Races

I know I said I didn't want to put anything on races and that you can be anything you want. But here is a little something on races....

You can choose to be any race even if it's not listed. The more creative the better.

But because some people have different views on certain races I'll be setting a quick guideline for you all.

Your race does not affect your magical or physical abilities, they are always determined by your post count.

Elves
The elf is the humanoid type creature that usually is blessed with higher magical power. They do not always have increased magical powers, though. Some have elongated ears, wings, and even antenna sometimes. The wings can vary from insect-like to bird-like. They are rarely ever dragon-like. Contrary to common belief they are not immortal. Because of the Great Tree of Life they age much slower than humans… but that is only if they stay with in the city of Flaris, out side the city the effects are almost null. Though every individual responds to the tree differently, so ages of elves are extremely difficult to determine.

Angels
Angels have no emotion and no needs. They never get hungry or sleepy. This also means they cannot eat or sleep, for those are earthly pleasures. They have improved natural healing abilities and do not age. They can be killed though, but for them that is only temporary. They do not feel pain either. They will realize they have been wounded but not feel ‘pain’. They also cannot feel pleasure as a physical sensation.

Vampires
(Warning: Not so Quick Guideline)

There are actually many different versions of vampirism. Each individual person reacts differently. Even with humans, one person may be deathly allergic to something another uses or encounters on a daily basis. Still, they’re both human. This rings true for vampires as well. There are naturally some common denominators for all vampires, as well as certain characteristics that group certain vampires into individual 'subspecies.'

There are two main types of adult vampires, Live Vampires and Undead Vampires. In common speech, they are often referred to as 'The Daywalkers' and 'The Damned,' respectively. Typically, the Undead Vampires are the ones that conform most closely to the stereotype. In order to became a vampire, a creature has to have their blood drained, and then taste the blood of the vampire who bit them within a week. If the victim is still alive, they become a Live vampire. If they die for any reason within the week and are 'fed' the blood of the vampire who bit them, they rise as Undead. If a Live vampire is killed, they return as an Undead vampire, unless their body has been destroyed.

Live Vampires can come from any race of creature. They look almost exactly like they did when they were not vampires. There are a few variations though. Most are at least a little paler right away. Naturally, all of them gain the ability to expand their canines into fangs. Live vampires generally do not have wings, unless they had wings before they were turned.

Undead Vampires are equally diverse, but there are some common characteristics among them all. Undead vampires are pale, some sickeningly so. No undead vampire looks completely healthy. In some, it's just bags under the eyes, while others look like lepers. They have been known to have wings, and the ability to fly. These wings are usually draconic in appearance, but are occasionally avian, typically similar to those of crows, vultures or other scavenger birds. Many vampires have been known to develop red or pinkish eyes as time goes by, due to a lack of pigment in the eye. Some elders reportedly have perfect crimson spheres for eyes, not attributable to simple lack of color.

Undead Vampires are not alive. Their spirits still function, but their bodies are dead, kept animate by some dread magic. Therefore, their hearts do not beat, their bodies radiate no heat and their lungs do not breathe. As a result of the last, undead vampires have no sense of smell, unless actively attempting to scent. They do not need to breathe to speak, which can become quite eerie. Because their hearts do not beat, they don't bleed, either. An undead vampire's body rejects all foreign substances, except for blood. If they attempt to eat or drink anything else, it is violently regurgitated. As a result, vampires are immune to pretty much all convention poisons and drugs. Undead vampires are usually more vulnerable to the occasional mystical ailments that plague vampires, such as the inability to cross running water, or tolerate sunlight.

Live vampires do breathe, their hearts do beat and they do generate body heat. They can even give birth. Compared to their Undead cousins, they might actually be considered truly alive. The dark powers that keep the Undead vampires 'alive' instead makes the Live vampires a little more dead. They do not have the Undead vampires' perfect immunity to poison and disease, but they are more resilient to it than unaffected creatures. They even have the ability to eat and digest food and drink, sometimes even being able to take sustenance from it, but more often than not, even the Live vampires must rely on blood.

