48th of Ash, 124 AS
The last several days had been dedicated to exploration. Every day she would enter into the Nyxus, greet Et'vaaran who seemed always waiting on her, and then she would set off into the city proper. Her whisper returned most nights as well, often with a soul or two in hand which she handed off to Lyra before flying away once more. Progress was slow, yet steady. Two or three souls from her whisper every day would begin to add up, though the impatience Lyra felt was steadily growing. There was no need to rush, she supposed, but it felt as if she were crawling through muddy waters for every step forward she took. No matter how much she wished to push forward with greater speed, she could not simply sprint to some unseen end. There was a process to these things, and old as she was Lyra would have thought she had grown more patient with age.
Still, the small freedoms did help somewhat. Exploring the mirror city of Zaichaer was cathartic in a lot of ways. She began to notice several things about the Nyxus and its denizens. The first was how eerily quiet it was. The shadow spawn were not creatures of flesh, and made little sound even when they moved from place to place. There was also no ambient sounds of life one would expect to hear in the material world. No rodents scurrying, birds chirping. Even the sounds of crumbling stone was somehow muted by the darkness of the void. More disturbingly was how quiet the symphonies were when Lyra opened her mind to the music of the soul. Through Mesmer she could hear the sounds of people's thoughts and emotions... but in this place, the silence was deafening. The shadow spawn had no souls of their own, a fact which shocked Lyra when she had first discovered it. No souls, no instincts, they simply were... but their nature made no sense to Lyra. Why did they hunt if they had no instinct to do so? What made them seek out flesh and blood? Why were they aggressive both to themselves and others? No matter how she turned the questions over in her mind Lyra could make no sense of it... so she simply let it be.
The silence was unnerving, but it did serve one purpose. With how quiet the Void was, when she did hear the sounds of a symphony she knew that it would lead her to a wayward soul. This was how she had been finding unfortunate travelers in the void. Most were drug here without their consent, and thus when she found them they were often dying or near death. These she took pity on and ended their suffering, collecting their souls before harvesting their blood for her purposes. It was amazing how many actually ended up stumbling into the Void on accident or otherwise. So many, in fact, that Lyra had noticed the withered and cracked skin of her arms was beginning to repair itself. Her hair was not quite so wispy and frail, and not every bone could be seen through her skin. In other words, she was steadily becoming less of a walking corpse and more of a mangy dog by the day. It was not ideal, of course, but Lyra much preferred her current state than when she had first entered the Nyxus.
Now, there were those who were brought unwillingly into the Nyxus, and then there were those who seemed to have wandered in with intention. These were the sort that Lyra observed the most closely. They were few and far between, and in fact she had only met one man thus far, but he had been quite unpleasant. With his paltry power he attempted to command her to his will, waving about as if the small mark on his hand gave him domain over her. Lyra had slain him without a second thought, though his blood was less than appetizing. His soul was equally pathetic... but then, beggars could not be choosers.
Lyra was now wandering down one of the back streets of Zaichaer, her toes barely hovering above the ground as she hummed a soft tune that echoed in the silence of the Void. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something following her, but she did not turn to face it. The Shadow Spawn showed a certain level of intelligence. Lyra had come to notice that those shadow spawn that were relatively weak compared to her shied away when she drew near, but those who felt they were stronger would from time to time approach her. It was a curious behavior, as the shadow spawn did not seem to be able to determine her actual strength, but rather her relative ability with the rune of Nyx. The stronger her connection with the mark of the void, the more of the creatures that avoided her. It was a curious behavior, almost as if the more she mastered the mark the more she became... like them in a sense. The more easily they could distinguish the gap in her abilities and theirs. That meant there was an odd sort of balance within the Nyxus, with those creatures with more power being less threatened than those that were weaker.
