Post by acclue lockheart on Jun 25, 2009 20:52:38 GMT -5
Alright, here are some original RP settings that I have made over the past few months. I offered them on the chatbox and here they are. Be aware that I just pasted them right from other forums I've put them in, so there might be some stuff I didn't bother editing...
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Kitsuneakki
Kitsuneakki system rules (note to previous members of the game: I took some creative liberties with this so that it makes just a bit more sense. If I take something further than you like, tell me about it. I think I got everything down on here, tell me if I forgot anything!)
Kitsuneakki originally took place in ancient Japan with anthropomorphic animals as Demons... and that's where the similarities to Inuyasha end, so stop f***ing saying it's a fan-game! There are lots of stories with Demons like that, and we were so geographically inaccurate with the story that whenever I write in the setting, I simply refer to it as a made-up supercontinent called 'Thryll'. This game is very open-ended, and we were still making rules to the world right up to when it ended, so certain things are still up in the air for you to decide.
Geography
As of yet, the only real notable permanent geographic feature worth listing is the forest that divides the island in half from East to West. The forest is nearly impossible for Demons to cross because of a type of spore that falls naturally from the trees. The spore causes those who inhale it to enter a euphoric state that shuts down the muscular system. These spores only act fast enough to affect those with powerful senses of smell, such as animals and Demons. A Human in the forest would find a Demon collapsing, completely paralyzed, only minutes after entering, whereas they wouldn't even feel drowsy after several weeks time within the forest. As such, a Human system breaks down the spore too fast for it to ever negatively affect them much at all. There are two rivers that flow in opposite directions through the forest; some Demons choose to risk putting themselves on boats on these rivers to go through, but Humans tend to go around the exit ends, so they would have to be lucky.
Races
Humans
Why would I have to tell you about these? They're the same thing as in real life.
Demons
Demon is a broad term used for the animal-like races of Thryll. They were named as such by Humans, who, for the wide majority, despise them and try to eliminate them as much as possible. All Demons possess the ability to change into a full animal form at will, but their possessions obviously don't change with them, mostly making it a novelty or for emergency situations. Demons all have claws, powerful senses, and some more magic-sensitive Demons are even capable of detecting life itself as a kind of sixth sense. Physiologically, Demons are similar enough to Humans to be able to treat them as if they were the same for medical purposes, the only difference being fur that covers the body, larger second sensory organs (nose, ears), and any extra appendages of the animals they are descended from.
Demons age differently from Humans. Between the ages of one and two, a Demon will age normally, usually comparable to a Human. After that, a Demon will usually be about two feet tall. Oddly, their physiology seems to completely freeze at this age. Between the ages of about two to twelve, a Demon may only grow one or two inches. Usually at around the age of thirteen, a Demon will enter a period where they will grow rapidly for a year or two. After that, the Demon growth cycle is finished and they remain more or less physically the same for the rest of their lives. The reason behind this strange growth cycle baffles people all over.
Contrary to their name, Demons are not at all affiliated to unholy things. It's merely a name given to them. Holy objects and magic have no more effect on them than they do on Humans, and they are quite capable at becoming proficient with either themselves.
Demons are much more resilient than Humans as well, capable of safely surviving things with high health risks for Humans. For instance, a Human that eats a pile of raw meat that's been out in the sun for a day would be both disgusting and... possibly fatal at that. A Demon in the same situation would just find it completely disgusting, though not even a small risk to health.
Fox Demons
Fox Demons are a society of tribal hunters that are concentrated mostly in a large valley in the middle of the northern half of Thryll. The valley itself consists of a number of cave systems they use as homes and a wide river blocking one end. Oddly, since they act mostly tribal, their leader is decided by lineage. The Fox Demons generally stay in the village their whole lives, living off the animals of the plains that they hunt by hand.
Fox Demons are not usually very adept at much but physical talent due to their ways, but they have a natural affinity to transformation magic. All Fox Demons can change their appearance into any other object or person for short periods of time with only a thought and a hand sign. Most use this to set up ambushes for their prey. Young Fox Demons, and those few that just can't get the hang of it, cannot transform as easily, but they are still able. Those who aren't experienced have to use a natural focus, usually a leaf, which they place on their heads to keep their hands free while they change. Transformation can last a few seconds or even a few hours, depending on how well the individual is with the ability. Most adult Foxes can spend a few minutes transformed before they're forced out of it.
Thanks to their natural transformation abilities, Fox Demons are the only suitable candidates for Shadow Demons to possess. Fox Demons are taught from childhood that if they are ever possessed, they are to immediately commit suicide by whatever means necessary. If a Fox Demon is possessed, the Shadow Demon immediately overtakes their transformation power and they turn into a completely black form with pure white eyes. Their claws grow much longer and sharper than normal, and they go into a murderous rampage, killing whatever they can around them. Even in this form, though, known friends and allies of the possessed Fox would be spared. This is due to a belief by the Shadows that the possessed will try to live with them, generally, there are a lot more Fox Demons that stick with their suicidal pact if they happen to murder their allies in cold blood at the first opportunity. Aside from the first time a possessed Fox Demon changes this way, the Shadow Demon inside them may take over at any time that the Fox experiences extremes in emotions. The Fox Demon may also choose to ALLOW the Shadow to overtake them, but this is very rare. The Shadow can remain in control as long as they wish, or until they sustain significant damage so as to knock out their host. Either way, the host regains control in an unconscious state.
Wolf Demons
Wolf Demons, unlike their animal counterparts, are solitary creatures that tend to live very far from each other. They live their lives in a wide variety of ways; one can never assume what a Wolf Demon does for a living by race alone.
Wolf Demons have a peculiar ability to ignore the alternate form rule that states that they cannot take possessions with them. Their clothing and equipment just seems to change with them. Like many things to do with Demons, no one knows why this occurs.
Wolf Demon saliva is coated with an enzyme that accelerates healing in all species, including themselves. Most of their kind like to simply place it on a leaf and use it as a self-adhering bandage, hoping no one will question what it is that they put on them.
It should be noted that, as a rule, all Wolf Demons mate for life.
Cat Demons (open to speculation)
Cat Demons are an extremely rare and secretive group. So much so that most people don't even see one in their lifetimes. Even on the rare occasion where they might enter society, they will always remain cloaked and hidden. Not much is really known about this species since there are so few of them.
Shadow Demons
Some argue that Shadow Demons shouldn't really be considered a Demon at all, since their physiology isn't even relatively Human, but they are called Demons regardless. Shadow Demons are, exactly as the name implies, living shadows. Generally, they appear as relatively humanoid blobs of black across the ground. They need to remain anchored to a surface at all times, but can reach up a small amount to claw at people.
Anyone killed by a Shadow Demon has their soul anchored to their Shadow, which is then detached and lives on as another Shadow Demon. Only upon the Shadow's death is the soul released to it's proper place.
Shadow Demons have the ability to possess any creature they wish. This is a mostly useless for anything but to hide themselves, but when they possess a Fox Demon, it becomes one of the most potent abilities in Thryll. As explained above, they possess a Fox Demon to use their transformation to become a fearsome creature. However, one thing to be noted is that a Shadow Demon can attach themselves PHYSICALLY to a Fox Demon's internal vital organs. This means that the Fox Demon possessed by a Shadow will have the Shadow attached to them for the rest of their lives, whether they end it themselves, someone kills them, or if the Shadow decides to leave them for some reason.
Shadow Demons act as a hive mind. They seem to have a singular intelligence bent toward only one goal: reproduction.
Singularly, Shadow Demons are weaklings, but as a group, they are a formidable force. It doesn't take much to kill a Shadow either; usually piercing the Shadow in any way is enough to kill it, making an almost literal fight against the ground in an open area.
Certain Shadow Demons are able to break off from the group intellect and form singular sentience. These are still bent toward causing death for their species' gain, but they can recognize personal goals as well. Moreover, the soul that was used to make the Shadow Demon becomes the Shadow's own, the previous personality being completely destroyed. These self-aware Shadows are often followed by large quantities of their mindless brethren, who stick with them until they themselves die. Singular Shadows also have a tendency to develop a degree of psychic powers, able to manipulate inanimate objects and communicate with possessed individuals.
Shadow Demons travel en masse by gathering on large structures and having one of the singular Shadow Demons use their abilities to lift it. These structures are often referred to as 'black obelisks' since they're completely covered by Shadows, and they are often dropped with force down onto groups of people caught in the wild to overtake them.
Shadow Demons are very well-known throughout the world, thus even most small settlements have wards built against them. Shadow Demons, specifically, are very east to subdue via magical means, and some careful preparation can make sure that no free-roaming Shadows can enter populated areas. Fox Demons, due to their stigma involving Shadow Demons, are especially careful about warding their village. If a Fox Demon is found to be possessed, but unwilling to kill themselves, they would no longer be allowed in their village, for the safety of others.
Addendum: It should be noted that a person possessed by a sentient Shadow Demon that is tested to become an Immortal is still possessed until the test is complete. Since the Shadow Demon has its own soul, it is put through the test as an attachment to their vessel. The sentient Shadow may move freely in and out of the vessel's body, but when the test is complete, the Shadow will face the same result regardless of position at the time. Shadows are, however, not subject to the memory loss their vessel takes. Some individuals who have formed a sort of co-existence with their Shadows use this to their advantage and have the Shadow lead them through the test with ease. The Immortals do not view this as any form of cheating, but rather a clever exploitation. Individuals who pass with a Shadow Demon will become a Familiar as normal, and their counterpart will find themselves in a solid body for the first time in their own existence as a Familiar of the same species, but often with obvious aesthetic differences (one with white fur/one with black fur, etc.). The Shadow is no longer capable of its old abilities, and must eat, sleep, and rest just as its new form would.
Feral Demons
Feral Demon is a catch-all term for Demons that don't fit any recognizable animal relation. Certain Demons are actually monstrous creatures as the majority of Humans believe. These creatures are often the result of breeding between long-forgotten races to make horrific cross-breeds. These Demons can vary in size, shape, and ability so much, that naming them all as separate species would be ludicrous. The majority of them live in the mountains in the far north of Thryll in seclusion so as to stay out of the way of ridicule. These Demons are never the result of conventional Demon races, even cross-breeds of such, just such random Demon races.
