Races of Qirsyllviar

The World of Patria is home to many different races that coexist with one another. Some have their own nation while others live amongst the populace in peace. While humans make up the majority, a number of sentient beings and fauna, magic and non-magic alike, are native to Patria.

Animal People
Animal People are the collective term for demihuman being with animal-like attributes. There are two types of Animal People on Patria, Zoothropes and Ferafti.

Ferafti
Ferafti (sing. Feraftus) are animal people that are near fully human in appearance but with animal ears and tails.

Zoothrope
Zoothropes are basically anthropomorphic animals, which appear to be animals evolved with limbs for human-like locomotion.

Apefolk
Apefolk, or Jueyuan as they call themselves, are a humanoid race with simian-like attributes. Males and females are called Apemen and Apegirls respectively. Despite the name, they have more in common with monkeys than apes, as they all have tails and human-like faces; their hands and feet are human-like as well, while they are more dexterous than humans. Their fur is restricted to their tails, backs, arms and legs; their hands and feet, as well as the front of their bodies and pelvic area, are free of fur. Apefolk generally don't wear clothes, but the few who willingly assimilate into civil society will adopt the custom. Some independent tribes of apefolk will also adopt some form of clothes-wearing custom.

They form troops and live deep in mountains and forests of Marlakcor, Nekcroz, and Ingodija. They can freely leap about between trees with their light body and dexterous hands and feet. They use their long tail for maintaining balance in the treetops, and other than that, they can use it to hang by wrapping it around a branch; they also specialize in a form of martial arts using this durable tail.

Apefolk are cheerful and fun-loving, and are known for playing pranks with the local of towns and villages they occasionally wander into, but others have a rough disposition, and can be know to have arrogant and selfish personalities. They are regarded as being closer to human, and they have extremely high intelligence. They are cunning due to their high intellect, and some generals have been known to hire apefolk as guides or assistant strategists in times of war.

Some apefolk have been known to be highly lustful and curious; when breeding season comes around some become very interested in their bodies, the bodies of humans and mating, and they have been known kidnap and violate them. This has led to a bad reputation against a few particular apefolk across continents, but most apefolk don't succumb to their primal instincts and reproduce normally, sometimes after falling in love with those of other races.

Females have strong maternal instincts and will sometimes adopt an orphaned or abandoned child they find, no matter the age or race. This has led to people of other races being raised among apefolk troops. The opposite is true as well, and some well-known apefolk have been brought up amongst normal societies. While apefolk have been know to form their own societies, there has never been an independent apefolk state.

Arachne
The Arachne are a demihuman liminal race with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a spider. Carnivores, arachne are physically strong and fast.

Arachne are most noted for being able to create a silk that is five times stronger than steel and twice as elastic as nylon. They can also produce variants of the silk, ranging from sticky, stretch, to tough to suit whatever situation is required. While most commonly used to catch and bind prey, arachne can also use their silk to form a network of threads to sense vibrations.

Jorou-gumo
Jorou-gumo are a demihuman Arachne sub-race native to Yamatai. According to folklore, the race is said to be spiders that can change their appearances into that of beautiful women due to gaining magical powers after turning 400 years old.

Depicted as being skilled at entrapping their prey, jorou-gumo possess many of the same traits as an arachne; such as possessing six eyes, a light exoskeleton and the ability to produced webs, however, while an arachne has the upper body of a human and the full lower body of a spider, a jorou-gumo possesses a fully humanoid body with a spider abdomen extending from the base of their spine but no spider thorax. Also, in addition to their humanoid arms being covered in an exoskeleton, they have six fully dexterous "spider legs" attached to their upper back which they can hide beneath their clothing should they choose.

Large Breed
The Large Breeds a sub-race far larger than standard arachne with thick legs and a covering of hair. They are very wild and aggressive. In addition to being strong, they also have venom, making them extremely dangerous to approach without caution. That being said however, said venom is not particularly strong nor harmful.

Long Legs Breed
The Long Leg Breeds are a large sub-race with thinner and longer legs than standard arachne. These large arachne are mild-mannered. They cannot produce thread, but they move surprisingly quickly to secure their prey. Their hunting instincts are so powerful that they will sometimes abandon the prey they have captured to pursue new prey.

Small Breed
The Small Breeds sub-race is smaller in size than the standard arachne. Their legs are short, but they can move much faster than standard arachne, and they are good at jumping and full of energy.

Instead of spinning webs, these arachne wander around on the ground in search of prey. They can produce thread, but they only use it to stop their descent when they fall from high places.

Ariel
An Ariel is a race of diminutive pixie-like race with furry bodies, save for their hands and feet, and feathered bird-like wings. Ariels are often erroneously believed to be a race of pixie, but actually have no relation whatsoever to fairies. Ariel's are very rare these days, and their natural habitat is not very well known.

They're a race that goes their entire lives clothesless.

Baphomets
Baphomets are a demihuman race with goat-like attributes in similar vein to Pans but with the addition of raven wings.

Bake-danuki
Bake-danuki are a pseudo-human race native to Yamatai. Reputed to be mischievous, jolly, and masters of disguise and shapeshifting, they are also reputed to be somewhat gullible and absent-minded.

Originally deified as governors of all things in nature, where animals other than envoys of the gods (foxes, snakes, etc.), dake-danuki are reputed to have the ability to shapeshift into objects and people as well being able to possess human beings.

