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MOTIF: SHADOWBRINGER
Introduction
Taelian's Rune is compelled towards the depths of the sea - the darkness, where Veravend once resided, and where she continues to reside in his mind. As a result of this fixation, his Rune longs to resemble the predatory nature of the lurkers of the deep seas, and learns to act as they do.
Rune Location: Drawn across Taelian's scalp, completely concealed from view by his hair.
Shadowbringer - Apprentice
As the base of the motif, Taelian - the Shadowbringer, his Rune dubs him - can summon raw darkness from the Stygian Grave, filling an area with stark blackness that even those with perfected nightvision cannot adequately see through. He appears to do so not through a portal, but through his Rune itself, fundamentally changing the area around him by rapidly consuming light. To those around him, this will appear almost as if he is turning the light off gradually, as everything fades into total pitch-black obscurity. Of course, this effect does consume aether for its initial effect to take place, and the larger the radius around him the more it costs. However, it is not immensely consumptive and it does not drain him over time. As a result, Taelian can reliably employ this quirk in combat, and will often do so as an opener.
As a base-line, there are multiple stages of obscurity around the Shadowbringer. From twenty to thirty meters out from Taelian, the Quirk only dims light, though starkly; from five to twenty meters out, it obscures the area in total darkness that only bright light sources can penetrate, but only for a distance of a meter and a half before those lights fade out. Five meters out from Taelian, and up to his physical body, all light sources become completely consumed and Taelian - as the epicenter - is even partly obscured from Semblance, challenging the magic's ability to view him and demanding more aether in order to do so.
Taelian can expand the radius of the light-consuming effect, but requires concentration in order to do so. He will also, as mentioned previously, need to add more aether along with focusing in order to expand the borders of the obscuring aura. The greater he extends this effect, the more he must focus while expanding it: once the boundaries of the darkness have reached several hundred feet outward, Taelian must engage in nigh-meditation in order to continue to broaden its borders.
Only Archetypes native to the deep sea of the Stygian Grave can reliably move through this darkness, as they have evolved to navigate through it. Taelian's Black Sun quirk already provides him with excellent vision in the darkness, but Shadowbringer expands upon that, his eyes evolving to be able to see through the darkness of the Stygian Grave. An immediate physical change appears to come alongside this: while within the darkness, Taelian's eyes are colored an almost ebony shade of dark purple, his pupils seemingly disappearing. His irises appear to carry a faint magical glow of the same color, as if aether were running through the orbs.
Abyssopelagic - Journeyman
Taelian begins to develop bioluminescent lights upon certain parts of his body, similar to the ones manifest by deep sea creatures. These lights run along tattoo-like patterns along his sides (where his ribs are located), as well as long the length of his forearm and the lower half of his biceps. They are colored a bluish-white and appear often as small dots, surrounding intricate patterns that appear to be runic symbols written in the language of Thultu, and the Lost Fathoms. Importantly, these bioluminescent lights act as a weakness to Taelian: while he is within five feet of an individual, and especially when within three feet of them, the lights will slightly pierce through the intense darkness of Shadowbringer and allow his prey a window of opportunity to view him.
Anglerfish - Expert
Taelian is able to create traps within two hundred feet of himself for a small amount of aether. These traps appear very similar to Anglerfish bulbs, bright organic-looking lights within the darkness that vaguely illuminate objects around them. If any, save for Taelian, his Archetypes or his designated allies, enter within two meters of these bulbs they will explode and immediately trigger their effect. The bulbs appear to summon the pressure of an oceanic floor onto the target, applying immense weight down onto those struck by the trap and forcing them immediately to the ground. This pressure lasts for roughly ten seconds upon triggering, though the extremely physically capable can rebound, partially cutting down the time they're pressed against the ground. Taelian is able to create these bulbs on the ground or in the air, and can create them in a period a little over a second. If the effect is triggered on a target who is in the air, they will immediately nosedive into the ground, making a hard impact with the floor. The pressure is conjured directly from Veravend's realm, the Stygian Grave, the weight of its deep gorge summoned onto the struck foe.
Bile of the Betrayer - Master
As Taelian performs more Summoning abilities, and summons more Archetypes, something he calls 'Veravend's Bile' begins to bleed into his system through the small tether carried between them, leaking in with each use of Summoning, and particularly more intense uses. This is comparable to a deep sea phenomena known as 'marine snow', with the waste from the Shrouded Realm trickling into his system. The more bile within Taelian's system, the more poisoned he becomes, weakening him progressively until he becomes nearly immobile. Considering this may often be paired with overstepping through elongated usage of Summoning, it can become both highly debilitating and deadly if managed poorly. Taelian can expend aether to forcefully purge his system of some of the bile contents, physically vomiting what appears to be black waste. Most effective is recalling his Summons, even his Eidolon so that he may recover rather than accruing more bile.
The more bile he has accumulated, the more poisonous Taelian becomes, affecting his blades from Umbral Natant. A great amount of bile, while weakening him, can allow him to inflict others with highly fast-acting and lethal poison, but due to his increasing weakness it becomes more difficult to apply such effects.
Umbral Natant - Master
To begin with, Umbral Natant begins with the emergence of two, long blades with a slight crescent-like edge along the length of each of his arms, grown from his skin at will at the expense of a small amount of aether. Along the lengths of each blade are four more blades welded, spanning outward with a half-crescent shape, each appearing like blade-shaped glaives, or even fins. The entire blade can retract or rise from each arm quickly and at-will, and can therefore be switched to or utilized fluidly. The durability of these blades is intense: they are difficult to penetrate or shatter, and given their harsh cutting power, they are expert at cleaving through other weapons even of less mundane make and materials. The blades appear to be, unsurprisingly, magical in nature if one purely regards their cutting power. This magical nature demonstrates itself further in what the blades can do when detached.
The blades can be gripped and removed from Taelian's arms, but only by his own hands. They will easily snap off, cleanly severing at the point of their emergence along his forearms. They can just as easily be snapped onto his legs, or beneath his feet, allowing for them to be used as bladed skates or as tools for high-velocity swimming. Taelian can also attach them to his back, and by channeling a somewhat significant amount of aether into the blades he can force them to expand and allow for an advanced usage. They will become long, bladed wings upon his back, not only capable of swimming but gliding and flying through darkness. This is only possible in darkness, though the night, Shadowbringer's fog and the ocean all allow for this. Further, the more poisoned Taelian is by Bile of the Betrayer, the more poisonous the length of these blades will become. Taelian can also manipulate the blades, allowing them to outstretch and pursue foes for up to ten feet as lethal, high-powered tendrils.
