Name singular: Bereginya, Palus Syreni. Name plural: Bereginya, Palus Syreni (Doesn't change). Powers/Abilities: Simple Hydrokinesis - power usually limited to manipulate flow of water in swamp, or small river, trapping their victims in the heart of their swamp or lake. But, some Bereginya are granted with extremely powerful control over water, being able to manipulate not only their lake, but some nearby lakes connected by rivers. With modern age, cultural side of this power eventually faded, and started taking on modern style of battling. Shape-Shifting - power limited to turn from skeleton-like monster-fishes, to attractive-looking women or men. Power can also give them ability to change their human appearance at will, but in little portions (changing hair color, changing hair length, changing eye color, etc.). Vocal Control - Power which is based upon sending specially-pitched sound waves into brain of victim, making it loose control over his/her actions, and start drowning in water. This is limited to certain range, with that range changing upon earshot of person, and it's age. Fish Physiology- Ability to partially change their body into a fish-like one (most notable and famous detail of that change - fish-like tail). This also includes increased (or limitless) underwater breathing, and advanced swimming capabilities (example - being able to cross 1 km of river in 5 minutes). Nature Empowerment/Connection - Power, showing itself in full grace only from female type of Bereginya (And from some feminine males). When near kind of forest, or any nature/plant-life, Bereginya's power increases a bit (if it's male), or gradually rises, helping and even healing user (if it's female). Ability can also manifest itself, by projecting plants on one's head, wrists or torso. Lifespan: Normally, they feed on fresh corpses and blood of drowned humans and animals, increasing their lifespan. This makes them extremely weak if the don't usually feed on blood or/and flesh of drowned organisms. Eventually, most of Palus Syreni had found different source of food - special type of "blessed" water, or mix of water plants. [Variable - Average being 140-160 years] Short description: An aquatic race, which began it's history from mutated corpse of drowned human. Physical description: Main difference between Bereginya, since they usually have humanoid form, is their sex. While male one's are usually brute, powerful, defenders of families, female are feminine in their nature, seducing nearly all men and women they see. Hair color ranges from deep navy blue, to teal, to dark green. On some mythical websites is said, that Rusalka (Name that humans gave to it, basing upon urban legends and Slavic mythology) usually has a fish tail, but that's not true: Most common form in which you will see Bereginya is, surprisingly, humanoid form with legs instead of tail, and normal skin. While humanoid form is one they prefer, when hunting, they can shift to half-fish form, as it's much easier to swim in it. Cultural description: Cultural life of Palus Syreni is heavily based on such of Slavic multi-pantheon and totemism, except for one thing: most of their pantheon gods and spirits are based upon various water effects, seasons and events. Head gods are usually (they vary in different tribes) Veles and Myesyats. Veles usually represents earth, water and the underworld, while Myesyats is personification of moon. Veles and Myesyats are treated equally among most of the tribes, but at some either Veles, or Myesyats is treated more due to it's occupancy. Veles is presented as keeper of the underworld, and savior of all tribes, while Myesyats is normally associated with power, and connection to deceased family members. Other worshipped deities are: Vesna (Vesnas in Slovene regions, or nearby regions to Slovenia) - Goddess of spring and nature, worshipped because of usual harvest Bereginya have in spring. It's worshipped via several specific feminine rituals, description of which is kept in a huge secret, and carried from mother to daughters. Dzydzilelya (Mostly spreading among tribes which inhabit Poland and nearby regions) - Goddess of love, marriage, sexuality and fertility. This God is highly associated with marriage rituals, which are preformed usually on day, and on the night of marriage. Porewit - God of woods, who is believed among tribes to hide Bereginya from humans who wander in swamps, and misdirect them from Bereginya inhabitant zones. Idols of Porewit may be found in small wooden huts of Bereginya near lakes.
