Voshi

Voshi are a race of near-humans who don't quite fit in with human societies. Unlike most other races, Voshi have never had slaves as their culture states no one can be owned, nor can possessive terms be applied to a living being, so Voshi don't HAVE friends, relations, families, or pets; they ARE WITH or ARE AWAY FROM them. In other words, a Voshi's pet would be a pet with a Voshi. They may also say "this" instead of "my" (which they don't use anyway*)

*Voshi do not refer to themselves in the first person, which annoys many races. Instead, they use a gender-based pronoun (he or she), as in "She doesn't like that person." They also don't refer to another in the second person, also using gender if they know it, otherwise referring to the other as "it". Because they have no written language, and if they did, no one would understand it, they don't write at all, but learn to read every language they can.

Voshi are slightly more attuned to nature than humans, but not as much so as the Consati. They feel empathy for plants for the same reason as the Lorax: "I speak for the trees because the trees have no voice."

Voshi are naturally adventurous, very intelligent, and have more common sense than other races. However, they lack a sense of self-preservation, so they are often the first races on and last races off a battlefield. They are very capable fighters and join almost every war, but have never bothered the dar mien. Unlike other races, they have no fear of the dar mien and see no need to fight them.

The name of a voshi is often an adjective followed by a bird species, such as Golden Sparrow, Little Robin, or Adventurous Whippoorwill.

Appearance

Voshi appear very much like humans, but have (blood) red-tinted black hair and natural, white-pigmented patterns on their flesh. This pattern is unique and is how voshi identify each other. Also, they have a tendency to attach the most modern technology to their bodies, occasionally giving them the appearance of robots, but they are not cyborgs, as the technology is seldom an enhancement on nature, nor is it controlled with anything other than button presses or switches. Most of the technology they equip is related to their job or role in life, so a voshi doctor may have a robot surgeon on their arm and a voshi welder will likely have a specialized blowtorch on theirs.

Reproduction

Same as humans, and able to interbreed with both humans and consati without the burning and scarring that both of the other races get from each other. The resulting child gets either the immune system and genetic diversity of a human or the lack thereof from the consati, making consati hybrids genetically inferior to human hybrids. The child will look and act as a Voshi otherwise. Voshi treat these hybrids as anyone else, but are only as likely to reproduce with them as they are with a consati, as it weakens the race as a whole.

Technology

Voshi technology is the same as it is for humans, though technology they attach to themselves is modified to be more useful and practical.

Cuisine

Voshi will eat anything edible and cannot be poisoned.

Relations

Despite being in almost every war, they have mutual respect for all other races and are, in fact, peaceful with them. They will fight on any side of any war unless the war is with the dar mien, but are not any closer to understanding the dar mien than any other race is.

Classes

Voshi can be anything and will have added helpful technology to their bodies.

Order of Kaélèn

A religious order founded by a rogue Conduit of the same name. He went from village to village trying to recruit people for an army to either make the nobles step down or give the people a means to remove the poison from the air. While it may seem a strange coincidence that every member of the Order is a conduit, Kaelen did this deliberately; conduits have the most to gain by cleaning the air, as they won't have to worry about accidentally blowing themselves up.

Noble

Obviously, most of the NPCs will be in villages or citizens of large kingdoms, but only a small few will be nobles. Nobles live a life of luxury (and great responsibility). Nobles are very wealthy and live in the central parts of cities in homes that are aethir-free. In the event the player wants to be a noble, they will have additional bonuses and restrictions. Nobles have a tendency of using others and not concerning themselves with their people's well-being, often resulting in them being the only ones left on the battlefield, practically unable to defend themselves. They do, however, have the benefit of schooling in magick and art, so even Noble "workers" have the very basic darkening spells (Burn, Freeze, and Charge).

