Nightfall

The Origins

Nightfall was created through a collaboration between Izonata and Venadak, borne as the result of their shared empathy for the derelict and oppressed classes through the waning days of the Unbroken Empire. Originally proliferated among slaves to provide them with a method to protect themselves against their master's wroth, the magic quickly became the source point for one of the bloodiest massacres in the Empire's history. Inquisitors marched door-to-door across the Empire, killing every last slave imbued with the Mark of Nightfall, and forcing many to initiate agents of the Empire against their will. What was created as a tool of liberation quickly became merely one method of further subjugation, as Nightfall was pointed against the very slaves it was meant to protect.

The two Creator-Gods did not take kindly to this development, seen as an act of defiance and blasphemy. It was the appropriation of Nightfall that first began the Divine Bombardment of the Unbroken Empire, as beams of light and chaotic rays of energy descended from Muid to assault the Empire's fortifications, ravaging their armies day and night. An eclipse rose in the sky above Adena for three years, and millions of Mithira's residents became blind staring at or even glancing in the direction of the great solar collision. Nightfall was named for these sequences of events, as an astral darkness reigned over the Empire's great stronghold long enough to depress the entire region. The controversy over this magic was, undeniably, the beginning of the Gods' war against the Empire, ultimately culminating in the Sundering of the Planes.

After the cataclysm, the magic largely disappeared... and re-emerged in the hands of one particular man, Ratheran of Daravin, now the Pontifex of the Omen of Ulendreaism. It has since become synonymous with the Omen faith, a fact many imagine to be a point of friction for the Goddess of Chaos, as the successors to the Empire's oppressive reign continue to carry her gift as if their own, attributing it to Ulen, the 'Returning King', as they wield it to pursue their own ends.

Concepts

Twilight: Twilight is the founding concept of Nightfall, built into the magic through collaboration between Izonata and Venadak. Considering all Nightfallen have some basic ability to interact with light, they are able to manipulate the photons within light to generate darkness. They do so by physically moving their body through the surrounding light, smoke-like shadow forming from within their movements before rushing towards and condensing within their palm.

Umbralplasm: Once darkness has been pulled from surrounding photons, it is quickly congealed through a mixture of ether and oxygen into a grimy, organic-like substance known as Umbralplasm. Umbralplasm is the foundational substance behind almost all of Nightfall's abilities, and it has a few unique properties of its own.

To begin with, Umbralplasm can easily spread across surfaces, as the Nightfallen mage is capable of expanding or retracting its surface area by loosening or tightening its internal density. The density of Umbralplasm can be finely tuned, with larger volumes greatly compressed into smaller ones via pressure. Because of this property, Umbralplasm can either weigh minimally or a great amount, allowing it to act as a tool for oppressing the weight of other objects or organics, often by spreading the substance along their own surface.

Umbralplasm is also highly malleable, considering it is effectively an organic goo of congealed darkness. Its form can easily shift, twist and change, and it can be expanded or retracted into Compasses (see: Abilities) with relative ease.

Initiation

Overstepping

The drawbacks listed below do not always come in pairs, and certainly not simultaneously. Some may come and others may not.

Lesser: Nausea, fatigue, headaches, muscle spasms, dehydration

Moderate: Bleeding through the nose, eyes and ears, intense cramps, seizure-like shocks and spasms, internal bleeding, vomiting and weakness

Severe

x

Abilities

Devise: Novice. The Nightfallen, through this ability, learns to perform the initial process that allows for the production of Umbralplasm. First, they learn to generate darkness from within light photons, a process that requires the visualization and adaptation of the ambient mass of photons around them. After performing this initial task, they learn to accumulate the unique features of Umbralplasm around the generated darkness, giving it the strange, organic texture and capability it is known for. This tends to occupy the brunt of a Nightfallen's Novice progression, and must be mastered before moving onto other abilities.

Generating darkness, and then Umbralplasm, both consume ether, though a trivial amount. The majority of 'cost' associated with Nightfall lies within its abilities, or more precisely, directing the Umbralplasm to perform these abilities.

