RACES
Here is a brief overview of the races on this site. Sorry, but we do not allow people to create new races. But feel free to experiment with these particular ones, and you would be amazed what magic can do!
Elves
Description
Elves are one of the three ancient races that supposedly helped to forge the world as it was in its youngest days. Since then they have fallen far, losing almost all of their ancient knowledge and power in the Great War. Still, to this day many humans are in awe of their long lives and ethereal beauty.
An elf is, in most ways, similar to the average human. They are always fair of hair, the darkest among them having dirty blonde colors. From there, their hair can be a brilliant gold or moonlight silver and, in the most extreme cases, a stark white. Typically elves are slimmer than human beings with more delicate body shapes. In this way, elves tend more towards slim muscle and the women tend to have more modest curves than humans. There are exceptions, of course; some elves have big muscles, and some have generous curves. One of their most striking features is that most elves have brilliant golden eyes, with a few rare blue eyes. So rare are blue eyes that their culture considers it more amazing to see blue eyes than golden ones. Their features are almost always attractive, part of the reason humans are so in awe of them.
Elves are naturally long lived, and it’s not unusual for them to survive for a millennia. They age in a strange pattern that lends them youth for the majority of their life. When born, an elf ages relatively quickly, taking about fifty years to reach the equivalent of ten years old. At about that point, their aging begins to slow, and it takes them another hundred years to get to their early twenties. At this point, they cease aging for many centuries, until they reach approximately nine hundred years.
At this point they begin what they know as their Twilight. In their Twilight, elves begin visible signs of aging once more, aging about one year for every two human years until they die. Most live for at least another century once they’ve hit this stage of life. Elves at this age are treasured by their society, for once an elf begins falling towards mortality it awakens a new power in them. An elf in its Twilight is able to read willing people around it like a book, seeing their thoughts, their hopes, their dreams, and every aspect of their past. In this way, they are incredibly wise counselors to other elves, steering them towards courses of happiness. Of course, this can’t be done to its fullest without the consent of the individuals and most elders respect those around them enough to avoid invasion of privacy. Advice from such an elder is highly sought after. Elves in their Twilight also have the startling ability to sporadically see through time, having visions of the past or the future. They cannot control this; visions can strike them as suddenly and seriously as a heart attack. In their life, an elf in decline is only ever likely to see two or three such visions, and the visions range from sweepingly broad and vague to quite pointed and specific.
As creatures of magic, elves are much more naturally inclined to learn the art than humans are. Where about ten percent of the human population will naturally find magic, about ninety percent of the elven population will, and the other ten percent will probably learn at least a little anyways.
Their Place in the World
Elves are a truly elegant race. Despite their thinned numbers, elves maintain their culture almost religiously, a culture that emphasizes knowledge, creativity and perfection in all things. They are brought up to live every day like a beautiful piece of art, and they take any endeavor very seriously. With a millennium to live their lives, most adult elves are masterful in a variety of things. It’s little wonder that many humans hold them in such high regard.
Their numbers are greatly diminished, however, and the surviving elves do not have nearly the capacity for great works that they had before. Most of their their supreme mystic might died with their old culture, and it seemed for a long time that the elves would fade from the world altogether after the war. The humans remember their debt to the elves, however, and it is thanks to them that the elves persist and begin to recover. Whether they can regain all their old glory remains to be seen.
Elven settlements remain beautiful, even in their more basic current state. Despite their diminished powers, elves retain a culture steeped in the magical. Their chosen living place is almost always in the gigantic sweeping forests in Senidar’s east. Their architecture is typically beautifully molded marble and pale stone, woven into elegant and delicate looking buildings. Like most things, these buildings are crafted with magic and positively immaculate - no seams, no cracks, only sophisticated beauty. Not only that, but elves hold a deep respect for the wild. Their buildings are placed and shaped so that they do not disrupt the trees; there has never been a tree felled in the name of elven expansion. Some of the larger settlements of elves manage to shape their homes in the canopy of the trees, making beautiful tree houses connected by suspended bridges. In the most prosperous elven homes, the home actually is the tree, shaped through magic into the still living wood.
Elves tend to eat much less meat than human beings, perhaps once or twice a week. When they decide to take up a bow, however, they are expert hunters, as elegant and perfect as they are at most other things. Beyond that, their diet mostly consists of fruits, vegetables, breads and grains. Their food tends to be light as well. Elves need to eat just as much as a human to survive.
