: Scattered
- Description: Animalistic spirits formed from the life force of their victims, Shrouds are simple-minded, near-indestructible through mundane means (with the notable exception of ion weapons), and utterly deprived of humanity. When guided by the will of a more powerful being or talisman, typically a Sith Sorcerer, they make lethal weapons and surprisingly effective spies, assuming they stalk the right people.
- Breathes: N/A
- Average Height of Adults: N/A; usually assume forms that are roughly the size of a cloaked human.
- Average Length of Adults: N/A
- Skin Colour: N/A; usually assume forms that are a translucent blue-white, may turn into a smoggy black or baleful crimson while feeding.
- Hair Colour: N/A
- Distinctions: To the casual observer, any Shroud is much like every other Shroud; the discerning scholar, however, may note that their strength does fluctuate somewhat and a rare few carry with them a quirk or two from particularly strong-willed prey. Arch-Shrouds are more prone to individuality in terms of skillsets (which grow over time) and behaviour (which grows quirkier over time),
- Races:
- Shrouds: Garden-variety Shrouds, formed when others of their kind absorb enough life force, see "Diet". Single-minded predators in their natural state but can quite easily be bound to the will of a more powerful entity, whether a Sith or an Arch-Shroud.
- Arch-Shrouds: Greatest of their kind, Arch-Shrouds are born in only two ways - either kind of Shroud devouring a sufficiently potent Force User, typically a Sith Lord/Jedi Master or strong Knight, or a Shroud marked by the consumption of an exceedingly determined yet greedy soul refusing to divide, hoarding its life force until it perishes or undergoes an unholy metamorphosis into an Arch-Shroud. Though lacking in abstract thought, Arch-Shrouds are capable of limited communication and terrifying power, including impressive displays of Force Fear and expanding its form into a vast blanket to enshroud and feed on entire groups at a time.
- Null-Shroud: Shrouds may prey upon their own in times of "drought", but only in the most extreme circumstances will an Arch-Shroud opt to devour another; in most cases, this (fortunately) ends in the destruction of both parties, but where it doesn't a Null-Shroud is born. Arguably sentient yet undeniably insane, these strange beings will never divide or spawn lesser Shrouds, instead greedily hoarding energy, growing more powerful with every feeding, until they collapse in on themselves, releasing a torrent of devastation in every direction. They are extraordinarily difficult to control but otherwise equivalent to especially powerful Arch-Shrouds.
- Force Sensitivity: All Shrouds are innately tied to the Force but lack the power and cognitive capacity to make use of it outside their natural abilities, with the exception of Arch-Shrouds who have the potential to wield the breadth of power seen in Knights or even Lords.
- Passing Shadow: Shrouds are only visible when they choose to manifest (usually to feed), allowing them to stalk prey with impunity or even telepathically relay information to a handler, usually a Sith. Even when manifested, material weapons are next to useless against them.
- Lifedrinker: Shrouds naturally display the ability to drain the life from organics (but not the Force Dead, who merely feel cold/tired) by manifesting while enshrouding them. The process depends on their strength of will and takes anywhere from a few instants to minutes, accelerating significantly if multiple Shrouds jump the same victim, which is typically the only way in which they can overwhelm proper FUs.
- Darkest Darkness: Formed from the very essence of the Dark Side, the purifying power of the Light, whether through Force Light or the mere presence of a true paragon of the Jedi, can weaken or destroy these foul creatures outright; derived from the Force as they are, the presence of Ysalamiri and the like will weaken them severely and force them to manifest or lose cohesion and simply drift apart.
- Simple-Minded: Common Shrouds have nought but instinct and animal cunning to rely on and are only able to understand telepathy, even that limited to simple commands/instructions or relaying/mimicking what they have heard; even Arch-Shrouds, rare as they are, are severely limited in the cognitive department, especially in regards to the abstract and critical thought. They can, however, follow complex instructions.
- Incorporeal: While certainly a great boon, the Shrouds' incorporeal nature prevents them from affecting physical matter except by feeding on the life of organics and they struggle to manifest in heavy rainfall, with solid water blocking them outright. Once manifested ion weapons are surprisingly useful, the frequency of the energy being just right to disrupt their forms or even destroy them outright.
- Diet: Vitaevore; literally eats life through an ability comparable to Force Drain, typically by enshrouding an organic in their form a process which is universally lethal if allowed to continue and serves as their primary means of reproduction, as Shrouds divide after amassing a sufficient amount of life force - varies from species to species and individual to individual, sentients are optimal, think dozens of nerfs or one especially healthy human. Shrouds that inhabit the Netherworld feed on weaker spirits and stray souls. Shrouds can endure in perpetuity within a Dark Side Nexus, a Soulstone, or the like, but must otherwise feed semi-regularly or slowly fade away until nought remains.
- Communication: Shrouds have some degree of natural telepathy which they are able to use to communicate intent or, with the guidance of a more intelligent being, relay their own experiences, generally for the purposes of information gathering. Arch-Shrouds are somewhat cleverer but still fall just barely short of sentience, largely due to difficulties with abstract thought and a lack of emotional intelligence.
- Imprinting: A powerful Force User, typically a Sith Sorcerer, can "imprint" simple instructions or behavioural patterns upon a Shroud, which in turn are carried on by all those spawned from it. Common examples include "don't consume X but do consume Y" (must be a fairly simple in/out-group), "self-terminate if contact ceases for ~240 hours" (to prevent accidental "infestations"), and the like.
- Technology Level: N/A; Shrouds do not make use of tools of any sort nor have any real understanding of technology.
- Religion/Beliefs: N/A; Shrouds do not form beliefs or societies, instead blindly following any being strong enough to bind them.
- General Behaviour: Shrouds exist to stalk and feed and in their natural state they do little else, behaving in the material world much as they do in the Netherworld, i.e., seeking the weak and devouring them out of sight, leaving nothing but lifeless husks (or Hollow Hungerers, which are particularly likely to be raised by Arch-Shrouds) behind. Once properly sated they feel compelled to divide (see "Diet"), beginning the cycle anew. Under the command of a Sith or similarly powerful individual, their behaviour becomes more targetted, frequently harrying enemy lines and often dividing as rapidly as possible, since Shrouds have no natural life cycle, being "born" as capable as the eldest of their kind; the exception to this rule is the Arch-Shrouds, who are capable of advanced learning based on past successes and failures.
Thought up by the eccentric mind of Darth Prospero, Dark Councillor of Scientific Advancement and First Archon of the Primyn Group, the Shrouds are a byproduct of the so-called Project Tartarus, in particular his efforts to study the nature of life and the soul by way of the Soulstones.
These strange beings were originally created from Smoke Demons whose essence were ripped apart and combined with the life force of Prospero's slain foes (most of which were actually felled by his Sithspawn, frequently without him present) through characteristically idiosyncratic twists on the ancient tradition of Sith Sorcery, with a spoonful of Dathomir Magic sprinkled on top by some of the Sith Lord's "unconventional assistants".
The end result of this, while hardly the intelligent spirits Prospero sought to create, were nonetheless useful in their own way and equally importantly able to replenish their numbers by snacking on his enemies, as opposed to taking up the valuable time of the Sith Order's sorcerers.
As ever, Prospero was at the forefront of developing expendable beings to perish in the stead of the Sith Empire's citizens.
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I'm happy for this to be passed up for approval.
