Leiko

Shae are wispy, tenebrous creatures native to the Plane of Shadow. Their amorphous bodies appear in constant states of flux. They cast no shadows of their own, instead gaining and losing umbral energy to nearby shadows that shrink and grow alongside them.

Most shae wear clothing spun from shadows that shift with them, though diplomats sometimes don more conventional garments while entertaining outsiders. Their most distinctive apparel are their white stone masks, which shae don only when they must put on a discernible "face" for interacting with humanoids and similar creatures. They do so begrudgingly, as they consider themselves superior to humanoids, but donning their masks allows them to be more easily understood and thus keeps their interactions with their lessers as brief as possible.

The dynamic between a shae and humanoids shifts when humanoids come to worship a shae, however. A mortal who shows a shae their due deference is worth keeping around, so many shae collect cults of personality or expansive entourages. Even getting a meeting with such a self-important shae can present a challenge that requires one to deal with many layers of hangers-on who insist on vetting the newcomer before wasting the shae's precious time.

According to shae lore, they've transcended the material world and now embody a cosmological equilibrium of reality and illusion. Their claims to metaphysical ascendance and knowledge of the secrets of shadows entice many mortal supplicants to join shae courts and cults. In the shae language, their name means "unbound," in accordance with their belief that their ephemeral nature makes them free of the moral and social strictures that bind other sentient creatures, and they essentially make a virtue of capriciousness. Shae feel little obligation to follow through with oaths or obey laws, so sealing a compact with a mortal means little to them.