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Post by Ruin on Oct 3, 2015 17:48:32 GMT
At the moment, only the following species may be used on Comhcheilg. Please do not create your own when applying for a character, as they will be denied. We're fairly lenient with what you decide to do with the characteristics of the race you do decide to choose, but do be realistic. A wood nymph is not going to be a master in the art of summoning fire.
○ All of these races are humanoids, which means they all resemble humans somewhat in their appearances, or else they possess a humanoid form.
○ Hybrids between species are not possible, except for dark/high elf offspring. Since these two races are such close relatives of each other, a hybrid may occur. This is the only instance in which it may happen.
○ A romantic couple including a human and any other creature may bare offspring, but this child will always be human. However, this human usually carries traits from their non-human parent. For instance, a human child who's mother was human and father was a dragon would naturally be very good at wielding the fire element.
○ A romantic couple including two different species and no human cannot reproduce. For example, a vampire and an elf or a dwarf and a centaur. Species are not compatible with each other, with the exception of humans and dark elves with high elves.
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Post by Ruin on Oct 4, 2015 18:33:54 GMT
Humans
Humans are one of the more common races in this world, and are definitely the most variable when it comes to personalities and appearances. However, do keep in mind that if a human character originated from Arcul they are likely to have fairer hair and eyes, along with paler skin, unlike someone from Panterion who would be more tanned and would possess darker hair. Humans can certainly learn to use magic, but those who do opt for that life generally take up the title of 'mage'. Humans, or women in particular, that practice darker types of magic are labelled as 'witches'. Lifespan: About 60 years, however that can be stretched with wealth as better healing is available.
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Post by Ruin on Oct 4, 2015 18:35:39 GMT
Vampires
Vampires are a race native to Arcul, but that certainly does not prevent them from traveling. They feed on the blood of other creatures, and tend to hold a preference towards humans, high elves or animals. Apparently orcs and dark elves don't have the most pleasant of after tastes. Like humans, the skin tone of a vampire is variable depending on where in the world they spend most of their time. Vampires have enhanced vision and hearing, allowing them to find prey more easily. Apart from those perks, Vampires don't have much else going for them. On Comhcheilg, they do not possess extreme speed and super strength so overpowering isn't an issue. Vampires may also learn magic. Vampires may be born into their race, or turned due to being bitten. Any species can be infected with vampirism through a bite. Vampires that are born vampires possess a weakness towards sunlight that gradually begins to fade more and more as they age. This is not the case with turned vampires, who will always find sunlight a problem. Since turned vampires do not produce vampire offspring, the pure-blooded Vampires take pride in their families and titles. There exists a miniature hierarchy within the vampire race, with turned vampires usually at the very bottom, and notable vampire families at the top. These notable families would be lords and ladies of their home kingdom. Lifespan: Vampires have an average lifespan of 250 years.
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Post by Ruin on Oct 4, 2015 18:38:07 GMT
Lycanthropes
Lycanthropes are people that possess the ability to shift into wolves at will. The change is easier and less painful during the night, and even less so during a full moon. It has been reported that during a full moon, it is incredibly difficult to resist the urge to shift. Lycanthropes are quite a bit larger than an average wolf while in their canine form, which sets them apart. It is not unknown for humans to hunt Lycanthropes if they cause any trouble within civilized areas. A person cannot be born a lycanthrope. This means a character must be infected through a bite or blood-tie to become a lycanthrope. There exists numerous small cults across the continent that take part in the sharing of blood to give each other the 'gift'. A lycanthrope can be killed by any means, but silver is especially harmful to them. Simply touching anything made from silver will burn a lycanthrope, even while in their human form. Lifespan: Lycanthropes have a similar average lifespan to Humans. They live for about 75 years, however that can be stretched with wealth as better healing is available.
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Post by Ruin on Oct 4, 2015 18:39:32 GMT
High Elves
High Elves are a race that originated in Vuoria, and have been members of higher social statuses there for as long as anyone can recall. Nobles in Vuoria are very likely to be High Elves, but it isn't a strict rule. High Elves are usually skilled mages. They lack a lot of strength as even males have a slightly more feminine build, so magic is their main form of defense and offense. High Elves are taller than the average human, with leaner builds and a natural grace. High Elves have elegantly pointed ears and more often than not - golden hair. Lifespan: High Elves have an average lifespan of 500 years.