Familiars
Not really a race per se, but worth noting as such. Familiars are the result of an individual's dead soul passing the Familiar test (see afterlife)
Familiars are small animals whose form is chosen at the whim of the Immortal who supervised the test. All Familiars have a golden halo over their heads, a sort of mark that the individual is a Familiar and not just some other random animal.
Partway through a person's time as a Familiar, they will grow feathery wings. They appear by simply shooting out of their backs in a bloody mess at some random time before they become an Immortal. This is obviously an exhausting and excruciating process for the Familiar. These wings are purely cosmetic and don't actually function well enough to support the Familiar for flight, though some have been able to handle gliding with them. The only reason this happens is because if it didn't, the person's wings wouldn't grow in a correct, usable form when they became an Immortal. This was found out when they allowed souls to become Immortals too early, permanently ruining their flight capability.
Familiars are usually sent back to Thryll with some sort of accessory, such as a collar or a ribbon. The practical purpose of this is to give the Familiar a place to store their master's ring.
The Familiar's master's ring is to be given by the Familiar to the person they trusted most in life. The person who wears this ring will not only be the only mortal who can understand them, but it also allows the wearer to command the Familiar to do any physical command. This doesn't allow the wearer to influence the Familiars thoughts or feelings, but the Familiar is magically influenced to do whatever it is told, within actual physical limits. The Familiar is given a chance to follow the order willingly before the magic takes effect. The Familiar must be capable of hearing and understanding their master for anything to happen. One exception: the master can physically shock their Familiar out of sleep (not unwilling unconsciousness though, only restful sleep).
An unfortunate error in the design of the ring is that it isn't exclusive to each Familiar. Anyone wearing a master's ring may understand and issue commands to any other Familiar. The Immortals have made no attempt to fix this error, and so there are some mortals that choose to take advantage of this, taking more than one Familiar as their own.
Familiars who were magic users in life will find it difficult to cast anything without actual hands, but not impossible. There are a small number of books with spells specifically designed for the use of Familiars, allowing them to cast at least some of the basic spells.
Familiars are, for all intensive purposes, completely invincible. This isn't to say that they're invulnerable. A Familiar can be damaged fairly easily, but as long as even a single minute single part exists in even the smallest form, the Familiar will regenerate completely. Any existing wounds from life will not be regenerated of course, but anything done afterwards will go back to normal. Such extensive damage can be very traumatizing to most beings though, since they must experience every single instant of pain with no death to end it.
After performing certain deeds set forth by the Familiar's supervising Immortal, they themselves will become an Immortal.
Familiars may only be understood by Immortals, sentient mortals with master rings, and animals of a similar nature.
Immortals
Immortals resemble what modern culture would describe as angels. They look exactly as they did in life, but with large feathered wings coming out of their back. By 'exactly the same', that includes their age, meaning that if a person dies before they become an adult or after sustaining crippling wounds, they have to remain exactly that way in age or wounds for the rest of eternity. Most people in such a state can't pass the Familiar test, so it's not usually a big issue. Contrary to popular opinion, they don't have halos, that's only a feature to mark Familiars. They also have a tendency to wear white robes with only minimal personal design in light colors, but it isn't a uniform.
Immortals can move freely between the Realm of Light and Thryll at will, though they have to attain normal magical means to reach the Realm of Shadow. Likewise, they can enter any individual's dreams to communicate with them if they wish.
Immortals require food, drink, and rest as long as they remain on Thryll. They cannot get around their needs by returning to the Realm of Light, they must still attend to their needs when they return.
If an Immortal takes a substantial amount of physical damage, they will revert to their Familiar form until they fully recover. An Immortal is also capable of changing between their Familiar form at will, but it will always be the same animal.
Immortals don't have any actual duty as a group, but many have a desire to do the things Immortals normally do (guiding Familiars, keeping up Fate, etc.) because they literally have nothing better to do.
Traditionally, Immortals are the only people able to see Fate. They try not to show this to others as it's already complex enough when no matter what they do to try to influence it, it stays on track.
Gods
Just as Demons aren't unholy creatures, Gods aren't really related to divinity (so please no one get offended by the term 'God', it's just what they're called -.- ). Gods are merely incredibly powerful beings that take various shapes and forms.
Gods are capable of using magic that would most likely shatter the very soul of a normal being even attempting it without performing any of the components, and sometimes without even consciously thinking of it. Most Gods, however, are incredibly eccentric, and prefer to only use their abilities on the mortal plane for their own amusement. They usually won't even give a damn if the world's about to end. It's not their problem.
Gods can move freely between planes just like Immortals, but they may go between any of them. Since there are so very many limitless amounts of these, most Gods simply claim a whole plane of existence as their own and no one has a problem with it.
Gods usually govern over a certain element. These elements are not limited to nature, for instance, Yarima is the God of Shadows (incidently, she is also the ruler of the Plane of Shadow).
There are many Gods, though most wish to stay out of mortal affairs, lest they become known and called upon again.
Fate
Fate is a physical series of lines in the Realm of Light which only Immortals are allowed to see. These lines dictate all the major events of every single living sentient being (except Gods) in Thryll. These tend to be general enough that one cannot look at it and simply change something out of it, but specific enough to give an idea of what will happen. Anyone who tries to change fate will find that it seems to correct itself in improbable ways. If you kill someone early, there will have been someone with the exact same name who was supposed to have died then. Everything that fate dictates will come true... except one very important event.
Fate only ever made one mistake: the character from the original game, Acclue Lockheart, was supposed to have taken the test to become a Familiar and failed. Instead, he passed, and when he returned to Earth, all of his companion's fates were thrown off by merely meeting him. Fate dictated that every single living being on Thryll would die in one instant, but the group prevented that instant. Thus, Fate simply ended.
(Games take place either before or after the events of the original game, referred to from here as 'Fatefall')
Afterlife
When a mortal soul dies, whether Human, Demon, or even God, their soul either ascends to the Plane of Light or the Plane of Shadow depending on their attachment to the world. The Plane of Light is where they normally go, but those still attached to the world go to The Shadows, among the many other horrifying inhabitants of the Plane.
Fate dictated that certain people would have to go through a test after they died to see if they would become an Immortal. After Fatefall, the Immortals no longer knew who to administer this test to, so they simply began testing every soul that passed through before they went to their respective afterlives (This lead to a great increase in the number of Familiars on Thryll).
The test began when all the soul's memories of their own life were removed. The soul would then have to go through what were copies of events in their life, slightly changed against their favor to make sure they died then. The soul would have to save their own life without prior knowledge of the events of their own life. This often ended at where they were supposed to die, where the Immortal supervising the test would try to convince them that they could sacrifice one of their allies' lives to save their own and return to life. They obviously couldn't do this, but it did serve as a sufficient final test. Those who pass would then return to Thryll as a Familiar. Whether they passed or failed, the soul would have their memories returned in full. The Immortals have absolutely no obligation to relay any of this information to the soul being tested, and if they do decide to, they don't even have to be accurate (ex. The Immortal who tested Acclue told him that if he failed, he would remain in the void where the test takes place for all eternity to try to convince him to give up willingly).
Magic
No one knows exactly what force it is that creates magic in the world, but they have come to a fair understanding of how it works.
Magic is always operated by at least one intricate hand sign. These hand signs are rarely singular though. There are often long series of signs that have to be made in quick succession for even intermediate level magic.
Some magic also operates by use of arcane words from a forgotten language, but these are much less complex than the somatic components, usually consisting of a single word shouted at the end of the signs.
The most basic spells can be cast with only hand signs and possibly verbal components, but anything even somewhat complex also requires magical script. A book of magic with some of the most common intermediate spells has been recreated by scholars so much that it is practically in printed circulation. The more powerful spells, though, require rare, sometimes unique, pages. These books and pages (if appropriately made) are all enchanted to float at chest level while the mage is casting spells. This is because most spells are difficult or even impossible to perform one-handed, and the book is often too large to hold with one hand anyway.
Certain spells are of such a reality-shattering quality that if any being short of a God himself even attempted it, their soul would be utterly destroyed. This includes Immortals. These spells are impossible to acquire without traveling to another plane of existence anyway, so most beings are safe from it.
Languages
In Thryll, there are two languages, the Human language (I've been calling it Mantle) and the Demon language (Kurs).
Mantle is a more 'proper-sounding' language than Kurs. This is mainly because Humans come from more organized societies and already tend to think of themselves as somewhat above Demons. Oddly, Mantle also has no contractions.
Kurs is a more liberal language, sort of close to how people speak today, even in mannerism.
These languages can be learned between the races, but thanks to social boundaries, they are usually exclusive.
It is assumed that Immortals can be understood by all sentient creatures regardless of language boundaries and Gods can easily change their language through their powerful magic.
Familiars speak a language that can only be understood by their masters, but they can also communicate between animals of similar species.
(game note: if there is someone in a group that knows both languages, it is assumed, unless specifically stated otherwise, that they tell the rest of the group what was said without having to write it. This way you don't have to continuously note that they tell the group about it.)
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The Magi
The Magi
The Magi is probably one of the most open settings I've ever designed because you're pretty much free to design whatever you want in terms of races and abilities. The Magi takes place on a world, not necessarily of intergalactic technology, but still of large racial diversity. It can be assumed that every game played within the setting is on a different planet, since remaining canon with everything created would be far too difficult and frankly ludicrous to have so many sentient species on one localized planet. This isn't to say that people CAN'T reuse a world, but if so, new races should be avoided to remain consistent.
Of course, there is one universal constant that binds all of these worlds together, as it is a matter of planes of existence rather than spacial issues...
Race Design
Name:
General Appearance:
Racial Abilities:
History:
TL:
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Name: the name of your race.
General Appearance: the way your race looks.
Racial Abilities: what is your race good/bad at. What notable traits do they have that set them apart from the norm.
History: brief description of past of race.
TL: tech level. This is a bit more complex than the other factors. This is how good the technology of the race's culture as a whole has become. On the scale, 1 would be considered a race that has just passed over the threshold to sentience and has just become aware of the 'technological' world around them. In comparison, an 8 would represent about where human-kind is today. And an 18 (the maximum) would be a civilization so evolved through technology that nothing you could imagine would be impossible for them.
