Nocturne

"No, no, I am but shadow of myself: You are deceived,

my substance is not here."

—Nocturne bard to an underpaid palace guard

Physique

Living breathing shadows, nocturnes dark, almost drow like tones, lack of pupils and the way their skin reacts to the absance of light, sets them apart from the other humanoid races. When in shadow, a nocturnes already dark skin darkens or brightens to match the darkness that obscures them. Their skin tones range from a dusky purple or white to a muddy grey or black. Similarly, their hair and eye colors range from black to a dusty grey or murky white, however, their eyes give off a peculiar luminous glow when in areas of dim light and vanish as the darkness mounts. Though these are the most notable features of nocturnes, other less notable features may include slender builds, long fingers and, a lack of facial and body hair.

Fell Origins

When creatures not native to the Shadowfell give birth within its gloomy domain, there is a chance that their souls are marked with the essence of Shadowfell otherwise known as, shadowstuff. While not initially showing it, as they grow they take on the characteristics of the creatures native to the plane. Elves born here are curesed to become new shadar-kai, while other humanoids become nocturnes. Such features include an overall darker complexion, enhanced vision in darkness, and a largely nocturnal lifestyle. These traits make them adapt to the perpetual darkness of the Shadowfell and natural hunters of the night, taking down prey with swift and efficient movements as they move through the shadow like a ripple across an otherwise still lake.

While it is thought the first nocturnes were born this way, few are born so in recent times with the arrival of the Raven Queen making travel to the Shadowfell an even more foreboding venture. They instead are created normally through procreation as they spread through the Shadowfell, generally maintaining a mutual relationship with the cursed shadar-kai and often learning Elvish to better communicate with their fell brethren.

Silent Watchers

Within the Shadowfell, nocturnes are always awake and do not sleep or experience fatigue while they remain there. However, when outside of the Shadowfell, nocturne experience fatigue as normal and must deal with the brightness of the outside world. Nocture that leave the Shadowfell often come to despise the sun and may even come to loathe those that can walk freely within the light. Most nocturne will sleep through most the day or stay as far from the light as they can manage, only becoming active from about 5 pm until 5 am depending on the season. Nocturnes, while they don't necessarily prefer the colder climates, gravitate to parts of the world where the days are brief, and the nights are drawn out. A traveling group of nocturne may move with the shifting of the season up and down a vast











































































geographical area in a largely migratory fashion.

While the themes of light and dark are prominent within nocturnian culture, so is the theme of stimulus or more, a lack of stimulus. A nocturne is said to able to stare for days without moving at even the most seemingly mundane scene. This is due to nocturnes coming from a world that is stagnant and unchanging, devoid of color to the point where nocturnes themselves have become colorblind. Often a shout cannot be heard from over a dozen feet in the Shadowfell so nocturnes are not usually individuals of many words and when they do speak it is soft, quiet, and to the point. Nocturnes that have never been to the Material Plane are often plagued by headaches, lethargy, and sickness, describing their minds as being overloaded by the comparatively fast paced, action packed lifestyle of the Material Plane.

Noctures while being proficient in Common and Elvish also learn Noct. A simple, nonverbal method of communica-tion involving gestures and body language that can be compared to Thieves Cant. Most nocturnes and even shadar-kai learn this language in response to how their home plane suppresses sound. To others, it may come off as haughty, rude or simply weird to be so verbally direct while speaking so softly but over long periods of time a nocturne adjusts to the less potentially offensive language of the creatures they interact with the most.