Welcome to Gaia! ::

The human lands are as diverse as our own world. For the most part, magic has supplanted technology and so the world remains in the so-called “dark ages.” The most common form of government is a monarchy although there are a number of ‘free cities’ and other alternative forms of rulership. Humans do not bother themselves with the affairs of dragons and often try to avoid that race. Only a handful of the population is even aware that the dragon’s flight resides in their race and those that do know do nothing to repair the damage as the secrets that wrought this magic are long lost.

Humans and dragons rest in an uneasy truce. Many resent the dragons for their intrusion into human lives by the taking of Dragon-Bound and groups of dragon hunters have formed to kill any dragon that ventures into human territory. Others will fight dragons simply out of fear or a lack of understanding that not all dragons are dangerous and seek to destroy humans out of revenge. For the most part, people try to live and avoid any contact with dragons.


Roles in Society
A sampling of various social roles a person can fall into. This is not complete but is just a general overview, ranked from most important to least important.

Rulers - The elite of any kingdom. Tribal leader, king/queen, elected official, etc.

Nobility - Typically landowners. They have a say in the government at a higher level and control over their land and the people that live in it.

Mages - Generally left alone by non-mages and are allowed to come and go as they will. Only in Shavelle are mages expected to serve the government and this is because magic and divine will of the ruler are seen as linked. Otherwise, mages police their own ranks, teach other mages using the apprenticeship method, and interact with non-mages only if they want to.

Religious Devotee - Despite a wide spread of religious beliefs and sects and cults, anyone who is dedicated to a particular religion is afforded some degree of respect. So long as they stay in the right places. And don't venture into the territory of someone who particularly doesn't like their religion or where their opposing religion has a strong hold. Otherwise, they hold the respect of the people.

Merchants/Scholars - The upper-class of society. Educated or rich, but do not own land. Usually have the strongest influence within a city-state.

Craftsmen/Workers - The ordinary people of the world. They survive by being good at a trade or having land to work.

Wanderers - People who, for whatever reason, have decided to never settle down. These people are generally regarded as trouble-makers until proven otherwise. The bards are the most common type of wanderer and have a slightly better reputation than the average wander as in many cases they bring news as well as merriment with them. Rangers are another kind that are begrudgingly given respect usually for their hunting abilities, but overall, most people would prefer for wanderers to stay for a little while and then leave. Bandits, mercenaries, Dragon Hunters, and Dragon Chasers also fall into this group.

Indentured Servants/Slaves - Those folks who have no say over their livelihoods, whether because they were bought with coin or forced into the debt of someone, fall to the bottom of the ranks.

The fae are a race rumored to have been around since the world began, keeping to themselves even as the races of dragons and men grew and began to war. Chaotic in essence, just like nature, the fae have their own way of accomplishing their tasks within the Fae Courts that exist.

What are Fae
The fae are wilde magic incarnate. They are a combination of magic and nature brought to life and thus do not have souls. They have an limitless forms. They can be two legged, many legged, finned or winged, or even have none. Some are shaped like plants, some animal, some humanlike, and others formless and wispy.

History
Fae history and current events are kept to themselves - basically any dealings with the fae are going to be a lot of misdirection from any information. The fae don't like telling humans or dragons things about themselves.

Location & Territory
Fae can be found anywhere, typically in disguise as they are outside of their territory. Most chose to reside in the realm of a Fae Court dictated by a king and queen. Each court is covers relatively the area of the forest that they dominate. For example, the Court of the Silver Rose lies just south of the eastern forest and west of the desert. The Court of the Crystal Ivy is located somewhere in the regions of northern Shavelle and Kas Kain, wrapping along the Dragonspine.

However, these courts cannot be found by someone looking for it as it exists partly in reality and partly out of it - a person kind of stumbles upon it. Or someone very knowledgeable about the ways of the fae slips in. Or the fae find someone on purpose...

The Fae Courts & Royalty
As mentioned, each sizable forest in the world is a possible location of a fae court. These courts are similar in that they each have a king and/or queen to rule them in whatever fashion they see fit. That is where the similarities end, however. What procedure is in one court can be completely opposite in the next.

What is known amongst the fae is that when it comes time, the heir to the throne will take the crown and replace the current monarch when magic of the forest begins to die. When this takes place is only known to those of the royal line who can sense such things. What is not uncommon is there to be a power struggle between the heir and the current monarch. Sometimes this ends quickly, while other times it can result in an all out war.