Banshees
The Banshee is a dark creature native primarily to the Brythonic Isles, but is found across Eurodon. Banshees have the appearance of women and their cries are fatal to anyone that hears them.

Cecaelia
Cecaelia, also known as Scylla, are a demihuman liminal race with the upper body of a human and the lower body of an octopus.

Centaurs
The Centaur are a demihuman liminal race with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse. Herbivores, centaurs are normally found in grasslands and savannas, and are a race of nomads who become brave warriors in times of conflict.

Their civilization is ancient, by far the oldest of all the humanoid races known to mankind, and the fifth most populous race on Patria. Extremely proud and strong-willed, they differ from the other races in that they consciously suppress their urges during mating season.

They are more commonly found in the northern hemisphere than the south, particularly in Eurodon and Aquilonis, which have the largest populations. There are some centaur colonies in northern Nekcroz, but they're not very large.

Dairy Breed
Amongst female centaurs, the dairy breed centaurs are a centaur sub-race that produces an exceptional amount of milk. Among the already well-endowed female centaurs, dairy centaurs have particularly large breasts. Because of this, they often serve as wet nurses for other centaurs who have trouble producing milk (like lightweights), and due to this, it is common for dairy centaurs to live among groups of other centaur sub-race. Though they are about the same size as standard centaurs, their waists and legs are especially thick. Dairy centaurs are easygoing and meek. Their maternal instincts are strong, and they love small things.

Heavyweight Breed
Heavyweight Centaurs are the most muscular of the centaur sub-race. They are so powerful that they can move around unimpeded even while wearing heavy armor. They sometimes also apply their strength to farming and agriculture. They are the largest and most muscular of the centaurs, and their legs are far thicker than those of other centaur sub-race. However, despite their imposing appearance, most are gentle and good-natured.

Lightweight Breed
Lightweight Centaurs, known also as Racing Centaurs, are a centaur sub-race that excels at running. They are smaller than standard centaurs, with slimmer and tighter bodies. Though they approach their rank and records with a stoic attitude and love running, they are easily injured, and they devote much of their attention to studying health care. They can be rather moody, but this can be attributed to timidity or physical and mental innocence. Since their bodies are not as large, neither are the breasts of females.

Lightweight centaurs sometimes serve as scouts and messengers, but can also perform delicate work like tailoring or peddling. Given their necessary attention to health care, lightweights also serve as doctors and therapists for the community, as well. Female centaurs of this breed have only standard breasts, and would make heavier use of dairy breed centaurs as wet nurses than the other races do.

Unicorn Centaur
Unicorn Centaurs, sometimes known as Unitaurs, are a demihuman sub-race of centaur that have had myths and legends written about them. They are distinguishable with their pure-white coats and the horn growing out of their forehead like regular unicorns. Known as a symbol of virgin purity, Unitaurs are said to be "only tamable by virgin women". It is said that their horns are able to cure all diseases, with the resulting rumor resulting in a mass hunting for the race. Hunters usually used the race's fondness for virgin women to lay traps to capture them and harvest their horn.

Recent years have seen many societies render hunting them forbidden, with killing one resulting in a death sentence for the hunter.

Cervitaur
Cervitaurs are a demihuman sub-race of centaur, but with the lower bodies of a deer instead of a horse. Males grow antlers just like regular deer.

Typically found in wooded areas amongst normal deer in northern Patria, cervitaurs are extremely shy and tend to avoid contact with other races unless treated with kindness. However, since their venison is just like normal deer, they were hunted for it in the past and were on the brink of extinction at one point. But since the outlawing of hunting cervitaurs in many nations, they have since recovered their numbers to a sizable population. Cervitaurs are most commonly found in Eurodon and Aquilonis these days, but there are minor colonies in Marlakcor and northern Nekcroz.

Pegataur
A pegataur is a centaur race with the wings of a pegasus.

Cu Sith
Cu Sith are demihuman beings that possess canine physical characteristics and traits. Cu Sith are native to Caledonia, and are viewed as mythological fairy-hounds who are feared as harbingers of death. According to mythology, Cu sith would appear to bear away the soul of the dead to the afterlife, but this is merely a myth.

According to legend, a Cu sith would occasionally let out three bays that could be heard for miles. Those who hear the baying of the Cu Sith must reach safety by the third bark or be overcome with terror to the point of death, but this is also a mere myth.

Cyclops
The Cyclops are humanoid beings that possess the notable feature of only having one eye.

Cyclopses are able to see objects up to 2 kilometers away without assistance; however, they have poor depth perception, making it difficult for them to navigate 3-dimensional spaces, and their eyes require constant protection from harsh environments as their size makes them susceptible to dryness and allergies.

Giga-Cyclops
the Giga-Cyclops are an unusually large cyclops sub-race, whose special talents lie in smithing/metalwork. Their large eye allows them to accurately determine the temperature of the fire and iron, which is the source of their unique smithing techniques.

Other Cyclopses view their special gifts (especially their breasts in the females case) with envy.

One-eye Monks
The One-Eyed Monk sub-race are cyclopses who have converted to Shivajism. Aside from their mute status, they appear no different than the standard cyclops, aside from the fact the glances they get from their single eye doesn't trouble them. However, because of this, they are very serious and can be hard on not only themselves, but on others as well.