Bereginya usually have simple architecture, based on advanced Slavic one (look up Russian wooden huts to see an example): it's simplistic, with small additions just for beauty and their pantheon believing. Their houses and villages are often located by massive lakes, rivers and swamps. They choose forest location, with massive forests to hide in. This race is also quite young (especially if compared to Dragons, or others), firstly making appearance from drowned corpse of Slavic person on day of summer solstice, approximately in 790 AD. After another female human drowned, they eventually mated, and created first true Bereginya. This race is extremely connected to nature, often personifications events as spirits and deities (You can usually see female Bereginya wearing flowers in her hair.). They normally ate flesh of humans, until they discovered (approximately in 1300/1400 AD) that they could not only eat humans, but other animals. Human-eating is not common in most (some tribes still perform eating of human flesh as a ritual of becoming a warrior, or a proud house-wife) of tribes. Bereginya also learned how to cultivate fields from humans, and now are being heavily influenced by human technology, as their lifestyle slowly advances. Eventually, because of desire to advance and modernize into technological and political culture of Humans, Bereginya established regions to group themselves, and offer help to others. There are five independent organized regions of Bereginya: BTB (Bereginya Tribes of Balkan - Balkan countries, there are too much!), UBBT (United Baltic Bereginya Tribes - Estonia, Latvia, Litva, some regions of Sweden/Denmark, some regions of Poland/Germany), FRRB/ФРРБ (Federative Republic of Russian Bereginya/Федеративная Республика Российских Берегинь - Russia, Ukraine, Belarus), IPBR(Independent Polish Bereginya Region - Poland and nearby regions) and WEBZ (West European Bereginya Zone - Everything else).
Each region is divid on Districts/Departments - they are governed by four/five/six diplomats each. Each region has it's own three senators in EBDM (European Bereginya Diplomatic Meeting), that talk of their region's name. EBDM speaks mainly of problems with modernization of some distant departments and districts, which are not connected by some problems. Realm: Earth Other: They usually are Pansexual, not caring about who they are seducing, but about quality of the flesh.
...Welp, I tried. Probably missed at least one important thing, but that's alright. I should have a CS up relatively soon. (Hopefully, then again I start school tomorrow, so please bear with me.)
R A C E S H E E T
Name (singular) : Devo ("Dee-voe") Name (plural) : Devos
Powers/Abilities:
- Any Devo can recognize another of their kind, no matter how much they try to hide their identity. In fact, said Devo can even see the non-physical form of the other- making it very easy to harm and/or kill one another.
- Every Devo is born with a item that can be called out of The Forbidden and into Earth, giving it a physical form in which the doll wields like any normal item. These items can range from something as useless as an umbrella, to a small turret gun with an unlimited ammo supply. Said item also can be used as a non-physical weapon, though it's much more dangerous, as the Devo itself has to wield it.
-A Devo cannot be killed in the same ways a normal human would. The only ways to destroy one would be to attack their non-physical form- which roams freely within a 5 foot parameter of their doll, and is extremely flexible with it's shape- or to "starve" them out. This entails destroying their current body beyond repair, and making sure there are no fresh corpses whatsoever within a mile of the doll's place of destruction.
-A Devo cannot heal their physical form naturally, instead they have to spend extra time repairing said body. But, that also means they cannot feel pain either, as their actual body isn't the one taking damage for the majority of the time.
Lifespan: As their physical form never ages, the Devo are technically immortal- though that doesn't mean they're invincible.
Short description: A non-physical being, Devos are a parasitical race that possess "dolls"- which are the reserved corpses of unfortunate humans. They act as the puppet masters of said doll, linking their own essence to the physical form and practically living through it.
Physical description: Classified as a non-physical being on Earth, Devos live in "dolls"- preserved corpses of unfortunate humans. Though, it is relatively easy to recognize a Devo's doll, as they all share three common characteristics:
a) The hair is colorless, appearing as a white/silver-ish color, sometimes even looking translucent. b) The body never grows, and in fact can have their joints fashioned similarly to a human puppet's if the Devo is careless. c) The doll is blind, their eyes being either all-black or all-white. A Devo doesn't need their body to function in order to use it, as they simply control it's actions from an outside point of view, like a puppet master.
Of course, a Devo can hide these characteristics to a certain degree- whether by dying their hair, putting in contacts, or simply saying they're appearance is just young for their age.
The actual appearance of a Devo, is more of a shadowy mass, always paired with a skull face of some sort. They can control this shadowy mass at will, so their actual size/form depends.
Cultural description:
When a human soul dies, its feelings are accumulated into an entity that takes a mind of it's own- a deviation of the original soul, if you will (a Devo). Being created in another plane of existence parallel to Earth, a Devo's instinctual goal is to find another human who is or is about to witness death first-hand (because it is impossible for a Devo to interact with the soul that created them).