Compass: Novice. Compass is the natural successor to Devise, as it is the ability within which the Nightfallen learns to compress and decompress Umbralplasm. Once it has formed within the palm of the mage, they will begin to lift it above their hand into a sphere, typically beginning by pressurizing the mass into a smaller volume. This allows the Nightfallen to produce orbs of darkness - or Compasses - with highly dense masses of Umbralplasm that occupy a very small space. Compasses are the conduits from which the brunt of Nightfall's abilities are cast, as Umbralplasm will emerge from the spherical structure and perform the given ability. Umbralplasm that has been released can also be returned to the Compass, allowing the substance to be recycled if it has not been destroyed.

Confide: Apprentice. Confide allows for the Nightfallen to leave a projection of their features, typically their face (though this may extend to their entire body) within a shadow, configuring this projection to prime and communicate with specific individuals who encounter it. As an example, a Nightfallen may imbue a hallway's shadow with a projection of themselves that is designated to communicate with a specific friend or ally, which will immediately begin to speak to them as they enter the shadow, or step within a certain threshold of it. These projections can last months or even years as a Master, though once they are triggered they tend to be expended.

Obscura: Apprentice. By congealing a swell of Umbralplasm beneath the feet of the Nightfallen, it rises and wraps about them and their attire or weaponry, forming a cloak of impenetrable darkness. Unlike true darkness, the Umbralplasm selectively allows photons to shimmer across the surface, creating a limited range of camouflage that mimics the surrounding low light. They will appear as a pale blue blur slinking between the grasses under the light of the moon, or the darkest shimmer of black. Under direct warmer hues of light, they will appear smoky as the guise strains, evaporating at the seams. This camouflaging darkness cannot be manifested in a brightly lit room save for lunar light, nor will it hold for more than a few moments before even a torch. Those who are in some way in some way in favor of oppressing others shall lose the camouflaging aspect. The cost of manifesting Obscura becomes insignificant as the Nightfallen progresses towards Mastery.

Volley: Journeyman. Volley is the first offensive application of Nightfall, and the first ability which harnesses the Compass as a conduit. The Nightfallen expels some of the contents of a Compass, releasing a volley of congealed globs of darkness that will fire en masse across the area, moving at a high velocity. Once they land on designated enemies, they will begin to slither across their forms to get to their eyes, ears, lips and nostrils, blinding, deafening and sometimes even totally preventing them from breathing. Further, as one progresses through Nightfallen and begins to generate more compressed Umbralplasm, Volley equally has a notable ability to weigh down or oppress the movement of targets landed upon. While this ability relies on these globs hitting foes, often from long distances, it can have a dramatic and even lethal effect.

Stratum: Journeyman. Stratum is a wall of darkness, crafted by releasing some of the contents of a Compass. While the base of Stratum is typically constructed by Umbralplasm, the exterior tends to appear smoky in color and texture. This ability is highly malleable, and can often greatly expand in radius by reducing the density of the formed wall. Equally, it can become smaller and more compact, serving as a near impenetrable (but small) shield. Stratum is also known for its secondary effect; it can fire black tendrils of Umbralplasm at a high velocity to whip, slash at and impale enemies from its surface, often unexpectedly.

Reign: Journeyman. Reign was initially designed by Izonata to allow for Marked slaves to escape their chains, fleeing from their masters for good. It is the ability to create wings of Umbralplasm, fully functional and capable of flight. Notably, the wings constructed by Reign are capable of truly dynamic mobility, able to direct their movement freely within a multi-directional axis, similar to a hummingbird. As a downside to Reign, while it is relatively cheap to construct, more precise movements require a relatively small increase in ether expenditure, which can accumulate to a large excess and can often lead to Overstepping this hummingbird-like precision is maintained for long durations.

Overreign: Expert. Overreign manipulates the edges of Reign's wings, shaping their outer surface into a great volley of spear-like tendrils that descend from above to below. These elongated spears are known to hit the ground from dozens of meters in the air almost instantaneously once primed, though they are very visible when forming. The spears tend to number around twenty to thirty, and each can impale thick plate, becoming only more piercing if fired from greater range.