Generally, the planet as a whole will have a tech level and races should fall within 2 levels of the rest of the planet, but an especially technologically based race might find themselves one above that limit or an extremely regressive race might be found all the way back at the beginning of the line, still swinging sticks around at each other.
Age descriptions courtesy of the Central Casting book series. Be aware that these ages are only general examples of what would happen in that age. In no way are you limited to a linear progression of technology that's modeled after humankind.
1: Stone Age: Fire has found its way into most homes, sharpened sticks and stones form the warrior's basic armament, the lever is the most complex machine, domesticated animals provide food and companionship, and building villages is coming into vogue. This covers everything from the classic cave man up to pre-Columbian American Indians.
2: Bronze Age: Metal working, walled cities, stone monuments, sailing ships, the wheel, and simple writing are the rage. Well-to-do warriors wear metal armor and wage war with spears, swords, bow and arrows. Ancient Greece and Egypt, the Celts of Europe and the peoples of the Biblical Middle East are examples.
3: Iron Age: Achievements include iron working (a harder metal than bronze), the keystone arch, and the use of concrete in building to encourage quick development of large cities. Common soldiers wear metal armor and huge stone hurling, wall-bashing mechanical siege machines take some of the guesswork out of flattening enemy fortresses. Imperial Rome is the "classic" example of this Tech Level.
4: Medieval Age: Steel (a harder metal than iron) weapons and armor are used by the well-to-do warriors. Crossbows make even poorly trained troops into deadly foes. This is a period noted for retrogression, even degeneration and loss of technical and social gains made in earlier ages. Medieval Europe and Feudal Japan typify this Tech Level.
5: Renaissance: Learning is rediscovered with a vengeance. Gunpowder makes major changes in the waging of war, movable type printing speeds the spread of information. Equivalent to 1350-1 800 in western Europe.
6: Industrial Revolution: Steam engines drive boats and land transportation, while steam-powered machinery replaces hand-manufacturing, allowing mass production of goods. Cures are found for some diseases. Electricity is utilized to a limited extent for communication and illumination. Typified by Europe and the you.S.A. of the 1800's.
7: Engineering Age: Internal combustion engines or electricity power most forms of transportation, including personal cars, war machines, and fixed-wing aircraft. Radio, television, suborbital rockets and small automatic weapons are developing. This is the late 19th century through pre-WWII 20th century, just before atomic escalation.
8: Technological Age: Nuclear power is used to create both electricity and deadly weapons. Orbital spacecraft visit nearby satellites and "unmanned" probes explore other planets in the solar system. Industrial lasers, small computers, and organ transplants are commonplace.
9: Fusion Age: Energy is created through the combining, not destruction of matter. Laser weapons replace projectile weapons in most armies. "Manned" exploration of the solar system, establishment of orbital space cities and scientific colonies on other planets within system. "Cold sleep" used for long interplanetary trips. Most manufacturing is completely automated.
10: Spacefaring Age:(generally, the game doesn't take place past this age, but it can be excepted. The reason is that this could cause crossovers with old games, which, once again, is possible, but not highly recommended) Unself-aware artificial intelligence is now found in some large computers. Most planets and major satellites in the solar system contain autonomous colonies or independent "nations." Sub-light "manned"exploration of nearby stars begins.
11: First Stellar Age: Faster-than-Light (FTL)drives drastically reduces travel time between stars, but months, even years are still needed for interstellar travel. Exploration/colonization of the galaxy begins. Fully sentient, self-aware computers and artificially intelligent robots perform tasks formerly only possible by living sentients.
12: Second Stellar Age: Most stellar colonies are independent of home planet. Faster-than-Light (FTL) drives now capable of rapid jumps between stars, crossing the gaps between stars in a matter of weeks. FTL communication allows information to travel between stars. Powerful non-laser energy weapons found on large ships and battle machines.
13: Third Stellar Age: Warriors wield hand-held non-laser energy weapons. Antimatter used to produce power. Faster-than-Light (FTL) communication exceeds speed of starships. Small ships have interstellar capability. Robots are commonly humanoid (or alienoid) in form.
14: Fourth Stellar Age: Energy shields protect large vehicles and craft. Gravitic repulsors negate the effects of gravity. Personal force screens possible.
15: Ultratech Age: Worlds are completely terraformed, and/or moved from their orbits into more suitable ones. Robots are often physically indistinguishable from life forms (and are often classed as life forms). Totally synthetic life forms are commonplace.
16: Transmatter Age: Matter can be coded, broken down into energy and then transmitted to a receiver. Unlimited Faster-than-Light (FTL) communication now possible.
17: Dysonian Age: Actual manufacture of worlds, including impossibly large Dyson spheres that enclose suns and ring worlds that whirl about them is possible.
18: Superculture: At this point, literally anything is technologically possible.
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The Universal Constant: Mana Sprites
Mana Sprite I drew a LONG time ago: acclue-lockheart.deviantart.com/art/mana-sprite-46315161 (I'm a terrible artist, shut up <.< )
(yes these were inspired by warp-acci, but only slightly.)
Mana Sprites are small creatures supposedly made of pure energy that come from another dimension. These creatures appear as stable, solid, completely black creatures, that for reasons that baffle mortal scientists everywhere, do not reflect light off of their bodies, except for their eyes (which glow different colors depending on the Sprite), appearing completely black no matter how well-lit the area. This usually results in people seeing them as a literal lack of space. This is especially odd since they do have a positive substance to them, they can be touched. Mana sprites, if not for their shadowy color, could be said to slightly resemble Earth cats, but that is only in body shape. Their heads are completely round, and their ears, starting from the tops of their head, are usually long strands the length of their body that they have no issues keeping up above the body. The most notable physical feature of the Mana Sprite is it's tail. The tail is a long, paper-thin appendage that runs about twice the length of the Mana Sprite's body. They appear to have full control over the tail, as if it were jointed in every spot. If stiffened, the tail (or merely a section of the tail to keep the rest of it flexible) can be made into a miraculously thin blade.
Mana Sprites are not just merely tiny dark creatures though. The plane they come from is abundant with magic, and they have a direct link to that magic. Unfortunately and ironically, a Mana Sprite has no capability to use magic itself. To tap into the Mana Sprite's magical reserves, they must create a link with another non-sprite sentient being, of which their dimension has none. The Mana Sprites would describe their world as a painfully boring or torturous void of nothingness. As such, they welcome being called out to this dimension with open arms and try everything they can to stay here as long as they can. Being called from their dimension is about the only true magic that exists on this plane of existence, so other sentient beings pull Sprites from their void to access their power, and the Mana Sprites play along to escape from their void and keep themselves out of danger. While summoning, the person calling the Sprite will either receive a Sprite completely at random, or they may call a Sprite that has already been banished and they know the name of. The Sprites are free to answer this call or not, but the vast majority of them would rather endure a sadistic partner than be left to their own world.
Once a Sprite is summoned to the world, they form an instant bond with whoever summoned them, and the being may tap into the Mana Sprite's magic at any time they are physically near each other. Meanwhile, Mana Sprites also depend on their summoner's use of their magic, as the longer the bond lasts, the more magic is leaked out to the world around the Sprite, allowing them to perform certain actions that would be impossible without a bond. This bond can be severed at any time by the summoner, who can either choose to banish the Mana Sprite back to their home dimension to await another summoner, or some cruel people wish to leave the abandoned Sprite in their world with no bond, and thus no way to defend oneself in what they usually perceive as a very dangerous world. Some very lucky abandoned Sprites do manage to find a new person to form a bond with, but most do fall victim to the elements of the world... Creating a new link from the normal plane of existence must be performed by the Sprite. They do so by using their tail to pierce the new host's soul and create a new link manually. This can be a painful experience for the other being, which is why it is usually difficult for an abandoned Sprite to find a willing participant.
When Mana Sprites have a bond, they can gradually manipulate the passive magic that leaks from them when they have such a connection. After a couple of hours in a bond, they emit a small aura around them (this aura is usually the same color as their eyes) that acts as a sort of passive armor (it isn't invincible, but it does get more powerful until the bond is complete). After a couple of days in the bond, they can levitate themselves indefinitely. About a week into the bond, the Mana Sprite's bond is 'complete', and their stranger abilities come into effect. First, the Sprite at this stage can manipulate their body into any shape they wish, so long as the shape doesn't have a greater surface area than the original Sprite. The other ability they gain is the ability for their tail to slice through space itself and create a small pocket dimension that they can hide in if the need arises. This, of course, makes the bond between it and the other being cease until the Sprite returns to the normal world. Being away from the person the bond is formed with will gradually close the passive magic they can control. It takes only a day to completely close the bridge and put Sprites in a helpless state with none of their abilities. Once reunited with their partner, a Sprite regains their bond at the normal rate.
A Sprite can only be left on the world without a partner if they are abandoned and not banished. If the Sprite's partner dies, the link is severed with such ferocity that they are simply expelled back to their own dimension.
There can exist only one link to a soul. If a Sprite were to form a link with more than one creature, their soul would be torn and they would become a living shell with no will of it's own. Some cruel creatures force this onto their Sprites to make more obedient servants. These are often referred to as Slave Sprites. All Slave Sprites have white colors for their eyes and aura. These creatures cannot be banished and in fact do not return to their world when their master dies. They merely stay by their master's corpse until they themselves die of exhaustion. If a summoner thinks that they might try to gain the control of more than one Sprite, they too will find their souls torn, this results in instant death, and normal banishment of the attached Sprites. For most, this means that summoning a Sprite is a meaningful occasion and a lifetime commitment.
A Mana Sprite has no determinable life span. Not one has died of natural causes in the known universe, so they are assumed to be ageless creatures. The Sprites consider their 'age' to be the amount of time since they were last summoned.
Mana Sprites, as have been said, hold direct links to the magical reserves of their own world. However, each Sprite is only attuned to certain frequencies of magic. This causes the range of spells that the summoner can access to be limited to certain 'fields' which could be as broad as 'elemental' or 'space' to as specific as 'speed' or 'electricity'. It is impossible to access magic outside of a Sprite's field. Sadly, this is the major cause of most abandoned Sprites. The summoner finds themself with a Sprite in a field that they find distasteful or useless and they simply put them aside to summon another.
