By far this isn't ALL of the races to be found on Terra Prime, but these are the ones most common to be found in the story thread, for now.
The dictionary says that in Greek mythology a centaur was a wild creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man joined to the body of a horse at its neck. While not exactly wild savages, the average centaur likes to lead a simple nomadic existence with the rest of their Herd. Forming into herds by instinct, these noble creatures roam wide ranges of wilderness.
They are excellent bowsmen and they are omnivorous (though with a heavy leaning towards plant matter). They eat much less than their large mass would suggest, but they still eat much more than human beings eat in a day.
Both male and female centaurs go about bare breasted, wearing clothing only in the coldest of weather.
Recently, a newcomer centaur by the name of Ravenmane has gained the imagination of the centaur mind by rallying them into forming yet another nation on Terra Prime, A Centaur Nation, a few years ago....but the movement ran out of gas and interest lost when Ravenmane suddenly lost interest when he assumed the Head Stallion of his Herd.... So this race remains nomadic as tradition dictates.
This is a rather interesting race. They have three forms. One is that of a fox. One is that of youngish boys or girls (though the female demifox's form tends to give no doubt of their sex......as it were) who stand at three feet. They also have a ruby complex (females being less pronounced by far), fox ears sticking through a mop of unruly hair, and a fox tail. Their hybrid form is that of a humanoid fox.
Speculation had it that demifoxes had been originally created by the vile Dragon Mage Minestus as a stepping stone in his mad quest to create an entirely new species. However, the truth was that evil dragons like Minestus drove the original race to extinction. Minetus found several features within them that he found desirable in the new race he wanted to create. The originals were soon replaced by victims he infected with neo-lycanthropy. Thus the actual race of demifoxes soon became just a bunch of human beings cursed into the shape of this small and interesting race. Soon perfected, the dragon moved onto other things, but kept the curse around as a means to extract vengeance and fun on those humans who annoyed him. Oh, the neo-lycanthropy didn't have their victims turning into foxes during the full moon....but as several Astras can attest, this curse had some decided dire (and embarrassing) down sides. This aspect of the curse had been controlled with a mixture of herbs and such....but incidents still happened once and a while.
Later, when upon several former dragons turned demifoxes, in exchange for becoming Champions to the Rules and Agents, had the neo-lycanthropy neutralized. Demifoxes still had the regenerative features, but no longer were subject into going into heat (and losing themselves to instincts during that time). That said, the unfortunate things that happen if a demifox scents an ordinary fox during this time wouldn't happen, either. In other words, a demifox female wouldn't become stuck in full fox form (with only a fox intellect for the duration of the pregnancy).
So, despite the regnerative properties they still had, they were again a true species.
The largest concentration of demifoxes is around the area of Wallants.
Pregnancies tend to be somewhat faster than human beings.
However, demifoxes have a longer lifespan by a bit than human beings.
We have two subclasses of dragons here. One is the Occidental (Western) dragon and the other is the Oriental (Eastern) dragon. As per the traditions found in typical Earth literature, the dragons of the West tended to be rather vile and dangerous to human beings (and other non-dragons) while the Eastern dragons were benevolent. This difference laid within two schools of thought that arose out of hostilities between the Nation of Dragon and Atlantis. The school of thought that most Western Dragons came to see human beings as needing tight control....and that they were nothing but vermin. Some even went so far to believe that this meant that humans were nothing but animals....and thus were ripe for food (or magical experimentation). The other school of thought that the Eastern Dragons followed saw human beings as needing guidance, in order to bring them up to something acceptable. Some even went as far as thinking that humans were nothing but children and needed guidance in all things. So, dragon's weren't necessarily evil....and could be surprisingly noble, however.......
Ruled by the Council of Wyrms, the Western Dragon's (and thus their school of thought) dominated the Nation of Dragons. Being a private and secretive folk, few non-dragons even were aware that dragons were anything but savage monsters.
With the coming of the Alliance/Enemy war, things got turned upside down and backwards when the Alliance (i.e. the Military) were tricked by the Enemy into believing that all dragons were willing accomplices in a program to exterminate all human beings with the Phage. Now, the faction in power of what remains of the Dragon Nation is the Eastern Dragons.....and few if any dragons now believe that human beings are savage creatures, incapable of mercy. See, if the Military wanted to.....they could have swept the whole of dragonkind off the face of Terra Prime, but stopped when it was discovered that a deception had been played on them. The Military then made amends as much as could be done, out of a sense of remorse and honor.