They mainly use their eyesight to spot those who have neglect their training.

Djinn
Djinns, also known as Genies, are powerful magical beings. Generally taking on the form of a human with pointed ears, djinns were famous for possessing near-limitless capabilities when it came to magic. For this reason, djinns were often captured by sorcerers and confined to objects such as oil lamps or bottles, cursed to grant the wishes of whoever rubbed their vessel; only a handful were never captured and remained free. The vessels of djinns often change hands since they're so sough after for their magic, so it is considered normal for a djinn to have had many masters; a small number became family heirlooms.

While djinns are powerful, their magic does have limits, and they would often set rules based around their limits.

Most djinns confined to their vessels would offer a limited number of wishes; the usual number is three, but some more generous djinns would offer more, sometimes up to ten, but most never stop wishing for their freedom. Many would usually use trickery to make their master wish them free, as the only way to free a djinn from its vessel is to wish it free. On the other hand, if the djinn was well treated by their master, even simply treated as a friend rather than a slave, they would serve their master with loyalty, sometimes for successive generations, even if the master set them free from their confinement. Such loyal djinns would sometimes offer unlimited wishes.

Dwarves
Dwarves are a humanoid race substantially shorter than humans. They typically inhabit mountain ranges, usually in cities built into the interior of the mountains or on the valley floor, but can be found mingling with other races in human towns. Grown male dwarfs are muscular with long bushy beards, while females tend to retain their youthful childlike appearance much longer.

Dwarves in general are master blacksmiths, capable of producing the finest quality steel weapons money can buy, and items of dwarf-made steel are a favorite amongst warriors and aristocrats. Dwarves are so good at smithing, some have been known to master the technique required for reforging Zedylrian Steel. Dwarves are natural warriors in their own right as well, and have been known to withstand sieges from attacking armies for a vary long time (Rykardiac's Archaic Book of Records states that the longest siege withstood by a defending dwarf army lasted over a decade).

Dwarves are also known to hold grudges. Crossing a dwarf is sometimes considered signing one's own death warrant, unless the offended dwarf is satisfied with simply humiliating the offender.

While dwarves are known for mingling among other races, and are therefore a common sight amongst much of Patria, there are six known dwarven nations on Patria; Nidavellir and Carpathia in Eurodon, and Arkka Uralia, Izor Karaz, Ongor Diruna and Qirlok Trezka in Aquilonis (Qirlok Trezka is not independent, but an autonomous kingdom subordinate to the Kingdom of Soleil).

Elves
Elves are the second-most populous race on Patria. They appear indistinguishable from Humans except for their elongated pointed ears (normally 4½ inches in length). Elves are divided into three separate classes, High Elves, Wood Elves and Dark Elves. Elves in general are spiritually connected to nature, and their magic revolves around the elements. Elves typically have brightly colored hair and eyes (typically the colors from a rainbow spectrum), but other colors, such as brown or black, are highly common as well. Dark Elves, on the other hand, typically have silver hair and caramel eyes.

Elves are also natural archers. No one knows why, but archery comes second nature to elves, making them the best archers on the world.

While Dark Elves are racially distinct from High and Wood Elves due to their skin color, the only real difference between High and Wood Elves is their opposing cultures. The differences in culture between High Elves and Wood Elves leads the two to viewing each other with near hostility. The division first began when some Elves began to embrace, or reject, the evolving societies of Eurodon and Aquilonis, and it is not uncommon for a High or Wood Elf to swap allegiances and switch to the opposing culture.

High Elves
High Elves, or Tylok as they call themselves, are the Elven branch that has embraced civil society created by humans and are less connected to nature than their Wood Elven counterparts. High Elves are more common in Eurodon and Aquilonis, with some minor presence in the other continents, and are the more commonly seen elves across Patria, but are less numerous than Wood Elves. High Elves are a bit more intelligent than Wood Elves, due to their educated upbringing, and often combine their magic with those of other races to make it stronger.

Most tend to live amongst civil Patrian society rather than amongst nature like the Wood Elves. While High Elves are a common sight in most Patrian societies, there are five independent High Elven nations on Patria; Hylar, Cajar and Cyrillia in Aquilonis, New Hylar in Ingodija, and Glagolita in Eurodon. High Elves are regarded by Wood Elves as ignorant snobs due to their choice to disconnect from nature.

Wood Elves
More common in Marlakcor, Nekcroz and Ingodija, but with some relative presence in Eurodon, Aquilonis and Maritymir, the rustic and sylvan Wood Elves, or Tohka as they call themselves, are the less commonly seen elves across Patria, but are more numerous than High Elves. Wood Elves, unlike High Elves, are completely connected to nature and make their homes in areas of forests and jungles, commonly living in giant hollowed-out trees or in buildings built in the branches; they typically wear more loose and tribal clothing as well, and for some reason, unknown to all but them, don't wear underwear.

Wood Elf magic revolves more around the spirits and nature than the High Elves due to keeping it isolated. Living by their traditions, Wood Elves are regarded as ignorant savages by High Elves. There are many Wood Elf colonies in isolated areas of forests all over Patria, but there are four independent Wood Elven nations on Patria; Jingling in Marlakcor, Korokiri and Huzkhaz in Aquilonis, and Muisca in Nekcroz.

