Race Descriptions

[VoxHumana]

Here on Corrupted Existence, we have four races which you may choose from when creating your character: Human, Vampire, Lycanthrope, or Shade. What follows will be a comprehensive description of each race, with their unique traits, strengths, and weaknesses. This is to give you an idea of what comes with playing each race, and to help you develop and play your character accordingly. Please make sure to read this section before starting on your character application, so that you can choose the race that best suits the character you want to make.

[VoxHumana]

Human

Let's start off simply shall we? Humans are of course the predominant race on Earth, still outnumbering the supernatural population by an overwhelming margin. The strength of the human race lies in their potential for the powers of magic, a gift granted to them with the fall of the Glamour, a magic that kept human and supernatural-kind seperated for thousands of years. Each human being bears a crescent-shaped symbol, akin to a birthmark, somewhere on their body which signifies their connection to the arcane energies of magic. All human beings can thus choose to practice one of the three branches of the magical arts: Sigil, Blood, or Spellweaving. Through practice, training and focus they are capable of amazing feats, bending and shaping the world to their will as they see fit. However, with magic comes a danger. Ethereal creatures known only as "The Eldritch" are attracted to magical energy, and thus human beings who practice magic have become their target. These soul-devouring creatures are not to be taken lightly, and all magic-practicing humans must be wary.

The weakness of human beings is just that: their humanity. They are only capable of what their imperfect bodies and minds will allow them to do. They may strive and train to grow stronger physically and mentally, but will almost always fall woefully short of the supernaturals that now populate the world. Considered by some as a strength and others as a weakness, Humans are also the only race susceptible to "turning." In other words, a Vampire or Lycanthrope is capable of passing on their "curse" to any human being either through the vampire ritual or through a bite or scratch from a Lycan. If the human in question survives, they will go through a transformation, becoming a Vampire or Lycan themselves. While cursed to a life as that particular race, they also inherit their abilities, while retaining the skills they had as a human. Though not the strongest, humanity should by no means be discounted as a race, for magic is no mean feat, and even those without it can adapt and evolve where a Lycan or Vampire would simply perish.

[VoxHumana]

Vampire

There are many myths surrounding the supernatural race known as vampires. Some say they combust in the sunlight, burning away to ashes in mere seconds. Some say that they are monsters, risen from the grave by some fell magic, consumed with the desire to kill. Some, stupidly, believe they are vulnerable to garlic. The truth of the matter is that vampires are what were once men and women, now afflicted by a curse so old that its name has been forgotten. The curse itself is passed on through a ritual, which must be completed in its entirety to be successful. The vampire in question must bite and drain a small amount of his or her victim's blood. They must then make a cut on themselves, and feed the victim a small amount of their own blood in exchange. If done properly, the curse is passed on. If blood is given to the victim, but none is taken, they will become sick, suffering from flu-like symptoms for hours before the tainted vampire blood makes its way out of their system.

Once the vampire curse has been successfully passed on to a normal human being, they are doomed. Within hours they will fall into a sleep so deep that most mistake it for death, their heartbeat slowing to imperceptible levels. This sleep lasts roughly 48 hours in most cases. While in sleep, a change takes place to the victim's body. Their fangs grow, their muscles become denser and stronger, their cellular aging slowed to a crawl. Finally, the curse becomes the source of their life, their heart stopping completely. At this point they awake, a full vampire. The first thing to understand about vampires is that they are not monsters. They are fully cognizant, and retain their human thoughts, emotions, and personality. The second is that their desire for blood is, interestingly enough, not malicious. They require blood to survive. The curse which turns them into these creatures of the night requires blood as an exchange for the energy they must have to live. Some give themselves over to their desires completely, becoming the monsters that some claim them to be. But not all. The desire is strong, ever present even when their thirst is sated, and does change them somewhat however. It can heightens aggression of all kinds, and increases predatory instincts.

As a trade-off to the curse that forces them to kill and drink, vampires receive many benefits. All vampires possess physical auspice, which means that they are faster, stronger, more durable, and more long-winded than any normal human being. The purpose of these enhancements is to make them more powerful and efficient hunters, which enables them to better feed their curse; forming a symbiotic relationship. The vampiric curse also grants them some supernatural abilities as well, with each vampire possessing different ones, often depending on the person they were before their transformation. Through consumption of blood, vampires can grow in strength, the potency of their abilities and enhancements increasing when they are sated. When thirsty however they become weaker and weaker, eventually being reduced to little more than a very hard to kill human. The same is true upon exposure to the sun. While they do not burst into flames as the myths would suggest, the sunlight saps them, likewise reducing their strength. They are unable to cross onto holy ground, which means that places like churches are off limits for anyone cursed. To enter a home where humans reside, they must receive an invitation. While they can break this rule, there are consequences, which include pain and flu-like symptoms.