Dragons can live for tens of thousands of years, with them gaining "wyrm status" at their 500th year of age. At that time, they gain the ability to shift their forms and assume the appearance and size of humans and various animals. Being typically vain, these forms tend to be extremely handsome and beautiful. Also at this time, their magical ability blooms and the dragon gains the ability to great magical power (but not so powerful as that a human mage couldn't have a chance to defeat it in magical combat). This malleability of form also gives them the ability to assume different sizes. Useful, since a dragon grows larger and larger as they age. Saves on the cost of moving to ever larger caverns to make their new dragon lairs.... Good, considering at full size an average wyrm has a two hundred foot wingspan! However, while in human form a dragon must be careful since they just as susceptible to everything that an ordinary human being would be (including lycanthropy). If they contract lycanthropy, a dragon finds himself....stuck in human form....cursed with changing into an animal with the rise of each new full moon (and all the other things that being a were-creature entails).
All dragons have the ability to breath fire and fly through the air on wings in dragon form. Also, they have the ability to give off–in dragon form– an aura of fear....which may paralyze other non-dragons around them.
Dragons are hatched from eggs who's parents generally have joined together for life. Dragons mate for life, generally, through a mental, instinctive process called "Eye Meets Eye." When a dragon's subconscious psychically detects within another with compatible characteristics a bond is formed, causing the two dragons to instantly and permanently fall deeply in love with each other. "Eye Meets Eye" can be either artificially induced or accidently induced, but generally neither is desirable. The first can happen when a dragon contracts lycanthropy. The victim can fall in love with a mundane version of the creature they turn into during the full moon. The later kind of inducement can happen when an mortally wounded dragon's pain hazed mind reaches out and touches the mind of another non-dragon (usually that of their slayer). Thus,the dying dragon and slayer fall into a tragic love. When the dragon dies....the heart broken dragon slayer usually commits suicide out of grief..... Both cases are extremely, vanishingly rare.
Finally, a dragon's life force and magical source lays within their Hoards. The larger their Hoard, the longer they live and the more magical power they can tap. That is why dragons are rather protective of their Hoard treasure and covet more and more treasure. Steal from a dragon's Hoard brings pain to them. Destroy their Hoard (say, with a nuclear hand grenade), will kill a dragon!
This limitation can be circumvented by a dragon by it joining it's Hoard to the coin of a (non-dragon) land. This creates a Bond with that land which imparts a gigantic strength into the dragon, making it very hard to kill indeed. They also gain the ability to monitor the general health and general attitude of the citizens of the land they've Bonded to. With an effort, a dragon can sense the feelings another is feeling. However, if a dragon under this condition died, the land it was bonded to also died as well (and vice versa). Since dragons tend to outlive nations, this isn't very appealing to the average dragon for that reason. The other things that makes this unpopular is that the Bonded dragon can't leave the borders of their land, keep getting an impact on their minds and hearts of the people of the land they've joined. This can be wonderful if the people generally like the dragons or terribly distressing if the people don't like the dragon.
Nowadays, dragons and non-dragons enjoy a much friendlier relationship on Terra Prime, which is good.
Well, what can you say. As the name says, these are a short people. They also happen to be a very strong and tough race! They have a high resistence to magic, something that they take great pride in (seeing the use of magic as being....effeminate) . However, there have been incidences of magical ability in the occasional dwarf, which usually results in the expulsion of that member from all of dwarven society.
They are a warrior race that puts a high degree of respect on strength of arm and bravery in battle. Some also have the ability to slip into a berserker rage that increases their fighting ability to frightening levels (some have described one dwarf in a berserk rage as Zoro on crack). However, this ability is of dubious worth, since a berserk dwarf loses the ability to distinguish friend from foe when the rage is upon him (or her).
A dwarves greed for gold is only surpassed for their pride in the art of metal smithing. They ARE the premier metal workers of Terra Prime, but were utterly floored when they found out how much better at metallurgy the Alliance and the Military were.
Not being fools AND following the new revelations from the head god of their pantheon, the dwarves set out to not only learn from the newcomers....but also spread their knowledge to other races as well (since that was.....according to the Forge.....what they were supposed to do in the first place!!)
Having used to take great pride in their beards, this custom has grown very much out of favor of recent times with them having come to believe that the way of the Military (style of dress, custom, and being clean shaven) was the best way. Now, every dwarf not a rogue goes around shaven.....
Recently, the bad blood between dragons and dwarves was laid to rest with the return of the treasure stolen from the dwarves by the dragons so long ago....including some holy relics. This cessation of hostilities was also aided on the dwarves side by the fact that a message on high (read a divine message) of their head god that business was going to change.
This is one of the few "fantasy races" of Terra Prime which can travel to other realities (such as that of the Star Trek universe) without magic, since their bodies don't need magic in order to survive.
This is what it means to be a dwarf on Terra Prime, today.
