54th of Ash, 124 AS
The encounter with the evolved shadow spawn was enlightening in many ways. When she had first begun her experiments with the void spawn, Lyra had not known what to expect. Perhaps she thought she might be able to influence them in some capacity, either through the power of Nyx or through other means. She was also curious as to their relationship with the void and with each other, which she had come to realize was more complex than she had originally thought. Much like how the Void was a dark reflection of the material world, shadow spawn were dark reflections of the creatures of the other realms. Their many and diverse forms reflected the multitude of ideas which could shape them. Some took the form of animals, especially those who had ventured out into the Prime Material Realm and consumed animals while there. Some were more odd and abstract, reflecting some idea they had happened upon in the void. Oddly enough there even seemed to be elementally aligned shadow spawn, or rather shadow spawn which seem to mimic properties of elements. Those born of ideas around fire were at times burning with intense heat, sporting silvery white flames. Water aligned spawn would sometimes be more liquid than solid, while the air spawn could be almost cloud like, though often they were toxic to living things which breathed in their miasma.
These observations reinforced the idea that the shadow spawn were heavily shaped by the concepts with which they interacted, and their behavior might partially be explained by their need to consume new concepts to grow. Shadow spawn which consumed others of their kind would usually take on aspects of the one they consumed, indicating that they could absorb, at least in part, the essence of the things they absorbed. This was highlighted in her experiments as well with the shadow spawn she had allowed to consume her blood. They had quickly taken in her blood and absorbed her pure essence within, using it to grow and shape themselves in ways that were in some ways related to Lyra herself. The large spawn that Lyra absorbed yesterday had been somewhat elven in shape, though its multitude of limbs was a clear reminder that it was still a creature of the Void. It had taken on many eyes with similar coloration to her own, and she herself used a lot of eye symbolism in her scripts to represent both herself and her whispers. Then there were the mouths, which it had possessed much of. Long, sharp teeth made perfectly for piercing and consuming blood, which was likely a reflection of her own need and desire for blood as well. It had taken on many characteristics of Lyra herself, but in an unfocused and twisted way. Most interesting was that in absorbing her essence it had also assimilated a portion of her into its very being, which ironically made it more similar to Lyra than to other shadow spawn. That was how Lyra was able to sense its presence despite the distance. In some ways it was like one of her whispers. A shadow of herself.
That brought her to the most interesting part of all of this. In absorbing her essence and becoming more like her, the shadow spawn had made itself subject to her influence, to her control. It inadvertently became a PART of her, which was why she was able to manipulate it when it first fled from her. Perhaps it believed it could grow more powerful by consuming more of her blood. After all, it had grown quite powerful with just the small amount it had originally absorbed. That turned out to be its undoing, as the more of her it absorbed the more it aligned itself to Lyra herself, leading to it being absorbed by Lyra completely. Lyra herself was not made of normal mortal flesh. She was mailable, a creature of both blood and shadow, able to shift forms from physical flesh, to smoke to viscus blood. In many ways she was much like a shadow spawn herself, but her origins (and the presence of her soul) made her very distinct from the mindless void spawn. Yet those similarities were there, which is what now allowed her to interact with the shadow spawn in such a unique way. If she fed a shadow spawn, allowing it to grow plump on her blood, and sent it off into the Void to feed, she could eventually find it once more. Then she could consume that spawn, taking in its shadowy body and reclaiming her blood, and the aether it gathered why away she could claim as her own. The fact that they did not possess a soul was the key factor in this interaction, which is why Lyra was able to treat these 'infused' shadow spawn as just another part of her body.
"Little shadows." Lyra murmured as she stroked Et'vaaran's head which rested in her lap, "In a way they are similar to my whispers... just dumber."
The whisper she had sent off to gather souls had returned to her again, having brought more souls from across the city. It was quite good at what it did, but it was still limited in its uses. Thus far it could ONLY gather souls, and those were difficult to find in such a limited area. Lyra could not provide her whispers with much of her power either, so they could not defend themselves from most threats. Instead they used stealth and fled when threatened, which worked well enough for Lyra's plans. These shadows, however, presented a new avenue for her resource gathering. Not only could the shadow spawn she cultivated move about on their own, they would instinctively do as all shadow spawn did, feed on things around them to absorb their concepts and aether. Lyra also suspected that if one of her shadows were to consume something living, once she absorbed it she would also be able to extract the flesh and blood from their essence as well. Shadow spawn did not possess a digestive system, and those that she had seen which had recently fed on a corpse held the flesh inside their bodies as it was slowly broken down and absorbed. If she found them in time Lyra could harvest that as a resource as well, and it was possible there were even more uses for them.
