Thoughts behind the artwork...

A Sense of unreality washed over me as I awakened in The Realm of Shades. How long did I silently wander amongst them? I do not know. My silence was like armor, it kept me invisible. I walked unnoticed as if I were not even there. The air was still. My footfalls could be felt but not heard.

What was this place? Why was I there? I did not know. I only knew that I had to keep moving.

The further I walked, the longer I spent wandering, the more I began to feel a latent menace lurking beneath the surface of all that surrounded me. The Shades were everywhere. They sat together and murmured unintelligibly in a language that I could not understand. They passed to and fro as commonly as you and I. They all looked the same, as if they had been cloned by a single source. Each of them looked weak and frail.

Despite my apparent invisibility, I began to sense a mindless hostility emanating from The Shades surrounding me. It did not seem to be directed at me, but if it were aroused all could be focused on me in a moments time. I began to feel that this was not in their control. Some other force was dictating this menace. With every passing step I could feel that menace rising. If I were detected, that hostility could become immediately dangerous. I had to escape, but how?

As the sense of menace and danger continued to rise, I happened upon the door. Adorned with the sigil of a laughing skull, eyes glowing red, this was obviously a portal. The sigil seemed meant to ward off any possibility that the shades might open the door. Perhaps what lies on the other side would release the shades from whatever unseen force was controlling them.

It was with these thoughts that I approached. Either the door would lead to my doom, or I would Escape The Realm of Shades.

-John Alexander (aka SirJohn)