Frozenaro
09-04-14, 07:19 PM
Name: N/A
Nickname/Alias: That Which Is Hidden In The Darkness
Age: Incalculable
Race: Extra-Dimensional Evil Entity
Height: N/A
Weight: N/A
Occupation: Would-Be Inter-dimensional Conqueror
History:
“It's here! It's here! We've finally found it!” Professor Nielsen exclaimed. “Our long search has finally borne fruit. All those years of searching and now... let's hurry inside.” The scholar was understandably excited, as this was to be the culmination of his life's work. It had taken him years of searching the world's libraries, museums and temples to find even vague references of the ancient civilization that had eluded him his entire career. All those dried up grants and costly dead ends would surely be worth it once he unearthed the answers waiting inside this ancient edifice. “Well Professor, if it be all the same to ye, I think I'll join the rest of me crew back at camp. This Falien sun is murder on me beard. This place had better cover our bloody inconvenience fee.” The old dwarf had been hired to dig out the entrance of the buried temple, but the weeks digging vainly in the desert had begun to wear on him. “Yes, yes, you will get your money. But the true reward here will be to future generations. Who knows Halvard, maybe even your part in this expedition will make its way into the volumes to come. Perhaps some future student will write an interesting treatise on your um... unique contributions to our cause.” The Professor found the man's demeanour uncouth, but he could not argue with the results. Say what you will about Dwarves, but they sure could dig. With a roll of his eyes, the muscular dwarf began to pack up his enchanted tools. “Aye, well, if it be all the same to ye, we kin talk 'bout my place in history when ye git back ta camp. I've had enough o' this sun. An' we're nae done talking about that bonus.” With that he set off back towards the camp, missing the glower directed at his back. “Ignorant barbarian,” Nielsen muttered under his breath. Turning back towards the unearthed entrance, he gestured towards his other companion. “Now then, now that Gloomy Guts is gone, let's go find our destiny. Come Nira! Greatness awaits!” With a grunt, the towering woman pushed herself off the wall, her impressive arsenal sparkling in the unforgiving desert sun. Her tangled red bangs did nothing to hide the many scars she had received in her time as a blade for hire, but those who knew her reputation knew well that she could give far more than she got. While the professor could be quite snobbish at times, and far too pompous for his own good, he had been a capable enough travelling companion these last few years and the university's coin had always been good. “Time to see what all the fuss is about.”
The two made their way down the uncovered steps and stopped before the massive stone doors. The professor pointed up excitedly. “My God, Nira! Look! That shining sphere? That's the symbol of the Unyielding Light. But for their temple to be all the way out here, that must mean... the stories must be true. Nira, can you find a way to get us inside?” She studied the doors for a moment, these doors are incredibly old. If you look near the top, you can see that they've fallen in on themselves a bit. Enough that I should be able to slip in.” With that, she took her climbing gear out of her pack and began her ascent. When he heard the soft thump come from the other side, he called over to her, “What do you see in there?” He could hear something shifting on the other side. “It's rather... surprising in here, Professor. There's a mechanism that seems to be for the door in here. Hold on.” After an unsettling grinding sound, the doors shifted back enough to squeeze through and then shuddered still. “That's the best you should expect, Professor. I'm surprised they had that much life in them.” Nielsen hunched his small frame through the opening and inspected the room with clear wonder on his face. “This is simply amazing, Nira! Look at these reliefs! They depict the centuries long conflict between the Unyielding Light and the Eternal Shade.” Nira made her way to the wall he was inspecting. “I've looked over some of the papers you've collected, but I'm still having a hard time following all of this. And how are we seeing any of these? How is it so bright in here?” The Professor smiled, happy to share his research with someone who would listen.
