Behind the skin of the material world lies another realm, pulsing with its own rhythms and cycles. The Hisil, or Shadow, is not simply a twisted copy of the world, nor is material reality built upon it. The two are in harmony, influencing one another since the first days. As half-spirits, werewolves consider the Hisil to be their birthright and responsibility. The mages of Paradise City also view the Shadow as a source of mysteries and another facet of the Fallen World.

The material world feels the ebb and flow of the Shadow as unexplainable vibes or odd feelings. Undercurrents of emotion that influence people and animals in the vicinity. Sensitives and psychics have a stronger sense for this, as do werewolves, some mages, and some Wolf-Blooded. Resonance creates the conditions in the material world to generate Essence in the Shadow. This also sustains the spirits who escape through the Gauntlet, which means well-established pockets of resonance bear watching from those concerned about such things.

Everyone "knows" an alley is haunted. People feel the hairs on the back of their necks stand up and have nightmares about it after passing through it. The truth is that, years ago, a trio of homeless men froze to death there. No ghosts linger but the pain and terrible cold birthed a spirit that lairs in the Hisil reflection of the alley. The resonance in turn creates Essence which feeds the spirit.

The Gauntlet

The membrane between world isn't a simple barrier, but a medium of its own that those crossing between the material world and Hisil have to push through. It's strength and thickness rely on a number of factors, not all of which are known. In general, human activity thickens it. While great shifts in human emotion lead to new Essence or new spirits, those same shifts also keep the world from meeting. It's in quiet, still places where the resonance settles undisturbed that the Gauntlet begins to thin.

Werewolves call the act of crossing the Gauntlet "Reaching". It takes effort and time to cross from world to world, whether naturally as werewolves do or via magic, as mages work. Werewolves and spirits require a locus, a focal point of spiritual energy in the physical world. The seconds of traveling in-between cross through a gray, mist-like void, with claustrophobic pressure all around. Travelers are safe from attack while crossing and can't move until they emerge on the other side. Some tell tales of encountering bizarre entities inside the Gauntlet - ghostly "spirits", unnatural corpses of no known creature, splashes of blood, and other signs that the barrier is somehow inhabited... always just on the edge of the paralyzed traveler's senses. Legend says, when the Sundering rent the Border Marches apart, anything trapped inside was changed as well.

The Hisil

Once through the Gauntlet, the Hisil awaits. Depending on where they crossed over, the Shadow either seems very similar to the material world or obviously different. The thinner the Gauntlet, the more the worlds resemble one another. In deep wilderness, far from humanity, it's shaped only by the simple feelings of animals and the environment. In a city the size of Paradi, however, the crowds stir the Shadow into chaos.

The Shadow does make the inner nature of a place plain to see. Hidden drug labs in the material world are festering hives of addiction spirits in the Shadow. An abandoned playground becomes a site of idle joy and imagination - the city council that condemned the area didn't think twice, but to the local children, it's an escape from their everyday reality.

The Hisil remembers even when the material world has forgotten. Paradise City is rife with now-demolished buildings that still stand in the Shadow, sometimes overlapping with or combined with whatever replaced them. One thing is also generally known by those who ply the Shadow regularly; in Paradise City, the spiritual reflection is even larger than the physical city itself. Streets are longer, buildings taller and more crooked, and one's path can seem to stretch out ahead of them as they travel it, like in a horror movie.

The Shadow is far from empty. No spirits of humanity are ever found within it but nearly every aspect of human creation has some reflection there. The roads in Paradi are thick and clogged, car spirits racing past one another and colliding with anything unlucky enough to be in their way. The industrial factory belches poisonous smoke into the Shadow air as disease spirits linger around the periphery, drinking in the misery resonance generated by the workers who trade their wellbeing for a paycheck. Many aspects of the landscape are dormant; hollowed out buildings with empty windows devoid of glass gaping like mouths, eyes, or bullet holes. Urban animals and other things watch visitors with too-intelligent eyes from the dark. Whispers fill the air as spirits speak to one another in First Tongue. To werewolves, at least, the spirits are obvious, given away by the scent of Essence unless deliberately hiding.

The Shadow has a hierarchy of its own apart from the material world. Spirits belong to a broad collection or category called umia - such as a group of weather or animal spirits. Like-natured spirits group together into ilthum, close-knit groups that accept only those they trust. Spirits in a given area form courts, with the more powerful holding sway over lesser.

Cycles

Werewolves prefer to hunt at night. They're children of the moon and the hunt is best performed then. The demands of territory and needs of Siskur-Dah will eventually force Uratha to cross while Helios is in the sky.

The Gauntlet is harder to cross during the day, at least when entering the Shadow. The Gauntlet has a current to it, pushing away from the Hisil. During the daytime, the Shadow is more subdued. Fewer spirits are active and those who reflect nocturnal creatures are sluggish. Anywhere sunlight pierces the cloud cover increases gravity, making anyone in the light feel heavier. The effect is stronger the higher up one is, but passes immediately once moving clouds obscure the sun again.

At night, the Shadow comes alive. Essence flows more easily, dormant spirits twitch and stir, and the changing face of Mother Luna casts her light into the darkness. Werewolves are more active, bargaining with spirits with their patron's authority in the sky, performing rites, and summoning Lunes to cement their renown.

While Helios drowns out all other powers in the Shadowed day, the sky glimpsed through the clouds in the Shadowed night is washed in color and light. More stars than human eyes can see in the material sky decorate the void around Luna, and in the Northern and Southern skies, auroras constantly dance, casting the Shadow in ever-changing color.