The Creatures

The Mist + Fae

First things first, there is a force on the Pearl called the mist. It’s the source of magic on the world but also it’s own dimension basically. It’s where the dragons hide. It is where the fae live. Fae-blooded people like elves or Draconians can enter it safely while no one else can. The mist is mostly hidden, only dragons and fae being able to enter at will but sometimes it leaks onto the earth where people can enter it by accident. Anyone who can’t safely enter the mist but finds their way into a fae forest will have a variety of side effects. They will get nauseous and wake up somewhere different, hours or days later with a hangover. Some will go insane and be unable to leave the mist, usually falling victim to a fae or a demon. Fae forests are most common on Eliin or Mein so humans are the biggest victims. They tend to rope off the forests and stay as far away from them as they can. Some will willingly enter the mist to just blank out. It’s basically just getting really high or drunk. Time doesn’t move properly, you can barely remember things and it feels really great if you actually want to be there. Like why deal with your problems when you can stand vacantly in a forest for a week?

The fae themselves are any creature or animal touched by the mist. The mist is most active in the moonlight so they are related to the moon a lot as well. They are shy creatures that usually hide in the mist or within their forest. They can exist out of the mist, they just don’t want to because they don’t like how the world feels. Elves grew from fae that left the mist, losing some magic but retaining their long life and general aura. Most fae like to trick people, getting them lost in the woods, robbing them, kidnapping them…any variety of things that they think are harmless but are sometimes a nightmare for anyone having to deal with it. Mundane animals are safe from the mist and fae tricks–dogs are often used to search woods for people who may have been stolen by fae.

Sometimes fae will allow demons within their ranks, loving that they also enjoy games and messing with people. Fae have no sense of good or evil, just right or wrong within their own logics. So sometimes they are just as bad or even worse than demons or shadows. They have no average…anything. They look and act however they please and live for a few days or a few millennia. They are only predictable in the assumption that they are unpredictable.

Half-fae are fairly common as a lot of people lose track of themselves in the mist. Sometimes wild children are just found in forests or someone will wake up after being in the mist holding a baby.


Shadows + Demons

Never appear on a full moon, are most active on the new moon

As the moon wanes, Ghalena’s influence grows. Shadows and demons are created by the darkness she leaves behind and they attach to dead hosts—human, animal, anything that’s not divinely created like dragons or draconians. Shadows find dead bodies and absorb them into their form–Ghalena’s worshippers kill a lot just to help create stronger shadows. New shadows are still basically a dead body with a shadow layer over them. As they get older, the body dissolves but the bones remain. Shadows get larger and more powerful by taking in more bodies. So we can have low level demons that are basically one to 4 bodies still vaguely human shaped. Or giant monsters that hide in the dark part of forest eating travelers, just full of dozens upon dozens of bodies and skeletons. They keep the bones of creatures they’ve devoured as decoration. Shadows aren’t particularly sentient and act a bit more like rabid animals, just snapping at anything around them. They’ll even attack Ghalena worshippers. They only really react to someone who has Ghalena’s darkness in them like the Pikoya, demons and Enera. Shadows can not interact with fae magic. They never appear in the mist or fae forests.

Demons are a higher level of shadow. Where shadow creatures happen when Ghalena’s darkness go around a dead body, demons happen when Ghalena’s darkness goes inside a dead body. It’s a willing sacrifice and most demons are from when Ghalena stood on the Pearl, growing their own populations naturally or offering deals to worshippers. They are less animalistic than shadows but are usually more devastating to deal with as they’re sentient creatures that are well aware of what they’re doing. They retain a humanoid form, not getting any more massive than the species of the person they corrupted. Some types of demons are basically just a much nastier fae, appearing with a friendly face and a sharp tongue to lure people into their destruction. Other forms of demon are horned humanoids with animalistic features that just torture and kill. The succubus and the incubus are the most common form of demon and cause the most problems. They shape shift into a regular human form to seduce people, poison them into a slumber and attack them. Demon slayers have very strict rules about their ranks having relationships to try their best to cut back on attacks as they will kill and replace someone’s lover to target them. They tend to return to previous victims so demon slayers sterilize anyone who has survived an attack. The option of sterilization upon joining is available but the slayers don’t want to make it a standard. Dealing with demons and such is terrible and they don’t want to ruin any chances at a life they could have if they retire. Most demons usually don’t kill their victims, preferring to leave them to be tormented. They can also enter the mist, no one knows why but they can. No other Ghalena tinted creature can.