The advanced races are templates that are added onto a base race. First you must build your base race as normal, then you add on the advanced race’s costume requirement, benefit and detriment.
When the hole in the Void was sealed for the second time, the God of Damnation was used as the lock and key that held it in place. Frozen at the end of The Darkest Road, Zaren remains trapped to this day.
This had a strange side effect. A large portion of the souls who were imprisoned in The Darkest Road were set free during the war. While this would normally mean they could wander the Restless Sands, or perhaps make their way back to the realm of the living as tormented spirits, a few found their way to Zaren’s eternal prison, and discovered power. They found that they could leach off of the God of Damnation’s power ever so slightly, enough to make themselves new, mortal bodies.
These bodies were only vaguely like their old ones. Though there were some signs of what they once were, they were also twisted and dark.
With their new bodies to aid them, these Archons escaped into the world of Raia, much to the dismay of the Gods of Light. In response, a few of the Gods of Light imbued a number of willing souls from the Silver City, and sent them into the world to try and balance out the impact of the Dark Archons.
There are archons in the world today from almost all of the gods. Dark Gods will occasionally imbue souls from The Darkest Road, and Light Gods will respond by sending more souls from The Silver City to the world as Light Archons. Most Archons of Light worship the god who sent them back into the world of the living. Most Archons of Dark are imbued by Zaren’s power, though it is stolen, and may or may not worship the Gods of Dark.
Largely, there are villains and heroes on each side of the Archon line. Light Archons are often hailed as angels and heroes, and some let it go to their heads. Zealots of Light make it their lifelong mission to wipe every Dark Archon from the world. Others are peace loving, kind folk, who will always lend a helping hand. Dark Archons are usually feared and hated wherever they go. They are seen as devils and villains, and this makes many bitter. Some eventually decide to live up to their reputation; others refuse to let it taint them, taking their second chance at life very seriously.
Archons have no discernable life-span. It appears that they will live until they die.
After picking your basic race, dull your skin color with white. Archons of Light must have white or blonde hair, Archons of Dark must have black hair. Archons have veins of either white (light) or black (dark) that run up their necks, and down their arms and legs. These veins spread onto the face and swirl around the eyes. Archons of Dark must wear purple glowsticks at night, Archons of Light must wear white.
When an ally falls in battle, you may use a direct heal for 2HP to a different friendly target.
When you fell an enemy in battle, you may use a direct heal for 2HP to a friendly target.
Damage from your opposing element counts as Soul Damage (it damages HP/MP/SP).
The world of Raia is magically charged, with spiritual and magical energy flowing freely through the air, water and land. This energy is what mages and priests draw from to cast their magic, what the gods themselves draw from, and what runs rampant in the Crater of Exile, causing so many upsets.
The souls of the dead also draw on this magical reserve, naturally tapping into that flow to keep their forms and memories alive. When these souls were moved onto the Restless Sands on a regular basis, this drain on the flow of the world never became a problem. However, close to a thousand years ago, the God of Souls was trapped by a rival to his power. For centuries, the power of the Watcher was abused, and there was nothing to regulate the souls of the dead.
The souls of the dead would often remain trapped in the living world for years, even centuries. Magi, priests and gods alike feared that the souls in the world were drawing too much energy from the naturally flowing balance, making it harder for practitioners to ply their trade.
After the Second Destroyer War, The Watcher was restored to his throne, and he began to cleanse the world of lost souls. In the years since the war, the wandering souls in the world have been slowly brought to the Restless Sands, to move on to their final resting place. The Watcher has been seen moving through the world, collecting lost souls and moving them on to the other side.
Some souls avoid him. Some try to fight him. However, one by one, the Watcher has slowly begun to take the drain off of the magical flow.
This has come with a curious side effect. In the decades following the war, people began noticing the appearance of what seemed to be sentient undead. These creatures did not have memories of what they once were, or where they had come from. Many were destroyed on sight, as holy orders believed them to be beings of evil. However, as the years passed and more and more came into the world, scholars began to research their origins.
