Shadows
Form:
The Shadows have some of the most mysterious forms, and seem to be formed out of a variety of living “shadows”. Their exact forms are hard to describe, as they almost seem to meld almost with the darkness that they live in, and bringing them out into brighter sunlight simply causes them to melt away instead of granting a better look.
Spread/Progression:
Shadows seem to appear or disappear without warning, and without any good explanations for how they do so. Other than their limitations in handling natural light sources, the Shadows seem to have little regard for where and when they appear.
Similarly shadow controlled areas suffer no real visible progression, other than the overall increase in shadow monster activity as the area becomes more strongly affiliated to them. They do suffer a strange effect as areas that are extremely infested seem ot begin to resist all forms of light altogether, and even forms of artifical light such as flashlights and night vision begin to become weaker and the darker areas seem to become darker.
Goals:
Like much about them, both the ultimate and short term goals of the Shadows are unknown. They appear to concentrate in specific areas and around certain objects, but beyond that no real knowledge about what they are doing here is known, or if the Shadows are even intelligent enough to have goals. Regardless, it seems that the areas that are covered in shadows do not always seem conducive to human life, so a world dominated by the shadows does not seem like one that would be a particularly good one for humans to live in.
Interactions with humanity as a whole:
None, as of now. The Shadows have shown no real interests in communicating with humanity as a whole, nor particular interests in what we are doing. Reports from those who wandered into areas with dense Shadow populations seem conflicted, ranging from reports of the Shadows trying to “help” them to attempts at fending off an endless supply of various monsters.
Interactions with the Player:
Due to much of the motives behind the Shadows being unknown, or expressing itself in different ways, there are little options for interaction with the Player. And unless the player actively runs into one of the objects or areas where the Shadows have congregated in great numbers, their seems little reason for why they would interact. That said should the player encounter such an area or object, interaction options abound, ranging from visiting the player with nightmares to granting them special gifts. Their motives are unknown, and that unknowing should dominate any such interactions they have with the player.
Interactions with other factions:
The Shadows are just as much of a mystery to the Nether factions as they are to humanity, and the current hypothesis is that the Shadows came from another hidden “valley” in the 4th dimension that was only opened in the process of allowing easier access between the Nether dimensions and our own. As such their interactions with the Nether denizens are just as mysterious as those with humanity, or even more so in some cases.
Key Ideas:
The key ideas for Shadow lore are “hidden”, “unknown”, “mystery”, and “darkness”. They are the unknown thing moving out in the darkness, that which the player can never completely understand or banish regardless of how much they know. And while that dark shape may just turn out to be the trees moving in the wind, it may also resolve to be something much more sinister. Dark things for dark places, after all.