Draconi Redfir
2011-10-04, 07:32 AM
(Note; it's best if you know a little about the "shackled city" campaign before reading. it may also be a good idea to scroll down to the spoiler box and read it to see what i am talking about, putting it up higher just didn’t seem to fit anywhere.)
So as you may recall i was seeking help some time ago in attempting to create a "dark" paladin in a game were any kind of evil is forbidden (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207665) due to a family trait i obtained after rolling a specific number on a D% when creating my character for a shackled city game (spoilered below.) and while i failed in my attempts and have instead walked the traditional path of the paladin, the path of the Long shadowed trait still fascinates me, i began introducing non-game affecting elements of the trait into my character to try and bring it out a little more, a black skeletal IME when a spell is cast, a ring containing the tribes symbol which has since become a family crest, the same symbol and several additional markings being engraved into the hilt of a newly forged sword, that kind of thing.
the problem? The latter two suffer from the unfortunate condition of not actually existing. Somehow, the writers of shackled city have created a tribe of necromancers whose fluff consists entirely of "they were around once, but they aren’t anymore." I've spent the past several hours on google attempting to dig up any additional info I can on these people, but nothing i try seems to reveal anything, they simply do not exist outside of the two sentences given to their distant decedents!
This, quite honestly, bugs me. I’m trying to create a paladin interested in his families history, and i myself am interested in said history, but said history simply does not exist! Now, I like to consider myself a writer, i dunno if it's accurate or not, but it's what i think. Given that there is this small chunk of fluff suffering from non-existence syndrome, and given that I myself quite enjoy writing fluff, the natural solution for me seems to be, to write as much of the fluff myself as i can!
This is also were you folks come in, the simple fact is that multiple heads are better then one, and there are undoubtedly going to be a few things you guys notice that I do not. So here is what I am going to do. I am going to create several "large" topics/questions about the tribe, who were they? How did they live? How did necromancy fit into their lifestyle? That kind of thing. i'll do my best to fill in these topics and expand into smaller subtopics as much as i can, but if you have any additional suggestions by all means feel free to post it.
Below is all the information we have on this tribe, we know they were native to the region around the city of Cauldron, they were skilled in the necromantic arts, and they have long since died out. We can probably draw some additional info from the benefits and drawbacks as well, automatic diehard and -5 damage from negative energy for example, perhaps they were surrounded by negative magic all the time and had to physically adapt? Maybe they purposely made themselves semi-undead somehow and for some reason. Be creative! Lets see what everyone can come up with and see what we can get out of it, if we are lucky, we might even be able to build up enough material to create a small book or something. (Though unlikely, it's still a nice thought.)
Anyways, on to the trait in question. this is all the info we have on the tribe, so while it does mean we are pretty much free to come up with whatever, it also means we have very little to work with. Right now I feel like an archaeologist who is trying to peace together what an extinct creature looked like using nothing more then one fossilized toe, it's rather intimidating.
Long Shadowed
You are descended from a tribe of indigenous peoples who died out as a separate tribe many centuries ago. Still, this tribe’s penchant for necromantic magic runs in your blood.
Benefit: You automatically stabilize if reduced to negative hit points. When you take damage from negative energy, you reduce the actual damage you take by 5 points.
Drawback: Healing magic works poorly on you. Whenever you regain hit points from magical healing, you gain 1 less point of healing per character level you possess, to a minimum of one point per die rolled.
Roleplaying Ideas: You are somewhat morbid and intrigued by death and undeath, even if these interests are purely to learn more of your enemies.
now, on to the tribe.
Name of the tribe:
Very important, the trait is "long shadowed" so something involving shadows would probably work best.
People:
What were the members of the tribe like? Tall? Short? Partially undead? Light skin? Dark skin? I’d imagine they would be majorly human, perhaps adopting members of other races from time to time. Perhaps they kidnapped /adopted anyone showing talent in the necromantic arts? Assuming the tribe is small in number fresh blood would be desired. Perhaps they turned to necromancy due to the effects of inbreeding? That kind of stuff.
Culture:
Were they hunters? Farmers? Did they move around a lot? Stay in one place? is there any specific shape they use above all others? Basic culture stuff.
Language
Did they have a specific one or did they just use common? What about written language? Drawings of possible symbols and their meanings would be nice here.
Necromancy and it's place.
Now obviously the culture had some heavy dabbling in Necromancy, but how? Did they raise the dead to act as servants? Did they emit a negative-energy field around their territory to protect themselves? Perhaps they raised the dead to fight battles for them to prevent any losses of their already small population. Basically try and explain how the tribe earned its reputation for negative energy and undeath, perhaps a weakness to positive energy as well.