This is a race of small and slender human appearing people who are the size of children (standing at four feet tall) who have sharply pointed ears. They enjoy a much higher degree of dexterity and speed than human beings, and tend to be more beautiful on average. They can run faster than a human being and are stronger than a human being of similar size (though the average human being is stronger than an elf).
Unaging, the only time an elf dies is through either disease, accident, or other means.
An elf never sleeps, needing only to rest for a short period of time to recover strength and vitality.
In dress, an elf doesn't feel comfortable without something green on. This appears to be linked, somehow, with a mystical link with the forests they tend to live in (i.e. forests tend to be green.... so elves like wearing green).
Elves and dragons seem to share a similar characteristic in the fact that elven hearts tend to do the choosing in life/soulmates. When elven hearts mystically detect their perfect match, the elves find themselves quickly in love. Quickly, deeply, and permanently in love. An elven spouse who survives their partner is a pitiful thing to behold.
Back in the early days of Terra Prime, before the coming of Atlantis, elven society was divided into a three tiered caste system. An elves place in life was reflected in a simple but visible sign of station, their height! That is, the tiny ruling class were as large as human beings of modern day, 20th century Earth. The larger, but still small, middle class stood at around five feet. The bottom caste, the servant caste, stood at around four feet. This society was stable and content, the people seeing this as right and just....it's head of state's position instinctively enforced throughout. However, this all ended one terrible night long ago and the only portion to survive was the numerous servant caste.
Strong and proud, the elves were delighted and ecstatic to find that not all elves from that long ago time perished. Their new Emperor hails directly from the Royal family!
Now, the reproductive ability of your average elf USED to be rather peaked. It was so low that for a long time all elves were seeing it as a sign that their days were numbered on Terra Prime. However, with the destruction of a magical entity (located in the forest that all elves originally hailed from) was sucking out the vitality of the elves, the surprised elves found that they were as....er....fertile as your average human being. This was revealed rather forcedly when the shocked parents, after the last Night of Joining (a ceremony that increased chances of elven pregnancies) found themselves with a rather large population explosion heading their way! Since elves revere any and all children born to them, nothing was done to....cull this growth. Now they must deal with the rather large increase in population and are getting aid and hints from various other races who are familiar with large families and such.
One thing of note about elven children. While the time to maturation for an elfin and human child is the same, the gestation period for an elven fetus is two years.
Various dictionaries define fairies as mythol any of various supernatural beings with magical powers, generally of diminutive and graceful human form, common in folklore and imaginary beings usually less than human size, thought to be helpful or harmful to people. Well, on Terra Prime (and many closely related analogous worlds), these things are hardly imaginary.
Again, it's debatable whether or not this is an actual natural race to Terra Prime, but we shall include it here for the sake of being thorough and for the fact that though while long lived, those fairies of Terra Prime are mortal! Actually, this is a covername for a large grouping of supernatural creatures on Terra Prime. Like their literary counterparts found in "fairy tales." However, those of Terra Prime do not mind being called "fairies" (where as in other parallel worlds the term "fairy" is on par with certain olde deragatory names for certain human ethnicities).
There seems to be three types of groupings of fairies. There are those who flock to the "Seelie Court" and have a beneficial relationship with human beings and other "non-fairies". The "Seelie Court" is arrayed against the "Unseelie Court" and vice versa. There are those who flock to the "Unseelie Court" who have a rather baneful, hateful, and deadly relationship with "non-fairies" in general and human beings in particular. Some Unseelie creatures (Red Caps) have been known to hunt and kill human beings for sport and use the spilt blood from their victims as a dye for their hats. Then their is a group that could best be described as unaligned. Their reaction and relationship with other non-fairies can be best described as unpredictable at best and one would be well adviced to steer clear of these confusing beings. Point in fact while the reasoning of those within the Courts might be hard (if sometimes impossible) for others to grasp, the Unaligned are best described by one simple word: insane! All three types are on the decline, however, so encounters are unlikely.
Like their literary counterparts, almost all have an adverse reaction to iron based tools and weapons and to certain names of theological figures spoken aloud. However, as an aside, there seems to be an exception to this rule in that those who actually adopt certain non-fairy religions before getting inducted into the ranks of the fairy (through a little understood means of transformation of the Changling).....the new fairy will be able to not be burned by "cold iron" (as they term it) and those words don't bring pain to their ears. This might seem like a beneficial thing, but it bothers the other fairies to no ends and this is grounds for exile and banishment for the unfortunate one, really.
The exact way this new race came about is rather puzzling and not all together clear. Parts of their origin come from the advanced technology of the Military. Part of it comes from the arcane magical arts known to certain dragon mages of Terra Prime. Whatever the case, them actually becoming a race happened here on Terra Prime, so thus are they listed here.
