Deep in the heart of the void. A veil existed, one that harboured thought and darkness. The sky a perpetual purple, the land as formless as ash. Within this veil lay a city, one of obsidian and thought. Its architecture, an alien mash of buildings that form coherency and consistency amongst its inhabitants.
Murkveil, home of the Sentient Shadow race, the second race of the void realm. The whole veil was bustling with activity as shadows went into a large building at the center of the whole city. The building was circular, gigantic, like a football stadium with multiple seats spread around the edges for people to watch the precedings.
The building had no defined entrance, instead, shadows would seemingly merge into the building and appear at an empty seat somewhere in the stadium. This building didn't exist a few days ago but a few of the more powerful shadows had sacrificed some of their gains to spring it up for the very special occasion that was to take place today.
For the past twenty years, the current Eidolon shadow lord, the son of the previous shadow lord who mysteriously disappeared, had launched a program with the other lords of the seven veils of the void to train 100 newborns from each void race to go on a special expedition to save the void.
Today, the time had finally arrived, it was the 20th birthday of the 100 from the Shadow race and it is today that the young lord would initiate the mission.
A sudden hush fell opun the stadium as a large collection of shadow energy flooded the center of the whole stadium. From the collection, a humanoid being, faceless and clad in a large shadow robe emerged onto a small stage and podium, all of which were manifested with his entrance.
"Hello people of Murkveil, today is a very special day for a very special selection of shadows from the various different households that trusted me enough to volunteer their children for this project." The young lord paused as he looked into the crowd.
It has been less than a hundred years since his father disappeared and he inherited the title of Eidolon lord for the shadow race, he was still very young and inexperienced but this extinction level event has forced him to mature and do what it takes to save his race.
The void is running critically low on energy which to the voidborns affectively means they were slowly suffocating. A few thousand years ago, the voidborns discovered the subtle drain of void energy along with the increasing frequency of rift storms. A deeper investigation revealed that one of the realms created from the void, the human realm, had been perpetually causing rifts just to harvest void energy, a form of energy way higher than what they could handle and control.
When things became too disasterous to handle, the Sevenfold Concord decided on this suicide mission of sending a new generation of voidborns, so young their bodies weren't fully attuned to the void but old enough to use void energy and their innate racial abilities. Although the whole situation sounds crazy, it's their only plan that works currently.
Taking a deep breath he focused back into the crowd.
"Today, we are going to send 100 brave shadows into the unknown. I won't lie or sugarcoat the matter, this mission will be dangerous and some of them might not survive. But if they can overcome all their trials and tribulations, if they can pull through against all odds in a world that isn't their own, they can secure a future for the void realm." His speech continued.
The speech was much longer than expected but before long it was over and the 100 shadows were invited into the center of the stadium lined up directly in front of him. As he layed his hands on the last hope of the void realm, his eyes landed upon a shadow in the front row.
All 100 shadows were young and weren't used to standing in front of the highest authority of their known race and as such were very nervous. This nervousness was reflected as subtle ripples in their humanoid forms. Although they weren't required to maintain a humanoid form, they mostly did it as a formality since the lord was doing it.
Amongst all the shadows those in the front row were the most nervous as they stood in front of all their peers and the lord himself. Yet, when the lord looked among those in the front row, his eyes landed upon a shadow that was not like the rest. While the others were rippling due to nerves and struggling to maintain their forms, this specific shadow stood out among them as the one with the most stable form, not a single ripple in sight.
Ironically, this shadow looked the most unstable among his peers so to the untrained, he was the most nervous, but having inherited this much power and authority, he knew the real truth of the matter. This specific shadow was unstable only because, while everyone maintained a simple humanoid appearance, he was daring enough to try to copy the intricate shadow robe which he had constructed himself for this specific occasion.
Now obviously this wasn't something that could be learned in a single meeting by an inexperienced youth but that just went to show the kind of guts this kid had.
"You, step forward." The lord said pointing him out. The shadow, respectfully stepped forward.
"What's your name?" The lord asked.
"My name is Alsvid lord shadow." The shadow replied.
"Alsvid huh, I admire your brovado."
The lord replied as he moved forward, placing a hand on the kid's shoulder. Immediately after they made contact, a large burst of shadow energy flooded into the kid's form causing it to ripple violently, almost destabilizing. The crowd immediately broke into multiple gasps and whispers.
"Take that as a little gift from me. It's a little above your league for now so you won't see it's use just yet, but I trust someone like you can figure it out soon enough." The lord said as he returned to his podium.
"I would love to spend some time to encourage you guys but matters have been stretched out far enough." A large, stable, purple portal appeared in front of the shadows.
"This is a stable, one way rift that will send you directly to the human realm, commonly known as the Luminous Plane. Your objective is quite simple. Eliminate any and all living creatures that possess void energy or the equipment required to wield it. Good Luck."