Dead and the afterlife
So we know the tribe is necromantic, does this mean they have no respect for the dead? do they have any concept of an afterlife at all? Do they feel being undead is the ultimate reward? perhaps they worship the dead? Basically just fluff on how they treat their dead, what they do with them, and what they believe happens after they die. I’m not saying invent a whole new religion here, but if say they worship a big glowing crystal rather then an actual god, then they should think something different then what's already there. could probably be merged with culture if you feel the need to.
New Members
How the tribe aquires new members outside of giving birth, most likely via adoption or kidnapping.
Alignment
Necromancy and negative energy is pretty much undoubtedly evil, so I think any alignment they have will need to be on the "Evil" spectrum. I personally don't see them as baby-killing or puppy-kicking evil or anything, so my best bet would be a lawful evil, simply because it's more organized then neutral or chaotic evil. (Though now that I think about it I could see them killing a baby if it did not meet their desires, lacking X coloured hair or an inability to use magic, that kinda thing.)
Ok so these are the "big" things that i can think of to be discussed first. Feel free to throw in some smaller things like favourite foods, family structures, interactions with the world, that kinda thing, but I feel we should start big and work our way down, once we've settled on whether or not the tribe is nomadic or rooted to an ancient temple for example, then we can discuss the daily lives of the people within it and how the tribe is run and such. that kinda thing.
i've got some big stuff posted in the post below and will continue to work on it as time passes. feel free to throw in and suggestions or opinions.
TL;DR version:
Once upon a time i made a pally, this pally was given a relation to an ancient but now dead necromantic tribe by the DM. This tribe has no fluff outside of two sentences stating that it existed once but does not exist anymore. i am now trying to create said fluff and hope that maybe you can help me. The End.
Draconi Redfir
2011-10-04, 08:43 AM
Name of the tribe:
Longshadow Tribe (meh it works.)
People:
The Longshadow tribe's people consisted primarily of tan-skinned humans with a slightly below-average physical build, often being depicted as thin or lanky. The total population of the tribe at any given time rarely passed over a hundred strong and often jumped through various lower totals every few generations. As such, inbreeding was often a cause of ailment for the Longshadow tribe, a condition that was not helped by the resistance to positive energies given by the shadow seed growing within their souls. As such, minor necromantic acts, such as bringing dead cells around the wound of a Haemophiliac back to life, were common but usually only temporary, lasting until either it healed naturally, or proper medical care could be found.
To combat their population and inbreeding problems, the Longshadow tribe often sought out outside blood to join them, be it via willing peoples seeking to join them for various reasons, or by the abduction of magically-inclined children from distant locations to be raised as their own. This new-member policy was not limited to just humans however, as the tribe would often allow abducted or even willing elves, dwarves, half-orcs, and other human-compatible races to join them. This did however lead to a multitude of phenotypes between tribe members, as particularly persistent traits of the outsider races would often last several generations before disappearing, leading to Longshadows with pointed-ears, beards (as Longshadows did not possess them naturally), exceptionally large teeth/tusks/fangs, and various others not including the even more diverse combinations of these traits.
Culture:
The Longshadow tribe was a semi-nomadic tribe living on the very outskirts of society, possessing both permanent structures in a remote and isolated valley as well as more portable and easily built tents and huts. These latter structures were primarily used by hunters in search of food and potential new members, while it was rare for these hunters to be gone for long, evidence shows they may have wandered about for as long as a year without returning to the primary village, suggesting an obligation to not return empty-handed. While a small family would often travel in these nomadic groups, the vast majority of Longshadow culture took place in the more permanent buildings.
The Longshadow tribe seems to have had a large penchant to never leave a corpse behind when a tribemember passed away outside of the primary village, it was likely believed that the member's soul, now a shadow, would be unable to find it's way back to the village to watch over it's decedents and reunite with it's ancestors unless it's former body also made the journey home to the village burial grounds. Because of this obligation to return the body of it's members home, Longshadow tribemembers leaving the village would often carry with them at least a single carrier pigeon to send home should they suffer a loss or expect conflict in the near future, the pigeon would carry with it a note on the traveler’s location and something which Tribal dogs could use to catch the traveler’s scent should the location be unclear. a small group of priests would then set out to retrieve the corpse(s) and guide the shadow back to the village to join with the others.
