[MAGICAL CREATURES]

MAGICAL CREATURES CATEGORIES
Magical creatures are categorized by their location of origin.

Those from Between are called faeliens. There are two subtypes: natural and faegenic. The natural faeliens are born fae, and cannot be created except via reproduction. Faegenics occur when a magical pathogen infects a human and transforms them into a fae.

Those from the Other are referred to as demons. There are no subtypes that have been determined, but there are numerous species.

NATURAL FAE CREATURES
Natural fae creatures usually stay in their realms of Between during the day, but after sundown they occasionally roam the streets of London. The most active time is midnight and after, known as the “witching hour.” The day of Samhain is especially dangerous, because it marks the transition between summer and winter.

Most naturally fae creatures are not overly intelligent, but also not specifically hostile.

Fairies: Your run-of-the-mill fae, ‘fairy’ is quite an inclusive term. The members of this race vary from being a few inches tall to as large as a human, and comprise the majority of the fae. Every fairy has minor telekinesis, increased reflexes and/or strength, and good vision. Fairies often have control over illusions or light, the ability to speak with animals, and/or control over plants. They are mischievous and happy folk, prone to trouble but not normally explicitly malign.

Elves: Tall and beautiful, the elves are renown for their unearthly looks and incredible power. With superhuman speed, agility, and strength, their one major weakness is in their frivolity. That, and that there are much more dangerous beings in the Between than these nomadic fae.
This does not mean that elves are weak--they are known for their pranks on humans, and quite frequently their lack of empathy towards the targets of their pranks causes considerable harm. For an elf, seeing a human confused by an illusion is just as funny as seeing a human suddenly double over in pain from the fatal disease the elf has given them. But they are driven by frivolity, not malice, unlike some of their fellow fae, and just as likely to be harmless as not in their pranking. They're more akin to the Vanir of legend than Tolkien's harmonious people.
That said, elves can pass as humans normally, albeit very strange individuals. Although a bit tall, and a good deal more attractive than the average human, the most noticeable sign an elf presents is that they do not blink and as a result their eyes have an almost matte appearance. The second sign is the trail of dead plants, or, in the event of a squatting elf, the mysterious disappearances of household pets. The third sign connects to the second: without proper sustenance, an elf will start to hollow out from behind. From a far enough distance, nothing seems the matter, but getting close enough, or understanding how light works, reveals an unfed elf’s backside to be concave, though still retaining the appearance of a normal back. Most people outside of CAFE won't notice this, because humans are notoriously stupid.

Hivemind: A writhing bionet of flesh and bioluminescence, the Hivemind finds its home inside the sewers. The Hivemind can absorb anything that comes into direct contact with its hive biomass along with whatever the wisps bring back. Bringing back dead core biomass to more rancorous fae is considered a rite of passage among their ranks. You bring it back, you go up a rank. You don’t? Well, you’re probably dead already.

Goblins: It has recently come to CAFE’s attention that there are groups of goblins that infest the Tube. They prey on people who wander in, devouring everything but the bones and keeping knick-knacks from their victims. Fortunately, they’re scared of trains, but they’re still a danger.
Goblins look sort of like young children, if young children were emaciated and grey-skinned, with pointy ears, slitted pupils, yellow eyes, and really bloody sharp teeth. Also have a penchant for pocket knives. Colloquially called "sneaky buggers." In other words, goblins look sort of like young children, if young children were drugged out little sociopaths. Which they are.