Some still call those of the Alliance and the Military Golems because back during that terrible time when the Enemy/Alliance War touched the world of Terra Prime. The Military couldn't safely come down to Terra Prime without exposing themselves to the Phage (which would have killed four out of five of them and made the survivors deadly carriers of the Phage). Instead, they brought the fight to the already entrenched Enemy forces by using Avatar units.
First, let's look at the body that makes up the Golem.
Now, an Avatar unit is a human appearing light combat war machine that can be controlled remotely via a cybernetic rig so the controller (can be either a human being or an AI) by way of tachyon transmission. Through a complex miniaturize sensor suite, the controller is for all intents and purposes where the Avatar unit stands. However, if the unit is captured or destroyed the controller has the luxury of being able to just disconnecting and linking up with another awaiting Avatar unit. However, while this is all good and well a single Avatar unit (which was created through several scientists who were fans of an old 20th century movie) isn't cheap, one could buy one or two small but fully equipped and armed spaceships for the cost of one Avatar unit!!
Now, there are three KINDS of Avatar units. The general combat model (the only type ever seen or found on Terra Prime). There is the model geared more for stealth and surveillance, which has several stealth systems built within the unit itself (very rarely seen and VERY expensive). Then there is the....er.....seduction model (which is anatomically correct). The last is intended for "wet work" where the target is terminated in....er.... a very intimate setting. The last part isn't at all popular with the majority of the Military and almost all of the AIs, who consider it an utterly cowardly way of handling human quisling.
The Avatar Unit has built into itself a small, simple artificial intelligence (fondly nicknamed Waldo) capable of handling simple tasks....but for the most part anyone with any brains put's it totally offline (i.e. lobotomizing it) when going into combat and such. It's not a "true" artificial intelligence compared to the Unuit units. In fact, it's not very intelligent (or smart) at all. That and the built in verbal overrides are the first thing neutralized by any controller with any brains.
The mind (or spirit if you will) of a Golem came from the Military AIs, Inuit series. These intelligences are the product of a lot of manpower and resources....and little to no respect for human life. See, Company scientist had been tasked, ten years into the Enemy/Alliance war, to create an artificial intelligence able to handle the tasks that the Military was needing for intelligence gathering. The only working model they had that had the robustness needed for that was the human mind. After much secret experimentation which killed or crippled many poor people from outside the Company (i.e. off the street), a working model was created and presented to the Military, code named "Probe", a name which reflected it's function. Yes, the scientist had some reservations about this prototype (showed a LOT of some rather eerily similar features in it's circuits as found in a human mind). However, it seemed to work so the Company scientists kept quiet about their reservations. Not much later, after a brief but stellar trial run where "Probe" conducted some stealthy surveillance of planet's recently invaded parallel Earths held by the Enemy (the unit had been only been expected to beam it's findings back....not be able to sneak it's way back Home despite being tasked to do just that).....the Military technicians had the living crap scared out of them when Probe "awoke".....and screamed in horror at what he'd witnessed! It soon came to light how Probe had been created (i.e. the human experimentation thing) and how the Company refused to see Probe as anything but property. The Military commandeered the research facility and all related data (and terminating the Company scientists for conducting the human experimentation) and declared Probe (and all future Inuit Artificial Intelligences) people who deserved equality with human beings. Thus it came to be. The lesson learned from this tale is simple. If one creates machinery and computers that mimic human beings....one might get the unpleasant surprise at how human their creations may become.
Then we come to the arcane, magical part of the creation of the Golems.
Golems created by Mages had the thing that acted as the magical automation's brain in various kinds of gems (blue sapphire being the most popular). The created golem wasn't actually alive in any sense. It was more of a magical version of a robot. However, after a period of time one would be well advised to keep a weather eye on this creation. Golems tended to seem to get a mind of their own...and become rather dangerous and uncontrollable after a while if not kept in check for some reason. Common wisdom said that one would have to be a fool to trust a golem. This is, unbeknownst to the general world, was that the golem's "mind" had reached a point where it crossed over from being a mere automation.....and actually becoming a person in it's own right. Albeit a person with a rather alien sense of logic and reasoning.....
On a side note, some of the best created and longest lasting golems were Atlantian built. However, only a tiny handful survived to present day. One reason for this was that they broke down due to not doing anything in the way of magical maintenance on themselves (as it were). At the beginning of their creation they looked just like their creatures....albeit chalk white due to the color of the magical clay they were made from. Later, they were little more than humanoid walking and talking lumps of clay! The other reason was because many went insane soon after finding out about the destruction of Atlantis (and, what in their eyes, was their gods). A small handful was salvaged and converted to the Military cause (and later converted wholly to the Church of Silicon Valley....the premier religious faith of almost all AIs and many Hackers back Home).
