The Shadows

  As such the other Shadows defer to them when things need to be done, or when questions arise. Though, this isn't to say that these three agree on a single thing...

The Shadows were once one, Vilorlith and the The Original Shadow had their fateful meeting in times faded to memory to all except the gods themselves. Vilorlith was furious at this strange creature, toying with the soul of one of her children, when she demanded that it change the child back, it could not. For you see, this being was a fifth god that the Quartet had no knowledge of, yet depended on for the function of their universe. This Fifth Brother, ws the discordant note to their song. A god of change, entropy, metamorphosis, Vilorlith being a true creator was unaware of his significance until much later.   This Fifth Brother had only wanted to join The Quartet and their song, had only wanted to be apart of the world they had built. The appalling irony of it all is that he already was, the Quartet was ignorant of the concept of change. Only knowing that the systems they had built relied on this concept to function. Anything to occur needed a change to happen, a rising sun burns away the darkness, a plant to grow feeds itself with light, time moves forward. They depended on this slumbering god for everything as much as the universe depended on Vilorlith to continue her song of creation to provide material for the expanding existence.   Yet, when this Shadow could not change the child back, Vilorlith failed to undo what he had done, she ripped him into Eight Pieces and flung him far beyond the bounds of reality. Shortsighted as far as gods are concerned, heedless to the fact that reality was expanding, and would eventually allow these fragments to become part of this universe once more. The only difference now was that these pieces all shared a memory, one of a vile monster tearing it apart for reasons they did not know. Only that they remembered her.   The weight of ones actions holds a consequence that is never truly felt until much later. For, you see, these Eight pieces slowly regenerated, slowly constructed their own consciousness, slowly remembered who had hurt them. They awoke, one by one as the universe enveloped them once more, experiencing once again to be... to exist. They hid at first like frightened children at the angry hands of hateful parents, slowly festering until their eldritch nature exuded a poison into the world.   A corrupted variant of the Original's Change. To become the Miasma that become the affliction of the Shadow Touched Children. This and only this was first sign the Quartet had that something was wrong, profoundly wrong. Though, Vilorlith understood it immediately, and she felt shame. As the gods attempted to control this infection it woke the Shadows in their entirety. Each one having styled itself after one of the flaws of Mortals. Greed, Envy, Pride, Gluttony, Wrath, Lust, Sloth, and Defiance.   Wrath Became Bhal.   Defiance Became Xelex.   Lust Became Azu.   Greed Became Kinlith.   Sloth Became Koroth.   Pride Became Vilroeth.   Gluttony Became Welkford.   Envy Became Azulu.   Yes, the gods of this world are not gods at all. The true gods fell at the hands of these eldritch abominations, distant mockeries of divinity that exert their wills on the world that they cannot sustain. As the infection of their influence continued, the Quartet and their Children were unable to stop it. For each of them that fell only fueled the armies of the Shadows themselves. A one sides slaughter that continued for Eons, there was nothings that could be done, their "containment" was brutal, ineffective and only lead to entire planets become uninhabitable. To put down these Vestiges of once children was only to deny one tool at a time to the Shadows, though a new one was always made from the lives that they wished to be a part of.   The irony that they were destroying the thing they loved was lost to them. Focused solely on Vilorlith and her crime, they sought nothing else. These new gods as they called them were only obstacles in the way. Eventually however, The Quartet fell. Weakened over time, loss after loss having done irreparable damage to their creations, their children, themselves.   Wrath finally took the life of Vilorlith, and was denied his reward. Azu finally took the object of her desire, only to have it suffer in her hands. Xelex finally gained an understanding of the world they had so longed to join, only to understand the weight of the Shadows actions. The last surviving member of the Quartet, the Queen of the Fae, shattered the world she and the others had built. In this fractures of the universe she created an infinitely expanding number of parallel timelines for the Shadows to follow. All in the hopes that they would never find The Elsewhere that she created as the last safe haven for her and the surviving children.   What she was loath to give Xelex was the Primordial Chords of Creation as he attacked her as she fled. These chords were the only thing to could keep this shattered world from disappearing, he instantly understood this. The understanding that this was the point, this was what they wanted when they were one. They only ever wanted to be part of this world, now that it was threatening to slip away from them, Xelex forced the Chords into the throats of Bhal, Azu and himself to bring a semblance of balance to this infinitely fracturing plane.   Slowly, they pieced it back together, these shards vaguely resembling a Great Tree, they brought forth a new dawn, a truth that they understood to it's full degree they finally understood. Only after they were forced to sustain the very thing they had so sought after. A Dawn of Truths so to speak.   You see, the Shadows now understood that while they won their prize, they won only borrowed time. They cannot create, they cannot rebuild, they cannot sustain, they needed The Quartet as much as they needed them. Without both, the Great Tree slowly withers. As the stars they wanted to see slowly fade away, so too will they. The last revenge the Queen could take with what she had.   But... they had time, they had an entire universe of resources, they still had the divine nature of the Children left behind. Could they... could they?