[color=00BFFF][H2]Story[/h2][/color] The war has spread like fire across all of the races. Elves have tried to pit Demons against the Shifters. Humans go tearing through random battlefields as they please, killing off all that they desire. The Nymphs are in a frenzy to fix the damages of the battlefield. All of the major cities have found themselves drug into the war and many citizens have left for the smaller towns in hopes for their own safety and the safety of their children. Some of the rural dwellers have moved to the city to prepare to fight for their race's honor. No one really knows why the war started, much less how it grew to such proportions they simply know that if they back down now their cities and their race will be eradicated. The races have taken this nefarious opportunity to purge the mixed bloods. Blaming them for starting the whole of the war. Dozens of mixed bloods have been killed, sent to war. Others kill themselves. Those who are lucky have escaped their race's region and found a safe haven among other Pariahs. They have banded together but the Humans have discovered their location and the Pariah-Human treaty has been shattered - leaving the village open to attacks by the humans. Those uninjured search for a new home to relocate to. Humans have begun experimentation on the various races - trying to uncover what a Dementor is, and their power limit. Trying to infuse humans with the gift of magic. Most do not live through the experiments, others die in agony only weeks later. Demons have their horns removed. Nymphs have their blood siphoned. Elves and Shapeshifters are injected with various chemicals and all the races have fallen victim to the various diabolical research plots. There are three known human laboratories, all of them double as prisons. Though, as fate would have it Seers have tipped off the Nazuras and desperately they attempt to raise awareness of the possible greater evil at play. Rumors spread like wild fire. Consistently the word Dementors is thrown around. The magical community is buzzing with concern and curiosity. What is this new race? Has someone seen it? The real reason behind the war is the dementors - they have been scheming to grow in numbers and take over as the main controlling entity. Weakening each race is the best place to start. [color=00BFFF][H2]Races[/h2][/color] Each race has different characteristics and powers. There are mixed persons, and they are the pariahs of society. They have formed their own colony to escape the death sentence of living among the pure bloods. [hider=Demons] These creatures have dark purple skin, with black tribal-like designs that resemble more like a tattoo than natural markings, but don't be deceived their markings are natural. They have horns that come from their head each demon has their own shape but typically they protrude from above and slightly behind the ear. Demons are a hunted species, because their horns when chopped off, contain massive amounts of the magic that powers every race and so typically their horns are used in potions and various magical pendants. Demons tend to die if their horns are removed, very few live through it. Those who do may face a diminished power. This race is not the stereotypical demon, they are generally not evil, however, there is a bandit group of rebel demons who wreak havoc. Demons tend to remain in hiding because they are hunted and going extinct compared to the other races. When they are caught each race tends to beat them and have a public shaming and ritual before killing them and chopping off their horns. They have a few powers, such as a poison touch which they control, immense strength, the power of possession (which works to persuade, implant thoughts, sometimes read thoughts) their possession does not last long. They also can preform various spells. [/hider] [hider=Humans] Humans do not have magic, rather they use science fiction weapons to fight in the war. They have equipped themselves well and are a formidable target. Human weapons: The science fiction of the weapons is truly up to the player, but typically things like plasma shooting weapons are common. Concentrated laser shots. Timed camouflage that allow the person to move mostly undetected in heavily wooded areas (only). Vests that harden upon contact with force but act as normal clothes. The humans are known for experimenting on various races. They once held the location of the pariahs secret, in exchange for 'volunteers' to 'work' at the human base. These volunteers were never seen again and an escapee warned the pariahs, this treaty is now broken. [/Hider] [Hider=Shapeshifters] Their bodies resemble that of a human, but they have the power to shape shift, and how they shift is dependent upon the type of shifter they are. The Empathetic, called, “Felos” shifters can embody emotions, this is really left to the imagination and is quite subjective to the person. To be an active fighter they have to typically embody anger a lot, or if they are protective they channel the energy into a protective emotion to fight. The anger could make them shift into a bomb (of course their particles would reassembly themselves, but this would be very painful. The Animals shifters are referred to as the “Masco”. These people can turn into any animal imaginable, or simply transform their hand into a paw, or however they deem fit. The Weaponry shifters are called “Atikone”. These shifters can transform their body parts into weapons, or their whole being. They make a perfect match with the empathetic shifters who can channel their energy to embody a swordsman, while the Atikone shifts into a sword. The shifters cannot stay shifted for extended periods of time, (a full day perhaps) depending on their strength, would be too much and they would retain characteristics of their transformation. For instance a Masco who remained a snake too long may make a hissing sound when speaking. One of the main shifter cities have been destroyed by the war and they were forced to create a small town miles away. [/hider] [Hider=Nymphs] These small creatures have wings, and are typically a shade or light blue or light green. They are no more than 2 feet tall, and are completely nature based. They have growth capabilities (plants, flowers, etc), winter grants them ice abilities, and they are either attuned to the water element or to the earth element. They can also cast spells and write magically inscriptions. Rarely the nymphs can have the power of healing. It is the most draining of their abilities and they prefer to attune to nature and let nature do the healing in recovery pods. This race is essential for the balance of the world. And they are inherently good, however they have been drug into the war as well. Though they are far more concerned with undoing the damage of the others than