Now, a certain mage who'd been in the pursuit of knowledge in order to better understand these strange people running around calling themselves the Military mistook the Avatar unit's as actual golems, and used a magical method of draining the mind (or the spirit....if you will) of one Inuit unit known as Inquirer into one of those golem gems. It soon became apparent to the horrified mage that a dire mistake was made (the gem's occupant soon became apparent that it wasn't a golem at all....but a person). The mage then did what he could in fixing the problem by bonding the golem gem with Inquirer's intellect with an Avatar unit. The mage couldn't return the spirit back to the original body because the original physical brain had been scrambled and damaged beyond salvage or repair (always happens this way for a victim's mind, whether magical, electronic, or biological). So Inquirer found herself permanently bonded to her Avatar unit. Soon, Probe would follow suit....and later the rest of her unit.....but that's a different story.
Now, it soon became apparent through diagnostics that something strange was happening inside their new bodies of these new golems (that of Probe and Inquirer). Something odd was also happening to the older style Atlantian golems soon after having paid a visit to their mechanical kin (the thought of non-magical versions of themselves had stunned these Altantian constructs upon meeting Probe....when he was still just an AI). Both were finding the substance that made up their bodies was becoming a mishmash of both scientific and alchemical.....creating a composite creature that wasn't quiet scientific nor magical in operation. An example would be where the hyper-titanium alloy that made up the Avatar unit's skeletal system was becoming some kind of new allow (a mixture of hyper-titanium, mithirel, admantium, and god knows what else). The strangeness soon brought forth a strange and unexpected development in the golems'...er...anatomy. Let's just say they became more anatomically correct and now are able to sire and rear children.
Offspring created by Golems have a short ingestion period and have a much shorter childhood (growing quicker mentally and physically) than their human counterparts. That said, however, Golem infants and children also appear human (albeit with a glowing gem in their foreheads and small glyphes written around that gem).
Finally, the ultimate lifespan of these Golem's is as yet unknown. Given the proper material, a damaged golem's body can assimilate into their bodies enough material to repair any damage. The golem gem in their foreheads has been magically reforced by the process of the bonding to where only high explosives can get it off the Avatar unit's head (and then you'd have to somehow use more powerful means to actually destroy the blasted gem!)
This happened to both the "classical" golems and the newer science/hybrid kind.
Well, what can you say? This race straddles two species in having both feathers (making them birds) and fur (making them mammals). The dictionary defines a mythical monster with the head and wings of an eagle and the body and tail of a lion Here on Terra Prime they are all too real, while they are hardly monsters.
Their society had been rather primitive , fragmented, and tribal compared to other intelligent species until recently, but with the coming of their new King (an ebony griffin), the various griffin tribes have united under him into the new Griffin Nation....ready to join with the other intelligent species.
Rather large creatures, an adult griffin stands as tall at their head as a human being is tall. Also, they are rather strong fliers, being able to carry a human being on their backs easily for long distances with no problem.
Flying is a rather thrilling thing for a griffin, something on par in "feel good" factor as the high that various intoxicating substances give human beings.
Long ago, griffin legend contends that they'd been created by powerful but corrupt magic users who then enslaved their noble race. The griffin broke away to freedom and enjoyed a high and powerful nation, but later were struck down....their civilization collapsing in one night in a cataclysmic event. Religious and griffin social belief attribute this event to the wrath of their gods....who they say struck them down for arrogance. Nowadays, griffins live a much simpler, more spiritual life.
In griffin religion, the Moon plays a large part in their pantheon. The "Mistress Moon" is the head goddess (head divinity, period), in fact.
The Griffin Nation's population migrates with the coming of the seasons due to their insticts that appear to stem from their avian heritage. Their flight path travels back and forth from Aeurope and the southern part of Afrika.
Griffin marriage tends to be rather pluristic in nature with the average being one male having two wives (more have been known, however)!
Well, this still is the most populous species on the planet, despite having it's number's culled in large numbers by the coming of the Phage (which killed four out of five people). Numbers have been growing since them, but mankind isn't anywhere as populous as it had been ten year ago on Terra Prime. However, they still outnumber the other races several times over today.
Humans are the most populous species, but they also have the shortest average lifespan of all the intelligent races presented here.
Subcategory (accursed humans).
Werecreatures
Humans (or the occasional unfortunate dragon infected while in human form) who are believed to have been transformed into an animal, or who are believed to be able to change into an animal and then back into a human being. On the night of the full moon they assume animal form and instinct takes over. The victims grow increasingly maladjusted in human society and soon seeks others of their own kind in the wilderness. All are very dangerous, but some (as the werewolf variety) become rather psychotic. The best course of action in the past is to kill a confirmed werebeast on sight, for there is no cure for the curse (with a few exceptions) and the victim is just too dangerous to let live.
