Lilithian

Daughters of Lilith, the first and most powerful daughter of Phryscara.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: Akhoata

• Taxonomic Family: Phryscarans

• Alignment: Celestial

• Energy: Aemoa

• Lifespan: 300 years

• Diet: Scarce mortal fare

• Habitat: Badlands and hostile terrain

Origins

Lilith was among the most powerful wisewomen of the peoples before the Fall, revered by all. After the Fall, she and her daughters were cursed and scorned by the powerful men who took over and enslaved people, and their banishment forced them into the harsh lands where no one else could dwell. Some say they were banished for refusing to be subservient to men, for unfaithfulness, or because Lilith had an abortion against a man’s wishes.

Description

Lilithians are all female-assigned beings who appear human in their day-to-day life, but who can take on different forms when they have tapped into their matrilineal ancestral memory - aemoa - which goes back beyond the Fall. When they take on these different forms, they often appear “monstrous” to people who have embraced patriarchal values.

Some common features include living snakes coming from their bodies, avian wings, bird feet, slightly large eyes and hands, hirsuteness, leonine heads, donkey’s teeth or ears, elongated fingers, talons or claws for hands or feet, fiery hair or auras, metallic nails and teeth, animalistic faces (pig, horse, dog, black cat, tiger, bird, lioness), large vulvas, stony or bark-like skin, skeletal features (face, hands, legs), glowing eyes, hooves for hands or feet, faces that are aged or rotting or bleeding, jaundiced eyes, serpentine tongues, shadowy auras or forms, backward feet, or full animal forms (pig, horse, dog, black cat, tiger, bird, lioness) with one human limb.

All of them have hair that is abnormally strong. It is often very long, glossy, and/or mane-like.

Their skin colors range from common human skin tones to blues, greens, yellows, or golds. Sometimes their skin shifts when they are in ancestral form, taking on a paler or darker tone.

Procreation

Lilithians reproduce with the male-assigned members of any sexual species that has male-assgned members, always producing lilithian children, except when reproducing with enders.

Powers

Lilithians can remember their time in the womb, which makes them excellent swimmers.

Ancestral Powers

Lilithians have the power to connect to their matrilineal ancestors before the Fall, a barrier that exists for most beings on Shem. This gives them access to matriarchal energies that protect them, empower them, and give them special abilities.

To connect to their matrilineal ancestors, they must purge themselves of patriarchal influences by combing their hair, then engage in one of three special activities: consensual sex, physical care for others, or ritual honoring of their ancestors. If a lilithian dies in childbirth, their child’s ancestral memory will be immediately initiated so the birthing parent remains with them always, giving them a permanent connection and form.

When they are connected to their ancestry, their bodies change to take on a form that is outside the normal range of human expression (see above in Description for examples).

Their powers while connected vary depending on their culture, ancestors, form, and individual experiences, but they include some or all of the following:

• Aura of protection from infernal powers or beings (WIL+ancestral bonus)

• Hard-to-kill edge or the ability to grant this edge to others temporarily

• Vanishing up to three times during the day or temporary invisibility at night for up to three minutes under a non-full moon (rare)

• Sense feelings of guilt in others (but not objective guilt)

• Produce milk that can nourish any animal

• Calm or panic any animal they resemble with their touch

• Cause or heal minor diseases with their breath (rare)

• Summon seasonal winds to imbue nearby trees and plants with seasonal forms (i.e., cold winds in autumn to make tree leaves change color) (rare)

• Using wet linen or other cloths as entangling weapons equal to steel chains

• Magically open doors with a word of command

• The ability to fly (very rare)

Sexual Powers

Lilithians gain magical powers from consensual sex. If they have sex in their ancestral form, these powers are even greater than if not. They also gain powers to protect themselves if sexually assaulted, though these are very different.

