Shadowed Grove/IF-48.84

Shadows all the way down

Rumor / Community Lore
This article contains lore created collaboratively by the Blaseball community. It is just one of many Rumors that we've found in the Interdimensional Rumor Mill. You can find more Rumors about Shadowed Grove at their Rumor Registry.

This particular tree seems to branch off in two very distinct directions, as though it was deeply cut by an axe in a steady blow. The notes carved on it are arranged in two, clearly defined pyramids meeting at their tip, like an hourglass full of words. The words on the bottom pyramid seem to be written upside-down, with masterful precision. With closer inspection, one would see that some parts of the bark have been totally scraped, by what looks like big sharp claws, leaving parts of the text unreadable.

The Shadows seem to exist in some sort of astral magical plane, even I am not fully able to understand. It is very similar to ours, just mirrored. Each normal event seems to be somehow bound to a Shadow event. It is thus speculated that everything that happens above, also happens below. Everything is simultaneous.

The only proven influence of Shadows in our realm is exactly that : shadows. Upon the discovery of the Shadow plane, researchers quickly rejected their ridiculous "places where the light can't reach because something is blocking it" theory and settled into this more down-to-earth, saner explanation. Some even wonder if we, ourselves, aren't Shadows for another REDACTED. Shadows all the way down.

Sometimes, interferences happen. This is when someone gets a glimpse of a Shadow's presence, often in the reflection in a mirror, or in a body of water, instead of seeing their own image. It is speculated that they actually see is the Shadow counterpart to their presence, who happened to be standing in that exact same place, witnessing that exact same event. REDACTED may be possible passages to REDACTED.

The existence of this realm has quickly come to the attention of the different coaches and overseers of Yellowstone Magic, past, present and future, which by REDACTED somehow managed to communicate with the Shadows, and after an awful lot of paperwork, get a Contract signed with the REDACTED down there. The Contract states that, in the case of a Yellowstone Magic player being REDACTED and unable to play, or being chosen by REDACTED to be Foreshadowed, a Shadow must immediately Step Up and Emerge to replace said player. REDACTED, one of the few witnesses that have survived the sight of an Emerging Shadow, states that "after the chant the Foreshadowed player just collapsed into their shadow and sunk" and that "their shadow, in turn, simply stood up, brushed the dust off its jersey and materialized itself, bat in hand, ready to pitch"

Further research is needed.

A little note is engraved under one of the roots, had one cared to inspect, words spilling from the perfect hourglass, untouched by the fierce claws :

If the "Shadows all the way down" theory proves true, that would mean the Contract is simultaneous in all realities, and thus it is, in fact, the fabled Infinite Paperwork foretold by the ancient archivists. I dare not think about that possibility, as infinite paperwork doesn't seem to be a possibility one would normally seek.