There are several variants of lycanthropy (confirmed instances of bear, tiger, crocodile, and wolf). All trace their origin go back to the fall of Atlantis when a curse that was too keep rebellious factions in check spread too quickly and widely to be contained.
Vampire
A vampire is a dead person believed to rise each night from the grave and suck blood from the living for sustenance. Reputed to be unaging, this undead is a deadly menace to the living, able to create more of it's vile kind under it's control by a special blood draining method. Before the victim's hearts sound it's final beat the victim is fed some of the vampires own blood. Only then shall the victim rise up and join the ranks of the undead. Vampires retain the memories of their life before the curse turns them into monsters, but they become evil and twisted versions of their former selves.
Standard doctrine of the Terrans of Terra Prime is to ram a wooden stake through the monster's hearts upon detection, and the Military and others not of Terra Prime have come to agree whole heartedly with this practice!
There is no known current cure (magical or otherwise) known for vampirism besides death.
However, vampires are rare, fortunately. Their vile nature tends to cause them to overreach and reveal their presence before long.....
The origin's of these vile monsters again trace (like so many things still plaguing Terra Prime) back to the time around the fall of Atlantis. Several of the darker mages of Atlantis practiced a now forgotten form of necromancy that changed them into vampires to preserve their dark existences.
The now defunct Lord of Atlantis (later the Lord of Nod) was one of those vile mages. He transformed himself into a vampire soon upon retreating into a pocket universe called the Realm of Dreams (amongst other things), but was destroyed utterly by the collapse of that Realm caused by one AI from the other Alliance universe (also known as the Military 2).
Whether or not one could actually call kitsune an actual race is debatable. Low ranking kitsune in their "natural" form and demifoxes in their hybrid form look remarkably similar, and mistakes between telling one from the other have been known to happen. However, kitsune are not of this earth, they are of the spirit. Never forget that.
The Kitsune are shape-shifting spirits that inhabited earthen bodies. It has been said that the spirit-creatures exist in the 'inbetween' and that they survive within a complex hierarchy of stations and figures and ranks. Generally speaking, however, the higher ranking the kitsune, the more tails they have (the highest one a person may find is nine). Also, as a general rule of thumb, the more magical might a kitsune has at it's disposal means has a direct relation to the number of tails they have. Rumors of their ruler attributes her having ten (or more) tails!
Recent arrivals from the land of Nippon (known as Japan on Earth) to the land of Aeurope, they've made several mortal travellers sorry if their demands aren't met.....and let's just leave it at that. Not all kitsune are evil, but they are definately not to be ignored, no matter what the case is! Fortunately, it appears that kitsune are very rare.....
(Author's Note: part of this summary is taken in part from an episode written by co-author, WolfRun).
What is a manimal you ask? Why, it is a man (or woman) with the shape of a man (or woman) but the body of an animal. There are catwomen and manbears and wolfmen and ferret people. The animal types are thus: wolf, fox, bear, cat, with a small proportion of racoon and ferret. They aren't lycanthropes (humans who turn into beasts when the moon is full) or demi-beasts (magical races of humanoid animals), but rather they are something sort of the same but then again not really. They are manimals, the product of many years of tinkering with a modified form of lycanthropy. A neo-lycanthropy.
And what kind of manimal was Fred, the leader of the Manimal Nation (also known as the Pack)? A 5'10" red whiskered fox. He was quite shocked, I can tell you, on becoming a manimal. But he wasn't alone, on the island were hundreds of others just like himself. There was LOAM, a wolfman and ALICIA, a very attractive she-fox. All of them were victims of the Dragon Mage Minestus who had created this odd type of human/animal hybrid.
Minestus wanted to become a god and believed that if he could create a new race, he could achieve godhood. Point in fact, he had planned on first wiping out all of humanity (which he considered an evolutionary dead end) to make way for his new creation. Then he'd wipe from the minds of all the manimals all prior knowledge of ever being anything but manimals. Finally, he'd set himself up as a god in this new race's religion. However, though he had a start of making good on the first part of his plan with the Phage.....things didn't go as the evil dragon planned and soon the dragon was destroyed.
Anyway, the manimals soon found out that they were very empathic. It developed that something formed similar to a communal mind...except it's a subconscious thing. It's more of a communal heart. The bottom line is that it creates an incredible sense of community and loyalty within the Pack.
All manimals have something called a True Name. It's similar to what those of the fairy have, but not as severe. If spoken by a loved one, it is an incredibly joyful thing. Those who share their True Names share an emotional and spiritual bond deeper than what mere humans experience (with a few exceptions) if they are lovers. Between friends, there is a bond formed that is akin to beloved brothers (or sisters, whatever the case may be).