During sex, a lilithian can do at least one of the following:

• Predict the death of their partner or their partner’s/s’ loved ones (rare)

• Gain physical or mental strength from the positive emotions shared during sex

• Reduce or increase virility of partner for duration of sex by sucking their toes

• Affect the eventual dreams of their partner(s)

• Draw upon the light of mercy (a blue light of pure aemoa) within them to heal, soothe, or otherwise aide their partner(s)

After sex, they may temporarily be able to do the following:

• Charming gaze

• Imitate the appearance of someone’s loved ones

• Predict the death of someone nearby (rare)

• Turn anyone who engages in patriarchal behavior into animals

If they are sexually assaulted or raped, they may defend themselves with one or more of the following:

• Instant kill by plucking out their attacker’s tongue

• Cause madness or death with their own visage

• Strangle their attacker with their hair

• Put their attacker to sleep with their soft voice

Weaknesses

If a lilithian engages in patriarchal behavior or joins willingly a patriarchal society - i.e., if they engage in gendered oppression - they will become overly influenced by any men around them, no matter what the disposition of that man is. They will slowly lose all aemoan powers.

Direct contact with tandh will sever their connection to aemoa, make them susceptible to patriarchal violence, or kill them.

Nations

There are many nations of lilithian throughout the world:

• Al Basty: lilithians from western Dabusen known for taking fiery appearances and having metallic nails and teeth.

• Caoineag: lilithians from Innes in Lyrilla who live near waterfalls in mountains or in glens or lochs, known for wearing green shawls and being washerwomen.

• Chedipe: lilithians from Vimala who often work as sex workers within the complex society there. They are also known for riding tigers at night.

• Ciguapa: lilithians of the Reever Sea who take a form where their feet are backwards. They are known for having dark blue or brown skin.

• Cihuateteo: lilithians of central Palhur who have their own communities and only interact with others on specific days of the year. They take on clawed forms and distorted bodies,

• Ḍākinī: another Vimalan lilithian nation known for their ritual consumption of ashar and mijjit.

• Geusstaan: the pig-faced women of central and western Jesenya (mostly Baraus, Dhun, and Galdun) and Lyrilla.

• Lilîtu: the original nation found throughout Mahad, the central Island Bridge, and western Dabusen. They take on avian features.

• Sheela Na Gig: stony-skinned Lyrillan lilithians found also in central and western Jesenya who have exaggerated vulvas.

• Sihuanaba: lilithians in central Palhur who take on equine features and are known for their varied forms.

• Vâlvă: Rendruan lilithians who have many different roles in communities based on what they protect.

Culture

The Liliyyot are the original nation of lilithians, directly descended from Lilith herself. They dwell in Mahad, the central Island Bridge, and western Dabusen, though their first home is al-Maghsala (“the Wash”) in Mahad.

Lilîtu society is a communal one. Their towns and villages are small, and everyone works together to meet their group needs. Every group is led by a small group of elders, each of them a witch known as a Lilîtaḫātu ("Sister of Lilith"), the most ancient kind of witch in their society. These elders are permanently connected to the ancestors after a lifetime of practice (or born to it if their birthing parent died in childbirth).

Lilîtu villages are built in clusters of willow trees. Their houses are built in the branches of the trees, but other buildings are built on the ground. They use ropes and vines to climb if they can’t fly.

Within their villages, the Liliyyot they keep many animals for many specific purposes. Night birds are kept to keep watch while they sleep; screech owls are kept to take care of pests; serpents are kept as guards and sources of poisons (which they coat their weapons with when fighting raiders); ostriches are kept for eggs and meat; jackals are kept as guard dogs; wildcats are kept as pets; kites are kept for hunting; goats are kept for meat, milk, and wool; donkeys are kept as beasts of burden; and pigs are kept for meat or as pets. While everyone is able to care for any animal or take any role, there are people who focus on one specific animal as they grow older; some of them use their powers to nurse these animals themselves to form bonds. These are called kalūmītu.

Vital to their communities is guarding against raids. Nearby nations and countries often raid Lilîtu homes either because they view them as demons or in other negative ways (see Outside View below) or because they believe they have treasures. These rumors are often encouraged because of how much Liliyyot are feared for their powers to repel evil and violent men. Thus, protecting the community is always a priority - guards, guard animals, apotropaic magicks, rituals, and prayers are all used to keep them safe. Common rituals to protect them include burying bowls depicting various evils under their houses or drinking from these magical bowls. These bowls are prepared by the witches in the community. If these protections fail, if they are raided too often or with too tragic a result, they will uproot and leave.