They had one, glaring weakness however... They were stupid. Not simply ignorant, but properly mindless. Without a soul of their own they could not form intellectual thoughts, and they possessed no true instincts of their own outside consuming whatever they could. That part did seem to change as they ate more and more of their kind or other resources, and Lyra suspected that the 'traces of a soul' were actually the beginnings of instincts beginning to form within them as the concentration of their stored concepts increased. It seemed entirely possible that if they consumed enough, or found powerful enough concepts, a shadow spawn might actually be able to form a pseudo soul of its own, but there was no evidence that anything of the sort had happen yet. In any case, the fact that the shadows had no mind or thought process meant that Lyra could not instruct them the way she did her whispers. They also could not truly act autonomously based on her will. In that way her whispers were vastly superior, as they could act completely on their own due to the fragment of her soul she imparted to them.
Lyra was already feeding another of the shadow blobs a steady flow of her blood. She had been doing this for most of the day, providing each with just enough of her blood to show the first signs of mutations before she released them out into the void proper. They were precious in a way, like eldritch puppies that stumbled over their new limbs as they scurried off into the darkness. Lyra could feel each and every one of them, and she would monitor them over time to determine when the right time to collect them was. In regards to her whispers, she had considered trying to implant a soul fragment into one of the shadow blobs... but as of yet had not attempted it. The reason for her hesitation was also linked to the spawn she had faced the other day. With just her blood and essence it had grown bold enough to attack her, seeking more of her power for its own. That was how it behaved when it did not possess intelligence, so what would one of these shadows do if they were given one of her soul fragments? What if they developed intelligence similar to her whispers? How would the corruptive affects of the Void and the shadow spawn themselves affect her soul fragment? Would it remain her tool, or would it seek to break away from her? After all her fragments had do so before. The thought of creating another fragment she would have to chase down and absorb was not something Lyra wished to face just yet. So for now she would infuse a few spawn with her blood, let them gather aether for a time, and then collect them. Maybe she would consider doing more if these experiments turned out well.
The encounter with the evolved shadow spawn was enlightening in many ways. When she had first begun her experiments with the void spawn, Lyra had not known what to expect. Perhaps she thought she might be able to influence them in some capacity, either through the power of Nyx or through other means. She was also curious as to their relationship with the void and with each other, which she had come to realize was more complex than she had originally thought. Much like how the Void was a dark reflection of the material world, shadow spawn were dark reflections of the creatures of the other realms. Their many and diverse forms reflected the multitude of ideas which could shape them. Some took the form of animals, especially those who had ventured out into the Prime Material Realm and consumed animals while there. Some were more odd and abstract, reflecting some idea they had happened upon in the void. Oddly enough there even seemed to be elementally aligned shadow spawn, or rather shadow spawn which seem to mimic properties of elements. Those born of ideas around fire were at times burning with intense heat, sporting silvery white flames. Water aligned spawn would sometimes be more liquid than solid, while the air spawn could be almost cloud like, though often they were toxic to living things which breathed in their miasma.
These observations reinforced the idea that the shadow spawn were heavily shaped by the concepts with which they interacted, and their behavior might partially be explained by their need to consume new concepts to grow. Shadow spawn which consumed others of their kind would usually take on aspects of the one they consumed, indicating that they could absorb, at least in part, the essence of the things they absorbed. This was highlighted in her experiments as well with the shadow spawn she had allowed to consume her blood. They had quickly taken in her blood and absorbed her pure essence within, using it to grow and shape themselves in ways that were in some ways related to Lyra herself. The large spawn that Lyra absorbed yesterday had been somewhat elven in shape, though its multitude of limbs was a clear reminder that it was still a creature of the Void. It had taken on many eyes with similar coloration to her own, and she herself used a lot of eye symbolism in her scripts to represent both herself and her whispers. Then there were the mouths, which it had possessed much of. Long, sharp teeth made perfectly for piercing and consuming blood, which was likely a reflection of her own need and desire for blood as well. It had taken on many characteristics of Lyra herself, but in an unfocused and twisted way. Most interesting was that in absorbing her essence it had also assimilated a portion of her into its very being, which ironically made it more similar to Lyra than to other shadow spawn. That was how Lyra was able to sense its presence despite the distance. In some ways it was like one of her whispers. A shadow of herself.
