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Post new topic   Reply to topic The World of Mana--worldbuilding project
KathiraNarae



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 PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 12:12 am Reply with quote        
Yes, this is a world-building project. And, when it's done, I will be allowing anyone to write stories based in it. So far, I've got the basics of the actual world, but there will be others. This will be updated as and when I feel like it. Which will be not often. First bits will be in the next post, feel free to look it over and PM me your thoughts!
KathiraNarae



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 PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 12:50 am Reply with quote        
World
What the world has in terms of countries and landmasses.

I call this the World of Mana, and it's mostly urban fantasy. It can be considered an alternate version of our world, and while it has much on the way of modern cities, it also has a few completely closed off, stuck-in-the-dark-ages civilisations that rely more on magic than the technologies of the rest of the world. In it's far back history, however, there is plenty of room for high fantasy as well.
There are four continents: the uninhabited frozen Issi at the south pole, the home of the familiars Recken, fey home Manari, and Futhan. Futhan is almost completely dominated by the Iratran Empire, more on that later.
Issa
Issa is, essentially, Antarctica, and is completely uninhabited apart from animalian penguins and several ice elementals. It's not worth mentioning for most.
Recken
Recken is the continent with the highest familiar and fell race populations. It's mostly split into four main countries, each with differing populations of humans and huminals.
Land-wise, it has tropical jungles to the south, turning to harsh deserts in the middle, which then gives way to a warm, but temperate climate in the mid-north areas. Furthest north are colder, yet still temperate farmlands and forests.
The entire continent has a lingua franca of Common, essentially English without an England. It has a common currency, the dollar, which is accepted in all of its countries except Uberwald.
UHHS
Almost the northern-most country, UHHS (United Human and Huminal States), is a very modern, urban country, very much like our USA. It encompasses much of the north half of the continent, and boasts the highest population of both humans and huminals: the numbers are fairly similar. While there is frequent anti-huminal and anti-human speciism, it is seem as one of the most open and accepting countries in the world. There are sizeable populations of elementals, Fey species, and Fell races there as well, although the high Fell population likely has a lot to do with the high Familiar race populations. The two go hand in hand, after all. In particular, the Zo-V strain is particularly common: zombies tend to invade UHHS cities with embarrassing regularity.
Notable cities include New York and Saras. The political system is largely democratic, and general magical ability is low.
Republic of Luthen
Luthen is the southern most country in Recken, and has more huminals than humans. As a result, it's a little less developed than the UHHS, but not much. It has quite a few water and earth elementals, but few of the others go there. The Fell and Fey races tend to only pass through when heading for the UHHS, too. That said, there are humans living there, who don't really see the problem. The country is largely tropical jungle, although there are many civilised towns and cities along its northern border to the UHHS. There are also some wild tribes of Therianthropes, huminals, and dragons within its deep jungles, but they keep to themselves and don't get involved in any politics.
Notable cities include its capital of Luthen City. The political system is a republic, and general magical ability is low.
Sapen
Formed by a group of particularly anti-huminal humans around 500 years ago, Sapen still holds onto some of it's prejudices and it is illegal here for any huminal to live, work, and/or study there. Tourism is allowed: that order going through its government 50 years ago was considered a major breakthrough in its openness towards non-humans. The Fey races tend to avoid the place, as they find its 'aura' of hostility uncomfortable, but the fell races are thriving and there are concerns that the spread of the fell races through Sapen will eventually lead to its dissolution into Uberwald. Some people, however, feel that it would be an improvement over the place. Sapen has a very intolerant attitude to magic users, and still holds with trials on a regular basis. Due to how magic works in this world, they haven't burned a non-magic user in over 200 years, but that isn't a plus since magic itself is not inherently evil. It is located at the north-westernmost part of the continent, although it has shrunk in recent years, and is quite tiny. It is bordered on its small south side by the UHHS, and on its long side by Uberwald.
Notable cities include its capital Caless. Its political system is a dictatorship (unfortunately), and its magical ability is almost zero.
Uberwald
Uberwald. Oh dear.
Uberwald's southern border can be considered a follow on from Sapen's, which makes a lot of sense since Sapen is slowly being taken over by Uberwald. It has very few huminals living in it, almost no fey races...but it is the primary home of the Fell races. Vampires lord over from the many castles, roving packs of lycanthropes and therianthropes wander the forests, ghosts cause a lot of trouble in all villages and towns, and zombies are very rare since they've made their homes in the UHHS. Fey races try to avoid the place if they can, as do most elementals, although angels will occasionally turn up to try to protect a few villages (which doesn't last) and darkhan will sometimes depose a noble and take charge of a group of villages, inevitably getting mercilessly removed by a group of villagers with pitchforks, half a dozen vampires, and a few therian gangs.
Humans are very common in Uberwald, and the birth rate is very high, but that's to be expected in a country where people die at the hands of the nobles or therian packs rather regularly. They're generally peasants who have few rights and find life very hard. Many are farmers, and the villages found deep in the heart of Uberwald are reminiscent of medieval villages. Despite the backwards thinking nobles and these traditional villages, however, some newer vampiric nobles managed to put their heads together with some vocal humans and more progressive therians and now much more modern cities are springing up in southern Uberwald. In these cities, humans are much freer, vampires don't rule everything with iron fangs, and therians act more like friendly huminals. It's this gap between the newer fell and old school fell that that has caused altercations between vampiric nobles, and now the older ones are dying out.
Fur against fang conflicts were common in the old days and some of the older vampires are still mistrustful of therians (mostly the lycan breed), but therians are accepted as much as vampires now. In fact, some vampiric nobles have retired in actually running things but retained their titles, while giving a therian pack control over the towns and villages the vampire used to control.
Notable cities include the older capital of Carill, and the newer modern Darnus. The political system is largely a monarchy, with smaller areas presided over by the upper class who are all vampires. Even the monarch is a vampire, although therians do sometimes get a say.
It is the one exception to Recken's dollars, and instead uses a barter trade among the peasants and therians. The nobles tend to trade in bottled blood, or 'favourite snacks'.
Manari
Manari is east of Recken, and is roughly the same size, but is shifted slightly more north than Recken. Land-wise, it is wilder than Recken and frequently disregards logical placements of climate. At it's south end is dominated by large desert that then gives way to coast, while at the desert's west is arid swampland than becomes forest as you travel north. Continuing north, the forest becomes mountain ranges, which run alongside the entire north and east edges of the continent. The western slopes of the east mountains turn to good farmland as you move towards the centre of the continent, where there is a multitude of build-up villages, towns, and cities populated by many of the fey races.