Within a month, a Devo will find a fresh corpse that still has the previous owner's soul linked (if they don't, they'll die a premature death by fading away into nothingness). They then make the attempt to contract with the human soul, tempting them to link the two entities together with offers of immortality, revenge, and a "second chance at life".
If the human accepts, the Devo forces the soul back into their corpse, beginning the process of creating their "doll". Most of the time, the human's body will "reverse"- or physically become younger using a natural record imbedded within the soul. Though, by doing this, the Devo's influence can sometimes confuse this imprint, using the terminology of a "Doll" and literally transforming the body into a flesh-and-blood, squishy puppet-doll of sorts, separating tissue and creating the aesthetics of said inanimate object. This process is extremely painful- usually destroying any defiance the human soul may have, while at the same time preserving the Devo's spirit (as they would have died if they had undergone such things themselves while at the same time preparing the body.
After the process is complete, they then trap the human's soul within its previous vessel, also allowing the Devo to link themselves to the physical form of their new "doll", controlling it from the outside with its will. This provides an "anchor" to a stable realm and, in turn, keeps the Devo alive. Said human's consciousness is then absorbed by the Devo, leaving memories and valuable information needed to adapt to their environment.
While most Devos act alone, it isn't all that uncommon to find small groups/pairs of them supporting one another- such as a tight-knit group of friends, or even sworn rivals. But, while they do socialize, it's more like human socialization than anything else most of the time- well, it is until a large group of Devos come together.
When such a thing happens, the Devo suddenly have this urge to be the superior to the others. Unexplainable, it's just a feeling, some relate to it as "unchangeable". Most of the time, this means that a free-for-all battle commences, and the last one standing becomes a leader. Once a leader is appointed, the following Devo cannot leave the group, and must follow every "command" given to them by their leader. Comparable to the ant hierarchy, Devo's follow their leaders orders, even if it means their death in the process.Sometimes, though, a rare occurrence of a Devee appears.
A Devee is practically alike with a Devo in everyway- except that they excrete an aura of pure dominance when threatened by their own kind. When such an occurrence appears, the Devee is automatically appointed as leader of that group- and also has the added benefit of recruiting any other groups of Devo that are not lead by a Devee.
If a Devee meets another Devee, it is an unspoken law among the Devo that the two must fight for control over the other's group. Most of the time, it's a fight to the death, but sometimes a Devee will surrender to another, becoming the winner's follower as a result. This is frowned upon
It is also possible for a Devee to absorb their followers as well- but most don't, because that's cannibalism.
However, if one were to consume the others, it is said that they will earn the ownership to that Devo's item- adding to the Devee's own personal collection.
Of course, as with any parasitic species, the Devos bring up some valuable questions.
If the doll is previously deceased, how can the Devos live in society?
They don't. Devos, even after being recently created, are rapid-knowledge learners- that is to say, they'll think something, and then they have to know the resolution to that question. So, most Devos take their dolls into hiding, waiting for about 10-30 years before deeming it safe to move on. They usually live homeless for a few years (though sometimes they manage to snag themselves a new identity).
How does the Devo create a fake identity? Wouldn't there be DNA and stuff to prove their doll is a corpse?
How do you think humans get away with it? Of course, the black market and "corruptness" of certain areas make it great for anybody to disappear, and come back an entirely new person (pun intended).
Are Devos gendered? How does reproduction work for them?
Devos themselves aren't gendered, but they simply go with whatever their doll's gender is. As for reproduction... they don't reproduce. Just, no.
Realm: The Devo race originate from another (more unstable) plane of existence parallel to Earth, called "The Forbidden". The Forbidden is unstable, meaning that anything created in there usually doesn't survive for longer than a month. Once a Devo links themselves to a physical body, however, they are then anchored into Earth's realm- though their "true" existence is still akin to a soul that has a form, controlling their physical body like a puppet master.
When a human soul dies, its feelings are accumulated into an entity that takes a mind of it's own- a deviation of the original soul, if you will (a Devo).
Does this mean that the Devo is an offshoot of the original human soul? And that the original soul still exists somewhere else?