“The templars here were masters of light based magic, and it seems they were able to imbue this marble with some sort of simple glow spell. As for their ages old conflict, this is one of the oldest wars in known history. It happened so long ago that the ancients only knew them from legends, before those too passed into obscurity. This is why it has been so difficult to corroborate and why this find is so important. To think that we can actually see the account as told in their own account! Amazing!” He moved amongst the reliefs, taking in the tale they told. “Heh, to think, we will finally know what the Eternal Shade was. All I've found in all my years of study was that it was the Unyielding Light's adversary and the source of their obsession with scouring out darkness.” a frown slipped onto his face and he adjusted his spectacles. “Wow, these guys were definitely... untoward. According to these, the Shade was a terrible empire that somehow... spread darkness throughout the land. None could stand against their armies for long, for once the creeping twilight met their troops they would just... join them. Without fighting, they would instead change allegiance and thus this horde grew. Very curious. It was thus that the Unyielding Light was formed, a joint endeavour from those yet to fall under their sway. They had discovered that the strange and deadly power could be weakened by shining light, and that the blackness hid something far worse. Curious.” Nira leaned in closer to better inspect the detailed tableaus. “It seems that they discovered that something... living was at the heart of the empire, something not of this world. Well, that's just silly superstition. It just shows the progress we've made since their time, Nira. Anyway, it seems that a way was discovered which might contain this creature and break up the empire. The greatest craftsmen in all the free kingdoms pooled their resources and crafted a crystal of impeccable purity. A team was assembled, and they infiltrated the Shadelands. Then they are holding the crystal aloft, and I can't quite make out what is happening in this one... Let's move on. The fastest riders took the crystal as far as they could manage, then by ship, to the brightest place they could find. The.. oh dear... the desert. To this very spot it would seem. That's rather... spooky, isn't it Nira?” With a look of growing apprehension, the seasoned warrior loosened daggers and put her hands on the axes by her side. “I think it might be best for us to leave this place. I'm getting some really bad vibes here, professor.” Nielsen took his glasses off and started to clean them. “Nonsense, Nira. This place is perhaps millennia old, I assure you we are quite safe. Now, it would seem that is the last of the reliefs, so shall we head further in?”
With a quick nod, the woman approached the next door cautiously. “This door is barred... from this side.” Gingerly pulling the beam from the door, she pushed it open with her foot. “By the gods!” She pulled the well honed axes from their loops in a blurred instant. “What is it? What is in there?” The professor stopped short at the door, and brought his handkerchief to his mouth. “Oh dear... We've frequented tombs before my dear, but none quite like this, eh?” Before them stretched a long, tall room that was filled with bunks at regular intervals. At their feet were piles of old, dry bones poking out of unfamiliar white armour. White weapons were scrambled amongst the remains. Keeping her weapons in hand, Nira picked her way through the bones. The professor hopped past the piles and took a closer look at the remains. “Look at this armour, Nira. It predates anything I've seen... And I've seen a lot. Let's look further in.” As they went through the hall, they noticed other signs that these were permanent quarters. As they went further, the professor noticed that the styles of their equipment grew ever more primitive. “It seems that this was a permanent garrison, one that lasted for many generations.” Nira looked warily at the corpses that surrounded them. “What happened to the ones by the door? If this place was so important, why did they stop coming?” Professor Nielsen marvelled at the length of the hall and the seemingly endless knights this place had served. “Why does any culture fail? Entropy is the one reliable force in the universe. Times change, and history becomes legend. Eventually, even they are lost. Those by the door had none to entomb them, and were the last. Think of the supply chain alone for a temple this remote. It was admirable they lasted this long. Ah, another door at last.” They reached another door, this one far more impressive than the last.
It was covered in runes and shone brighter than any they had seen. “Hold. There is once powerful magic here, professor.” He pulled his hand back. “It seems to just be warding this door, but... look. The light flickers slightly. I doubt there's much power left in it.” The professor noticed something over the door. “What do you suppose that is? Hold on, let me get my journal...” The professor pulled a leather-bound book from his pouch. “Why, this reminds me of an old obelisk I took a rubbing from... could it have been their script all along?! Let me see what I can make of it.” After poring over it for a few minutes, the doctor smiled and put his book away. “My brilliance saves us again. This mark here,” he pointed at one of the markings, “This is a sign meaning... life? No... more likely... flesh. Odd. It seems to be a warning to let no meat past this point. I guess they didn't want the templars eating on the job, eh Nira?” She did not appreciate his attempt at a joke. “I really don't think we should be here. We should leave this place for the long dead. Come on, surely you've learned enough.” She began to turn back, but Nielsen grabbed her arm. “Please, Nira. We've come this far, and after all these years, let's see it through. Only a little bit further. We could learn so much from these people.” She looked him dead in the eyes and could see how much he had riding on this. This had been his life for far longer than it had been hers. She sighed and looked back at the door. “Fine, I'll see what I can do about this ward. But if things get hairy in there, we're getting out even if we have to take the whole place down with us. Even the university's coin isn't worth my life.” She looked at the wall for a moment, then reached for a small scabbard on her lower back. She pulled out the small stone knife it contained. “This blade is made from a very rare mineral I've encountered on my travels. While its properties aren't too reliable, it has proven effective at disrupting magic in the past. Here goes.” She carefully reached towards the runes lining the door, and began methodically scratching them off slowly. The door flashed and faded to match the surrounding stone. “Oh Nira, I never would have made it this far without you. You are a wonder!” She kicked the door back and they began to descend again. Strangely, they noticed that the light was growing brighter as they got further down. And down. And down. Nira gripped her axes tightly, already starting to regret her decision to stay. After descending for far less time than it seemed, the tunnel opened into a large octagonal chamber. “I have... never seen the like. Nira, are you seeing this?”