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Post by Ruin on Oct 4, 2015 18:41:46 GMT
Dark Elves
Dark Elves are close kin of High Elves, and similar to them in every way apart from their far paler skin tones and their crimson irises. Dark Elves almost always have inky, black hair. They are also incredibly skilled when it comes to magic, but prefer more destructive forms. They are most common within the Kingdom of Arcul. Lifespan: Dark Elves have an average lifespan of 500 years.
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Post by Ruin on Oct 4, 2015 18:44:15 GMT
Nymphs
Nymphs are creatures that usually have very carefree and mischievous personalities. They prefer to live among their own within Vuorian forests rather than within civilisation, though the latter has been heard of. Wood Nymphs pride themselves in their hunting and tracking skills, and almost all of them possess exceptional chlorokinesis; the ability to control and grow flora at will. Water nymphs are their close cousins, who reside near lakes and rivers. Water Nymphs can control the element of water, and can remain submerged for up to a half hour. Wood nymphs and water nymphs have been known to rival with each other, but always group together again when a mutual enemy must be dealt with. There exist tribes, which are essentially groups of wood nymphs or water nymphs that live in one particular area within Vuoria. Generally, they are very territorial. Often perceived falsely as delicate creatures, wood nymphs especially have the potential to be skilled warriors. They are nimble and quick on their feet, and make good use of the thick canopy of trees within the Vuorian forests. Wood nymphs fight from the treetops, and leap down upon their enemies to take them by surprise. Most nymphs do not fight, and prefer to remain peaceful. Each tribe is lead by a female nymph or miniature 'queen'. This female leader is believed to communicate with Venatura and Ceres, for Wood Nymphs, and Oceanus and Lyr for Water Nymphs. These nymphs need protecting as a result of their lack of fighting ability. Therefore, the nymph leader chooses random infants every few years that will be mentored by a tribe warrior, and will learn to defend themselves using both magic or weaponry. Lifespan: Nymphs have an average lifespan of 90 years, and stop ageing at the human equivalent of about 45-50 years old.
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Post by Ruin on Oct 4, 2015 18:47:30 GMT
Orcs
Orcs are certainly not the prettiest of creatures. They are a distant relative of the Elf, however they severely lack any skill in magic. Orcs specialize in brute force, strength, and combat. They are known to be the best at wielding two-handed weapons, such as maces and battle hammers. Orcs are also incredibly resilient, so the cold weather of Arcul does not bother them in the slightest. Lifespan: Orcs have an average lifespan of 150 years. Many fall in battle.
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Post by Ruin on Oct 4, 2015 18:49:27 GMT
Merfolk
Merfolk have a deceptively beautiful singing voice, that is known to hold the listeners under the control of the singer. It is not unknown for merfolk to drown other creatures for the fun of it. They live along the coast of Vuoria, where a series of small islands can be found. Climbing out of the water and drying causes a merfolk's tail to vanish and be replaced with human legs. It often takes some time for them to learn and adjust to the change. Their tail will revert back to normal again once they return to the sea. Lifespan: Merfolk have an average lifespan of 150 years.
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Post by Ruin on Oct 4, 2015 18:51:01 GMT
Dragons
Dragons are one of the rarer races in this world, and they tend to favor Arcul over other regions. The vast mountain ranges make good homes for these creatures. Dragons can take the form of a human if they wish to mix into civilisation, however if not, they can totally remain as their beasty selves and hoard treasures in some cold mountain cavern. Dragons struggle with any sort of magic that does not involve conjuring or controlling fire - a natural ability of theirs, even while in human form. Therefore they do not bother themselves with it. Dragons, in their dragon form, would stand at about ten to twelve feet high. Lifespan: Dragons have an average lifespan of 800 years.
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Post by Ruin on Oct 5, 2015 15:30:07 GMT
Centaurs
Centaurs are nomadic, herd creatures that prefer to live in forests. Male centaurs are generally larger then females with more muscle mass. The hues of their coats can vary just like a horses. They do not have magical abilities, but are very skilled fighters with both Swords and bows and arrows. Lifespan: The lifespan of a centaur only exceeds that of a human slightly, and on average they live to between 90 and 100 years of age.
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Post by Ruin on Oct 5, 2015 15:36:31 GMT
Dwarves
Dwarves are similar to humans in appearance, however they are a lot shorter and far more stout. The average dwarf stands at about 4 and a half feet, with some often a lot smaller. Dwarves have a lot of potential in the line of magic. They prefer to live underground or within mountains rather than on the surface of the land itself, and are generally attracted to anything that shines. Dwarves make brilliant miners, and apparently the best ale or mead too. Lifespan: Dwarves can live for around 250 years.
