Tuesday, August 16, 2011

The Races of Earth -- DRAFT

“Race” is an imprecise word to use on the planet of Earth, and the means by which one is determined to belong to one race or another are rather inaccurate, existing instead in a fine gray area. The living beings do not fit into neat little pigeon-holes, “human” or “elf” or what have you, and each being’s make-up seems different. They have a mixture of traits and affinities and other little overlapping aspects that happen to tend in one direction or any myriad of others. But for the sake of labels, of tools to define their world, living creatures have always grouped themselves in some way. Below are many of the known “races” on this earth guided by the Spirit of Gaia.

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-Dreamers are the creators of the world, the pure, imaginative, vibrant souls from whom wishes and hopes take form. A Dreamer by nature animates the world around them; when they are young, living things spring forth from their most ardent dreams and hopes. However, their powers do not know how to distinguish from good or bad on their own, and a youthful Dreamer often conjures up a few horrible beasts from a nightmare, or changes inanimate things into living creatures without intending to, until they learn to control their vast powers. They can, by shaping in their mind, create things from pure force of energy—each new thing is granted a little piece of the Dreamer’s self, should they wish for it to last. The larger the creation, the more they must invest. Their energy can regrow, but it does take time and cultivation.

Youthful Dreamers must also face another worry; should they give of themselves sexually to another for the first time without love, many often find that they lose their gifts. Dreamers therefore must be very judicious in how they choose to share themselves, in both romance and creation. If they pledge themselves to another in that first time, with genuine love present, a very strong bond can be formed that prevents later corruption or loss of power. Older Dreamers are wise and powerful, the kind of beings that could change the very world itself if they truly believed in a cause. All of their kind possess great powers for healing illnesses and wounds, and the elder or more gifted can even raise the dead with a Kiss of Life. Dreamers can also change the natural landscape of the world around them, reviving a barren desert, or purifying a dead sea. Their imaginations are the limit. They are often known, for many of these reasons, as the First Children of Gaia. When classed as mages, they are almost always enchanters, and their powers always lie within the use of life magic.

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-Those Who Can Alter the Nature of Bodies, whom have never existed in large enough numbers to have been given a proper name in any time period. They can change the very building blocks that physically compose themselves and often others; they can steal, copy, or swap appearances, powers, and/or genetics. Whether delving into genotypes or just the phenotypes, they deal with one’s DNA.

Some are not born gifted enough to do so consciously. These people will instead focus instinctively on one aspect of themselves, their strength, their looks, their smarts, or otherwise, and their energy will go towards bolstering this attribute; they will continue to develop and develop, even after going well beyond predictable human limits for such traits. Dangerous and unknown side-effects can arise from such growth. Those who can consciously control their gifts often live to long ages; but their kind is known to deceive, and often run across trouble.

Their powers do not derive from a single kind of magic; instead, they drawn upon the energies of life, beauty, strength, and potentially others to do their workings. Their powers often come the closest to science of any of the other kinds known, and indeed, biologists and doctors have often desired to know more of their kind in the rare times when they have crossed paths. It is often said that you can never truly know when you might be staring into the face of one of their kind, unless you are to witness them use their powers firsthand. They often run in long lines of families, one of which is the family of the Felujas (now the bloodline has run to the Dionnes.)

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-Humans are the cloth from which many of the other kinds are cut, the basic pattern that all of the intelligent races have followed on the earth. In their way, they have many gifts some may take for granted; they are mortal, and do not have to endure the hardships of longer lives, nor the passing of many loved ones; they do not have powers with which to struggle to learn or control; they are free to believe and live as they wish, without ever so much as a concern of running afoul of the Spirits or other rules or issues of magic. They are the most widespread and populous race on the earth. Even two parents who possess powers may not pass on their abilities to a child, and can sometimes instead have human offspring. How rare this is differs amongst many groups. Humanity is the thread that binds these many races together as a species.

They are called various things by the other races, such as “vanillas”, “mortals”, “plains”, “normals”, and others. All humans, and by extension, all their living races of earth have at least a small amount of life magic within their souls. They are comprised of flesh, a soul, and at least this little bit of magic from Gaia. Normal humans are often seen as defenseless “sheep” to supernatural predators.

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-Mages are humans that have been gifted with greater magic within their souls, beyond that which is needed solely for their own life force. They possess enough energy that, with talent, they can manipulate and control the energy that springs from them to perform spells and other feats. Often their specialty lies in one kind of magic, such as water or fire, that they possess an abundance of energy in, but they can also possess other types in conjunction with this, often life or strength magic. Dreamers are often viewed as a kind of special mage, highly gifted in the magic of life. Mages can have children that are simply human, or children that inherit magical abilities, following varying lines of inheritance amongst many groups (gypsies, for example, tend to pass magic from mothers to daughters, etc.) Children do not necessarily inherit the same type of magic as their parents (a water-mage mother could have a fire-mage son, and so on, depending on the various kinds of magic that may run in their bloodline.) Even a Dreamer may not have a Dreamer child (but they do more often than a mage would, should they retain their powers after losing their virginity.)