That brought her to the most interesting part of all of this. In absorbing her essence and becoming more like her, the shadow spawn had made itself subject to her influence, to her control. It inadvertently became a PART of her, which was why she was able to manipulate it when it first fled from her. Perhaps it believed it could grow more powerful by consuming more of her blood. After all, it had grown quite powerful with just the small amount it had originally absorbed. That turned out to be its undoing, as the more of her it absorbed the more it aligned itself to Lyra herself, leading to it being absorbed by Lyra completely. Lyra herself was not made of normal mortal flesh. She was mailable, a creature of both blood and shadow, able to shift forms from physical flesh, to smoke to viscus blood. In many ways she was much like a shadow spawn herself, but her origins (and the presence of her soul) made her very distinct from the mindless void spawn. Yet those similarities were there, which is what now allowed her to interact with the shadow spawn in such a unique way. If she fed a shadow spawn, allowing it to grow plump on her blood, and sent it off into the Void to feed, she could eventually find it once more. Then she could consume that spawn, taking in its shadowy body and reclaiming her blood, and the aether it gathered why away she could claim as her own. The fact that they did not possess a soul was the key factor in this interaction, which is why Lyra was able to treat these 'infused' shadow spawn as just another part of her body.
"Little shadows." Lyra murmured as she stroked Et'vaaran's head which rested in her lap, "In a way they are similar to my whispers... just dumber."
The whisper she had sent off to gather souls had returned to her again, having brought more souls from across the city. It was quite good at what it did, but it was still limited in its uses. Thus far it could ONLY gather souls, and those were difficult to find in such a limited area. Lyra could not provide her whispers with much of her power either, so they could not defend themselves from most threats. Instead they used stealth and fled when threatened, which worked well enough for Lyra's plans. These shadows, however, presented a new avenue for her resource gathering. Not only could the shadow spawn she cultivated move about on their own, they would instinctively do as all shadow spawn did, feed on things around them to absorb their concepts and aether. Lyra also suspected that if one of her shadows were to consume something living, once she absorbed it she would also be able to extract the flesh and blood from their essence as well. Shadow spawn did not possess a digestive system, and those that she had seen which had recently fed on a corpse held the flesh inside their bodies as it was slowly broken down and absorbed. If she found them in time Lyra could harvest that as a resource as well, and it was possible there were even more uses for them.
They had one, glaring weakness however... They were stupid. Not simply ignorant, but properly mindless. Without a soul of their own they could not form intellectual thoughts, and they possessed no true instincts of their own outside consuming whatever they could. That part did seem to change as they ate more and more of their kind or other resources, and Lyra suspected that the 'traces of a soul' were actually the beginnings of instincts beginning to form within them as the concentration of their stored concepts increased. It seemed entirely possible that if they consumed enough, or found powerful enough concepts, a shadow spawn might actually be able to form a pseudo soul of its own, but there was no evidence that anything of the sort had happen yet. In any case, the fact that the shadows had no mind or thought process meant that Lyra could not instruct them the way she did her whispers. They also could not truly act autonomously based on her will. In that way her whispers were vastly superior, as they could act completely on their own due to the fragment of her soul she imparted to them.
Lyra was already feeding another of the shadow blobs a steady flow of her blood. She had been doing this for most of the day, providing each with just enough of her blood to show the first signs of mutations before she released them out into the void proper. They were precious in a way, like eldritch puppies that stumbled over their new limbs as they scurried off into the darkness. Lyra could feel each and every one of them, and she would monitor them over time to determine when the right time to collect them was. In regards to her whispers, she had considered trying to implant a soul fragment into one of the shadow blobs... but as of yet had not attempted it. The reason for her hesitation was also linked to the spawn she had faced the other day. With just her blood and essence it had grown bold enough to attack her, seeking more of her power for its own. That was how it behaved when it did not possess intelligence, so what would one of these shadows do if they were given one of her soul fragments? What if they developed intelligence similar to her whispers? How would the corruptive affects of the Void and the shadow spawn themselves affect her soul fragment? Would it remain her tool, or would it seek to break away from her? After all her fragments had do so before. The thought of creating another fragment she would have to chase down and absorb was not something Lyra wished to face just yet. So for now she would infuse a few spawn with her blood, let them gather aether for a time, and then collect them. Maybe she would consider doing more if these experiments turned out well.