I was nothing, now I am Umbra. Who else am I?

An Independent Ask/RP blog and experiment in collective character design. The entity portrayed here is a blank slate who will be shaped through your suggestions and interactions. M!A Status: none

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[frostbittensprite]

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((So I try to keep personal rants off this blog as much as possible, but I figured I owe an explanation for the recent inactivity.  It's ranged from a depressive dip to jobhunting to going to visit my family and simply not having time or energy to be on here.  But!  I'm training for the new job now, so in the next few weeks or so my schedule ought to even out and allow me to be on here again.  I've really missed it, and I love interacting with all of you and getting to see what you'll add to Umbra next!  

Hope you guys have been well - feel free to drop me an ooc ask if you ever need anything.))

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Aww, you look fantastic and adorable! I'm glad you're happy!

"Oh my, you are very kind, Grey Friend!  Thank you!"

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barrenoustar has entered the void!

"Oh, a new person!  Hello!"  Umbra tipped its head in greeting.  "Can I help you?  Where are you from?  Would you like to look around?"

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The-aetherius-chronicles has started following you

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The entity’s eyes brightened.  “Oh!  That sounds wonderful, Jaxis Lebello.  Exactly what I wish to do - without ideas, I cannot manifest.  Would you tell me some things you have discovered?”

[tales-of-travelers-deactivated2]

Wait wait wait, before I do that, I need to teach you some things, cause from what you just said, you don’t really know much about the basics of society. First of all, call me ‘Jaxis’ or ‘Mr. Lebello’. Not ‘Jaxis Lebello’. The first name, ‘Jaxis’, is MY name, while the last name, ‘Lebello’, is my family’s name. Also, just gonna throw this in because it’s important, people REALLY don’t like it if you look at them without their clothes on.

‘He tugs at the sleeves of his coat, and at the legs of his pants.’

These are clothes. It’s not polite to look at people if there not wearing any. Got it?

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

Umbra bit back questions about ‘families’ and ‘societies’ for the time being, mulling over everything he had said.  Though the entity no longer communicates telepathically, one can still sense faint echoes of its thoughts and feelings in the void - including Umbra’s jolt of surprise when it realizes something.

“B-but I’m not wearing any clothes!”

Jaxis was very nice, and clearly friendly.  But then why was he doing something he’d said never to do?   “Should I make some?” 

[tales-of-travelers-deactivated2]

Well, if you want, you could. You see, I forgot to mention something. Most of the time, only humanoid, -that is,creatures that have the same body shape as me- creatures wear clothes. Since your body isn’t humanoid, you don’t need clothes. If you were too shape your body into a humanoid shape, if you can do that, that is, then it would be polite -that is, nice- to wear clothes. Understand?

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Umbra nodded.  ”I see, that makes sense, thank you!”  Umbra had been worried about how to make the “clothes” Jaxus had indicated fit on its serpentine form.  Idly, the snake wondered if it should try out a humanoid form, but it had another, more pressing question on its mind- “Now, will you please tell me about some things you have discovered?”  Umbra’s head was low, and the tip of its tail waved to and fro excitedly. 

[tales-of-travelers-deactivated2]

Alright, alright, I will now, don’t worry. Well… Where too begin? I’ll tell you some of the creatures I’ve seen in my travels. There are dragons, which are giant creatures that look a lot like you actually, except they have four clawed legs, and giant wings, and they can breath fire! There are griffins, which have really sharp beaks, feathers, which are like quills with a bit of fur- which is the stuff on my head, but shorter- on the sides, and they also have giant feathery wings and four legs. There are literally millions more creatures I’ve seen, and I can’t tell you about all of them. If your able too leave this void of yours, then maybe you can explore and see them with your own eyes?

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

Umbra, listening in rapt attention, perked up.  “Yes, I can do that!”  The entity recalled another thing it had learned, or perhaps always known but never realized, “I can visit other places, but I can only manifest things while I am here in my void.”  The serpent took a moment to marvel at the images of dragons and griffins that Jaxis had spun - feathers too.  So many possibilities for new forms!   “Tell me please, what are wings?” 