The landscape itself provides the main distinctions between the different fey races, which are many and varied. There are three main countries, one of which is split into five provinces that are actually spread all around the country. The continent is also the most magically soaked of them all and many cities have a sort of technology that runs off magic. It also holds most magical universities, which many feys graduate from.
The lingua franca is Dragonish, although most also speak Angelic and Elvish as well. Most names will be given in Common, however.
Drackonica
Drackonica is one of the oldest of all the world's countries, having existed for over 4000 years. It is the natural home of the dragons, and it is this country that is split into five smaller provinces. Drackonica is the most famous of all Manari countries, and is what many people think Manari entirely consists of. This is not far from the truth: Drackonica is three times as big as the next largest Manari country and covers much of the outer parts of the continent.
The five provinces are each ruled by a specific Drackonian House, the heads of which between them form the ruling Council of Dragons. Each House also specialises in a certain trade, often magically related.
Drackonica uses specially cut and coloured gemstones as currency, usually called, simply, gems.
Arthranni
The Arthranni province is mainly the western half of the central climate, and is the home of the Artisans dragons.. It is covered in lush meadows and forests, and the dragons here are primarily artists of some sort. Music, painting, sculpture, dance, any art of dragon origin was likely made here.
This province also has a very high population of elves in comparison to the other provinces, and is the cultural centre of Drackonica. It holds the capital city of Drackonica, Town Square, home of the Council's Towers, the Great Library, and the University of the Arts.
Peacean
The province of Peacean is the home of the Peace Keeper dragons, and a few of the desert elves. It encompasses much of the south desert, including the canyons within, and beneath it are many underground ice caverns, exemplary of the strange ways the background mana field interacts with the climate. Cities and towns are few and far between, but when they're found they're usually made of red stone, and partially embedded within the rocks of the canyons. Otherwise, there are only high lookout towers and barracks, indicative of the military mindset of most Peace Keepers.
The Peace Keepers form most of Drackonica's defence force. Most of the Ground Army, Aerial Forces, and Drackonian Police are Peace Keepers, and most Peace Keepers belong to one of those organisations. The Shemp Keep, the most heavily guarded of all the Peace Keeper prisons, is also located here and is the lock-up of all non-elemental criminals and wrong-doers the DP have arrested. Peacean is not a nice place.
It does have Cliff town, the nicest place to live in Peacean.
Cathan
Cathan is a thin province, but stretches through all of the mountains of Manari. In fact, Cathan is almost entirely mountain range, which is just how the Magic Crafter dragons like it. It doesn't have any real build up civilisation, except for Wizards Peak (which is full of humans, huminals, and elves anyway), and High Caves (full of dragons). Wizards Peak, the official name of which is spelled without an apostrophe, is the home of the great University of Magic, that many dragons and elves travel to Cathan for alone and which most of the few magically inclined humans will travel to Manari for. Wizards Peak is also the main human civilisation within Manari, with many humans, and many more dragons and elves. High Caves is the greatest cave network of Cathan, holding the Crafters Towers, and being the home of a small colony of fairies.
Other than these exceptions, the rest of Cathan is secluded mountain caves, since Magic Crafters are not very sociable, preferring to create Manari's many magic items in peace.
Svarl
Svarl is the south-western swamplands, and is where almost all the distrustful-of-outsiders Beast Makers make their homes, in wooden huts on stilts. It is the least technologically advanced of all the provinces, not even having any of the magitech common to the others. The Beast Makers claim this is because of an infamous invasion that almost turned the swamps into 'an electrical junk heap', although it is far more likely that the backwards Beast Makers simply hate change and anything different to their swampy way of life.
The swamps are home to a very, very varied amount of wildlife rarely seen outside the swamps. This is because the Beast Makers are just that--they are blessed with a very highly specialised and powerful form of magic that allows them to create and modify all forms of life, and they are responsible for many of the Manari-only animals, many of which would be impossible without copious amounts of magic. It is for this reason that, although they would never admit it, the beast Makers are more advanced in genetic engineering than the highly advanced Recken humans, a point of some embarrassment on both sides.
Svarl is the exception to the gem standard of currency used throughout the rest of Drackonica, preferring barter trade and friendly promises to gemstones.
Nighay
Nighay is the best example of just how much magic is involved in Drackonian society. This province is not land bound like the others, but is exclusively formed from floating islands above Manari. It is the home to the most magically adept dragons, the Dream Weavers, who dedicate their lives to sealing away or destroying the many dark creatures that inhabit the world, usually highly dark-aligned. Nighay is the home of most Temples of Light, and has many light-based cities that are home to many angels. There is also a high population of friendly fairies in Nighay, too.
Most of the floating islands of Nighay are shining, very fairytale-like, and often very bright. The only exception is the black rock of Dark Passage, the deep prison for the nightmare creatures and Darkhan that the Dream Weavers manage to capture. The other islands of interest are the Lofty Academy, where many Dream Weavers learn the light magic and skills needed for their work, and Haunted Towers, a famous hotel that is haunted by friendly ghosts who run the place.
Faenal
The Western Woods of Manari, Faenal is the home of the little winged people called fairies by humans and huminals, faeries by the dragons and elves, and nuisances by the fell races. Faenal is rarely involved in politics, the fairies preferring instead to keep to themselves within their forest home. The trees there are abnormally high, with climbable, decorated platforms in the lower parts for any non-dragon who wishes to speak with them.
Faenal is split in two, the western half controlled by the dark-aligned Unseelie Court, and the eastern half ruled over by the light-aligned Seelie Court. The Courts often clash, with civil wars frequent, and their ideals are very different. The Seelie Court prefers rigid order, solid rules, and everyone knowing their place, while also encouraging kindness but not tolerating outsiders. The Unseelie Court open to most non-fairies and prefers freedom, few binding rules, and the chance to be whoever and whatever you want, but can be very dangerous, rough, and violent, often turning everyone else away unintentionally. This clash of ideals and the fact that fairies of both sides are actually equally likely to attack or otherwise be nasty to whoever strays into the woods makes the forest a very dangerous place to be without a friendly fairy guide.
Alfar
Alfar is technically divided into two countries, Alfari and Garuda, but the two are close knit and often refer to themselves as one country.
Alfar is the eastern part of Manari, with Alfari taking the lusher north-east and Garuda being the harsher desert south-west. Alfar is populated almost entirely by elves, light elves in Alfari and dark elves (also called desert elves) in Garuda.
