In the shadowed corridors of arcane power, there exists a martial discipline both feared and revered by those who dare to flirt with the Outer Dark’s esoteric embrace. Known as the “Shadow Force” combat style, this formidable sphere of sorcerous warfare was birthed through a pact of blood and ambition between the eminent sorcerer, the Kor Atenubi Taharakhti and the ineffable cosmic deity Nyarlathotep.
The inception of this art is marked by the surrender of life essence by the practitioners to Nyarlathotep, a gift that bespeaks both sacrifice and ineffable desire. The price is death in combat against a standing practitioner and the loss of 10 precious items. The knowledge gained, however, is a potent testament to the lengths to which some will go for supremacy over their adversaries. Indeed, for those who indulge in the Shadow Force combat style, the forfeiting of half their vital energies is but a trivial price for the feats they achieve upon the field of battle.
The “Shadow Force” is not merely an application of brute force, but rather an exquisite tapestry of calculated sorceries designed to systematically dismantle the defenses of any foe. Practitioners harness the dark energies that coalesce in the Outer Dark, manipulating them with precise incantations and gestures to weave spells of paralysis, fear, and enfeeblement. To behold a Shadow Force adept in combat is to witness the very essence of despair as it is meticulously crafted and unleashed.
Nyarlathotep’s insidious demand in return for this arcane mastery is the lifeblood and souls of those sorcerers who lack the will to embrace the Shadow Force— a chilling decree that serves as a grim reminder of the Outer Dark’s inexorable hunger. For in this unholy exchange, the price of power is ever steep, and the cosmic balance must be sated with the currency of souls.
Those who seek to master the Shadow Force must adjourn to the forbidden cloisters of the Seminary of The Outer Dark—a place shrouded in secrecy and whispered rumors. Here, under the oppressive tutelage of the darkened covenant, acolytes immerse themselves in the unforgiving doctrines of this combat style, each lesson a step closer to both mastery and oblivion.
The information before you endeavors not to espouse the heretical pathways of the Shadow Force, but rather to illuminate the perilous journey undertaken by those who would walk the line between destruction and apotheosis. It is a perennial reminder of the immutable lore that great power comes with great sacrifice, and that the echoes of such transactions with entities beyond our kenning will reverberate through the annals of sorcery for eternity.
Let those who regard the Shadow Force do so with due reverence and caution, for they speak of a path lined with the bones of the daring and the remains of the scorned, a testament to the unyielding will of Nyarlathotep, and the inextinguishable ambition of sorcerers who seek to conquer the impossible.
~The Arcanist~
