Races

The three dominant mortal races of Halse are phrinu, faeries, and drakes.

Phrinu
Pronounced "FREE-noo". Also known as the Starborn among other races. The phrinu are extremely human-like, except for the six digits on each of their limbs and irises that get more or less saturated with color depending on their mood. The more excited they are, the more intense the color becomes.

They are the newest arrivals to the planet and are the only beings in the universe not created by the Cataclysm. Phrinu are also skilled manipulators of Halsean magic, having proved themselves excellent and flexible sorcerers over time. However, this means they can be highly susceptible to mana's passive effects, and have changed greatly since their arrival on Halse.

They settled on the planet millennia ago after escaping their dying home. Their discovery and misuse of the Flare regressed them to a medieval state of technology, but they managed to preserve parts of their identity. Phrinu have historically had a wary, mistrustful attitude toward magic for this reason.

Those who have lived in mana-dense areas for generations "suffer" its influence the most, and tend to have strange biological quirks. Phrinu without any such characteristics tend to be prejudiced and fearful of those who do, even though these mutations are usually mildly deleterious or even benign in nature. All phrinu have elongated life expectancy because of this as well, and continue to live longer lives than in ages past.

Life expectancy is 120 years, the oldest individual recorded was 153. Adulthood generally is thought to begin around 20.

Nomenclature: Examples of phrinu first names: Bridget, Zhang, Lars, Acantha, Nestor, Shu, Abeer, Timothy, Tearlach, Hope, Silvia, Carmen, Nkanya, Sushila, Angelos, Boris, Yuriko
 * Species name = phrinu ("mankind" and "Man" are used very sparingly, while "humanity" is not a word except in the moral sense)
 * Singular = phrin
 * Plural = phrinu
 * Adjective = phrini
 * Men, women, and children are still referred to as such.

Faeries
Short, fragile, pointy-eared winged humanoids brimming with subtle magic. They ally closely with phrinu since they saved the Fae from extermination long ago. Faeries have a reputation as both sycophants to phrinu and tricksters to drakes because of their history, but in reality their personalities aren't much different. Formerly a hive mind race led by a single monarch, modern Fae are still known for their tight-knit communities and family bonds.

Faeries usually don't reach over 4 ft (122 cm) in height. They have either thin or wide frames, with little muscle mass. Their wings may resemble any kind of animal wings - most are insect-like, and rarer forms are birdlike. On average, they live about 90 years, coming of age at around 18 years old. They tend to look like humans in their 20s-40s age-wise regardless of the number of years after adulthood.

While relatively weak mages compared to drakes and phrinu, they can adapt to using several different varieties of magic far more easily, especially in non-combat-related magic. Their strength is also in numbers, as they reproduce quickly and have large gregarious families, and can chain their spells together to enhance their effects.

The Fae have different types of names, used in different settings. Traditional faerie names, or Ryg'Kaphyll, are Unra'u words. This is the true name of the faerie, only to be used among close family and Pact partners. The second name, or Yelanc'Kaphyll, may be any type of name not in Unra'u. Often they are derived from phrini sounds. Giving their true name to outsiders causes the faerie's magic to be far less effective on those who know it.

Examples of Ryg'Kaphyll names: Nyctelios, Vir-koth, Ya'nyph, Tru'Nembra, Nath-Horthath, Th'rygh

Examples of Yelanc'Kaphyll names: Mopsa, Shimmer, Sylphide, Erlking, Maclise, Shroud

Drakes
Dragons were a diverse race of winged reptiles, the legendary adversaries of the Fae during the Cosmic Wars. The Cataclysm's world-rending spell drained their power and permanently changed their shape into weaker humanoids that are now known as drakes.

Adult drakes are quite tall, between 6'-8' ft (183-248 cm). They most resemble horned humanoids with wings. Their horns resemble those of their original forms (if they had any). They have a high muscle-to-fat ratio. Because they are descended from a varied genus of dragons, there are many subspecies of drakes.

Despite their more energy-efficient modern size, they still require a huge amount of food and rest if they are very active, so drakes spend a lot of time resting. Typically they live solitary lives due to their high maintenance. Life expectancy of the average drake is about 500 years with adulthood arriving near age 100, depending on the subspecies and their mana reserves. Drakes age slowly, retaining a youthful appearance until adulthood, and start to look geriatric around 440 or so.

Drakes are stereotyped as lazy, greedy, and territorial. They're seen by phrinu and faeries as a secretive, aloof race who keep to themselves and see the more numerous, short-lived races as inferior. Some of this is true, thanks to old cultural prejudices. Drakes are diverse, though, and different subspecies will have different temperaments.

