Unaligned Insubstantiates

Species without hard physical bodies, usually made of unaligned gas or energy.

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Ancestor

The cumulative memories of all ancestors to the Fall, taken form.

• Lifespan: Until their line is gone - because some ancestors are bonded to a found family, lines can be revived in some ways
• Diet: None
• Habitat: The realm of memory
• Socioeconomic Status: Varies

Ancestors, sometimes called ancestral spirits or by many other names, appear to be as they were in life, usually appearing as they were in a moment in which they had the most profound connection to the living descendant who calls upon them.

Ancestors have a clear memory of their entire lives, including things they could not remember when they were alive, and their essence as living ancestral memory means they are connected to their direct lineage dating back to the Fall. They do not have the same clarity for memories not their own, but they can reach back beyond what was their own time and see some things.

Because they are merely memories, they cannot use any powers they had in life unless those powers were psionic in some way - they are entirely made of psionic resonance. Even if the power was verbal or vocal, they cannot wield it unless it was harnessed entirely through the mind.

Only in very rare circumstances can a called ancestor operate independently within the Spirit Realm (where Shem is). This happens because of very specific rituals in which their descendant(s) call them into a body, either a vessel such as an animal, statue, or even the descendant’s own body. It is possible to summon an ancestor into an unrelated mortal’s body with consent of that mortal, but it is very difficult and does not last long.

In these rare instances, the ancestor will have a limited amount of time in their body to act, but they will have access to powers they had in life if the body is capable of them.

Ancestors exist within the mindscapes of all mortals. They only appear when called. They do retain some of the personality they had in life, however, and may or may not be helpful when called. If they were powerful or violent in life, they may seek to induce such in those who call them; if they were kind and compassionate, they will engage with those qualities when called.

There are many different traditions, rituals, ceremonies, spells, and other rites to call upon ancestors. These vary by culture and time period. The culture most strongly associated with ancestral memory is that of the Ladryans, but every living thing is capable of accessing it. Ancestors therefore exist in every culture.

When called, ancestors behave much as they did in life, but they are often compelled to share their memories regardless of their inclinations in life. Unless they had a strong reason not to, they will feel more open about what they remember.

Ancestors are aware of their being. They know they exist within the collective ancestral memory and can interact there with other ancestors, though mostly only those closely connected to them in life. Though blood relationship is often the most potent, any social or emotional connection will draw them to others in the memory. As such, people with found families are often more close to those than to their blood families.

Within the realm of memory, ancestors are free to act as they please, but there is a limit to their actions. They can only exist while their lineage exists - whether blood or social - and the realm of memory reflects vague impressions of where they lived in life, a faded remnant on the edge of dreams.

In the rare circumstances when an ancestor takes a physical body in the Spirit Realm, they will usually have been called into that body for a specific reason. Their personality and motivations in life may compel them to do other than what they were called for, but if this is the case, the shaman or other caller might try to stop them or compel them to do what they were called for. But they will have free will and a soul while doing so.

If a player chooses to play a mani, they will be one in a corporeal body shared with a living being, and thus their stats will vary.

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Athak

The living void.

• Lifespan: 120 years

• Diet: Energy

• Habitat: Sublunar caverns and caves or outer space

• Socioeconomic Status: Native or Oppressed

Most athaks are shapeless, colorless clouds of energy (often called “the Vast”). Many, however, take an anthropomorphic form by negating their own formlessness. These are usually featureless figures. Those that dwell underground on Shem are more affected by gravity and narrow spaces and tend to be about 3’ to 5’ tall and have smaller than proportional limbs and phalanges, while those who dwell under the lunar surface tend to be about 6’ tall and have elongated limbs and phalanges.

To outsiders, solid athaks appear to be jet black because their bodies negate light. To each other, athaks have perfectly clear skin and a riot of colors swirling within themselves.

Athaks contain void. They can discharge void energy from any part of their bodies - energy or solid - at the cost of some of their lifeforce, which they can recharge with food and rest.

Athaks can nullify any esoteric energies other than paradoxical energies that targets them. If they do so, these energies will become void in an amount equal to the amount by which they defeated the energy - i.e., if they are targeted with a 10 in mana, a form of fey magic, and they roll from an 8 in void and end up rolling a 15 against the mana’s 12, they will gain and consume a 3 in void. If they fail, they take damage at half the failure - i.e., if they fail by 2, they lose 1 void point permanently. Some energies are less potent against them and some are more potent. Mana is equal to void.

In order for them to feed effectively, they must discharge less void than the energies they consume.

Athaks dwell underground on Shem in a technocracy that is inscrutable to outsiders. Those in imperial lands are usually there seeking to exchange technological knowledge.

PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 7 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 8 STH 9

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Fotipisti

Fiery faith.

• Lifespan: 40-60 years
• Diet: Faith
• Habitat: Anywhere sacred and unaligned
• Socioeconomic Status: Privileged oppressed

Fotipistis are living prayers finding form in fiery, independent souls.

Fotipistis come to life if enough prayers are answered by a Divine or other being capable of answering prayers. The answered determines some of the powers of the fotipisti, making it a source of raw prayer and faith for that specific being. Having only a soul, they are immune to most physical attacks, save for certain aligned water attacks. They are able to absorb the prayers of others and redirect them.

Fotipistis usually form in places sacred to specific deities or inmortal beings, usually unaligned in nature, and become servants or followers of those beings, helping the mortals who inadvertently created them with their prayers. They become vessels of action on behalf of the subjects of worship they follow, often staying in the sacred place for most of their lives unless someone or something requires them to go. Imperials generally seek to seal them away or use them.