Like most supernaturals, vampires have no ability to use magic, and are more easily affected by it as well. Killing a vampire is very difficult, and requires knowledge of them to master. A vampire on its own has never been known to die of old age or sickness, though devouring of blood infected with a blood-borne disease of some kind can cause illness and weakness. A vampire can be killed in one of three ways. The first is piercing through the heart via any structure which is made of either wood, or pure iron. Destroying the heart with one of these two materials will break the curse, which in turn will kill the vampire. This fact proves another to be true: the vampire curse is permanent. The second way is to decapitate them. This is incredibly difficult to do, as their skin and muscles are denser and much tougher to cut. The only feasible way to perform this manner of execution on a vampire is with a sword or sharp implement which is made of iron or has been blessed by a priest. The third and final way is by burning. Vampires are uniquely affected by fire. Once it has touched their skin it will not die on its own, and will continue to burn and burn unless put out by water or some other means. Thus, this is an effective way to kill a vampire if fire is readily at hand. For untold centuries, vampires have been at war at and at odds with another species of supernatural: Lycanthropes. The hatred between them runs deep, and all vampires, no matter how recently turned, feel and share this innate hate for Lycans.

[VoxHumana]

Lycanthrope

They have been called many things. Werebeasts, werewolves, and wolfmen are just some of the many. Surprisingly, the vast majority of these supernaturals find these names to be derogatory. They prefer what they consider to be their true name: Lycanthropes. Similar to vampirism, lycanthropy is the result of a curse, passed down from bearer to bearer for generations. Unlike vampirism, there is no elaborate ceremony that is required to pass the curse on to its next victim. Rather, simply through a bite, scratch, or ingestion of blood from a turned lycanthrope, the curse is passed on. Interestingly, while many vampires maintain no connection to the person they turn or to the person who turned them, Lycanthropes have an entire culture which is built around the relationship between the one turned, known as the Reborn, and the one who does the turning, known as the Bearer. There are in general two classes of Lycans within this culture: rogues who deny their Bearer and the rest of their kind and live alone, and those who seek their Bearer out, then either join a pack or form one of their own.

Unlike the vampire curse, which takes a total of two day before fully transforming the host, the Lycan curse takes effect almost immediately. Interesting to note is that those who are extremely young, usually under the age of 13 most usually, can not be turned, and will in fact die during the initial stage of the change. The first symptoms are in fact quite the opposite of those caused by the vampire curse. Heartbeat and breathing increase to dangerous levels, often causing convulsions and intense pain. After this, spasms and increasingly intense pain begin as cells, bones, organs and muscles are forcibly matured and strengthened, the subject's body being rapidly aged to it's prime, often around the biological age of 20-21. After this, the Reborn undergoes his or her first change. Even those who will have the Clarity ability will have no control over themselves during this initial transformation. They are feral, completely given over to their bestial instincts, especially violent, and most dangerously, hungry. They *will* rampage, and more likely than not, people *will* die. This will be the first, and only time that any Lycan will undergo a transformation without the light of a full moon, for this is what triggers the true effects of the lycanthrope curse. The victim in question will change into a half man, half wolf monster under each and every full moon for the remainder of their existence. Though the appearance of the transformation changes from person to person, there are several things which remain constant. First and foremost, the transformed state is always more man than beast, standing on two legs rather than on all fours. All are covered with fur which may vary in color, and have wolf-like, elongated and twisted features, as well as razor sharp teeth and claws which explains the immense amount of pain which all Lycans go through during their change. This first transformation is the only time any Lycan will fully change without being under the full moon, as it is the light of this moon phase which triggers the curse, changing them. While transformed, all Lycans with the exception of those who possess the Clarity ability are almost completely feral, driven only by the desire to hunt, kill, and consume.

Along with the lycanthrope curse come several benefits, and several downfalls. First and foremost, once changed a Lycan will never be the person they once were, ever again. Even when in their normal state, they are still half man and half beast within their own mind, and so are heavily influenced by bestial instincts and motivations. This makes them distrusting by nature of any not in their pack, aggressive, quick to anger or any passionate emotion, and incredibly unpredictable. In addition to this, they suffer from a continuous, almost constant hunger for flesh. In fact, anything but meat either raw or at the most cooked to a rare state will not satiate them. Meat cooked past rare makes them sick, as does any food which is non-meat. As a trade-off to these things, Lycans have physical auspice, similar to their vampire counterparts. They are stronger and more durable than your average human being, doubly so when transformed into their full Lycan state. Unlike vampires however they are not as fast or agile even while human, lowering their mobility. In trade-off for this, even when not turned they have a much faster healing factor than human beings, able to recover from what would be serious injuries in moments. In addition, they possess highly keen senses of smell, sight, taste, hearing and touch, making them arguably more deadly predators than vampires. Interestingly, just as vampires grow weaker and weaker when they are unable to or do not drink blood, Lycans too grow weak when they are hungry, their strength waning and the speed of their healing slowing down. Like all supernaturals, they age at a massively decelerated rate, and have never been known to die of old age or disease. Interestingly, they can be affected by rabies, which temporarily puts them into a completely feral and violent state while not transformed, which is incredibly dangerous for them.