Bogeymen: here 2 stel children hide ur children hide yo wfie

Animal Spirits & Skinchangers: Normally, animal spirits are simply the magical animals that inhabit the many realms of Between. Territorial and only slightly more than their earth counterparts, they can cause minor amounts of trouble if aggravated and brought into the real world. The easiest way to tell them apart from normal animals is the fact that their eyes glow.
However, some animal spirits are sentient and can actively command magic. Those that do are also capable of shedding their animal skins and transforming into human form. They must keep their skins in order to return to their natural form, however, and are thus called Skinchangers or peltshifters. Skinchangers’ eyes will also glow at night, but otherwise they are capable of passing as humans and frequently take human lovers.
Skinchangers are different from faegenic shapeshifters in a few important ways. The most obvious of these is that they require their pelts to change back into their animal form. However, they also do not experience the shifting 'addiction' of shapeshifters, as they are naturally animals, and can shift without any adverse psychological issues. Additionally, skinchanging is purely hereditary: two skinchangers must mate together to have skinchanging children. The children will have the form of either parent. It is possible to have a skinchanger mate with a human, and although their children will not be able to shift, they will have increased reflexes and a higher capacity for magic. A skinchanger will eat whatever diet is appropriate for their animal form.
If a skinchanger’s pelt is taken away from them, they will become very anxious. Frequently, they can be blackmailed or coerced using their pelt as a bargaining tool. The pelt will either appear as a literal animal skin or an item of clothing--such as a white-feathered shawl for swans or a kitsune mask for foxes.
Additionally, species of skinchangers (especially in localized areas) will frequently organize themselves into family houses. The politicking and scheming that goes on between and inside these houses is practically the same as the human nobility of centuries past.

Dhampyr: Dhampyrs are produced when a vampire and a human mate. This is less common than many would think, mostly because dhampyr infants have a very low survival rate. They require blood to feed within the few hours after birth, and even if they manage that, they are very susceptible to disease as their immune system struggles with the vampire virus.
If they make it past that, life gets easier, but not by much. Dhampyrs retain a little of their vampire heritage, and are extremely difficult to poison (although it’s still possible). Additionally, they instinctively sense nearby vampires, making them excellent vampire hunters. Because they’re sought after as vampire hunters, many dhampyr offspring are killed by their own parents or the agents of other vampires.
Dhampyrs are also distinguishable by their slightly pointed canines and their eyes, which have a tendency to glow in the dark. They will also be slightly allergic to garlic.

FAEGENICS
Faegenics occur when humans are infected by a magical pathogen and become fae, slowly developing fae biology. They are also notable because it is easiest for faegenics to pass as human beings, and many live in human disguises among the general population.

SHAPESHIFTING:
Shapeshifters can change their form at will to that of an animal. 

• Increased senses and reflexes based on the animal that the faegenic shifts into.
  
• The ability to adopt an animal form.
• Weakness to silver, will get a rash from contact with silver (such as silver jewelry).
• Any weaknesses the animal form has will be carried over to human form, although decreased in magnitude. For example, amphibian shifters will need to constantly keep their skin a little wetter than normal.
  
• Smell like the animal they shift into.
  
• Increased aggressiveness when transformed for extended period of time. This aggressiveness increases exponentially, to the point of madness.
  
• Strong desire to stay in or shift to the animal form, which has to be managed. It’s almost like an addiction.
  

Shapeshifting can be transmitted between individuals via bites from other shifters. Two populations of shifters have emerged: the “normal” ones that blend into society, and those that fall prey to their addictions and become outcasts and live in a little cabin in the woods in Montana and generally stay in their animal forms. Most bites come from those crazies. Moral of the story: never go camping.

There’s a 10% chance of transmission from a bite, with the pathogen seeming to reside in the saliva of the shifted animal.

There are various strains of the disease, which seems to be a sort of magical prion. The current leading hypothesis postulates that there is one strand of disease per animal, and that the prion infects bacteria infecting an animal. When the animal bites someone, there is a small chance of these bacteria being passed on, and with them the prion. Many things, including the source of this magic, are unexplained, and the prion has yet to be isolated and therefore cannot be proven as the source.

The symptoms of shapeshifting start coming into effect about a month after infection. The infected begins to develop small traits typical of their animal species, including teeth structure and a preference for that animal’s habitat and diet. Additionally, infected will begin to adopt the circadian rhythm of the animal.

The first shift generally happens about two or three months after symptoms develop (so 4-5 after infection). This first shift is very dangerous. It generally occurs at night, and is excruciatingly painful, lasting generally until sunrise. Pain, confusion, and panic lead to a high chance of going crazy and moving to a cabin in Montana. It is always more difficult for shapeshifters to form higher-level thoughts in their animal forms, but during the first shift it is especially difficult, leading many shapeshifters to make stupid decisions and die.

