Lord of Shadow

The Lord of Shadow is an energy-state being worshiped in the Kingdom of Karvalen. His origin is a bit unusual for an energy-state being in that his “avatar” came first, establishing a pattern for his existence in the energy plane. When Eric created a psychic footprint in that realm, the ongoing energy production by those who revered him–creatures of the Eastrange, the merfolk of the sea, and some humans–filled in the footprints and caused his “altar ego,” as he calls it, to take form.

The primary areas of control for the Lord of Shadow appear to be somewhat fluid, or at least undefined. His human followers tend to regard him as the Lord of the Living, a god of Mankind, on the theory that there is Light, an absolute, and Dark, another absolute, while the world is never all black or white, but shades of grey–hence, a shadowed place, neither light nor dark. He is also revered by the merfolk of the sea as their god of Fire. He tries not to be embarrassed about it. As for his followers in the Eastrange, they are convinced he is, if not actually Death, then the one deity deserving of being worshiped as the doorway into it–potentially whether you want to go or not, so don’t anger him.

In large measure, the Lord of Shadow is Eric, since he started life as, essentially, a psychic-energy copy of Eric’s being. He appears to have most of Eric’s memories, feelings, and opinions. The two diverge somewhat from each other based on their differing experiences, however. The Lord of Shadow exists among the other simulata of the Karvalen universe, feeding on the devotion of humans and other sapient entities in return for comparatively minor alterations in reality for their benefit. Their attitudes and beliefs regarding him have some sort of effect on his own attitudes and beliefs, but it appears to be an ongoing process, much as a human grows and changes over time. Other influences that make him unique from Eric are his need to represent his interests in a hypothetical council of the gods, hand down instructions to his followers on how to live a decent, honorable life, and at least claim to help oversee the proper functioning of the universe.

To these ends, the Lord of Shadow has various temples in the Kingdom of Karvalen. Each of them shares certain common features. The primary area for ritual worship is a large, spherical chamber with a stage in the center, surrounded by stadium seating. Unlike most temples, there is no statue of their god on the stage; it stands instead opposite the doors, as though it arrived first and found a good vantage from which to observe the priests. The stadium seating stops at the niche for the statue–in each temple, it is generally of a size to put the head on a level with the top row and the feet at the bottom. It is also relatively easy to sit next to it, even reach out and touch it, rather than isolated from the worshipers. Access to the temples is through a cubical structure with double doors. This structure is built over a set of stairs or ramp leading down. A short tunnel then leads to stairs or a ramp leading up again into the temple area proper, assuring no sunlight ever shines directly into the temple.

Other temple areas depend on the size of the temple following. There may be combat areas, either inside or outside, for the training and practice of knights and knight-trainees, stables, armories, libraries, et al.