The Shadow Spawn themselves seemed to possess some form of hierarchy as well. Not a strict one of course, but something more akin to an unconscious understanding of where they stood in relation with one another. It was unclear if shadow spawn reproduced, or if they were simply spawned, as their name implied, from the darkness of the void itself. Thus it was difficult to say if the power of a shadow spawn was due to its age, how much it had consumed, or perhaps it was dependent upon where it had spawned in the first place. There also seemed to be something akin to territories among the shadow spawn. The largest and most powerful seemed to have claimed 'hunting grounds' of their own. Other spawn which ventured into the territory were quickly dispatched, but there was also an odd order to that chaotic interaction as well. Some shadow spawn seemed able to pass between territories, while others were locked within specific places. There were also so many different types of shadow spawn that Lyra questioned if they were all in fact the same. Some were very similar to creatures from the material realm. Birds, rats and canines being the most common animal inspired shadow spawn that Lyra had seen. There were also ones that held no resemblance to anything Lyra had ever seen before. Writhing masses of tentacles and teeth that were completely stationary. Some that looked like buildings but would consume whatever walked into them. Then there were the humanoid shadow spawn. These were the oddest of all. They were... unnerving. They did not possess a soul like all other spawn, but they had something similar to a symphony. They also tended to be the most powerful or cunning of the shadow spawn, though that was not a hard rule.
Of all the Shadow Spawn Lyra had seen, the one she had observed the most was what she had dubbed the "Crater Spawn". The large, squid like thing which seemed to live inside the gaping mouth of the crater leading down into her dark demesne. Whenever something drew close to the craters edge one of its hundreds of tentacles would snatch it up, pulling it into the depths of its abyssal maw, never to be seen again. Curiously it did not pay much heed to Lyra itself. It would watch her, of course, but it allowed her to pass by into the crater without being impeded. Perhaps it was due to Et'vaaran's interference, since he had lead her past the creature when she had first ventured into the Nyxus. The Crater Spawn wasn't exactly friendly, but it seemed to tolerate her to some extent.
There was a second shadow spawn that Lyra had noticed, she'd begun to call it the "Lurker". She had yet to get a good look at it, as it always kept just out of her sight, as it did now as she wandered the streets of Zaichaer. It did not seem aggressive, nor did it appear to actively stalk or attack anything else in the Nyxus. Lyra might have thought it were a weak thing, were it not for Et'vaaran. The tiger had noticed it immediately the day previously, but even under the tiger's probing gaze the Lurker had not fled. It had slunk back a bit more into the darkness... but it never ran away. That alone made Lyra question what it wanted, and just how powerful it might be. It did not attack her, though, so she let it be.
Her situation was clear. She needed more blood to satiate her hunger, and the speed at which she was collecting souls was far too slow... She needed to find a way to expedite both of these things. Lyra just was not sure how. Not yet at least.
The last several days had been dedicated to exploration. Every day she would enter into the Nyxus, greet Et'vaaran who seemed always waiting on her, and then she would set off into the city proper. Her whisper returned most nights as well, often with a soul or two in hand which she handed off to Lyra before flying away once more. Progress was slow, yet steady. Two or three souls from her whisper every day would begin to add up, though the impatience Lyra felt was steadily growing. There was no need to rush, she supposed, but it felt as if she were crawling through muddy waters for every step forward she took. No matter how much she wished to push forward with greater speed, she could not simply sprint to some unseen end. There was a process to these things, and old as she was Lyra would have thought she had grown more patient with age.
Still, the small freedoms did help somewhat. Exploring the mirror city of Zaichaer was cathartic in a lot of ways. She began to notice several things about the Nyxus and its denizens. The first was how eerily quiet it was. The shadow spawn were not creatures of flesh, and made little sound even when they moved from place to place. There was also no ambient sounds of life one would expect to hear in the material world. No rodents scurrying, birds chirping. Even the sounds of crumbling stone was somehow muted by the darkness of the void. More disturbingly was how quiet the symphonies were when Lyra opened her mind to the music of the soul. Through Mesmer she could hear the sounds of people's thoughts and emotions... but in this place, the silence was deafening. The shadow spawn had no souls of their own, a fact which shocked Lyra when she had first discovered it. No souls, no instincts, they simply were... but their nature made no sense to Lyra. Why did they hunt if they had no instinct to do so? What made them seek out flesh and blood? Why were they aggressive both to themselves and others? No matter how she turned the questions over in her mind Lyra could make no sense of it... so she simply let it be.
The silence was unnerving, but it did serve one purpose. With how quiet the Void was, when she did hear the sounds of a symphony she knew that it would lead her to a wayward soul. This was how she had been finding unfortunate travelers in the void. Most were drug here without their consent, and thus when she found them they were often dying or near death. These she took pity on and ended their suffering, collecting their souls before harvesting their blood for her purposes. It was amazing how many actually ended up stumbling into the Void on accident or otherwise. So many, in fact, that Lyra had noticed the withered and cracked skin of her arms was beginning to repair itself. Her hair was not quite so wispy and frail, and not every bone could be seen through her skin. In other words, she was steadily becoming less of a walking corpse and more of a mangy dog by the day. It was not ideal, of course, but Lyra much preferred her current state than when she had first entered the Nyxus.