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Character Sheet
(remember, unless you're a member of a race another character has posted, to put in a race sheet)
Name:
Race:
Age:
Sex:
Appearance:
Personality:
Do you have a Mana Sprite?:
Strengths: (2 strengths to 1 weakness)
Weaknesses: (1 weakness to 2 strengths)
History:
Mana Sprite Character Sheet
Name:
Age: (time since summoned)
Personality:
Color:
Field:
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In The End
Just to tell you, I don't intend to offend any religious beliefs with this setting, so no jumping on me for it!
This is based on a story I'm writing. I always thought it was one of the most capable of being used in RP form, so here goes.
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The Underworld
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When humans die, where do they go? The question that has plagued mankind since the very beginning... is really irrelevant once you find out, now isn't it?
After death, there are any number of planes one could end up on, but there are a few lucky (heh) humans who end up in an interesting little place called the underworld.
The underworld is an infinitely expanding plane of existence where an infinite number of species of demonic beings reside. It is also where many human souls end up once they have... expired... No one is sure why they end up in this specific place, but demons aren't the type to question the causes of things. What they do know is that most of the humans that arrive there are only children. They have no idea where everyone else goes.
They also aren't aware of exactly why the entrance to this realm is several kilometers above the ground in a long diagonal line across the center of the plane. This obviously causes some inconveniences to humans, who cannot, in fact, fly...
Fortunately, since they are already dead, they don't have much to worry about except the pain of crashing into the ground at terminal velocity and the subsequent rest needed to recover. Oh, and the demon most likely to be waiting around the corner to devour their soul.
But should that not happen, it's possible that they would end up in the care (or control) of some other demon...
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The underworld expands flatly at such a fast rate that there is no method of travel that can be used to catch up to it. It would already take millenia to reach the end if it stopped and magical travel were used. Thus nobody knows what the end of the plane is like. It forms as a natural environment as it goes, so the underworld has a vastly variable ecosystem.
The only real recorded landmark of the infinite space is a long, metropolitan road being constantly built parallel to the line that humans drop from. It is most often referred to as 'Main Street', and is a popular spot for demons to congregate. It is the only place in the plane with a uniform set of laws, the only penalty being that when a law is broken, that all other rules no longer apply to that person. Basically, if you break the rules, you're going to be torn apart by all the others. Some scavengers (see the demons section) even like to wait around specifically for people to break the laws, or even make them break them...
The humans most often land in the dilapidated ruins of previously unsuccessful attempts to expand the city. The rules don't apply there and the scavengers like to wait in the drop zones for humans and demon passers-by.
It should also be noted that there are no celestial bodies in the underworld. There is no sun or moon, but it is generally accepted that, unless magically darkened, all surfaces emit enough light for you to see it in the underworld. Some theories also say that all demons can see in the dark, but that doesn't explain why humans can see...
There are no stars, and no magnetic poles, making navigation by anything besides the few landmarks in the world impossible.
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The underworld has all the technology of people in the human world. They just don't bother to use most of it. Most demons' immense strength make quite a number of the labor saving devices of our world completely useless to them. Even when it comes to weapons, demons prefer archaic weaponry to guns. It isn't for tradition or inconvenience of materials, but for the simple fact that demons can effectively wield DEVASTATING weapons such as melee weapons that are several times larger than the person wielding them, or simply ballistic weapons that they just carry around like it was nothing.
Most labor can simply be done by hand, leaving technology as an available luxury, but it is rarely seen in use.
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Aegis
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Aegis is a mysterious deity said to be the true ruler of the underworld. Reapers sacrifice their thralls' spirits to him/her/it to receive them as half-demons under their control. Aegis is seemingly a fair deity in the demons' eyes, and really doesn't require any worship beyond what the reapers do.
Aegis communicates with half-demons as they change forms, but more often than not erases their memory of the visit. It feels some compassion for the severe pain involved with transferring the soul to new bodies. No one is exactly sure what it does with all of the spirits it gets, but demons aren't the type to care...
It generally seems eager to 'help' humans into their new bodies, but its mood can vary wildly. Some think that the stress of dealing with the countless number of changes it needs to make at a time wears even on such a powerful being.
Even those that retain memory of Aegis claim to have only heard its voice, which is said to be a menagerie of different voices and tones switching out with each other rapidly. As such, even its gender is unclear.
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That is essentially all there is to know about the underworld, all that's left is to explain the residents...
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Humans
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Most likely, you are one in real life. There are few humans in the underworld that are not almost immediately snatched up by scavengers or claimed by reapers. Chances are, if you're still human, you haven't hit the ground yet. Although on rare occasions, humans sometimes gather odd power when they enter the otherworld, making them seem demonic anyway...
Human spirits (human body in an afterlife, not to be confused with the soul, the human mind in an afterlife) are indestructible. This isn't to say that they can't feel pain or be damaged, but they will always recover from any sort of damage, even if a limb falls off or the body is completely dismembered.
The soul is insubstantial, and cannot be damaged. Thus, any damage that would be done to the brain of a spirit is essentially not as damaging as in the human world, to the point where it is just a mild annoyance in most cases. Though it cannot be damaged, many scavengers feed off of the souls rather than the spirits of human beings, leaving the spirit as a husk for some other demon. Not even these demons are aware of what happens to devoured souls...
Like all living species, humans and half-demons still need to sustain themselves as normal. They will certainly not die from a lack of food, drink, sleep, or exposure, but they will feel the effects of the lack.
Name:
Age: (be aware that time in the underworld does not proceed at a consistent speed with the human world. If two people die within a day of each other and both end up in the underworld, the first one may be decades older than the second. The most accurate representation of the ratio can be seen in a common strategy for reapers, who tell their thralls, weeks after they landed, that they “haven't hit the floor yet” back in the human world.)
Appearance:
Mutation: (if any. It is an extremely rare occurrence for a human to earn demonic power by simply entering the underworld.)
How you died: (usually unknown. The shock of death leaves nearly all humans with severe memory loss of their lives.)
History: (history in the underworld, not in the human world unless they maintained some sort of memory)
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Half-Demons
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Half-Demons are the result of reapers (see demon jobs) sacrificing the spirit of a human to Aegis. The reaper places a magical collar around the human with their personal symbol engraved in it, marking them for Aegis with a calling spell (the Aegis Collar disappears when they turn into Half-Demons, supposedly it is left with their Human spirit). Aegis takes their spirit and leaves the soul in a chaotic demon body in its place. As thanks for the spirit, Aegis gives total control of the half-demon to the reaper, who can control them to the extent of causing them to do whatever they want just by saying and returning them to their original forms (explained later).
The chaotic body of a half-demon changes between many different species of demons through four tiers of development, each more powerful than before. Exactly what they become is dependent solely upon their thoughts and emotions in the period before they changed. They often need to be reset by their reaper, which returns them to their first tier (always an absurdly weak, small, lowly species incapable of even defending itself. The first tier is always the same for any one person), just to keep the natural instincts of the new species from overwhelming the half-demon. This usually happens anyway at the first tier, but they would rather have the more docile species' instincts in their thralls. Few human wills survive permanently in half-demons. They start to behave more like demons would and hardly notice or care anymore.
The way most reapers treat their thralls, a lot of half-demons never make it past the second tier.
Some reapers actually keep first tier half-demons as pets of sorts (in fact, they sometimes just become reapers to get one), or want to keep them at lower tiers even when the appropriate time for them to change has come. This is most often achieved by some magic accessory placed somewhere on them.
Just as ordinary humans, the first tier of half-demons are invincible (still susceptible to having their souls stolen, but more likely to be able to defend themselves), and all the same rules as for human souls apply. For any of the other tiers, the half-demon is susceptible to a sort of death. They do not actually die, but are returned to their first tier, unconscious.
The only way for a half-demon to be freed is if their reaper dies, and they will become a mortal full demon of whatever species they were when their master died. Most Demons that are created this way eventually grow to forget that they were ever Human in the first place.
Time to change:
1st tier: XXX
2nd tier: a few hours
3rd tier: about a month
4th tier: several years
Name:
Age: (Once again, variable to the time shift. They appear as if at the equivalent age of their human forms when they changed, but thereafter, they age as a demon. See below.)
First Tier: (Remember, this is a very weak demon race of some sort. You won't stay in it for long, so don't worry about being underpowered.)
Appearance: (extremely variable, however, certain subtleties such as hair, eyes, and physical scars remain constant in many forms.)
Reaper: (Who is your master?)
How you died: (once again, usually unknown)
History: (also once again, usually just in the underworld)
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Demons (don't think Kitsuneakki on this one... unless you want to...)
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Demons are just what you would think of in a typical story about them: mischievous, monstrous, often evil creatures. They don't really seem that 'evil' if you have spent any time in the underworld. Seeing as there are so many of them, they really just seem playfully sadistic.
Unlike humans and half-demons, demons are, ironically, mortal. They are capable of having their bodies permanently damaged (though many have astounding regenerative capabilities or magical resources that work just as well anyway) and of dying. No one even has a clue where demon souls go when they die.
Demons can really appear as anything between human-like creatures with bizarre powers to dragons the size of a city block.
Name:
Age: (Demons have LUDICROUSLY long life-spans. Keep in mind that most only reach adolescence at around the age of 3000... VERY few live long enough to become full adults... Average life-span: around 3500. Natural lifespan: unknown, no demon has ever actually died of old age...)
Race: (There are so many different kinds that there is actually no single record of every species of demon. Really, you could just make something up for this category, whether it's original or from mythology and such. An explanation is necessary if it's not obvious)
Job: (Reaper, scavenger, overlord, or thrall. Reaper: captures human souls for Aegis for their own uses. Scavenger: Prey on humans and weak demons, no one really cares, but generally frowned upon as a lifestyle. Overlord: self-sufficient and respected with many thralls, often claiming large areas of land outside of the city as their own. Thrall: Servile to an overlord for one reason or another, unlike half-demons, they are not stuck this way unless magically bound.)