Wilde Magic
All Fae have some access to raw (wilde) magic, but not all are intelligent enough to use it or know how to. Many fae are animalistic of mind, and short of using magic by base instinct, do not have the ability to take their magic further than that.

The royal borne are an exception. They are directly tied to their lands through the Blessed Path, and thus are closest to it short of Sain, the Black Swan, and their chosen followers. The fae, being both impulsive and a step removed from the Path, do not have that instinctual knowledge Sain or the Swan have, and if they're not careful, they can leave the equivalent of cracks behind in the foundation of magic. This is why fae royalty tends to use places or things already connected to the Path - it's easier. And since it is foundational magic, the Blessed Path can just laugh at fae magic and disregard it.

Fae & Dragon Binding
Dragons can be bound by a fae at any age since the fae is in charge of the bond. Fae can bind an unwilling dragon. They see themselves outside the traditional rules of morality for both dragon and human and do as their whims dictate. Unlike a dragon/human binding, if the fae is killed, the dragon will still live.

Less populous than even the fae, though more apt to walk the physical world, vampire kind is known more as myth and legend to most of their live human brethren. The regular traveler is more likely to mistake a late night drunk bum as a vampire than meet and accurately detect one themselves.

What a Vampire Is
A vampire is someone who was once human but converted by another vampire or changed over when bound to a Tainted. Almost all vampires can be separated into one of two categories by what they feed off of: blood and energy. Those that feed off of blood make up a majority of the race. Some have regular donors from whom they feed while most simply hunt for their next meal. Very few take the time and effort to avoid humans and sustain themselves on animal blood. As animal blood is of inferior quality and taste in comparison to that of human blood, it requires more frequent feedings in a constant weakened state. There are a few who can feed on energy directly in addition to drinking blood. These usually consist of vampires who have become dragon-bound who obtain their dragon partner’s ability to sense and manipulate life energy, pulling it into them in order to refill themselves. While Tainted specifically drink the emotions of a living being, vampires do not have the finesse to fine tune it to that point and drink the life energy straight up. For them, emotions essentially 'flavor' the energy. Some vampires even have a particular emotion they like to invoke from their prey before feeding.

There are no half-vampires/dhampir. It is a superstition sometimes carried by both human and vampire alike. There is no known way for a vampire to be created the way humans repopulate. No human or vampire female has been known to become pregnant after getting it on with their counterpart. The creation of another vampire has only been known to come about through the sharing of the vampire's blood with their victim. There are a variety of ways the ritual actually occurs; it generally just depends on what form was passed down to the vampire through their creator. The favored age of victims is early twenties to late forties; near equal numbers of male and female victims, with a marked predominance for those who are healthy, educated intellectuals. A sign of a threatened and declining vampire group may be the deviation from this preselection of humans.

Mythical Origins & History
The creation of the first vampires has long been debated by vampire kind as well as those that hunt them. It is unknown if this forgotten piece of their history was accidentally lost or intentionally withheld at some point of the race’s existence. The most common stories about the first vampire involve the commander of Marckius's armies during the mortal wars. Some believe that he was cursed by the god of the sun, Lahmear, for his assistance to the enemy. Others believe that after Marckius escaped prison and became a fugitive, the commander put a spell upon himself so that he might better be able to serve his god in the night. Another tale ties vampire origins to the Black Swan. As vampire-kind must drain life to sustain their own, some suspect that the first vampire was (or maybe still is) a servant of the Swan, a Revenant who grew tired of the solitude and longed for (and to create) other nearly-immortal company. Other related stories say the first vampire was the child of a Revenant and a mortal, cursed to carry on his or her dark parent's legacy. No solid evidence exists for any of these however.

Just like their origins, vampires have little recorded history to speak other than their own personal experiences. Despite their long lives, they are the youngest race to grace the world with the exception of the Dragonkin. With most vampires being either migrant or trying to keep hidden what they are from the public, this has prevented the sharing and learning of information even within their own race. Most of what is passed down is oral and is heavily subject to biased interpretation by the orator.

