[center][h1][b][u]Races[/u][/b][/h1][hr][hider=It begins][h2][u]Angels[/u][/h2][hr]Beings once revered by Humans, and reviled by demons, the Angelic race was one wrought from order, likely meant to ever contrast the brood of Hell's depths. Ever magnificent beings with beauty to match the most striking humans, their wings greater than any bird of prey, and their might to be feared Angels have always been beings who attempted to retain the order of things. However, like all mortals, Angels have no singular sense of Order and so over the duration of their existence they have fallen from their lofted heights and become more and more human, perhaps moving further from the divine--or so the loyalists would think.

With the passage of time angels have changed little, in the grand scheme of things, as they are beings of stasis, always striving to be unchanged despite all odds. Among their unchanged traits is the inherent purity and potency of their essence, which is a sight to behold and a sensation one never forgets. Even the most mundane of humans knows when they are in the presence of a true angel, though what a true angel might be is a less sure thing. In addition to this it should be known that the essence of angels is locked mostly within their bodies, so they are incapable of utilizing magic in the same manner as the other races. Instead, Angels have harnessed and honed their powerful essence, granting them an array of rather varied and extraordinary biological abilities.

Last, but not least, of any Angel's traits is their ability to ever remain within the bounds of reality. What might this mean? Tis simple, for while an Angel's body can be slain, its soul ever lingers in reality, never quite passing fully into the Void. With this an Angel's essence stores its experiences forever, likely in an attempt to deny the cycle of change that the world is so prone to follow, and remain in a sort of stasis forever. Such is the nature of an Angel, to deny the cycle, and replace it with Order instead, even if that Order is a false one.
[h3][u][i]Original Angels[/i][/u][/h3]Known as such due to their very nature, an Original Angel is one that has purely Angelic essence, plain and simple. Unlike their more common counterparts, Original Angels possess only two distinctions, Archangels, and non-Archangels. Archangels are individuals of this category who have never died and resurrected whereas the former beings are those who have gone through memory regression, thus purifying their essence fully till they once more become an Original. The core difference between Originals and Modern Angels is their lack of classification in that an Original Angel is capable of utilizing the abilities of all six Modern Classes, though perhaps not with the same level of skill. This, in addition to the sheer potency of their essence, makes Original Angels superior in most aspects. There remain few Archangels though, and Modern Angels risk insanity to reach such heights. Fortunately, any Angel who is of this nature is biologically immortal and will not age another day, only dying if they are slain by another. Such is the way of Angels it seems, to die, only to live again and die all the same. Truly beings of Order and stagnation they are, though majestic they may be.
[h3][u][i]Seraph Angels[/i][/u][/h3]The middle stage between Original Angel and Modern Angel, these beings are those who have successfully gone through anywhere between 1/3rd and 1/2 regressions, thus giving them a wealth of experience, essence of far greater purity, and sometimes a more varied skill set. While not as rare as Originals, Seraphs are still not terribly common and those that do exist tend to be in places of authority. The abilities of Seraphs are roughly equivalent to those of a Warden class demon.
[h3][u][i]Modern Angels[/i][/u][/h3]What most people think of when they refer to Angels, these beings pale in comparison to both Seraph and Originals, possessing the frail bodies of humans for the most part and lacking the purity of the two upper classes. To make up for these failings, Modern Angels are trained only in one Angelic Discipline and thus become extremely adept at said ability. These abilities, over many lifetimes, become inherent to their soul, thus causing them to retain their Angelic class unless they manage a full Regression. Also unlike their two counterparts, Modern Angels typically come into being by way of their essence suddenly and violently possessing a Human body--be it an adult or child--and overpowering it greatly. This process more often than not kills the Human consciousness, leaving only its inner essence behind. Upon the performance of this process the once Human body is altered to suit the class of the Angel, the wings quickly forming as the Angel's essence creates itself a sanctuary in which to house its memories. It is for this reason that the wings of Angels are so beautiful, for they hold the entirety of their [I]Divine[/I] majesty.
[hider=Angelic Classes][h3][b]Tamer[/b][/h3]


[h3][b]Weather[/b][/h3]


[h3][b]Battle[/b][/h3]


[h3][b]Clairvoyant[/b][/h3]


[h3][b]Guardian[/b][/h3]