While no longer lycanthropes with the introduction of an "adjustment" from Minestus that changed the cursed humans into manimals (delivered by the introduction of Fred into the midst of the Pack), they still have the regenerative abilities of lycanthropes. Their shape shifting ability and animal nature is now wholly under their control. However, their inner natures are closer to the surface than before.
In Fred's case, his humorous nature is closer to the fore. He's more prone to silly jokes and puns than before. He's always liked them, but restrained himself as a knight becuase it wasn't....seemly. See, upon the inception of this new kind of neo-lycanthropy, the victim's body assumes the animal form most closely resembling their inner nature. So, since Fred's inner nature was most like a smiling red fox..... Of course, back when Minestus was still alive and experimenting on humans if he'd seen one of his test subjects, upon inception of the curse, transmuting into some type of animal form that could easily escape the island enclave.....that subject would have been killed on the spot (i.e. no were-seals, were-birds, or such).
Manimals had two general forms to a demifoxes three definite forms. Take a manimal manfox like Fred, for example. The forms were more....elastic than demifoxes. Fred's "default" humanoid form's face had been described sometimes as "teddy-bear" like, but it could also be made to look like that of a snarling, man-eating beast with an effort of will. Also, Fred's default animal form was that of a man sized fox, but could also shift their size to that of a normal sized fox. The same was true for the other manimals as well. In contrast the three forms of a demifox were rigid. No alterations to them were possible for them. In other words, how they looked was how they looked and the size they were was the size they were.
Manimal's also have a much larger temperature tolerance than what a human being has. They can be just as comfortable within an arctic blizzard as a burning desert. However, this nature is annulled by wearing more than minimal clothing. So, besides the fact that manimals feel only comfortable wearing little more than breechcloths and such (mimicking the style of dress of certain American Indians of old), both male and female manimals dress minimally (i.e. covering their groin areas for modesty and good manners). They all go bare breasted (even the females), not that that makes any difference.
Manimals generally can only speak their own tongue, though are perfectly able to understand non-Manimal speech. Understand, their mouths and vocal chords aren't human....but that of the animal forms they wear. Without magical translating devices, their speech comes out as animalistic yips, yaps, growls and such (though it's perfectly normal and understandable to other manimals).
Also, generally manimals can read any written language not encoded/encrypted. It appears to be a side effect of the magical meddling that Dragoness Moreau used to prevent the manimals from speaking while under her care on the island. Their minds are now like dry sponges and a manimal's appetite for the written word is frightening! That and they seem to have photographic memories and take great delight (almost childlike) in learning new things.
However, there is a small minority (that comes from the surviving member's of Alicia 3's Pack) who's magical abilities seem to run the different way. Alicia 3 and her gang can speak any spoken tongue not deliberately encoded (i.e. they don't need any translation devices). Otherwise, they are just like any other manimal.
As for one other strange thing about manimals is their ability for their fur to change color while under pressure.....or even sweat! That is, under extreme stress where a human being's face would drain of color....the same thing happens to the fur of a manimal (i.e. it grow's pale).
The Manimal Nation was soon set up down in what would be called South Africa back on Earth.
A Manimal's average lifespan is twice that of a normal human being. As for the ingestion period for a Manimal fetus is on par with a human being (i.e. nine months).
These are....or were, just like those humanoid monsters you'd find in many fantasy story. The orc is crude, strong, evil, vile, and the majority of them were stupid. They were either very hairy or hairless, but both types looked to be like misshaped, hulking apes with green skin, pig like noses, and tusks.
Their leaders were more intelligent than the common rabble (man smart), but expansionistic and vindictive in the extreme.
However, things worked out in the last Orc/Human war of recent years that the only surviving specimen of this vile race are some rather dull willed orcs rumored to have been what remains of a traitorous dwarven clan who'd dared ally themselves with the orcs.
Being barely intelligent enough to get out of the rain and having no females of their kind left (the rest of their brethern committed mass suicide instead of surrendering), these pathetic creatures are the last of their kind on Terra Prime. When the last dies, this world will know no more of this race except in the annuls of history and story.
At first their creation was credited to some dark god's failed attempted at creating his own version of elves, it's now generally accepted in the dwarven community that the original Orcs came about from a divine curse upon some treacherous dwarven clans from long ago. In other words, Orcs came from the Dwarves....their racial enemy.
Some in the magical and scientific community have doubts about this, but the dwarves are adamant about it (despite feelings of embarrassment).
Seen as a divine message to shape up or face dire consequences, Orcs are seen by dwarves as a warning by their gods of what awaits them if divine messages are ignored.
