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Message: <blockquote data-quote="shilsen" data-source="post: 3625595" data-attributes="member: 198">More Fun with Kids - Part IIContinued from the post above...It takes about ten minutes before one of the PCs notices something unusual about the shadows of his companions. They're now a lot smaller. Once he points it out and everyone stops to check, it takes only a little while to realize what's wrong - everyone's shadow is now the size of a shadow cast by a child. And there's a very soft murmuring coming from them, though somebody will have to crouch down close to a shadow to make it out.When a PC does so, her questions elicit no immediate response from the shadows, but as seconds pass, the shadows fidget, even though the PCs casting them do not. For a few seconds, all of the PCs hear what seems to be laughter on the edge of their hearing. It is childish, merry laughter, but there is a strange pitch to it, whether it be nervousness, or anger, or a tinge of cruelty. It lasts for only a few seconds and then fades.The PCs quickly discover that the shadows can move on their own, but also tend to mimic their movements, or try to. One, trying to see if his shadow dances as he does, sees it stumble and fall over, only to arise making motions as if it were crying, and all the PCs hear faint weeping. The PC hurriedly apologizes and makes a hugging motion, and the shadow moves towards him, for a fleeting instant he feels as if he touched something barely palpable, like mist or a cloud, but the sensation is quickly gone. Some of the other PCs do so too, feeling brief sets of sensations - fear, loneliness, hunger - which are quickly replaced by warmth and relief. They gradually fade, leaving only a lingering feeling of relief.Finally, the PCs move on, the shadows following behind as normal shadows might, except for their size and the way their movements sometimes don't match that of their owners.The next event with the child-shadows happens when the group starts walking across some rocky ground. The PCs notice that the shadows are getting torn as they pass over the ground, their edges losing little pieces and becoming ragged. They also writhe as if in pain and vainly try to stop the PCs from moving. The alarmed adventurers stop for another discussion and more futile attempts to communicate with the shadows. With no option, they continue reluctantly, seeing the shadows take more damage as they do so.The fact that these shadows are apparently affected by the physical world to some extent is underlined again some hours later when they are passing near a brackish pool. One of the shadows passes over the edge of the water and convulses as if drowning. The owner quickly moves away and this leads to more discussion, with just as little achieved as before. The PCs continue onwards, with the shadows taking more and more damage. They claw vainly at the feet of the people who are dragging them on, and the PCs are soon accompanied constantly by weeping and wailing, that floats at the edges of their hearing but never quite stops.</blockquote>

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