50th of Ash, 124 AS
Lyra floated in the air, idly toying with a string of smoke which trailed from her finger as she watched the shadow spawn move in the city below. It had become something of a pastime for her, watching the denizens of the void. Though they did not possess souls themselves they behaved in a way which was reminiscent of one. Often the same shadow spawn would travel a similar path each day, while another might travel in a different direction than usual given no obvious sign of intervention. They also appeared to communicate, or mimic communication, with one another. Bites and snarls, swipe of claws, and other gestures which were familiar and still alien all at once. Those that took shapes close to a material realm counter part often behaved in a similar fashion. For instance, there was a pack of rat-like shadow spawn that often scurried the alleyways, usually in packs of 5 or more. They would converge on even smaller shadow spawn, tearing them to pieces and consuming them as a group. The more feline ones were usually alone, stalking the heights of the city or slinking through the darkest parts of the void. The winged varieties were some of the most diverse, as they tended to take after many creatures. Some swooped and dove at smaller spawn, some made odd nests of black obsidian like crystals.
Of late Lyra had come to most enjoy observing the humanoid shadow spawn the most. These exhibited the most disturbing behavior. They did not often attack one another, but they would form time to time stop and gesture at one another, almost as if they were conversing. Lyra had also observed some that entered buildings or sat at broken tables or chairs, almost like they were pretending to be the thing they mimicked. It was fascinating to watch, and once more Lyra wondered at the origin of the Void Spawn.
The day previously Lyra had found a place where one of the spawn were... well, spawned. It had crawled out of a pit of utter darkness, like a part of the void had torn itself away and was fighting for its own independence or freedom. When it first freed itself it was only a shapeless blob, more slime than creature, but as the day past it took on a more familiar form. It became one of the small rat like spawn and quickly found a pack of its own to join. When she went back to the pit where the thing spawned Lyra observed several more of the things birthed into existence. Each followed a similar trend. They tore themselves free of the darkness of the void, started off a formless mass, and then over time took on a shape through some indecipherable means. Not all of them became the rat spawn, however. One even morphed itself into some sort of multi-eyed abomination that slunk off into the sewers. That one Lyra stayed clear of, as it gave off an odd aura that disturbed even her.
From her observations Lyra came to a conclusion. The shadow spawn were formed form the void, and then somehow were shaped by it in various ways. When she looked around Lyra saw an endless expanse of broken things, forgotten ideas and abandoned dreams. It was not obvious when she first began to explore the Nyxus, but now that she had been here for a time, and been suffused by the energies of the place, Lyra had begun to notice small shreds of... something. She could not quiet describe it. It wasn't like what she felt from a soul, which was boundless potential and possibility. This she suspected was due to the direct connection to the aetherium each soul possessed. There was also no music which suggested any sort of thought or emotion in this place, or not the kind she was used to at least. When she touched a broken chair it felt very much like its counter part in the Material Realm, but somehow it felt as if it were missing something. It was an absence of potential, perhaps, as she had come to recognize the purpose of the void was to collect the broken things of the wider universe. Perhaps the things which fell here were cut off fragments from the aetherium, parts of ideas or potential that would never come to be, or maybe couldn't be in the Prime Material Realm.
With that thought Lyra examined her mark closer, and began to question the nature of the Void, and by extension this mark which let her use a portion of its power. When the next spawn began to emerge Lyra reached down and plucked it up with long claws made of shadows. It squirmed in her grip, wriggling to get free, but Lyra did not loosen her grip. With a breath she loosed a bit of black smoke which wrapped the thing, and perhaps not unexpectedly it did not respond to her whisper.
"Without a soul, I cannot hear your song." She said, almost mournfully as she set the ting down. She did not let it go, however, and instead called on her mark. She used the small amount of aether she had collected and pulled out the darkness in her heart, and she called to the energies of the void around her. This time the blob paused and seemed to look at her.
"Well now, little one, it seems--" Her words were cut off as the blob launched at her, tendrils of darkness lashing out as if it wanted to wrap around her throat. With a sound of surprise Lyra threw up her hand and caught the blob, using her mark to crush it down into a sphere the size of her hand before throwing it aside back into the pit of darkness.