Appearance:
History:
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(Just to clarify, and yes, I have actually thought this part out, demons have all dominant physical genes. If there is ever a situation where this actually needs to come up, the parties involved don't matter, it's always a full demon as a result. They may not have the same psyche of a demon, but given the environment, it is unlikely that they will get anything different. And you all know very well what I'm talking about
)
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Kitsuneakki
Kitsuneakki system rules (note to previous members of the game: I took some creative liberties with this so that it makes just a bit more sense. If I take something further than you like, tell me about it. I think I got everything down on here, tell me if I forgot anything!)
Kitsuneakki originally took place in ancient Japan with anthropomorphic animals as Demons... and that's where the similarities to Inuyasha end, so stop f***ing saying it's a fan-game! There are lots of stories with Demons like that, and we were so geographically inaccurate with the story that whenever I write in the setting, I simply refer to it as a made-up supercontinent called 'Thryll'. This game is very open-ended, and we were still making rules to the world right up to when it ended, so certain things are still up in the air for you to decide.
Geography
As of yet, the only real notable permanent geographic feature worth listing is the forest that divides the island in half from East to West. The forest is nearly impossible for Demons to cross because of a type of spore that falls naturally from the trees. The spore causes those who inhale it to enter a euphoric state that shuts down the muscular system. These spores only act fast enough to affect those with powerful senses of smell, such as animals and Demons. A Human in the forest would find a Demon collapsing, completely paralyzed, only minutes after entering, whereas they wouldn't even feel drowsy after several weeks time within the forest. As such, a Human system breaks down the spore too fast for it to ever negatively affect them much at all. There are two rivers that flow in opposite directions through the forest; some Demons choose to risk putting themselves on boats on these rivers to go through, but Humans tend to go around the exit ends, so they would have to be lucky.
Races
Humans
Why would I have to tell you about these? They're the same thing as in real life.
Demons
Demon is a broad term used for the animal-like races of Thryll. They were named as such by Humans, who, for the wide majority, despise them and try to eliminate them as much as possible. All Demons possess the ability to change into a full animal form at will, but their possessions obviously don't change with them, mostly making it a novelty or for emergency situations. Demons all have claws, powerful senses, and some more magic-sensitive Demons are even capable of detecting life itself as a kind of sixth sense. Physiologically, Demons are similar enough to Humans to be able to treat them as if they were the same for medical purposes, the only difference being fur that covers the body, larger second sensory organs (nose, ears), and any extra appendages of the animals they are descended from.
Demons age differently from Humans. Between the ages of one and two, a Demon will age normally, usually comparable to a Human. After that, a Demon will usually be about two feet tall. Oddly, their physiology seems to completely freeze at this age. Between the ages of about two to twelve, a Demon may only grow one or two inches. Usually at around the age of thirteen, a Demon will enter a period where they will grow rapidly for a year or two. After that, the Demon growth cycle is finished and they remain more or less physically the same for the rest of their lives. The reason behind this strange growth cycle baffles people all over.
Contrary to their name, Demons are not at all affiliated to unholy things. It's merely a name given to them. Holy objects and magic have no more effect on them than they do on Humans, and they are quite capable at becoming proficient with either themselves.
Demons are much more resilient than Humans as well, capable of safely surviving things with high health risks for Humans. For instance, a Human that eats a pile of raw meat that's been out in the sun for a day would be both disgusting and... possibly fatal at that. A Demon in the same situation would just find it completely disgusting, though not even a small risk to health.
Fox Demons
Fox Demons are a society of tribal hunters that are concentrated mostly in a large valley in the middle of the northern half of Thryll. The valley itself consists of a number of cave systems they use as homes and a wide river blocking one end. Oddly, since they act mostly tribal, their leader is decided by lineage. The Fox Demons generally stay in the village their whole lives, living off the animals of the plains that they hunt by hand.
Fox Demons are not usually very adept at much but physical talent due to their ways, but they have a natural affinity to transformation magic. All Fox Demons can change their appearance into any other object or person for short periods of time with only a thought and a hand sign. Most use this to set up ambushes for their prey. Young Fox Demons, and those few that just can't get the hang of it, cannot transform as easily, but they are still able. Those who aren't experienced have to use a natural focus, usually a leaf, which they place on their heads to keep their hands free while they change. Transformation can last a few seconds or even a few hours, depending on how well the individual is with the ability. Most adult Foxes can spend a few minutes transformed before they're forced out of it.
Thanks to their natural transformation abilities, Fox Demons are the only suitable candidates for Shadow Demons to possess. Fox Demons are taught from childhood that if they are ever possessed, they are to immediately commit suicide by whatever means necessary. If a Fox Demon is possessed, the Shadow Demon immediately overtakes their transformation power and they turn into a completely black form with pure white eyes. Their claws grow much longer and sharper than normal, and they go into a murderous rampage, killing whatever they can around them. Even in this form, though, known friends and allies of the possessed Fox would be spared. This is due to a belief by the Shadows that the possessed will try to live with them, generally, there are a lot more Fox Demons that stick with their suicidal pact if they happen to murder their allies in cold blood at the first opportunity. Aside from the first time a possessed Fox Demon changes this way, the Shadow Demon inside them may take over at any time that the Fox experiences extremes in emotions. The Fox Demon may also choose to ALLOW the Shadow to overtake them, but this is very rare. The Shadow can remain in control as long as they wish, or until they sustain significant damage so as to knock out their host. Either way, the host regains control in an unconscious state.
Wolf Demons
Wolf Demons, unlike their animal counterparts, are solitary creatures that tend to live very far from each other. They live their lives in a wide variety of ways; one can never assume what a Wolf Demon does for a living by race alone.
Wolf Demons have a peculiar ability to ignore the alternate form rule that states that they cannot take possessions with them. Their clothing and equipment just seems to change with them. Like many things to do with Demons, no one knows why this occurs.
Wolf Demon saliva is coated with an enzyme that accelerates healing in all species, including themselves. Most of their kind like to simply place it on a leaf and use it as a self-adhering bandage, hoping no one will question what it is that they put on them.
It should be noted that, as a rule, all Wolf Demons mate for life.
Cat Demons (open to speculation)
Cat Demons are an extremely rare and secretive group. So much so that most people don't even see one in their lifetimes. Even on the rare occasion where they might enter society, they will always remain cloaked and hidden. Not much is really known about this species since there are so few of them.
Shadow Demons
Some argue that Shadow Demons shouldn't really be considered a Demon at all, since their physiology isn't even relatively Human, but they are called Demons regardless. Shadow Demons are, exactly as the name implies, living shadows. Generally, they appear as relatively humanoid blobs of black across the ground. They need to remain anchored to a surface at all times, but can reach up a small amount to claw at people.
Anyone killed by a Shadow Demon has their soul anchored to their Shadow, which is then detached and lives on as another Shadow Demon. Only upon the Shadow's death is the soul released to it's proper place.
Shadow Demons have the ability to possess any creature they wish. This is a mostly useless for anything but to hide themselves, but when they possess a Fox Demon, it becomes one of the most potent abilities in Thryll. As explained above, they possess a Fox Demon to use their transformation to become a fearsome creature. However, one thing to be noted is that a Shadow Demon can attach themselves PHYSICALLY to a Fox Demon's internal vital organs. This means that the Fox Demon possessed by a Shadow will have the Shadow attached to them for the rest of their lives, whether they end it themselves, someone kills them, or if the Shadow decides to leave them for some reason.
Shadow Demons act as a hive mind. They seem to have a singular intelligence bent toward only one goal: reproduction.
Singularly, Shadow Demons are weaklings, but as a group, they are a formidable force. It doesn't take much to kill a Shadow either; usually piercing the Shadow in any way is enough to kill it, making an almost literal fight against the ground in an open area.
Certain Shadow Demons are able to break off from the group intellect and form singular sentience. These are still bent toward causing death for their species' gain, but they can recognize personal goals as well. Moreover, the soul that was used to make the Shadow Demon becomes the Shadow's own, the previous personality being completely destroyed. These self-aware Shadows are often followed by large quantities of their mindless brethren, who stick with them until they themselves die. Singular Shadows also have a tendency to develop a degree of psychic powers, able to manipulate inanimate objects and communicate with possessed individuals.
Shadow Demons travel en masse by gathering on large structures and having one of the singular Shadow Demons use their abilities to lift it. These structures are often referred to as 'black obelisks' since they're completely covered by Shadows, and they are often dropped with force down onto groups of people caught in the wild to overtake them.
Shadow Demons are very well-known throughout the world, thus even most small settlements have wards built against them. Shadow Demons, specifically, are very east to subdue via magical means, and some careful preparation can make sure that no free-roaming Shadows can enter populated areas. Fox Demons, due to their stigma involving Shadow Demons, are especially careful about warding their village. If a Fox Demon is found to be possessed, but unwilling to kill themselves, they would no longer be allowed in their village, for the safety of others.
Addendum: It should be noted that a person possessed by a sentient Shadow Demon that is tested to become an Immortal is still possessed until the test is complete. Since the Shadow Demon has its own soul, it is put through the test as an attachment to their vessel. The sentient Shadow may move freely in and out of the vessel's body, but when the test is complete, the Shadow will face the same result regardless of position at the time. Shadows are, however, not subject to the memory loss their vessel takes. Some individuals who have formed a sort of co-existence with their Shadows use this to their advantage and have the Shadow lead them through the test with ease. The Immortals do not view this as any form of cheating, but rather a clever exploitation. Individuals who pass with a Shadow Demon will become a Familiar as normal, and their counterpart will find themselves in a solid body for the first time in their own existence as a Familiar of the same species, but often with obvious aesthetic differences (one with white fur/one with black fur, etc.). The Shadow is no longer capable of its old abilities, and must eat, sleep, and rest just as its new form would.
Feral Demons
Feral Demon is a catch-all term for Demons that don't fit any recognizable animal relation. Certain Demons are actually monstrous creatures as the majority of Humans believe. These creatures are often the result of breeding between long-forgotten races to make horrific cross-breeds. These Demons can vary in size, shape, and ability so much, that naming them all as separate species would be ludicrous. The majority of them live in the mountains in the far north of Thryll in seclusion so as to stay out of the way of ridicule. These Demons are never the result of conventional Demon races, even cross-breeds of such, just such random Demon races.