Liliyyot are known for taking on wings, bird’s feet or talons, larger eyes and hands, longer fingers and fingernails, leonine heads, hirsuteness, and/or asinine teeth and ears in their ancestral forms. In any form, their hair is often golden in hue. They are very proud of their hair and take great care of it, styling it, combing it, washing it, and using it as weapons. However, it is not impossible for them to have other features depending on who their parents are or their own personal experiences.

Children are raised by the community, but their birthing parent plays a direct and frequent role in their life. At birth, they are given two names - one ancestral, one special to them. Their special name is what they are called; their ancestral name is a name for one of the great, ancient, pre-Fall ancestors, which becomes a focus for them in ancestral rites later in life. They are allowed to grow, learn, and play freely until they are seven years old. At seven, they are initiated into their first ancestral rite and given another ancestral name, one specific to a direct ancestor as a second focus in their rites. At this time, they are taught how to use their special magical non-sexual powers and how to take a role in the community.

When they have their first period, they are taken by the elders of the tribe to the nearby waters and ritually washed in a mixture of water and menses. If they do not have their first period by the time they are thirteen, they are tested by their birthing parent or an elder of the tribe to see if they have an unseen intersexuality (see Gender below) or other condition that might have delayed or prevented it. If they are simply later to develop than other lilithians, they are left alone until they have their first period. If there is something that prevents it, they are taken and blessed by their birthing parent or elder’s menstrual waters instead to welcome them into the next stage of their life. At this time, they are given another name, one that is descriptive of their favored role, animal, hobbies, or some other feature of their life.

For the next six years, they are taught more intensively about life, their culture, their tasks in the community, and what to expect from the world. This time is very hard for individual Liliyyot, but their community aids them and supports them. At age nineteen, they are initiated into maturity and adulthood in a ceremony in which they are tested in the six sacred tasks: protecting the community, communing with the ancestors, caring for animals or children or others in need, gathering or hunting for food or water, surviving in the desert (or nearby wilderness or rough terrain), and some form of art, craft, or entertainment. How well they do in these tests determines their next name and their main work in the community, which is very fluid. In this rite, they are given their chains - lightweight metal chains that they wear as a symbol of the enslavement they escaped long ago.

They may attain two other names in their lifetime, both of which they choose themselves. These names are determined by milestone events or important moments which they decide matter enough to take a new name with. Common examples include the first time they have sex, the birth of one or more of their children or grandchildren (etc.), a special hunt, a special ritual of witchcraft or communing with ancestors, a gender transition, a quest or special task, a traumatic event, an act of vengeance for a traumatic event or other attack against them, and so on. Most end up taking a name for the birth of their first child and for some special task, quest, or ritual.

Once they have their seventh name, they have a ritual in which they commune with their ancestors and attain a new, special power (from the list above). Among the Liliyyot, this is usually flight.

Liliyyot remember well the entire history of their people because of their ancestral connections, and therefore they know the violence done to them during the Fall. As such, they despise patriarchy and class societies, and they do what they can to protect those most harmed by it - women, children, trans people, queer people, and anyone abused or harmed under patriarchy are offered sanctuary in Liliyyot communities. They provide abortions, heal diseases, help pregnant women, raise orphans, provide gender transition assistance, and even engage in acts of vengeance against rapists, pedophiles, abusers, and others. They are unkind to abusive men. Because of this, they are often accused of kidnapping and other horrific crimes.

The Tanin’iverian dragon nation dwells near them and is friendly with them. They are also known to be friendly with satyrs.

National Cultures

• Al Basty: in western Dabusen, the Al Basty are known for being a powerful, nomadic horse-riding nation. They live in damp places - wetlands and rainy plains - and are known for their power over dreams. They use their powers to sense feelings of guilt to enact justice against cruel men in their area, often stealing their horses and leaving them stranded in the wilderness. They prefer serpentine forms, fiery auras, brass claws, and iron teeth in their ancestral forms.