There are a few stages for shapeshifting, which can be progressed through by spending time in animal form, so generally the crazies in Montana are really high-stage, but they’re also insane. These stages are general, and difficult to move up. As the stages progress, the shapeshifters retain more of their animal strengths and weaknesses in human form.

Stage One: Starting stage. Only the first shift required.
Stage Two: After about twenty total hours spent in animal form, the shifter’s body becomes truly accustomed to its dual forms. Shifting into animal form, and the animal form itself, stops being painful. The shifter also retains about a 25% of the animal’s strengths (ie, their hearing is as acute as a human ear plus twenty-five percent of their animal form’s hearing, for an animal like a wolf) and weaknesses (ie, their skin needs to be 25% more moist, for an amphibian shifter) in human form. It is also easier for them to form complex thoughts.
Stage Three: After about four hundred total hours spent in animal form, the shifter becomes naturalized to it and can function at nearly a human level of thought while in animal form. Additionally, they retain all of their animal strengths and 50% of the weaknesses (in the same way as described above) while in human form.
Stage Four: After about 160,000 total hours spent in animal form (the average human lifespan is around 620,000 hours long), the shifter is one with the form. They retain all human thought while in their animal form and all strengths and weaknesses of their animal form while in human form. Additionally, they gain a second form that is closely related to their original (within the same genetic family--no further out, but closer is fine). This secondary form requires no further adjustment, and all benefits and weaknesses carry over as well.

VAMPIRISM:
Contrary to popular belief, do not sparkle.

• Superhuman strength and functional immortality (as long as they are fed and aren’t mortally wounded, will not die of old age or disease).
  
• Increased resistance to poison.
• Dramatic fangs.
• Serious and fatal allergy to garlic.
  
• Get sunburnt easily.
  
• Have no reflection in magically enchanted mirrors.
  
• Need to drink animal or human blood for sustenance. Do not get sustenance from normal human food. Cooked or raw meat will provide some sustenance--the more raw, the more sustenance. Have to feed more frequently on an animal blood diet than on a human blood diet, but do not have to kill humans or animals.
  
• Extremely lethargic when unfed.
  

Though no one is certain where the disease came from or what precisely it is, current leading theory is it’s some sort of magical virus that edits the human genome and makes it fae. Vampires have specially developed canines that allow them to inject ‘venom’--a concentrated version of the virus in their blood--into people to infect them. However, any contact with the vampire genome can also infect a person, so direct injection of vampire blood into a person’s bloodstream will also work. The disease is also hereditary. A child borne of human and vampire parents is called a dhampyr (detailed above).

Generally, the infected start developing vampire traits three to four months after infection. Their body temperature falls and they begin to crave meat. When they eat rare (as in not well-done) meat, they experienced a slight increase in vitality, like an adrenaline rush.

True transformation occurs after the first feeding on blood, which generally becomes an irresistible urge about two to three months after symptoms begin. The blood can be animal or human, but human blood tends to have more of a “punch” and give a larger surge of vitality, as well as a smoother transition. For about an hour after the first feeding, the vampire gains a huge surge in vitality, as well as a feeling of immortality and imperviousness. The feeding generally happens during a sexual encounter or after they mug someone for their blood--unless it’s animal blood. You can’t mug a cow. It just doesn’t work.

Vampirism also has stages, each stage requiring exponentially more feedings, as well as more frequent feedings to survive. This also means that as a vampire grows older and older, they’ll need to feed more frequently, even as they become naturally more powerful. Additionally, progressively less sustenance is gained from animal blood and meat, but progressively more supernatural strength and poison resistance are imparted to the vampire.

