[2] The Library & The Lighthouse

Fallowcrest is heading back up the stairs at this point, but as Turchuk tries to sort out the books, one hits the floor and that's the second loud thump he's heard. He calls back down the steps. "I have a lunch appointment, but I need those books IN-TACT. Please be careful with them!"

... and turned just in time to feel the icy fingers of death upon his neck. At least S'sylin doesn't panic and has time to dodge the attack before it becomes fully realized.

The shadow seems to be the shape of a man, simply one who isn't there, or at least, one you can see through. There's really not time to make a full-fledged assessment of the situation if you don't want it to start murdering your fellow students.

S'sylin was only half right, one of those attacks wasn't going to do much against the shadow. The other one did hit, kind of. He could feel a sort of faint pull against his sword as he swung, like ripping through muslin with a good pair of shears.

Turchuk is right behind him, and he too feels that strange pull when his quarterstaff swings through what would have been an impact on something with a real body.

The others aren't so lucky in their attacks.

The shadow, for its part, sways through the attacks and tries again to close it's claws around the neck of the dragonborn in front of it.

While Verin's sword itself might not do much on its own, the magic that infuses it is another story. Her attack hits firmly, as if she were simply attacking a training dummy, and the feedback that reverberates along her rapier is audible. It looks as if it's doubled over, but any visible sign of the effect is gone a moment later - though Verin is sure she hurt it, in that weird way that such things as this can be hurt. It's not enough though. It doesn't really even seem to care about getting hit by Turchuk, although he knows he made contact. As S'sylin attempts to command it, you get the first sense that this thing used to be alive.

It laughs.

"Halt yourself, lizard. I will stop when I wish." The voice is like an icy fingernail dragging down the chalkboard of your spine. "I will stop when you are mine." And with that, the entity releases a burst of dark energy at everyone around it, though it fades before it reaches Astrid. When it clears, the shadow is gone, but it must be here somewhere still.

Do you get back to packing books, or go in search of it? Not really technically your job to hunt monsters right now, but leaving it alone might be more dangerous than hunting it.