• Caoineag: living in the cold mountains of Innes in Lyrilla, where once the Evernorthern elves dwelled, the Caoineag live near waterfalls, in mountain glens, or next to cold lochs. They wear green shawls and practice magicks to predict deaths of those who come to them seeking wisdom. They are called “weepers”, for they feel sorrow over the deaths they prophesy. If someone who is dying comes to them, they will wash their clothes for them and give them a comfortable life. They prefer to use powers of invisibility or vanishing and turning cloth into weaponry. Their warriors are so skilled, they can strike the legs of a person with wet linen and paralyze them.

• Chedipe: in Vimala, the Chedipe are often relegated to roles as sex workers, but they have forged a place for themselves in society despite this. They protect women in need, and they use their powers to avenge those who are wronged. If a woman dies in childbirth due to neglect or abuse from men in her life, or if a woman is driven to suicide by men in her life, the Chedipe will ride out at night on tigers to avenge them. They will target cruel men in the community to take away their virility, drain them of blood, convince their wives to leave them, continually attacking them if need be. They may even kill them or torture them if they feel it necessary - they are very vengeful. It is not unheard of for a particularly abusive man to have sticks plunged into their open wounds to burn them. They are fond of tiger-like forms, and they even take a full animal form (with one leg remaining human) called a murulupuli.

• Ciguapa: on the islands of the Reever Sea, the Ciguapa live in small communities where they hide from men who often hunt them with black-and-white polydactyl dogs called cinqueños, which are bred and trained to hunt them. Driven into hiding, they only come out at night. They live on the edges of society as bandits and scavengers, using their magic to seduce and charm and rob people. Their ancestral form makes their feet backward, which they use to make it hard to track them. Their skin is sometimes a human tone of brown, but oftentimes they are dark blue.

• Cihuateteo: in central Palhur, the Cihuateteo live in western cities separate from other species. They only come out on certain days of the year. They are honored and revered in the area for their power to protect women and children. It is said that they capture the spirits of unborn children as the sun sets and place them into pregnant women to give children souls, though this is a misunderstanding of their use of protective or medicinal practices for pregnant women. Among the local cultures, childbirth is seen as equivalent to combat in how dangerous and thus honorable it is, and therefore the Cihuateteo are seen as particularly powerful warriors for helping others survive it. They have special funerary rites for those who die in childbirth, which is said to preserve the soul of birthing parent and child. Because male warriors see them as powerful warriors, they sometimes take the left middle finger or hair of a person who died during childbirth as a special token, and the Cihuateteo make sure a guard consisting of the other parent, their friends, midwives, and elders (especially elder women) are set to keep this from happening. If someone violates this, they will wait at the crossroads at night for them and kill them. Their ancestral forms give them claws, fangs, and pendulous breasts and stomach folds. They are known to go topless in their own communities, wear snakes for belts, and to let their hair go unkempt if they are in mourning. They wear flayed skins of evil men and carry staffs bearing their heads to honor their deities (which are often associated with local vegetation). They are known for their warcraft, political acumen, and use of powers over darkness and earth.

• Ḍākinī: in Vimala, the Ḍākinī are a lilithian nation who long ago began practicing endocannibalism as a method of honoring the dead, leading to the demonization of their nation among the wider population. The rituals were designed to connect their chakras and maintain the flow of ashar and mijjit within them. They are known for taking lioness ancestral forms, though members of their nation in Tenzanai have attuned themselves to foxes or black jackals. In Unbul, they are known to consume rénhuáng, a millet grain that forms in the livers, hearts, or heads of their own dead as a manifestation of ashar or mijjit. These grains become a form of white jade if not consumed. Like other lilithians, their magic allows them to know when someone will die, but they invoke it via a special mantra, unlike other lilithians. They like to wear their hair long, and it is commonplace for them to carry special bags. Their preferred rare power is flight. Many of them work as priestesses in various local religions or serve as attendants to local deities, and they are the only nation able to create the Womb Realm Mandala, a magical circle that evokes their ancestors.