The room was intensely bright, with an incandescent pillar in each corner. Nira began inspecting the pillars, though it was hard to see with the intense glare. “Imagine the importance that they placed on this room, Nira! For the magic to have remained this intense for so long... the power is unbelievable! And it's all directed to that dais in the middle, there!” The beams all intersected on a crystal platform in the middle of the room. Resting upon it was the most brilliant gem either of them had ever seen. It was seemingly perfectly cut, impossibly so. “We need to leave this place, professor! Surely you can see that by now!” The professor crept towards the centre of the room, squinting towards the spectacular brilliance of that singular object. “It's... it's so truly amazing... I can barely make it out and yet... I can not look away. How... peculiar. If you can bear it Nira, take a look at the core of this glorious bauble. Somehow there is a dark... spot in its very heart. How can such a speck survive its blinding perfection? It must be some sort of detritus obscuring the beauty beneath.” with that, professor Nielsen reached up with his handkerchief to wipe it clean. “Edmond, NO! YOU MUSTN'T--” The scholar's trembling hand knocked the crystal out of the beams, and it tumbled towards the floor. HELLO MEAT, YOUR MASTER HAS RETURNED. And so it was that darkness crept up the stairs from the temple and the Unyielding Light was snuffed for the last time.
Appearance:
The extra-dimensional creature hails from a plane without physical attributes. As a result, it is very difficult for it to manifest in the physical world and it can do so only weakly. When it is able to however, it appears as a shroud of inky black mist, which hazes vision and shifts constantly. It has no real substance however, and reality rejects its alien existence. To combat this, it tries to obscure itself as much as possible, as it is more difficult to sustain this form in direct sunlight where its presence is most obvious.
Personality:
The entity is extremely egotistical, as one who has a reality to themselves is wont to be, but it has been difficult to back that up since its awakening. The empire long dead, and reality far different than it remembers, the entity is often confused by what the material world has to offer. This confusion often leads to ineffectual anger, as it has yet to regain the power to make its superior desires a reality. It is both bored with its own reality and fascinated/disturbed by the dimension it is trying to dominate.
Skills:
Ancient Origin: That Which Hides In The Darkness is an ancient immortal being, as only the corporeal are subject to entropy; this affords it a vague knowledge of history (it has been watching the physical world from a distance, but without understanding much).
Abilities:
The entity is severely weakened from its aeons long banishment, and it will take some time to regain its power.
Body Manipulation
As the entity is most vulnerable when exposed, a trick that it learned early on was to hide inside other creatures. It would flow into any exposed orifice and use the body's own systems to control it. This is difficult enough as it is, so corpses are its preferred host. These are not the undead, simply grotesque marionettes. This means that although they do not feel pain from wounds, they grow more difficult to control as muscles and tendons are severed. The bodies are more resilient, as they do not need to eat or sleep or heal, but they are also clumsy and lack fine motor skills as they are difficult to control. Though the entity does not rely on eyes to see, and so is unaffected by lighting conditions, it does make it easier for it to make sense of the physical world. Without eyes it can make out shapes and forms, but not colours or markings (it could see a scroll, but not the words or images printed on it). Once a body grows too decayed or damaged to use, it is simply discarded and another is found. If a body must be shed involuntarily however, it takes some time for the entity to recover enough to return to the physical realm.
Darkness Imitation
The entity can still act outside of its host, but only to a limited degree. It can spread itself outward to appear as darkness, obscuring vision but not actually snuffing out lights. This is easier to do in areas that are enclosed or darkened already, and can be countered by intensifying the light in the area, as it is more difficult to sustain when exposed.
Equipment/Weapons:
The creature uses whatever weapons are on hand when inhabiting a new body. Its current form is a tall, sallow, haggard looking man with ill fitting leather armour. It has a notched hand-axe at its side and an iron rimmed shield on its back.