Fae Expermentation
Aside from those bound to Tainted, there is one known exception of vampires as energy drinkers but not blood ones. The succubi (female) and the incubi (male) feed on the energies of lust, pleasure, and darker desires and emotions. With what information has been gathered so far, it is believed that these two were created through fae experimentation on captured vampires. How or why the fae carried out these harrowing procedures is unknown. What is understood is it left a passable trace of fae magic within them, a contradiction with an element that is normally damaging or fatal to vampire kind. The natural forms of succubi and incubi are vampire like in their pale off-color skin with the addition of bat-like wings, head horns, and spade-tipped tails. They are also weaker during the daylight hours, but are able withstand the sun. If they are using any of their abilities during this time, it risks the chance of them failing at inopportune moments. With their fae-taint, they are able to shift their features with an illusion to look like any other humanoid form, a common trick used to lure in prey.

Immunities to Vampirism
The races of men and dragon seem to be the only two susceptible to vampirism. Humans can only obtain it from another vampire and dragons can only obtain it from a tainted dragon or if their bond is or becomes a vampire. In the time when dragons could fly on their own, they too were immune to its effects, but now that dragons and humans are linked, the vampiric traits can be passed along to a dragon through its Dragon-Bound. No known Fae has succumbed to vampirism. It is believed that their magical nature prevents such a genetic change though no records of such an experiment seem to exist. Common animals seem to have some sort of immunity as well as no one has heard of any vampiric cows running amok - that or none of them have had the chance to live long enough for anyone to find out.

Common Traits
Just like the human counterparts they are based from, vampires exist with a variety of personalities, temperaments, abilities, and appearances. There are a few common traits, however, that can be found between most of the bloodlines.

Physical Constitution and Lifespan - vampires are immune to most diseases and illnesses as they are not as reliant on their undead bodies like humans are of their living ones. Also, most vampires have some form of regeneration or quick healing which makes normal weaponry ineffective outside of those specifically tailored to damage a vampire.

Strength - all vampires have a physical strength that exceeds that of mortals, some bloodlines carrying stronger physical abilities than others.

Pale Skin - no matter what skin color the vampire had in their previous life, the color of their current skin is always an deathly pale form of their human version.

Nomadic - Unless staying with a coven or special haven, most vampires are nomadic. Those that feed off of humans or livestock avoid staying in one place for too long as deaths, injuries, and stories tend to pile up after a time and arouse suspicion in the local populous, attracting mercenaries, hunters of the undead, or even other vampires who could pose a threat to the vampire.

Bloodline Powers
Though not proven, vampires are thought to be kept alive through some sort of twisted magic. The erratic nature of this magic seems to beget powers amongst some of its creations. Some vampires are known to have retractable and non-retractile wings, some exceptional strength, some mind manipulation, and others have a limited shapeshift.

Flight - (See 'Wings') //under construction//

Shapeshifting - Some vampires have the power to shift from their human based form to one other animal form, be it a bat, wolf, cat, bird, bear, gecko, or some other critter. The one additional animal form is either decided upon by the vampire the first time she transforms or it is something they have no choice in - whatever random animal they transformed into is the one they are stuck with. In instances where the animal could not be chosen, it has been noticed that that the animal-type has higher chance of being "passed along the blood." For example, if the Sire could transform into a bat, any vampire she sires will have a higher chance of also retaining the ability to transform into a bat.

Only a handful of vampires have the ability to shapeshift into more than one animal form. All animal forms are common animals, something the vampire was familiar with in their former life. Rarely a more exotic creature crops up, usually in someone who is an outsider or non-native.

Additionally, all animal forms are of similar mass or smaller than the vampire. This might explain why no vampire has managed to shift into the form of a dragon, though it doesn't explain why none have managed the form of any fae creature though. At best, a few energy vampires have been able to create the illusion of one or the other, but that's as close as any of them have come.

When a vampire shifts, it cannot stop midshift. If a vampire can shift into a cat, for example, they cannot shift just the cat eyes, ears, and claws and nothing else. If for some reason a vampire should happen to be interrupted while shifting to the point that it stops the changes, the vampire will then immediately begin to revert back until the vampire can try to shift again.

Mind Manipulation - Some Energy Vampires have the talent to take their abilities to another level. Some can touch upon a person's mind and read thoughts, manipulate emotions, or at stronger levels take it to a level of physical control with standing personal risk.


Racial Weaknesses
Despite the numerous strengths a vampire gains through its undead status, they also gain many weaknesses as well that they did not have as a human. Even though humans in general think of vampires as make-believe boogymen, there is at least one secretive collective of individuals that think otherwise. It is through their work that many of the weaknesses listed here were discovered aside from those discovered by accident by one unfortunate vampire or another over time.