I say this because there will inevitably be more races/realms that make reference to the existence of souls/an afterlife. So, keeping said afterlife scenarios in mind, I want to make sure that human souls can still become something other than Devos -- and that the human souls don't, like, lose a fraction of themselves which then becomes a Devo (which is what the "its feelings are accumulated into an entity..." part sort of implies). It's cool if the death of a human creates a sort of duplicate soul that becomes a Devo -- I just want to make sure that the original human souls still exist in full, so that they can move on to whatever sort of existence future ambassadors have in mind for them. :P
You can keep the part about trapping and absorbing human souls, though, since that's a thing that would only happen to a human that's possessed by a Devo, rather than being a definitive "this is what happens to all humans when they die" sort of scenario.
Also, their physical forms -- are they invisible, or no? You listed the ability to see a Devo's non-physical form under their list of powers, which implies that the non-physical forms of Devos can only be seen by other Devos, but I wasn't totally sure. Is it the sort of thing where they can choose to be invisible, but also choose to show themselves to others if they so wish? (While other Devos are still always capable of seeing them whether they become invisible or not?)
Name singular: Dobrynya, Palus Syreni.
Name plural: Dobrynia, Palus Nudato.
Powers/Abilities: Simple Hydrokinesis, usually limited to manipulate flow of water in swamp, or small river, trapping their victims in the heart of their swamp or lake.
Mutation, with ability to turn from skeleton-like monster-fishes, to attractive-looking women or men.
Vocal Control, basically based upon sending specially-pitched sound waves into brain of victim, making it loose control over his/her actions, and start drowning in water. This is limited to certain range, with that range basing upon hear-ability of person, and it's age.
Lifespan: Normally, they feed on fresh corpses and blood of drowned humans and animals, increasing their lifespan. This makes them extremely weak if the don't usually feed on blood or/and flesh of drowned organisms. Eventually, most of Palus Syreni had found different source of food - special type of "blessed" water, or mix of water plants. [Variable]
Short description: An aquatic race of mutated corpses of the drowned, with huge influence onto Slavic culture.
Physical description: Male Palus Syreni and female one have a lot differences: first of all, they are mostly humanoid, not showing any sights of being fish-like, so they are first of all different by sex. Secondary, while mermen are brute, handsome men, who usually swim naked in swamp or lake to attract females, mermaids can be either brute, or pure and innocent. Thirdly, while male do not have skeleton form, instead having kind of cursed thawed-wax skin and body, female have extremely sharp skeleton form with kind of "hair". When exposed to "upper world", they can adapt to dry climate, usually loving to bath and drink.
Cultural description: Cultural life of this type of mermaids/mermen is heavily based on such of Slavic multi-pantheon and totemism, except for one thing: most of their pantheon is based on various water effects. It's very hard to explain Dobrynya's mythology and pantheon, since it has been heavily evolving upon past few years, adapting to modern world with humans. More about relationships with humans: while most people still believe in Slavic mythic being, most of them are actually in contact them, heavily spreading on countries of: Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, and others. Government of Russia had even established a mini-siren republic (!) within normal country. Other than that, Dobrynia's usually live loner-style, or in state-like tribes.
Realm: Earth
Other: They usually are Pansexualic, not caring about who they are seducing, just caring about quality of the flash.
Don't invalidate his tumblirisms, that'll begin triggering him, next thing you know he'll be asking for special pronouns!
disclaimer: not intending to be offensive, just sarcasting fun-poking.
We're wordsmiths... we take words, heat them in a furnace, pound them into shape, heat them again, pound them again, and repeat until we have a pleasing/functional "shape". Then we dunk them in water for tempering, grind, polish, and present them for public use.
Don't invalidate his tumblirisms, that'll begin triggering him, next thing you know he'll be asking for special pronouns!
disclaimer: not intending to be offensive, just sarcasting fun-poking.
We're wordsmiths... we take words, heat them in a furnace, pound them into shape, heat them again, pound them again, and repeat until we have a pleasing/functional "shape". Then we dunk them in water for tempering, grind, polish, and present them for public use.
...Ok but, seriously though, Clownpiece is right -- the word is "pansexual", not "pansexualic". ...That's really all that needs to be said on the matter. XD
...Ok but, seriously though, Clownpiece is right -- the word is "pansexual", not "pansexualic". ...That's really all that needs to be said on the matter. XD
Powers/Abilities: Air Sense: Sylphs do not see any better or worse than any other races, but they have one remarkable sense. A Sylph can feel the presence of objects and creatures by the air they displace. This is a variant of tremorsense, except it requires air and not ground. Thus, Air Sense does not work underwater or any other places where there is no air. Otherwise, it serves as tremorsense except it does not require the target to be touching a surface, merely be within air.