[tales-of-travelers-deactivated2]

Oh, yeah, right, you don’t know what those are. Okay, they’re sorta like my arms, except they’re wider and usually longer, and most of them are covered in feathers. There are also wings that don’t have feathers, which look like really long arms with really long fingers, with skin connecting them. Arms are these things,

‘He waves an arm.’

 fingers are the things on the end of them, and skin is the thing covering them both.

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Umbra couldn’t quite fathom why, but the thought of feathers had caught its fancy - even moreso now that Jaxis mentioned they were related to wings.  Something was bubbling in the back of the entity’s mind…something that felt lost, if something was possible for a being so new.  Umbra had a guess that it was related to these “wings” Jaxis was talking about.  Just a guess, but a fairly good one, considering how little it knew of the world.

After all, it had been unable to leave the ground ever since taking a real body.

“And wings…are they good to have?”

[tales-of-travelers-deactivated2]

Oh, yeah, yeah, I almost forgot the best part about wings! With wings, you can fly! Nothing else can fly except the animals with wings, or machines made by humans. That’s why griffons and dragons can fly, because they both have huge wings!

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"Hmmm!"  Umbra sighed, both enthused at the thought of flight, and pleased that its guess had been correct.  "I did enjoy floating about before I had my body!  Er, but I like this one very much too."  The serpent lost itself in daydreams of flight, and new ideas for bodies.  Those bubbling thoughts boiled over, filling its mind with new images of fine glossy feathers and sleek draconian appendages.  As much as it adored its current form, perhaps the near future held an exciting new development for the entity?

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

The-aetherius-chronicles has started following you

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

The entity’s eyes brightened.  “Oh!  That sounds wonderful, Jaxis Lebello.  Exactly what I wish to do - without ideas, I cannot manifest.  Would you tell me some things you have discovered?”

[tales-of-travelers-deactivated2]

Wait wait wait, before I do that, I need to teach you some things, cause from what you just said, you don’t really know much about the basics of society. First of all, call me ‘Jaxis’ or ‘Mr. Lebello’. Not ‘Jaxis Lebello’. The first name, ‘Jaxis’, is MY name, while the last name, ‘Lebello’, is my family’s name. Also, just gonna throw this in because it’s important, people REALLY don’t like it if you look at them without their clothes on.

‘He tugs at the sleeves of his coat, and at the legs of his pants.’

These are clothes. It’s not polite to look at people if there not wearing any. Got it?

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

Umbra bit back questions about ‘families’ and ‘societies’ for the time being, mulling over everything he had said.  Though the entity no longer communicates telepathically, one can still sense faint echoes of its thoughts and feelings in the void - including Umbra’s jolt of surprise when it realizes something.

“B-but I’m not wearing any clothes!”

Jaxis was very nice, and clearly friendly.  But then why was he doing something he’d said never to do?   “Should I make some?” 

[tales-of-travelers-deactivated2]

Well, if you want, you could. You see, I forgot to mention something. Most of the time, only humanoid, -that is,creatures that have the same body shape as me- creatures wear clothes. Since your body isn’t humanoid, you don’t need clothes. If you were too shape your body into a humanoid shape, if you can do that, that is, then it would be polite -that is, nice- to wear clothes. Understand?

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

Umbra nodded.  ”I see, that makes sense, thank you!”  Umbra had been worried about how to make the “clothes” Jaxus had indicated fit on its serpentine form.  Idly, the snake wondered if it should try out a humanoid form, but it had another, more pressing question on its mind- “Now, will you please tell me about some things you have discovered?”  Umbra’s head was low, and the tip of its tail waved to and fro excitedly. 

[tales-of-travelers-deactivated2]

Alright, alright, I will now, don’t worry. Well… Where too begin? I’ll tell you some of the creatures I’ve seen in my travels. There are dragons, which are giant creatures that look a lot like you actually, except they have four clawed legs, and giant wings, and they can breath fire! There are griffins, which have really sharp beaks, feathers, which are like quills with a bit of fur- which is the stuff on my head, but shorter- on the sides, and they also have giant feathery wings and four legs. There are literally millions more creatures I’ve seen, and I can’t tell you about all of them. If your able too leave this void of yours, then maybe you can explore and see them with your own eyes?