actually fighting and killing – but they do so when necessary. [/Hider] [Hider=Elves] Elves are pale creatures that have either red, blue or white markings, these markings typically coincide with their power. They resemble the typical elf, and stand taller than humans on average. They can attune to fire, lightning, or air, they are the most mage-like of all the races.. Their magic allows them to cast spells and write inscriptions. Elves are one of the strictest races on the “No Mix” policy in which they will send all mixes into war as soldiers, and after extensive measures to make sure they fight (spells, cursed pendants, etc that ensure they fight against the enemy and not kill their own kind, basically giving them no will in battle), if they refuse they are killed, typically in a public execution. [/hider] [Hider=Nazuras] They are short, the tallest they can grow is 4 feet, their skin pigment varies, taking almost any color in a light shade, their markings glow at night. They are an extremely knowledgeable race and they tend to keep records of everything but their data storage is extremely advanced, and they fit all of their records on a strand of DNA, there are multiple copies and these DNA strands are connected to the computer system, updated constantly. These records include everything that has been collected on all of the races. (It is rumored that the Nazuras have an invisibility technology that they use to station themselves with each race to collect data). It is also said that humans are only alive because the Nazuras helped them technologically. This is the only race not actually participant in the war, and their only power is telekinesis and none possess telepathy. [/hider] [hider=Dementors] This is the only race that is inherently evil. Any person from any race (not nymphs) can turn into a dementor. To become a dementor it simply takes drinking their black blood, or eating their flesh. Drinking small amounts of dementor blood provides a temporary increase in power. It starts as a fiery sensation in the body, that unleashes massive amounts of power, after the power subsides the fiery sensation returns with excruciating pain – then the person is left practically drained of all power and energy until recovery. The dementors are relatively new to the world, and not much is known about them – not all the races know about the effects of dementor blood, and no one has actually seen a dementor, except maybe the Nazuras. How the dementor looks is up to the race it came from, but all races experience a darkening of the skin, black veins, blackening around the eyes, and cheeks. Turning into a dementor is a process that takes a single day in which the person “loses” themselves, acting solely as an inherently evil entity with little resemblance to their old selves. Though, they still are aware of who they are. All dementors want to make more dementors - turn more people shift the balance so that the dementors are in control. Almost forgot to mention the typical powers for the dementors: Shift into worst fears (Shifters) Suggestion/Persuasion (Demons) Telepathy/Telekinesis (Nazuras) Shadow control/teleportation (Elves) Humans typically get one of the above set of powers, sometimes dementors develop powers from other races as well. [/hider] Then, there are Seers which is not actually a race, seers can see the future, duh – but they are very few in the world at a time. One seer is known for it's alliance with the demons (a human/elf mix), but the other two's existence is unknown. They can be of any race. [color=00BFFF][H2]Magics[/h2][/color] I want to try to keep this as open as possible while providing a system to go about using magic and limiting the magic over-all so no character is over-powered with them. I may list a few types that are restricted to certain races – simply to help balance out the powers across the races. Humans cannot use magic – this is one of the main reasons for the experimenting – they want to discover how to give themselves power. [color=00BFFF][h3]Spells:[/h3][/color] [hider=Show Spells Information] The first aspect of the magics is spells. I'll begin by saying if there is a power for it already then there is a spell for it too. Spells are inherently weaker than natural magic. Say a shape-shifter studies spells related to lightning – they could in essence use lightning like the elves. Any person can know two major category of spells. And some basic spells too. Lightning would be a major category because there is a lot to do with lightning. Summoning it. Manipulating it, etc. The uses for lightning are endless, but it is not common for anyone studying lightning as a major spell to be able to do anything and everything with it. They don't know every spell related to lightning, so they may be able to throw it as an attack but not summon it to work as shield (which probably wouldn't block all attacks anyway) but you get the point. If it's an element it's a 'major' category. [b]Non-existent[/b] There is no spell for shape-shifting, despite the statement towards the top. Also no spell for teleportation. [b]Class-specific[/b] Mental-manipulation spells are limited to Elves. [/hider] [color=00BFFF][h3]Inscriptions[/h3][/color] [hider=Show Inscriptions Information] Inscriptions work to grant power to inanimate objects. Typically this works to protect itself. The inscription is typically carved into the object written in the language of magic (Consi) don't worry about that. Inscriptions do not grant life. Think of them as java-script. A basic code of the magic life. If (someone who is not the writer of the inscription tries to open the inscribed box) then (the box does not open/explodes/sends a single fire burst out as deterrence) etc. If (someone who is not an elf enters through the door) then (the secret passageway remains hidden) Etc. Etc [/hider] [color=00BFFF][h3]Artifacts[/h3][/color] [hider=Show Artifact Information] Artifacts are enchanted pieces of jewelry, etc that grant specific powers. Artifacts have to be activated by a spell (that is taught to the receiver of the artifact) and the power inside of them drains fairly quickly. Then they go into a regenerating phase where the power inside is unreachable until it is at a certain (usable) level again. (typically about half) but if it is used before it is fully recharged then the power is significantly weaker. It takes about a half hour to two hours to recharge depending on the strength of the artifact etc. Artifacts are not rare, they can be bought fairly easily. Some artifacts can be condition based. If knocked unconscious then a shifter's power might activate to cloak them as an animal etc for a certain time. [/hider] The magic system is set in place to be fun and interesting; it would be best to not abuse the magic at hand to limit the number of necessary restrictions.