Puissant

One who has mastered the arts of manipulation and power. They can temporarily control others, both mentally and physically, and have limited psychokinesis. They are the opposite of a conduit in the sense that their powers are more dangerous if they have too much aethir in their bodies. Every time they use an ability, their body absorbs aethir. However, when not maintaining control or psychokinesis, the puissant's body expels aethir at a rate of 10 points per second. Just like most other classes, the puissant is not immune to aethir poisoning. They can maintain control of an infinite number of creatures or objects, but the maintenance costs are cumulative, so a puissant maintaining psychokinesis of 10 people and 5 objects absorbs 35 points of aethir per second.

Puissants tend to be very rare in most villages, but there are several puissants in each noble house. They are often exploited by new noble houses in order to clear the air of aethir, often at the expense of their own lives. Any village with a high number of puissants is also likely to have many conduits and at least a handful of darkenings. Some even believe that these other anomalies exist because a puissant is present, though this argument doesn't hold ground in noble houses.

Puissants can be very powerful nobles. Their ability to manipulate the minds of others often makes them considered tyrants by their subjects and they are also therefore killed in their sleep by assassins. These assassins are often hired using money pooled by subjects who could in no way be able to afford this in their lives, as the puissant tyrant most likely raised taxes to 100%. Puissant characters start out with more cash than normal (150%) due to their ability.

Revenant

One who revels in death and absorbs aethir. Revenants are not actually harmed by aethir; in fact, it heals them. Revenants also have a certain taste for human flesh and blood, unfortunately. This hunger is uncontrollable and the revenant loses his or her sanity until it is satiated and this hunger doesn't discriminate; revenants not born to revenant parents are often orphaned by their hunger. They have been hunted nearly to extinction and only live in a single village near the edge of the Marileine Forest and if one is discovered in a village or city, they are usually executed onsite.

Revenants work hard and efficiently, usually finishing a task in half the time of other classes. They are also willing to put their blood, sweat, and tears into their work...literally. The revenant village, Arliban, is built from the bones of its residents; each house is built from each family's ancestors. Arliban has no currency, as they view money as dirty and used to corrupt, both physically and morally. Instead, they offer services to each other as payment for things they need, but this is done as a last resort; from birth, revenants are raised to be completely self-sufficient.

Arliban does not swear loyalty to the kingdom it falls in, but this doesn't bother the nobles; they don't even want to acknowledge the existence of Arliban, much less claim it as their own. On very, very rare occasion, a noble will take a revenant and keep them as a servant. This usually doesn't turn out well, often resulting in the death of a noble and the subsequent death of the revenant. Certain nobles, however, are known for being very generous and loving to all of their servants, namely Lord Darcy of Highbern and Lady Madriel of Namleau. They have been known to keep servants that they reward for assassinations, as well, but that secret rarely leaves the walls of their castles. These servant revenants are affected the same as other nobles, but only get 2 HP every 3 seconds, so long as there is any in the air.

Revenant abilities include, but are not limited to, enchantments and physical augmentations skills.

Revenants are fiercely loyal to their own kind, but are suspicious or outright violent to others. However, Revenants are honor-bound to complete contracts and promises regardless of whom it is with.

Subclasses: Aethir Vacuum (absorbs 1 aethir point from the environment and heal 5 HP every second, but lose the Health bonus and 5 points of Strength and Sense.)

Gravetender

One who tends to graves and keeps those around them out of the ground. Gravetenders rarely leave their assigned graveyards unless they feel it is absolutely essential and for the greater good to do so. In order to use their powers, they release aethir from the bodies of others. They, themselves, rarely have the need to release aethir as they have a natural resistance to it. However, this means they have to use other methods to heal themselves. Luckily, they have many other natural environmental resistances.

Gravetender resistances include, but are not limited to: aethir (50%), physical harm (10%), poison from most plants and animals (Immune), fire (10%), cold (25%), electricity (15%), and airborne toxins (30%).

Gravetenders also have a limited ability to resurrect allies and raise undead minions. They can resurrect one creature within an hour of their death. After that, they can raise them as aethir-filled minions that, upon death, release a burst of aethir. The raised minions have only 10% of their health from when they were alive. A gravetender can only raise one undead minion for every other level (One at level 1, two at level 3, three at level 5, four at level 7, etc).