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

Umbra, listening in rapt attention, perked up.  “Yes, I can do that!”  The entity recalled another thing it had learned, or perhaps always known but never realized, “I can visit other places, but I can only manifest things while I am here in my void.”  The serpent took a moment to marvel at the images of dragons and griffins that Jaxis had spun - feathers too.  So many possibilities for new forms!   “Tell me please, what are wings?” 

[tales-of-travelers-deactivated2]

Oh, yeah, right, you don’t know what those are. Okay, they’re sorta like my arms, except they’re wider and usually longer, and most of them are covered in feathers. There are also wings that don’t have feathers, which look like really long arms with really long fingers, with skin connecting them. Arms are these things,

‘He waves an arm.’

 fingers are the things on the end of them, and skin is the thing covering them both.

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

Umbra couldn't quite fathom why, but the thought of feathers had caught its fancy - even moreso now that Jaxis mentioned they were related to wings.  Something was bubbling in the back of the entity's mind...something that felt lost, if something was possible for a being so new.  Umbra had a guess that it was related to these "wings" Jaxis was talking about.  Just a guess, but a fairly good one, considering how little it knew of the world.

After all, it had been unable to leave the ground ever since taking a real body.

"And wings...are they good to have?"

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

The Serpent circles the newcomer curiously. “Oh, a new visitor, hello! I am called Umbra” the entity beams proudly, “Who are you?”

[theaterdagger-deactivated201605]

“H..Hello? Um..I’m Claudia,” said the girl. She wasn’t really the biggest fan of snakes, so she wasn’t...

[theaterdagger-deactivated201605]

I was nothing, now I am Umbra. Who else am I?: TheaterDagger has entered the void

"Well," began the girl, "it's not everyday I speak to a giant talking snake. It's just that snakes scare me, but you seem nice. " Then Claudia looked around the area that surrounded her and Umbra. She couldn't figure out what was more strange: the fact that she was talking to a giant snake in the first place or the fact that there was nothing around them. When she turned her attention back to Umbra, Claudia had noticed that the snake now had blue scales with yellow dots and wore both a scarf and a smile. "What happened to you?" asked Claudia as she started to relax.

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Umbra beamed, turning a bit to and fro to show off its new hide.  "A grey friend gave me this idea.  Since I began as nothing, I need suggestions and experiences to build myself."  Umbra pulled back a bit, "I will try not to frighten you."  It was evident that the moment of pride was waning, as the serpent stole the occasional glance at their empty surroundings.  For the first time, the surrounding dark felt....displeasing?  The feeling was confusing, as the entity itself had been just as empty, not so long ago.  There was nothing wrong with that, was there?

Claudia saw her new scaly friend losing it’s smile. “Well, why don’t you make yourself a snake friendly playhouse? Have ramps that can help you to different levels and lead you to hidden rooms! You can have a tv that you can easily turn on yourself, and a whole floor just of sand, so you can slither as much as you desire. Also, make sure you have chairs for your non-snake friends too,” she said.

Umbra tilted it head, too excited about his new plan to remain morose.  This would be the very first time in making a new environment manifest!  The serpent lay its head down to concentrate, coiled in a loose circle around its friend.  Umbra imagined ramps, and doorways to secret hiding rooms, and a large expanse of glittering black sand with chairs for non-snake friends to make themselves at home. 

after a good long while, and a few ominous creaks and groans, a new structure gradually materialized around the two of them - 

"Home!"  Umbra's excitement sizzled and popped in the air around them.  It was not lost on the entity that its new friend had suggested a design fit for a serpent - phobia or not.

"What do you think?  Should I change anything?"  Umbra was all but bouncing with energy.

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Hello, Umbra! Welcome to existence! I think you ought to give your scales some color. I bet bright neon colors would suit you! As for clothes, I think a scarf would look awesome on you.

"Oh my, how nice of you!  I would say the same, but I expect you are already very accomplished at existing." 

Umbra rolled the suggestion around in its head.  "Yes, I like this idea very much.  The farm I visited had many wonderful colors-"The entity sat, recalling every bright hue it had ever seen (which, admittedly, was not very much, relatively speaking) and pictured them even brighter, just as requested.  Until-

The entity's excitement was uncontainable, and the air buzzed with errant delight as Umbra took on a brightly patterned set of scales.