Stage One: Starting stage. Only the first feeding required. The vampire may still persist on human food as normal, but will get cravings for blood and gain rushes of vitality from it.
Stage Two: After around thirty feedings on human blood or sixty on animal blood, the vampire becomes fully dependent on blood. However, they have limited resistance to only the most basic of toxins and need to feed (at least 500mL) once every three weeks with human blood (once every week with animal blood). Additionally, they can still get some sustenance from raw or rare-cooked meat, but will need to feed on rare meat twice a week. Vampires at this stage are stronger than their build should allow, but still may be overpowered by extremely fit human beings.
Stage Three: After around nine hundred feedings on human blood or four thousand on animal, the vampire is immune to all but the deadliest of poisons. Additionally, they are far more agile and strong than any human and even some machines. They can no longer get sustenance from meat, and must feed once every two weeks on human blood, or once every other day on animal blood.
Stage Four: After around 100,000 feedings on human blood or 300,000 on animal, the vampire has advanced to their final stage. They are completely immune to poison. Even things like ricin will give them indigestion at most. With distinctly superhuman strength and agility, they can overpower most machines. However, by this time, they need to feed once a week on human blood or three times a day on animal blood in order to stay properly nourished.

DOPPELGANGERISM:
Those with advanced shapeshifting and vampirism become doppelgangers. They do not appear in farsight visions, which is considered both an advantage and a disadvantage.

• Can transform into the form of any human or animal whose blood they have drank over one litre of.
  
• In advanced stages, can begin to custom-tailor their forms based on phenotypes they already know.
• Advantages of both vampirism and shapeshifting.
• Must act carefully to look human. Have a tendency to blink too slowly and sit completely, unnaturally still.
  
• Must feed at least once a week, and can only subsist on human blood.
  
• Will not just be lethargic, but will actually start starving as if they hadn’t eaten for a week.
  
• Generally high rate of insanity due to the combined psychological weight of both vampirism and shapeshifting.
• Disadvantages of both vampirism and shapeshifting.
  

Doppelgangers are exceptionally rare, but their powers are coveted by all. Unfortunately, the path to doppelgangerism more often leads to insanity than the power that is so sought after.

There is one other way to be turned. A doppelganger of stage 2 or higher can transfer the disease much like a vampire can, but the psychological trauma from the event usually sends people completely off the deep end. These “baby” doppelgangers will start at stage one, with three stages in shapeshifting and vampirism.

Stage One: # Stage of Vampirism + # Stage of Shapeshifting ≥ 6 in order to advance to the first stage of doppelgangerism. From this point onwards, if the doppelganger drinks more than one litre of blood from any particular specimen of a species, they can transform into it, whether it’s animal or human. They also need to be fed once a week, or will begin to starve.
Stage Two: Must have Stage 4 for both Vampirism or Shapeshifting and twenty forms in order to advance. The doppelganger must feed twice a week, but can start to shift around superficial details between forms. This does not mean creating some horrible chimera of a creature, but instead means that they can change things like skin pattern, hair color, height, and other details like that.
Stage Three: Must have 100 forms. Now they can create horrible chimeras of creatures, swapping out bits of different beasts. They also have a solid understanding of how bodies are built, and can use that to strengthen their own bodies.

DEMONS
There are many different types of demons, and because of this, there are a couple different ways to classify them. Shavel's Demon Classification System (SDCS) groups demons based on different types, where as the Lexia-Hasfield Demon Classification Chart (LHDCC, or "the Chart") groups demons based on power level.

HIERARCHY
The hierarchy in the demon world is simple: those with the most power rule. Groups and different classes of demons complicate things a little, as well as differing viewpoints, but all demons share the same need for power.

This hunger for power originates in the ancient demon legend of Xuizach, the Demon King. Although theories differ, most demons seem to agree that he was a demon elevated to godhood, rather than an eternal god. Xuizach was a conqueror, razing many dimensions and enslaving their peoples. His greatest legacy is the demonic realm of Sacaron, which is sometimes translated as “Merciless Vale”, although this translation is more figurative than literal.

Sacaron was created by merging the realms that Xuizach conquered. Although the exact number of merged realms is unknown, theories range from two or three to dozens. As a result, Sacaron is wildly unstable, having been broken, shattered, and smashed back together haphazardly. The land seems to have a mind of its own, constantly at war of itself, resulting in natural disasters such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and tornadoes being everyday weather to the denizens of Sacaron.