Only one village has had more than one gravetender. That village had a higher concentration of aethir, as well. Some speculate that gravetenders are at an evolutionary stage above regular members of their race, but most gravetenders believe that they were either chosen by a higher power to do its bidding or frankly don’t care.

Gravetenders use mainly digging tools or similar weapons (spades/knives, shovels/spears). They live seemingly without the need for food; that’s how the gravetenders want others to think. In reality, they merely eat alone and prefer to stay that way the rest of the day, as well.

Subclasses: Martyr (Takes in aethir instead of sending it into the air, subsequently taking damage (that is not reduced by their resistances), but take reduced damage based on their percentage of HP (5% HP = 5% total damage taken))

Darkening

One who uses the power of aethir as a weapon by altering its flow. This creates a shadow of concentrated aethir around the darkening, which is what lends its name to the term. They use powerful magicks and are capable of clearing a room with the snap of their fingers, or at least the resulting explosions.

Darkenings tend to be of average intelligence and use their energy for artistic endeavors. Naturally, villages with high concentrations of darkenings tend to focus their talents more on art than war. They often use the village center as a place to display magnificent works of art, be it moving or stationary…or even interactive. Darkenings often work in circuses or other entertainment fields to use their abilities as a form of bolstering their image. However, there are a few darkenings who use their magicks as a display of power, often gaining high ranks by striking fear into those around them.

Items exist (and are fairly common) to aid darkenings in their magicks. Potions exist to increase their Aethir allowance (the amount of aethir they can spend on a single spell). There are even devices that attach to various body parts to increase the aethir allowance semi-permanently (until they are removed). These types of items are necessary, as going over one's aethir allowance is highly toxic, often resulting in severe aethir poisoning, which can lead one to be bedridden for months or even to insanity.

Darkenings generally use staves and wands, but a few are known who wield swords and spears. The latter group tends to be of noble blood and is raised to use them like any other noble. These darkening rarely stay in areas rich with nobility because their magicks require large amounts of aethir to be present in the atmosphere.

Due to the poisonous nature of aethir, darkenings often have much shorter lifespans than other classes; some never live to reach adulthood if they abuse their powers or become aethir junkies, as aethir-potions are highly addictive.

Subclasses: Aethir Junkie (Uses magicks with no aethir limit, but absorbs so much aethir, they are under a constant Junkie status, meaning all of their attributes decrease gradually and permanently until they die an early death. Aethir potions temporarily stop the decay, but not for long.)

Conduit

One who absorbs the aethir and uses it as a weapon. Similar to a darkening, they use powerful magicks to clear out rooms of foes. However, unlike a darkening, they must conduct the aethir before they can use it. After using a skill, conduits lose all stored aethir. The energy drawn from the aethir does not simply disappear, however, and results in an explosion of energy centered on the conduit. The conduit takes damage equal to the remaining stored aethir.

Conduits can store massive amounts of aethir, which can be harmless if they don’t over-conduct, but they are likely to be killed by the blast if they over-conduct. Certain villages with many conduits have developed devices that absorb aethir, but these are highly unstable. When held to the flesh of the Conduit, it absorbs a small amount of aethir and crumbles to dust, releasing the aethir back to the environment. These devices are incredibly rare and most doubt there is anyone alive who knows how to craft them; however, due to their aethir-absorbing nature, most find them useless, rendering them as nearly worthless in the markets.

Conduits use staves, wands, chakram, and an assortment of weapons that can be strapped to their wrists. These items assist in the conduction of aethir, however, so powerful versions should only be used if the conduit is using powerful magicks.

Conduits are generally intelligent folk, but tend to lack common sense. They are immune to the aethir’s poison, but are curiously still harmed by its incarnations. They live long lives so long as they don’t blow themselves up. There are very few conduit nobles, but this is probably because young nobles are hardly ever given a chance to play in aethir; their homes have been cleared of it.