Nickname/Alias: That Which Is Hidden In The Darkness
Age: Incalculable
Race: Extra-Dimensional Evil Entity
Height: N/A
Weight: N/A
Occupation: Would-Be Inter-dimensional Conqueror
History:
“It's here! It's here! We've finally found it!” Professor Nielsen exclaimed. “Our long search has finally borne fruit. All those years of searching and now... let's hurry inside.” The scholar was understandably excited, as this was to be the culmination of his life's work. It had taken him years of searching the world's libraries, museums and temples to find even vague references of the ancient civilization that had eluded him his entire career. All those dried up grants and costly dead ends would surely be worth it once he unearthed the answers waiting inside this ancient edifice. “Well Professor, if it be all the same to ye, I think I'll join the rest of me crew back at camp. This Falien sun is murder on me beard. This place had better cover our bloody inconvenience fee.” The old dwarf had been hired to dig out the entrance of the buried temple, but the weeks digging vainly in the desert had begun to wear on him. “Yes, yes, you will get your money. But the true reward here will be to future generations. Who knows Halvard, maybe even your part in this expedition will make its way into the volumes to come. Perhaps some future student will write an interesting treatise on your um... unique contributions to our cause.” The Professor found the man's demeanour uncouth, but he could not argue with the results. Say what you will about Dwarves, but they sure could dig. With a roll of his eyes, the muscular dwarf began to pack up his enchanted tools. “Aye, well, if it be all the same to ye, we kin talk 'bout my place in history when ye git back ta camp. I've had enough o' this sun. An' we're nae done talking about that bonus.” With that he set off back towards the camp, missing the glower directed at his back. “Ignorant barbarian,” Nielsen muttered under his breath. Turning back towards the unearthed entrance, he gestured towards his other companion. “Now then, now that Gloomy Guts is gone, let's go find our destiny. Come Nira! Greatness awaits!” With a grunt, the towering woman pushed herself off the wall, her impressive arsenal sparkling in the unforgiving desert sun. Her tangled red bangs did nothing to hide the many scars she had received in her time as a blade for hire, but those who knew her reputation knew well that she could give far more than she got. While the professor could be quite snobbish at times, and far too pompous for his own good, he had been a capable enough travelling companion these last few years and the university's coin had always been good. “Time to see what all the fuss is about.”
The two made their way down the uncovered steps and stopped before the massive stone doors. The professor pointed up excitedly. “My God, Nira! Look! That shining sphere? That's the symbol of the Unyielding Light. But for their temple to be all the way out here, that must mean... the stories must be true. Nira, can you find a way to get us inside?” She studied the doors for a moment, these doors are incredibly old. If you look near the top, you can see that they've fallen in on themselves a bit. Enough that I should be able to slip in.” With that, she took her climbing gear out of her pack and began her ascent. When he heard the soft thump come from the other side, he called over to her, “What do you see in there?” He could hear something shifting on the other side. “It's rather... surprising in here, Professor. There's a mechanism that seems to be for the door in here. Hold on.” After an unsettling grinding sound, the doors shifted back enough to squeeze through and then shuddered still. “That's the best you should expect, Professor. I'm surprised they had that much life in them.” Nielsen hunched his small frame through the opening and inspected the room with clear wonder on his face. “This is simply amazing, Nira! Look at these reliefs! They depict the centuries long conflict between the Unyielding Light and the Eternal Shade.” Nira made her way to the wall he was inspecting. “I've looked over some of the papers you've collected, but I'm still having a hard time following all of this. And how are we seeing any of these? How is it so bright in here?” The Professor smiled, happy to share his research with someone who would listen.
