Shadow Beast Rewritten
#2 of Character/Creature Bios
Basic Info
A shadow beast is as it's name describes, a creature made of shadows. This is not to be confused with other shadow like races that often lurk in the darkness. As for what a shadow beast looks like... well there isn't one set look. As a race they often take on the forms of other races, animals, humans, hybrids. This is all affected by what they feed on and the conditions in which they live in. However, in the end, no two shadow beasts look alike.
Reproduction Shadow beasts cannot reproduce. They are souls of the dead who were twisted by darkness. These souls are often people labeled as murderers, thieves, psychopaths or even sometimes revolutionaries. Whether their actions are good or bad, the intent behind it defines the difference between simple insanity and true darkness. Due to this, all shadow beasts are sterile, unable to produce offspring of their own. This, however, is not to say they cannot hold intimate relations when they wish to. Just because they cannot produce offspring doesn't mean they can't enjoy the acts that make them.
Feeding
Shadow beasts live by feeding off the life force of the living. Though their race often call's this a soul, in truth it is simply the energy used to keep a body alive. The actual soul, the contentiousness and memories of a living creature can only be consumed by the most powerful of these creatures. This means, in most cases, that even though someone often dies during these feedings, their soul can still pass on to whatever afterlife they go to. Feeding, unlike vampires, does not involve blood or any other bodily fluids. Instead the shadow beast simply absorbs the energy though touch. This has been often recorded as absorbing the electrical energy from a body till it simply runs dry, but much more takes place. Years that have yet to be lived are transferred from the living to the beast, extending their life and causing them to grow. Shadow beasts are often known to gorge themselves whenever possible before hibernating to digest and process their food. Older and more advanced beasts are able to store away some of the energy they consume for later use due to self control of their hunger. Thus avoiding this prolonged sleep and creating a backup supply of food when hunting leaves them empty handed. This is done though several methods, but the most commonly known ones are liquids or crystal like formations. More powerful shadow beasts can even take one's true 'soul' and use it to enhance themselves or their collection of energy, but this is a rare ability for few bother with it once they have achieved what they consider perfection.
Shadow Beast Appearance
There are many variations of the shadow beast due to their lack of solid form at a young age. This means no one shadow beast looks any more or less like it's race after maturing. Such creatures often take on the appearance of the races that they feed on most or, in vary rare cases, the races they are tamed by.
Basic Stages of Growth
A shadow beast goes though several stages of growth as they progress though their 'life.' How fast they grow is determined by how quickly they feed and how often. A newborn could stay as such for years till they find a suitable life force to feed on or they could grow within a few days. This is all dependent on how quickly they feed and how often.
Newborn: The youngest and most frail of the race. These are newly created from the death of someone most vile in nature and are quick to flea from the one they emerged from. Due to their frailty, so much as a flashlight can easily kill them meaning death for many when their body dies during the day or in a brightly lit room. Most shadow beasts do not even make it past this stage due to their weakness to light. Their intelligence level is not much more than any basic animal, living on nearly pure instinct. However, unlike most animals newborn shadow beasts prioritize feeding over pain avoidance, seeking out food so they can grow quickly and become stronger.
Child: After feeding off a few living, a shadow beast upgrades to a 'child.' This child is more powerful than it's newborn self, able to stand up to basic lights, but still avoids sunlight at all costs. They have basic intelligence, able to work simple puzzles and avoid most obvious traps. They understand an array words, but rarely speak, still too weak to properly fight if their position is given away to hunters and thus not chancing the sound a voice would produce. Some shadow beasts begin to change appearance at this stage, taking a form that will forever define them.
Adult: After years of feeding and managing to survive, a shadow beast has finally warped into it's adult form. These are intelligent enough to understand and hold proper conversations and even rationalize if they so choose. However, due to their twisted nature they still act very animal like, often ignoring rationality for their need of energy or simply the pleasure of killing. At this stage they can freely stand against any artificial light, but still have trouble with the sun and angelic or holy light. Killing one is much more difficult than the other stages for they tend to be much more crafty than others. By now they are set in the ways they use their power. Such power varies greatly from one to the other, but very few play outside their comfort zone once they find it.
Master: This is the last stage. Considered to be both the most powerful and intelligent of shadow beasts, they have been given the appropriate title of masters. These are often leaders of large groups of beasts due to their ability to control their nature to a higher degree and are often found giving orders or leading attacks against more holy races. They are able to strategize, advance problem solve, and even communicate on levels equal or higher than an average human giving them an edge on the battlefield. Masters often are guardians of lairs or creatures of power that others tend to fear due to their dark nature. These creatures are usually bent on killing everything, destroying lands and watching worlds burn simply for the sake of doing so.
Outsider: These are the rarest of the rare. Outsiders are usually masters that have become more than just a beast of killing and feeding. Their intelligence has shown them there is more to life and death than simple feeding and destruction. They realize what they are; bringers of death, but not for the sake of fear or destruction. They are a balance to life, something that allows new things to live and keep old things from rotting the very core of nature. They are not evil, but simply a necessity, allowing it's river of life to flow instead of stagnate. Outsiders can be surprisingly friendly and often do not feed on those that befriend them. They often look down upon their brethren, finding them to be nothing more than mindless animals that do not understand their reason for life.
Shadow Beast Taming
If captured when no older than a child, a shadow beast can be tamed to become an Outsider much quicker than by their natural cycle. This often warps the powers of said beast and their appearance as well. A tamed shadow beast will begin to take on the appearance of their host, a willing creature who gives up small parts of their life force to the captured creature to keep it living as it's trained. Training a shadow beast is much like raising a child with fangs and claws. Though very dangerous, a tamed shadow beast can be a very powerful asset to any race. Due to the rarity of such an act, little can be said of what the outcome of taming one will be. Those who try often end up simply dying at the hands of the creature.