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Not all pathways lead to the same destination. This is true. But equally true is that the same destination might be reached in many different ways.
Timelines are a strange thing in that regard. Orin the fairy child stepped into the magic circle with hopes of finding escape from the dark forces that threatened to consume him. What he did not anticipate, however, was that he'd find safety in the very shadows he'd fled from.
Orin felt his physical form begin to shift and swirl. He felt the very knowledge and understanding of his own body begin to twist in his mind. He felt himself exerting a great deal of mental effort just to hold himself together.
As his body became one with the powerful dark magic that it was absorbing, Orin dropped to his knees... Or at least, what he envisioned as his knees. With wispy hands, he grabbed his head, which felt different. He was being flooded with knowledge he didn't know... clarity he could not understand. His very existence was becoming a contradiction.
"Reach out, Orin! It will be okay!" In his muddled daze of confusion, he heard Megan's voice; a shining beacon in the darkness that flooded his entire sense of self. Orin did so out of pure reflex, trusting in the words of his friend. To his surprise, he grabbed onto some kind of strange pole. And as he did so, confusion and disorientation died down. The madly swirling energy began to slow and focus directly into him. While he still had a vague sensation that he was holding himself together somehow, it was barely an afterthought to him now and didn't require every ounce of his energy and concentration any longer.
Orin slowly stood up, clasping onto the object tightly. He felt out of breath, but no air entered or left his lungs. nor was there a mouth to form any passage of air.
"I... don't..." Orin began. This surprised him deeply. It was as if, rather than speaking, he was forming his thoughts into audible sound with his mind.
"It's okay! You held it together!" Megan said encouragingly.
Orin opened his eyes to see the smiling face of his friend. She seemed to be having trouble seeing him somewhat, even though she was perfectly visible to him. "Megan...? What am I...?"
"It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks like you've become a Shadow Shifter. Let's get out of this room so I can see you better, though."
Orin briefly remembered that apart from the glowing circle he'd used, the room had been pitch black. And now that his new senses were being reasserted in his mind, he was able to tell that the room was STILL pitch black. She was having trouble seeing him because the circle had died out and the only light was coming from the entryway behind her.
The two friends stepped out of the room. Orin kept the staff in his hand, though he suspected it had already served its purpose. It had given him the energy to focus his body once more. And now as his mind was filling with a deep understanding of shadow magic, he was beginning to understand what had happened.
What better way to hide from the darkness, than to become the darkness itself?
He was a master of the shadows now. A powerful, elemental-like being known as a Shadow Shifter. And yet, he was still Orin. And no matter what form Orin took he would still protect himself and those closest to him.
---
So, this was a bit of an experiment for me. Rather than changing someone into an already-known series, This time I wanted to try out a species design I've been kinda brainstorming in private for potential future projects.
So, what is a Shadow Shifter?
Shadow Shifters are a type of elemental being that are able to merge with and control shadows. Like Istrala, they are not inherently evil; but aspects of them could easily sow distrust and fear. Here's a few bullet points (which I'll post again if I do a full-on reference/intro for them, don't worry):
-Shadow Shifters are corporeal in their "main" forms (which can vary depending on the individual), but they can also blend into shadows to hide, to protect themselves, and to feed.
-Shadow Shifters can ONLY feed when merged into a shadow. They do so by pulling organic matter into the shadows with them. However, because a living being can struggle against the pull of the Shifter to get out of their grasp, they must overpower, coerce, or subdue the victim to do so.
-A scrupulous or kind-hearted Shifter won't coerce or trick innocent, sapient beings into being consumed. The thought would simply be unfathomable to them. They will absolutely do so in self-defense, however. Even so, there is a great deal of trust involved with willingly allowing yourself to be pulled into a shadow. Once you're merged into the shadow, you're helpless until you're freed.
-Generally speaking, a Shadow Shifter can simply eat "normal" foods (and a wider array at that, since they're not prone to food poisoning or foodborne illnesses), and only need to eat a decent-sized meal once a week to retain their normal shape and daily life. That being said, a Shadow Shifter's OTHER abilities require a great deal of energy to perform.
-One such ability is to create temporarily corporeal objects out of the shadows. They need to be simple objects without moving parts (think "T-1000" from Terminator), but other than that, the limit is only the skill and imagination of the Shifter. And their pool of energy.
-The energy consumed by this process varies pretty wildly based on a lot of factors: the size of the object, the complexity of the object, the focus (and skill) of the Shifter, and the amount of time the object is being held into the material plane. Creating a small knife for a couple of seconds is barely a drain at all. But the expense of large, heavy objects could add up to the point where the Shifter might need to eat a whole cow just to even out again.
-In the same vein, Shadow Shifters can change their form, with very similar restrictions. Turning into a tiny mouse for a few seconds would be negligible. Changing into a towering behemoth to charge through a town square would be utterly exhausting.
-Shadow Shifters aren't hurt by the presence of sunlight or other bright light sources, but they tend to feel a slight reflexive discomfort out in the sunlight without shadows since their primary form of safety is in subtlety and their ability to hide.
So, that's the "short" description of the idea I had. There's probably some similar ideas to this floating around, but not every creature concept has to be totally and completely unlike anything ever seen. I'm still rather pleased with this and I definitely would like to do more with them at some point. Hope you guys enjoy it!
---
Transform Me! commission for DreamStar11 at DeviantArt
For more information, check out this page: https://www.deviantart.com/ryusuta/.....-NOW-931296798
Transform Me! archive: https://www.deviantart.com/ryusuta/.....2/transform-me
Timelines are a strange thing in that regard. Orin the fairy child stepped into the magic circle with hopes of finding escape from the dark forces that threatened to consume him. What he did not anticipate, however, was that he'd find safety in the very shadows he'd fled from.