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Post by Ruin on Oct 29, 2015 11:13:01 GMT
Creatures that may be encountered ○ Optional read. These are creatures, other than the normal animals that exist on earth, that may be inserted into roleplays if writers so wish.
Many animals that were alive during our medieval times and since eradicated are extant during the times of Comhcheilg. Examples include aurochs, a particularly large breed of oxen, several species of wisent or European bison larger than the last surviving species of today, and a few (again, larger than what we have now) variants of brown bear.
Skeletons and zombies die when the necromancer who created them dies or dismisses them and are therefore not considered ‘beasts’ even though they can be encountered in the world. Otherwise, the following creatures are frequently of interest for adventurers or magicians.
Credit goes to drest for devising this list.
Draugar Found in ancient ruins, especially of magical nature and most commonly in Arcul
A walking corpse in the midst of rotting, swollen and maggot-ridden, a draugr (the singular) is likely the most fearsome being in existence, excepting hypothetically a dragon afflicted with some berserk insanity. A draugr was in life the owner of a great fortune who committed murder to gain or to keep it, so jealous and paranoid as to have dragged him- or herself from death to continue guarding the treasure. Because a draugr must have owned its treasure, they are rare and usually found alone or at most as a couple – in which case the two of the couple hate each other more than anything and quarrel violently, unable to kill each other.
Giants, mammoths and direwolves can all be encountered as well, and have not been added to the list just yet.
Draugar are eternally hungry, able to eat twenty men in a night and the men’s horses after sunrise, and every time they eat they grow heavier but never larger in size, so that a very old draugr might look like a newly undead one but be so heavy as to take a dragon by the throat and strangle it with no effort at all. Draugr wails put fear into any who hear them, and if one spoke to it its every word would drive them nearer madness.
Inside its ruin, however large, it is all-knowing, so obsessed with its hoard that even a spider a dozen rooms away offends it. The only things that give a draugr satisfaction are the dreams of the living, and it can leave its barrow at night to steal them from nearby mortals, although outside its barrow it weighs no more than it did in life. A draugr who returns must do so before its corpse rots, which is why Arcul with its cold ground sees more of them, and greedy men are often buried with their big toes sewn together so that if they return, they cannot walk.
Draugar can be killed, but with so much weight and mass in so little space the oldest are rarely penetrable by weapons; fire or suffocation are the best ways, although either leaves the draugr perfectly capable of killing the hero first. Its alchemical properties are unknown, for even the most vile burn draugar after killing them, as a precaution.
Fae Can be found anywhere wild, usually in or between hills
Mound-folk, called faeries or fairies by most, come in a few forms but possess the same essential characteristics in any form. They dwell in earthen hills very like regular hills, on which no trees ever grow save a single rowan on pixie-hills – if one were to dig into such a hill, they would find nothing, though their invasion would be noted. They are small, about the height of a human’s forearm, and resemble bestial humans. To most, they are invisible, but in certain cases they can be glimpsed: through dew-drops or clear quartz, or when they walk into a mortal’s shadow or are reflected in still water.
No fairy can lie or keep a secret, but all have an aptitude for vague language and half-truths that make it difficult to get anything useful from them.
Faeries try not to associate with mortal folk, and when they do, it is usually to get mortals away from their homes and paths. They bewilder folk with wrong turns and miss-steps, upset camps with various pranks, and in extreme cases sting mortals. Mortals experience these stings as bee-stings, but they heal only when the fae who delivered the sting dies or when the mortal leaves the ground the stinger was protecting, and every day the sting remains it hurts more; after a time it begins killing skin around it.
A fairy-path is a straight line between two mounds that links them; to avoid building on them, builders who still believe in fae-folk put a pile of stones out overnight if they suspect they might be. If it remains come morning, there is no path and the building may go up. Households on fairy-paths tend to experience illness of children and animals, and frequent knocking on the doors or windows.
The most common forms are pixies, trow, and spriggans. Pixies have a vulpine aspect to them, lithe and bushy-tailed, and tend to be the least harmful.
Trow, badger-like, are the only to seek out mortals – they love music, and will stray from fairy-paths to hear mortal musicians, sometimes even entering towns. Trow have been known to trick favoured musicians into wandering onto rings of mushrooms where the mortals then spend days singing and dancing for the trow and its companions – when the mortal wakes, he or she is often near-starvation and exhausted, but tends to find that they are seldom lost again, no matter where they go or how carelessly.
Spriggans resemble flightless bats, and are the cruellest; their mounds are near old treasures, and any who explores mound or treasure-site is cursed with stings, frequent and inexplicable panic, and the total destruction of any tents or other dwellings erected.