Dark Elves
Dark Elves, or Black Elves, or Zyrgki as they call themselves, are elves that have a dark skin tone. Dark elves were once believed to be associated with chaos bringers, but recent interactions have proven this untrue. Dark Elves build their homes out of caverns and canyon forests, and have been known to carve entire cities into the interior or face of their mountain habitats. Dark Elves typically keep to themselves and remain out of contact with other races, making them a relatively rare sight.

Fairies:
Fairies are a common sight across Patria. Fairies are magical beings that have natural ability to fly and have the best affinity for magic than any other race on Patria. Fairies can be small or tall, but all have a pair of upper and lower wings that resemble those of an insect, save for a few exceptions.

Alfheim Races:
The fairies of Alfheim are as tall as humans. Ten different races of fairies inhabit Alfheim, each with its own characteristics.
 * Cait Sith: The Cait Sith are the race native to western Alfheim. The trait that sets them apart from the other races is being blessed with cat ears and tails, giving them advanced hearing. Cait Siths, also known as Beast Fairies, were believed to be the ancestors/cousins of Werecats at one point in the past, but this has since been proven false. Cait Siths, like the Sylphs, are known to be incredibly fast and agile. They are known to use their enhanced speed and agility to strengthen their attacks. Another characteristic unique to the Cait Sith is their capability to tame beasts, such as dragons and use them in battle. They also have the best eyesight of all Alfheim races, making their archers some of the best on Patria, second only to elves.
 * Gnome: Inhabitants of the rocky areas of the north, the brown-styled Gnomes, also known as Earth Fairies, are the largest of the Alfheim fairy races and specialize in Earth Magic. Male Gnomes have bulky muscular frames, while females are more slender like other races of Alfheim. Despite having smaller bodies, female Gnomes still retain the great strength male gnomes are known for.
 * Ifrit: Inhabitants of the desert of the south, the red-styled Ifrits, also known as Fire Fairies, are considered the strongest Alfheimish race in terms of strength, second only to the Gnomes, and are masters of Fire Magic. Although they are capable of learning and using other types of Magic, Ifrits are the masters of Fire Magic, making them capable of casting fire attributed spells exclusive to their race.
 * Imp: Living in the alpine areas of the southeast, the purple-styled Imps, also known as Dark Fairies, are the masters of night and are blessed with great night vision. Though capable of using different types of magic, Imps excel at using Dark Magic in combat. This tends to give them a bad reputation with the surface. Imps are also known to have night vision, allowing them to see in near total darkness. However, this ability is considered to be second only to that of a Spriggan's.
 * Leprechaun: Living at the rocky areas of the north, Leprechauns are a race that making a living though blacksmithing, and make some of the best weapons and armor on Patria. Rumor has it that the best Leprechaun smiths can reforge Zedylrian steel.
 * Puca: The Pucas from the northwest specialize in using music magic in combat to confuse and attack opponents and support allies. Pucas, also known as Music Fairies, excel at using sounds and music in combat. By playing simple melodies, Pucas are able to attack, defend, and even control their opponents.
 * Snovingar: Inhabitants of the frosty mountains of central Alfheim, Snovingars, also known as Ice Fairies, are white styled fairies and are masters of Ice Magic.
 * Spriggian: From the ancient ruin areas of the northeast, the black-styled Spriggans, also known as Shadow Fairies, are masters of Illusion Magic and excel in treasure seeking. Though capable of using other types of magic, Spriggans are the masters of Illusion and generally favor Illusion spells. Spriggans are also known to be the master Treasure Hunters, a trait that can make them master thieves as well. Spriggans are known to have night vision, allowing them to be able to see in near total darkness. They are also capable of casting spells that gives others the same abilities.
 * Sylph: From the grassland-forest areas of the southwest, the green-styled Sylphs, also known as Wind Fairies, are considered to be the fastest race and are masters of Wind Magic. Sylphs specialize in using stealth spells that allow them to hide from monsters and other enemies. Only Sylphs with powerful senses are capable of seeing through this defensive spell. Penetration magic is also known to be able to break through this barrier. Sylphs, like the Cait Siths, are known to be incredibly fast and agile. They are known to use their enhanced speed and agility to strengthen their attacks. Although they are capable of learning other types of magic through hard practice, Sylphs are known to be the masters of Wind Magic.
 * Undine: From the wetlands of the east, the blue-styled Undines, also known as Water Fairies, are masters of Healing and Water Magic. Though capable of using other types of magic, the Undines are experts in using powerful recovery and support magic due to their high-level magic capabilities. Due to their affinity with water, Undines are experts in underwater combat. This makes them valuable assets when faced with aquatic enemies, or when waging war at sea. Undines are also master healers, and their water-based healing magic is famous for their capability for saving a life just inches from death.

Surface Races:
The fairy races of the surface, collectively known as Pixies, are diminutive fairy races that typically inhabit wherever they can find home, but many are known to live side-by-side with other races. Fairies native to the Patrian surface are usually between 11 and 15 centimeters tall.

Pixies inhabit all continents of Patria, but they're normally difficult to spot since they have such an easy time hiding.

