Shadow Union
The Shadow Union is the Umbraval institution that has effectively monopolised the registration, leasing, and international guarantee of taken shadows. It is not a state, though it is powerful enough to decide how states may exploit their war captives.
The Union calls itself a neutral guarantor against uncontrolled shadow magic. Its critics say it has made forbidden violence durable by translating it into registry and contract language.
Registry and fracture
The Union claims to sell no shadow, only a registered temporary use-right. Each record should state the body’s location, work term, care obligation, recovery conditions, and named parties. Prisoners of war and the poor rarely have the power to contest those records.
Registrars seek transparency; Sealholders defend commercial secrecy; the Gardeners’ Board wants authority to end neglected body-care contracts; Black Ledgerkeepers demand public disclosure of timeless seizures and Velis face transfers.