Some doubt the abilities of mages, but they are the second most widespread race on the earth, after humans, and have a governing body, the International Council of Mages, that regulates against the misuse of magic in the modern day. Mages who travel to other worlds are attractive to magical energies, and may grow greatly in raw power from such absorption. Many are able to heal physical injuries and some degrees of illness. They often make very powerful offensive and defensive foes. Their magic bends to the power of their will and experience. The strongest of their kind can shape and affect the very elemental forces of nature on earth.

Because of their greater numbers, humans have been more aware of their kind than any of the others amongst them. At different times throughout history, humankind has revered and feared the mages; two of the worst times were the Witch Trials and the Gypsy Purge of the 1600s and 1700s. They have been venerated as shamans by the Yavin, as seers by Remulans (Romans), and as respected advisors and protectors in the modern age. The monks of Zhenghe and the gypsies of Rubato are two large groups of mages that show the vastly different traditions and attitudes various societies of mages live and practice under. There is always much to learn for a mage.

Amongst themselves, mages are occasionally classified by their level of skill, potential, and power in using magic. Highest amongst these are enchanters; lowest are mere magicians, and between are sorcerers and wizards (between which, differences are more so based on their application of magic, rather than much difference in skill; sorcerers use it in a more raw form, while wizards are more scholarly, less practical, both of them wielding the energies at a mid-level. Enchanters masterfully apply magic in both ways, and more.) “Witch” has become a derogatory term against mages, taking on an especially negative association during the Witch Trial years. Countries in the modern day have taken to appointing Royal and/or National Mages to serve on the International Council of Mages (ICoM) and advise and work with their nation's rulers concerning all magical matters within their land and otherwise. Often times, these respected and powerful Mages are called upon in times of war and other crises, as well as to deal with abusers of magic. The individual traditions and practices of this post varies from nation to nation and ruler to ruler, but they most commonly are a position for life, and one of the highest callings for a mortal user of magic.

Most of the Spirits were once mages in life. Depending on their magic level, mages are often sensitive to supernatural and magical presences, powers, and influences that humans are not, and can detect and guard against these things better than a normal mortal could. Since their magic relies upon their willpower to be used, mages of strong wills can possess formidable defenses against the abilities of supernatural predators. Mages can specialize in nearly any kind of magic, from the major kinds represented by the Spirits (life, death, time, justice, love, sleep, beauty, fire, water, lightning, shadow, darkness, light, ice, wind, earth, or strength), or lesser-known kinds such as emotion and music/sound. Some kinds of magic are more prevalent in some areas of the world than others.

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-Healers are a special kind of mage, with great gifts not only in the area of healing physical injuries and illnesses, but even more. It is said that they can repair damage done to souls gradually, making them invaluable allies against fae and wraiths. The older and more powerful the healer, the more quickly and more fully this damage is repaired. Many mages do not, in fact, know they are healers, instead believing themselves just to be light magic-wielding mages. They often cannot manipulate their powers in these cases, and will instead simply give off an aura of healing that affects all those around them, but never is consciously focused on the repair of any one specific person. It is not until they become aware of their gifts that they can use them to more precise effect.

Their kind are often a dreamy, detached sort, with greater sensitivity to malicious spirits. Some have an affinity for the spiritual world and can communicate with departed souls, or see brief visions of the future. Meditation helps them even more than mages and Dreamers, and can center them and help them grow in awareness of their powers. Happiness and calm are aids in their healing. The stronger healers are a powerful deterrent against malicious spiritual predators.

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-Fae are soulless beings made of flesh and magic that feed upon life energy to sustain their forms and powers. They reside solely in Gaia’s personal realm, the Realm of Life, separate from the material realm of the living where humans exist. None but Gaia herself have seen these fae, but they are known through stories and legends in many cultures.

The fae are said to have sprung forth from the sheer abundance of life-giving magic in Gaia’s realm, well before the birth of humankind. They may wield many kinds of magic without specialization, and seem to possess boundless potential to learn to use more. Some serve as guardians to an Astral River that flows through their pristine, idyllic home realm. They regard Gaia as their mother and the reason for their existence, but have few apparent emotions or morals otherwise. This is not to say that they are evil--but rather, they do not understand right or wrong in the way humans do. Both concepts are foreign constructs to them. They live without conflict in their realm, flying on beautiful wings and absorbing more energy to sustain themselves, even as they release other positive energies into the realm in return. They are believed to be immortal.

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Spirits: While not a race of their own, Spirits are the souls of particularly magically-gifted humans who have passed on, and have the duty of governing the balance of the various kinds of magic in the world. Each type (such as light, water, fire, etc.) has its own singular Spirit. The first two original Spirits, Gaia, the Spirit of Life, and Morticus, the Spirit of Death, were the first two living beings left to care for the planet by the gods who created the world. Other Spirits have come and gone in the following millennia.

(More details to come, I'm just lazy/busy and there is a LOT of info to compile from over the years on this particular group)