Tau Shadows
Tau Shadows are a phenomenon that was discovered by Ravasdei Tamelan within the confines of a laboratory testing chamber while conducting experiments on negative energy for an experimental warp-drive prototype. While life-like beings similar to Tau shadows can be commonly found wherever sufficient densities of free ARC aurons are concentrated, Tau Shadows are unique in that they appear to be sentient and that some even continue to exist even after the conditions that generated them have ceased. Further research has confirmed that such phenomena most commonly arise in the presence of a nearby starstorm or an aetheric disturbance; as such, new test chambers have been created that are able to generate Tau Shadows (and related beings) with significantly higher reliability.
Origins
The term “shadow” was first coined by astronomers, in reference to the strange translucent blobs which were found in some areas of ultra-high resolution imaging of starstorms and magical disturbances. While Pre-Silence texts indicate that such phenomena had been observed during Old Empire weapons testing, the first direct modern observation of shadows was by exploratory ships brave enough to operate in deep space during a starstorm. With the advent of testing chambers able to concentrate high auron densities in vacuum In the mid 2300s, it became possible to reliably produce shadows and shadow-like effects. Tau shadows were first observed by Ravasdei Tamelan in 2438, and study and observation of shadows has continued at a meandering pace since, restricted to the fringes of academia by the cost of the necessary apparatus and specificity of the technical knowledge required to reliably summon and communicate with tau shadows.
Biology and Appearance
Tau Shadows take on a wide variety of shapes and forms, and appear like shadows, as the name implies. Nearly all wavelengths of radiation are absorbed by Tau Shadows, but they are translucent to sufficient intensities or certain frequencies. After a certain amount of energy has been absorbed, Tau Shadows begin to re-emit this energy in the form of heat, but a certain amount is stored as aether charge via unknown means. Tau Shadows, unlike several other types of Shadow, do not have clearly discernible 'edges'; instead, the darkness seems to fade the further from the 'core' of a Tau Shadow you go. While no material studies have been able to discern the causes of this absorptive property of the Tau Shadow, students in the art of magic have posited several theories on why this may be, considering that such would otherwise violate fundamental laws of thermodynamics. The most popular theory at the moment is that Tau shadows are actually Tau converters*— something that has only been hinted at in the most radical branches of magic theory as a practical mechanism. This is supported by the fact that Tau shadows appear to be able to conduct various activities even without interaction with existing magical phenomena: something that has been unheard of anywhere in Elyrion, and continues to baffle arcanologists everywhere. Nevertheless, it must be said that more research is needed.
Language and Culture
Due to the nature of Tau Shadows, learning about their existence is extremely difficult to those not well-read in the sciences and magicks, never mind meeting one in person. While Tau Shadows, due to the nature of their origin, tend to have difficulty involving themselves into galactic culture, they are surprisingly well-versed in the magical arts. Why this is so is unknown, but what discoveries wizards and other students of the arcane have managed to extract from them have been... Enlightening, to say the least. Interestingly, many who have studied the magic of the Tamelan's Shadow tend to report an omnipresent "wrongness" that seems to permeate nearly all previously unknown magics derived from the studies of the Tamelan's Shadows.
Tau Shadows are known to communicate through manipulations of their form. While many researchers have been able to communicate with them, a consistent guide to their language has yet to be constructed.
Regions of Prevalence
The only areas where Tau Shadows can be found with any reliability are in the testing chambers of those few institutions with the resources and testing chambers to construct them. While it is known that tau shadows are capable of sustaining themselves outside of these controlled environments, and that some shadows have left the confines of their experiments of origin, no systematic study has been able to reliably locate tau shadows living amongst the galactic community.
*photoarcanic magic conversion is a product of interdisciplinary arcanodynamics, where a substance, when absorbing energy from electromagnetic radiation, generates a small aether charge. However, as this process is typically extremely inefficient and difficult to maintain with current magical and technological advancement, it is not typically used as a magical generator, instead discarded in favour of pure collection altars and receiver systems which are far more efficient, not to mention easier to construct and operate.
