races

[LADY EMMALINE ©]

deities
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The gods, listed here, are responsible for looking after the island of Cydria and its races. They live on Har ha-Elohim, the Mountain of the Gods, but can descend to Cydria at any time. Each has his or her own dominion and set of skills unique to said dominion, however, there are some traits they all share.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
• Immortality
• Can shape anything out of clay, then breathe into it to create life (this is how the races and wildlife were created)
• Various abilities unique to the individual deity

WEAKNESSES:
• Feel pain when wounded
• Various weaknesses unique to the individual deity

mer
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The Mer are one of the younger races in Cydrian history. They, like every other race, share elements of humanity. When completely dry, they practically are humans, but once wet, be it completely submersed or struck by a single drop of sea spray, they will grow a writing fish tail, gills slit their cheeks, and spines grow along their arms and backs. To sustain the race, the Mer mate with each other. However, it only takes one Mer parent to pass on the genes.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
• Able to breathe and see clearly underwater
• Can mimic the sound of any sea animal in order to communicate with it
• Singing voice enables control over the minds of anyone within range

WEAKNESSES:
• Inability to control their transformations
• If one plugs one's ears or is able to issue noise louder than a siren call, one cannot be affected by it
• Mortality

TRAITS:
• Somewhat clumsy whilst in human form
• Mimic accents or speech impediments when speaking with a person who has either of these
• Partial to salt water, as opposed to well
• Salty aroma
• Tend to be volatile, ruthless killers

vampyrs
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In some cases, what kills you only makes you stronger. Vampyrism is one such case. Vampyrs are basically people who have been drained of lifeblood, and to fill all that empty space, the blood is replaced with a demon. In order to sustain the body, vampyrs are forced to drink the blood of other creatures. Vampyrism can only come about through the exchange of blood. A vampyr must drink some of its victim's blood, then its victim must drink of some of the vampyr's blood.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
• Immortal, unless killed
• Immune to disease and cannot die from lack of blood/tissue
• Heightened physical strength and agility
• Accelerated healing
• Heightened sense (e.g., sight and hearing) so as to be better equipped for nocturnal living

WEAKNESSES:
• Blinded by prolonged exposure to sunlight
• If cut off from a food source, the body shuts down, leaving creature weakened
• Inability to cross running water
• Killed by steaks through the heart, decapitation, or burning
• Burned by blessed water and holly wood
• Can feel pain, even if the wound is not fatal
• Cannot bear children

TRAITS:
• Pallor due to lack of blood
• Allergic to garlic
• OCD tendencies, including counting objects and arranging them in patterns
• Fangs in place of canine teeth
• Mostly nocturnal

lycanthropes
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You may find that here, the definition of "lycan" differs from the norm. While it is true that lycans do not change every full moon, they have no control over when the change occurs. It occurs every night, like clockwork. Once one is in one's werewolf state, one has complete control over one's emotions, thoughts, and body. Lycans can communicate with each other through barks and growls, but are incapable of human speech during transformations. Transformations do not begin until a lycan has reached the age of sixteen years. Lycans can be made one of two ways -- birth, so long as at least one parent is a lycan, or through a bite.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
• Better eyesight and sense of smell
• Swifter movement on four legs
• Cleave flesh with bare teeth (or claws... take your pick)

WEAKNESSES:
• Felled by silver blades and arrowheads
• Painful transformation (both from human to wolf and wolf to human) leaves them weakened afterward
• Burned by wolfsbane
• Mortality

TRAITS:
• Attracted by smells
• Quick-tempered
• Reckless and impulsive
• Occasionally confuse dog habits with human habits fresh from transformation (e.g., panting with their tongues out of their mouths, chasing animals, nuzzling other people)

mages
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Mages are basically humans capable of sorcery. Pure mages are produced by two mage parents. Halves are produced by a single mage parent and one human parent. If mages reproduced with a partner of opposing race, the other race's traits are predominant, and all magical ability is lost.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
• ... can do magic

WEAKNESSES:
• Magic must be practiced, so mages unwilling to put forth the time and effort cannot control their powers
• Less-practiced mages require some sort of totem, such as a wand or staff, to channel their powers
• Less-practiced mages also must speak incantations to use their powers, which gives warning to their oponents
• Mortality

TRAITS:
• Lazy, as they've grown dependent on magic
• Tend to be less physically fit than most other people
• Egocentric

humans
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Despite being the oldest race of Cydria, humans are by far the simplest. They continue their line through reproduction, which I'm sure we're all well aware of.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
• Innovative, adapting to almost any environment they are forced into
• Resilience. as even when they have nothing to live for, they fight for survival anyway

WEAKNESSES:
• Far too many to count (let's assume you're familiar with them)

TRAITS:
• See "weaknesses" list