Faeries can be killed with pure iron, the presence of which also repels them, and those who travel on fairy-paths ring bells or use charms of rowan or bread and cream to appease the faeries and be allowed passage. Spriggins typically demand bread and cream and will ignore other gifts.
Griffins Creatures of the plains, most commonly found in Ponterion, southern Arcul, or non-wooded regions of Vuoria
The king of predators, griffins are large, flying beasts, lion-bodied and eagle-tipped. Their feathers are so fine as to resemble fur, gold or russet-brown. A griffin is slightly taller than a horse and appears broader because it stands like a predator, limbs gathered beneath it to pounce at any moment. Its beak and talons are sharper than any blade, its hearing keener than any mortal’s, though its sight is poor.
Griffin-cries, louder than a lion’s roar and more piercing than an eagle’s call, are so powerful that in close proximity they can knock light objects over or deafen. There is a rumor that griffins are only male, as they often carry off horses and mate with them – the truth is that female griffins are so rare and so much faster than males that none have died in millennia, but often leave males without mates.
Griffins have been known to be hunted, though their meat is too stringy to be eaten, as most of the beast’s other products have huge value in alchemy: they tend to be powerfully linked to fire, might, and longevity.
Grims One of few non-domesticated urban creatures, grims live in graveyards or burial grounds all over the land
Also called barghests, grims resemble shaggy black dogs with fiery eyes and mangy coats. In truth, they bear no relation at all to dogs or wolves, and indeed have no fur but leathery skin that gathers in folds around their shoulders covering complex fish-like gills. The gills are used to ‘eat’ a certain substance produced by rotting corpses, and grims require no other sustenance.
They can be aggressive – a grim is intelligent enough to understand mourning, and won’t attack a funeral procession or a visitor to a grave-site during the day, but they view stragglers at night to be fair game, and will kill and leave the bodies exposed, under any trees with open space beneath their roots.
Superstitious undertakers often allow them to stay, as they deter grave-robbery and don’t harm innocent mourners, but one or two innocents murdered after dark is too many for even the most tolerant communities.
Grims can be killed by any mortal means, and are best deterred by lavender or the cries of newborn children. Scavengers by nature, grims flock to sites of recent killing such as battlefields to consume as much vapor as they can; such grims can grow to be larger than any dog, and tend to be more aggressive than is typical.
Knuckers Encountered in old wells or in swamp-land, typically in Ponterion and rarely in Vuoria
Knuckers are vile, toxic serpents that occupy wells or small caves in wetlands, eating everything from fish to livestock to orcs. Their skin, rough and leathery, is a sickly brown or purple reminiscent of rot and slime. Knuckers can grow to thirty paces in length and two or three in girth, with antler-like horns, tiny, useless wings, and no arms or legs – not that they should be underestimated. Their fangs can reach a hands’ length, and they can whip their head or barbed tail at speeds that defy eyesight. A knucker’s saliva is a powerful, corrosive venom that can kill with even a scratch if left untreated, though the mercy exists that the venom is slow-acting.
Killing one is not hard, but as its blood is also a potent toxin, it is best to have a plan. The water around knucker-holes is usually undrinkable for years after the knucker’s death. Its horns, when used in alchemy, are known to make the consumer able to breathe water for a time, and other parts of it have lesser benefits as well.
Leshiye Woodland creatures, found almost exclusively in Vuoria only because Vuorians seldom chase them away like other folk do
A towering cousin of the mound-folk, leshiye (plural of ‘leshy’) resemble men, always males, overgrown both in terms of size and plant growth. A leshy’s skin is spotted with moss and fungus, his limbs tangled with vines, his hair and beard full of anything from flowers, mushrooms, birds’ nests, bee-hives, to any other sort of forest denizen.
Like his cousins faeries he can speak, but he is so slow to form a thought that if he is asked something the question is usually forgotten by the time he answers. Unlike them, though he cannot lie either, he is happy to be honest, and many alchemists and healers have close associations with a leshy for his knowledge of magic and wood-craft. He shares the same rules of invisibility with fae, as well, and loves bread and cream possibly more than they do. He lives nowhere in particular, but will sleep anywhere in the stretch of woods he has adopted as his own.
He can often be seen – or at the least heard – talking to the trees and the animals, as leshiye love the woods like no other. Every leshy once had a wife, but to his dismay she lived no longer than a human and he is virtually immortal; each generation of leshiye therefore had fewer and fewer children until now, when there is rumored among leshiye to be one she-leshy in all the world, who as yet has not been found.
