b O o K - o F - d I v E r S i T y

[Amateur Nerd at Large]

Notes to Consider:

1.) Some races simply can not be mixed. A list of ones that remain unmixed are:
___- Vampires
___- Lycans
___- Immortals
___- Half-beasts

2.) Be sure to take the details of your character's race into consideration when choosing ___abilities and magic, as well as classes and partners. Some types of magic will not suit ___certain races.

3.) WARNING!! Immortals description is long. Caution advised.  

[Amateur Nerd at Large]

Elementals

Types:
- Gnomes (Earth Elementals)
- Undines (Water Elementals)
- Slyphs (Air Elementals)
- Salamanders (Fire Elementals)

Notes to keep in mind:
1. Elementals are immortal, but lose their immortality when they fall in love with another race. Most frequently this other race is a human.
2. Both elementals and their offspring are humanoid in appearance.
3. Undines are extremely similar to water nymphs/spirits. They reside in bodies of water. Their offspring is typically female.
4. Salamander elementals and their offspring have both a humanoid form and more lizard-like form. Think dragon, in size and might, for more powerful fire elementals. Their offspring can be either male or female.
5. Gnome offspring are most typically male and height-challenged, though not nearly as small as the parent. Gnomes are about four feet tall at the most and their children can grow to about five feet tall, but no larger. Men are known for their fantastic beards. (Ha ha) Gnomes are known to live in underground tunnels and cities, though few can claim to have seen them.
6. Sylphs are most often associated with angels and usually invisible to the eye, but can choose to appear before someone if they wish. Their offspring is typically female.

In the Academy:
The offspring of elementals are the individuals that attend the academy, not the elementals themselves. They have the strongest magic pertaining to the elements of any other race.

"Pixie Dust":
** Half-Gnomes - Earth magic. Sensitive to nature (Ability to communicate with trees and plant-life). Often talented when it comes to craft-related arts. Excellent swordsmanship.
** Half-Undines - Water magic. Rare cases can naturally use ice magic as well. Can communicate with animals and creatures that reside in water. Can phase into water and breathe underwater for up to an hour. Some may be able to transform into something like a mermaid. Talented when it comes to music. Not good with many weapons, but most uncomfortable with spears.
** Half-Slyphs - Air/Wind magic. White-feathered wings are usually hidden. Can communicate with any creature, magical or no, and in any language. Sensitive to even the most gentle breeze. Ability to move at incredibly fast speeds, making them almost invisible to the eye. Also talented when it comes to music. Good with bows and arrows.
** Half-Salamanders - Fire Magic. Bad communication with anything but dragons. Instinctive knowledge of the ancient language used by dragons. Ability to transform into a dragon, both small and large (depends on how powerful the person is). Heightened senses. Can only feel radical temperature changes, such as extreme cold. Talented with any weapons but bows/arrows.

 

[Amateur Nerd at Large]

Vampires

Notes to keep in mind:
1. NOT the stereotypical type of bloodsucker, though to survive they do need blood for nourishment.
2. The worse sunlight can do to them it make their mood foul or cause raging headaches.
3. While a stake through the heart would certainly kill one, a stake though the heart would kill just about anyone.
4. Garlic does not effect them, the effects of holy water are simply not experimented with, and crosses don't make them cringe in fear anymore than they force a human to.
5. Vampires are not born, but made. That said, a vampire must intend to change its victim for a change to take place.
6. Yes, they are crazy pale and insanely beautiful.
7. If their fingernails are super long, it's because they didn't choose to trim them.


In the Academy:
They are more rare to find among the students, for most vampires do not agree to attend the school when offered room and board. The school provides sources of blood through small creatures like forest animals and take every precaution to make sure other students do not become victims. In fact, heavy punishments befall vampires found out to have victimized one of their classmates. Any stronger reactions to the sun, for example, would be due to a punishment enforced by the school and the correct spells to enact them are known by all the staff and in special cases, a partner to said vampire.

"Pixie Dust":
As for magic and special abilities, the five main senses of any creature are enhanced for vampires. They are gifted with amazing speed and strength. Their magic, if gifted with any, usually pertains to something of a psychic nature or shape-shifting (but only to one set animal). Fangs are obvious as far as "weapons" go. Nails are naturally sharp.

