literature

Hinterlands

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Literature Text

  Between where the Watchwall insulating Voyrune from the umbra ends and the Kingdom of Seven Thrones begins, there exists a twisted reflection of Voyrune known as the Hinterlands. This where the beings often adopted as familiars reside, as well as darker creatures drawn to the light of the mortal world, and patrolled by demons looking for bits of essence to harvest.
  The hinterlands appear like a mostly empty and rotting version of Voyrune. There exist umbral facsimiles of every nonliving thing and structure, although all of these look off in a way that raises the hair on the back of the neck. The attempts at recreating life are even more disturbing; animals are shadowy replicas without the ideal of the Tonah, flora is the color of ash and dissolves to a muted pus on contact, and there are two types of resident human reflections.
  The Shadowmen are mysterious and largely apathetic creatures, who seem to not require the same level of sensational feedback as the other creatures of the Hinterlands. They are quite content to simply drift into Voyrune, when possible, and observe the interactions of people. Scholars theorize that they are purposeless curiosity seeking a fulfillment that will never be achieved.
 The Oontari are a whole different breed, and are far more dangerous. They are known to the common folk as Boogeymen, thought to be creatures that subsist entirely on fear, but that is an oversimplification. Certainly a portion of their kind do achieve their sustenance from fear, but their exist a specific breed of Oontari to feed on every one of humanity's strongest emotions. Unlike familiars, Oontari do not simply bask in particular sensations; they actively rip the emotions directly from the host, draining that creature until it is nothing.
  Strong spells can cause an immediate reflection in the Hinterlands that alters scenery in a burst of color. Creatures here can learn to identify mages by the unique signature of their umbral manipulations. It is everything from the colors, smells, emotions, sounds and even tastes that are temporarily imprinted into the malleable existence of the Hinterlands due to a ritual. This phenomena can be used to track down mages and demons often train special watchdogs to keep track of these "spell signatures". Experienced mages learn to hide the presence of their magic, or to cloak it in the trappings of another caster.
  Truly epic manipulations of umbra can create memories frozen within the Hinterlands. Some of the cities of High Calivesti, now long since reduced to ash and dust, are still alive due to their umbral saturation. Even specific individuals, seemingly far more real than the autonomous native organisms, continue to live out scripts first established a millennia ago.
  Due to the highly magical nature of Alvara, there exists a certain group of umbral explorers intent on scouring the Hinterlands for her imprint. The preserved memory of humanity's great savior.
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