Shadow Stalker

Summary

An especially dangerous form of incorporeal undead, shadow stalkers are relatively simplistic in actual function. Their fixation on the living, such as revenge, unrequited love, or familial bonds, spurs them to ever stalk the living. Bound to flat shadows, they follow along living beings with utmost secrecy. When their chosen victim is alone, they force themselves into materializing, affixed to the victim's shadow like a living parasite. After a kill, they slink back into their unassuming form, either waiting for another to pass by or traversing the strange, flat world of shadows. One can only ever definitively tell a shadow stalker is around when a light is cast over an area, and a shadow remains in the perfect image of the thing it's imitating. Even highly experienced hunters can be tripped up by this if one doesn't always check. Thankfully, the usage of crushed crystals (e.g, salt, glass, sand) is exceptionally dangerous to them. These highly refractive, light-and-shadow creating particulate is equivalent to running straight through hundreds and hundreds of chain-linked fences. A shadow stalker might eventually get through, but not only would it take an obscene amount of time, if someone walked over it, it'd be like slamming them into a wall effectively.

Basic Information

Anatomy

An incorporeal undead that resembles the shadows of various things, living or inanimate. It traverses the world in a two-dimensional way, but can emerge as a featureless, animal-like blob of shadows when it attacks.

Biological Traits

Intangible – They have no corporeal form, and so mundane materials have almost no affect against them. Magical attacks and mana-infused objects are necessary to interact with their purely mana-comprised existence. Undead Endurance – Driven by their metabolized mana, they can keep going for absurd amounts of time. In fact, the only time they stop is when they've lost all their mana, or lost track of their prey. Life Sense – They can sense the presence of the living in a supernatural manner. This means despite loss of critical sensory organs, like eyes or ears, they can still track their targets with disturbing precision. Shadow Walker – Shadow Stalkers move through shadows in a two-dimensional manner. If exposed to direct light, they do not evaporate, but can become paralyzed in a location unless they exert great force to move through the light.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Manavore

Disposition

Malevolent

Power

Noble