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Denizens of Mara Nocnitsa; Shadowkind
Topic Started: Oct 10 2008, 04:54 PM (260 Views)
Director
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Shadowkind
These are creatures of darkness, predators and parasites whose favorite meal is human. Not all of them kill their prey, but none could say they're exactly benign, either. Among them are the Fallen, more commonly known as Demons, who have taken control of the realm by force. Like the Angels, they have hierarchies of power among them Some, but not all, are undead. Many of these beings can be banished by faith or great willpower, for they prefer the minds of their prey to be weak and willing.

~*~

The Fallen
These are the most powerful of the Higher Planes that fell, retaining a vestige of their heavenly forms. They are beautiful in a twisted way, their wings torn and blackened, their bright eyes and handsome faces marred by hate. There are only a handful of them, but they are the ringleaders of the ones that rebelled in the great War that tore open the universe. They are bent on stripping humanity of free will, for they feel that humans never deserved such a gift and should be subject to the will of higher powers. In a way, however, they have lost their own free will, for all they choose is vengeance and hate. A fallen one could theoretically be redeemed, but they would have to choose a new path, seeking forgiveness and love. (Right, like that would ever happen.) Aeons that become Fallen strive to make the imbalances in the universe even more pronounced. They are completely mad, and could only be redeemed if the balance were restored. All of the Fallen appear as tall, beautiful humans when they walk the mortal plane, though there is a taint to them that cannot be disguised by any magic. Even humans that are blind to most supernatural happenings will cross the street to avoid a Fallen... or be drawn in by their dark temptations. They can be banished with holy objects, as long as the holder of that object has true faith in what they symbolize. A cross wielded by an atheist, for example, would have no effect. A human channeler of Higher Plane power would be able to banish one even more effectively. They cannot be completely destroyed, for they don't have true physical forms, but are powerful enough to generate their own physical forms while on the mortal plane.

Demons
Lesser fallen angels, they control the same dark power as their higher-ranked brothers: corruption, greed, hate, and vengeance are their tools. They have to possess an existing mortal being to take on physical form at all, for they cannot create their own physical bodies. Weaker ones will simply “whisper” suggestions into their host's mind, corrupting the person from the inside out until they have a pawn to do their bidding, while others will initiate a full and hostile takeover. In any case, they have the same goals as the Fallen. They spread corruption, tear away free will from humans, and generally seek to rule over them as they rule over the denizens of Mara Nocnitsa. High Magic and holy items will banish them from their host's body, but if the corruption is too strong it will kill the human host as well.

Succubi/Incubi
When an angel of love is corrupted and falls, it becomes a specific type of demon that feeds on lust: a succubus (if female), or an incubus (if male). These demons can take physical form in the human world, and manipulate humans through their basest, hedonistic urges. If a human victim is taken, the demon will steal his or her soul, leaving an empty husk behind. They are thankfully rare, but very dangerous. Most succubi and incubi are supernaturally attractive, and tend to pose as prostitutes. Incubi have one additional power: if he leaves his victim alive, he can impregnate a human woman. This is the leading cause of half-demon births, though again, they are thankfully rare.

Devils
The original lords of Mara Nocnitsa, these beasts are humanoid with scaly skin, cloven hooves for feet, tails, and spiked horns. They bear a passing resemblance to what people usually think of when you say the word “devil”, for they used to walk the mortal plane more often than they do now. With the arrival of the Fallen, they are restricted to the Nightmare realm, their power greatly diminished. Only if a foolish mortal summons them through the use of dark magics can a devil walk the earth, where they generally just wreak destruction and chaos, but they can be banished easily by direct sunlight, High magic, a handful of sea salt or other base minerals thrown in the summoning circle, and other such methods.

Imps
Lesser beings, these creatures act as servants to the devils, and now also serve their new Fallen lords. Though they must always obey a direct order from a superior, they have sneaky ways of interpreting said orders if they disagree with them. Imps are the size of a housecat, with batlike wings, but they otherwise resemble miniature devils. They have weak magic, but due to the fact that most beings ignore them, they find an easier time slipping through rifts to cause mischief in the mortal world. Some are mistaken for evil fairies, but they are far more malevolent than even the darkest feykind. They can be banished the same way as devils, though a handful of sea salt straight to the face is also effective for these little beasties.

Harpies
Shepherds of the dead, these creatures lead the spirits of the dead through Mara Nocnitsa to their final reward... or punishment. Only the truly wicked souls wind up dealing with these horrid harridans, thankfully. They are foul beasts that are half human, half vulture, with human faces and torsos but bird wings and feet. They can take on full human form and walk among the living, but only do so when they need to fetch a wayward soul to drag back to the nightmare world. Most harpies are female, but a few are male. It is not unheard of for a harpy to rebel and run away to the human world to hide among them, and a few do work for the ESPers to aid in their dealings with the incorporeal undead. Harpies are the only creature that can touch a specter or other spiritual being in their physical forms. They aren't necessarily evil, but they've usually got pretty nasty temperaments. They feed on emotions like sorrow and fear, but doing so does not drain living creatures, so they are essentially harmless in the human world. They're just doing their jobs.