A common shape found in Longshadow culture was the triangle and the number three in general, each point representing either life, death, and the afterlife, or equally as common; mind, body, and soul. Because of this, many Longshadow structures took on triangle shapes, the more portable tents being simple but large tents one could stand up in, while the more permanent housings made out of stone and wood resembled more traditional housings, with a single wide bottom floor housing various rooms, and an upper floor which acted as an attic with an angled ceiling. Most families would reserve at least half of the upper floor for performing family rituals, leaving the other half walled-off and reserved for storage, private housing for new or adopted members of the tribe, or both.
While the Longshadow tribe was widely known for the necromantic prowess granted by the shadows they were spiritually bound to, evidence suggest that the fully-undead were beyond their grasp for a large portion of the tribes lifespan. some have suggested that perhaps it was the discovery of the creation of undead itself which drove the tribe into near-extinction and it’s eventual collapse.
Mark of the Longshadow
http://i.imgur.com/oLnSM9m.png
The Tribal marking used in ainciant times, often used to indicate land as property of the Longshadow tribe, or simply reffer to the Tribe itself in written languige. Longshadow Preists would often have this mark tatooed on their body somewhere.
http://i.imgur.com/hZrZRh2.png
A breif breakdown of what many beleive the symbol represented.
http://i.imgur.com/sMH5AjN.png
A Modern variant of the Mark of the Longshadow used by decedents of the Longshadow tribe who still embrace their past in a way that can maintain a neutral, or even good alignment. The multi-inverted mark is distinguishable enough from the original to be seen as a separate symbol to outsiders, but recognisable enough to those of Longshadow decent to know they are among family when near it. Family is a very important characteristic for Longshadow decedents, and loyalty to one’s family is often cherished above even Alignment differences. While it is rare for good or neutral Longshadow decedents to mingle with their Evil cousins who still follow the more sinister ways of their ancestors, both sides will often allow a brief truce between them during times of tragedy such as the death of a common relative or non-evil family members being falsely accused of evil deeds. This is not to say there are no exceptions however, as there are many families of Longshadow decent who either shun their ancestor’s ways completely, or willingly frame their more positively-aligned relatives to avoid the authorities.
Language
The Longshadow tribe did not have it's own spoken language; instead speaking common as most humans do. They did however possess the beginnings of a written language, represented as a series of triangles, circles, and occasionally squares along with various lines and the rare recognisable symbol such as a skull. The written language itself was composed of about twenty seven simple symbols used to replace the common alphabet, and at least a dozen more complex symbols to represent major words or phrases such as "home" "shadow" or "death".
http://i.imgur.com/HfF7dsV.png
an example of the shadow tribe alphabet.
Necromancy and it's place.
Due to the symbiotic connection with the shadows worshiped by the tribe, the Longshadows slowly became all but immune to both positive and negative energy. while it is impossible to tell if they were ever directly harmed by the former as traditional negative- energy beings are, it is widely believed the immunity began with the shadow seeds taking residence within their souls, the seeds granting the immunity to negative energy to their hosts, while at the same time creating a resistance to positive energy as a form of self-preservation
But the shadow-seed did have one drawback, for reasons that can only be speculated upon, the seed could only be implanted into the soul of a sorcerer, and without the seed, the fields of negative energy caused by Shadows lingering around Longshadow settlements would cause any living being to become deathly ill within moments of entering. It’s because of this need for Sorcerer’s souls that caused the Tribemembers to resort to culling any newborns lacking any inherit magical ability, and thus lacking the seed. However this was not the only method available to them, as mentioned in the section “Death and the afterlife (religion)” It was possible for Longshadows to exchange soul fragments, and with it a shadow seed, to newer nonmagical members to allow them to live within the boarders of the village comfortably. It’s believed this was not performed on children produced by born-in tribemembers due to pride and shame, it was the fault of the child for not having a sorcerers soul, as both parents possessed one and it had no excuse. Children born from one or more foreign parents however were given a little more tolerance, and only culled after the first born to keep the nonmagical numbers down. The Longshadow Tribe would rather cull a dozen newborns then loose two soul-sharing members at the same time later in the future.
To be changed
The Longshadow tribe was so engrossed in it's practise of the necromantic arts that nearly every member of the tribe was a sorcerer able to easily manipulate and control the negative energy around them. While many of these sorcerers did not actually perform any tasks within the tribe that called for spells, the tribes pride over the magic forced them to cull any newborn children incapable of casting spells or lacking the magical blood. The few who lacked magical affinity were often either newly joined members born outside the tribe and allowed to join after a short series of rituals, or the one nonmagical child they were allowed to keep for the sake of contributing to the tribal gene pool.