Holy Water - burns like acid, strength depends solely on the belief of the one who created the holy water and the belief of the person wielding the water. Can inflict lasting wounds as well as scarring.

Wood Pierced though the Heart - Wood needs to be at least the width of a writing pen though usually larger/stronger to break through the skin, bones, and whatever clothing/armor may be in the way. Paralytic only, puts vampire in comatose, not deadly (though it could be should a staked vampire be left outside until morning when the sun begins to rise...). Numerous fair-sized splinters will provide irritation and maybe weakness, but not paralysis.

Fire – Hot enough and it burns a vampire's body to cinders, a form of death that cannot be regenerated from.

Sunlight - Sunlight burns like fire.

Silver - Similar to holy water though belief isn't a factor. Works like the worst allergy to metal you can imagine and more. A major irritant at best, serious burns at worst. Can inflict lasting wounds as well as scarring.

Magic - Magic is about the one weapon that affects both humans and vampires about equally in terms of damage. Note that the magic itself has to be in direct contact with the vampire. (ie: In a chant that throws ice shards, it's the ice that would contact the vampire and not the raw magic itself. The ice shards would have little impact in this situation.) Fae magic is particularly effective. It is theorized that a fae’s magic is a “living” magic, something alive which could be polar opposite to what it is that keeps a vampire alive.

Any form of healing or restorative magic do NOT help a vampire. The forces that keep a vampire 'alive' do not react to healing magic that works on humans or dragons. Human/animal/dragon blood is the only known substance that carries healing properties for vampires. There are whispers on the wind that one vampire has created something called 'blood magic' based on some of the more sadistic dragon binding practices but no one has confirmed this yet.

Energy Vampires: Physical Vulnerability While In the Mind – Vampires with the ability of mind manipulation have an additional weakness. When they are fully in someone's mind, their bodies are vulnerable to an attack from the outside. Also, they can be injured/killed in the victim's mind if the victim has enough control over their dreams (and enough determination to actually face a vampire). In the mind, the vampire's physical characteristics are not present and it is just a battle of mental/psychic skills, willpower, and stamina.


Superstitions
Despite their relatively short existence as a race, their mysterious nature has undoubtedly created many stories and myths ranging from their origins to ways to combat them.

An alliance with the Black Swan or Marckius - depends on who you talk to, otherwise this is unknown.

Blessed Items/Holy Symbols - There is no power in the item itself that causes any damage to a vampire. It's either because the item is silver, consecrated in holy water, or because the wielder is channeling magic (usually Divine magic with holy symbols) through the item.

Crossing moving water/water bodies - Vampires have no problems crossing rivers, creeks, lakes, oceans, etc unless they have a particular weakness to water. This does not mean that all vampires like getting soggy, however.

Daywalkers - there are no known vampires who can stand direct sunlight in their normal form. Some shifters can tolerate minor amounts in their animal form at best but are not immune. This doesn't mean that there aren't vampires out there trying to find a solution that will bring them out in the sun, however.

Dirt from the Homeland - Again, not necessary for vampires to travel or rest.

Entrance by Invitation - This carried more truth in the past when holy practitioners would bless newly built homes. Unknowingly, this holy blessing kept a vampire from entering the premises unless someone inside freely gave permission to enter. Once invited, the vampire was then able to come and go at will. Now that the blessing of new buildings has fallen to disuse, vampires find little trouble entering and exiting most buildings. There is the occasional older structure that might catch a vampire's surprise with an active ward still upon it. (That hasn't kept a vampire or two from beating down a few walls to gain unwanted entrance though...) Public areas such as taverns, inns, message centers, etc pose no hindrance and require no permission.

Garlic - Garlic is useless. The superstition came about because a farmer's daughter acquired a stalker that would only show up around her windows at night. Catching him in the act one evening, the farmer threw garlic bulbs at the fool before chasing him off. While the stalker was not a vampire, the farmer enjoyed dressing up the tale to his drinking buddies later on.

Half-Vampires/Dhampir - As of this date, no known half-vampire, half-human child has been recorded in existence.

Sleeping in Coffins - Vampires do not need to sleep in coffins. They can if they'd like, but most think it's a silly idea.