The Myrran | The Ember Dream

The Myrran (Shadowkin)

“We are the children of dusk and memory. We walk where light forgets, and in the forgetting—we remember everything.”

Overview

The Myrran—commonly called Shadowkin—are beings touched by the Veil, that liminal space between light and darkness, life and death, presence and absence. They are not undead, nor are they truly of shadow. Instead, they are born of a subtle magic that anchors them to twilight itself. Myrran are most often found in liminal places—fog-choked forests, cities at night, or ruins long forgotten. They live in the world, but not quite in the same way others do.

Their existence is defined by duality: tangible yet elusive, emotional yet distant, mortal yet other. Many cultures regard the Myrran with a wary reverence, sensing in them an echo of something ancient and ineffable.

Physical Traits

Skin Tones: Ranging from ash-gray, slate, and deep violet to midnight blue or shadowed brown. In rare cases, they may shimmer faintly with a silver or purple undertone in moonlight.
Hair: Often black, white, deep indigo, or silver. Hair tends to absorb rather than reflect light.
Eyes: Unusual hues—obsidian, violet, silver, or deep crimson. Myrran eyes often lack visible pupils or appear to faintly glow in darkness.
Aura: Many non-Myrran describe an uncanny presence when near them—a chill, a silence, or the faint scent of old stone or night air.

Lifespan

Myrran mature at the same rate as humans but live significantly longer—typically 300–400 years. They age slowly after reaching adulthood, and many seem frozen in time for decades.

Culture

The Myrran do not possess a singular homeland but are instead scattered across the world in hidden enclaves, underground sanctuaries, or abandoned places claimed and remade. They favor ruins, twilight glades, or cavern cities lit by phosphorescent moss and crystal flame. Some wander as exiles, others as dreamwalkers, truthseers, or memory-keepers.

Myrran society prizes secrecy, introspection, and the sacredness of memory. Songs are rarely sung aloud. Histories are preserved through oral shadowbinding—whispers into enchanted cloth or stone that hold echoes of voice and story. Elders are treated as living archives, and dreams are considered sacred messages from the past and future alike.

Gifts & Abilities

Myrran are born with a natural attunement to the Veil, a metaphysical layer that connects shadow, spirit, and memory. This gives rise to their most well-known gifts:

Veilstride: The ability to move through shallow shadow as though stepping across space. This is not true teleportation but a blurring of movement, often mistaken for vanishing.
Memory Echo: With concentration and touch, a Myrran can glimpse emotional imprints left on objects or locations—tragedy, joy, rage, love.
Shadowcall: Some can summon tendrils of Veil energy in defense or ritual, especially in moments of fear or deep focus.
Veilmark (Rare): A birthmark or scar that signifies a rare attunement—granting prophetic dreams, enhanced shadow magic, or immunity to certain illusions or mind control.

Relations with Other Races

To many, the Myrran seem eerie—detached, emotionless, or untrustworthy. In truth, they feel deeply but express subtly. They are often misunderstood by Humans, feared by the superstitious, and quietly respected by the Vaelkin and Drakari, who sense the gravity of their connection to unseen truths.

Stoneborn often find Myrran too ephemeral. Noctari mistrust their glimpses into memory and soul. But druids and scholars frequently seek them out for insight into lost histories and prophetic riddles.

Beliefs & Lore

While not uniformly religious, most Myrran acknowledge the Veil as a sacred force—a great in-between. Many believe souls pass through it before returning to the world, and dreams are seen as moments when the soul brushes the edge of that realm.

They speak of The Whispering Archive, a mythic repository said to exist within the Veil itself, where all lost knowledge, forgotten names, and hidden truths are kept. Some Myrran believe they are born to recover fragments of it—each life a quest for meaning through shadow.

Common Professions

Veilwalkers – Scouts, messengers, or smugglers skilled in moving unseen.
Echobinders – Memory-readers, oracles, or investigators of the past.
Shadowwrights – Artists who craft from light and dark, often using enchanted inks or luminescent metals.
Gloamblades – Stealthy warriors who specialize in night raids, information gathering, or silent protection.

Notable Stereotypes

“Myrran never forget.”
“They’re already halfway ghosts.”
“You don’t see a Shadowkin watching you. You feel them.”
“They speak in riddles and walk in dreams.”

In the World of Ember

The Myrran serve as guardians of memory, truth, and the balance between presence and absence. In a land shaped by fire, shadow, and sacrifice, they walk the narrow path between what was and what might be.