The children of live vampires have a high chance of being born as ‘larva vampires,’ even though there is still a chance of them not being affected by vampirism at all. All children of vampires are carriers of ‘vampirism’. In other words, even if a vampire’s child shows no signs of vampirism, the children of that one can still be born with traces of vampirism and even be born as a ‘larva vampire’.

The cause of most of the social stigmata that surrounds vampirism is their reliance on blood. They are animated by blood magic, and so they must rely on blood to stay alive. The easiest way to acquire that substance is to steal it, and vampires are well equipped to this end. Their retractable fangs are razor sharp, and their bite can hardly be felt. The Naturally, they can choose to simply tear their victim's throat open and feast on their blood, but discretion is often the better part of valor. Hunger sets in about two weeks after the last feeding, and death by starvation takes place between one and three months without blood, depending on how much blood the vampire has in their system at the time.

With a little practice, a vampire can tell from a taste of blood the gender, race, approximate age and general health of the subject. If a disease is carried in the blood itself, an experienced Undead vampire can tell which disease it is, if he has tasted and identified it before. Although Undead vampires can't get sick, they can act as carriers for viral and bacterial diseases.

Most forms of Vampires are static beings. They do not age, and do not change from the moment they are turned. When a vampire tries to cut his or her hair, it grows back exactly to the same point when they were ‘turned’. When they get tattooed, the ink is forced out of the pores. Because of this rejection of change, they have incredible regenerative abilities. The only known way to definitely kill a vampire is to slice their heart in at least four pieces. Decapitation makes a vampire seem dead, but if the body and head are brought together, the head reattaches and the creature is able to move again. Still, if you take away a vampire’s legs and arms it’ll be alive, but not as deadly. It does not matter how powerful a vampire’s muscles are if those muscles have nothing to move. In order to contain powerful vampires, they are sometimes mutilated and kept in several different prisons. Note that Daywalkers and Larva who are subject to this treatment are turned into Damned in the process.

The only confirmed way to definitely and permanently put a vampire down is to slice its heart into four different pieces in a crucifix pattern. The pieces must be distinctly separate. Upon subjection to this treatment, a vampire's body collapses into a pile of bone and ash. A vampire can heal other damage to their heart, such as impalement, but it takes much longer than other regenerative processes, and while the damage remains, the vampire is immobile and unresponsive, as if dead. Complete destruction of the body, through means of fire or magic have also allegedly been proven effective, as has starvation.

The only kind of vampire that can age, change is called the ‘Larva Vampire’. Some forms of vampire, that is to be later discussed, can bare children. These children are sometimes born as one of the ‘forsaken’. These children grow up naturally like any children would, but when they reach a certain age, that varies from person to person, they stop growing and enter full vampire adulthood. Larva Vampire is probably the most vulnerable of the vampires, for while they are in the larva stage, they do not possess the advanced restoration abilities a normal vampire has. That is the primary reason they can grow and change. Before reaching adulthood, they can be "killed" just as any typical member of their species could, but as long as their body remains reasonably intact, they return as Undead vampires, immediately ceasing to grow.

Ferals
Nobody has a clue where the Ferals came from. They have no creation myths, no real common culture, and no universal agenda.

It is believed by some researchers that they are a manufactured race, presumably originating from within the God's Cry, based on the names which they use for their particular breeds and abilities.

The Feral race seems to be a strange amalgam of man and beast, as if some scrupulous mage ran out of parts for his homunculus. The only real common characteristic they share is that they seem to be mostly human with features of various carnivorous mammals. Some are completely covered with fur, and sport claws and fangs, while others simply have tails and ears. Although it seems that almost all of them have some measure of primal instinct and enhanced senses. They also seem to have access to some uncanny abilities unrelated to conventional magic...

It is a known fact, however, that they are shunned by most other races. Their primal nature and strange abilities make them hard to comprehend for many others, and what people do not understand, they fear. The ferals have, however, found cousins in spirit among the lycanthropes, who know what it's like to be considered a monster.

Feral variations include:

• Neko - 'Cat people'
• Kistune - 'Fox people'
• Inu - 'Dog people'
• Ookami - 'Wolf people'
• Tora - 'Tiger people'
• Shishi - 'Lion People'
• Nezumi - 'Rat people'
• Itachi - 'Weasel people'

*More will be added to this section as needed. Again you do not have to choose between these races*