Orin felt his physical form begin to shift and swirl. He felt the very knowledge and understanding of his own body begin to twist in his mind. He felt himself exerting a great deal of mental effort just to hold himself together.
As his body became one with the powerful dark magic that it was absorbing, Orin dropped to his knees... Or at least, what he envisioned as his knees. With wispy hands, he grabbed his head, which felt different. He was being flooded with knowledge he didn't know... clarity he could not understand. His very existence was becoming a contradiction.
"Reach out, Orin! It will be okay!" In his muddled daze of confusion, he heard Megan's voice; a shining beacon in the darkness that flooded his entire sense of self. Orin did so out of pure reflex, trusting in the words of his friend. To his surprise, he grabbed onto some kind of strange pole. And as he did so, confusion and disorientation died down. The madly swirling energy began to slow and focus directly into him. While he still had a vague sensation that he was holding himself together somehow, it was barely an afterthought to him now and didn't require every ounce of his energy and concentration any longer.
Orin slowly stood up, clasping onto the object tightly. He felt out of breath, but no air entered or left his lungs. nor was there a mouth to form any passage of air.
"I... don't..." Orin began. This surprised him deeply. It was as if, rather than speaking, he was forming his thoughts into audible sound with his mind.
"It's okay! You held it together!" Megan said encouragingly.
Orin opened his eyes to see the smiling face of his friend. She seemed to be having trouble seeing him somewhat, even though she was perfectly visible to him. "Megan...? What am I...?"
"It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks like you've become a Shadow Shifter. Let's get out of this room so I can see you better, though."
Orin briefly remembered that apart from the glowing circle he'd used, the room had been pitch black. And now that his new senses were being reasserted in his mind, he was able to tell that the room was STILL pitch black. She was having trouble seeing him because the circle had died out and the only light was coming from the entryway behind her.
The two friends stepped out of the room. Orin kept the staff in his hand, though he suspected it had already served its purpose. It had given him the energy to focus his body once more. And now as his mind was filling with a deep understanding of shadow magic, he was beginning to understand what had happened.
What better way to hide from the darkness, than to become the darkness itself?
He was a master of the shadows now. A powerful, elemental-like being known as a Shadow Shifter. And yet, he was still Orin. And no matter what form Orin took he would still protect himself and those closest to him.
---
So, this was a bit of an experiment for me. Rather than changing someone into an already-known series, This time I wanted to try out a species design I've been kinda brainstorming in private for potential future projects.
So, what is a Shadow Shifter?
Shadow Shifters are a type of elemental being that are able to merge with and control shadows. Like Istrala, they are not inherently evil; but aspects of them could easily sow distrust and fear. Here's a few bullet points (which I'll post again if I do a full-on reference/intro for them, don't worry):
-Shadow Shifters are corporeal in their "main" forms (which can vary depending on the individual), but they can also blend into shadows to hide, to protect themselves, and to feed.
-Shadow Shifters can ONLY feed when merged into a shadow. They do so by pulling organic matter into the shadows with them. However, because a living being can struggle against the pull of the Shifter to get out of their grasp, they must overpower, coerce, or subdue the victim to do so.
-A scrupulous or kind-hearted Shifter won't coerce or trick innocent, sapient beings into being consumed. The thought would simply be unfathomable to them. They will absolutely do so in self-defense, however. Even so, there is a great deal of trust involved with willingly allowing yourself to be pulled into a shadow. Once you're merged into the shadow, you're helpless until you're freed.
-Generally speaking, a Shadow Shifter can simply eat "normal" foods (and a wider array at that, since they're not prone to food poisoning or foodborne illnesses), and only need to eat a decent-sized meal once a week to retain their normal shape and daily life. That being said, a Shadow Shifter's OTHER abilities require a great deal of energy to perform.
-One such ability is to create temporarily corporeal objects out of the shadows. They need to be simple objects without moving parts (think "T-1000" from Terminator), but other than that, the limit is only the skill and imagination of the Shifter. And their pool of energy.
-The energy consumed by this process varies pretty wildly based on a lot of factors: the size of the object, the complexity of the object, the focus (and skill) of the Shifter, and the amount of time the object is being held into the material plane. Creating a small knife for a couple of seconds is barely a drain at all. But the expense of large, heavy objects could add up to the point where the Shifter might need to eat a whole cow just to even out again.
-In the same vein, Shadow Shifters can change their form, with very similar restrictions. Turning into a tiny mouse for a few seconds would be negligible. Changing into a towering behemoth to charge through a town square would be utterly exhausting.
-Shadow Shifters aren't hurt by the presence of sunlight or other bright light sources, but they tend to feel a slight reflexive discomfort out in the sunlight without shadows since their primary form of safety is in subtlety and their ability to hide.
So, that's the "short" description of the idea I had. There's probably some similar ideas to this floating around, but not every creature concept has to be totally and completely unlike anything ever seen. I'm still rather pleased with this and I definitely would like to do more with them at some point. Hope you guys enjoy it!
---
Transform Me! commission for DreamStar11 at DeviantArt
For more information, check out this page: https://www.deviantart.com/ryusuta/.....-NOW-931296798
Transform Me! archive: https://www.deviantart.com/ryusuta/.....2/transform-me
Category All / Transformation
Species Demon
Size 1500 x 1121px
File Size 857.7 kB
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