Mark of the Shroudmaker
Introduction:
Jared’s Mark of Shroudmaker stems from wanting to be unseen by authority, enduring from the moment of being a street urchin to a vagabond thief. The very core of his soul, while damaged by what life has thrown at him, did not change the fact that he wanted to merely vanish & staying away from prying eyes, only appearing when he felt comfortable.
For this reason alone, the nature of his umbralplasm altered itself so that it could become gaseous, mimicking the nature of how certain aspects of darkness & shadows where it is intangible, mysterious & abstract while still maintaining the non-violence aspects of his personality.
The Mark of the Shroudmaker resembles that of inky black smoke that creates wispy strings from his right shoulder that wrap around the flesh before snaking their way over the tips of his fingers, excluding the thumb.
Like with all mutations, Alterations to one's mark affect the mind, body and/or soul; In Jared's case, when it comes to his soul; the mark of the Shroudmaker causes the ether that filters through his soul to thin (also known Magianimus Thinning) by nature and his tolerance to recover from Mageblight is hindered to the point that it is easier for Jared to reach the different tiers of Mageblight in a shorter amount of times compared to other practitioners of magic & recovering from radioactive ether takes longer to recover. In short, Jared recovers from Mageblight at a slower rate, generally taking an additional month to recover from the time he receives his Mageblight compared to the standard magus or sorcerer.
Mutations:
Invert (Novice): Jared’s Mark of the Shroudmaker allows a different opinion regarding the formation of Umbralplasm. Similar to that of Compass, where the Nightfallen would be able to compress and decompress Umbralplasm. Invert enables the Nightfallen to generate Umbralplasm in a gaseous state rather than making a physical construct to work with.
This does have a downside to it; while Compass allows the Nightfallen to recycle their concentrated mass of ether and repurpose it for other applications; Invert does not, as the ether reacts with the photons in the air to generate darkness and has no catalyst to maintain equilibrium which requires the Nightfallen to expend additional ether while using Invert.
Gloom (Apprentice): Gloom is the concept of taking darkness as its hazy appearance in the physical world, Like any patch of darkness that anyone can see. Gloom allows the Nightfallen to generate a fog of darkness through Invert; This is typically used to disorient people as if one was bombarded by clouds of smoke, hindering line of sight & reduce the effectiveness of non-magical light. As the Shroudmaker continues their mastery over Gloom, the radius at which the ether-made darkness can encompass grows in radius & the intensity of colour desaturation increases starting at dim-light with minor desaturation at Apprentice & progressing to become darker to almost inky black voids at Master level.
Mimicking the properties of fog, The Shroudmaker can only maintain gloom for as long as the Nightfallen uses Invert to generate Umbralplasm into the ether-made haze and can be quickly dispelled with the wind strength of a strong breeze.
Trespasser (Journeyman): Trespasser is unique to the Shroudmaker as the Nightfallen lose their ability to use Shepherd entirely, devoiding all hopes to fly but in exchange for that. The Shroudmaker can envelop their bodies in Umbralplasm through the use of Obscura before Inverting the umbralplasm to become shadow-like, Allowing them to squeeze & fit through even the tiniest holes and bypass solid materials & in-dire circumstances; the Shroudmaker could avoid a fatal wound by becoming semi-incorporeal for a brief moment before recomposing their physical form.
Trespasser is a highly exhausting ability since it requires multiple steps, fine manipulation & understanding of the Umbralplasm’s various states to activate Trespasser, and overstepping is not uncommon either. In addition, Trespasser can only be done without light (excluding lunar light).
Enshroud (Expert): Enshroud allows the Shroudmaker to make a person or object become a subject of a gravitation warping that bends the surrounding photons inwards, outwards or around them, warping the surrounding area in a visual distortion to the point that everything around them seems to be abstract. The Shroudmaker can use this offensively to disorient people as their field of vision is bombarded with excess amounts of photons or in utility by warping the surrounding photons around the target’s body to become invisible by bending the photons away from the Enshrouded target.
Enshroud is meant to augment the Nightfallen’s other abilities, allowing it to adjust & change its properties for further versatility, whether adding Enshroud to Gloom, Obscura, Volley, or other skills, the Nightfallen has in their arsenal.
This ability does not discriminate between friend or foe as the altered perception of light affects everyone & other senses such as smell, hearing & touch are not affected by Enshroud. In addition, maintaining the Enshroud properties requires the Shroudmaker to expend a stream of ether which can leave the Shroudmaker exhausted and likely to overstep if used for an extended period.
Lastly, If the Shroudmaker uses Enshroud to make themselves or another person invisible, they will become temporarily blind since photons do not meet the retinas, which prevents visual simulation. In addition, if a person is very perceptive, they would be able to notice a slight distortion as the medium affected by Enshroud warps the surrounding area to a minor degree.
Shadowplay (Master): Shadowplay allows the Shroudmaker to use existing shadows as conduits for his Nightfallen abilities by implanting Compass as a reserve into existing shadows and having it lay dormant until the Shroudmaker actively uses the Umbralplasm for manipulation, which releases the stored umbralplasm via Invert. Similar to Confide, but instead of relaying messages or creating distractions through noise manipulation, Shadowplay allows the Shroudmaker to assist himself and his allies by creating a variety of hazards that are meant to impede foes and help partners in hiding or escaping. The Shroudmaker knows which shadows have been imbued with their own Umbralplasm and can manipulate it as if they were there, acting as a conduit for various abilities.
Shadowplay can hinder enemies by obstructing the line of sight, causing its gaseous state to become thicker in density to increase air resistance & reducing speed by acting like trodding through the mud. In helping the Shroudmaker and his allies hide and escape, Shadowplay can muffle noise and distort the surrounding area in a thick black haze.
While it is simple in concept, with the laid Umbralplasm lasting for many years based on mastery of Nightfallen alone, there are a few restrictions when using Shadowplay.
Due to how the mutation is formed, The Shroudmaker can only use Shadowplay to hinder enemies and assist in escaping & stealth. Any attempts to use any form of violence that would cause direct harm, such as Lance & Shadowrend, will immediately cause the Umbralplasm to wither away.
Shadowplay heavily depends on how much ether was expended in creating the Compass, determining the intensity with which Shadowplay can assist.
Lastly, The Shroudmaker must have a line of sight on which shadows he plans to use, which hinders the effectiveness as it would mean the Shroudmaker was close by.