• Geusstaan: the famous pig-faced women of Baraus who can be found throughout central and western Jesenranu, including throughout Lyrilla, the Geusstaan are a nation associated with the Long Path. Living in deeply patriarchal cultures, they are hated by everyone, scorned and mocked for being witches or greedy monsters, though most are poor. The few of them who are wealthy usually lose their powers entirely, which is why so many seek wealthy husbands - to escape the scorn they experience for their appearances. Only when they find a lover who accepts them as they are do they keep their power and find acceptance, which has led to stories about them and their lovers as well. Because so many of them live in seclusion or hide away, they have a reputation for being sensitive to sunlight.

• Sheela Na Gig: a nation of lilithians in Lyrilla and Jesenya, the Sheela Na Gig are known for having stony skin in their ancestral forms. They are scorned for their sexuality and liberation, mocked for having exaggerated vulvas (which they are proud of). But their powers are great; even as they are scorned, in times of trouble, they are sought out for their powers to repel evil and death. This has led to many keeping statues of them.

• Sihuanaba: the horse-faced lilithians of central Palhur are a widespread nation with many variations in the forms they take. They are known for punishing cruel men - everything from adulterers and womanizers to rapists and abusers - on behalf of women who seek them out. In the heat of central Palhur, they wear little clothing (usually just black and white cloths covering their most vulnerable parts), sometimes going completely naked, and keep their hair long. They live near water sources, which they view as communal property - something that leads to confusion in class cultures where they find themselves using wells or water tanks as bathing pools or assuming them to be available to anyone. Mostly, they live in canyons and forests, where they can safely hide from those who would kill them. They tend their hair carefully, using golden bowls and combs to clean it. Sometimes their ancestral forms take on slight variations - a horse’s skull, a dog face, an aged face, a bloody or rotting face, glowing eyes, hooves for hands, a pig face, chicken feet, snake tongues, yellowed eyes, sagging breasts. Their warriors wield nets, and it is common to find any Sihuanaba washing clothing on a moonless night. If they do wear clothing, they prefer pink, black, or white dresses, and long veils. Some rare Sihuanaba who moved to Danuo have taken to having white hair, dressing in black, and seeking to join the patriarchal power structures there.

• Vâlvă: in Rendru, the lilithians there have a role in many communities as protectors with different name. They are divided between Vâlve Albe (white) and the Vâlve Negre (black), whom locals consider helpful or harmful, protective or vengeful. Their preferred ancestral forms are shadowy or resembling black cats, Their protector or vengeful roles are as follows: Vâlva Apei (of the water), guards water sources and fountains; Vâlva Băilor (of the mines), protects the mines and tunnels; Vâlva Bucatelor (of the morsels), protects poor people and crops; Vâlva Banilor (of the money), protects money; Vâlva Comorilor (of the treasures), protects treasures; Vâlva Pădurii (of the forests), protect the forests; Vâlva Ciumei (of the plague), control the bubonic plague; Vâlva Zilelor (of the days), one to protect each day of the week; Vâlva Cetăţilor (of the citadels), protects ancient ruins. The Vâlva Băilor are very common. They help people find gold and metals in mines for those who are not greedy. If someone they helped misspends the money or takes it from a family in need, the lilithian will take vengeance. They often guide people via knocking in the mines, but galleries will collapse if they are not heeded. All of them like to walk through the hills at night.

Esoterica

Lilithians are beings of aemoa, which they can wield innately. They are also commonly users of banaru, juaih, lhair, hegnh, yahas, harga diri, lunar aether, dream energy, ausa, curacion, tenyocan, miyirnimo, poioumenon, emotional resonance, tahalana, kutsegula, conflueverant, hamasat al-sahra, fate, radiance, ayase, dumaqu, ma’dhahabi, euphony, euphoria, humors, poarta, euskepsia, euergasia, kiiric yihi, flux, true shadow, arcane shadow, gemtkhereg, the bright, fuinneamh, b’qar, momentum, ethereal essence, ujjval aatma, qeernariji, bijalee, prasinofos, tyvka vlast, livadi, waarheid, ashar, anumun, hasken fure, gebvel, patahakan, likanisi, ambrosia, nchaa, qillqaña, and idiruko.