Obscurafane: Expert.

Shadowrend: Expert. Shadowrend is the manifestation of a triad of scythe-like, crescent blades of shadow, which will typically meld along the Umbralplasm-coated arms of the Nightfallen. These three scythe-like blades will pursue the movements of enemies, their malleable shapes shifting to wrap and bend in order to strike or slash at enemies who attempt to escape their range. An enemy may dodge, duck or strafe around one of Shadowrend's crescent scythes, only for the scythe to immediately twist its shape and impale them through. Considering the flexibility and (typically) the durability of these weapons, they are often the signature of a Nightfallen, and are known to be nearly impossible for mundane warriors to contend with.

Shadowform: Master. Shadowform allows for the mage to dissipate through Umbralplasm, the fragments of their form falling to the surface of a shadow beneath them as slops of congealed darkness. Once this occurs, they may reform within a nearby shadow, up to fifty feet away. Shadowform is a potent ability, but with a few requirements for its use. Firstly, it must be performed by a Nightfallen who is currently cloaked by Obscura. Secondly, it can only be used to jump from shadow to shadow, and with its limited range this can often prove impossible or detrimental to its usefulness. Despite these drawbacks, it is a staple of Nightfall, as it is a relatively inexpensive ability to use, and can provide a less draining alternative - albeit a highly limited one - to Sonic Blink.

Collision: Master. Collision is the first and final pure manifestation of Venadak's gravitational imprint on the magic, allowing for the Nightfallen to generate a destructive gravitational wave. By colliding two dense, highly compressed Umbralplasmic structures, the mage can generate an impact force so intense that it can decimate nearby objects and organic matter, pulling objects at the edge of the radius within before erupting with devastating energy. The larger and denser the Umbralplasm, the wider the radius of this intense force, and the more destructive. This comes with the drawback of making the collision slower, as the heavier, denser Umbralplasmic structures are more difficult for the Nightfallen to control. Equally, these larger collisions require more ether, but can unleash a truly devastating blast of force that can extend hundreds of feet outward.

Conjunction: Master. Conjunction is, like Collision, an ability meant to inflict raw devastation on an area. The Nightfallen fully expands a Compass, releasing the entirety of its contents to inflict a vast wave of destructive Umbralplasm across a given field, somewhat blindly. This often manifests as a flurry of massive, root-like tendrils lashing and flailing over the field and eroding what they touch, or blasts of darkness similar to Volley, but with greater piercing power or force. Each sphere unleashed by Conjunction tends to release a catastrophic amount of Umbralplasm, enough to devastate the area before a Nightfallen, typically in a cone. Conjunction expends a large amount of ether, and utilizing it more than once in a battle often leads to Overstepping.

Stygian Abilities

Penumbra: Penumbra is, in conventional application, a Stygian's most powerful ability. By forming vast swathes of Umbralplasm above them, suspended by large stalks of darkness, they create a curdling roof of filamented darkness that will often drip onto the floor beneath it, shifting and skittering like a horde of amalgamated insects, suspended by 'legs'. Completely obscuring the sun and moon and culling all external light, this roof can expand hundreds, even thousands of meters, and while it can decay or lose its integrity through time it typically remains for weeks or even months before requiring maintenance. Despite its long-lasting nature, Penumbra can be built in a single battle and will often serve as a lair for the Stygian to confront their foe on unequal footing.

Within Penumbra, the Stygian can wield their natural ability to meld within darkness freely, becoming invulnerable as they move beneath the structure. Each time they attack or harness an ability, they will materialize for a moment, only to disappear again into the shadow cast from above. They may also cast Shadowform from any point of Penumbra to any point, allowing advanced mobility while within. Finally, they may use the roof itself as a conduit for their abilities, including Conjunction.

Condemnation: Rebuke a Mark of Control from another mage. wip.

Master

Ascension: The Stygian

Eclipse-like eyes, dark sclera, ignores laws of physics, often wears blindfolds due to blinding gaze, can freely merge with shadow; being of true and total darkness. x

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