Because pixies are so small, their attire usually consists of scraps of materials that they've thrown and sewn together, such as cloth, plant pieces, and other things; fashion is of no real concern to a pixie, and even wearing shoes is a rare luxury for them, but those who are kind enough to let pixies live with them will often make small clothes for them to wear.

Some pixies make a home in the residencies of humans or other races. They often prefer buildings that are abandoned, but they will occasionally move into an already occupied home if they have few options. When living in already occupied places, they normally keep to themselves and don't interact with the homeowners; often pixies move in without the homeowners' knowledge, staying hidden while keeping their lifestyle intact, and only taking what they need. But occasionally pixies will openly interact with the homeowners; sometimes they will ask permission before moving in, and, if allowed in, will help the homeowners around the house as compensation for their stay.

Known Pixie Races

 * Alux: The Alux are a pixie race native to the Mayan regions of Nekcroz, and are well-known for living right alongside the Mayan people.
 * Brownie: The Brownies are a pixie race that get their name from the brownish color and dirt-like texture of their wings.
 * Butterfly Fairy: The Butterfly Fairy is a type of pixie with butterfly wings rather than the insectoid-like wings most fairies are known for. Colonies of Butterfly fairies typically inhabit dense forests, making their homes in the tree branches.
 * Chaneque: The Chaneque are a pixie race native to the Aztec regions of central Nekcroz.
 * Jogah: Jogah are a pixie race native to Weirland, the northeastern subcontinent of Nekcroz.
 * Kijimuna: A pixie race native to Ningyo Shima and Hinomoto.
 * Kodama: Kodama pixie race native to Yamatai.
 * Koro-pok-guru: a pixie race native to northern Yamatai.
 * Leanan Sidhe: The Leanan Sidhe is a pixie race native to the island of Eire in southeastern Eurodon.
 * Lynfern: The lynferns are a race of pixie that inhabit jungles all over Patria. Lynfern have an affiliation with plant magic, and are rumored to be the protectors of the jungle ecosystems.
 * Menehune: The Menehune are a pixie race native to the Waikiki Archipelago in northern Maritymir.
 * Mogwai: The Mogwai are a pixie race native to Marlakcor. They have cat-like ears and tails, and are believed to be the surface counterpart of the Cait Sith, but both races staunchly claim they are unrelated.
 * Nimerigar: Nimerigar are a pixie race native to Nekcroz. They are more common in Weirland, but have been reported on the Nekcrozi mainland.
 * Nixie: A Nixie is a pixie that dwells near lakes, ponds, or other bodies of water. Sometimes known as "river fairies," they make their homes out of bushes of grass near the water, or in underground air pockets hidden by the lakes, connected to the outside by a narrow tunnel.
 * Nunne'hi: The Nunne'hi are a pixie race native to Weirland, the northeastern subcontinent of Nekcroz.
 * Pukwudgie: The Pukwudgie are a pixie race native to Weirland, the northeastern subcontinent of Nekcroz.
 * Sprite: Sprites are a nomadic pixie race, but usually inhabit ancient underground ancestor sites such as stone circles, barrows, dolmens, ringfort or menhirs. They are known to inhabit ancient ruins as well. Generally benign, mischievous and childlike in nature, Sprites are usually sighted gathering outdoors in huge numbers to dance through the night in various celebrations. They are generally said to be helpful to others, sometimes helping needy widows and others with housework before moving on. However, they do have a mischievous side, as they also have a reputation for misleading travelers. Sprites live in the deepest, most pristine forests, but their insatiable curiosity and lust for adventure and excitement often means that they can be found in the most unlikely of places.
 * Xiannu: A pixie race native to Marlakcor.
 * Yosei: A pixie race native to Yamatai.

Gargoyles
Gargoyles are reptilian nocturnal beings that turn to stone during the day. They live in close-knit groups called clans that protect their rookeries and the surrounding area. Some are known to live alone for one reason or another, such as banishment, or simply choosing to strike out on their own.

Gargoyles are bipedal gargates, and are generally more physically powerful than humans. And though greatly varying in physical prowess, even gargoyles with frail or lanky build, or diminutive in stature, have both known to being able to lift full-grown humans over their heads with ease, and are also very agile, since large or elderly gargoyles have been seen capable of side-stepping, with surprising agility, away from strikes that are too fast for the human eye to follow. Being nocturnal, gargoyles are very adept at concealing themselves within shadows, perfectly camouflaging themselves in the dark for ambushes, or simply to get around stealthily.

Gargoyles exhibit tremendous visual variety. For example, some have hair and some don't. Most gargoyles have crests on their foreheads in addition to horns, but some gargoyles lack one, the other, or sometimes even both. Some have relatively round, humanoid faces; some have more animalistic snouts, whilst there are those bearing features that are near-human. Most have prehensile tails possibly to provide aerodynamic balance as they glide airborne, many have six limbs, usually two arms, two legs that have curving spurs extending from where the knees and elbows are. Their lower body portions are usually analogous between human and quadrupedal lower limbs and corresponding appendages (allowing a gargoyle to drop down on all fours and run quicker that way) in that they stand on their toes, making a gargoyle appear taller that he or she actually is, and two wings, though among Mayan gargoyles it is not uncommon to have a snake tail instead of legs, and aquatic gargoyles presumably have dolphin-like tails instead of legs.

