I have a half a dozen other fucking threads. What do I choose to spend my time on?
This.
What lead to this? An idle thought, which went something along the lines of "What happens if you taken an eldritch parasite that eats energy, stick it into a dark setting that has infinite energy, and then sprinkle some Human mentality on top?". And then it didn't leave me alone. Several long nights spent brainstorming, and we're arriving at this. Send help.
Memoir
What are they?
I have a lot of answers for that question. I could say that they were a parasite, relentlessly draining everything they touch, transforming it for their own use.
But if I were to say that, then I must call myself a parasite.
I could say that they are a civilization. They are numerous, apparently social among their own kind, and clearly work towards a higher goal.
But that's not accurate. They are numerous, but there is no individuality in them that separates them. For all their forms and design, each creature is of exactly the same mind, exactly the same will, with only the body to vary them. They are one creature, a living, thriving thing- but they are not a civilization.
I could say that they are a threat, and from the points of view of half the beings in the galaxy, that might even be true.
But if that was a valid qualifier, then everything in the galaxy is a threat, and if one judges threat by how much a creature is likely to hurt you, then these creatures would not be much of one. Certainly less so than most of the galaxy.
But, back to the question. What are they?
There is, unfortunately, no answer I can give you. I could tell you their nature, tell you what they do and give a basic idea of how they do it. That might seem enough, but it isn't.
When we first saw them, they were a jagged and shifting mass of darkness, twisting and changing and spreading. Now, they are organic silver, blue light, and crystalline orange, a horde of creatures rather than a singular mass. In both cases, speechless, faceless, and illusive.
That is their common theme. Little else unites them.
Mysterious creatures. The first name we gave them is quite appropriate, I think.
The Shroud.