Keen Hearing: Due to their affinity with air, sylphs are great on sound-based perception checks. Air Affinity: sylphs can Manipulate air however they want.
Lifespan: Sylphs live about the same length of time as humans do, and have a definite childhood and adulthood. Unlike most races, however, Sylphs do not ever suffer from the ravages of age. They do not have a middle age or a dotage. Once they reach adulthood at the age of twenty, they live, more or less unchanged, until they reach the age of ninety or so. A Sylph in their eighties looks identical to a Sylph in their twenties. As a result, many Sylphs begin their adventuring careers quite a bit later than a human would, since they maintain their vigor much longer.
When a Sylph reaches the end of their lifespan, there is no warning. One moment the Sylph will be talking and acting normally, and the next instant, there is a powerful gust of wind and their empty clothes fall to the floor. Death due to age for Sylphs is sudden and comes in an instant. As a result, Sylphs of great age tend to treasure every day as if it might be their last, because it is literally true. Curiously, Sylphs that die of accidents or violence leave physical bodies behind; only old age causes their forms to abruptly disperse.
Short description: Ethereal folk of elemental air that are the result of human blood mixed with that of airy elemental folk. They can become powerful elemental sorcerers with command over their particular elemental dominion and tend to be beautiful and lithe who have a knack for eavesdropping.
Physical Description: Sylphs tend to be pale and thin to the point of appearing delicate, but their skinny bodies are often more resilient than they look. Many sylphs can easily pass for humans with some effort, though the complex markings that swirl across their skin reveal their elemental ancestry. Sylphs also bear more subtle signs of their heritage, such as a slight breeze following them wherever they go. These signs become more pronounced as a sylph experiences intense passion or anger, spontaneous gusts of wind tousling the sylph's hair or hot blusters knocking small items off of shelves.
Cultural description: Sylph culture is an odd mixture of rabid freedom-loving dislike for authority combined with a fierce loyalty towards the person they trust. Sylphs value their personal relations very highly, and tend to like other Sylphs a great deal more than other races. They are not exactly xenophobic, but they certainly have that tendency. Sylphs marry for life and they don't take that bond lightly. As a result, many Sylphs marry considerably later than other races.
Sylphs are usually born to human parents, and so are raised according to human customs. Most sylphs dislike the attention they receive growing up in human society, so it's common for them to leave home soon after coming of age. They rarely abandon civilization altogether, however, preferring instead to find some new city or settlement where they can go unnoticed among (and spy upon) the masses. A sylph who happens upon another sylph unnoticed instantly becomes obsessed with her kin, spying on and learning as much about the other as she possibly can. Only after weighing all the pros and cons and formulating plans for every potential outcome will the sylph introduce herself to the other. Rarely, two sylphs will discover each other's presence in a community at the same time. What ensues thereafter is a sort of cat-and-mouse game, a convoluted dance in which each sylph spies on the other as both attempt to gain the upper hand. Sylphs who meet this way always become either inseparable friends or intractable enemies.
Sylphs have their own calendar, based upon the cycles of the heavens, and their own system of holidays, based upon the turning of the seasons. They have many holidays, and celebrate birthdays within their families with great enthusiasm. Birthdates that are shared between two members of a family are considered tremendous good omens, and any such dates will be celebrated with at least several days of fetes and the lavish exchange of gifts within the family.
Sylphs have little regard for laws and traditions, for such strictures often prohibit the very things sylphs love—subterfuge and secrecy. This doesn't mean sylphs are opposed to law, merely that they use the most expedient means available to accomplish their goals, legal or not. Most sylphs are thus neutrally aligned. Sylphs are naturally drawn to mystery cults, and to deities who focus on secrets, travel, or knowledge.
Realm: Earth
Other: Sylphs enjoy prying into the affairs of most other races, but have little taste for actually associating with most of them. Sylphs can relate on some level with elves, who share their tendency toward aloofness, but often spoil any possible relationship by violating the elven sense of privacy. Dwarves distrust sylphs intensely, considering them flighty and unreliable. They form excellent partnerships with halflings, relying on the short folk's courage and people skills to cover their own shortcomings. Sylphs are amused by the annoyed reactions they provoke in ifrits, and find oreads too boring to give them much attention.