They rarely ever use infernal energies, but if they do, they tend to lose their connection to aemoa. It is fatal for them to use tandh.

Because they are beings of aemoa, any use of ancestral memory is a use of aemoa.

Religion

The Liliyyot worship Maḫrû-Umm-Ummi, the First Ancestor, Divine daughter of Lilith, as a deity, but also Lilith, Physcara, and Mother Shem, their original ancestors. While the witches in their communities are political and social leaders, religious leaders - whose role is to lead rites and prayers - are called phryscarabintu (Daughters of Phryscara).

Ancestral worship is central to their religion, and shamanesses called ēntu lead the ancestral rites. These differ from physcarabintu, who lead rites of prayer, and more common. Their faith in their ancestors is a part of every aspect of their lives. If they pray to the ancestors, this is personal. If they pray to Maḫrû-Umm-Ummi, this is part of a communal ritual or rite that is for everyone.

Gender

All Liliyyot are assigned female at birth, but they are not restricted to this gender. As they grow up, they are encouraged to explore, and at each naming ceremony, they are asked if they wish to alter any past names to match their current place in life. If they have attained all seven names, they may change all seven at any time if they decide they need to to match their gender. While it is welcomed and genderfluidity is supported, it is not extremely common for any lilithian to take a masculine gender. It is usually something nonbinary if they choose to transition. Intersex folks are not uncommon and often have a special place in their cultures; among the Liliyyot, intersex lilithians are encouraged to be witches or religious leaders. Androgynous gender expression is common even in cisgender lilithians.

Sex is considered an act of pleasure and reproduction. It is common and free, and as long as it is consensual and age-appropriate, it is never judged. Same-sex or queer relationships are common, especially in mostly female communities. It is not uncommon for non-lilithians to be part of their communities, in part because they reproduce with non-lilithians and in part because they often adopt orphans of other species. They are expected to follow the norms of lilithian cultures if they are part of them.

Economy

The Liliyyot have a matriarchal society.

Military

Liliyyot have many warriors among their communities. Most of them are archers using poisoned arrows (dipped in snake venom). Those who focus on combat are called māḫiṣu. Those who are tasked with a quest as a warrior are called aliltu. Quests usually involve avenging a raid, rape, or murder of a woman or child, but they may be anything that helps the community.

Language

Their language is a mixture of Akkadian, Hebrew, and Arabic.

Occupations

Various roles in their society include the following:

• Aliltu: morrigans

• Ēntu: shamanesses

• Kalūmītu: animal caretakers

• Lilîtaḫātu: Sister of Lilith, crones

• Lilîtubintu: Daughter of Lilith, maidens

• Lilîtukallātu: Bride of Lilith, mothers

• Māḫiṣu: archers

• Phryscarabintu: Daughter of Physrcara, priestesses

Outside View

Lilithians are hated by patriarchal societies. Despised more than any other adelfoi, they are said to be demonesses, baby-eaters, man-eaters, man-killers, causes of disease, malady, catastrophe, and worse. They are accused of causing nocturnal emissions, infidelity, stillbirths, infertility, dementia, kidnappings, missing persons, serial killings, uncontrollable lusts, and so on. To kill a lilithian is considered the sacred duty of witchfinders.

Notables

• Lilith, Lilithian Manifest, Mother of Monsters

Estimated Populations

• Al Basty: 200,000

• Caoineag: 50,000

• Chedipe: 500,000

• Ciguapa: 20,000

• Cihuateteo: 100,000

• Ḍākinī: 500,000

• Geusstaan: 20,000

• Lilîtu: 2 million

• Sheela Na Gig: 10,000

• Sihuanaba: 20,000

• Vâlvă: 50,000

• Other: 1 million

Sample Stats

PRO 8
ATH 9
STR 8
AWA 9
WIL 9
PRS 9
STH 8