No one is quite sure how the tribe came to specialize in necromancy, perhaps some ancient humans discovered the magic before any other and began practicing it in secret, or perhaps the tribe was once populated my many different magical genres which simply died out due to unpopularity, the corruption of necromancy, separation into other tribes or magical councils, or simple bad luck. What is known however is that necromantic magic played a crucial role in shadow tribe on life, one of its most prominent uses is surprisingly, to heal.
Because of the large amounts of negative energy flying about, combined with the several diseases and curses gained from practicing necromancy, as well as simple bad luck through ones lifespan, The shadow tribe had developed a method which used the reanimating effects of necromancy to heal major wounds like broken bones or severed limbs. Quite simply, if a tribe member had suffered a grievous fall and broken it's arm beyond conventional repair, the tribal medics would actually reanimate the arm as a pseudo-undead and grant the owner of the arm full control of it's movements, effectively creating limb replacement using the undead flesh of the once-living limb. This treatment may not have been limited to broken limbs, and could possibly have been used on failing organs and muscles. How exactly one breathes with a pair of undead lungs however is unknown.
But why not simply use positive energy as is more conventional throughout the world? Again it is a mystery how it happened, but it seems that constant exposure to negative energy had drastically altered shadow-tribe biology, while they were not completely harmed by positive energy as the undead are; they were nearly immune to it, some of the most powerful healing spells only having the strength to repair a single broken finger of an entire broken arm.
Dead and the afterlife (Religion)
Longshadow religion is centred primarily on the undead spirits known as shadows (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/shadow.htm), which they often view as the immortal spirits of their ancestors. Whenever a Longshadow tribemember with magical affinity is born, its soul is implanted with what is known as a “shadow seed” by the various shadows, which protect the tribe’s settlements from outsiders. As the child grows, so too does the seed within him, while it does not actively harm the child’s soul to the point of reducing it’s overall lifespan, it does discreetly feed off of it until the day the tribemember dies, at witch point the seed consumes the entirety of the tribemembers soul and becomes a shadow in of itself. This is viewed by the tribe as the path to spiritual immortality, as each spirit joins those of the tribe’s ancestors and continues to live on and watch over them for the generations to come. This is in a sense a form of ancestor worship, with each ancestor becoming one of the shadows, which watch over and protect them.
The shadows which watched over the tribe were in a sense, worshiped by, fed by, and allowed to reproduce using the Longshadow tribe for the simple exchange of protection from outsiders as well as the knowledge in how to master the necromantic arts of the time. It is because of these incorporeal spirits that the tribe’s settlements were always so full of negative energy, as the creatures left a trail of it behind them wherever they went and often roamed the settlements invisibly or as close as they could get to doing so. Fortunately the negative energy they left behind as they roamed did not harm the tribemembers for the same reason the shadows protected them, each tribe member was infused with a shadow-seed, which while preventing them from gaining the full effect of positive energy, also protected them from the negative energy left behind by their parents.
The Shadow-seeds did however require the soul of a sorcerer in order to incubate properly, as those who were magically attuned were easier for the incorporeal creatures to merge with and feet upon, this being one of the reasons Longshadow tribemembers were so obsessive on newcomers birthing sorcerer children after becoming permanent residents. Since newcomers (and the one nonmagical child they were granted) were often nonmagical themselves however, they would often feel ill and weak while inside the boundaries of tribal settlements due to the lack of a shadow seed. To combat this, Longshadow tribemembers would perform a ritual (along with other false tests and rituals for entertainments sake) just on the edge of the settlement’s borders to ask the spirits (shadows) to spare the newcomer their wrath and instead watch over them as they would a natural tribemember. A willing tribemember (usually the newcomers spouse-to-be) would then trade a fraction of their own soul for a fraction of the newcomer’s soul, binding the two together and allowing the shadows to implant the newcomer with a shadow-seed. While the newcomer’s shadow-seed often grew into a weak and frail shadow after the newcomer’s death, it would then merge with the shadow of the tribemember the newcomer was bound to, becoming one stronger shadow. The biggest drawback to this process however is that sharing a fragment of your soul with another caused the both of you to die at the same time, so many precautions were taken to ensure any children of the newcomer were cared for in the event of a premature death due to illness or unforeseen battle.
