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Some people and places of interest in the City of the Shademakers. Grayhall Academy. Because of the number of living people in the City it was decided that a school system was needed. Along the way the Academy grew from a basic school into an Adventurer's Guild. Anne of Grayhall. Head mistress of Grayhall Academy. And wife of Jonathan Appleblack. Jonathan Appleblack. The current Supreme Shadow. It is worth noting that Jonathan has been the Supreme Shadow for a few hundred years now. And that Anne married Jonathan because she wanted to be with him. His being Supreme Shadow was just a job he had as far as she was concerned. It's also rumored that Anne does as much of the job of Supreme Shadow as Jonathan. Jonathan manages to remain Supreme Shadow mostly by ruling with a firm and fair hand. And organizing things so that he has to as little ruling as possible.

While I have spoken of the Varna elsewhere I want to take the time to cover them in more detail here and briefly touch on the ChoKa; which I will deal with more fully later. Choka are what Varna tadpoles turn into if not implanted. The Varna, as noted elsewhere, are created from modified Thulian larvae to serve as spies and assassins. That is only partly true now that the Varna are trying to become a free people in their own right. An effort which is likely futile, as will be seen as we look at the different types of Varna a the success rate of the Morphoses process. The success rate for Varna morphosis is basically the same as for Thuliens that are becoming Illith. Which is to say about 25% become Varna. 25% die.(no splits here). Kulls are basically just a failure with the victim gaining knowledge from the Varna. It is unclear if a Kull of this type would be able to leave their former body and/or become a Gree later on as there are no confirmed reports of anyone actually escaping in this state. Shulls are still Shulls. Although it is believed that there are potions that effectively allow a Shull to finish the morphosis process later. So technically a close to 50% success rate because of Shulls of this type being able to finish later. type two Varna are basically type ones after they reach a certain size. The growth process can be slowed by taking certain potions but this tends to have the inconvenient side effect of binding the Varna to its Husk. Type two Varna(hereafter called Gree) can undergo a morphosis process and become a fully adult Thulien (also referred to as an Elder.) Such Adults seem to be no different than ones that took a different life path. although there are some reports that Gree Elders produce eggs that hatch into about equal numbers of regular and Varna tadpoles. It is unclear if the morphosis from Gree to Elder is something that simply happens at some point or if some potion is needed to trigger the process. In interest point to consider in light of rumors that the Varna are seeking to become a separate species. Given that Varna who have reached the Gree stage can create more Varna by way of a morphosis causing injection they could have an independent life cycle. Assuming the Morphosis from Gree to Elder is a triggered rather than a spontaneous event. And even if spontaneous there could be potions that could be used to block it. It is worth noting that Gree are also able to lay eggs which will become Thulien tadpoles. It is unclear if these tadpoles are Varna or regular Thulien tadpoles or a mix. As Choka, Cephalarack, and, Illith are not particularly desirable to the Varna they have no particular reason to lay eggs.

I was just rereading this and noticed that I never actually got around to saying what Varna look like. Now obviously while a Varna is wearing a husk you don't get to see it. That is rather the point after all. But when a Varna is out on its own Type ones look like a floating brain with a bunch of jellyfish like tendrils dangling beneath it. It's not entirely clear what the tendrils are for. Given that it has a psi-blast ability for defense and offense if needed. And telekinesis for moving objects. Type twos also look like a floating brain just larger. Type ones are the size of a normal brain while type twos are about 3 feet long by about 2 feet high and wide. Main body, with octopus like tentacles about 3 feet long hanging below. Type twos also have a stinger like appendage at the rear near the brainstem. Type twos are able to produce spawn by injecting a victim with whatever compounds are produced by their stinger. While it was previously believed that type twos were basically type ones who had grown too big to continue wearing a husk. This seems to no longer be the case as there are now reports of type twos (hereafter refered to as Grees ) displaying the body compression ability similar to that seen in Seku. More on this as information becomes available.

