Background :The Loom is a sentient, predatory force weaving reality's fabric, tearing it to spawn Tears—unstable realms crawling with Shades. It marks humans as Strandbound, granting Strands—supernatural powers binding their souls to its will. The Loom stabilizes reality by sealing Tears but feeds on Strandbound essence, demanding sacrifices (memories, emotions, lifespan) and spawning Tears when unmet. Strandbound are Asylum enforcers, closing Tears but hoarding Loom Threads, earning slum curses as "Spool-eaters."
Key Elements:
Each Strandbound has a unique Strand, tied to one of seven Weaves:
1.Iron Weave: Physical enhancement (e.g., steel-hard skin, 2x strength).
2.Blaze Weave: Elemental control (e.g., 10-meter fire arcs, ice spikes).
3.Void Weave: Spatial manipulation (e.g., 10-meter teleports, 5-meter gravity wells).
4.Mind Weave: Mental influence (e.g., 10-second illusions, psychic stabs).
5.Soul Weave: Life/death manipulation (e.g., 10% health siphon, shade echoes).
6.Time Weave: Temporal distortion (e.g., 3-second slowdowns, 1-second future glimpses).
7.Dusk Weave: Shadow manipulation (e.g., 30-second stealth by blending into existing shadows, 2-second shadow decoys that mimic movement) with rare chaos control (e.g., 1% chance to dodge a fatal blow, once per hour).
Strands evolve through seven Knots: Unbound (dormant), Spun (awakened), Knotted (refined), Woven (mastery), Severed (near-mythical), Loomed (godlike), Eternal (rivaling the Loom).
1.Each Strand has a Snarl: Nytherion's Betrayer's Mark causes his Dusk shadows to flicker (50% failure during selfless acts), feeling like a hot, electric sting that disrupts the cold, liquid sensation of shadow-weaving. Stealth requires mental focus to pull shadows like threads, limited to line-of-sight shadows within 10 meters, with a 30-second duration causing mild fatigue (e.g., heavy limbs).
Awakening requires a Binding, a sacrificial trial (e.g., slaying a Shade alone, defying the Snarl). Nytherion's woman/kid rescue marked him Unbound; slaying the Glass-Eyed Reaver will Spin his Dusk Strand, unlocking full stealth and decoys via a mental shift accepting the Loom's needle.
2.Loom Threads:
Defeating Shades yields Loom Threads, silken essence. Strandbound press Threads into Weavings (e.g., a dagger gains 20% sharper cuts), burning the skin with a violet glow that tingles as it merges. Threads can be burned in a ritual (e.g., chanting "Loom, seal" to close a Fissure for 1 hour).
Seven ranks: Frayed, Taut, Gleaming, Pristine, Radiant, Prime, Core (Leviathan-tier).
Threads are survival tools and Uppercity currency, powering Weavings or sealing Tears.
3.Tears and Bindings:
Tears leak Loom Vapors, mutating flesh (e.g., Nytherion's glowing blood pulses with Tear energy, drawing Shades). They feed on Strandbound essence, erupting where they gather.
Each Tear has a Binding trial (e.g., slaying a Reaver, navigating a shadow maze). Success grants Threads, Weavings, or Strand awakening. Failure means death or Fraying
Seven tiers: Fissure, Gash, Rupture, Chasm, Abyss, Maelstrom, Cataclysm.
4.Fraying.
Overusing Strands or lingering in Tears causes Fraying, mutating Strandbound into Shades (e.g., glowing veins, Shade hunger).
Eternal Strandbound weave reality, neither human nor Shade.
5.Shade Classes:
Seven classes: Dregs (Scuttlers), Brutes (Bonegnashers), Phantoms (Mistweavers), Reavers (Ironfells), Behemoths (Thunderhulks), Leviathans (Starscourge), Eternals (Chronovoid).
Threads match Shade class, with Cores from Leviathans.
6.Hierarchy
Seven ranks: Unbound, Spun, Knotted, Woven, Severed, Loomed, Eternal. Strandbound are slum-pariahs, hoarding Threads.
7.Weavings and Echoes:
Weavings: Shade-crafted (e.g., Ironfell spear). Threads enhance them (e.g., a Frayed Thread adds 20% damage).
Echoes: Bound Shade remnants (e.g., Mistweaver Echo for faint illusions).
Core Weavings: Legendary (e.g., Starscourge cloak).