New Members
Weather or not they liked it, the Shadow Tribe was often small and at least partly suffering from inbreeding. Because of this, they would often accept new members from outside of the tribe, be they refugees from a corrupt kingdom, escaped criminals, or fellow practitioners of the dark arts seeking refuge from an unaccepting world. In order to join however, newcomers would be required to complete several tests and rituals in order to ensure their trustworthiness and protect them from the negative energy, which often flowed freely in tribal encampments. Many of these "tests" and "rituals" however did not actually accomplish anything, and merely served as entertainment for the rest of the tribe.
These newcomers however, were also the sires of many of the tribe’s nonmagical children. and while they were allowed one nonmagical offspring for the sake of contributing to the tribal gene pool, they were still pressured into producing more children for the tribe until one with suitably magical affinity was produced, this child would have much more favour with the tribe then the nonmagical one. Should a newcomer fail to produce any magical children with the tribal spouse of its choice, it would be regularly pressured into making an attempt with other members of the tribe. Families would often offer one of their unmarried sons or daughters to the newcomer in hopes theirs would be the one to sire a magical child, both adding to their families overall gene pool as well as the respect of the rest of the tribe. These offered members would not be forced into marriage however, and would still be free to find their own life partner after one or two attempts, the newcomer being given the same freedom.
Naturally however the Tribe could not sustain itself on the rare willing addition to it’s ranks alone, because of this hunting parties would often wander into populated areas, keeping an eye out for any children magically talented in the necromantic ways. Should they find (or sense as some have theorized) any, they would go through any means possible to procure the child and raise them as one of their own, often resorting the bribery, trade, or kidnapping among other things. The shadow tribe was not picky about which race their “adopted” children were, so long as they possessed a small talent for the necromantic arts or it’s negative energies. Since sorcerer children of the specific school were rather rare, the shadow tribe often had several hunting groups out searching wide areas and multiple populated regions of various other races in an attempt to expand their success rates.
Alignment
Lawful Evil
Decedents and Cauldron
It’s still not entirely known how the Longshadow tribe fell from it’s former glory, but what is known that some time during Cauldron’s founding, a small group of Longshadow refugees, estimated to be at least twenty strong had come into the area seeking a new start to the now broken life they had once known. While they had little magic or resources to aid in the growth of the newly birthed city, they proved themselves loyal to their word and willing to do whatever it took to get the job done. Many of the founding families of cauldron distrusted the Longshadows at first due to the ever-present aura of death and faint negative energy that followed them around, but after a time of showing only loyalty, kindness, and an unusually high respect for the dead, this did eventually fade.
While Cauldron had already existed as a small village for several years by the time the Longshadows had joined, they had eventually earned themselves the honour of demi-nobility, which many of their decedents still hold to this day. While Longshadow decedents do not hold as much power over the affairs as the more prestigious nobles, they still partake in some of the more engaging events such as city councils and knighthood celebrations. They are however more likely to mingle and intermarry with the commonfolk then their more noble comrades, a habit which is often attributed to genetic memory of the Longshadow’s heyday, as seeking any fresh blood for the tribe was often top priority. It is equally common however for branches of the Longshadow family to re-marry into one another, some couples sharing the same great great great grandfather for example. Generally it is distant enough to prevent any inbreeding problems, but accidents have always been known to happen.
It should be noted that the shadow seed possessed by their ancestors is no longer present in the modern day Longshadows, the shadows which provided them having been eliminated by good-aligned clerics shortly after the Longshadows joined the young village of Cauldron. Their bodies however have mostly remained unchanged from the time of the shadow seeds, they still possess an inherit resistance to negative energy and a small weakness to positive energy, the full immunity to negative energy and intolerance of positive energy given by the shadow seeds having disappearing along with them. This also means however that Longshadows no longer become Shadows upon death*, and their souls will instead be sent to the proper afterlife making things such as full resurrection possible.
*It is still debated on whether or not ancient Longshadows would actually become Shadows upon death, or if their soul was merely consumed by an infant Shadow within the shadow seed.
While the Longshadow’s history is generally common knowledge amongst full and demi noble alike, it is often kept a secret from the common public and all but the most necessary of any church, as knowledge of such a family could have disastrous effects on both the family and the city as a whole. To hide their rather unusual history the Longshadows tend to stay together with their families, and hide in plain sight, owning and running at least one morticuary within the walls of Cauldron, their respect for the dead often praised among those who had hired them to prepare their loved ones for burial. It should be mentioned however that many members of the Longshadow family possess an unusual attraction to the dead. While very few ever act on it, those who do are severely punished by the entirety of the family, such disrespect for the dead is highly frowned upon by the Longshadows, and should the case be severe enough may result in disownership and exile by the hands of the family. Most who suffer this attraction to the remains of the deceased do all they can to contain it, some mentally training themselves to ignore it, others reserving the thoughts for later use. It is not uncommon for a member of the Longshadow family to be found unconsciously staring at a fresh corpse for an extended period of time, it is a habit they are deeply ashamed of and occasionally punish themselves for when they discover what they have been doing.
