A Jaded Life

With one of my plans to gather information shot, I focused on other options. Sadly, when I began to work in different mediums to create my scrying constructs, I quickly began to run into trouble. The biggest problem, at least to my understanding, was that I lacked the affinity for the other materials. Sure, I had managed to gain some affinity for them, thanks to a few of my traits, but compared to my affinity and understanding of Darkness and Ice, these were greatly lacking. That, in turn, made the cost of operating these constructs prohibitively high, while also limiting the fluidity with which I could control them and that lack of ability translated into even higher cost. To make matters worse, that was only the biggest problem, there were dozens of other, smaller, troubles that cropped up as I began to experiment, to the point that I soon pushed the idea into the long-term project part of my mind. It would take a great deal of effort to make anything useful of it, so the experimentation would be pushed back until I needed something to occupy my mind and time. For now, I had no trouble keeping busy, so I focused on more immediately productive areas of mental pursuit.

So, when the idea to use different mediums to scry on the Shattered didn’t pan out, I decided to try sneaking in while hiding in the Shadow Realm. Sure, it meant I wouldn’t be able to get as many of the details as I would like to have, simply because of the realm’s twisting and morphing nature, but I could get something. Unless the Shattered, somehow, could sense my presence and present a threat, in that case, I would immediately retreat.

By now, I had a fairly good idea about the town’s layout and, even more importantly, knew where the Shattered came boiling out. Using a nicely dark night, a bare sliver of the moon hidden behind a layer of clouds, I made my way into town, physically wrapped into my cloak and magically hidden in the Shadows.

The Shadow Realm was a fascinating place, both for its strange and twisting physical dimensions but also for some of its magical properties. On Mundus, there had always been that sensation of being watched, something I had never quite understood but had always been unnerved by, but now, on Terra, the sensation was different. There was still that underlying sense of a presence but the presence wasn’t watching, at least it didn’t quite feel the same. If I had to attribute a sensation to the presence, it would probably be something along the lines of ‘hungry’, which wasn’t a pleasant thought. Though, despite that odd sensation, I had yet to encounter anything in the shadows but that might have been because I rarely remained within them for long.

My intangible jaunt into town might actually be the longest time I continuously spent in the shadows, meaning I would have to be extra vigilant, both in regards to the Shattered and to that mysterious presence.

Luckily, I was fairly competent when it came to moving within the Shadows, mostly because I could apply some of the experience I had gained while flying with my cloak to moving within this space that wasn’t as solid as the physical world but also not as conceptual and intangible as the Astral River. There, obviously, were numerous differences but by now, I could readily navigate it, allowing me to reach the town undetected and even move towards the closest of the Shattereds’ hidey-holes.

It was the same area I had originally entered, back when I was just sneaking around, ignorant of the dangers hidden within the town. Thankfully, my vigilance, what some might slander as paranoia, had carried me through, allowing me to get the information I needed to avoid future danger. Or at least as much future danger as one could avoid, while within a hive of ravenous monsters all linked together in some strange fashion.

Even while knowing where I had to look as I knew where the Shattered came boiling out from, it was difficult to spot the holes they used while within the Shadow Realm. There were two major problems, one I had anticipated, the other I had not. The anticipated problem was the Shadow Realm itself, looking for the right hole in a largely devastated town sounded easy, until you realised that the hole, when viewed from within the Shadow Realm, might look anywhere between the size of a pinky finger or stretch into infinity and beyond, depending on the perspective it is viewed from and the shadows cast into the area in the physical world. Those difficulties were why I had made sure to visit during a night with very consistent shadows, where the only relevant shadow was that of the Earth, blocking the light from the Sun, while the thick clouds made sure that no additional light could cause additional shadows that might warp things. Sadly, while the Earth-Shadow was one of the most consistent sources of Shadow, it was also massive, causing a few troubles for me while I was within the Shadows.

The problem I hadn’t anticipated was one I hadn’t encountered before. Normally, the Shadows were just that, a realm filled with Shadows and Darkness, but when I tried to poke and prod the hole I had decided was the one leading into the underground warren of the Shattered, things started to get strange. Normally, the Shadows were everywhere, unless there was light and the more light entered an area, the thinner the Shadows became. Now, in the darkness of the night, the Shadows should have been just as ubiquitous in the hidden nook the Shattered used for their tunnel as they were outside, while their underground lair should be filled with darkness unless they had been setting up torches or some other source of light. But even if they had, there should be some indication of it, a shifting and twisting in the Shadows but I couldn’t detect anything of that sort.

Instead, my probes were somehow swallowed up, leaving me confused and a little annoyed that my grand idea to scout the Shattered from within the Shadows died such an ignominious death. If I couldn’t even prod and probe the strange area before me, I certainly wouldn’t try to find out what it was by poking my hand, or an even more important part of my body, into it. Instead, I decided to run a few more tests, trying to figure out what was going on until I felt a faint change in the area around me and immediately retreated.

Trying to figure out what had caused the change, from a reasonably safe distance, wasn’t easy. If solid, permanent objects cast deep Shadows, moving beings had a much smaller impact. In this case, I could discern fairly easily that the change was caused by Shattered moving into the area, mostly because I had been expecting that they might notice me when I started to poke. What surprised me just a little was that there seemed to be some interference with the Shadows. Not a lot, certainly not enough to hinder me, let alone eject me by force, but enough to make that strange sensation I was usually feeling just a little bit stronger. Given that I had no idea what this might built up to, or how I could venture into their underground lair without getting around the interference they had set up, I decided to try my luck elsewhere, hoping against hope that another tunnel exit could allow me to enter their tunnels while safely hidden away in the darkness.

As I was checking tunnel after tunnel, it quickly became obvious that the Shattered had, somehow, managed to fill their tunnels with something that wasn’t Shadow, though I wasn’t sure what that could mean. Somehow, it felt solid, slightly like my Ice Magic, but at the same time, it was the exact opposite of my slightly chaotic, ever-changing Darkness Magic. If I had to use a single word to encompass it, I might use something along the lines of Stagnation or maybe Stasis. There wasn’t a whole lot of change down there, though somehow, the Shattered managed to constantly adapt to our kidnappings.

Finally, I decided that I had enough and started to retreat, using the Shadows to step into the sky so I could spread my wings. I was curious if there was some physical indication of the activities I had felt in the shadows and the easiest and safest way to see that was to take an aerial view.

The moment I stepped out of the Shadows, I wrapped myself in my cloak, making sure I was completely hidden while looking at the various groups of Shattered milling around the tunnels I had poked as if they were looking for something. Or, more likely, for someone, namely, me.

Shaking my head, I let myself glide away from town, knowing that even trying to get the information I needed was impossible. Now, we either had to strike without the knowledge or take the easy route and leave to look for interesting things to explore elsewhere.