“The templars here were masters of light based magic, and it seems they were able to imbue this marble with some sort of simple glow spell. As for their ages old conflict, this is one of the oldest wars in known history. It happened so long ago that the ancients only knew them from legends, before those too passed into obscurity. This is why it has been so difficult to corroborate and why this find is so important. To think that we can actually see the account as told in their own account! Amazing!” He moved amongst the reliefs, taking in the tale they told. “Heh, to think, we will finally know what the Eternal Shade was. All I've found in all my years of study was that it was the Unyielding Light's adversary and the source of their obsession with scouring out darkness.” a frown slipped onto his face and he adjusted his spectacles. “Wow, these guys were definitely... untoward. According to these, the Shade was a terrible empire that somehow... spread darkness throughout the land. None could stand against their armies for long, for once the creeping twilight met their troops they would just... join them. Without fighting, they would instead change allegiance and thus this horde grew. Very curious. It was thus that the Unyielding Light was formed, a joint endeavour from those yet to fall under their sway. They had discovered that the strange and deadly power could be weakened by shining light, and that the blackness hid something far worse. Curious.” Nira leaned in closer to better inspect the detailed tableaus. “It seems that they discovered that something... living was at the heart of the empire, something not of this world. Well, that's just silly superstition. It just shows the progress we've made since their time, Nira. Anyway, it seems that a way was discovered which might contain this creature and break up the empire. The greatest craftsmen in all the free kingdoms pooled their resources and crafted a crystal of impeccable purity. A team was assembled, and they infiltrated the Shadelands. Then they are holding the crystal aloft, and I can't quite make out what is happening in this one... Let's move on. The fastest riders took the crystal as far as they could manage, then by ship, to the brightest place they could find. The.. oh dear... the desert. To this very spot it would seem. That's rather... spooky, isn't it Nira?” With a look of growing apprehension, the seasoned warrior loosened daggers and put her hands on the axes by her side. “I think it might be best for us to leave this place. I'm getting some really bad vibes here, professor.” Nielsen took his glasses off and started to clean them. “Nonsense, Nira. This place is perhaps millennia old, I assure you we are quite safe. Now, it would seem that is the last of the reliefs, so shall we head further in?”
With a quick nod, the woman approached the next door cautiously. “This door is barred... from this side.” Gingerly pulling the beam from the door, she pushed it open with her foot. “By the gods!” She pulled the well honed axes from their loops in a blurred instant. “What is it? What is in there?” The professor stopped short at the door, and brought his handkerchief to his mouth. “Oh dear... We've frequented tombs before my dear, but none quite like this, eh?” Before them stretched a long, tall room that was filled with bunks at regular intervals. At their feet were piles of old, dry bones poking out of unfamiliar white armour. White weapons were scrambled amongst the remains. Keeping her weapons in hand, Nira picked her way through the bones. The professor hopped past the piles and took a closer look at the remains. “Look at this armour, Nira. It predates anything I've seen... And I've seen a lot. Let's look further in.” As they went through the hall, they noticed other signs that these were permanent quarters. As they went further, the professor noticed that the styles of their equipment grew ever more primitive. “It seems that this was a permanent garrison, one that lasted for many generations.” Nira looked warily at the corpses that surrounded them. “What happened to the ones by the door? If this place was so important, why did they stop coming?” Professor Nielsen marvelled at the length of the hall and the seemingly endless knights this place had served. “Why does any culture fail? Entropy is the one reliable force in the universe. Times change, and history becomes legend. Eventually, even they are lost. Those by the door had none to entomb them, and were the last. Think of the supply chain alone for a temple this remote. It was admirable they lasted this long. Ah, another door at last.” They reached another door, this one far more impressive than the last.
It was covered in runes and shone brighter than any they had seen. “Hold. There is once powerful magic here, professor.” He pulled his hand back. “It seems to just be warding this door, but... look. The light flickers slightly. I doubt there's much power left in it.” The professor noticed something over the door. “What do you suppose that is? Hold on, let me get my journal...” The professor pulled a leather-bound book from his pouch. “Why, this reminds me of an old obelisk I took a rubbing from... could it have been their script all along?! Let me see what I can make of it.” After poring over it for a few minutes, the doctor smiled and put his book away. “My brilliance saves us again. This mark here,” he pointed at one of the markings, “This is a sign meaning... life? No... more likely... flesh. Odd. It seems to be a warning to let no meat past this point. I guess they didn't want the templars eating on the job, eh Nira?” She did not appreciate his attempt at a joke. “I really don't think we should be here. We should leave this place for the long dead. Come on, surely you've learned enough.” She began to turn back, but Nielsen grabbed her arm. “Please, Nira. We've come this far, and after all these years, let's see it through. Only a little bit further. We could learn so much from these people.” She looked him dead in the eyes and could see how much he had riding on this. This had been his life for far longer than it had been hers. She sighed and looked back at the door. “Fine, I'll see what I can do about this ward. But if things get hairy in there, we're getting out even if we have to take the whole place down with us. Even the university's coin isn't worth my life.” She looked at the wall for a moment, then reached for a small scabbard on her lower back. She pulled out the small stone knife it contained. “This blade is made from a very rare mineral I've encountered on my travels. While its properties aren't too reliable, it has proven effective at disrupting magic in the past. Here goes.” She carefully reached towards the runes lining the door, and began methodically scratching them off slowly. The door flashed and faded to match the surrounding stone. “Oh Nira, I never would have made it this far without you. You are a wonder!” She kicked the door back and they began to descend again. Strangely, they noticed that the light was growing brighter as they got further down. And down. And down. Nira gripped her axes tightly, already starting to regret her decision to stay. After descending for far less time than it seemed, the tunnel opened into a large octagonal chamber. “I have... never seen the like. Nira, are you seeing this?”