You described sylphs as "the result of human blood mixed with that of airy elemental folk". Does this mean that all sylphs are the offspring of a human and an "airy elemental folk"? Like how a mule is the offspring of a donkey and a horse? (Also, does this imply that sylphs are infertile and can't have children of their own?)
You said that sylphs are typically born to human parents. Does that mean that each one typically has one human parent, like with the above scenario, or that they typically have two human parents? And if it's the latter -- how does a sylph come into being in the first place? What causes two human parents to give birth to a sylph? And not only that -- how would the parents remain unaware that their child isn't human?
If sylphs are born to human parents, how can they have their own calendar and holidays? Being born into human families implies that they would be raised like humans, and therefore follow whatever calendar that they were raised with. And also, how would sylphs know about their heritage as sylphs in the first place? Would they have to go out and find other sylphs in order to learn about what they are and where they came from?
Lastly, I'm a bit iffy about the mentions of "elves", "dwarves", "halflings", etc -- since we don't have ambassadors for any of those things. I mean, it's ok to assume that common races such as this exist, and they'll probably at least be mentioned in Omnibus whether or not we have player characters for them -- but making these kinds of assumptions about what those races would be like is probably not the best plan.
I'm sorry if this comes across as rude, but I'm not sure you understand what sort of universe this RP is set in. This RP takes place in modern times, with human society being essentially the same as it is in our world. Magic is kept secret from humans. And... a lot of this race sheet just doesn't make any sense in the context of this universe. All in all, this sounds like it would make more sense in a DnD game than it would for this RP. So, I think there need to be some pretty important edits made in order for this race sheet to work. o_o""
You described sylphs as "the result of human blood mixed with that of airy elemental folk". Does this mean that all sylphs are the offspring of a human and an "airy elemental folk"? Like how a mule is the offspring of a donkey and a horse? (Also, does this imply that sylphs are infertile and can't have children of their own?)
You said that sylphs are typically born to human parents. Does that mean that each one typically has one human parent, like with the above scenario, or that they typically have two human parents? And if it's the latter -- how does a sylph come into being in the first place? What causes two human parents to give birth to a sylph? And not only that -- how would the parents remain unaware that their child isn't human?
If sylphs are born to human parents, how can they have their own calendar and holidays? Being born into human families implies that they would be raised like humans, and therefore follow whatever calendar that they were raised with. And also, how would sylphs know about their heritage as sylphs in the first place? Would they have to go out and find other sylphs in order to learn about what they are and where they came from?
Lastly, I'm a bit iffy about the mentions of "elves", "dwarves", "halflings", etc -- since we don't have ambassadors for any of those things. I mean, it's ok to assume that common races such as this exist, and they'll probably at least be mentioned in Omnibus whether or not we have player characters for them -- but making these kinds of assumptions about what those races would be like is probably not the best plan.
I'm sorry if this comes across as rude, but I'm not sure you understand what sort of universe this RP is set in. This RP takes place in modern times, with human society being essentially the same as it is in our world. Magic is kept secret from humans. And... a lot of this race sheet just doesn't make any sense in the context of this universe. All in all, this sounds like it would make more sense in a DnD game than it would for this RP. So, I think there need to be some pretty important edits made in order for this race sheet to work. o_o""
I just got ninja'd. Really well too, this touches on all my own critiques in great detail. Maybe I'll review the opposite direction: newest first and we'll meet in the middle.
@DANAsaur
Anyways, adding on to this, Earth is similar to the real world, but that doesn't mean you can't create your own realm that houses fantasy races you might find in a Tolkien-style high-fantasy world. Like Kaga said though, try to leave other races open for anyone who might want to flesh them out.
Ok... so... I hate to sound pedantic, but, just to make sure we have all our bases covered, I want to clarify -- is it truly based on gender or is it based on sex? Because... there's a difference.
Sex is biological. It's about what's in your chromosomes and what's in your pants.
Gender has to do with, well, gender identity. It's about whether you feel masculine or feminine (or neither/both).
