Shade

Shades were humanoids who had merged with the essence of shadowstuff. They were said to have traded away their very souls, in exchange for profound physical prowess, protection from harm, and ageless immortality.

"Understand Tamlin, that becoming a shade does more than simply transform your body. You will no longer be human. You will live alone, with history as your companion. Your family will die, your friends, even elves die and you live on. Everything will crumble and you will continue."

- Rivalen Tanthul.

Description
While their size varied depending on race and stature pre-conversion, shades generally appeared more slender than other humanoids. Their skin looked wholly lifeless, in hue ranging from ash-gray to black, becoming darker as they got older.

Shades had black eyes, and sharp, insidious-looking teeth that resembled fangs.

Creation
Initially, shades of the Realms were not born but rather created by one or more magical processes. While the specifics were rather esoteric, it was described as being "touched and overcome" by the magic native to the Shadowfell. After these created-shades returned to Toril, they proliferated just as any other species.

Becoming a shade was also possible by completing a ritual in the Fane of Shadows, the temple of Shar that shifted in and out of the Prime Material plane.

Personality
"Shade! Like the Netherese? Burn me, Cale! Those dark hearted bastards aren't even human. I've heard..."

- Jak Fleet.

Shades each had free will, and were not inherently evil, but often dedicated themselves to malevolent leaders or causes. They were generally calm, calculating individuals that preferred to act without others taking notice.

The shades of Thultanthar had an insulated society, separated from that of neighboring Realms. They were a cold and aloof people who kept old and often outdated sensibilities. A select few were chosen as ambassadors of the enclave, and dispatched to speak for their people in foreign lands.

Shades often preferred drab, dull-colored, while those from Thultanthar wore attire that seemed otherworldly to the people of Faerûn.

Abilities
"I am a shade...I am stronger in the darkness. My hand regenerated entirely at night or in darkness. I can travel from one shadow to another in an eyeblink, covering a bowshot or thirty leagues. My flesh resists magic. As far as I can determine, I no longer age."

- Erevis Cale, to Hulorn Thamalon Uskevren II.

Shades grew more powerful in areas of darkness or shadows, but weaker when exposed to direct sunlight. They possessed an inherent form of regeneration, that could heal through the most grievous of wounds in moments, and even regrow lost limbs while cloaked in shadows. A shade's regenerative powers could be negated by contact with radiant energy.

They held powers associated with the Shadowfell, such as the ability to leap from shadow to shadow, to create shadowy duplicates of themselves, and even to become entirely invisible. They could also decrease the amount of light in an area and could see through darkness, even of the magical variety.

They could see in complete darkness, including, unusually, magical darkness.

Relationships
Shades were among the outsiders most generally feared across the breadth of Faerûn. Shades in turn believed themselves wholly superior to all non-shades in existence.

History
Netherese shades were first created through the research of Netherese wizards who left Faerûn for the Plane of Shadow―the previous iteration of the Shadowfell―for research purposes long before the kingdom's fall at Karsus's Folly in the -4 century DR. During this journey, it was found that by removing a part of one's soul and replacing it with the essence of shadow, a shade could be produced. This was an extremely complex and painful process, but the result was a being with a prolonged life and a greatly strengthened set of abilities when in the presence of shadows.

Like the Shadovar of Netheril, many Eshowe of Chult also became shades, particularly priests of Eshowdow, the Shadow Giant, and mages who were members of the Abuya-Deimshowa.

In the, the Netherese enclave of Thultanthar, then home to many shades in service to Shar, returned to Faerûn after centuries in the Plane of Shadow. As directed by the city's Princes of Shade, a select few Shadovar―citizens of Thultanthar―were rewarded for their immense loyalty to the city by being made into shades.

Some adventurers of the Realms took up the mantle as shade hunters, vowing to stop the Netherese shades and hinder their efforts to recreate their ancient empire at all costs.

Notable Shades

 * Alauneth Orrane, the original Black Viper of Waterdeep.
 * Erevis Cale, a retired assassin and Sembian butler who lived a second life as an adventurer, before discovering he was the Chosen of Mask.
 * The Faceless Incanter, the shade that infused the mythallar of Synod with the Shadow Weave.
 * Kesson Rel, the former Chosen of Mask from the world of Ephyras, who forsook his deity for the goddess Shar.
 * Telamont Tanthul, the famous arcanist and ruler of the returned Netherese empire.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land • Anauroch: The Empire of Shade
 * Storm over Neverwinter
 * Novels
 * The Erevis Cale Trilogy (Twilight Falling • Dawn of Night • Midnight's Mask) • Return of the Archwizards (The Summoning • The Siege • The Sorcerer) • The Twilight War (Shadowbred • Shadowstorm • Shadowrealm) • The Sundering (The Godborn • The Adversary • The Sentinel • The Herald)
 * The Erevis Cale Trilogy (Twilight Falling • Dawn of Night • Midnight's Mask) • Return of the Archwizards (The Summoning • The Siege • The Sorcerer) • The Twilight War (Shadowbred • Shadowstorm • Shadowrealm) • The Sundering (The Godborn • The Adversary • The Sentinel • The Herald)