Night Stalking
From Mizahar Lore
| "I always crack up when I read these dramatic writers or, say, a storyteller reciting a mystery talk about the world in the shadows and all that horse dung. There is no world in the shadows. The shadows themselves are their own world. Anyone with eyes educated enough to see it should understand this. The darkness is alive, man, alive. And it's beautiful. Too bad - well not really - that you ignorant people can see it. After all, I wouldn't want to share it, at least not with the likes of you." - Keval North - Akajia's Champion |
| Gnosis | |
 Shadows are living things – you simply don't know it. | |
| Granted by | Akajia |
|---|---|
| Positive marks | The Ability To Communicate, Move within, and Manipulate Shadows |
| Negative marks | Night blindness at lower levels. |
| Pos. mark appearance | A Black or Dark Blue Triangle |
| Neg. mark appearance | A Black or Dark Blue Triangle Inverted |
| Mark location | Between Shoulder blades |
| First mark | Upon Getting The Goddess' Attention |
| Champion | Keval North – On the Move |
Night Stalking is the Gnosis power of Akajia - Goddess of The Night, Shadows, Darkness, Secrets, and Stealth. This gnosis is the ability for a user to speak the language of shadows called Makath, communicate with them, and move among them augmented by Akajia's power. For the follower of Akajia, shadows are living, sentient creatures. Through her divine power, they come alive and act as sentient as Zulrav's breezes and winds or Caiyha's plants Akajia is completely neutral, so the use of her shadows as granted to her followers can be for numerous things – both honorable and nefarious. She makes no distinction, as her entire function revolves around knowing the unknown and understanding that which is secret. Akajia marks followers who have a natural curiosity and a desire to know what others do not want known and admires those that see into the shadows others cast – be they physical ones or shadows cast by misinformation or subterfuge. She marks people that are often fearless and see outside of societies' boxes.
It is said that Akajia knows all secrets. The same can be said of her followers for they know far more than they let on. How? Observation.
More importantly, Akajia grants her followers the use of Makath, the language of shadows. By knowing Makath completely, the Irst and other Akajites are well able to communicate with the darkness, understand its sentient nature, and command it. Makath allows Akajia's followers to speak plainly to the shadows and question them about what they know and what they've seen. It is the single greatest ability Akajia gives her followers – and it is one that she gives sparingly.
Contents |
How Night Stalking Works
Night Stalking is the ability to communicate, manipulate, see through, and move within shadows. A Night Stalker must be on good terms with the shadows in order to use them. Shadows can be temperamental and hazardous, so good communication skills or even bribery works wonders with them. They are not slaves or tools, but rather sentient creatures prone to willfulness due to their spawning from Akajia.
Keval North, probably the most famous Night Stalker on Mizahar and Akajia's champion, often travels with shadows swarming around him. He's open and friendly and has charisma to spare. Shadows love him and love attention from him, often basking in his company. Often he has to physically chase them away or ask them to depart because they draw so intently around him that he seems to be moving around in a perpetual blackout that he can see through fine, but most people find disturbing. Because he is often seen talking to himself, others assume he's slightly 'off' in the head, but the reality is he constantly keeps up a running dialogue with his 'pet shadows' and utilizes them as naturally as people utilize breathing. Keval is probably one of the few people in Mizahar that can move throughout Mizahar without restriction and in almost the blink of an eye. He would simply not have such freedom of movement if he hadn't wooed and romanced and seduced and charmed and bonded to the shadows of Akajia’s world so thoroughly. To them, Keval is a shadows' light. For light is what they crave, though they can never have it due to their nature.
At lower levels, Night Stalking simply gives the ability for the marked to speak to shadows in Makath and see into them. This might seem like an insignificant ability, but it is relevant because shadows see everything that happens well within their darkness. Shadows are not easily controlled until higher levels, and then with some work. But Night Stalking at its highest movement is freedom of movement completely. The champion of Akajia has no problems stepping into a shadow in Riverfall and out of another in Syliras in the blink of an eye. At lower levels, these movement abilities occur only in sighted distances, but still make Akajia's followers formidable and very hard to contain. Moving through shadows as a Night Stalker is an experience that is akin to sensory deprivation. The more distance a Night Stalker travels, the longer they experience 'nothing'. Champions that use this ability frequently tend to age faster and become careless and unstable. Lower level Night Stalkers that move through shadows frequently, even at short distances, often get premature graying in their hair and have other senses that fail well before their time: eyesight, hearing, etc. Night Stalkers who simply appear out of shadows are often vulnerable as well. They can be anticipated and ambushed easily enough because it usually takes them a breath or two after they step out of a shadow to be fully functional.
