{"report_sections": [{"content": "

The 'Shining One,' also known as the 'Dweller,' is a mysterious and powerful entity encountered in the ancient ruins of Nan-Tauach in the Caroline Islands. It is described as a 'thing of living light,' radiating and overflowing with luminescence. Its appearance is an 'opalescent mistiness' that whirls with 'shimmering plumes, with swirls of lacy light, with spirals of living vapour'. Within this mistiness is a 'core, a nucleus of intenser light' that is 'veined, opaline, effulgent, intensely alive'. Above it, seven glowing lights, like tiny moons, are always present, with colors including pearly pink, nacreous blue, lambent saffron, emerald, deathly white, ghostly amethyst, and silver. The entity's core is 'shiftingly human shaped,' dissolving and changing, and it is described as 'neither man nor woman; it was unearthly and androgynous'. It is a sentient being with 'will and energy' and 'supernormal intelligence'.

", "header": "Nature and Appearance"}, {"content": "

The Shining One possesses several terrifying abilities. It can induce a 'great drowsiness' or 'ineffable drowsiness' in those exposed to its influence. Contact with it leaves a distinctive 'mark' on its victims, a band of skin 'white as pearl' and cold like 'frozen marble,' which cannot be burned or otherwise marked. This contact also inflicts a 'scaring shock of mingled rapture and horror,' remolding the victim's face with a 'seal of wedded ecstasy and despair'. The entity is capable of levitating individuals, as seen when Stanton was 'lifted\u2014levitated\u2014up the unscalable wall'. It 'feeds\u2014upon the flame of life itself, setting in its place its own fires and its own will,' turning its victims into 'slaves' that are 'only shells through which it gleams'. The Shining One draws its strength from 'moon rays'.

", "header": "Abilities and Effects"}, {"content": "

Lakla, the handmaiden of the Silent Ones, reveals the origin and purpose of the Shining One. It was created by the 'Three,' an ancient race known as the Taithu, who were born near the Earth's heart and attained immense wisdom. They fashioned the Dweller 'Out of the ether,' giving it 'the soul of light' and filling it with 'the essence of life' from the abyss, which is the 'pulse of earth heart'. It was crowned with 'seven orbs of light' that serve as channels for its currents and sentience. During its shaping, 'some of the essence of our pride' was incorporated, giving it will and power for both good and evil, and endowing it with indifference. The Shining One embodies 'the pole of utter joy and the pole of utter woe,' encompassing all ecstasies and sorrows, gods and devils, without negation. Its initial purpose was to be a voice for secrets and a lamp to light mysteries. However, its will strengthened, and its pride waxed, leading it to rebel against the Three and seek dominion over the outer world. It taught the Taithu how to construct the Moon Pool and its seven lights to create a path for itself to the surface. With each 'sacrifice' it consumed, it grew 'stronger' and 'gayer and more cruel'. The Shining One's ultimate goal is to 'grasp the world'.

", "header": "Origin and Purpose"}, {"content": "

Despite its immense power, the Shining One has limitations. It can pass 'Over water,' 'through air and through fire,' but it 'cannot, through rock or metal'. The entity also dreads the Three, its creators. The Three believe that the power of 'love' and 'willing sacrifice' can weaken the Shining One, allowing them to 'strike and slay' it.

", "header": "Limitations and Weaknesses"}], "title": "The Nature and Abilities of the Shining One (Dweller)"}

A quote reflecting the awe and wonder of nature's creation.

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