While Alfari is generally very equal for both genders, Garuda is very matriarchal, ruled by a queen who keeps close contact with the rulers of Alfari. This is because of a very strange quirk of the dark elf race: males are very rarely born and females form about 90% of the population.
Alfar is the least magical of all the Manari countries, but it is still very magical itself, with spellsong being one of its crowning achievements. It has very close ties with the dragons, due to being bordered on most sides by Drackonica, although dark elves seem to have an easier time. Probably because they have to deal with Peace Keeper dragons on a regular basis.
Drekenna Although these are the main countries of Manari, there is one major part of the south desert that is very important within this world.
Drekenna is a dark wasteland, a blight upon the landscape, devoid of all life save for those warped by the incredibly high levels of dark mana in the area. It is slowly shrinking due to the efforts of the dragons, but it is still an ever present threat right at the heart of the south desert. It was formed from an enormous fallout of dark energy during the last great darkhan war, the last time the Empress of Iratr Napr tried to invade. The fallout either destroyed or corrupted all living things within that patch of desert at the time, twisting it into an unholy abomination. Corrupted, feral remnants of the elves and dragons caught in the fallout still wander the blackened rock, plants crawl across the landscape and devour anything they come across, and screaming can still be heard from within.
At its heart is a temple of darkness, the building the Empress resided in during her attempted conquest. It is rumoured that there may still be some of her darkhan servants there, but no-one knows for sure as the saturation of darkness causes all who spend too long within the wasteland, or travel too deep into it succumb to dark corruption and become just another twisted, feral beast that attacks anything that it sees.
Although the darkness is dwindling, some of the more powerful corrupted still get out past the light-charged path that runs around the wasteland and attack the nearest civilisation it ca find. This can be in Garuda or Peacean, but either way, the corrupted is never usually able to get very far before being eliminated.
Sometimes, there has been an incursion when a surprisingly able-of-thought corrupted has been able to amass the monsters into an army and launch an assault on the rest of world, but such incursions are rare now. Most of the beasts have been destroyed in one way or another, and it is hoped that the last of the darkness that infects the area be dissipated within the next 200 years.
Futhan
Futhan is the name of the final inhabited continent of the World of Mana. Its climate is gloomy, with storms and fog very frequent, and the changing seasons often seem to bypass the entire continent frequently, keeping it locked in a perpetual dark autumn.
Land-wise, the continent is starkly divided into strict 'zones', frigid tundra at the north and south ends, wild impenetrable forests mid-north, temperate fields and cities in the centre, and an incredibly large dark wasteland much like Drekenna in the mid-south. A vast mountain range runs along the entire eastern side, many of which are actually volcanoes.
The reason for Futhan's lack of correct climates and weather is the single nation that owns the entire continent, Iratr Napr, often called the Iratran Empire.
Iratr Napr
'Empire' is largely an artefact title in the nation's common name since all the once-conquered distinct countries have now been absorbed into a single culture. The Empire has a mix of humans, huminals, dragons, elves, vampires, and therianthropes, but at least a quarter of the population are darkhan. All the inhabitants who are not darkhan are little more than slaves under the Empress's tyrannical rule, although there is a booming slave trade for the richer, freer darkhan and vampires, with those slaves being treated even worse. At least the 'free' peoples have a mild chance of mildly improving their lives.
Nearly all the inhabitants make their homes in the temperate central zone, avoiding the forest line and desert border at all costs due to the vicious flora and fauna, and the denser dark mana fields. Many of the 'free peoples' are farmers, toiling for little food and paying rather high taxes. The cities are where the heart of the action is: by day, thieves and assassins and slave traders all work to earn their livings, while at night, everyone locks the doors and windows and hides themselves from the night patrols of darkhan.
Each city is owned by a fairly high-ranking darkhan or a vampire (when one gets into the Empress's changing favour) and it is the duty of each city to collect taxes from it's surrounding villages and farms, then pay them all to each the Dark City, where the Empress and her nobles reside. Punishment for not paying your taxes to the city is one thing, at least you'd only get death. For the ones close to the Dark City? Dungeon time. If you don't pay from each city to the Dark City? Dungeon time if you're lucky.
Each city is 'policed' by members of the Imperial Guard, and they will take any who step out of line. Beatings are frequent, as are killings or worse. Getting the guard onto you is not that difficult, as 'insolence' often means 'looking at me with anything other than fear and subservience', and they'll often take a peasant out and beat them for no reason at all. The Guard are also there to ensure that no-one decides to stop the murders and thefts in the area.
The Dark City itself is a sprawling, wretched mess of patchwork houses, suffering peasants, scurrying criminals, and the ruthless guards. The Guard here is also responsible for policing the slave trade; that is, ensuring it's genuine and kept within the Empire. The Dark City also suffers from the Empress herself, who has been known to just get out of the fortress at the heart of the city and raze several districts for no reason whatsoever. The Dark City also houses the Arena, where milder criminals and willing (or press ganged) warriors fight for the dark joy of the Empress and some of the nastier sorts of peasants.
The Imperial Fortress at the heart of the Dark City is the residence of the Empress herself, her favourite slaves and servants, and the 6 Imperial Administrators, whose job it is to take care of each of six main areas of administration: the treasury and taxes, food, the slave trade and thieves/assassins, high trades and nobles, the Guard and law and order, and internal affairs. Each of the Administrators is one of the Empress's greatest underlings, and people she would trust with her life. It's a strange thing: even within the Empire full of despair that she crafted for herself, the Empress, Lord Kathira Narae still sticks by her friends through the millennia.
That said, she herself is the one who sentences all who defy her rule and oversees all public executions. Dungeon time is one of the worst punishments she can give, since it always entails torture by one of the resident darkhan. How harsh the time is and how long is spent depends on the crime, and most who are thrown in the dungeons are only in for one or two years, with a brush with a lower darkhan about once a month. It's the screams most can't stand though, and any angel or resistance force leader who is foolish enough to get arrested personally tended to by Lord Narae herself, within the innermost cells of the dungeons, daily for the rest of their lives. Such a time is not a short one, as Lord Narae knows many spells that keep a victim alive for the longest possible time.
One other thing of note: it's difficult, but still possible to get into the Empire for any reason, but don't think you'll ever get back out. Most who enter either become part of the slave trade or are forced into becoming permanent citizens, and existing residents are never allowed to leave. Ever.
It is the threat if Iratr Napr that caused several dragons to pool their powers and raise mountains on the east side of Munari to help provide a deterrent to any invasion, and Futhan’s semi-natural mountains prevent Iratr Napr from extending into Recken. As a result, the Empire is largely confined to the continent of Futhan, although the Empress bides her time and plans...