Though most of them seem perfect, elves are just as capable of making mistakes and having personality flaws as humans. They just have a long time to perfect what they do, and many years at their natural peak. Some elves also went insane when the People of Metal released their magic to the world; their minds became clouded with taint, and their nature grew malicious. Those of them that were clever enough could very well survive to this day, even though the taint is not gone from their minds.
Humans
Description
You should know what a human being is.
Their Place in the World
Humans are the scrappy new kids on the block. They have a lot to prove with their new freedom, and looking at their almost explosive progress it seems that human ambition is up to the task. In the five hundred years since they’ve won their freedom, humans have grown exponentially to become the most populous race on Senidar. They have also developed a startling amount of diversity in all their time, carving out several nations large and small.
Though most humans were enslaved by the People of Metal, not all were. Small tribes and clans (for the People of Metal enslaved any that grew too large) existed before and persist today. This allows human culture to be as refined as the elves or as barbaric as you like. Humans live on the coasts, they live on the plains, they live in the forests and they live in both the harshest and most hospitable of climates. They breed much more quickly than elves and forge new knowledge every day, living their lives at a breakneck pace that’s startling to their more long-lived friends. Because of this, you’re pretty much free to choose your background however you wish as a human. As they aren’t a unified people and have many different nations, there’s much room open for diversity.
Half-Elves
Description
Half-elves share human and elven blood in equal amounts, having a parent from each race or two half-elf parents. They share a nice blend of elven and human features and they tend to be more robust than elves, yet more delicate than human beings. They vary greatly in their appearance, depending on how dominant their human or elven side is. A distinguishable trait of half-elves is the fact that they have human eye colors that are invariably flecked with gold that betrays their elven heritage, be it in swirls, veins or spots in the iris. Their ears are also pointed, but not as much as an elf’s.
As for aging, a half-elf ages much more slowly than a human, but much more quickly than an elf. Your average half-elf can be expected to live about two hundred years, and, like their elven parents, they cease aging once they hit a certain point in life. At about early middle age, a half-elf no longer grows physically older. How quickly they approach this stage once again depends entirely on how dominant their human or elf side is. They may age nearly as quickly as a human or as slowly as an elf. Half-elves, despite suddenly beginning to age once more as they approach death, do not have any sort of a Twilight like their pure ancestors.
Half-elves tend towards being magically inclined. About half of them come into magic whether they like it or not, and the other half normally would have no problem learning it.
Their Place in the World
Half-elves are often social misfits. They have no true culture of their own, and are forced to try to fit in in one of their parent’s cultures. This is almost always difficult because they normally age too slowly to keep up with humans and too quickly to mesh well with the elves. This isn’’t helped by the fact that some humans and elves look down upon the half breeds. It can escalate to downright cruelty and hatred, as some find the offspring unnatural. The gentler elves tend to merely pity them, but very few half-elves would say that that’s better than naked contempt.
A half-elf’s life is bound to be full of struggle to fit in and a longing for acceptance. However, not all is dark. Many people in Senidar find half-elves a normality, nothing strange or wrong.
Constructs
Description
A construct is a very strange creature that is created in extremely rare circumstances in places of great magical disturbance or world-shaking significance. They can be spawned when great things happen or when awful things happen. Either way, when formed, a construct appears to be a humanoid creature, and no one ever seems to see their actual birth. When they come into existence, an object simultaneously appears with them, one that holds their true potential within it.
They are beings of pure magical energy, and were they to constantly be in their true state, constructs would possess enough mystical might to severely affect the world around them. This is why they are born with their items, known as limiters. A limiter can take any shape so long as it is small and personal. Normally it is symbolically shaped, something to do with the nature of the construct or its birth. For example, Radke Kaaj was born with a pair of limiters in the shape of guns and the circumstance of his birth was the Great War. These limiters serve a few purposes. One, they give a construct access to portions of its magical powers while it remains in humanoid form. Two, they hold back the true form of the construct and the destructive consequences that the release of that form would have on the world.
Constructs in their natural shapes are terribly unstable. They absolutely gush magical energy with no restraint, and this has drastic effects on the creatures and objects around the construct. The limiters keep the construct from assuming its natural form and therefore keep everything and everyone safe from its unleashed state. This is also beneficial to the construct because of the fact that, when unleashed, a construct can be killed. Even if it is not killed, the sheer outflow of magical energy means that a construct will burn out in about an hour after being released, which also kills it. When released, a construct also tends to grow distanced from its humanity, instead serving a singular purpose. They do not lose themselves altogether, but much of their passion and empathy disappears into cold purpose when they are released.
