Shadow Magic

HISTORY

Long ago, on Eaglypt, there were a group of Anubian Priests who were hungry for power. They used the inscription written on an old Pharaoh's tomb to get into The Duat and steal the power of Shadow Magic from the Gods. When the Gods found out, they were banished from Eaglypt and Shadow Magic was outlawed there. However, the Anubian Priests simply relocated to the Castle In The Sky on Vigam and honed their Shadow Magic. There, they soon attracted four students from across the galaxy: The Celestial Crab from Atlantea, The Celestial Stag from Arturia, The Celestial Bison from Caput Tatiium, and The Celestial Raptor from Aztlan. To contain the immensely unpredictable and dangerous nature of Shadow Magic, everyone who knew Shadow Magic hid their powers away in artifacts on their deathbeds so that nobody could just learn Shadow Magic and destroy the galaxy: The Celestial Crab hid his powers in the Atlantean Tomes, the Celestial Stag hid his powers away in the Horned Crown, the Anubian Priests hid their power away in the Eye of Horus, the Crook, and the Flail, the Celestial Bison hid his powers away in the Jersey Devil, and the Celestial Raptor hid his powers in the Song of Shadow. However, this left one crucial weakness: due to the nature of the spell they used, a person only needed an artifact to learn Shadow Magic if they already had Astral Magic in their system. Since nobody but themselves knew about Shadow Magic, they thought this flaw wouldn't matter. But over the millennia, people eventually stumbled across these artifacts by accident and Shadow Magic became a very real danger to the galaxy. Almost the entire galaxy outlawed this, but it continued to be practiced and taught underground. In the midst of this chaos, the Norns devised the Prophecy of Two, stating that a Man of Light and Shadow will one day restore balance to the galaxy.

POWERS

There are four powers of Shadow Magic, though one artifact can only teach a person three, and each artifact can only be used every 1,000 years. Exceptions to this rule are the Crook, Flail, and Eye of Horus, each of which can only teach a person one power. The powers and what they do are listed below:

-Shadow Basics (Rewrites objects and Spirits, natural counter to Astral Basics)

-Shadow Water (Allows the user to manipulate water in all three states of matter, natural counter to Astral Lightning)

-Shadow Fire (Allows the user to create and manipulate fire. Natural counter to Astral Rock)

-Shadow Death (Allows the user to create and manipulate poison, as well as revive corpses as zombies. Natural counter to Astral Life)

ARTIFACTS

-Crook: Hidden away on Eaglypt, gave Santa Muerte the power to learn Shadow Fire.

-Flail: Hidden away on Eaglypt, gave Santa Muerte the power to learn Shadow Death.

-Song of Shadow: Known only by the ghosts of the long-dead Lords of Xibalba on Aztlan, this gives anyone who memorizes it the ability to learn three powers. Tate stole the souls of the Lords of Xibalba and forced them to teach him this song, learning Shadow Death, Shadow Basics, and Shadow Water in the process.

-Atlantean Tomes: Hidden in the Trial of the Sharks on Atlantea, this gives anyone who reads them front-to-back the ability to learn three powers. Tate used these to learn Shadow Fire. Though no more powers could be gleaned from it, Weasel and his friends still used these for the knowledge contained within them.

-The Horned Crown: Hidden away in The Wyrd on Arturia, this colossal crown gave any who absorbed its power the ability to learn three powers. If this crown is placed on the head of any two people, it turns them into a colossal, deadly, and perpetually-angry beast known as The Pendragon. Weasel and King Arturius were turned into The Pendragon this way for 10 years, until Nate slayed the beast. The Horned Crown was then destroyed with the Sword of Caliber, allowing Weasel to later absorb its power from the sword and learn Shadow Basics, Shadow Ice, and Shadow Fire.

-Eye of Horus: Eventually wound up in the possession of the Eaglyptian royal family. Was hidden away in The Duat after the Eaglyptian Apocalypse. The Eye of Horus was eventually found by Weasel, who used it to learn Shadow Death.

-Jersey Devil: A great beast that roamed Caput Tatiium and stole from the forest tribes constantly. Never ended up being used due to the fact that it was not known to be a Shadow Artifact until after Weasel killed it.