While disrespecting the dead is very Taboo for the Longshadow family, taking the tooth of a friend, family member, or enemy is often considered appropriate. Some members of the family will create necklaces out of the teeth of their dead companions and/or worthy opponents they had fought and defeated should they be an adventurer. Many branches of the family even hang entire plaques of teeth above their mantels, each tooth containing an image and nameplate of the deceased friend or relative who possessed it. The practice of tooth-collecting is often seen as a strange hobby by non-family members, but it is rarely frowned upon or deemed punishable, as the Longshadows will only remove the tooth post-mortem, and only if the owner of the tooth agreed to the practice or was a worthy adversary the Longshadow feels should be remembered.
The Longshadow family is rarely a religious one, often content with being left to their own devices and sending any prayers they may have to the spirits of their ancestors or in some occasions, the shadows that once watched over their family. Longshadows do not tend to view Shadows as Evil even if shown otherwise, likely another result of genetic memory tying them to the eithral creatures. That does not mean however that it is impossible for a member of the Longshadow family to join an organized church, some members will occasionally seek redemption for their ancestors past sins and join the church of Cuthbert to attempt to “pay bail” so to speak. Using their obtained clerical or paladin abilities to perform as many tasks of justice and good as physically possible in order to do so. Longshadows may also become clerics or paladins of Perlor or other deities for the same motivations, but Cuthbert is often the most common one.
While the Longshadow tribe was primarily human, their ancestors have since spread the bloodline to a variety of other races such as Dwaves and Elves, so members of such races holding the Longshadow name or physical attributes are not to be unexpected. Some human members of the Longshadow family may even hold some small traces of these other races in their own blood, possessing slightly pointed ears or beards in the same manner as their ancestors once did.
Common day Longshadows are usually Lawful Neutral, Lawful Good or Evil being less common, but moreso then any form of Chaotic alignment.
Draconi Redfir
2011-11-01, 10:13 AM
Bit of an unorganized infodump in the "dead and the afterlife" (now Religion) section, porbably going to need to rewrite a lot of what's already up there because of it too. Mostly just posting this to say i am still working on this, and to thank my freind Jess from IRC for the help.
also ignore the following spoiler box, it just containing notes from our conversaition on the topic wich i'm just putting here in case i accidently close the word file.
Longshadow ideas:
Ghosts/spirits
Shadows bind/shape them
Shadows bound to each member with magical ability
Chance to escape?
Shadows drawn to tribe members? Symbiotic relationship?
Children learn to control shadows in an initiation ritual, if they fail they are devoured by the shadows.
Tribe possibly worships the shadows as gods and allow the shadows to bind themselves to their souls, tribemembers may see this as a way to get immortality
Shadows allow themselves to be merged with the tribe’s soul to slowly feed on them over time, the tribemembers view this as becoming one with the gods
When tribe members die while traveling, other members obsessively go to recover the body before it decomposes to recover the shadows. Extracting the shadow from someone’s body is part of the funeral
Person doesn’t bind soul with shadow but has a “shadow seed” in them at birth which grows into a shadow at death
Shadows not bound to soul, implant seed to become a shadow in the soul of newborn sorcerers and protect the tribe in exchange for using them to reproduce.
Attack other tribes to feed shadows?
Since shadows themselves are both incorporeal and undead, this could explain the negative energy that flows around freely in their settlements, their gods/ancestors are quite literally all around them, and since this tribe has grown accustomed to the negative energy, they are not harmed by it, but anyone not from the tribe will be unless the tribe performs some rituals on them to keep them safe.
And the shadows need magical hosts for their incubation, which is why the tribe is composed of sorcerers.
Shadow seeds in souls prevent shadow tribe members from gaining the full effect of positive energy and protecting them from negative energy
Rituals;
Coming of age, learning to attract shadows, linked to puberty
Second is your death, your soul becomes a shadow and is worshiped as a god
Shadows turn those who die into more shadows, tribe worships those shadows as well in ancestor worship
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/shadow.htm
undead limbs/bodyparts give ghoul touch/other things so must be covered in gloves?
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