Speaking in Shadon. Means the language of lies and half-truths, where people say something that doesn’t mean what you think it means, yet have alerted those in the room of what they need without you knowing at all. It takes years to learn, decades to perfect and centuries to master. The sounds are often whispered with longer rasping words, much like a snake might speak.

The real value comes from learning what accents are indicating what that word means. High accents that reverberate, for example, indicate the opposite of the word is being told. So No becomes Yes. This is one very obvious and easy thing to do and spot. A Master would have an accent to indicate the truth of an accent ahead of time, he would flavor the entire conversation with hidden meanings. A guttural sound would be to keep what he said in mind but favor his next statement, and a hack on the A’s that he was being very serious as to what he just said two statements ago, no matter how stupidly he phrased it.

Living shadows, they first need a host body to be shaped from. This can be done once or twice with the same body and is known as shadowcrafting from the discipline of shadowmancy. Theoretically, they could be made smaller than three feet tall or bigger than eight feet, but so far no-one has achieved this or haven't shared that information!

Almost entirely black and taking the form of a host, willing or otherwise, their eyes are distinct from their bodies and take on a hollow look. Very rarely they will glow blue, purple or red if given purpose or directive from someone or something.

Their bodies range from smokey looking to pure shadow. Depending on the skill and intent of a shadowcrafter. They certainly can look scarier if made out of a cloudy form, but this doesn't make them practically useful for fighting or moving without being seen.

Any place with low light levels. Shadowkin cannot exist in bright light for long. Even the stronger variations suffer greatly the longer they are exposed. They prefer colder climates but will tolerate warmth if it’s necessary. Without a shadowmancer giving to his shadowcraft, the shadowkin will slowly fade away.

All shadowkin foster the unknown, confusion and lies on the mortal plane. They are the opposite of truth, light, solutions or technological advancement for example. The less the mortal plane knows the better. So they rarely speak anything which goes against that aim. This doesn't mean Eleth's domain naturally weakens over time because with each discovery or new situation, new challenges emerge for the god to hide or confuse mortals over.

Shadowmen are almost completely noncorporeal and they can't change that. They are the simplest and most numerous shadowkin that are seen, often in groups. Most magic will affect them, as will fire and light, burning them and sending them fleeing.

Full Shadowkin do half the damage of a physical creature and take half the damage of a physical creature. They are known as living shadow and are much less numerous than shadowmen, tending to be solitary and somewhat intelligent. While they make poor combatants, they make formidable spies however, able to blend into the shadows naturally and almost disappear. Light and fire wound them but they don't flee in terror, merely try to avoid the source. They do make great distractions as they take quite a few strikes to kill. They can thin their form for a short time, to better act as spies and slip through doors or windows for example.

Shadow Kineth slowly over a period of a few minutes can become corporeal or noncorporeal. They cannot pass through walls but things entering their body may move through them in a noncorporeal state. Much like shadowkin light and fire wound them, and most magics affect them. They are much less in number and only shadowcrafted by the most skilled shadowmancers. They carry on Eleth's will on the mortal plane, able to alter their form for longer periods days at a time before reverting, they are dangerous combatants but very rare and very hard to control. They strike harder while retaining some of their resistance to physical damage, often attacking with a third or fourth limb for example to surprise their quarry.

Most shadowkin are poisonous. With shadowmen it tends to be a mild cold, full shadowkin can inflict a chilling shivering fever, and shadow kineth a nerve toxin, taking a few days to render someone immobile. All poisons and toxins are delivered by a cut or bite.

It is said, or lied, that Eleth the unknowable crafted the first shadowcrafter who then taught the shadowmancers their discipline. This was practiced first in the elven city of Fal’addas or rather the surrounding regions until it was discovered. It wasn’t initially thought as serious as it is today. It was certainly banned as a perversion of the natural laws, magical and otherwise, but further research was done. What they found was it fostered a nature of lies, of ripping apart functioning lives, families, institutions, the religion itself was toxic to their heritage and community by its very nature. Any attempts to integrate it into their communities were sure to fail.

Thus shadowmancy was banned, shadowmancers banished, shadowkin hunted on sight and all mention of it hidden away. Those that wanted to practice it moved far northward, taking their shadowcrafts with them, isolating and hiding themselves away for some 800 years or more. It has left Eleth weaker in domain but stronger in potential reach, as few actively seek out shadowkin or are aware of their danger in the long waiting game they and their god plays.

The Tundra Elf city in Southern Eretejva named The Engima is the location of most Shadowkin, a city whose name is unknown or forgotten. It is called many names by the locals, to add to the confusion and secrecy surrounding its mention. Almost pitch black little light is allowed, which allows shadowmancers to sustain their creations with less effort. Though most have minds of their own, only the more intelligent kineth ever act directly contrary to their crafters will. They are first and foremost servants of Eleth the unknowable. God of Mysteries, Secrets, Lies and the Unknown.

Meeting a Shadowkineth - Whispering Hearts Black Divinity
Seeing Shadowmen and Shadowkin in action - What Lies Beneath, the spinebreaker.