Name: Nyx Shades; Noctis ambulans Description: Just as in their namesake, Nyx Shades are amorphous masses of phase matter mixed with dense, dark inert gasses, specifically the Nyx Gas that fills their home. Their bodies are constantly shifting form like a living cloud of ink shifting through water, ebbing and flowing with the other gasses around them. In their home, they are nearly impossible to spot save for the small, silvery brands that adorn whatever is their "face" at the time. Rarely, you can see multiple Shades stuck together, multiple brands floating around the mass of phase matter. Behavior: When alone or around their kin, Nyx Shades simply float about, shifting form aimlessly as they search for any form of sustenance. They can often be seen clinging to walls, leeching off bacterial or fungal growth like a filter feeder on a tank. When a non Shade is sensed by them, they immediately begin to swarm, taking various forms, some humanoid, some simply as blobs with elongations meant to stab and slash with. They will attempt to rip and shred apart whatever has been deemed their prey, pulling it into their mass afterwards to digest. If there are several particularly hungry Shades around with minimal prey, they may get into fights over who has the right to the kill, stabbing and pulling each other's mass apart violently. Tamability: There has been no recorded successful attempts at taming one of these beasts. Although they have the capability of mimicking a humanoid form and have been seen to make guttural noises through vibration of the brand and vocal-cord like patches of dense phase matter in their body, all research seems to point to these being a creature that only functions on instinct. Where is it found?: This particular form of Phase Matter life has only been found in the Nyx Cave systems in the Undercrypt, only accessible via a few portals rigged up in the Erebus level. Rarity: Exceedingly common inside Nyx, exceedingly rare outside of it. Diet/Method of gaining nutrients and energy: Nyx Shades obtain energy by absorbing any suitable matter into their mass, similar to an amoeba or other single-cell lifeform, they form a vacuole around absorbed mass and begin to break it down over time, slowly adding this new mass into their form. Products?: When killed, they leave behind their brand which can range from the size of a thumbnail to diameters of around 1.5 feet, usually amorphous metal chunks bent concave to the face, as well as a random amount of phase matter and Nyx Gas. Reproduction: Asexual. Over time as a Nyx Shade ingests mass, they will slowly but surely accumulate mineral content. Most of this simply accumulates on the main brand, but sometimes it will instead clump together, forming in small deposits inside of their body. As these deposits grow, they eventually reach a size where they take up a charge from the original brand and split off from the mother Shade as a daughter Shade, taking a small amount of the mother's mass with them. The reason that this metal accumulation can form brand-pattern microstructures is unknown, but it is theorized that if these creatures were intelligently designed, it could be an intentional pattern so as to facilitate autonomous reproduction. Size: Varies. The smallest Shades can be about the size of a baseball, while the largest single-brand Shades can grow up to 12 feet in diameter. Shades which exist in colonies can grow exponentially larger, but become unstable if they carry too many brands or have too much phase matter mass. Weight: Extremely lightweight, the heaviest and largest singular Shades weigh maybe 2 lbs, with average weight being around 6 to 8 oz. Lifespan: Essentially indefinite as long as the Shade has access to a food supply and can renew the matter on their brand. Usually infighting causes them to live around 100-250 years, though, as older Shade have more brittle brands that are more prone to cracking, leading them to be more easily killed by another Shade in competition. Abilities: Amorphous, can take on essentially any form as long as they have enough mass to do it and can form natural weapons to attack prey. However, their low intelligence means they mostly just exist as blobs or mimic the shapes of whatever they see. Because of their absorption of the dark Nyx gasses around them, they absorb nearly all light that hits them, making it very difficult to gauge their size, and nearly impossible to spot in the dark caves they hail from. Can merge with other Shades into colonies which can hunt together, sharing their limited intellect. Flaws: Because of how they absorb nearly all light that hits them, lasers are particularly deadly against them. Plasma burns through them much like any phase matter being. Very unintelligent, creatures that only subsist on instinct. Other: Very few people will have heard of these because of their mysterious nature as a denizen of the Undercrypt, especially due to the portion of it that they inhabit. Those that want to try to take one of these out of the Undercrypt will have to roleplay it all out because of the difficultly of capturing one of these beasts.