Leshiye seldom harm others – they are vegetarians, and despite their huge stature are physically weak – but their magic is stronger than faeries’ and mortals who anger them or desecrate forests often find themselves turned into trees, or so lost that no matter where they turn they are walking towards the most treacherous spot of the nearest river until they despair and throw themselves to drown.
Ogres Found high in Arcul’s mountains or deep in the woods of ‘no-man’s-land,’ the southrons occasionally make raids into Ponterion or Vuoria but the northern tribes rarely raid Arcul
Legend states that ogres, massive and rugged, once ruled the lands now occupied by the three kingdoms, although anyone who’s met one would consider ‘rule’ a strong word. Ogres are tribal beasts, whom it could be argued are ‘civilized’ but are so cruel and aggressive that none have been able to communicate with them.
An ogre camp is thus: between eight and fifteen grey-skinned figures twice the height of men, clothed in animal skins and carrying bone- or stone-tipped spears and axes, who sleep uncovered and in shifts around a central fire over which there is almost always an animal roasting. They, too, are cousins of the faerie-folk, but the reverse of the leshiye: they have little magic and immense physical strength. An ogre can throw a spear accurately clean through a stone wall at over three hundred paces, collapsing a section of the wall and still moving fast enough to pierce armour.
In the past hundred years, only eight have ever killed an ogre, two of whom were dragons and one an orc who made his living by hunting them. That orc and his comrades were later slain by the greatest gathering of ogres – thirty-seven – to be seen together in recent history. The other five killed their ogres by poison or trickery, which is regarded the safest and most reliable way.
Ogres have little alchemical value, thus the best reaction to seeing one is to sneak away, as they are quite fast but have poor hearing and smell. If you are seen, well, attack it and be comforted that there’ll be stories about you, for you can’t escape it.
Selkies Once dwellers along the whole of the southern coast, selkies are now to be found only in Vuoria and its islands, by the sea or in large rivers
Selkies have the voices of beautiful women, but their songs have no words. Some say they are low and beastly cousins of merfolk, as both use their voices as lures. A selkie has the visage of a seal, but the shape of a man or woman – furred, earless, and sharp-teethed, yet thin and graceful swimmers. Despite their beauty, they are predators and hugely strong, and will eat any creature of any size that strays too close to the water – on occasion, animals are raped first, and some are able to escape between the two occurrences.
Selkies are rare enough not to be threats to the average fisherman, but when one infests a coast or waterway it can be extremely difficult to drive it away or kill it. Merfolk consider them beautiful animals to be avoided when possible, but will pursue a selkie if it poses a danger.
Strigas Cold-loving creatures, Striga tend to be found in Arcul, ranging south in winter on extremely rare occasions
Roughly twice the size of an owl, the striga is a northern cousin of the now-extinct harpy. Only female striga have ever been seen, even by hunters eradicating full nests of them; no one knows how they reproduce. Being generous, they look something like short, lean human women with black-feathered backs and wings rather than arms, but that doesn’t capture the twisted nature of their limbs, sinister ugliness of their pale fangs and talons, or unnatural whiteness to their skin and hair.
They have no magic but superhuman strength in their gnarled wings and legs, coupled with an animal ferocity that makes them formidable to fight even alone. And they are pack hunters. Striga nest in bunches of no more than twenty, usually fewer, in caves or crevasses high up on mountain-sides.
A sufficiently perilous wound is fatal to them, no magic is required, but it is safer and more thorough to use oil and fire on a nest to destroy it – even if a striga is away at the time of the burning, she will kill herself on her return if her sisters (wives? No one knows) are lost. A striga’s feathers are poisonous, and its claws and eyes have alchemical properties that enhance the speed and senses.
Unicorns Beasts of the plains and woods, found in Ponterion and Vuoria
A unicorn is smaller than a horse, but fleeter of foot and in possession of a long, sharp horn fiery-gold in hue. Once common, they are now all but extinct as every part of a unicorn has an alchemical application, and some parts like the horn are already enchanted and require not even the simplest of charms to be used.
Any who drinks pure water from a hollowed-out horn is cured of any ailment, and most other parts of the unicorn are used to prolong health and life. Their horns are scarcely for defense, and are in fact used to dig up the roots that comprise a unicorn’s diet, but like a boar’s tusk the horn sharpens itself by snapping when it gets over-long, creating a new and sharp edge; when cornered the horn can be a potent weapon, and often infects victims with ghastly diseases.
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