Lyra looked at the pit for a time, but the blog did not emerge immediately. Questions bubbled up, as she wondered just what had occurred. The spawn seemed to sense the moment she activated her rune of nyx, and lunged at her when she began to draw on its power to summon the darkness inside of herself. It was that moment when she attempted to connect to the void that the blob showed an interest in her, and attacked. But why? Did it want her aether? Unlikely as none of the shadow spawn seemed to react to her normal use of magic. The obvious answer was that it was tied to her use of Nyx specifically. But what exactly drew its attention?
She had to wait several hours before the next spawn began to emerge, and the moment it did she grabbed it up as she had previously. It did not seem to react to just her use of nyx, as it still tried to escape the claws made of shadow. This time when she released it Lyra again reached deep inside to her inner darkness, and again the spawn froze. Before it could move, however, Lyra flicked her hand and caught it up in a binding of darkness, using Ateromancy to keep its body still. Its body was rather pliable to her magic, and it was oddly satisfying to stretch and compress the spawn. She entertained herself by forcing the spawn into various shapes, and she even molded it into a small human figure and made it walk in circles. Lyra half hoped that it would become of one of the humanoid shadow spawn due to her meddling, but the moment she released her hold it took on its amorphous shape once again.
With a sigh Lyra was about to let it go free, when a thought occurred to her. Growing out one of the nails on her left hand she slit her palm, letting a trickle of black blood fall down on top of the blob. It shuddered when the first drop hit, but quickly seemed to realize what it was and began to reach up toward her hand. Before it could reach high enough she stemmed the flow of blood and stepped back.
At first it did not seem that anything would happen... And then the blob shook. Its form trembled, molding itself even as it began to grow in size. Bigger it became, surpassing the size of the usual shadow spawn. Eyes began to form across its surface, and all of them looked toward Lyra with a suddenly very hungry expression.
"Curious..." Lyra whispered, floating up and away from the spawn as its tentacles started to grow fleshy hands that reached toward her, "But do not grow too greedy."
With a flick of her hand the spawns body twisted. She could feel her blood inside of it now, suffusing its every fiber. It had consumed her essence, taken it into itself to make itself stronger, and it was partially successful. With a snap of her fingers one of the things limbs melted and splattered on the ground, writhing in a puddle of ooze before evaporating in a cloud of smoke. The spawn at last seemed to understand its situation, and turned to flee. Lyra let it go, curious to see what it would do now. She could always find it again. After all, it possessed a part of her now.
Lyra floated in the air, idly toying with a string of smoke which trailed from her finger as she watched the shadow spawn move in the city below. It had become something of a pastime for her, watching the denizens of the void. Though they did not possess souls themselves they behaved in a way which was reminiscent of one. Often the same shadow spawn would travel a similar path each day, while another might travel in a different direction than usual given no obvious sign of intervention. They also appeared to communicate, or mimic communication, with one another. Bites and snarls, swipe of claws, and other gestures which were familiar and still alien all at once. Those that took shapes close to a material realm counter part often behaved in a similar fashion. For instance, there was a pack of rat-like shadow spawn that often scurried the alleyways, usually in packs of 5 or more. They would converge on even smaller shadow spawn, tearing them to pieces and consuming them as a group. The more feline ones were usually alone, stalking the heights of the city or slinking through the darkest parts of the void. The winged varieties were some of the most diverse, as they tended to take after many creatures. Some swooped and dove at smaller spawn, some made odd nests of black obsidian like crystals.
Of late Lyra had come to most enjoy observing the humanoid shadow spawn the most. These exhibited the most disturbing behavior. They did not often attack one another, but they would form time to time stop and gesture at one another, almost as if they were conversing. Lyra had also observed some that entered buildings or sat at broken tables or chairs, almost like they were pretending to be the thing they mimicked. It was fascinating to watch, and once more Lyra wondered at the origin of the Void Spawn.
The day previously Lyra had found a place where one of the spawn were... well, spawned. It had crawled out of a pit of utter darkness, like a part of the void had torn itself away and was fighting for its own independence or freedom. When it first freed itself it was only a shapeless blob, more slime than creature, but as the day past it took on a more familiar form. It became one of the small rat like spawn and quickly found a pack of its own to join. When she went back to the pit where the thing spawned Lyra observed several more of the things birthed into existence. Each followed a similar trend. They tore themselves free of the darkness of the void, started off a formless mass, and then over time took on a shape through some indecipherable means. Not all of them became the rat spawn, however. One even morphed itself into some sort of multi-eyed abomination that slunk off into the sewers. That one Lyra stayed clear of, as it gave off an odd aura that disturbed even her.