KathiraNarae



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 PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 2:02 am Reply with quote        
Sentient Species
The non-elemental sentient creatures that inhabit this world.

These are split into three groups: Fell, Fey, and Familiar.

Fell
The fell races are, essentially, the undead: vampires, werewolves, zombies, that sort of thing. They are mortal, have little magical ability, but are almost entirely immortal. They're generally perceived as evil monsters, but this is only true with one subspecies of zombie. Otherwise, while they are a little more inclined towards evil, they're just as capable of being good as any other sentient. Most fell are created by a familiar becoming infected with the relevant virus, but not all.
Therianthropes
Therianthropes are, at their most basic, humans who turn into animalians or feral huminals, called the lunar state, under the light of the full moon. Full moonlight is always a trigger for the change, though some can change at will. Whether or not this transformation hurts also depends on the therian in question. They usually feed on meats, though they are omnivorous and many end up becoming eaters of sentient species.
Location: Most commonly found in Uberwald, but actually a global species.
Basic appearance: In natural state, a therian looks like a human. In lunar state, they change into either an animal (commonly a mammal), or a feral, bestial huminal. Otherwise, there is little commonality except between breeds, defined for therians as which animal they become. The most common lunar state is lupine, however.
Cause: All therianthropes are carriers of a virus called the Human TherianThropic Virus, also known as HTTV or Theri-V. This virus bonds with the cells in the body and produces a quick change of the host's morphic field when either the host wills it to or the light of the full moon falls on the host. This virus has multiple strains, each producing different animals for the lunar state of the host. The most common strain produces a lupine lunar state, and is common enough to have earned its own nickname, Lyc-V. Different strains of Theri-V cannot bond to the same host. Once one is already acquired, the cells the virus is bonded to gain increased strength and the host gains a much more effective immune system, with the result that subsequent infections of any other Theri-V strain are quickly fought off. Theri-V can be acquired through exchange of bodily fluids (commonly a bite) or obtained from the parents. Chances are, if your parents are therians, you will be too.
Social structure: Therians usually follow a social structure similar to that of the animal their lunar state is; lycans will form close packs with an Alpha at the head, for example. This tends to affect socialisation outside of the lunar state as well, as a shy individual infected with Lyc-V will inexplicably become more outgoing and friendly.
Strengths: Therians inexplicably have greater physical strength, can talk to animals of their lunar state, can infect others with Theri-V via a bite, can kill vampires with said bite, and have a greatly increased immune system. This immune system renders them incapable of getting another disease (although Vamp-V infection will kill them) and allows them to heal from damage at a vastly accelerated rate.
Weaknesses: Therians are typically vulnerable to losing their minds to the lunar state mindset, with plenty becoming feral gangs that prey on whatever they can hunt down. Although many don't fall victim to this, therianthropy is a mind-affecting disease with every chance the victim will lose control and have to be put down by the Fell Hunters. Silver also burns a therianthrope, and the only things that can kill one are fatal attack with a silver weapon (in the case of firearms, this means the bullet), burning, dismemberment, and Vamp-V infection.
Magical ability: Low, only capable of learning sorcery.
Vampires
Vampires are invariably former humans and huminals who were infected with a certain virus that kills the host's body and effectively reanimates it. This virus has similarities with Zo-V, but vampires tend to retain their minds, don't have the trademark zombie accelerated rot, require different sustenance, and have different strengths and weaknesses. Vampires feed on the blood of sentient species, preferably warm and fresh, but it doesn't necessarily have to come from someone straight away. Usually, they will kidnap a single victim and retain said victim until it has been sucked dry, since o vampire can consume an entire human or huminal in one day.
Location: Found only in Uberwald, Iratr Napr, and the UHHS.
Basic appearance: Vampires look almost exactly like they did before infection, with a few differences. Firstly, human-origin vampires are always deathly pale. Also, all vampires have their eyes turn blood red and their top canine teeth become longer, sharper, and hollow. Those canines are attached to an internal venom sac that contains a store of the virus, for infecting others.