This is because every construct serves some sort of grand goal or ideal, and carries out this goal or ideal when released. Always this is a broad and powerful thing. An example, once again from Radke Kaaj, is his purpose of war. When released, he is a weapon and an embodiment of battle and struggle; he does not hold back. The purpose of a construct need not be evil, but it is always uncompromising. Other such purposes might be justice, creation, death, etc. When sealed, a construct acts as any other creature might, depending on its personality.
When released, a construct often takes a magnificent and terrible shape, a body that seethes with power and purpose. This can be anything from an angelic figure bearing a sword of white flame to a many-taloned beast that looks as though it were spawned from the darkest pit in Senidar. Feel free to be creative about the released state. Either way, the released state of a construct is not seen often. It is only unleashed when the construct’s limiter is somehow destroyed, which can happen if the construct is severely distraught. Not simply upset, mind - the best way to describe the circumstances that can break a limiter would be mind-shattering. Powerful enough forces can also destroy limiters, but a construct cannot destroy its own limiter.
Constructs are effectively immortal. They do not age - their appearance is set in stone in the instance they are born. This appearance is largely humanoid with perhaps a few features that mark their supernatural nature. Even when their humanoid bodies take enough damage to ‘kill’ them, a construct rises again several minutes later, its wounds healing and regenerating magically. Even utter incineration is not enough to kill a construct, as they will regenerate completely. Most mortal restrictions still apply to them; for instance, despite massive regeneration, a construct can still scar from wounds that are not enough to kill them. When released, however, everything is fair game. A construct in its released state, I will mention again, can be killed.
Finally, a construct in human form will always know magic, and will be an exceptionally powerful mage. Still, in human form, they do not reach beyond mortal limits of power. When released, a construct is much more powerful than your average mage.
Their Place in the World
No one knows why constructs are born. In fact, most people don’t even know about constructs; they simply see people with a few remarkable features, and in a world steeped in magic that’s not so rare. Because they are born without memory and locked from their true forms, a construct never knows anything about itself, living as normal people with no past. They are extraordinarily rare, with probably a dozen constructs in existence, at most. As a consequence, they have no culture of their own and merely do the best they can to fit in in the world.
Half-Constructs
Description
It is rare for a construct to be able to reproduce with a human being or an elf. Incredibly rare. The children conceived are almost always incredibly unstable, and on top of that they can come out inhuman and monstrous. The strain on a human or elven mother in these situations is indescribable as a creature with physiology so rooted in magical power grows within them. However, once in a blue moon, such a baby is born and survives, healthy and as normal as it could possibly be. This is a half-construct.
The main problem that all half-constructs face is the fact that they are born with no limiters. They are mostly human or elf, some almost utterly indistinguishable from one or the other. They have no more magical power than most at first glance, but when you delve deeper it becomes apparent that these creatures are something different altogether. Though born without limiters, a half-construct is sealed in a humanoid form much like its construct parent. They are however prone to leaving this state of calm much more easily than their parents. Fear or anger can cause them to go into what are known as magical rages, or experiences of intense magical power.
When this happens, a half-construct exhibits its heritage in frightening ways. It might summon storms, create intense magical defensive maneuvers, or even leave human form altogether for a few minutes. These times can be incredibly dangerous, but they are nowhere near as powerful or intense as the release of a construct is. Perhaps because of this, half-constructs do not often risk burning themselves out when going through a rage, though it often leaves them terribly drained.
As for aging, a half-construct is just as ageless as a construct, but it does grow to a certain point. At no particular point- it varies for each half-construct- they simply stop aging. Half-constructs might be even rarer than constructs themselves due to their low survival rate and the fact that, unlike their construct parents, they are not beyond death.
Their Place in the World
Half-constructs have no real culture of their own, and, much like half-elves, they just strive to belong where they end up in life. Most remain entirely unaware of their heritage for many many years, and many manage to lead a very happy normal life. However, magical rages are a constant risk, and without any rhyme or reason to them, it’s hard to associate them all to a single group of beings. Thus, many half-constructs come to a tragic and untimely end when those they thought friends turn on them as monsters.
Other
Description
If you have an idea for a character and it doesn't fit into any of these races, you are free to attempt to join the site as such a character. Some ideas are original enough and fit within the site enough that I simply can't deny them. However, note that if you apply as something other than the listed races, you'd best have a very good description of what you are in your application (and how you got that way, if applicable). If the idea isn't up to par, if I don't think it fits in the site or if it doesn't make any sense, it will be denied. I will be particularly harsh in judging these sorts of applications.