Killing a lycanthrope could be considered easier than killing a vampire, though for certain reasons it could also be considered more difficult. First and foremost though, like all supernaturals, Lycans are unable to use magic, and like vampires, are more vulnerable to its effects. Wounds which are inflicted on them by magic will heal much slower than those inflicted by normal means. Unlike vampires, Lycans have no inability to enter houses uninvited, or to cross onto holy ground. As they are not undead, holy or blessed items do not have any special effect on them. The only substance which is able to kill them without fail is silver, which weakens them and injuries inflicted by which do not heal. A deadly injury by silver is 100% fatal to a Lycan every time, and can not be healed. Lycans can also be killed by extreme physical trauma, just as vampires can be, but the chances of sufficient physical force being used on them by a human being are slim to none. Finally, Lycans are also susceptible to an herb which goes by several names, the most common of which are wolfsbane or monkshood. While not instant death to a Lycan should it touch them or be ingested, it robs them of their healing factor, as well as weakens them and inflicts severe and debilitating pain, which makes them much easier to kill until it works its way out of their system. Lycans have been at war with vampire-kind for ages, the hatred and aggression running back so far that none except those with Ancestral Memory can truly know what started it. This hatred and distrust is inborn into every Lycan, passed down along with the curse when they are changed.

[VoxHumana]

NOTE: This is an advanced race based on it's abilities. It is suggested that you are a experienced RP'er if you select this race. But all are welcome to apply and play.

Shade

What happens to a human when he or she dies? This is a question which has been asked for millenia, and with the fall of the Glamour, we now have an answer. The truth is that there are several things that can happen. A person's energy or vitality can become trapped in the place where they died, causing unusual happenings and general mischief. This phenomena is known as a poltergeist. A person's emotions or memories can become trapped as well, going through the motions of certain events over and over again for eternity. This phenomena is known as a ghost. Though they show an illusion of life, ghosts and poltergeists are just that: phenomena. Neither are anything more than shadows, an imprint left behind when a person's soul moves on after the physical body dies. They have no soul, no personality, no "life," so to speak, in them. However, there is the rare occasion when a person's soul becomes bound to the earth even after their physical body dies. This usually happens because of some extremely strong emotion or purpose, causing a person's soul to never be able move on to whatever afterlife may await them, instead becoming bound to the physical world. These creatures, being the soul of a once living human being, possess their memories, personalities, and even a measure of their humanity. These creatures are known as Shades.

Though they are indeed spirits, their tie to the physical realm makes Shades walkers between the world of the living and the dead. They may take on a semi-physical, more corporeal form, which allows them to interact with the people and objects of the physical realm. However, the longer they remain in the physical world, the weaker they become. Their strength and stamina fades faster, and after a certain point, their physical form will dissipate entirely, resulting in them being forced to stay in the spiritual world for a length of time. However, while in their physical form they are stronger, faster, and much more durable than normal human beings, as they do not receive injury like fully physical creatures. If their physical form takes enough damage, similar to them staying in it for too long, the form will dissipate and they will be forced to remain in the spiritual world for a time. While in physical form, they can use certain select skills, but not all of the abilities granted to them by their unique state of being.

Obviously, Shades can also take on their shade form, in which they can interact with the physical world as a spirit. This ability grants them a number of abilities, such as invisibility (though they can be revealed by spells which reveal hidden things), the ability to phase through inorganic objects, and the inability to be killed by physical means. While in spirit form, they also have full access to the skills which they possess. However, while in this form they can not interact with people or the physical world. They are unhearable, unseeable, and untouchable. While this state of being would seem to be preferable to their physical form, a terrible danger lurks in the spirit realm. The Eldritch, demonic creatures which seek to feed on human souls, pursue them relentlessly, for what *is* a Shade but a human soul? The longer a Shade stays in the spirit realm, the more easily Eldritch will detect and find them. While Shades may flee from and escape Eldritch, they can not kill them, as they can not use magic. Thus, Shades must carefully balance the time that they spend in both worlds, for being trapped in the spirit realm for any amount of time is almost sure to be deadly.