 

[Amateur Nerd at Large]

Lycanthropes

Notes to keep in mind:
1. Lycans are not to be confused with werewolves. They have control of when they change, though a change can often be influenced by strong emotion. As might be expected, this emotion is often rage. If their change is due to strong emotion, he/she goes directly to the mixed form and reverts to blind rage, a loss of most if not all sense of reason, and extreme violence.
2. The full moon lends lycans increased strength and speed.
3. Their speed can not compete with a vampire's, but it's still pretty darn fast.
4. Lycans have a few forms, including a humanoid one, that of a large wolf, and a cross between the two.
5. No, they do NOT get along with vampires. It's more instinct then anything else, and they hate the smell.
6. Lycans, unlike vampires, are born. They live in packs in rural areas or in tight families in the country, such as on a large farm or collection of farms. This makes them very loyal to their family and, because of this, any other loved ones.
7. One can be changed into a werewolf by the scratch or bite of a mixed form lycan, but only when intended. In this case, changes are brought by the full moon, there is no wolf form, and there is no control by the person's mind once changed.
8. Born lycans are much more powerful than a changed werewolf.
9. They hate veggies and love meat, so their pretty much carnivores diet wise.

In the Academy:
Lycans are also rare, due to their tendencies to live in packs of their family. This is why academy lycans tend to be problem students, with high emotions leading to sudden changes and overall violent behavior, sent to the academy by concerned family. Such students are punished with magical collars, a mark of both shame and a check on their abilities - think of it like a shock collar. They are, however, the most loyal and faithful students the academy has to offer, even if their allegiances don't always fall with the Headmistress and Lord. Upon entering the school, they are provided with spells ensuring that any transformation does not leave them stripped of their clothing with a return to their humanoid appearance.

"Pixie Dust":
Lycans are gifted with strength that surpasses that of vampires, but speed that does not. Their speed is still quite fast compared to that of a human and most other races. The full moon leads them more strength without fail, no matter what form they are in. Lycans can shift willingly to any form, though their main form is humanoid. They do not know any sort of magic unless taught, and even then it is extremely difficult for them to learn anything but earth magic.

 

[Amateur Nerd at Large]

Faeries

Notes to keep in mind:
1. Faeries are the legendary people of folklore and romance called (in French) faie or fee.
2. As most people know, they are humanoid. All of them weild magical powers without fail.
3. These faeries are not by any means only tiny, though all of them have the ability to change into smaller sizes from the standard humanoid form (never larger).
4. All faeries have wings, though they are usually hidden by their own magic. They can resemble butterfly wings or dragonfly wings, depending.
5. Wings can not be hidden when small (anything smaller than half the average humanoid size, specifically) for reasons unknown.
6. They are not very social and are used to living in hiding, typically in smaller forms, within woodland areas. This applies even to the faeries who have disguised themselves to live in human society.
7. A faeries standard human size is actually quite tall.
8. Faeries are known to be graceful, radiant (literally - they have a soft glow when they use magic), beautiful, and wise beyond normal standards. This is without exception (even in half-faeries).

In the Academy:
Faeries are easy to pick out by there graceful strides and startling beauty. They are more common at the academy, but with varying choices of study among each one.

"Pixie Dust":
Faeries can fly by natural ability, with or without wings present. They can change into smaller sizes, though reasons to do so rarely pop up. Their magical capacity is very large, meaning they can caste many spells before it takes a toll on their body. They do not use an elemental magic, but they can use almost every type of spell outside of that category. All spells used must be chanted, however, or they will not produce any results. Faeries may be gifted with either mind-reading abilities or object manipulation (telekinesis) abilities, without a spell of course. They also learn at incredibly fast rates, prodigies in every form of study other than those in magics they can not use.

**Note: The only difference between faeries and dark faeries is that the latter of the two only used dark magics while the first can not without risking their health. Dark Faeries also can not use light-type magic. Only Dark Faeries can be naturally gifted with telekinesis. Their wings are also more frayed, usually with little claws at the upper ends.

 

[Amateur Nerd at Large]

Humans

Notes to keep in mind:
1. They have no special strength of speed.
2. They are the only presences in society that are widely acknowledged.
3. Any special magic they had they lost a LONG time ago, along with the memory of magical beings.
4. The only magic humans have naturally fall under the psychic category.

In the Academy:
Humans are certainly not the rarest finds at the Academy. Ah, and it is never simple a human, but always a half-human, half-something magical. They may not have known of what was obviously a cheating parents until arriving at the school, however, and may not know a thing about their magic either. These are sad cases, but not unusual.

"Pixie Dust":
For magic or abilities, I suggest a reference to that race specifically. Unless they are an elemental, there will be some limitations to their magic and abilities. For example, magic is weaker in a half-faerie than in a full-blooded faerie.
Humans can have their own magic, separate from the other half of their ancestry, such as psychic abilities.

 

[Amateur Nerd at Large]

Elves

** Parts of this description are borrowed from concepts in the private roleplay, Life in the Lilac Lane and CoralianButterfly.