Cause: Vampirism is caused by infection alone, and this infection is only capable of occurring in people who are near death and have a sufficient amount of the virus injected into them. The virus is commonly called Vamp-V, and vampires can be choosey as to who they infect. Infection is usually on the tail end of feeding, when the victim is near death. The vampire then flexes their jaws and pumps a large quantity of a fluid containing the virus into the new host, who becomes ravaged by the virus into a new vampire. Generally, the sire will teach their new progeny the tricks of the trade then cast them into the world.
Social structure: Vampires are almost always in a position of power, commonly Uberwald nobility. They are distrustful of their own kind, and look down on the other mortal races as less than them. They have a begrudging respect for therianthropes, though, as the two races are generally fighting each other at the slightest provocation.
Strengths: Vampires have increased physical strength (though not as much as therianthropes), increased speed, increased night vision, and a natural grasp of dark mana use in the form of hypnosis. Few vampires ever truly master the hypnosis, however.
Weaknesses: Vampires are vulnerable to sunlight and light mana (usually contained in objects or water), getting burned by both. They can be killed by sunlight, light mana, decapitation, or a wooden stake through the heart.
Magical ability: Low, only capable of learning sorcery.
Revenant Zombies
Revenant zombies are often mistaken for the animalian Viral zombies, but the two are different. While Viral zombies are people infected, killed, and reanimated by the Zo-V virus, Revenants are people who's souls/spirits/consciousness/whatever still inhabit the body they should have left after it's death. They tend to continue to rot until it's all gone, at which point they either move on or become Revenant ghosts.
Location: Found only in the UHHS, though they are rare now due to people mistaking them for Viral zombies.
Basic appearance: Half rotten shambling Familiar corpses
Cause: Revenant zombies are people who, for whatever reason, stay in their bodies after bodily death. The reasons are varied are usually an obstinate refusal to die through sheer stubbornness, successfully beating whatever psychopomp came to collect you at whatever game you challenged it to, an inability for the psychopomps to collect you, or ticking the head psychopomp, Azrael, off too much. Because of Azrael's patience and the skill and experience the psychopomps have with their work, bloodymindedness is the most common reason for becoming a revenant zombie.
Social structure: They belong in whatever civilisation they died in.
Strengths: They don't sleep, they don't eat, they don't drink, they don't breathe. They are, for all intents and purposes, immortal, aside from pressure differentials that would kill a human and the weaknesses below.
Weaknesses: Zombies are flammable, so fire will usually to the trick, as will a well-aimed firearm headshot that destroys the brain. They can be incapacitated with a good firearm shot to the legs. Revenants are only inconvenienced from the leg shot for a sort while until the same force of will or necessity that keeps them able to move while dead prevents the leg injury from truly affecting them. Fire and brain destruction will kill them, though, either allowing them to move on or becoming revenant ghosts.
Magical ability: Completely zero.
Revenant Ghosts
Revenant ghosts are the souls of those who have shuffled off their mortal coils but not yet departed. As such, they require full blown exorcisms to get rid of, although not all of them need getting rid of.
Location: Found globally.
Basic appearance: Semi-transparent spectral floating people who look like they did when alive. Except monochrome.
Cause: Revenant ghosts are usually people who cannot move on to the afterlife for whatever reason, usually some 'unfinished business'. Unfinished business can mean any number of things, but the most common for recent ghostliness is usually that the ghost was a murder victim and the culprit has yet to be caught. Or possibly someone executed for a crime they didn't commit. Sometimes this unfinished business can simply be not realising they're dead. Other reasons for remaining as a ghost do exist, although they are rare since few revenant zombies actually stick around when they can't inhabit their bodies any more.
Social structure: They don't have one, mostly just haunt the place of their death or other significant location on their own.
Strengths: Ghosts don't die. They can also project illusions and, with some of the more powerful ones, possess people or objects.
Weaknesses: Revenant ghosts are repelled by certain spells or warding charms, but are only completely got rid of through forceful exorcism (not usually pleasant for the ghost) or their unfinished business being fulfilled.
Magical ability: Other than specialised illusion work, ghosts have no ability for use of the mana arts whatever.


_________________
I'm a clone of my mum with a copy of my dad's soul uploaded into my brain.

Be a villager in a mob as you try to defend your home from
WEREWOLVES!
Which I'm good at spotting, apparently...
KathiraNarae



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 PostPosted: Fri May 23, 2014 11:58 pm Reply with quote        
Sentient Species cont.