There was one more matter to attend to, however...Umbra's very first article of clothing.  And it didn't even have to take on a new shape to wear it!  Another moment of focusing, and -pop-

 "Such a nice idea!  Thank you very much, grey friend."

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

TheaterDagger has entered the void

The Serpent circles the newcomer curiously. “Oh, a new visitor, hello!  I am called Umbra” the entity beams proudly, “Who are you?” 

[theaterdagger-deactivated201605]

“H..Hello? Um..I’m Claudia,” said the girl. She wasn’t really the biggest fan of snakes, so she wasn’t so sure how to respond back to Umbra. But Claudia thought that it was friendly enough not to hurt her, so she started to move closer to the proud serpent. 

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"That's a very nice name, too."  The serpent brought its head lower, noting her uncertainty.  "Is everything all right?"  Umbra cast a glance at the surrounding darkness.  It was not nearly as nice as the other places the entity had visited, though it was the only home Umbra knew.  Perhaps it was time to turn some attention to creating a hospitable environment?

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

The-aetherius-chronicles has started following you

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

The entity’s eyes brightened.  “Oh!  That sounds wonderful, Jaxis Lebello.  Exactly what I wish to do - without ideas, I cannot manifest.  Would you tell me some things you have discovered?”

[tales-of-travelers-deactivated2]

Wait wait wait, before I do that, I need to teach you some things, cause from what you just said, you don’t really know much about the basics of society. First of all, call me ‘Jaxis’ or ‘Mr. Lebello’. Not ‘Jaxis Lebello’. The first name, ‘Jaxis’, is MY name, while the last name, ‘Lebello’, is my family’s name. Also, just gonna throw this in because it’s important, people REALLY don’t like it if you look at them without their clothes on.

‘He tugs at the sleeves of his coat, and at the legs of his pants.’

These are clothes. It’s not polite to look at people if there not wearing any. Got it?

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

Umbra bit back questions about ‘families’ and ‘societies’ for the time being, mulling over everything he had said.  Though the entity no longer communicates telepathically, one can still sense faint echoes of its thoughts and feelings in the void - including Umbra’s jolt of surprise when it realizes something.

“B-but I’m not wearing any clothes!”

Jaxis was very nice, and clearly friendly.  But then why was he doing something he’d said never to do?   “Should I make some?” 

[tales-of-travelers-deactivated2]

Well, if you want, you could. You see, I forgot to mention something. Most of the time, only humanoid, -that is,creatures that have the same body shape as me- creatures wear clothes. Since your body isn’t humanoid, you don’t need clothes. If you were too shape your body into a humanoid shape, if you can do that, that is, then it would be polite -that is, nice- to wear clothes. Understand?

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

Umbra nodded.  ”I see, that makes sense, thank you!”  Umbra had been worried about how to make the “clothes” Jaxus had indicated fit on its serpentine form.  Idly, the snake wondered if it should try out a humanoid form, but it had another, more pressing question on its mind- “Now, will you please tell me about some things you have discovered?”  Umbra’s head was low, and the tip of its tail waved to and fro excitedly. 

[tales-of-travelers-deactivated2]

Alright, alright, I will now, don’t worry. Well… Where too begin? I’ll tell you some of the creatures I’ve seen in my travels. There are dragons, which are giant creatures that look a lot like you actually, except they have four clawed legs, and giant wings, and they can breath fire! There are griffins, which have really sharp beaks, feathers, which are like quills with a bit of fur- which is the stuff on my head, but shorter- on the sides, and they also have giant feathery wings and four legs. There are literally millions more creatures I’ve seen, and I can’t tell you about all of them. If your able too leave this void of yours, then maybe you can explore and see them with your own eyes?

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

Umbra, listening in rapt attention, perked up.  "Yes, I can do that!"  The entity recalled another thing it had learned, or perhaps always known but never realized, "I can visit other places, but I can only manifest things while I am here in my void."  The serpent took a moment to marvel at the images of dragons and griffins that Jaxis had spun - feathers too.  So many possibilities for new forms!   "Tell me please, what are wings?" 

[voiceinthevoid-blog]

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