For many demons, the legend of Xuizach is what drives them. It is a sort of hope to cling onto, in the endless battle against others. Combine this with the pure anarchy of Sacaron, and the desperation for power seems inevitable.

However, what demons define as power differs. Some inhabitants of the realm are unable to create a fully corporeal form, while others have their consciousness inside one or many bodies. Is a demon who is unable to form a corporeal form less powerful than a demon who can? In most cases, the answer is no: the incorporeal form, while limiting direct interaction with Sacaron, allows for higher levels of power. In fact, demons have been known to sacrifice their bodies in an attempt to grow stronger. However, not all factions believe this. A number of clans believe that those without bodies are the weakest, as they would be unable to do anything without the power of corporeal demons.

Thus, while the specifics of the hierarchy remain intricate, the law itself is simple: power is paramount.

SHAVEL'S DEMON CLASSIFICATION

• Corporeal Demons
  • Possessing Demons
    • Human Possessing Demon (HPD)
      Not to be confused with some of the humanoid-shaped demons in other categories, these demons are infamous for their ability to possess humans. Ranging from mid- to high-level power, these demons are among the most understood due to the importance of studying them and the fact that individuals previously possessed can speak on their experiences. One thing to note is that HPDs can only possess humans, and not fae. 
    • Animal Possessing Demon (APD)
      Demons that possess animals are not as fluffy as one might imagine. APDs are not particularly powerful, ranging from low power to mid-level. The weaker ones take the animal's body and just use that, but the stronger among them can possess the animal and then cause it to take on demonic characteristics.
    • Object Possessing Demon (OPD)
      • Common Household Demon (CHD)
        Demons that possess everyday objects (sometimes colloquially called soulsuckers) are referred to officially as CHDs. They take advantage of the fact that people will sue the objects they possess and draw their power from when the object is being used. Energy can be stolen through physical contact or if the person is focused on the object. These demons are a nuisance at worst.
      • Conscious Object-Posessing Demons (COPD)
        These demons possess objects, but then use their magic to have that object not just be a "vessel" but also a body which they can move at will. Most notably, the most powerful of these demons possess automobiles, trains, and other transportation vehicles. Names for these demons vary widely depending on what the possess, but they are occasionally referred to as "object movers."
  • Pure Demons
    These demons can take shape on their own if given a portal to the Between or Earth. They are among the most dangerous demons.
    • Named Demons
      Unique because of their individual names, these humanoid demons are among the more powerful demons that cross into the physical world. Sometimes are worshiped by stupid cultists because of this. Higher-level named demons require multiple people to fight because of their power, but a skilled fighter can take down a mid-level named demon on their own.
    • Morphoid Demon
      More often than not, these demons are more intelligent than their named cousins. However, they are less directly powerful, and often use deceit and hallucinations to achieve their purpose.
• Incorporeal Demons
  • Corrupting Demons
    These demons are most frequently used in low-level chirography spells. Higher-level chirography spells use possessing demons instead. Corrupting demons are fairly weak, but if allowed to influence a mind will cause the person to become more antisocial and psychopathic.
  • Pact Demons
    Though they won't outright possess you, they will barter for something (frequently a body), giving power when something is sacrificed--hence the name.
  • Combination Demons/Gestalt Demons
    Too weak to form corporeal bodies on their own or possess things without help, these demons frequently combine together into a sort of hivemind. They tend to have little sense of individuality. Some weaker corrupting demons also fall into this category.
• Ancient Demons
  • Old Gods
    Truly terrifying, the Old Gods are thought to be able to possess multiple avatars in the physical world at once. Their consciousness does not go into the avatars, and they may or may not directly control them, but these avatars still have access to some of their immense power. Exorcism does little but free the avatar from the Old God's grasp, and also presumably piss off the Old God in question.
  • Extinct Demons
    Not much is known about these demons.

THE LEXIA-HASFIELD CLASSIFICATION CHART