Let's start out in the wilderness where you have roaming bands of Barbarians and maybe a small village now and then. Out here it's mostly a bartar system and the closest thing to money is wampam beads. One Bead is equal to a Copper pice in terms of buying power. A String of 10 Beads; A Silver And a Bundle of 10 Strings; A Gold You won't find anything for sale at more than 5 Bundles . Or at least not very often. People out here want things they can use. An odd qwerk of this is that you might be able to trade a couple of well polished Copper pieces for a String while not being able to get more than a Bead or two for a tarnished Silver piece. And on the flip side of this you might be able to sell a single Bead for a couple of Gold. To the right Collector. Such trades are rare and typically not repeatable, but well worth keeping in mind if you get the chance. In Towns on the edge of the Wilds you can usually find someone who will be able to swap Coins for Beads and back again at the Bead for Copper rate. For a small service fee of course. Another place where you are likely to encounter off beat Money is in the Goblin Quarter of Cities that are large trading hubs. Here you might encounter Iron Bits, Iron pieces (8 Bits to the Piece ) Ceramic pieces, Guild Marks, etc. Pieces and Marks are usually about the same value as a Copper pice. If you venture into these places keep your Silver close and don't let anyone even think you have Gold unless you are so obviously powerful that no one would dare mess with you. In Civilized places the Money goes like this: 10 Copper pieces to the Silver 10 Silver to the Gold 10 Gold to the Electrum 10 Electrum to the Platinum 10 Platinum to the Krystal (Yes the 1K piece being 1000 Gold is totally on purpose.) So basically standard D&D/Fantasy world Money with the Krystal pice being the notable addition. Krystal pieces are made from Gem jell mixed with diamond dust a catalyst and a bit of magic to trigger the reaction.

Some notes about the City itself. As noted elsewhere The City of the Shademakers is located in the Plane of Shadows. It's not entirely clear just when, why, how the place got started but the general drift of the story goes something like this. A group of scholars/sages/lore masters ect who were all interested in Shadow Magic, Necromancy and other such related topics worked together to establish a research area free from distractions. Just when they discovered the process enabling the transformation into a Shade is not recorded but it was long ago and over time others learned of the Umbral Archives and came to join the group. Then others came not wishing to become permanent members of the group but wishing to visit and consult with the resident scholars. This created a need for the compound to grow into more of a regular city. For while the Shades don't need to eat or sleep, visitors who were mostly still among the living most definitely did. And anywhere there is a need that can be satisfied for a profit, sooner or later someone is going to start a business satisfying that need. And so all the usual business turned up. There was already some need for transport to and from the Umbral Archives as many of the Scholars needed research materials, add to that the needs of a growing city. This lead to the creation of the Shadow Fleet. There are actually several ships that are all The Shadow. As the ship is believed to be an Ill omen it never makes port as itself but takes on the aperance of some other ship. Quite probably the ship it was before joining the Shadow Fleet. Just how a ship joins the Shadow Fleet is a secret known only to the Captains and the Supreme Shadow. There are likely a few others who have figured it out, But they are not likely to be sharing that information unless they are offered a good reason typically in the form of a rather large amount of treasure or possibly information that is valuable enough. It is worth noting that because it started as a city of scholars, information and research materials are as much a form of money as actual coins and gems. As to the matter of food and lodging it depends on your personal taste and available funds. If you are broke and/or don't care about quality you can find a place about two streets back from the harbor. Or you can try camping in one of the empty warehouses right along the waterfront. If you happen to have some coin to spend and want a good deal try looking about five to six streets back from the docks. This is also the point at which you are most likely to find merchants with goods that are actually worth buying. If you are rich and/or looking for magic items and such you will need to go twenty streets in and get a guard to let you in. The walls and gates here mark the start of the city proper. This is where a city watch actually bothers with patrolling and such. Before this you are in Thieves Guild territory. Not that the Guild doesn't have a presence in the walled parts of the city. But outside the walls they are the ones running things. Inside the walls, they keep a much lower profile.