All gargoyles are shown to have a pair of wings that vary in appearance. Most of the gargoyles featured in the series had mammalian wings resembling a bat's, containing a variety of different digit-combinations, while others have avian wings, resembling a birds. The rarest wing variation are those stretching between his arms and legs, rather than extending from his back as with other gargoyles, somewhat resembling a flying squirrel. These wings are used for gliding as they are incapable of flight, most likely stemming from the gargoyle's highly-developed musculature and dense bone structure. But they need height to take off and must usually fist allow themselves to fall off an elevated terrain before unfurling their wings in order to glide. They cannot take a running start to achieve flight and they cannot hover. If they're on the ground, there's only one way to get into the air: they must climb with their claws to a sufficient and elevated height and then jump. They are quite prehensile, able to fold around their bodies in a cape-like manner.

Gargoyles turn to stone at sunrise and will remain as such until nightfall, at which point everything but the surface layer will crack and flake away, though a gargoyle would generally have to burst itself free from the thin stone covering upon awakening, revealing flesh and blood underneath. During this period (daytime) the stone form is absolute, and they are effectively indistinguishable from statues. This is not triggered by direct sunlight, since a gargoyle kept in a dark and secluded place will still turn to stone when the Sun rises, and more due to the gargoyle's "internal clock" as dictated by his or her circadian rhythms.

While in stone form, all physiological functions of the gargoyle in question are stopped, with the exception of the their natural recuperative processes. Because of this, a gargoyle can stay submerged in deep water while in stone state, with later danger to his or her somatic systems and functions, such as breathing and circulation. However, a measure of cognitive activity must remain, since gargoyles are said to be capable of dreaming while asleep this way.

The stone form appears to be quite durable, given that the Garvis Clan, managed to survive two thousand years in this state, without any apparent degradation. It is not however indestructible, as a human with a strong arm, and the right bludgeoning tool, can shatter it. A dismembered limb, for example, could not be reattached; or regenerated entirely, for that matter. If the stone form is seriously damaged, then the gargoyle will die, without ever waking up. In fact, a nighttime gargoyle corpse would not turn to stone, as it is a biological process.

If a gargoyle is wounded during the night, the transformation to stone would seal and heal any cuts, bruises or abrasions. If properly set, broken bones would knit during the day. Sore muscles would be refreshed as well. There do appear to be limits to this, however, as some injuries never heal. More often than not, a gargoyle awakens at dusk in full physical health, due to their stone state effectively purging his or her body of any malignant yet redeemable factors, inherent or otherwise, that he or she might sustain whilst flesh and blood which, of course, contributes greatly to their remarkably long lifespans.

Female gargoyles lay eggs, which look roughly like large stone cannonballs, and their reproductive cycles are unique. Female gargoyles become fertile on the autumnal equinox every twentieth year, and will lay a single egg on the following spring equinox. If reproducing amongst an large clan, all of the eggs are stored together in the clan's rookery, and the communal hatching occurs roughly two years later.

While not inherently immortal, gargoyles can be extremely long-lived, a result of stone sleep which seemingly slows or halts their aging process to an absolute still (possibly a state of suspended animation) until they wake again the following night. This was how the Garvis Clan was able to survive all the way to the 46th Century AFZ, after being cursed.

Some gargoyles also have an affinity for magic, and it was magic that allowed the old Gargate Empire to survive for so long before the Garvis Clan was cursed into stone sleep. While gargoyles are normally vulnerable during the day, the Garvis clan developed a way to remain protected during he day, and maintain their rule during light hours: Gargate Mages developed a type of amulet that allows the wearer to remain flesh in daylight. Hundreds of handpicked guards were given these amulets to protect the Clan, and maintain the authority of the ruling clan, during the day. They would take turns with one another every few nights before taking the amulet off and getting some rest for a few days. The only drawback was that they would suffer their wounds, and age, like normal beings until their shift was over.

Even in old age they are not as frail and incapacitated as other creatures. Because they spend half their day asleep as stone, they age at half the rate of other beings, thus living twice as long. And given stone form's ever-healing and senility-dampening nature, it is very likely that a gargoyle cannot die a natural death (i.e. advanced age and sustained disease) whilst he or she is in stone.

Ghouls
The Ghoul (female: Ghoulah) is a humanoid race who are native to Arabia. They are depicted as evil spirits in Arabian mythology.

They are said to be a desert-dwelling, shapeshifting, race of devils that can assume the guise of an animal and lure unwary people into the desert wastes or another abandoned place to slay and devour them. They are famed for preying on young children, drinking blood, stealing coins, eating the dead, and taking the form of the person that they have most recently eaten.

Ghouls are sometimes confused with zombies, causing them to be mistaken as undead monsters rather than demons.

Harpies
The Harpy is a mono-gendered (female) demihuman liminal race with the body of a human and the wings and talons of a bird. They colonize mountainsides and similar places.

A pure and cheerful race that loves the blue sky and singing. Unfortunately, most of the time they only sing for other harpies.

Harpies are migratory beings and a race that embodies the notion of freedom, going where they please, when they please. Being similar in nature to migratory birds, harpies psychologically can’t stay in one place for very long. However, due to their air-headed personalities they more often then not forget about their "rules" and just do what they please.