It is believed that, with so few souls now drawing on the flowing magic in the world, those who remained were among the most powerful, and old. These beings, saturated with magical and spiritual energy, were able to will themselves into life.
These living dead move through the world in larger numbers these days. Once enough came into being, they began to band together to protect themselves. Slowly these creatures became more accepted, but almost never wanted. Many towns have laws against these undead settling down in their city limits.
The Awoken, as they have been called, themselves are often terrifying to behold. Though not rotten and deformed, their skin is pale and ashen. The natural features of the race they once were are often highlighted by black shadows. These marks are often visible around the eyes and cheekbones. They appear sunken and unhealthy, and any bright colors that they may have once had in their hair, skin or eyes are dulled and dark.
Most Awoken do not feel emotions as strongly as their fully alive counterparts. They often complain about not really feeling alive, and as such will take great risks, make poor decisions, and put themselves in dangerous situations in an effort to feel anything strongly. Some spend their existence trying find out who they once were, where others revel in their second chance, trying to make the most of it. There are many, sadly, who take this second chance at life and resent it. As they watch those around them have real, full lives, they feel like they are being cheated out of what they could have, and take it out on those around them.
After picking your base race, you must dull any bright colors with grays and whites. Greenskins, for example, would have to be a dull, ashy green, rather than a bright, vibrant green. You must also have black highlights in visible places. The eyes, mouth, neckline and fingers are good places to put these highlights. Your hair MUST be gray, or have gray highlights prominently through your hair.
Awoken are immune to poisons and the pain effect.
Being immune to poisons is wonderful, but alchemical potions with beneficial effects do not have any affect on them either. They also cannot benefit from the surgery path, as they are creatures of magic and spirit. Only magical healing can heal these creatures.
Awoken count as Undead for the purposes of Wrath.
The First Destroyer War ended when the Gods of Light sealed away the Gods of Dark, and all of their followers and worshipers. For thousands of years, these mortal followers of the Gods of Dark were locked in the pure magic of the void, twisted physically and spiritually until they were barely recognizable as their original forms. Though they never aged, these beings were able to feel the passing of time, and this drove most mad.
When the Second Destroyer War released these beings back into the world, many were killed on sight. The people of Raia mistook them for the horrors leaking into the world, and assumed that these Unsealed were part of the incursion. Sadly, many were. Many of these twisted mortals were driven so mad that they attacked anyone in sight.
However, a large enough number of the Unsealed survived and hid. They waited out the war, hidden away in the heights of the mountains, the depths of the jungles, and the wastes of the desert. Through the years, they made a new life. One kingdom, Laojian-Lu, was welcoming to these strange new people, and sheltered them, but most were unaccepting. In the past few years they have started to be seen more often in the world, and since the Second Destroyer War is fading from the memory of the newer generation, some are even finding their way into major cities.
It is not all good feelings. Many of the younger generation of Unsealed grew up resenting that they had to remain hidden. They find themselves hating other mortal races, even more so because of the way that new Unsealed are born.
Unsealed retain some of the qualities of their original races, but they are, at the core, a new creature. Their skins are a flowing mix of dark blues, purples and greens. Shimmers are often present under the colors, and it is not uncommon to see bright blues, purples and greens in their hair. However, these racial traits do not set in until the Unsealed goes through puberty, in their teen years.
Thus, Unsealed spend their childhood years looking nothing like their parents. They spend their childhood as Greenskins, elves, etc. Some of the older Unsealed, upon mating and producing children for the first time, were shocked to first discover that Unsealed of different base races could produce children at all! Then they were even more surprised to see that their children appeared to be normal. A child of Unsealed parents will always look like the base race of the mother. Many Unsealed took their children and left them at orphanages in towns with a large population of the race that their child appeared to be.
Imagine the shock of the adoptive parents when their children shifted and changed in their teenage years, and looked exactly like the twisted horrors that had come from the void a few years before. Many were killed; more were run out of town.