Familiars
Not really a race per se, but worth noting as such. Familiars are the result of an individual's dead soul passing the Familiar test (see afterlife)
Familiars are small animals whose form is chosen at the whim of the Immortal who supervised the test. All Familiars have a golden halo over their heads, a sort of mark that the individual is a Familiar and not just some other random animal.
Partway through a person's time as a Familiar, they will grow feathery wings. They appear by simply shooting out of their backs in a bloody mess at some random time before they become an Immortal. This is obviously an exhausting and excruciating process for the Familiar. These wings are purely cosmetic and don't actually function well enough to support the Familiar for flight, though some have been able to handle gliding with them. The only reason this happens is because if it didn't, the person's wings wouldn't grow in a correct, usable form when they became an Immortal. This was found out when they allowed souls to become Immortals too early, permanently ruining their flight capability.
Familiars are usually sent back to Thryll with some sort of accessory, such as a collar or a ribbon. The practical purpose of this is to give the Familiar a place to store their master's ring.
The Familiar's master's ring is to be given by the Familiar to the person they trusted most in life. The person who wears this ring will not only be the only mortal who can understand them, but it also allows the wearer to command the Familiar to do any physical command. This doesn't allow the wearer to influence the Familiars thoughts or feelings, but the Familiar is magically influenced to do whatever it is told, within actual physical limits. The Familiar is given a chance to follow the order willingly before the magic takes effect. The Familiar must be capable of hearing and understanding their master for anything to happen. One exception: the master can physically shock their Familiar out of sleep (not unwilling unconsciousness though, only restful sleep).
An unfortunate error in the design of the ring is that it isn't exclusive to each Familiar. Anyone wearing a master's ring may understand and issue commands to any other Familiar. The Immortals have made no attempt to fix this error, and so there are some mortals that choose to take advantage of this, taking more than one Familiar as their own.
Familiars who were magic users in life will find it difficult to cast anything without actual hands, but not impossible. There are a small number of books with spells specifically designed for the use of Familiars, allowing them to cast at least some of the basic spells.
Familiars are, for all intensive purposes, completely invincible. This isn't to say that they're invulnerable. A Familiar can be damaged fairly easily, but as long as even a single minute single part exists in even the smallest form, the Familiar will regenerate completely. Any existing wounds from life will not be regenerated of course, but anything done afterwards will go back to normal. Such extensive damage can be very traumatizing to most beings though, since they must experience every single instant of pain with no death to end it.
After performing certain deeds set forth by the Familiar's supervising Immortal, they themselves will become an Immortal.
Familiars may only be understood by Immortals, sentient mortals with master rings, and animals of a similar nature.
Immortals
Immortals resemble what modern culture would describe as angels. They look exactly as they did in life, but with large feathered wings coming out of their back. By 'exactly the same', that includes their age, meaning that if a person dies before they become an adult or after sustaining crippling wounds, they have to remain exactly that way in age or wounds for the rest of eternity. Most people in such a state can't pass the Familiar test, so it's not usually a big issue. Contrary to popular opinion, they don't have halos, that's only a feature to mark Familiars. They also have a tendency to wear white robes with only minimal personal design in light colors, but it isn't a uniform.
Immortals can move freely between the Realm of Light and Thryll at will, though they have to attain normal magical means to reach the Realm of Shadow. Likewise, they can enter any individual's dreams to communicate with them if they wish.
Immortals require food, drink, and rest as long as they remain on Thryll. They cannot get around their needs by returning to the Realm of Light, they must still attend to their needs when they return.
If an Immortal takes a substantial amount of physical damage, they will revert to their Familiar form until they fully recover. An Immortal is also capable of changing between their Familiar form at will, but it will always be the same animal.
Immortals don't have any actual duty as a group, but many have a desire to do the things Immortals normally do (guiding Familiars, keeping up Fate, etc.) because they literally have nothing better to do.
Traditionally, Immortals are the only people able to see Fate. They try not to show this to others as it's already complex enough when no matter what they do to try to influence it, it stays on track.
Gods
Just as Demons aren't unholy creatures, Gods aren't really related to divinity (so please no one get offended by the term 'God', it's just what they're called -.- ). Gods are merely incredibly powerful beings that take various shapes and forms.
Gods are capable of using magic that would most likely shatter the very soul of a normal being even attempting it without performing any of the components, and sometimes without even consciously thinking of it. Most Gods, however, are incredibly eccentric, and prefer to only use their abilities on the mortal plane for their own amusement. They usually won't even give a damn if the world's about to end. It's not their problem.
Gods can move freely between planes just like Immortals, but they may go between any of them. Since there are so very many limitless amounts of these, most Gods simply claim a whole plane of existence as their own and no one has a problem with it.
Gods usually govern over a certain element. These elements are not limited to nature, for instance, Yarima is the God of Shadows (incidently, she is also the ruler of the Plane of Shadow).
There are many Gods, though most wish to stay out of mortal affairs, lest they become known and called upon again.
Fate
Fate is a physical series of lines in the Realm of Light which only Immortals are allowed to see. These lines dictate all the major events of every single living sentient being (except Gods) in Thryll. These tend to be general enough that one cannot look at it and simply change something out of it, but specific enough to give an idea of what will happen. Anyone who tries to change fate will find that it seems to correct itself in improbable ways. If you kill someone early, there will have been someone with the exact same name who was supposed to have died then. Everything that fate dictates will come true... except one very important event.
Fate only ever made one mistake: the character from the original game, Acclue Lockheart, was supposed to have taken the test to become a Familiar and failed. Instead, he passed, and when he returned to Earth, all of his companion's fates were thrown off by merely meeting him. Fate dictated that every single living being on Thryll would die in one instant, but the group prevented that instant. Thus, Fate simply ended.
(Games take place either before or after the events of the original game, referred to from here as 'Fatefall')
Afterlife
When a mortal soul dies, whether Human, Demon, or even God, their soul either ascends to the Plane of Light or the Plane of Shadow depending on their attachment to the world. The Plane of Light is where they normally go, but those still attached to the world go to The Shadows, among the many other horrifying inhabitants of the Plane.
Fate dictated that certain people would have to go through a test after they died to see if they would become an Immortal. After Fatefall, the Immortals no longer knew who to administer this test to, so they simply began testing every soul that passed through before they went to their respective afterlives (This lead to a great increase in the number of Familiars on Thryll).
The test began when all the soul's memories of their own life were removed. The soul would then have to go through what were copies of events in their life, slightly changed against their favor to make sure they died then. The soul would have to save their own life without prior knowledge of the events of their own life. This often ended at where they were supposed to die, where the Immortal supervising the test would try to convince them that they could sacrifice one of their allies' lives to save their own and return to life. They obviously couldn't do this, but it did serve as a sufficient final test. Those who pass would then return to Thryll as a Familiar. Whether they passed or failed, the soul would have their memories returned in full. The Immortals have absolutely no obligation to relay any of this information to the soul being tested, and if they do decide to, they don't even have to be accurate (ex. The Immortal who tested Acclue told him that if he failed, he would remain in the void where the test takes place for all eternity to try to convince him to give up willingly).
Magic
No one knows exactly what force it is that creates magic in the world, but they have come to a fair understanding of how it works.
Magic is always operated by at least one intricate hand sign. These hand signs are rarely singular though. There are often long series of signs that have to be made in quick succession for even intermediate level magic.
Some magic also operates by use of arcane words from a forgotten language, but these are much less complex than the somatic components, usually consisting of a single word shouted at the end of the signs.
The most basic spells can be cast with only hand signs and possibly verbal components, but anything even somewhat complex also requires magical script. A book of magic with some of the most common intermediate spells has been recreated by scholars so much that it is practically in printed circulation. The more powerful spells, though, require rare, sometimes unique, pages. These books and pages (if appropriately made) are all enchanted to float at chest level while the mage is casting spells. This is because most spells are difficult or even impossible to perform one-handed, and the book is often too large to hold with one hand anyway.
Certain spells are of such a reality-shattering quality that if any being short of a God himself even attempted it, their soul would be utterly destroyed. This includes Immortals. These spells are impossible to acquire without traveling to another plane of existence anyway, so most beings are safe from it.
Languages
In Thryll, there are two languages, the Human language (I've been calling it Mantle) and the Demon language (Kurs).
Mantle is a more 'proper-sounding' language than Kurs. This is mainly because Humans come from more organized societies and already tend to think of themselves as somewhat above Demons. Oddly, Mantle also has no contractions.
Kurs is a more liberal language, sort of close to how people speak today, even in mannerism.
These languages can be learned between the races, but thanks to social boundaries, they are usually exclusive.
It is assumed that Immortals can be understood by all sentient creatures regardless of language boundaries and Gods can easily change their language through their powerful magic.
Familiars speak a language that can only be understood by their masters, but they can also communicate between animals of similar species.
(game note: if there is someone in a group that knows both languages, it is assumed, unless specifically stated otherwise, that they tell the rest of the group what was said without having to write it. This way you don't have to continuously note that they tell the group about it.)
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The Magi
The Magi
The Magi is probably one of the most open settings I've ever designed because you're pretty much free to design whatever you want in terms of races and abilities. The Magi takes place on a world, not necessarily of intergalactic technology, but still of large racial diversity. It can be assumed that every game played within the setting is on a different planet, since remaining canon with everything created would be far too difficult and frankly ludicrous to have so many sentient species on one localized planet. This isn't to say that people CAN'T reuse a world, but if so, new races should be avoided to remain consistent.
Of course, there is one universal constant that binds all of these worlds together, as it is a matter of planes of existence rather than spacial issues...
Race Design
Name:
General Appearance:
Racial Abilities:
History:
TL:
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Name: the name of your race.
General Appearance: the way your race looks.
Racial Abilities: what is your race good/bad at. What notable traits do they have that set them apart from the norm.
History: brief description of past of race.
TL: tech level. This is a bit more complex than the other factors. This is how good the technology of the race's culture as a whole has become. On the scale, 1 would be considered a race that has just passed over the threshold to sentience and has just become aware of the 'technological' world around them. In comparison, an 8 would represent about where human-kind is today. And an 18 (the maximum) would be a civilization so evolved through technology that nothing you could imagine would be impossible for them.