Harpies have an opposable digit on the joint of each wing, and the wing at the joint can curl to some small degree. This allows for gripping of objects, but these improvised grabbers are nowhere near as dexterous as true hands. Because of this, it is likely harpies do not craft, and their clothing and tools would have to be received elsewhere. As such, it is likely that harpy villages have a number of poultry harpies to produce eggs for trading. Common harpies will lay unfertilized eggs only perhaps once every few months, so their production alone could not fill such a role.

Harpies are mono-gendered and rely on humans to reproduce. Unlike most such races, though, harpies do not simply abduct men for the purpose. Rather, they travel about and find men before returning to the village after mating, sometimes even finding multiple partners in a single outing to encourage genetic diversity. Despite this, some harpies will occasionally choose a mate for life, and will either move to be with them or else continually return when their migration routes bring them back around.

Garuda
Garuda are a large harpy sub-race prevalent in Ingodija. Garuda are considered the strongest of the harpy sub-race and are known for their eternal animosity with the Naga serpent race.

Land Animal Harpy
Land Harpies are a sub-race of harpy adapted for terrestrial life, like ostriches and emus. Their wings are small, but their bodies have evolved to be larger than humans. Using their thick, powerful legs, they can run at incredibly high speeds. Despite their large bodies and sharp claws, they are generally easygoing.

These harpies still have light frames but are nearly twice the size of other harpies, making them quite tall. Their wings would be a little more dexterous than a common harpy's, as they do not have large pinions to obstruct movement. Land animal harpies are generally of a duller plumage than the colorful common harpies or patterned raptor harpies, but would also be more memorable and not as keen to forgetting things, as land travel requires greater use of landmarks than air travel. The same issue of crafting would affect them as any other harpy, and they likely have poultry harpies in their villages for the production of trade material.

Though still migratory to an extent, there would be far less distance covered by land harpies than other sorts when moving. Despite their flightless status, land harpy wings are far from weak, and would be able to carry moderate loads while running by wrapping around the items or passenger poultry harpies.

Land harpies would exhibit the same manner of finding mates as common harpies, though due to their restriction of movement, they would likely not seek multiple partners as often.

Phoenix Harpy
Phoenix Harpies are harpies with attributes reminiscent of the phoenix. They are generally found living amongst regular phoenixes. Like phoenixes, Phoenix Harpies burst into flame when they die and are reborn from their own ashes.

Much like the yatagarasu, it is unknown how closely related phoenixes are to the harpy race.

Poultry Harpy
Poultry Harpies are a harpy sub-race adapted for laying eggs. They cannot fly and are unable to run at high speeds like land animal harpies. However, they produce far more eggs than other sub-races, and they continuously lay eggs nearly every day. Poultry harpies have a red crest on top of their heads. Unlike chickens, their appearance is natural, not selectively bred. They are very cowardly.

Given their inability to transport or defend themselves to any great degree, it is likely that poultry harpies simply live with populations of other harpy races. Common, land, and raptor harpies are too different in lifestyle from one another to comfortably form unified villages, and these three races would form their own villages in their own regions. However, harpies cannot make things like clothes or tools because their wings lack the dexterity, so they would have to barter for or steal such things. Harpies are too laid back to actively steal from other races, so it is likely that they trade for them. This is where poultry harpies would come in: they produce eggs far more frequently than the other harpy races, and these eggs would be the harpy trade specialty.

Given the poultry harpy's status, it would be in the village's best interests to have them around. So it is that villages of each type of harpy would also include a number of poultry harpies, and offer them protection and shelter. Poultry harpies are weak, slow, flightless, and chicken-hearted, so they would likely not have survived this long if not for this relationship with the other harpies.

As poultry harpies cannot go out and search for a mate on their own, they would likely be carried and escorted to a place where men might be found by their village-mates or else those village-mates would invite men into the village for the purpose of mating with the poultry harpy.

Likely just as dim as a common harpy, a poultry harpy could not possibly be naturally migratory, as it lacks any means to be such. Even should they not feel the inclination to move, though, they are the smallest of the harpy races, and would be carried by their village-mates when the group decides to move.

Raptor Harpy
Raptor Harpies are large eagle- or hawk-like harpy sub-race. Their bodies are very similar to human bodies. Though other sub-races are omnivorous, raptor harpies are strictly carnivores. They are proud and difficult to please, an unusual trait among the generally amicable harpies.

Raptor harpies have patterned plumage, such as found on hawks or owls, and do not have the giddy colors of common harpies or the simple uniform tones of land animal harpies. Raptor harpy wings are more angled than common harpy wings and are more adapted to swooping and cornering. As raptor harpies are purely carnivorous, their increased protein intake leads to their bodies being fuller and far less juvenile in appearance. Raptor harpy wings have very long pinions, and these would likely make them even less dexterous than common harpies. Due to the inherent difficulty this presents to crafting, raptor harpies would keep proportionately more poultry harpies in their villages than common or land animal harpies would.

As hunters, raptor harpies are strong and proud, and are not as easily-impressed by other harpies. Being a predator takes a degree of cunning and consistent knowledge of the terrain and situation, so raptor harpies would be the most intelligent of the harpy races, though that doesn't mean they're particularly smart by human standards.

Mate-finding would be essentially the same as with common harpies, except that raptor harpies would likely be more inclined to finding only a single mate each season, to keep enough time for hunting. As they are predatory, they might be considered a touch more aggressive than other harpy races, and even though harpies would not usually go about abducting men for breeding purposes, if any of them were going to do it, it would be Raptor Harpies.

