Minor races
Here are listed the sentient races of Felarya that are either too rare, too few, too mysterious or extinct to be properly classified. Some of these may later become full fledged races.
Contents
Nemesises
Nemesises, also known as dream trackers, are tall humanoid creatures with long limbs and a very long, extendable neck (like a japanese rokurokubi). Their features are perfectly "human" though, and they are generally very beautiful with deep, fascinating eyes. On Felarya all nemesises are females. They are intelligent beings but too rare to form a real race and culture. They very rarely mix with humans, and when they do it's often to offer their services as assassins.
In general people tend to avoid nemesises as much as they can because of their frightening reputation. Nemesises are definitely not the sort of creatures you want to mess with. They are extremely agile: they can climb seemingly slick walls and make excellent archers, but the great fear they inspire comes their unique ability: dream tracking. With just one quick glance, a nemesis can "mark" you.
Once marked, every time your go to sleep the nemesis knows exactly where you are. You will have relentless nightmares of the nemesis eating you. The closer the nemesis is to your location, the more vivid these nightmares become. Once she is close enough, the nemesis can "dream-eat" you. The process is an absolute mystery, but what is known for sure is that the sleeping body of the marked person disappears from their bed, and ends up in the nemesis's belly. What is especially terrifying is that there is no known limits on how many targets can be marked this way. A nemesis could spy on a small army, mark all of them, and eat them one by one over the course of the coming nights.
Demi-Chimeras
A rare, almost legendary race. Demi-chimeras are usually humanoid but their appearance varies a lot from one specimen to another, and some have very few human features. They are brightly colored and often possess various animal traits such as tails, horns, fur, etc. Each demi-chimera is a mostly unique combination of human and animal features.
Although they are usually human-sized, demi-chimeras are rarely bothered by predators at all. This is because of their frightening ability to manipulate and alter, to a certain extent, the probabilities of future actions.
This means, for example, that a demi-chimera will never fall into a trap. If you ever manage to piss one off they can give you terribly bad luck. All the things that could go wrong WILL suddenly go wrong, along with many you didn't expected. It's like having the universe against you, and on an extremely hostile world like Felarya such a curse reduces one's life expectancy to mere minutes.
However demi-chimeras are peaceful and intelligent creatures, and you really have to work hard to get one angry at you. Their mouths are unable to modulate any human sounds, making communication with them difficult.
Slimoids
Slime - amoebas humanoid beings
Under Construction
Nexus.
Not elementals, there are differences between liquid elementals and slimoids. Some are aquatic, and some are not.
Ghosts
A generic term referring to various types of immaterial and spiritual beings. Having no physical body, ghosts remain bound to reality, either through magic, an exceptionally strong will (in the case of deceased creatures), or by many other unknown methods.
Most ghosts are invisible or very hard to perceive. To get a glimpse of one, you need to be either in a proper environment, possess some kind of "spirit vision", or a ghost willing to show itself. Some sorts of ghosts, such as spectres, are able to create tangible bodies through magical means. These bodies are usually fairly crude imitations of living bodies, but then even the most advanced imitation is slighty transparent. A body is not a very important thing to a ghost anyway, and they usually use one only to better interact with living beings. If it is destroyed, the ghost can just create a new one. There is exceptions though: ironically, some ghosts develop such a strong bond to a material body that destroying it affects the spirit so much that it vanishes from reality.
There are many creatures labeled as "ghosts" and so what a ghost looks like is also equally varied. Some are extraordinary beautiful, while others are positively nightmarish; some are kind and friendly, gathering knowledge and helping others, while others are aggressive and dangerous, such as the dreaded labrisomes.
On Felarya, ghosts tend to be a mix of the two. They are rather friendly, or at least not innately evil, but due to the vorish nature of this world they are often tempted to obtain sustenance for their physical bodies by consuming living prey. They will stalk their victim, then suddenly appear out of nowhere and swallow it whole, before returning to their immaterial state for a slow and quiet digestion. Because of their nature, they have no problems swallowing large prey.
Obviously their body can't be harmed by any physical means, aside from some extremely rare enchanted weapons. This makes ghosts very dangerous and hard to kill. Oddly, although they are positively swimming in magic, ghosts appear to be rather average spellcasters.