Types:
- High Elves
- Wood Elves
- Dark Elves

Notes to keep in mind:
1. The High Elves are the tallest, reaching up to seven or even eight feet in some cases. The Wood Elves are the shortest, never much taller than four feet. Dark Elves fall in the middle.
2. Dark Elves use dark magic. End of story.
3. Wood Elves are closest to nature, the most skilled craftsmen of all three, and specialize in healing/medical tonics.
4. High Elves specialize more in the musical arts.
5. Generally, elves are graceful.
6. Yes, elves have pointy ears. Length varies individually, but not across cultures or anything.
7. More to add to appearance: high elves are the palest, wood elves have the look of permanently tanned skin, and dark elves usually hide their natural skin tone due do it's darker, but gray, tint.
8. Elves are very secretive when it comes to their culture and customs and do make a habit to share such details with outsiders.
9. They never live among human society.

In the Academy:
Elves, like faeries, are less rare and have amazing learning capabilities in a general sense. Their memories span to a greater extent in comparison, though their magical capacity is not quite as large. An elf in the Academy is most likely there to gain some advantage through knowledge or training and came completely by choice without much, if any, outside influence.

"Pixie Dust":
** High Elves - Very generally spells and incantations of all kinds. Magic may extend to the elements in some (but never fire magic). Excellent swordsmanship, competing with that of gnomes, or earth elementals.
** Wood Elves - Light/White Magic having to do with the Healing arts. Earth elemental magic, but rare. Best accuracy of all three, so weapon of choice is bows and arrows.
** Dark Elves - Dark Magic/Dark Arts. Rare gift of Fire Elemental magic. Prefer not to use weaponry.

 

[Amateur Nerd at Large]

Nymphs

Types:
- Naiads a.k.a Water Nymphs
- Dryads a.k.a Tree Nymphs
- Hesperides a.k.a Garden Nymphs
- Lampads a.k.a Underworld Nymphs

** For other Land, Wood, and Water Nymphs names and types, PM HeArTaChEs ReVeNgE or reference this page.

Notes to keep in mind:
1. Nymphs tended to frequent areas distant from humans.
2. A common stereotype is that they are inherently mischievous and/or mysterious, mostly due to the fact that they appear to humans while playing music, singing, and dancing. Then they disappear as if they never disturbed the place at all.
3. Nymphs absolutely adore music of all kinds.
4. Their dances are known to be almost hypnotizing.
5. Past affects of nymph sightings on humans include: bringing dumbness, besotted infatuation, madness or a stroke. This has been known to affect other races as well, so protective spells are placed around nymphs upon entering the school to protect other students.
6. For whatever reason, no one has ever come across a male nymph. Go figure. Seriously though, the last two hundreds years brought a huge drop in the nymph population.

In the Academy:
Nymphs aren't too keen to send their children to the school. When it comes to this race, there are just as many half-nymphs and full ones.

"Pixie Dust":
Too keep it short and to the point, nymph's magic relates to what part of nature they represent. They also have the power to cause hallucinations, temporary depression, temporary illness, mock-infatuation, etc. Each nymph only really has the ability to do one or two of these things and the way they do it and requirements to fill to accomplish them are different as well.

 

[Amateur Nerd at Large]

Half-Beasts

Notes to keep in mind:
1. A half-beast has both a humanoid form with animal characteristic as well as an animal form.
2. There are way too many types to list. Deal with it.
3. Typical attributes deal with increased speed, agility, strength, etc.
4. Animal characteristics vary from ears, a tail, claws, fangs, and any sort of combination from that list.

In the Academy:
Half-beasts are also more common. They have spells to change into a completely human form for the sake of living in society, but at the Academy it isn't necessary to hide anything. Like lycans, they are also provided an incantation to retain their clothing should they morph into their full animal form.

"Pixie Dust":
Besides things dealing with increased speed, agility and strength, half-beasts can learn some magic. Simple element-related magic gifts are discovered at early ages, if he or she has them.

 

[Amateur Nerd at Large]

Chronomancers

Notes to keep in mind:
1. Chronomancers are basically time manipulators.
2. They are not technically human, but look no different than a normal human.
3. They run out of energy fairly quickly, with the only exception being prodigies and extremely powerful people from legends.
4. They live in close-knit families. The abilities are not always passed on, but it is a required subject of study no matter what and their are secret techniques to teach the art if it is not inherited.
5. They are good with historical matters, but not much other things academically.
6. Unfortunately, they also suffered a drop in population in the last few hundred years.
7. Chronomancers born with inherit gifts have at least one strange rune from an ancient language belonging to their culture somewhere on their body.

In the Academy:
Chronomancers are difficult to pick out of a crowd, having nothing to really discern them from the next student. They are not permitted to use their abilities outside of training, tournaments, and emergency situations. Magical checks are kept on them for this reason, but prodigies have been known to find loopholes.