Fey
The Fey races are frequently compared to the Familiar races, but are usually much more magically inclined. This tends to go hand in hand with greater magical power and skill, and often longevity, but the increased sensitivity to mana makes them more easily harmed by offensive magic. The heavy use of magic also makes them tend more towards the ordered elemental types, and thus more resistant to change and without technology. While magic often stands in for technology in many ways, in many others they are much more backwards. And often xenophobic towards familiars.
Dragons
Dragons! Big scaly things with wings that breathe fire! But the ones of this world are a bit...different. Certainly not the colossal, princess-eating monsters of legend. These dragons are many and varied, ranging from the highly xenophobic Beast Makers to the freely spirited Artisans, although even these main provincial areas have differences between individual dragons, since the totalitarian Prayer-Light organisation contains dragons from all walks of life. Despite being the species with the most xenophobic of all the world's inhabitants, it is the most open of all the normally closed-in Fey races, being what most people aware of the world outside stories think of when they hear the word 'Fey'.
Dragons are split into five main races, although there is only a little difference in appearance between races. Dragons as a whole also have long lifespans, in the region of about five hundred years, although this can vary with Artisans frequently achieving over a thousand years of age and Dream Weavers/Peace Keepers getting killed in the line of duty. Magic Crafters tend to be a mixed bunch as their magic use tends to extend their lifespan depending on element and they do sometimes blow themselves up.
Location: Primarily found in Drackonica, although there are some roving nomadic dragons in the Luthen jungles.
Basic Appearance: Dragons are bipedal, have opposable thumbs, and average seven and a half feet tall, though there is a large spread: the smallest adult height recorded is 5' 6", while the biggest was a whopping 9' 11". They are scaly reptiles with a third pair of limbs, namely the large, somewhat bat-like wings on their backs that allow flight, and most can breathe fire, though not all. Crests, spines, and the like are rare but do occur, as do the extremely rare feathered dragons (who tend towards Dream Weaver and Magic Crafter). Every dragon also has a specific and unique tail-tip in shape and colour, and also have a unique pattern to how the scales are shaped, arranged, and lie on the dragon, most prominent where the scales are at their smallest such as the face, the foot, and the fingers. This allows dragons to be the only Fey race to actually use fingerprint (and footprint and bite) analysis.
Racial Appearance Variations: Artisans are average in build and height, have a total of two straight horns (one on each side of the head), have short (for greater finger dexterity) thin and highly sharp claws for precision cuts, and are usually of royal coloured scales such as golds, purples, and royal blues.
Peace Keepers are big and very muscular, have a total of two very large and often blunt horns (one on each side of the head), have big and sharp claws that are as much for hitting things as chopping them up, and tend to be coloured in desert yellows and browns.
Magic Crafters are small and thin, have a total of four short and thin swept back horns (two grouped together on each side of the head), have no claws and greater finger dexterity, and tend towards icy blues and white for scale colour.
Beast Makers are big and burly, have a total of two very large curly horns (one on each side of the head), have big and blunt claws, and generally have muddy green and brown scales.
Dream Weavers are tall but lean, have a total of three horns (one small nose horn and one straight horn on each side of the head), have long and sharp claws as much for attacking as for precision spellwork, and mostly have pale scales of all colours though darker reds, purples and greys/black are not uncommon.
Social Structure: Social structure varies by race, but they overall have a ruling House that ultimately forms the ruling Council of the whole country. One of the biggest differences is usually how far the ruling House is from the rest of the provincial inhabitants. All dragons have a House/family they belong to, and it is the highest of these Houses that rules the province.
Artisans have most of the commoners mingle freely and sociably with each other and other races. They are quite open, but defer to the ruling House which is always treated with respect. The ruling House often tries to learn what the commoners want before making a decision but their word is the final answer. The ruling House is also determined from each of the Houses every twenty years by ballot, with each House being forbidden from voting for their own and with the Head of the winning House becoming the Artisan member of the Council.
The Peace Keepers have a rigid regimental structure, befitting their military mindset, but the ruling House is only different from the commoners in that that House's head is the Commander of the entire Peace Keeper forces and is a member of the Council. Otherwise, there is no difference. Also of note is that while regimental rank is determined by skill and ability, and granted by promotion by one of the officers, becoming the head of the family/House is determined by single combat and becoming the ruling House is determined by single combat between challenging head of House and current Commander.
The Magic Crafters have little socialisation with anyone as they prefer to work in privacy. The ruling House rules what must be done and what is forbidden, a big deal in a race that works with possibly dangerous magic on a daily basis. Ruling House is determined every ten years by examining the contributions to the magic artefact and spellcraft industry of each Magic Crafter since the last examination with the one with the most becoming the Council member for the Magic Crafters and their family becoming the ruling House.
The Beast Makers have a very tribal community, closed off from nearly everyone else and remaining with themselves, and each House having its own settlement. Each House sticks loyally to its own and begrudgingly deals with the other Houses. The ruling House is usually determined by the resulting rulers essentially beating down the competition. In a swamp where new and dangerous animals are created at a moment's notice, competition is high.
The Dream Weavers have the ruling House be promoted there through hard work, skill and ability, and sometimes as a well-earned retirement plan. Dream Weavers can be friendly and open or suspicious and mistrustful, depending on dragon and job. The warriors that deal with the creatures of darkness on a regular basis? Don't push them. Mostly, the Houses mingle freely together, ruling and common alike, and tend to make sure that the high angelic population have a say in how the province is run.
Strengths: Dragons are generally big, fairly strong, and very magically powerful and skilled. They are skilled flyers, have excellent eyesight and hearing, and most of them can breathe fire. Most can swim, too.