Now, there were those who were brought unwillingly into the Nyxus, and then there were those who seemed to have wandered in with intention. These were the sort that Lyra observed the most closely. They were few and far between, and in fact she had only met one man thus far, but he had been quite unpleasant. With his paltry power he attempted to command her to his will, waving about as if the small mark on his hand gave him domain over her. Lyra had slain him without a second thought, though his blood was less than appetizing. His soul was equally pathetic... but then, beggars could not be choosers.
Lyra was now wandering down one of the back streets of Zaichaer, her toes barely hovering above the ground as she hummed a soft tune that echoed in the silence of the Void. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something following her, but she did not turn to face it. The Shadow Spawn showed a certain level of intelligence. Lyra had come to notice that those shadow spawn that were relatively weak compared to her shied away when she drew near, but those who felt they were stronger would from time to time approach her. It was a curious behavior, as the shadow spawn did not seem to be able to determine her actual strength, but rather her relative ability with the rune of Nyx. The stronger her connection with the mark of the void, the more of the creatures that avoided her. It was a curious behavior, almost as if the more she mastered the mark the more she became... like them in a sense. The more easily they could distinguish the gap in her abilities and theirs. That meant there was an odd sort of balance within the Nyxus, with those creatures with more power being less threatened than those that were weaker.
The Shadow Spawn themselves seemed to possess some form of hierarchy as well. Not a strict one of course, but something more akin to an unconscious understanding of where they stood in relation with one another. It was unclear if shadow spawn reproduced, or if they were simply spawned, as their name implied, from the darkness of the void itself. Thus it was difficult to say if the power of a shadow spawn was due to its age, how much it had consumed, or perhaps it was dependent upon where it had spawned in the first place. There also seemed to be something akin to territories among the shadow spawn. The largest and most powerful seemed to have claimed 'hunting grounds' of their own. Other spawn which ventured into the territory were quickly dispatched, but there was also an odd order to that chaotic interaction as well. Some shadow spawn seemed able to pass between territories, while others were locked within specific places. There were also so many different types of shadow spawn that Lyra questioned if they were all in fact the same. Some were very similar to creatures from the material realm. Birds, rats and canines being the most common animal inspired shadow spawn that Lyra had seen. There were also ones that held no resemblance to anything Lyra had ever seen before. Writhing masses of tentacles and teeth that were completely stationary. Some that looked like buildings but would consume whatever walked into them. Then there were the humanoid shadow spawn. These were the oddest of all. They were... unnerving. They did not possess a soul like all other spawn, but they had something similar to a symphony. They also tended to be the most powerful or cunning of the shadow spawn, though that was not a hard rule.
Of all the Shadow Spawn Lyra had seen, the one she had observed the most was what she had dubbed the "Crater Spawn". The large, squid like thing which seemed to live inside the gaping mouth of the crater leading down into her dark demesne. Whenever something drew close to the craters edge one of its hundreds of tentacles would snatch it up, pulling it into the depths of its abyssal maw, never to be seen again. Curiously it did not pay much heed to Lyra itself. It would watch her, of course, but it allowed her to pass by into the crater without being impeded. Perhaps it was due to Et'vaaran's interference, since he had lead her past the creature when she had first ventured into the Nyxus. The Crater Spawn wasn't exactly friendly, but it seemed to tolerate her to some extent.
There was a second shadow spawn that Lyra had noticed, she'd begun to call it the "Lurker". She had yet to get a good look at it, as it always kept just out of her sight, as it did now as she wandered the streets of Zaichaer. It did not seem aggressive, nor did it appear to actively stalk or attack anything else in the Nyxus. Lyra might have thought it were a weak thing, were it not for Et'vaaran. The tiger had noticed it immediately the day previously, but even under the tiger's probing gaze the Lurker had not fled. It had slunk back a bit more into the darkness... but it never ran away. That alone made Lyra question what it wanted, and just how powerful it might be. It did not attack her, though, so she let it be.
Her situation was clear. She needed more blood to satiate her hunger, and the speed at which she was collecting souls was far too slow... She needed to find a way to expedite both of these things. Lyra just was not sure how. Not yet at least.