Generally, the planet as a whole will have a tech level and races should fall within 2 levels of the rest of the planet, but an especially technologically based race might find themselves one above that limit or an extremely regressive race might be found all the way back at the beginning of the line, still swinging sticks around at each other.
Age descriptions courtesy of the Central Casting book series. Be aware that these ages are only general examples of what would happen in that age. In no way are you limited to a linear progression of technology that's modeled after humankind.
1: Stone Age: Fire has found its way into most homes, sharpened sticks and stones form the warrior's basic armament, the lever is the most complex machine, domesticated animals provide food and companionship, and building villages is coming into vogue. This covers everything from the classic cave man up to pre-Columbian American Indians.
2: Bronze Age: Metal working, walled cities, stone monuments, sailing ships, the wheel, and simple writing are the rage. Well-to-do warriors wear metal armor and wage war with spears, swords, bow and arrows. Ancient Greece and Egypt, the Celts of Europe and the peoples of the Biblical Middle East are examples.
3: Iron Age: Achievements include iron working (a harder metal than bronze), the keystone arch, and the use of concrete in building to encourage quick development of large cities. Common soldiers wear metal armor and huge stone hurling, wall-bashing mechanical siege machines take some of the guesswork out of flattening enemy fortresses. Imperial Rome is the "classic" example of this Tech Level.
4: Medieval Age: Steel (a harder metal than iron) weapons and armor are used by the well-to-do warriors. Crossbows make even poorly trained troops into deadly foes. This is a period noted for retrogression, even degeneration and loss of technical and social gains made in earlier ages. Medieval Europe and Feudal Japan typify this Tech Level.
5: Renaissance: Learning is rediscovered with a vengeance. Gunpowder makes major changes in the waging of war, movable type printing speeds the spread of information. Equivalent to 1350-1 800 in western Europe.
6: Industrial Revolution: Steam engines drive boats and land transportation, while steam-powered machinery replaces hand-manufacturing, allowing mass production of goods. Cures are found for some diseases. Electricity is utilized to a limited extent for communication and illumination. Typified by Europe and the you.S.A. of the 1800's.
7: Engineering Age: Internal combustion engines or electricity power most forms of transportation, including personal cars, war machines, and fixed-wing aircraft. Radio, television, suborbital rockets and small automatic weapons are developing. This is the late 19th century through pre-WWII 20th century, just before atomic escalation.
8: Technological Age: Nuclear power is used to create both electricity and deadly weapons. Orbital spacecraft visit nearby satellites and "unmanned" probes explore other planets in the solar system. Industrial lasers, small computers, and organ transplants are commonplace.
9: Fusion Age: Energy is created through the combining, not destruction of matter. Laser weapons replace projectile weapons in most armies. "Manned" exploration of the solar system, establishment of orbital space cities and scientific colonies on other planets within system. "Cold sleep" used for long interplanetary trips. Most manufacturing is completely automated.
10: Spacefaring Age:(generally, the game doesn't take place past this age, but it can be excepted. The reason is that this could cause crossovers with old games, which, once again, is possible, but not highly recommended) Unself-aware artificial intelligence is now found in some large computers. Most planets and major satellites in the solar system contain autonomous colonies or independent "nations." Sub-light "manned"exploration of nearby stars begins.
11: First Stellar Age: Faster-than-Light (FTL)drives drastically reduces travel time between stars, but months, even years are still needed for interstellar travel. Exploration/colonization of the galaxy begins. Fully sentient, self-aware computers and artificially intelligent robots perform tasks formerly only possible by living sentients.
12: Second Stellar Age: Most stellar colonies are independent of home planet. Faster-than-Light (FTL) drives now capable of rapid jumps between stars, crossing the gaps between stars in a matter of weeks. FTL communication allows information to travel between stars. Powerful non-laser energy weapons found on large ships and battle machines.
13: Third Stellar Age: Warriors wield hand-held non-laser energy weapons. Antimatter used to produce power. Faster-than-Light (FTL) communication exceeds speed of starships. Small ships have interstellar capability. Robots are commonly humanoid (or alienoid) in form.
14: Fourth Stellar Age: Energy shields protect large vehicles and craft. Gravitic repulsors negate the effects of gravity. Personal force screens possible.
15: Ultratech Age: Worlds are completely terraformed, and/or moved from their orbits into more suitable ones. Robots are often physically indistinguishable from life forms (and are often classed as life forms). Totally synthetic life forms are commonplace.
16: Transmatter Age: Matter can be coded, broken down into energy and then transmitted to a receiver. Unlimited Faster-than-Light (FTL) communication now possible.
17: Dysonian Age: Actual manufacture of worlds, including impossibly large Dyson spheres that enclose suns and ring worlds that whirl about them is possible.
18: Superculture: At this point, literally anything is technologically possible.
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The Universal Constant: Mana Sprites
Mana Sprite I drew a LONG time ago: acclue-lockheart.deviantart.com/art/mana-sprite-46315161 (I'm a terrible artist, shut up <.< )
(yes these were inspired by warp-acci, but only slightly.)
Mana Sprites are small creatures supposedly made of pure energy that come from another dimension. These creatures appear as stable, solid, completely black creatures, that for reasons that baffle mortal scientists everywhere, do not reflect light off of their bodies, except for their eyes (which glow different colors depending on the Sprite), appearing completely black no matter how well-lit the area. This usually results in people seeing them as a literal lack of space. This is especially odd since they do have a positive substance to them, they can be touched. Mana sprites, if not for their shadowy color, could be said to slightly resemble Earth cats, but that is only in body shape. Their heads are completely round, and their ears, starting from the tops of their head, are usually long strands the length of their body that they have no issues keeping up above the body. The most notable physical feature of the Mana Sprite is it's tail. The tail is a long, paper-thin appendage that runs about twice the length of the Mana Sprite's body. They appear to have full control over the tail, as if it were jointed in every spot. If stiffened, the tail (or merely a section of the tail to keep the rest of it flexible) can be made into a miraculously thin blade.
Mana Sprites are not just merely tiny dark creatures though. The plane they come from is abundant with magic, and they have a direct link to that magic. Unfortunately and ironically, a Mana Sprite has no capability to use magic itself. To tap into the Mana Sprite's magical reserves, they must create a link with another non-sprite sentient being, of which their dimension has none. The Mana Sprites would describe their world as a painfully boring or torturous void of nothingness. As such, they welcome being called out to this dimension with open arms and try everything they can to stay here as long as they can. Being called from their dimension is about the only true magic that exists on this plane of existence, so other sentient beings pull Sprites from their void to access their power, and the Mana Sprites play along to escape from their void and keep themselves out of danger. While summoning, the person calling the Sprite will either receive a Sprite completely at random, or they may call a Sprite that has already been banished and they know the name of. The Sprites are free to answer this call or not, but the vast majority of them would rather endure a sadistic partner than be left to their own world.
Once a Sprite is summoned to the world, they form an instant bond with whoever summoned them, and the being may tap into the Mana Sprite's magic at any time they are physically near each other. Meanwhile, Mana Sprites also depend on their summoner's use of their magic, as the longer the bond lasts, the more magic is leaked out to the world around the Sprite, allowing them to perform certain actions that would be impossible without a bond. This bond can be severed at any time by the summoner, who can either choose to banish the Mana Sprite back to their home dimension to await another summoner, or some cruel people wish to leave the abandoned Sprite in their world with no bond, and thus no way to defend oneself in what they usually perceive as a very dangerous world. Some very lucky abandoned Sprites do manage to find a new person to form a bond with, but most do fall victim to the elements of the world... Creating a new link from the normal plane of existence must be performed by the Sprite. They do so by using their tail to pierce the new host's soul and create a new link manually. This can be a painful experience for the other being, which is why it is usually difficult for an abandoned Sprite to find a willing participant.
When Mana Sprites have a bond, they can gradually manipulate the passive magic that leaks from them when they have such a connection. After a couple of hours in a bond, they emit a small aura around them (this aura is usually the same color as their eyes) that acts as a sort of passive armor (it isn't invincible, but it does get more powerful until the bond is complete). After a couple of days in the bond, they can levitate themselves indefinitely. About a week into the bond, the Mana Sprite's bond is 'complete', and their stranger abilities come into effect. First, the Sprite at this stage can manipulate their body into any shape they wish, so long as the shape doesn't have a greater surface area than the original Sprite. The other ability they gain is the ability for their tail to slice through space itself and create a small pocket dimension that they can hide in if the need arises. This, of course, makes the bond between it and the other being cease until the Sprite returns to the normal world. Being away from the person the bond is formed with will gradually close the passive magic they can control. It takes only a day to completely close the bridge and put Sprites in a helpless state with none of their abilities. Once reunited with their partner, a Sprite regains their bond at the normal rate.
A Sprite can only be left on the world without a partner if they are abandoned and not banished. If the Sprite's partner dies, the link is severed with such ferocity that they are simply expelled back to their own dimension.
There can exist only one link to a soul. If a Sprite were to form a link with more than one creature, their soul would be torn and they would become a living shell with no will of it's own. Some cruel creatures force this onto their Sprites to make more obedient servants. These are often referred to as Slave Sprites. All Slave Sprites have white colors for their eyes and aura. These creatures cannot be banished and in fact do not return to their world when their master dies. They merely stay by their master's corpse until they themselves die of exhaustion. If a summoner thinks that they might try to gain the control of more than one Sprite, they too will find their souls torn, this results in instant death, and normal banishment of the attached Sprites. For most, this means that summoning a Sprite is a meaningful occasion and a lifetime commitment.
A Mana Sprite has no determinable life span. Not one has died of natural causes in the known universe, so they are assumed to be ageless creatures. The Sprites consider their 'age' to be the amount of time since they were last summoned.
Mana Sprites, as have been said, hold direct links to the magical reserves of their own world. However, each Sprite is only attuned to certain frequencies of magic. This causes the range of spells that the summoner can access to be limited to certain 'fields' which could be as broad as 'elemental' or 'space' to as specific as 'speed' or 'electricity'. It is impossible to access magic outside of a Sprite's field. Sadly, this is the major cause of most abandoned Sprites. The summoner finds themself with a Sprite in a field that they find distasteful or useless and they simply put them aside to summon another.