Weaknesses: These can vary from race to race. Artisans are not fighters, Peace Keepers hate the cold, Magic Crafters don't do well in hot climates, these are just a few examples. But some weaknesses are species wide. Being as large as they are, dragons are big targets in the air...and the bigger races of dragon tend to be the better flyers too. Dragons grow up at a similar rate to the familiar races then slow down in aging, but this also has a knock-on effect that the old ones are older for longer, and can be a liability for the warrior types. Peace Keepers have been known to take their own lives when they get too old...or are killed off by their family members. Then there's the magic issue: since they are such heavy practitioners of magic, this comes with all the good and all the bad of mana use. They can also seem a bit backwards technologically: all of their seeming technology (cameras, running water, sanitation, etc.) is produced through use of home-available mana systems and they see no reason to solve certain problems they have that magic can't but technology can based on the reasoning that magic dies so much better at some areas than technology. They can teleport or at the very least fly, why would they need a better method of performing mathematical calculations than an abacus? Why create an electrical wire based form of communication when the crystal-based aethernet works just fine, even if it is vulnerable to offensive magic tearing through the system and electrics aren't?
The practices of the Peace Keepers and Dream Weavers in fighting off creatures of darness also makes the dragons as a species targets for such dark creatures. As a result, many dragons will have their seemingly peaceful lives shattered by dark attack at any moment without always realising it.
Magical Ability: Extremely high, the highest of all the Fey races in fact, and second only to elementals.
Elves
Elves are somewhat closely related to humans and are often considered to be 'high men'. They are the magically weakest of all Fey, but trade it for greater magitechnological progress and physical toughness compared to most Fey. They are split between the Alfari light elves and the Garuda desert dark elves.
Location: Mostly found in Alfar, although some do live in Drackonica and the UHHS.
Basic Appearance: Elves look a lot like humans, just slimmer, taller, and with pointy ears and a propensity towards odder eye colours and naturally two-tone hair colours. Eye colour can often be an early indicator of which mana element the elf is naturally best with.
Racial Appearance Variations:Light elves are invariably light-skinned, although their hair can run the gamut of all natural colours, and often are two-tone; that is, light elves can have hair coloured in any direction of two different colours. No elf would bat an eye at a light elf having natually got black roots that switch to blond about halfway down the hair strand. Eyes can also be any colour at all.
Dark elves are invariably dark-skinned and red haired, though their eye colours are frequently weird, ranging from one eye being a different colour to the other to both eyes each being split into four different colours. Dark elves are also mostly female, only about 10% are male, and have much less dimorphism compared to other species. The women are tougher and stronger while the men are frailer.
Social Structure: Elves as a general rule are generally friendly with most, although dark elves can be wary of newcomers, and they have a semi-feudal society ruled by a monarch. While the light elves royal succession goes to the first-born (or soonest born survivor) regardless of gender, the dark elves are highly matriarchal and their succession goes to the first-born daughter. Should there be no daughters, however, the first-born son will become the ruler.
Dark elf society tends to revolve around the women, who to the work of whatever job they pursue (usually jobs that humans consider masculine) while the men remain at home and do 'feminine' chores and raise the children. Such 'feminine' things as jewellery are also considered unisex in Garuda. Due to the rarity of male dark elves, male homosexuality is illegal, while female homosexuality encouraged, female dark elves frequently bring home light elf boyfriends, and the male dark elves are actually allowed to have multiple wives, although a female having multiple husbands is illegal.
Light elves tend more towards farm work or scholarly pursuits, while dark elves are more combatants, merchants, travellers, and thieves.
Strengths: Elves are fast, magically gifted, and fairly long-lived: light elves live to about a hundred and fifty years old while dark elves live to about a hundred and twenty. They are also quite resilient to disease.
Weaknesses: Elf bones are slightly more brittle and elves are not that physically strong. Many dark elves are also mildly kleptomanic, while light elves bury themselves away from the world around them until the offending problem has gone away.
Magical Ability: Medium-high. Most elves are mages, with additional sorcery, but they are not very magically gifted compared to other Feys.
Fairies
Also called 'Faeries' by the other Feys and called nuisances by the Fells, fairies are the highly magical but xenophobic split species of the Fey races who have civil wars between Courts near-constantly. They are as long lived as the dragons, averaging around 500 years.
Location: Only found in Faenal.
Basic Appearance: Fairies tend to look like elves but average six inches in height and two pairs of insectoid wings on their backs used for flight. Insectoid can mean moth, butterfly, dragonfly, wasp, whatever.
Racial Appearance Variations:Seelie fairies tend to be light-skinned and dark haired. They usually wear light, flowing, concealing garments that speak softly of following the order of things. Unseelie fairies are usually dark-skinned but light haired. They wear dark, rough, tough clothes that scream 'rebel for life!'
Social Structure: Fairies are equally likely to be xenophobically aggressive and hostile or openly kind and caring but turn others away through insidious tricks and accidental weirdness, no matter the Court. That said, Seelie tend towards the former while Unseelie tend to use the latter. The similarities stop there, though.
Seelie fairies have an extremely rigid hierarchy, with no-one allowed to move up or down from their station, and a ruling royal family. Station is down to who the fairy is born from, and the only way for said fairy to be higher than a parent is for that fairy's other parent to be much higher than it. Due to this, most Seelie fairies only breed within station, and then only after marriage, but this station system has led to most fairies of the same station being closely related. Incest, therefore, is the norm, with the Seelie fairies long ago using their magic to eliminate all biological repercussions of this practice.
The Unseelie, on the other hand, are all one great big mess of anarchy. The only defined leader is whoever comes up with the next good plan, with all others being otherwise equal and meant to fend for themselves. Marriage is rare though breeding is frequent, but birth-rate low.
Strengths: Fairies have almost as much magical ability as dragons, and they are very long-lived and immune to all disease.
Weaknesses: Physically, fairies are extremely weak when compared to other species, almost as frail as soggy paper. They are also slowly killing each other into extinction due to the warring between Orderly Seelie and Chaotic Unseelie. Not to mention how difficult and unwieldy it is to try and control Order and Chaos...
Magical Ability: Extremely high, almost as high as dragons. They are also racially capable of using the primal, pre-element forces of Order and Chaos, an ability that is inevitable found in the fairies (albeit actually fairly weak) but otherwise impossible to use by anyone else.