Some parents still try to give their children a better upbringing than they could offer. Some adoptive families accept their changeling children, but more often than not the teenagers are kicked out of the place where they grew up, at the worst time in their lives to face such a horrible shock.
Unsealed is an uncommon race at large in the world of Raia, and are strange to behold. With the twisted magical effect on their soul come some strange detriments and benefits, and because of these, they find it harder to interact with the rest of the world.
As an Unsealed, you first choose your base race from the list of basic races available. Your skin then must be covered in swirls of deep blue, purple and green, with a slight shimmer to the skin-tone. Your hair must be brightly colored with blue, purple and green. Some races’ base traits will be completely overshadowed by those of the Unsealed. A Greenskin Unsealed, with no additional costume requirements other than green-tinged skin, might look exactly like a Human Unsealed. Any costume pieces like horns, wings, tails, etc. must be mangled and twisted, and colored in this fashion.
As an Unsealed, your race is so twisted by void magic that it has left permanent scarring through your mind and psyche. This has, however, a benefit. You cannot be mind controlled, or possessed.
The Unsealed count as Horrors for the purpose of Wrath.
Most do not know how they got this curse, though some have hazy memories of being attacked the night before. All that they know is that their lives are forever changed. The light of the sun causes them pain, and things that benefit directly from the sun often cause them problems. Thus, eating anything that is not meat will often cause them to become ill. Fresh fruits and vegetables are directly off of the menu, and even vegetables with a strong scent can be enough to cause them discomfort.
The curse is not all bad, and some are even delighted to find that they have become Volsaken. These creatures are not entirely living, and their soul has become partially detached from their body. Almost every Volsaken learns quickly that they have to anchor their soul to an item outside of their own form. Most find it easier to connect their soul to something that holds special meaning for them, though some try and hide it in something that would not be the obvious choice. So long as the Volsaken takes the time to care for this soulvault, when they die they will immediately resurrect wherever the vault itself is. They also appear to cease aging on the day they become Volsaken. Though they have only been around for about 50 years, none appear to age at all.
Some suspect this curse has its base in the God of Fire himself. They believe that Vol is secretly spreading a curse to spite the Gods of Light. Others believe the source is more methodical and planned. Often outbreaks of this curse are localized. Many Volsaken will appear in an area at one time, and then none will appear ever again. This often leads to witch hunts, and many new Volsaken are killed very quickly.
However, some Volsaken have managed to gain incredible amounts of power and influence. Some rise to positions of great power in their kingdoms. This is where many scholars find their backing for the methodical theory. Some Volsaken who rise to power through terror, murder, and overtly villainous methods disappear without notice. Some Volsaken tell stories of a bogeyman who seeks out the worst of them and wipes them out with a vengeance, others tell stories of a paladin of light who has vowed to destroy all darkness, starting with the Volsaken scum.
You begin as a member of one of the basic races. Volsaken are sometimes indiscernible from other members of their race. They begin to go slightly red around the eyes, bloodshot and sickly. Their skin looses its bright color over the first few months, giving them a slightly ashy, unhealthy look. Most prefer fully covering clothes than anything that shows skin. Fully covering garments offer some protection from the sun.
You choose an item, which must be written on your character sheet, into which you keep a portion of your soul. When you die, you may resurrect wherever your Soulvault is, as though you were resurrected with a level 3 resurrect. You must spend 10 minutes performing a ceremony with a level 5 component to recharge your soulvault.
You may choose a new soulvault. However, this takes three events, and each event you must perform two 10 minute ceremonies using level 5 components to do so. A staff member must sign off on the change.
Direct sunlight causes a Pain Effect for 10 seconds. You can exist without being in pain in the shade on a sunny day, but it makes you uncomfortable. If you completely cover your body, including tinted glasses, you can exist in the sunlight.
The Volsaken count as Undead for the purpose of Wrath.