A Note On Shadows
There is some debate by scholars whether shadows are actually technically shadows or if they are in fact entirely different creatures that are just able to manifest in the shadows themselves and assist Night Stalkers. Theologians believe the latter is true while Akajia herself will insist shadows are simply shadows and far more than people give them credit for.
Assisting Skills
Night Stalking is a stand alone gnosis. However, multiple things can help in working with Night Stalking. Acrobatics, Rhetoric, Stealth, and Larceny all can be incredibly helpful moving in and around the shadows. Persuasion (to talk shadows into things) and Observation are keenly helpful as well.
Mark Progression
| Marked [Cursed] - 1 Gnosis Mark | |
| The singularly marked individual instantly knows the language of Makath and can communicate with shadows. They suddenly understand that shadows are not simply the absence of light in an otherwise lit space or the rough image cast by an object blocking rays of illumination. Shadows instead become sentient creatures for those Akajia marks. Because they become sentient creatures, the Night Stalker can talk to them. This does not mean that the individual can get them to tell him or her what he wants to know. Time and reputation must be built at this level, and shadows must be befriended. Night Stalkers with one mark can see clearly into shadows as if they are not there, although shadows do not disappear for them completely. Night Stalkers with one mark have excellent Nightvision and often feel at home in the complete darkness. At this level, the marked begin to yearn to know secrets and their ability to ferret them out begins to manifest. Night Stalkers literally often stumble upon mysteries and cannot simply help but solve them in their own minds. A Night Stalker keeps secrets and are truly reluctant to give them up; however, they can be 'convinced' to through bribery, torture, or simple exploitation.
Akajia's negative gnosis mark is night blindness at this level. A bearer cannot see anything at night, nor can they see into the shadows with any light at all. In fact, it seems that oftentimes the shadows are stalking them, watching them, hunting them. Paranoia and signs of mental illness tend to show themselves in these individuals after some time has passed. | |
| Favored [Despised] - 2 Gnosis Marks | |
| A secondarily marked individual gains an important ability within Akajias world. Along with having an instant mastery of Makath, the Night Stalker can begin to bond with shadows. Once they acquire their second mark, they can step into a shadow that is accessible for them and big enough for them to lose their bodies in and step out of another shadow that is within their line of sight. This ability does not work in pitch dark, only in areas that are filled with shadows AND light. Dimly lit dungeons or record rooms often hold no challenge for Night Stalkers who can move through shadows at will. They can also call shadows to them and conceal their presence in a cloak of darkness as well, if the shadows will come. Sometimes shadows are fickle creatures. This fickleness is a good motivator for a Night Stalker that is secondarily marked to cater to the whims of shadows and befriend them.
At this level the Night Stalker is far more intriguing to shadows. The Stalkers do not have to make an active effort to befriend shadows but instead more often than not have to chase overly friendly ones away. Their charisma with shadows is seemingly unlimited, and making friends with them is often as easy as saying 'hello' in Makath. Akajia does not give Negative Gnosis Marks at the secondary level. | |
| Priest/Priestess [Adversary] - 3 Gnosis Marks | |
| At this marked stage, the follower becomes a priest or priestess of Akajia. Through close interaction with her, these marked can often be privy to the secrets she knows if Akajia herself finds them worthy of the knowledge. At this level the Night Stalker is irresistible to shadows. Commanding them is second nature and those same slightly standoffish shadows of the past now become more than eager to please. Night Stalkers of this stature are more than likely heavily active in the twilight hours of dawn and dusk or at night, and they often attract notice in broad daylight when shadows that seem unnatural or have no light cast on an opaque object to create them wander to them. At this stage the shadows seem even more sentient and have agendas of their own. Movement among the shadows, stepping 'between' as the Night Stalkers call it, increases in distance, and Night Stalkers can move upwards of a full mile (not within the line of sight) between their shadow stepping.
Akajia does not give Negative Gnosis Marks at this level. | |
| Champion [Nemesis] - 4 Gnosis Marks | |
| Truly staggering in their power, a champion can command shadows by the thousands. Moving almost unimpeded throughout Mizahar, Akajia’s champion is one of the most mobile and dynamic individuals in the world. Often not fighters, craftsmen, or much of anything else, these Champions are simply information gatherers who often are used as tools by the Goddess of Night to further her agenda and ensure that things important to her get done. There are very few secrets in the world that a champion of Akajia would not know.
Akajia does not give Negative Gnosis Marks at this level. | |
Mark acquisition threads
| First mark |
| Second mark | ||
 | Undiscovered Secrets | Second mark acquisition for Kelski |
| Third mark |
| Fourth mark |