PRO 7 ATH 7 STR 6 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 8 STH 7 ESS 10

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Jamuqa

Emotional imprints come to life.

• Lifespan: 200 years

• Diet: Refracted light

• Habitat: Waterfalls

• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Jamuqas are amalgamations of multiple people who have existed in an area, who have touched the waters of a cataract, and thus, they look like many thousands of people imprinted on the cascade of water. Therefore, they appear to be anthropomorphic images filled with rushing water. They tend to be very colorful and have features of multiple species.

Jamuqas are living personalities imprinted into water, and so their bodies reflect that - they are made of light and fluid. They can control the water and use it as another being might use a more solid body.

They often take on different images within their waters to represent different facets of their personalities. Their tender side may be one image while their depressed side might be another and so on.

Jamuqas can see emotion not as an immediate thing, but as an ongoing thing - they see emotion on a timescale - they see the outline of a person’s emotional journey when they see a person. They see the emotional shape of their personality.

They can hear the words spoken all along the waters they dwell within 10 miles of the falls.

As jamuqas age, their images begin to fade, and they have less control over the water that makes up their bodies.

When light strikes the waterfalls or their bodies and refracts, they absorb it as nutrition.

If a jamuqa wishes to leave their waterfall home, they must carry the water with them. In order to do this, they must find something within the plunge pool of the falls that will hold water safely. If nonesuch exists, they must use the waters of the falls to craft it, holding a stone or shell or piece of wood to be shaped. Once they have this, they can step out of the falls, and some of the rushing waters will follow them.

Their water bodies will be immune to most physical weapons unless those weapons can disrupt their bodies so significantly that they cannot reform themselves - i.e., powerful explosives.

The voices of jamuqas speak with the voices of thousands of people, and therefore they sound as loud as the waterfall itself. Their voices hit deep within a person.

Jamuqas live in communities clustered around large waterfalls in secluded parts of vast mountain ranges on Shem. Each waterfall has about three or four dozen jamuqas, but large waterfall systems may have complex cities with thousands.

The higher up the waterfall their image dwells, the higher their status in the community. The community is led by the highest jamuqa. The rest of the community is very heavily tiered based on popularity, power, and location, and there are constant internal conflicts to see who gets to dwell at which position.

When new jamuqas are formed, they are very aware and have fully formed personalities immediately, but they are small and vulnerable. They are cared for by the lowest ranking jamuqas in the falls until they are ready to live on their own. They then take a place on the lowest part of the falls until they manage to rise.

Unless the jamuqa is directly next to the light as it strikes the waterfall, the refracted light that nourishes them is captured by the jamuqa at the top of the falls and stored, meted out to the others.

The culture of the jamuqa is focused on the plethora of beings within themselves; they seek to find new forms of self-expression. They seek to find ways to express the multitude within themselves that none have ever conceived of before, and thus, art - especially art that combines water and light, the physical parts of their being - is their primary passtime. Their art is renowned the world over, though it is almost never understood fully by anyone but the creator, as it is all deeply personal.

PRO 8 ATH 9 Fluidity 14 STR 8 AWA 11 WIL 8 PRS 11 STH 7

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Pusaran

Souls made manifest.

• Lifespan: 1,000 years

• Diet: Varies

• Habitat: Rainforests

• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Pusarans appear to be swirling vortices of blue and white light with a single eye in the middle. Their vortex bodies have tendrils that whirl around them, and each tendril is covered in markings. They speak only soul-to-soul, and often only with one another.

Pusarans see only inwardly with their central eye, but the tendrils of their vortex bodies have supernatural senses that perceive all souls around them. Anything without a soul is invisible to them.

The soul is the inmortal essence within the living, the ageless animus of all things. Pusarans are beings whose souls are manifest without the shell of a body, mind, or heart; they are sometimes called “living souls” (though all souls are living) for they interact directly with the world without filter, without anything to prevent immediate alteration to the soul. Thus, pusarans constantly react to the experience of existing.

As pusarans experience different things, they change. Every experience leaves a tiny mote of light in them, and this mote may grow and change as they experience new things. Eventually, experiences may amplify into features or powers. Powers vary greatly, but most revolve around interacting with other souls. Most pusarans cannot even communicate with non-pusarans until they gain enough experience with other beings.

Every pusaran comes from the rain forests of Shem, often as slaves or servants, though some come as refugees from strife on the planet. They integrate either into imperial or native cultures in the area they are in.

PRO 7 ATH 7 STR 4 AWA 7 WIL 15 PRS 8 STH 7

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Ukaersan

Living clouds of bone dust.

• Lifespan: 40-60 years
• Diet: Energies
• Habitat: Where bones are
• Socioeconomic Status: Privileged oppressed

Ukaersans are grey clouds of dust that form into swirling skeletal shapes.

Ukaersans can sense bones that are not within bodies, usually animal bones or those in graves. They are able to mend bones within living bodies with their touch. They are also able to scatter themselves for oracular purposes.

Ukaersans form when there is still body magic left in old bones. When they turn to dust, vital essence sparks the creation of ukaersans, which then try to find purpose and meaning in their existence. They usually seek out living beings to support, strengthening their bones and aiding them in their work. Many are exploited by imperials.

PRO 9 ATH 7 STR 9 AWA 8 WIL 7 PRS 6 STH 9 ESS 8