As the Destroyer Gods rose in power at the start of the Second Destroyer War, a few of the World Keepers came together to try and strengthen the side of the Light. Lyn’bri’ar, the Goddess of the Hunt, gathered minor gods in her field and together they began to weave a great blessing to their faithful. The plan was to imbue those in their domain with the power to stand against the horrific incursion into their world.
All throughout Raia people began to feel the blessing forming. Hunters alone in the woods felt the grips on their bows strengthen, their muscles expand and their heartbeats quicken. Trappers felt their eyesight and hearing sharpen. Primal warriors howled to the stars as their blood ran hot with the power that Lyn’bri’ar and her kin were working.
Unknown to Lyn’bri’ar, one of her allies had been waylaid earlier in the war, and the God of Corruption had taken his place. Disguised as the minor God of Instinct, the Dark God of Corruption worked a dark curse into the benevolent blessing. It wasn’t until the ceremony was complete that Lyn’bri’ar realized that something was wrong.
Those around the world who were feeling the effects of the blessing would not realize until nightfall that something was amiss. As the night descended, they felt their bodies shifting and their minds unhinging. The blessing from Lyn’bri’ar granted them speed and strength, sharpening their bodies and allowing them to use their hands as effectively as their own weapons. The nightfall sharpened their hands into sharper claws, brought out dark whorls in their skin, and drove them close to madness.
The curse of Corruption unhinged the Wyldlings. When night falls they become unstable, losing their tempers at the drop of a hat, believing almost anything that they are told, and lashing out at those around them. Their grip on their own sanity becomes very loose, and some just disappear into the dark.
Thousands of warriors fell to this curse. Members of talented military units went mad and turned on their fellow men at arms, doing as much damage to those around them as the horrors that they faced in battle.
Eventually, those who survived with this curse were able to find ways to live with it. Some locked themselves away at night, some disappeared into the woods as the sun began to set, seeking solace with their closeness to Lyn’bri’ar. Some were able to exert exceptional self-control and live with the curse with relatively few issues.
What came as a shock to all infected with this curse was when they had children. The curse appears, to all involved, to pass through families. Universally, children born of a Wyldling come into the world with the same curse.
These children are often coached through their childhood to control their wild side, and to be exceptionally cautious in their actions. One wrong move could lead to bloody accidents, and the parents of Wyldling children make sure to take every precaution.
Many kingdoms dislike Wyldlings, and often they are run out of towns even without having any accidents. Some have come together in small communities in the wilderness, some try to keep their darker side hidden.
Many succeed. So long as they remain hidden at night, they have no visible differences from others of their race. They can mate with others of their race, and live relatively normal lives, hiding their true nature away.
Many fail. They grow weary of hiding away, and finally lose their temper where it costs them the most. Their darker, bestial side brings the townsfolk out with pitchforks and torches, and their entire lives are often forfeit.
Because of this, many feel ashamed of their darker side, and almost universally try to keep their curse secret.
Wyldlings have no physical differences to their un-cursed counterparts. Most appear a little more disheveled than is common, but other than that there are no visual differences during the day. However, as the sun sets, changes begin to take place. You must apply the makeup for these changes IN-GAME. Anyone who sees you applying the paint sees your form changing and shifting, and it is a HORRIFIC change to behold. Anyone who watches you change your costume takes an Intimidate 2 effect.
Your hair grows longer and unruly, your hands deform into sharp claws, and wild whorls rise on your skin. Along with these marking you must line your eyes with paint that glows in the dark. You must paint these on in-game, but you can hide to do so.
You may, during the day or the night, use two claw weapons that are between 12 and 20 inches in length. The phys-reps do not have to change in appearance at night, though they can. You can use these weapons offensively.
At night you cannot use Charm abilities, or the Resist Charm Feat. You are also quick to anger very likely to turn on your allies in a battle. If you have the Frenzy Feat, you must use it as soon as you have taken 5 points of damage, and you cannot tell friend from foe.