Chilotaurs
Chilotaurs resemble a cross between an human and a giant centipede. They vary in size but average between 40-120 feet in length. Their human halves have deeply tanned skin, pointed ears, and two long antennae protruding from their foreheads that are always in motion. Their function is to alert the chilotaur to any threat or food source nearby. They are very sensitive to movement to a range of about 60 feet, although males have a somewhat larger range in order to help them locate mates.
Their centipede bodies are various shades of color ranging from a very light tan to deep black or red. The number of legs varies but most have around 40 pairs. The first pair of legs are actually a delivery system for a very nasty venom which is why most predators leave chilotaurs alone. The effects of the venom are paralysis followed by difficulty in breathing, and then death in a matter of minutes for human sized victims. Larger predators may escape with severe pain and nausea.
However chilotaurs do have their weaknesses. They can’t stand bright light of any kind and prefer to avoid traveling in daylight if they can help it. They prefer dark ,moist environments and are usually found on the forest floor among the leafy litter, or in caves, or in ruined buildings.
Chilotaurs aren’t fussy about their diet. If it's slow enough to catch and small enough to be swallowed, it's lunch! Favorite food items include small mammals, flightless birds, reptiles of all descriptions and various fruits and vegetables. They are particularly fond of small arboreal frogs and don't seem to mind the skin secretions at all from the poisonous varieties. Although rare, it has been known for larger specimens to become man-eaters. These individuals can be a real hazard for adventurers exploring cave systems.
Loners by nature, Chilotaurs prefer their own company and enjoy a nomadic existence. They get bored if forced to stay in one place for too long. Chilotaurs leave their parents at around their tenth year and strike out on their own, trusting in luck, their wits, and their strong venom to make their way in life.
Chilotaurs are rather neutral by nature and don't favor one race over another. They are just as happy talking to Dridders and Succubi as they are to Humans and Nagas. They have a foot in every camp. ^^
If they have one general character flaw, it's that they often place too high a value on their own experiences and knowledge. Talking to a chilotaur means you will be bombarded with all sorts of advice and have to sort the good from the bad. They mean well of course.
Known Chilotaurs
Wallace
Genies
Supernatural beings made of pure magic. Their skin is usually brightly colored, from blood red to azure blue, yellow, or green. They float in the air, rarely bothering to form legs. Genies possess many strange abilities. The most famous is their mass-less nature: they can expand to cover a vast area or shrink down to fit through a tiny hole, much like "solid" smoke might behave.
Genies are rare on Felarya but more common than on most other worlds because of Felarya's ambient magic. Once a genie finds it, they usually stay there or at least don't leave for good. Some legends tell of a great genie city floating somewhere in the skies of Felarya.
Genies are extremely powerful spellcasters and can master basically every type of magic, from necromancy, to elemental, dimensional, even void magic. They have some rather severe weaknesses though: being completely made of magic means that any anti-magic being is deadly for them, and it also means that they can't resist any summoning or binding ritual if the spellcaster performing it is strong enough. Thus, genies make excellent and very sought after guardians.
This annoys genies to no end however, and if the spellcaster proves too weak to succeed with the spell, the genie will have a serious grudge against them... and pissing off a genie is generally not very healthy.
Genies are clever and mischievous, and sometimes cruel. One of their particular hobbies is to grant wishes to others. A wish granted by a genie, however, has often dire and sometimes fatal consequences for the wisher, as genies just love to exploit loopholes or twist interpretations. And because genies are adaptative beings, on Felarya the wisher often ends in a stomach...
Titans
A race of giant beings with features of a statuesque perfection, and a skin that seems to be made of metal, marble, or stone, leaving some to wonder if titans aren't actually some sort of constructs. Their armor and clothes often seem embedded in their skin and it's sometimes difficult to say for sure where it ends and where the skin actually begins.
Titans possess formidable strength, able to make trees fly and pulverize rocks with their bare fist... or so it is said in legends and ancient scriptures, because no titans have been spotted in Felarya for millenia, although many believe they still exist.
Thus very little is known about them. Some say they ruled Felarya in a past era, some say that they created it, or that they were defeated by guardians in a gigantic battle.
The most famous titans were the Tedreks, especially known for their blacksmiths and their legendary Tedrek steel, able to slice through stone. The Tedrek king, Alcazath, is said to be buried in a gigantic tomb, deep underneath the mysterious temple.