[h3][b]Miracle[/b][/h3]
[/hider][hr][h2][u]Humans[/u][/h2][hr]Once thought the most mundane of what was then three races, Humans have since become the most plentiful of what has become four. This is of course due to the unique ability, which most Humans take for granted--they are capable of childbirth unlike both Angels and Demons which typically cannot breed with their own kin. Not only this, but they are perhaps the most successful, ruling a whole world while the demons squabble over Hell, and Progaia--which the humans call home--while the Angels live there, most often pitied or tolerated by what they once considered lesser to themselves. In the last several centuries Humans have truly carved their mark in the world and made clear the power of their collective will, for despite the fleeting nature of Human lives, they are not a race to be trifled with. While unable to boast inherent abilities like the Angels, or the arcane finesse of Demons, Humans are capable of magic in their own unique way. Rather than be required to devour essence to fuel their craft, Humans utilize a mixture of their own natural essence in addition to the latent atmosphere of essence that now runs thick in their plane. In this way human magic is varied, though often segregated, and can be anything from merely practical, to incredibly potent.

While a Human's essence is not body locked like an Angel's, it is not free like a Demon's either, instead remaining somewhere between the two--its purity less than the former, but greater than the latter. Thus, in many ways, Humans are the midpoint between Angels and Demons, which makes them both the most versatile of the races, and the most fragile as they do not have the inherent advantages of either--though they also possess none of the weaknesses. Like an Angel's a Human's essence regenerates over time, though not as fast, but unlike them it is not especially potent. However, like a Demon's a Human is capable of externalizing their essence to create spells that influence others, or their environment itself. Like both, a human can utilize magic to amplify their physical form, and due to the more accessible nature of a Human's essence, they are more likely to be effected on the genetic or essencial level by the essence of any other individual, including their own kind. As such it can easily be stated that Humans are both defined by the company they hold and the locales that they frequent, though they will often strive to surpass these things--ever searching for purpose. Such is the stubborn and ever agile nature of Humanity, ever learning from its mistakes and reaching for higher heights. Perhaps they are unstoppable, perhaps not, it is hard to say with such things.
[hr][h2][u]Demons[/u][/h2][hr]A harsh race constantly fighting amongst themselves for dominance in their own realm, Demons are creatures of opportunity, representing the ideal of constant change and self-improvement. This is represented strongly in their culture as most demons have little in the way of [I]family[/I] and would sooner stab their kin in the back, than aid them if it was in the interest of their own betterment. However, something that has become more apparent in recent times, Demons are not all painted the same on the moral spectrum, in fact it is quite the opposite. Just like all of the races, Demons are as capable of good and evil as anyone, though they seem to be more prone to the twisted and warped side of reality, perhaps through no fault of their own.

Unlike Angels or Humans, Demons have essence that is impure in nature, tainted by individuality the most. As such there are many species of demon, but they all have some things in common. First among these is the state of their essence, but second is how they compensate for such. For while Humans and Angels regain their essence naturally over time, Demons are either parasitic or predatory, and as such are forced to feed on the essence of that which is outside of themselves for sustenance, power, and to better themselves. The third trait that all Demons share, despite their species, is their ability to evolve. In short, all Demons start at a base state, typically a weak one, and over time they devour more and more essence whilst mastering the shape they begin with. Once a Demon has taken in enough essence they are capable of evolving into a better developed form, but only if their self-mastery has met its initial peak. With each new form this process must be repeated till the Demon has reached the pinnacle of its lifetime at which point their form changes no longer and the ritual which splits open their body to bring forth the new one, will only recycle their soul to the void.

While there it little else that can be noted in regards to what Demons all have in common, the following is notable. Most Demons possess a form of magic inherent to their form and as they evolve these magics become greater and greater in their variety or potency. It is in this way that Demons have gained superiority in the fields of magic for the duration of their existence, and it is how they continue to do so. Though, it is true that no one, but clairvoyants, know what the future holds, so they may be surpassed yet. Only time will tell, though Demons have plenty of that, now don't they.

Below are defined the two general classifications of Demonkind.
[h3][u][i]Hellions[/i][/u][/h3]
To be Written.
[h3][u][i]Surface Demons[/i][/u][/h3]
To be Written.