Compared to phrinu and especially to faeries, their magic resistance is much greater, and they are physically more powerful. It it said that an adult drake in their prime has the strength of 10 adult phrinu. Drakes are the most potent mages of all mortals, but their magic is limited to a narrow range of expertise, to the point that some drakes go their entire lives only able cast two or three spells.

The most commonly spoken-language of the drakes, Ges, is similar to ancient Egyptian with a lot of sibilants.

Referred to as drakes by humans and garloth-a'al by faeries.

Examples of drake names: Thammuz, Mehriel, Hivvah, Egion, Araxiel, Kaphkaphiel, Rekhodiah, Gabriel, Sittiah

Crossbreeds
While an infrequent occurrence, interbreeding does exist among the three above-mentioned races. Because of the mild incompatibility of the faeries and drakes with phrinu, who are from a different universe altogether, most children of such unions are sterile themselves and often have unusual features, most notably their strangely-colored blood. Attitudes toward crossbreeds vary among the parent races, but tend towards the negative.

Changelings
Mortals with phrinu and faerie parents. Most are stillborn or die as infants, but a handful survive to adulthood. Lacking the wings of their faerie kin, these hybrids resemble somewhat short humans with gently pointed ears. Their blood is black. Many have heterochromia. Oftentimes they lack any magical ability at all. However, there is a chance that a changeling child will have a strong affinity for blood magic, an outcome that both the Starborn and the Fae fear. Seen by faeries as deformed weaklings and by phrinu as mysterious magical beings, changelings struggle to adapt in both societies.

Due to a genetic quirk, they tend to have frail bodies and a weak constitution, easily falling prey to even mild diseases. Almost all Changelings are lorshals, but most lack the innate magical talent that usually comes with being one.

Their life expectancy is about 85 years.

Referred to as changelings by phrinu and drakes, and dolae'cth by faeries.

Daimons
Mortals with phrinu and drake parents. Like their draconic parents, they have horns, sharp teeth, pointed ears, and a greater stature than humans, but are not quite as tall or durable as drakes, and they do not have wings. Their blood is white. Their potential for magic use is weak. Drakes, who treasure their scarce young, are more accepting of them than are phrinu, who have a history of believing them to be cursed. But they are less able to follow their drake families around because of their wingless bodies, and so often end up living among phrinu.

Many daimons, though not all, have heightened susceptibility to addictions of all kinds. They are often born with physical deformities in their limbs.

Their life expectancy is about 300 years.

Referred to as daimons by phrinu and drakes, and as mggyi-hm'la by faeries.

Nephilim
Mortals with drake and faerie parents. Uniquely among the crossbreeds, they are entirely mundane and have no potential for magic while also being fairly immune to it.

All Nephilim grow to be the same height, six feet (182 cm). They are born without wings or horns. The traits that distinguish them from the Starborn are their pointed ears and glowing silver eyes that lack irises. Their blood is gray.

Nephilim have existed since ancient times, although they were usually hunted down and killed by dragons. If not, their faerie families whisked them away to the High Realm to serve the Sylph's court. In modern times, the Nephilim are seen by both races as an embarrassment at best and an offense to the gods at worst, mainly because of the distrust and enmity between the races.

They are essentially immortal, maturing into adulthood around 50 years of age, although they can die prematurely of injury or disease like anyone else.

Kindred
Also known as the Secret People, or the Shoth among themselves. A curious half-mythical civilization of divine beings who are said to exist on the border of Halse and the Deepskies. Not much is known about them among the phrinu, but drakes and the Fae remember them in myths and legend. They tell stories about a strange wingless, faceless people with forms suited for underwater life, capable of going invisible at will and turning into sea creatures.

They are in fact the favorite children of the Cataclysm and the true native inhabitants of Halse. Eons before faeries, drakes, and phrinu arrived on the planet, they lived below its seas in underwater kingdoms. The young god forged a close friendship with them when the universe was young because of their shared affinities and blessed them with unique magic.

The grief and trauma of their creator had a ruinous effect on the Kindred, whose collective psyche was comfortably entangled with the god's. After gathering up the survivors of the Second Cataclysm on their world, they forsook their earthly bodies en masse to be with the Cataclysm's slumbering spirit and took up a custodial role in the Deepskies, where they have remained ever since.

In appearance, the Kindred resemble mermaids or mermen of various aquatic animal species. They tend to cover their faces with elaborate masks. All Kindred are associated with their own unique back-mounted halo, which are broken in symbolism of their undead state.