_________________
I'm a clone of my mum with a copy of my dad's soul uploaded into my brain.

Be a villager in a mob as you try to defend your home from
WEREWOLVES!
Which I'm good at spotting, apparently...
KathiraNarae



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 PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2014 2:32 am Reply with quote        
Sentient Species cont.

Familiar
The familiar races are the most open and friendly of them all, if you ignore the human splinter group that formed Sapen. They are also the least magically gifted but make up for it with technological prowess, slightly more frequent psionic occurrence, near-constant curiosity and boundless bloodymindedness. Or tenacity, call it what you want. The species group also has the dubious 'honour' of being the only ones capable of being infected with Vamp-V, although they are also all capable of becoming sorcerers, seemingly as if the universe is compensating them for low chances of being mages.
Huminal
The huminals are essentially bipedal, sentient animals, and are thus also known as anthros. All mammals (except monkeys and apes--their 'huminal' counterpart is humans) can be found to have or have had a huminal counterpart, which is why huminals are the third mortal species on the planet that is a vertebrate with extra limbs. However, unlike the other species like that (the fairies and dragons), the huminals only have two breeds out of thousands capable of having two arms, two legs, and two wings: the bat breed and the hybrid gryphon breed. The only other animals with huminal counterparts are birds and a select few reptiles, namely crocodilians and lizards. The bizarre biology of huminals also allows them to produce offspring with any other huminal without the need for magic, but the offspring will be infertile if produced from different huminal orders. An alligator couldn't manage to have fertile children with a pheasant, for example. As a result, most stick to intra-order, where the mechanics work to make the offspring take after one or the other parent enough to consider it of that particular parent's breed. A wolf and an ocelot could produce either a wolf or an ocelot. Or rather, at least one of each, as most huminals produce multiple children in litters/clutches.
Most inter-order matings result in the offspring being a mish-mash of its parents, although most part-birds don't have wings at all. The sole exception to all above rules is the hybrid of a bird-of-prey huminal and a feline huminal. The resulting gryphon has feline lower half but avian upper half in such a way that the arms are like an avian's feet (but with opposable thumbs) and the wings are on the gryphon's back. Sadly, while gryphons can have offspring, those offspring will not be fertile, even if both its parents are gryphons.
Most huminals are omnivorous but do find restrictions in what they can eat depending on species. Mouth shape affects what can be eaten and how it can be eaten, and each huminal needs a diet with a higher-than- normal amount of the type of food in the animal's diet; certain birds need to eat more seeds while birds-of-prey need a higher meat intake, and still other bird types need to eat insects.
Location: Found mostly in the UHHS and Luthen.
Basic Appearance: Bipedal animals, complete with opposable thumbs. Bird huminals have their wings as a part of their arms that flap out when needed/used, while bat and gryphon huminals have their backs.
Social Structure: Huminals are more territorial and hierarchal than humans, but much depends on the animal they are. Cats can be solitary loners while dogs are friendly and sociable, for example.
Strengths: Huminals tend to have certain strengths conferred on them based on breed, such as feline stealth, crocodilian strength, avian flight, canine speed, and so on. They are also slightly more likely to be mages than humans are.
Weaknesses: Huminals gain weaknesses based on breed. Felines are weaker, avians have more brittle bones, crocodilians are slow, canines can have their sensitive noses easily overwhelmed, for example. They also have more dietary restrictions and complications than humans.
Magical Ability: Medium-low. Huminals tend more towards magery than humans but are still unlikely to be. As Familiars, however, they are all capable of sorcery.
Human
Humans. If you're reading this, chances are you're human and won't learn that much from this. But humans have a place in this world, different to what you know. It is humans that have the most technological skill and prowess, even more than that of huminals. It even extends to mana use: most human sorcerers specialise in the mana element of electricity.
Humans tend to be more determined and curious than familiars, but also have a trait that isn't merely an increased version of what the Familiars have. Most creatures in this world need copious amounts of magic to produce a fertile child with a creature outside of their species...except humans. Humans have the amazing ability to create fertile offspring with any other species, and frequently do. There are several part-humans running around, enough for most other species to stereotype humans as all being sex-crazed maniacs. Then there is the little fact that humans are the only species capable of being infected with Theri-V.
The lack of monkey and ape breeds of huminals has led some to theorize that humans are, in fact, the ape breed of huminal. This has yet to be proven, however.
Location: Almost all are found in Uberwald and the UHHS. Sapen is inhabited only by humans.
Basic Appearance: You should know the basic shape, although the original 'true' human is racially what we would call Native American. Other racial traits do crop up, however, usually due to the introduction of a little magic into the bloodline that has altered the DNA in such a way that darker or lighter skinned humans are very common. And oddity of this, however, is that such hair and skin colour combinations that we would consider unnatural are perfectly naturally produced in this world's humans. Plenty of dark-skinned humans have red, blond, even white hair, perfectly naturally from birth, for example.
Social Structure: Humans are usually freer and more open with other species, although it can vary, to the point that Sapen was formed as a highly anti-huminal country. Humans tend to be at the forefront of political movements to lobby any country or organisation, even theirs, to be freer than they are. Two of the biggest currently are lobbies for Garuda to grant their men more rights and for Sapen to allow non-humans more rights within their borders.
Most vampires and viral zombies started human since humans are the ones most likely to advocate the rights of the remorseless bloodsucker who only wants to drain/turn them or the mindless animal trying to claw their faces off.
Strengths: Humans are highly determined, naturally curious, the best technologically, and have the ability to extend into almost any environment and propagate nearly everywhere if allowed to. The low rate of sorcerers and the very low rate of mages is also down to a strange ability that only humans possess. While it is only very mild, humans have the ability to dispel very mild amounts of mana that come within about two feet of them. It is rarely enough to make a visible difference to any spells cast at or by them, but it's there. And there is every possibility that humans could one day breed the ability into a stronger form across every one of them. Should they manage that, it would be the end of all other sentient species on the planet, since even the huminals would not exist without mana.
Weaknesses: Humans can be open to a fault, a fault that gets them killed fairly frequently. Their stubbornness likewise often gets them to hold onto a lost cause until their deaths when the wiser option would've been to get out of there. They are also not very magically gifted, and are the only species capable of being infected with Theri-V.
Magical Ability: Low. While all are capable of becoming sorcerers, few choose to, and the percentage of mages born is the lowest of all species except the Fell.


_________________
I'm a clone of my mum with a copy of my dad's soul uploaded into my brain.

Be a villager in a mob as you try to defend your home from
WEREWOLVES!
Which I'm good at spotting, apparently...
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