An ogre have been called an evil giant or monster in fairy tales, especially one who eats people back on Earth, and it appears that in this case there is some definite justification for the bad press this large and powerful race of folk have. Indeed, they have been known to eat the occassional haplass non-ogre traveller. However, with recent developments over the years these somewhat dim creatures have grown a bit more discreet in their body snatching/eating tendencies.
Ogres are larger than ordinary human's, being two to three times a man's height. They also outmass an ordinary human being by quiet a bit.
Hairy and muscular, these monsters are also extremely ugly in the eyes of other, non-ogre people.
Not the brightest of folk, their speech pattern is rather primitive (sounding like something out of a bad Western movie where the Indian scout begins to speak in broken English).
Incredibly strong, ogress can hurl large rocks that can crush flat a person in one blow.
Isolationist in nature, small Ogre Kingdoms dot several mountain chains on Terra Prime in the Aeuropean area. Instead of actual kingdoms, ogress form instead into small, crude and rough villages with an ogre chief in charge of things.
Spirit of Nature
There are several types of spirits of nature, as they are termed on Terra Prime. The ones we shall look at are nymphs and hamadryads. Whether or not they are actually a race is also under debate....
According to the dictionary a hamadryad, in Greek and Roman mythology, was a minor deity who lives in a tree and dies when the tree dies. Well, the last part is true for their less powerful cousin, the nymph. A hamadryad is considered the most powerful kind of nature spirit. The plants and animals of the area of land they chose as their own is under their command. Also has vast power over plant life outside their protecte lands, as well. Is very much in tune with nature and goes to great lengthes to protect their enviroments. Can bind their lifeforce to certain trees. However, they can upon the trees death go out and bond with yet another tree, so their lifespan can be extended indefinately. Bind their lifeforces to trees they must, however, else like their nymph cousins, they whither away and die without a tree.
There is a rank system of sorts in place for the nature spirits, and the hamadryad appears to be on top of the totem pole.
Somewhat shy by nature, they make their homes far away from civilized habitation, generally.
In the dictionary, a nymph is a minor goddess or spirit of nature in mythology, inhabiting areas of natural beauty such as woods, mountains, and rivers and traditionally regarded as a beautiful young woman. While all nymphes have the form of young beautiful women, they are not considered goddesses (minor or otherwise). Their lifeforce is bound to a tree and when it dies, they expire. Also, a nymph cannot go more than a short distance away from their tree, or they rapidly expire from being away from their source of vitality.
Somewhat shy by nature, they make their homes far away from civilized habitation, generally.
Unicorns appear to be merely animals that look somewhat like white horses with a single straight spiraled horn growing their foreheads. Appearances care deceptive, however. Unicorns on Terra Prime are more than mere animals, being as intelligent as a human. They also can assume human form, with their alicorn (that unicorn horn of theirs) becoming a small nub on their foreheads (looks like a small gem up there). However, to show "normal" people this other form is considered a dire breach in unicorn etiquette.
Unicorns have a herd mentality and will grow sick and die if they can not join some herd. This herd doesn't necessarily need to be made of unicorns. A family adopting a unicorn has been known to suffice, it has been discovered. This facet of this reclusive folk was discovered when revealed by Urnath and Hannah D'Honaire when Duke Drederick and Duchess Champlaine adopted them into the family in gratitude for aiding several D'Honaires endangered by some vile Orcs.
Unicorn males are attracted to female human virgins, but not for the reasons stated in folklore. Unicorn males of Terra Prime find the "physic taste" of a human female virgin is similar to female unicorns. Initially attracted by this, the male unicorn stays and becomes a fast friend of the female human. In other words, the unicorn is NOT tamed by having put his head in a virgin's lap....it's a gesture of friendship and trust. However, in this same vein, if a unicorn (male or female) should meet a human virgin (of the opposite sex) that is of ultra purity and innocence, something special happens. The unicorn finds themselves compelled to perform a magical ritual (known only to then through instinct) that turns the human into a unicorn! This is incredibly rare, and the only recorded incidence of this happening was when Urnath D'Honaire transformed Hannah Thessamer into a unicorn lass, thus preserving her and becoming the love of the love besotted unicorn male.
This process, according to the unicorns, was much coveted by the Atlantians of yore and many unicorns lost their lives before this vile nation of evil magic users finally obtained this power for their own dark purposes.
One thing of interest that surprised quiet a few mages and such was that each and every unicorn, to the last (at least on Terra Prime and a few nearby parallel worlds), belongs to the Christian Church! That fact has many a priest scratching their heads, wondering how that one happened!
Demifoxes 
Fairies 
Golems
Kitsune 
Manimals