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Character Sheet
(remember, unless you're a member of a race another character has posted, to put in a race sheet)
Name:
Race:
Age:
Sex:
Appearance:
Personality:
Do you have a Mana Sprite?:
Strengths: (2 strengths to 1 weakness)
Weaknesses: (1 weakness to 2 strengths)
History:
Mana Sprite Character Sheet
Name:
Age: (time since summoned)
Personality:
Color:
Field:
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In The End
Just to tell you, I don't intend to offend any religious beliefs with this setting, so no jumping on me for it!
This is based on a story I'm writing. I always thought it was one of the most capable of being used in RP form, so here goes.
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The Underworld
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When humans die, where do they go? The question that has plagued mankind since the very beginning... is really irrelevant once you find out, now isn't it?
After death, there are any number of planes one could end up on, but there are a few lucky (heh) humans who end up in an interesting little place called the underworld.
The underworld is an infinitely expanding plane of existence where an infinite number of species of demonic beings reside. It is also where many human souls end up once they have... expired... No one is sure why they end up in this specific place, but demons aren't the type to question the causes of things. What they do know is that most of the humans that arrive there are only children. They have no idea where everyone else goes.
They also aren't aware of exactly why the entrance to this realm is several kilometers above the ground in a long diagonal line across the center of the plane. This obviously causes some inconveniences to humans, who cannot, in fact, fly...
Fortunately, since they are already dead, they don't have much to worry about except the pain of crashing into the ground at terminal velocity and the subsequent rest needed to recover. Oh, and the demon most likely to be waiting around the corner to devour their soul.
But should that not happen, it's possible that they would end up in the care (or control) of some other demon...
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The underworld expands flatly at such a fast rate that there is no method of travel that can be used to catch up to it. It would already take millenia to reach the end if it stopped and magical travel were used. Thus nobody knows what the end of the plane is like. It forms as a natural environment as it goes, so the underworld has a vastly variable ecosystem.
The only real recorded landmark of the infinite space is a long, metropolitan road being constantly built parallel to the line that humans drop from. It is most often referred to as 'Main Street', and is a popular spot for demons to congregate. It is the only place in the plane with a uniform set of laws, the only penalty being that when a law is broken, that all other rules no longer apply to that person. Basically, if you break the rules, you're going to be torn apart by all the others. Some scavengers (see the demons section) even like to wait around specifically for people to break the laws, or even make them break them...
The humans most often land in the dilapidated ruins of previously unsuccessful attempts to expand the city. The rules don't apply there and the scavengers like to wait in the drop zones for humans and demon passers-by.
It should also be noted that there are no celestial bodies in the underworld. There is no sun or moon, but it is generally accepted that, unless magically darkened, all surfaces emit enough light for you to see it in the underworld. Some theories also say that all demons can see in the dark, but that doesn't explain why humans can see...
There are no stars, and no magnetic poles, making navigation by anything besides the few landmarks in the world impossible.
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The underworld has all the technology of people in the human world. They just don't bother to use most of it. Most demons' immense strength make quite a number of the labor saving devices of our world completely useless to them. Even when it comes to weapons, demons prefer archaic weaponry to guns. It isn't for tradition or inconvenience of materials, but for the simple fact that demons can effectively wield DEVASTATING weapons such as melee weapons that are several times larger than the person wielding them, or simply ballistic weapons that they just carry around like it was nothing.
Most labor can simply be done by hand, leaving technology as an available luxury, but it is rarely seen in use.
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Aegis
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Aegis is a mysterious deity said to be the true ruler of the underworld. Reapers sacrifice their thralls' spirits to him/her/it to receive them as half-demons under their control. Aegis is seemingly a fair deity in the demons' eyes, and really doesn't require any worship beyond what the reapers do.
Aegis communicates with half-demons as they change forms, but more often than not erases their memory of the visit. It feels some compassion for the severe pain involved with transferring the soul to new bodies. No one is exactly sure what it does with all of the spirits it gets, but demons aren't the type to care...
It generally seems eager to 'help' humans into their new bodies, but its mood can vary wildly. Some think that the stress of dealing with the countless number of changes it needs to make at a time wears even on such a powerful being.
Even those that retain memory of Aegis claim to have only heard its voice, which is said to be a menagerie of different voices and tones switching out with each other rapidly. As such, even its gender is unclear.
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That is essentially all there is to know about the underworld, all that's left is to explain the residents...
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Humans
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Most likely, you are one in real life. There are few humans in the underworld that are not almost immediately snatched up by scavengers or claimed by reapers. Chances are, if you're still human, you haven't hit the ground yet. Although on rare occasions, humans sometimes gather odd power when they enter the otherworld, making them seem demonic anyway...
Human spirits (human body in an afterlife, not to be confused with the soul, the human mind in an afterlife) are indestructible. This isn't to say that they can't feel pain or be damaged, but they will always recover from any sort of damage, even if a limb falls off or the body is completely dismembered.
The soul is insubstantial, and cannot be damaged. Thus, any damage that would be done to the brain of a spirit is essentially not as damaging as in the human world, to the point where it is just a mild annoyance in most cases. Though it cannot be damaged, many scavengers feed off of the souls rather than the spirits of human beings, leaving the spirit as a husk for some other demon. Not even these demons are aware of what happens to devoured souls...
Like all living species, humans and half-demons still need to sustain themselves as normal. They will certainly not die from a lack of food, drink, sleep, or exposure, but they will feel the effects of the lack.
Name:
Age: (be aware that time in the underworld does not proceed at a consistent speed with the human world. If two people die within a day of each other and both end up in the underworld, the first one may be decades older than the second. The most accurate representation of the ratio can be seen in a common strategy for reapers, who tell their thralls, weeks after they landed, that they “haven't hit the floor yet” back in the human world.)
Appearance:
Mutation: (if any. It is an extremely rare occurrence for a human to earn demonic power by simply entering the underworld.)
How you died: (usually unknown. The shock of death leaves nearly all humans with severe memory loss of their lives.)
History: (history in the underworld, not in the human world unless they maintained some sort of memory)
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Half-Demons
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Half-Demons are the result of reapers (see demon jobs) sacrificing the spirit of a human to Aegis. The reaper places a magical collar around the human with their personal symbol engraved in it, marking them for Aegis with a calling spell (the Aegis Collar disappears when they turn into Half-Demons, supposedly it is left with their Human spirit). Aegis takes their spirit and leaves the soul in a chaotic demon body in its place. As thanks for the spirit, Aegis gives total control of the half-demon to the reaper, who can control them to the extent of causing them to do whatever they want just by saying and returning them to their original forms (explained later).
The chaotic body of a half-demon changes between many different species of demons through four tiers of development, each more powerful than before. Exactly what they become is dependent solely upon their thoughts and emotions in the period before they changed. They often need to be reset by their reaper, which returns them to their first tier (always an absurdly weak, small, lowly species incapable of even defending itself. The first tier is always the same for any one person), just to keep the natural instincts of the new species from overwhelming the half-demon. This usually happens anyway at the first tier, but they would rather have the more docile species' instincts in their thralls. Few human wills survive permanently in half-demons. They start to behave more like demons would and hardly notice or care anymore.
The way most reapers treat their thralls, a lot of half-demons never make it past the second tier.
Some reapers actually keep first tier half-demons as pets of sorts (in fact, they sometimes just become reapers to get one), or want to keep them at lower tiers even when the appropriate time for them to change has come. This is most often achieved by some magic accessory placed somewhere on them.
Just as ordinary humans, the first tier of half-demons are invincible (still susceptible to having their souls stolen, but more likely to be able to defend themselves), and all the same rules as for human souls apply. For any of the other tiers, the half-demon is susceptible to a sort of death. They do not actually die, but are returned to their first tier, unconscious.
The only way for a half-demon to be freed is if their reaper dies, and they will become a mortal full demon of whatever species they were when their master died. Most Demons that are created this way eventually grow to forget that they were ever Human in the first place.
Time to change:
1st tier: XXX
2nd tier: a few hours
3rd tier: about a month
4th tier: several years
Name:
Age: (Once again, variable to the time shift. They appear as if at the equivalent age of their human forms when they changed, but thereafter, they age as a demon. See below.)
First Tier: (Remember, this is a very weak demon race of some sort. You won't stay in it for long, so don't worry about being underpowered.)
Appearance: (extremely variable, however, certain subtleties such as hair, eyes, and physical scars remain constant in many forms.)
Reaper: (Who is your master?)
How you died: (once again, usually unknown)
History: (also once again, usually just in the underworld)
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Demons (don't think Kitsuneakki on this one... unless you want to...)
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Demons are just what you would think of in a typical story about them: mischievous, monstrous, often evil creatures. They don't really seem that 'evil' if you have spent any time in the underworld. Seeing as there are so many of them, they really just seem playfully sadistic.
Unlike humans and half-demons, demons are, ironically, mortal. They are capable of having their bodies permanently damaged (though many have astounding regenerative capabilities or magical resources that work just as well anyway) and of dying. No one even has a clue where demon souls go when they die.
Demons can really appear as anything between human-like creatures with bizarre powers to dragons the size of a city block.
Name:
Age: (Demons have LUDICROUSLY long life-spans. Keep in mind that most only reach adolescence at around the age of 3000... VERY few live long enough to become full adults... Average life-span: around 3500. Natural lifespan: unknown, no demon has ever actually died of old age...)
Race: (There are so many different kinds that there is actually no single record of every species of demon. Really, you could just make something up for this category, whether it's original or from mythology and such. An explanation is necessary if it's not obvious)
Job: (Reaper, scavenger, overlord, or thrall. Reaper: captures human souls for Aegis for their own uses. Scavenger: Prey on humans and weak demons, no one really cares, but generally frowned upon as a lifestyle. Overlord: self-sufficient and respected with many thralls, often claiming large areas of land outside of the city as their own. Thrall: Servile to an overlord for one reason or another, unlike half-demons, they are not stuck this way unless magically bound.)
Appearance:
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(Just to clarify, and yes, I have actually thought this part out, demons have all dominant physical genes. If there is ever a situation where this actually needs to come up, the parties involved don't matter, it's always a full demon as a result. They may not have the same psyche of a demon, but given the environment, it is unlikely that they will get anything different. And you all know very well what I'm talking about
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