"Pixie Dust":
As time manipulators, Chronomancers can freeze, rewind, or fast forward time. This can be for a small area of a large one. (They have vows taken before training among their families to make sure they don't distort any flow of time permanently in a set area.) Their magic requires incantations and, for more powerful spells, runes drawn with chalk. It isn't unusual for chronomancers to be able to predict future events either, the prodigies usually gifted with clairvoyance.

 

[Amateur Nerd at Large]

Immortals

** Information basis is from wikipedia.

Names/Types:
- Immortal Woman He (He Xiangu)
- Royal Uncle Cao (Cao Guojiu)
- Iron-Crutch Li (Tieguai Li)
- Lan Caihe
- Lü Dongbin
- Philosopher Han Xiang (Han Xiang Zi)
- Elder Zhang Guo (Zhang Guo Lao)
- Han Zhongli
- General Immortal

Notes to keep in mind:
1. The Eight Immortals are a group of legendary xian ("immortals; transcendents") in Chinese mythology. The list above is a guide to the Taoist/Immortals from Chinese culture. They may be used as a reference to describe a roleplayer's immortal character, if necessary as an aide.
2. Each Immortal's power can be transferred to a power tool that can give life (healing properties) or provide a means of destruction.
3. General Immortals do not have to follow the trends of the eight main references, but only note #2.
4. While they don't learn at incredible speeds like faeries or elves, they do have more wisdom to offer.
5. Believed path to immortality: "The path to immortality includes achieving physical and spiritual harmony through meditation, diet, exercise, breath control, and the use of herbs. To achieve this state, one also had to eliminate all disease and evil from the body and spirit."
6. All Immortals are renowned for a love of drinking.

In the Academy:
RAREST! By far. You don't walk down the street and find an Immortal. Barely anything is known about them, even by the Academy, but they are valued students/educators.The only thing asked of them if attending the school is that they swear allegiance to the Academy and do what they can to protect its students and secrets.

"Pixie Dust":

All/General

Each Immortal's power can be transferred to a power tool that can give life (healing properties) or provide a means of destruction. They can use all types of magic. For the sake of potency, they usually concentrate on one specialty.

Immortal Woman He (He Xiangu)

Speciality: Light/White Magic and Healing. Her lotus flower improves one's health, mental and physical.
Talents: Talented with the musical instrument known as Shēng (mouth-blown free reed instrument consisting essentially of vertical pipes).

Royal Uncle Cao (Cao Guojiu)

Specialty: Nature-related magic. His jade tablet can purify the environment.
Talents: Talented with castanets (Pair of concave shells joined on one edge by string. Held in the hand and used to produce clicks for rhythmic accents or a ripping or rattling sound consisting of a rapid series of clicks. Traditionally made of hardwood). Also great actor, leading to possible magical talent with illusions.

Iron-Crutch Li (Tieguai Li)

Speciality: Medicines and Exorcisms. His magical, medical gourd is his more popular sign which is favored by professional exorcists. Vapor cloud emanates from the gourd, and within it is the sage's hun (soul ), which may be depicted as a formless shape or as a miniature double of his bodily self. (He carries his soul separately in a container, to summarize.)
Other: Renowned bad temper and eccentricities. Fights for the poor and those in need in old context. Handsome.

Lan Caihe

Specialty: Patron immortal of minstrels. Possibly a female singer whose song lyrics accurately predict future events.
Talent: Talen with bamboo castanets, which he would clap and make a beat with by hitting the ground. He would then sing to this beat and a group of onlookers would follow and watch in amazement and entertain themselves.
Other: Age and sex are unknown.

Lü Dongbin

Speciality: Extremely lucky, intellectual and a ladies man, if and of that counts.
Other: Genuine desire to help people obtain wisdom/enlightenment. Strong Temper.

Philosopher Han Xiang (Han Xiang Zi)

Speciality: Flute gives life (healing properties stronger than anything else and any other race).
Talent: Talented with the flute.
Other: Study of general magic.

Elder Zhang Guo (Zhang Guo Lao)

Specialty: Kung-fu style dedicated to him. The style includes moves such as delivering a kick during a back flip or bending so far back that your shoulders touch the ground. Could make himself invisible, drink off of poisonous flowers, pluck birds from the sky, and wilt flowers simply by pointing in their direction.
Talent: Talented with fish drum (a tube-shaped bamboo drum with two iron rods or mallets). Love not only for wine, but winemaking.
Other: Depicted in old context with a white mule and rumored to be the most eccentric.

Han Zhongli

Speciality: Possesses a fan which has the magical ability of manipulating the undead and, in special cases, the living. (Had to alter this. See this page for his ability legend wise.)
Other: Bright beams of light filled the labor room during his birth.