Perses

Shadeholders are dragon skins embodied by the Shade. When a dragon dies, the Shade can reincarnate it and use the body to its own benefit. They are essentially the Shade with the ability to walk, talk, and think. They have a hive mind ultimately controlled by the first Shadeholder to ever exist - a Skydancer named Naomi. They are more intelligent in groups, but they often prefer to work alone. A Shadeholder is able to cause conflict in clans by shadetouching a dragon. If a Shadeholder causes a war to break out between clans, any dragons who are killed in the battle surrender the years of life they would have had remaining had they not died in battle to the Shadeholder who caused it. Causing conflict is how Shadeholders keep their dragon bodies youthful. Shadeholders are tricky and maniacal, and they believe that they are god-like. They refer to themselves as "Prophets of the Shade" or simply "The Prophets." It is common for Shadeholders to take after bits of their body's original owner's personality. Even with the pieces of individuality that they express, a drone Shadeholder is nothing without its hive queen.

You can read more about the appearance and lore of Shadeholders and how to acquire one here.



Did the clans Shadeholder problem just get worse?

The Researchers of Clan Aidoneus with noticed something travelling with "Circe"... It appears to be another dragon. The Researchers are certain it's another Shadeholder and have named it "Perses."

Perses is always seen with Circe and seems to be wearing some sort of hat and scarf. Due to the Shadeholders apparel, Dipper thinks that it was not born as a Shadeholder, but in fact a dragon who had died and was taken over by the Shade.

The gender of the two Shadeholders living in the Hewn City cannot be determined from the boarders of the clan from which the Researchers watch, but considering the personality of Shadeholders, it is assumed that there is one male and one female. This likely means that the pair is meant for breeding more Shadeholders.


What happens to the Shadelings who dont make it to their destination?

Living next to the Aidoneus Clan isn't easy for the pair of Shadeholders stationed in the ruins of the Hewn City. Their mission is to spread the Shade via breeding more Shadeholders, but that doesn't always turn out the way they want.

When a Shadeling is born, it's sent out to find a clan to infiltrate and eventually destroy. But the researchers of the Aidoneus Clan are on alert for signs of Shadeholder activity and have managed to stop a few Shadelings before they can do so.

The researchers have managed to catch a few of the Shadelings on their way to new homes and have tried to learn more about them. However, the Shade knows it cant let any of it's plans be found out and exits the Shadelings body, leaving it lifeless and unsaveable.

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