Vampires
These are not the pretty boys and sexy girls of popular fantasy fiction. Though they resemble humans in appearance, vampires are damned souls trapped in dead flesh, perfectly preserved corpses with fangs as long as they drink enough blood. They are always cold to the touch, though they warm up slightly with fresh blood in them, but no amount of blood recovers the deathly pallor to their skin. Their eyes are always either the milk-white of a dead person, solid black that reflects no light, or the red of burst blood vessels. They are as intelligent as humans, with the keen edge of a predator's mind to boot. They have no inherent magic of their own, but may absorb it by drinking the blood of creatures like fey or magic-using humans. The blood of a disguised angel or unicorn would kill them instantly, and the blood of shifters does not usually agree with them, though some vampires prefer the stronger taste of shifters almost to exclusion. Other than that, they have heightened sight, hearing, and smell, a little boost in strength and speed because their undead bodies do not tire like a mortal's, and some ability to sense supernatural auras. The older a vampire is, the more potent it becomes, though a younger vampire may surpass an elder by drinking more potent blood. Vampires don't “live” in the realm of Mara Nocnitsa itself, but that is where their souls return while their physical bodies “sleep” during the day. A vampire can only be created by another vampire, first by draining a human's blood (and only a human will do for this-- no other creature can survive the process), and then forcing the dying human to drink its own blood. A vampire can be turned away with holy objects, and can be destroyed with High Magic, fire, sunlight, a stake of oak wood through the heart, or decapitation. They are not affected by garlic, running water, or several other of the more superstitious weaknesses. Actually, most of those myths are perpetuated by vampires themselves, to mislead would-be hunters, for they are prevalent enough of a species to be considered almost a “pest problem” among the supernatural circles. The ESPers particularly keep an eye on vampiric activity.

Ghouls
Also known as vampire spawn. They are still-living humans that have been given the gift of a vampire's blood. This bestows upon them a fraction of the strength, speed, and heightened senses of a vampire, but not the fangs or blood-only diet (though they may find themselves craving blood or raw flesh). They are still mortal, and can be killed like any other human. The blood also has the added effect of making ghouls completely loyal to the vampire that “chose” them. They can be turned into true vampires later on, but such a gift is rarely bestowed. Ghouls are usually used by vampires as slaves to carry out daytime errands. Though not technically denizens of Mara Nocnitsa, their vampiric blood grants them visions of its nightmarish splendor, which drives nearly all of them mad in the end if they are not killed or turned into vampires first.

Specters (a.k.a. Shades)
Restless spirits that escape Mara Nocnitsa to linger in the mortal world, these ethereal beings still retain some vestiges of intelligence and memory from their human lives. A specter is created when a human dies violently and unexpectedly, especially where magic or other supernatural means are concerned. Specters are usually frustrated by their situation, and try to take vengeance against those they knew in life by haunting them, though this isn't usually very effective. They cannot take on physical form at all, though they can affect the physical world in small ways through great efforts of concentration, and can even become visible in dim light, or heard by nearby mortals. If they stick around the mortal plane long enough, they can sometimes muster enough power to maintain visibility and audibility for extended periods of time, though they still don't have enough power to do more than flip a light switch or throw a book. Since they are essentially disembodied souls, Wraiths will sometimes devour them as a quick snack, if they can find one. They are often mistaken for ghosts or poltergeists, though these are actually psychic phenomena (see the section on Humans and their subtypes for more information).

Wraiths
A wraith, unlike a vampire or ghoul, is not quite undead. They are mostly alive, but they only have a tiny sliver of soul left inside them. That tiny sliver becomes very stubborn and hard to remove from the body, so it imparts upon the wraith some special powers. They are incredibly hard to kill, and heal quickly even from what should be lethal damage. However, this lack of soul leaves an empty void inside the wraith, which causes a constant, gnawing Hunger inside. To sate this Hunger, the wraith must feed on the souls of living creatures, much like a vampire must drink blood. The Hunger can be ignored, and the wraith will live, but often at the cost of sanity. Wraiths can also feed on human emotions, which are sort of like by-products of the soul. All wraiths look like achromatic versions of their human selves: black, gray, or white hair, completely black eyes, black lips, dark circles around their eyes, and grayish skin. A wraith that has recently fed will sometimes regain a little bit of color, but they can never truly pass for human again. When a wraith feeds, its eyes turn into inky black pools, its mouth opens wide, and a sound like the howling winds of Hell drag its victim's soul from the body into a lightless abyss within the wraith's mouth. Wraiths can go into sunlight without trouble and have no other superstitious weaknesses. However, if a wraith is killed, especially by another wraith sucking out its remaining bit of soul, it becomes something much, much worse and very undead.

Wights
This terrifying undead creature results when a wraith is killed. The sudden lack of even that sliver of soul causes an insatiable vacuum, and the mindless beast goes on a rampage, devouring as many souls as it can. It is a sloppy eater, however, and it doesn't always kill its victims, which usually results in more wraiths. They are as physically durable as wraiths and can only be killed by destroying the body utterly, either by fire or dismemberment.

Note: These are not playable creatures, though they are something the ESPers would encounter.

Zombies
There are several different kinds of zombies, including voodoo zombies and “virus” zombies, but this particular variety is your standard Romero-style abomination. They are the eternally hungry undead; mindless, walking corpses that have only the instinct to feed on living human flesh. A single bite will doom a human to zombie-hood, making these creatures more threatening as an epidemic than as individual monsters, since a singular zombie isn't terribly hard to defeat. Decapitation, dismemberment, and fire are pretty effective. Holy items are only partially effective (zombies will tend to avoid churches, unless that's where all the food seems to be), but High Magic can take out a zombie horde in record time. The shambling undead aren't really that threatening if the spread of the dark magic is contained quickly, but the ESPers are always on the watch for a new outbreak.

Note: These are not playable creatures, though they are something the ESPers would encounter.

Revenants
Though they superficially resemble zombies, these undead are somewhat intelligent. They are consumed with vengeance, and are often recruited by the Fallen to do their dirty work on the mortal plane. Because they are actually capable of simple speech, tool usage, and coordinated motion, they are far more dangerous than zombies individually, though they lack the ability to spread their corruption to others. Once they have completed their tasks, they crumble into dust.

Note: These are not playable creatures, though they are something the ESPers would encounter.
Edited by Director, Mar 5 2013, 01:01 PM.
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