Granted, if your race is ethereal enough that they wouldn't really have biological sexes, then, well, that answers that question. I don't think it will make a huge difference either way, but, I figured I should ask just to make sure we're really clear on where exactly this difference of powers comes from. (Also, for sake of simplicity, I won't make you factor in third genders or anything of the sort if you don't want to.)
Yuki can create illusions from snow, they can look like a house, or a person, or even (for very Yuki) entire towns.
Ok... so... I may be the one who's ignorant here, but, is there a difference between "Asiatic" and "Asian"? Because I had to google "Asiatic" to figure out exactly what it meant. And based on google's results, it seems to just mean the same thing as "Asian". So, unless there's a difference, it might be better to just say "Asian".
However sometimes this can cause nearby human villages/towns/cities to blame everything that goes wrong on the Yuki and they are often hunted,
Once again, humans aren't supposed to know about magic or magical creatures in this universe. So any encounters with these non-human races would have to be limited to the sorts of things that could easily be written off as myths, urban legends, etc. The sort of thing where one person could claim they saw something magical/supernatural happening and most people wouldn't believe them. Sooo a situation where the existence of a magical race is common knowledge? Not really doable...
Since this seems to be a common point of confusion, I'm thinking I should make this more clear on the OP somewhere... :/
The Yuki are effectively split up into a body and a soul, the male and the female.
So... does this mean that male yuki have physical bodies, while the females are ethereal? Or is this just a metaphor?
In other news, the fact that Iwaku apparently doesn't allow me to highlight and quote a specific part of the post if you're highlighting something that's in a spoiler is really starting to bother me....
I just got ninja'd. Really well too, this touches on all my own critiques in great detail. Maybe I'll review the opposite direction: newest first and we'll meet in the middle.
Anyways, adding on to this, Earth is similar to the real world, but that doesn't mean you can't create your own realm that houses fantasy races you might find in a Tolkien-style high-fantasy world.
Lesser earthbound creatures such as dogs, birds, and humans with little impulse control will often find themselves obeying a dragon's word on impulse. This effect is not magical in nature, and is easily resisted by anyone who makes a conscious choice to do so. It is largely speculated that this is something of a survival strategy, as there was a time when dragonkind dominated the planet,
Ok... saying that dragonkind "once dominated the planet" is iffy, but I might've let it slide if not for the fact that you referenced dragons still being able to command humans like this and have them obey them. But... humans do not know about magic or magical creatures in this world. So... yeah. I mean, if you want to get really technical, you could argue there's still nothing wrong with this description, but... it sort of implies that dragon/human interaction is a bit more commonplace than it should be.
Ehhh... I'm not sure how much I like the idea of something so bestial being a playable race... ideally, all students at Omnibus should be sapient enough that they aren't just "monsters with the minds of animals". :/
Cultural description: Once, in a time long before the advent of humanity, the Draconic Empire held uncontested dominion over the earth. While theirs was not the only empire, they were by far the greatest and mightiest among the old kingdoms. They constructed massive monuments to the empire's glory, and had sprawling cities fit to house such titanic creatures on every continent. Not even the moon escaped their influence, housing a massive palace dedicated to research of both magic and technology. They were, understandably, a proud culture, seeing themselves as the greatest of beings in the cosmos. In these days, dragons would live to be thousands of years old, amassing incredible hordes of treasure and knowledge. Young dragons were given complex, grandiose names to signify their greatness. These names would grow as a dragon aged, eventually detailing virtually everything there was to know about a particular dragon. Massive amounts of wealth poured endlessly into the empire, and they managed to conquer countless worlds, creating enormous gateways to other planets. Eventually though, even the greatest empires must fall. A dragon scientist, who is remembered only as "Chianir-Vhisar" or "Cheating Betrayer" due to his true name being seen as an accursed word that would be heresy to record or speak brought about the fall of the empire. This dragon summoned some sort of terrible creature from the space between realities. While the Empire's mighty military eventually killed the creature, disposing of it's body in a black hole, the monster left something behind: A plague. It infected any being with innate magics and corrupted them, turning the host's own power against it and killing it within a matter of days. The dragons, beings with such incredible mystic power, failed to find a way to cure the disease in time, and their mighty civilization crumbled slowly into extinction. The few dragons that survived the plague were spread out across the cosmos, thus leading to the once mighty empire's present state. Even now, most surviving dragons are incredibly proud of their heritage, and will tolerate no disrespect from the so called "lesser beasts." A dragon is a creature that demands respect, but many settle for fear. After the fall of their empire, most dragons despise parasitic life-forms, seeing them as manifestation of the extradimensional evil that brought down their once mighty civilization.