From her observations Lyra came to a conclusion. The shadow spawn were formed form the void, and then somehow were shaped by it in various ways. When she looked around Lyra saw an endless expanse of broken things, forgotten ideas and abandoned dreams. It was not obvious when she first began to explore the Nyxus, but now that she had been here for a time, and been suffused by the energies of the place, Lyra had begun to notice small shreds of... something. She could not quiet describe it. It wasn't like what she felt from a soul, which was boundless potential and possibility. This she suspected was due to the direct connection to the aetherium each soul possessed. There was also no music which suggested any sort of thought or emotion in this place, or not the kind she was used to at least. When she touched a broken chair it felt very much like its counter part in the Material Realm, but somehow it felt as if it were missing something. It was an absence of potential, perhaps, as she had come to recognize the purpose of the void was to collect the broken things of the wider universe. Perhaps the things which fell here were cut off fragments from the aetherium, parts of ideas or potential that would never come to be, or maybe couldn't be in the Prime Material Realm.
With that thought Lyra examined her mark closer, and began to question the nature of the Void, and by extension this mark which let her use a portion of its power. When the next spawn began to emerge Lyra reached down and plucked it up with long claws made of shadows. It squirmed in her grip, wriggling to get free, but Lyra did not loosen her grip. With a breath she loosed a bit of black smoke which wrapped the thing, and perhaps not unexpectedly it did not respond to her whisper.
"Without a soul, I cannot hear your song." She said, almost mournfully as she set the ting down. She did not let it go, however, and instead called on her mark. She used the small amount of aether she had collected and pulled out the darkness in her heart, and she called to the energies of the void around her. This time the blob paused and seemed to look at her.
"Well now, little one, it seems--" Her words were cut off as the blob launched at her, tendrils of darkness lashing out as if it wanted to wrap around her throat. With a sound of surprise Lyra threw up her hand and caught the blob, using her mark to crush it down into a sphere the size of her hand before throwing it aside back into the pit of darkness.
Lyra looked at the pit for a time, but the blog did not emerge immediately. Questions bubbled up, as she wondered just what had occurred. The spawn seemed to sense the moment she activated her rune of nyx, and lunged at her when she began to draw on its power to summon the darkness inside of herself. It was that moment when she attempted to connect to the void that the blob showed an interest in her, and attacked. But why? Did it want her aether? Unlikely as none of the shadow spawn seemed to react to her normal use of magic. The obvious answer was that it was tied to her use of Nyx specifically. But what exactly drew its attention?
She had to wait several hours before the next spawn began to emerge, and the moment it did she grabbed it up as she had previously. It did not seem to react to just her use of nyx, as it still tried to escape the claws made of shadow. This time when she released it Lyra again reached deep inside to her inner darkness, and again the spawn froze. Before it could move, however, Lyra flicked her hand and caught it up in a binding of darkness, using Ateromancy to keep its body still. Its body was rather pliable to her magic, and it was oddly satisfying to stretch and compress the spawn. She entertained herself by forcing the spawn into various shapes, and she even molded it into a small human figure and made it walk in circles. Lyra half hoped that it would become of one of the humanoid shadow spawn due to her meddling, but the moment she released her hold it took on its amorphous shape once again.
With a sigh Lyra was about to let it go free, when a thought occurred to her. Growing out one of the nails on her left hand she slit her palm, letting a trickle of black blood fall down on top of the blob. It shuddered when the first drop hit, but quickly seemed to realize what it was and began to reach up toward her hand. Before it could reach high enough she stemmed the flow of blood and stepped back.
At first it did not seem that anything would happen... And then the blob shook. Its form trembled, molding itself even as it began to grow in size. Bigger it became, surpassing the size of the usual shadow spawn. Eyes began to form across its surface, and all of them looked toward Lyra with a suddenly very hungry expression.
"Curious..." Lyra whispered, floating up and away from the spawn as its tentacles started to grow fleshy hands that reached toward her, "But do not grow too greedy."
With a flick of her hand the spawns body twisted. She could feel her blood inside of it now, suffusing its every fiber. It had consumed her essence, taken it into itself to make itself stronger, and it was partially successful. With a snap of her fingers one of the things limbs melted and splattered on the ground, writhing in a puddle of ooze before evaporating in a cloud of smoke. The spawn at last seemed to understand its situation, and turned to flee. Lyra let it go, curious to see what it would do now. She could always find it again. After all, it possessed a part of her now.