From what is gathered from the tales, Titans weren't an especially malevolent race, but they were terribly prideful, sure of their superiority and believed they were invincible. One could walk without hesitation in to the core of the fiercest battle, using his massive fist to make way or a immense battle hammer if the battle was serious. Despite their gigantic size, titans are rarely depicted as human-eaters, or eating at all for that matter, leaving even more room for the theory they were artificial beings
Giants and Giantesses
Known Giantesses
Vampires
Vampires are undead beings, famous for their habit of sucking blood. Vampires feed by draining and consuming the blood of living beings, and their existence and their powers usually depend on it. They are creatures of the night as daylight harm them, and sometimes kills them.
Vampires are typically the type of being you don't want to mess with: for one they possess inhuman strength, are good spellcasters, and have numerous unique and powerful skills. One of their main and most dreaded weapons is missing on Felarya though: a person bitten by a vampire will remain absolutely the same, and won't turn into a vampire, unlike what happens on other worlds. Indeed, for some reason, most necromantic magic doesn't seem to work on Felarya. This also explains why they are so few vampires on this world.
Known vampires
Miaxi and Gyspas
Miaxi
Miaxi are a race of half bee, half human creatures, mostly found in Chidokai forest, and other jungle zones. They average 7 to 9 feet in height and stand on six insect-like legs, that protrude from a bee-like lower torso. Wings grow from their shoulder blades, and their very big compound eyes and specialized antennae help them in their agricultural needs. The rest of their facial features is mostly human. Miaxi are all females and mostly farmers, though their 'farms' are found in titanic hives, the mass of a moderately sized Felaryan tree. Inside the hive sprawls a complex maze of tunnels and honeycombs, where each Miaxa has her own private quarters.
Miaxi are quite a peaceful race, devoting most of their time keeping the hive in good condition. Honey is produced to feed the larvae, while live prey are preferred by the adults. Small animals of all sorts, with occasional fruit, makes up the bulk of the Miaxa diet.
The queen is a different sort altogether. Towering at a range of 60 to 90 feet in height, her primary function is coordinating the hive and producing offspring. As such, she requires FAR more food than her workers. Humans and nekos are the queen's preferred preys, which are generally brought to her as prisoners by the workers. Nourishing their queen is the only form of threat the miaxi actively present. Curiously, the queen appears to share a telepathic link with her subjects. The entire hive feels some degree of the emotions of the queen, not unlike the dryad Cypress in the Jungle Bowl. When the queen is happy, the mood of the hive is cheerful, when she's ornery, the hive becomes bitter as well, and when she's hungry, the workers immediately know that it's time to round up more food.
Miaxa culture is somewhat primitive, and recreation is generally simple. Crude games and group outings are the favored pastimes.
It's worth noting that Miaxi honey is EXTREMELY sought after by other species. While it's primarily used to feed the larvae, the taste of this nectar is so sweet that some hives have begun to use it as a currency with other races, in exchange for peace or certain pieces of land. Of course, this honey is very difficult to obtain other than by being a friend or trade partner of the hive, though occasionally an individual miaxa may sneak out small samples for a personal friend's enjoyment. Many large predators have met their deaths trying to obtain it by force. Though miaxi die shortly after delivering a sting, no more than two dozen individuals out of potentially hundreds are needed to bring down a giant naga.
Gyspas
Distant cousins of the Miaxi, gyspas are much larger and a lot more aggressive as well. They stand roughly 40 to 50 feet in height, and live in hives of 6 to 20 individuals. While miaxi are modeled after bees, gyspas are clearly more like wasps, with sleek, curvaceous armored abdomens, hairless armor, fiercely clawed hands, and a more inhuman, alien look to them.
Gyspas are, in essence, the biker gangs of the Felaryan jungles. Playfully destructive, they enjoy killing as much as they enjoy eating. They're known for playing with their prey, viciously taunting it before finally moving in for the kill. The amount of venom contained in one gyspa's abdomen, if emptied all at once, can drop a Kensha beast where it stands, though, like miaxi, the gyspa dies shortly after delivering it.
They possess one different type of venom that they can use at will. It has a strange compressing effect on the victim, temporary shrinking them without reducing their mass. The effect is slow however, depending mostly on the amount of injected venom. A gyspa will usually have to sting her prey several times until it's the right size to be swallowed. The trick is this effect is rather short lived, meaning that if the stung prey manages to avoid being stung again for a sufficient amount of time, it will regain its initial size, obliging the gyspa to start her attack over. However, with their articulated maws, and elastic stomachs and throats, gyspas can consume very large prey and easily hold them in their belly after they have regained their original size.