Oooookey... soooo... if you want to do something like this, there are some things that need to be addressed:
In order for things to stay secret, any evidence of the Draconian Empire's existence would essentially need to be erased from history. ...Save for like, maybe a few things that could easily be written off as myth or just weird unexplained phenomena. How would all of this disappear?
So... this plague that kills magical beings... I'm assuming it would've died out by now? Also, now that I think of it... this would force everyone else to make sure that the histories of their own races account for this plague, but... eh. I think that's fairly doable, depending on the time frame of it.
Although, now that I think about it, what does bother me is the fact that everyone else would have to account for the fact that dragons were apparently the kings of the multiverse for quite a good long while, and I'm not sure I'm keen on the implications of that. Giving them a presence in other realms? Eh... we can work with that, I guess. But having them rule earth... meh. The nice thing about having that whole humans-don't-know-about-magic thing is that it provides a nice default setting for everyone to put their race's into. If a certain race isn't hidden and is as clearly present in the world as these dragons were, then that means everyone else has to account for that when creating their races (and their general understanding of this whole world), which could make things very complicated very quickly. So, I kind of want to avoid doing that sort of thing whenever possible, so that the potential conflicts between everyone's lore stays at a minimum. Much easier to make everything fit together that way, you know?
Edit: ALSO!! I don't exactly have any hard rules against super-powerful races, but the way the dragons in particular are written is really setting off a lot of my red flags when it comes to godmoddy potential. @_@ If you want dragons to be huge and ferocious and really powerful, that's cool. But the long lists of everything they can do and all the things they're immune to, all of which leave them with seemingly no weaknesses and a really ridiculous resume... yeah, it might be best to cut down on a lot of that.
Edit2: I'll look at your character later. Not only do I want to get through all the races first, I have a feeling that major changes in your race sheet will also mean that your character sheet may call for some edits to be made...
On account of all the confusion that has come up: I've edited something onto the OP about how magic is kept secret from humans, etc etc. Basically all the stuff I've already told players who ran into issues with this. :P Hopefully this helps clear things up for future ambassadors.
Is this essentially the same thing as the TARDIS's "translation circuits" in Doctor Who? Where everyone hears their own native language, regardless of what language everyone around them is actually speaking?
This is probably going to really annoy you if you haven't seen this show, but, is this comparable to the "perception filter" from Doctor Who? Where the person using the perception filter is technically not invisible, per se -- it's just that everyone around them usually fails to notice them?
I have to go now, so I'll look at the rest of the race sheet later -- I just figured I might as well post this part up now, since you seemed to eager for me to take a look at it, and I wouldn't want to keep you waiting. :P
All Nism trace their lineage back to the original Thousand Pairs through their Bloodline names. One thousand Bloodline names exist, every father passing his to his sons, every mother passing hers to her daughters, ever since their Creators created their species over five million years ago.
So... what would happen if a Nism decides they don't want kids? Or is that heresy? :P Seriously though, is there anything really preventing such a scenario? Is there a reason why not a single bloodline has died out after all this time?
Also, now that I think about it, I'm not sure how all of these bloodlines could remain "pure", so to speak, without some serious inbreeding. o_o" I imagine that, inevitably, you'll have members of one bloodline breeding with members of another -- and at that point, which name is passed on? And even if they always have enough offspring to ensure that every bloodline name gets passed down (and that's a big "if"), is there really much point in keeping track of these "bloodlines" anymore if they would all inevitably become homogenized through interbreeding? Moreover, if the names are always passed down father-to-son and mother-to-daughter, what would happen if poor Henry VIII doesn't bear a son, so to speak? Also, if combining bloodlines means combining their respective names as well... I imagine that, five million years down the line, we'd have Nism with surnames long enough to make Vash the Stampede blush.
Realm: Creator Homeworld ... earthlike world circling a G2 star, location and actual name unknown. Whole biome is a well-tended natural "garden". Nism "cities" tend to mix architecture from all over the Universe, though much is integrated into their natural environs, everything kept in balance.