In the original lore, Surface demons are the following:

1.) The reincarnation of a demon who failed to properly go through their evolution ritual. The human body must first be infected with demonic essence after which point a demon who failed will possess the human body, attempting to devour their essence, and then use said body as a vessel to continue their evolutionary path.
Or...
2.) The human wins the fight with the demon and assimilates the Demon's essence, inheriting their abilities, but losing some of their humanity in the process.

The Current lore is basically:

Surface Demons are Humans who have been infected/tainted by demonic essence, thus "_turning_" them. This can create a variety of Surface Demons depending on what kind of Demon turned them.
They're also demons who were born on Surface/Progaia.

[hr][h2][u]Chimera[/u][/h2][hr]Youngest of the four races, Chimera have only become more common place in the past two centuries. With traits which depend entirely on the origin of the individual and the nature of their essence's multifarious state, Chimera are a hard lot to make a great many blanketing statements on. Nonetheless it can be said that all Chimera possess essence that is a mixture of two or more individuals and/or races. Whether this essence is pooled between multiple bodies, held within one, or kept somewhat separate is essentially irrelevant for as long as multiple essence signatures are present, the individual may be classified as a member of this race. Over the years it has come to light that there are four, currently known, forms of chimera; they are defined as follows.

[hider=Chimeric Classes][h3][b]Artificial Chimera[/b][/h3][sub][i]Differentiated[/i][/sub]

Chimera are created through artificial means, artificial being defined by the chimera's original state being one of the other races after which they were subjected to some kind of process which resulted in their status as a chimera. More specifically, an individual is considered an artificial chimera if two, or more, individual souls have been forced into one vessel with neither being fully assimilated by the other. This typically causes a dichotomy--or trichotomy--between the two, or more, presiding souls causing conflict between the individuals. It should be noted that even if an artificial chimera were to subjugate and assimilate the other souls, thus denoting a dominant soul, and subservient ones, they will still be considered artificial due to the means which were utilized to facilitate their resultant status. However, when all three of the souls are merged into one, the individual will be referred to by the following title: Artificial Chimera(Undifferentiated), essentially meaning that the souls have merged into one and are no longer separate and thus contesting for control. Last, but not least, the essence of an Artificial Chimera typically has multiple aspects and depending on which of the souls is in control of the vessel, their essence will come across differently. Nonetheless, the signatures of the other soul(s) will be present regardless of which holds dominance at any given time, just to a lesser degree than the dominant individual.
[h3][b]Natural Chimera[/b][/h3][sub][i]Undifferentiated[/i][/sub]

Chimera, which are [I]born[/I] rather than created--these are either the child of two or more distinct races, or they are the child of one race who, prior to their birth and soon after conception—typically within the first three months—are exposed to essence of one or more other races, which then integrates itself with their base essence, becoming an innate part of them. There are very few exceptions to this, though there are some who were not born as such, but can still be considered 'natural'. A natural chimera's essence will typically not feel like the essence of either of the two or more races that it was derived from. Instead, the individual's essence signature will be a composite between the two species, giving them a unique and easily identified essence signature unlike any other being.
[h3][b]Collective Chimera[/b][/h3][sub][i]Vague[/i][/sub]

This class of chimera are a bizarre lot, typically including beings that take other souls into themselves, but do not entirely assimilate them. These chimera, due to their odd origins, end up with primary and secondary racial traits. As such Collective Chimera are beings who possess multiple souls in one body, but with one set of racial essence being predominant. These Chimera have a /primary/ and /secondary/ race with the primary being in control and the secondary being subservient to the primary if not entirely dormant. Their essence will generally be noted as being that of a single race, rather than being recognized as a chimera. Only with in-depth observation and analysis of their essence can one ordain their true nature. This class of chimera is the only known class that can have a single racial essence and yet still be considered chimera. Most modern angels, and a fair amount of demons, fall into this category.
[h3][b]Communal Chimera[/b][/h3][sub][i]Undefined[/i][/sub]

Chimera of this type are rather unique as they share many qualities found in the other three types, yet nonetheless deserve their own classification. While the previous three varieties of chimera are fairly well known and decently common, Communal Chimera are exceptionally rare. Furthermore knowledge regarding them is not at all common. Nonetheless, these unique beings are defined not by multiple souls in a single vessel, but rather multiple vessels, typically three, sharing all of their essence mutually. This causes all of them to feel much like natural chimera, but with each leaning slightly more towards the essence of their original race. All Iotans fall under this category.
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