Because they are extremely aggressive and ravenous, gyspas don't hesitate to attack small nagas or young pantaurs. Every canopy-dwellers learn to fear the anarchic insectoid.
Gyspas are genetically similar to other Felaryan insects, and as such have considerable magic resistance, similar to tonorions of similar size. One interesting ability of the gyspas is their wing resonations: so rapid must they beat their wings, that, besides producing a deafening noise, electrical signals are usually disrupted simply by being in the vicinity of an air-born gyspa. Electronics, computers especially, will often shut down as soon as a flying gyspa draws near.
The gyspa queen is a truly magnificent sight. Thankfully only one exists per swarm, which are, themselves, usually separated by thousands of miles. The queen is monstrous, nearly equal to a dryad proportions. Aside from being huge, her abilities are the same as her fellows, but these creatures are never the less frightening sights. When the swarm reaches the end of its life, the members will offer themselves as willing sacrifices to their queen. After the queen gorges herself on her subjects, she set out to find a particular victim: a dridder. She'll search for a lone one, but if necessary, will kidnap and detain one from a group. A quick sting paralyzes the dridder, allowing the queen to lay her eggs inside the still living humanoid.
The queen then expires, leaving her offspring with a fresh meal for when they hatch and continue her reign.
Squamataurs
Reptilian, tauric creatures. Under Construction
Gekkotas
Gekkotas are half human, half gecko tauric creatures. Their size varies between 6 and 80 feet. Their scales have various color schemes, often bright and very colorful. Gekkotas can be just as dangerous as nagas to adventurers, at least for the larger specimens. They possess sticky toes which allow them to climb on almost any surface, vertically or upside down, and long extenable tongues to catch prey in the blink of an eye. Their great speed also makes them very successful predators. They mark their territory by lacerating trees with their tails, making strange, wacky symbols only a Gekkota could make. Gekkotas tend to be curious and rather reckless. They sometimes prey on fairies, having a stomach that is able to drain magic.
Mantoids
Under Construction
Lemurians
Lemurians are a rather rare race in Felarya. They can mostly be found in thick forest environments. They have rounded ears on top of their heads, long fur-covered tails, powerful, lanky legs, and feet that are closer to a hand, used in climbing. They sometimes have dense fur on various part of their bodies, and their coloration varies greatly between specimens. No fur grows on their faces though, which is very similar to humans. Their large, brightly-colored and reflective eyes, which can be seen in the dark, earned them the name of "forest ghosts".
Entirely arboreal, lemurians are fluid in their movement through the forest canopy, moving even more swiftly than nekos. They can jump incredible distances between trees or branches, using their legs as shock absorbers and holding fast with their prehensile feet before pushing off again. A predator unfamiliar with them can find them a very tricky meal to catch.
Lemurians are a strictly herbivorous race, feeding on just about any edible plant matter and fruits available to them, and are rather friendly to Neeras. They usually build their home inside the thick foliage of a tree, their favorites being prickly varieties that predators would have difficulty dealing with, and of which lemurians have no problem traversing. Some Lemurians are adept at shamanism.
Ichthys
Ichthys are a race of humanoid fishes that are commonly found in the Topazial sea. They are human-sized, possess silvery scales with hues of various colors depending on each individual, webbed feet, large fins protruding from their elbows and back, as well as smaller ones on their ankles. Their features bear very little resemblance with humans, and some specimens also possess a tail.
While on land, Ichthys wrap their arm fins around their arms to avoid them being cumbersome. They walk a bit clumsily on land, but less than one would expect. They can stay on land as long as they have a way to wet their body, because they quickly become sick if their scales becomes too dry. Ichthys are skilled merchants and peaceful toward humans, often selling them seafood, and various treasures found at the bottom of the sea.
When threatened, they unfold their fins into makeshift elbow blades. They are very agile with those natural weapons and their style of combat is often referred to as sword dancing. When underwater, they use those same fins to propel themselves and to make sharp turns. They attack large creatures by bolting toward them and barrel-rolling to slice through their flesh. Some Ichthys can also unleash a field of electricity in the same fashion as electric eels while underwater to stunt their foes. Although they are often preyed upon by aquatic predators, they are not seen as easy prey. The only kind of predator that doesn't hunt them are giant mermaids and merfolk, as a particular bond has existed between the two races for centuries. Ichthys are very caring and often watch over young mermaids, protecting them from the dangers of the sea until they can stand their ground, thus forging solid friendships on the way.