The room was intensely bright, with an incandescent pillar in each corner. Nira began inspecting the pillars, though it was hard to see with the intense glare. “Imagine the importance that they placed on this room, Nira! For the magic to have remained this intense for so long... the power is unbelievable! And it's all directed to that dais in the middle, there!” The beams all intersected on a crystal platform in the middle of the room. Resting upon it was the most brilliant gem either of them had ever seen. It was seemingly perfectly cut, impossibly so. “We need to leave this place, professor! Surely you can see that by now!” The professor crept towards the centre of the room, squinting towards the spectacular brilliance of that singular object. “It's... it's so truly amazing... I can barely make it out and yet... I can not look away. How... peculiar. If you can bear it Nira, take a look at the core of this glorious bauble. Somehow there is a dark... spot in its very heart. How can such a speck survive its blinding perfection? It must be some sort of detritus obscuring the beauty beneath.” with that, professor Nielsen reached up with his handkerchief to wipe it clean. “Edmond, NO! YOU MUSTN'T--” The scholar's trembling hand knocked the crystal out of the beams, and it tumbled towards the floor. HELLO MEAT, YOUR MASTER HAS RETURNED. And so it was that darkness crept up the stairs from the temple and the Unyielding Light was snuffed for the last time.
Appearance:
The extra-dimensional creature hails from a plane without physical attributes. As a result, it is very difficult for it to manifest in the physical world and it can do so only weakly. When it is able to however, it appears as a shroud of inky black mist, which hazes vision and shifts constantly. It has no real substance however, and reality rejects its alien existence. To combat this, it tries to obscure itself as much as possible, as it is more difficult to sustain this form in direct sunlight where its presence is most obvious.
Personality:
The entity is extremely egotistical, as one who has a reality to themselves is wont to be, but it has been difficult to back that up since its awakening. The empire long dead, and reality far different than it remembers, the entity is often confused by what the material world has to offer. This confusion often leads to ineffectual anger, as it has yet to regain the power to make its superior desires a reality. It is both bored with its own reality and fascinated/disturbed by the dimension it is trying to dominate.
Skills:
Ancient Origin: That Which Hides In The Darkness is an ancient immortal being, as only the corporeal are subject to entropy; this affords it a vague knowledge of history (it has been watching the physical world from a distance, but without understanding much).
Abilities:
The entity is severely weakened from its aeons long banishment, and it will take some time to regain its power.
Body Manipulation
As the entity is most vulnerable when exposed, a trick that it learned early on was to hide inside other creatures. It would flow into any exposed orifice and use the body's own systems to control it. This is difficult enough as it is, so corpses are its preferred host. These are not the undead, simply grotesque marionettes. This means that although they do not feel pain from wounds, they grow more difficult to control as muscles and tendons are severed. The bodies are more resilient, as they do not need to eat or sleep or heal, but they are also clumsy and lack fine motor skills as they are difficult to control. Though the entity does not rely on eyes to see, and so is unaffected by lighting conditions, it does make it easier for it to make sense of the physical world. Without eyes it can make out shapes and forms, but not colours or markings (it could see a scroll, but not the words or images printed on it). Once a body grows too decayed or damaged to use, it is simply discarded and another is found. If a body must be shed involuntarily however, it takes some time for the entity to recover enough to return to the physical realm.
Darkness Imitation
The entity can still act outside of its host, but only to a limited degree. It can spread itself outward to appear as darkness, obscuring vision but not actually snuffing out lights. This is easier to do in areas that are enclosed or darkened already, and can be countered by intensifying the light in the area, as it is more difficult to sustain when exposed.
Equipment/Weapons:
The creature uses whatever weapons are on hand when inhabiting a new body. Its current form is a tall, sallow, haggard looking man with ill fitting leather armour. It has a notched hand-axe at its side and an iron rimmed shield on its back.