Tinies
The tiny races of Felarya: tomthumbs, mausus, neeras, and efrii. They are humanoids whose common point is their minuscule size, being about three inches tall on average. They form very secretive communities and live mostly hidden lives, save for mausus who can be quite adventurous at times. Thus it's extremely hard to determine their number, but they are considered pretty uncommon. They are obviously at the bottom of the food chain and often fall prey to nekos, their main predators, many animals, and sometimes even humans!
Neeras
Neeras are usually between 2 and 3 inches tall, though larger species exist. They have often brown or black hair and mouse-like features such as large, rounded, furry ears, a hairless mouse tail, and sometimes paws in place of hands, though possessing thumbs. They're an intelligent race, just as much as nekos and humans, but they remain very discrete. Some of them living in Negav have managed to become part of the community but this is the only known case. Most neeras prefer to live deep in the wilderness, in small villages scattered throughout the jungles of Felarya that are nearly impossibly to find. Most of them are situated in Chidokai forest. Some neeras there tame muris, which they usually get along with very well, the large green rats carrying and protecting them.
Efrii
Efrii are human-like beings between 3 and 6 inches tall but with four arms and three eyes. They are a secretive and fierce society of warrior-like tinies (at least, they think they're warrior-like, those bigger than them just think it's adorable when they try to act tough) who have a dislike of larger races (you know, because of the whole eating thing). They especially dislike nekos, which have a real taste for them. When scared, an efrii's body releases pheromones, which, when looked at from an evolutionary perspective would seem to be a defense intended to instill a sense of love for the efrii in the predator, thus dissuading the predator from killing the efrii. The strength of the pheromones corresponds directly to the strength of the fear in the efrii. Unfortunately, sometimes, especially with nekos, the pheromones only instill a sense of horniness. Go figure.
Known Tinies
Darania
Tiffany
Hercules
Tina
Demons
Under Construction
Known Demons
Scorpisaïs
Under Construction
Half scorpions, half human.
They scuttle very fast.
Proficient warrior with spears.
Tribal, shamanic feel to them, tatoos
Razias
The first to report this race was the famous Felaryan biologist Ladimus Ehrinejahr.
Most razias are concentrated on the islands in the middle of the lake of illusions. They are half bird and half woman, but unlike harpies, their wings are poorly developed, almost nonexistent, to the advantage of arms and very strong, long bird legs, covered by thousands of microscopic feathers of the same color as their hair. They are an average-sized species, about 20 to 30 feet tall. Their eyes are without pupils, with colors that seem to change according to the razia's mood. They possess medium-length horns on the sides of their heads, that seem to be made of adamantine. They allow the razia to deflect magic to a certain extent and to see through most illusions.
Razias are extremely fast runners, able to reach 115 km/h in a straight line. Such speed comes with a price however, as they are unable to take sharp turns while running, and lack maneuverability. Rumors say this is also what made all razias flat-chested, and that's why they act rudely when in presence of big-breasted beings. Don't repeat these rumors in front of them though!
Their hunting habits are curious, and based basically on a runner chasing the prey, and a second razia waiting in ambush to catch it. They always seem to hunt in pairs. Razias feed mostly on animals and are friendly with humans, except when in the middle of a run, as the high speed seem to set a fire inside them. In these instance they can become aggressive and predatory, and sometimes attack humans. With their stretchy throat, they can easily swallow one down whole but this happens very rarely.
In the face of danger, a razia will usually run away. When cornered however, they can turn into aggressive and dangerous opponents, using a particular fighting technique called "Artena Deasha", some kind of martial art involving strong kicks while running, leaping, and sliding on ground.
The razias of the lake are trying to find a way to escape their island. They are a smart race so it is probably only a question of time before they succeed.
Razia reference sheet by Nksrocks.
- credits to Zoekin for the idea and design of the chilotaurs, to Nksrocks for the razias, to Fish and Moonlight-pendent for the Lemurians, to Sean Okotami for the ichthys, to Haar for the Scorpsisais and the efrii, to Moonlight-pendent, Ravana3k, and Maniakmonkey for the Neeras, Tomthumbs, and Mausus, and to Gregole and Moonlight-pendent for the Miaxi and Gyspas.