Yatagarasu
A Yatagarasu is a demihuman liminal race very similar in appearance to harpies. Possessing crow-like traits, yatagarasu appear prominently in Yamatai, and were once viewed as supernatural guides and symbols of divine rebirth and rejuvenation.

Omnivorous, yatagarasu prefer habitats that have sunlight and demonstrate the same "air-headed" behavior as harpies. As such, it is not known precisely how closely related the harpy race are to the yatagarasu.

Humanoid Honey Bee
Honey Bees are an insectoid demihuman liminal race who have four insectoid limbs, antennae, compound eyes, a bee thorax complete with stinger, and wings. The race typically lives in mountainous caves overlooking wildflower fields, or are within range of such places.

Queen Bee
A Queen Bee is a humanoid sub-race of Honey Bee that has been specifically raised from birth to create and rule her own hive/colony.

While born amongst a number of other "Queen" candidates, by the time they reach adulthood there is usually only one ruling Queen Bee in a single hive/colony, with all other bees within the colony loyally following and fiercely protect her when threatened. She is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in her hive. However, if the hive/colony was inherited from a previous Queen, the children of the previous Queen (who has since died or otherwise relinquished her position to the new Queen) will serve her as if she was their biological mother.

Humans
Humans are the most numerous and politically dominant sapient race in the world largely thanks to their ability to create tools and adapt themselves or their environment to survive.

Possessing the largest and widest-spanning culture known, they are often considered to be the standard to which the biology, psychology, and culture of other species and races are compared.

Aggressively territorial, while possessing no natural means of offense or defense (like claws or armor) that other races may possess, Human's ability to create and adapt objects to serve specific functions, and their tendency to live/work in groups, has enabled them to dominate the majority of Patria and force other races to withdraw into their own enclosed populations away from human attention.

Originally migratory, throughout their written history, humans have managed to set up large empires and kingdoms all over Patria and effectively achieved near-global dominance due to their industrious nature; being able to alter themselves or the environments to suit their needs as well as utilizing/taming the wildlife to serve their purposes.

Amazon
Amazons are a dark-tan skinned race of women-only Humans native to the Amazon Islands, also known as Kujira, in Maritymir. Being a single-gender race of humans, they are considered a separate race of human rather than one of the major human ethnic groups.

Since they are a single gender people, and can only give birth to girls, they use a spiritual ritual to temporarily summon men to the island, and once the summoner is pregnant, the men would be banished as the same ritual concludes; since Amazons are famously fertile, it generally doesn't take more then one try to become pregnant. Men are generally not welcome on the islands, save for those who were temporarily summoned, but sometimes those who wander onto the islands are allowed to stay for extended periods. Those who do stay, no matter the duration, are required by Amazon law to segregated from the women.

Though they are an inward looking people that mostly turns a blind eye from the conflicts of the rest of the world, some choose to reject the ritual to leave the island in search of a husband, or will marry a man who wanders onto the islands. Those who make the choice to leave usually come back to give birth, but a few choose to never return. This isolationist attitude is not without dangers, as it makes those who stray too far from the villages easy picking for slave traders.

Major Human Ethnic Groups
There are several major human ethnicities across Patria. Each one has its own location where they call their "homeland," but many, if not all, have been becoming more and more widespread outside their homelands through immigration or other reasons.
 * Asgardian: The main ethnic group of the floating island of Asgard. Legends say that the Ostligs are descended from the Asgardians.
 * Atlantic: The dominant ethnic group of the Atlantian continent in Maritymir.
 * Brython: The Brythons are the main human ethnic group of the Brythonic Isles. The Brythons are also a majority in New Albion, having been migrating there since before New Albion's independence. The Brythons have also been migrating to Nekcroz, Ingodija and Maritymir, through the Eurodian colonies.
 * Cungbanto: The black-skinned people of the Island of Nyeni.
 * Gallic: The main human ethnic group of central and southern Eurodon, and are a minority in the Brythonic Isles and the Hispanian lands. The Gallics have also been migrating to Nekcroz, Ingodija and Maritymir, through the Eurodian colonies, and to Aquilonis through immigration to New Albion and other avenues. Soleil is also predominantly Gallic, both due to the fact that most of the Soleilian citizenry are descended rebels exiled from the Gallian Empire (though the method has been lost to history since portals have been ruled out), and once word of Soleil's founding reached Gallia, the Gallic population of the Vieillesse Peninsula received a sharp-to-gradual increase due to a mass migration by various means to Soleil; this event is termed the the "Gallic Invasion" in history by the Salrins, and since then the Salrins were mostly pushed out of the Vieillesse Peninsula since as Soleil rose to dominance.
 * Gaian: The main ethnic group of the Gaian Peninsula northwestern Eurodon, and partially on the Phrygian Peninsula.
 * Ingdjite: The main ethnic group of Ingodija, and the relative namesake of the continent. The Ingdjites are also an ethnic group of the Kejawen Archipelago alongside the Kejawens.
 * Kalahari: The dominant ethnic group of southeastern Aquilonis, for whom the Great Kalahari Desert and the now-defunct Kalahari Caliphate are named.
 * Kejawen: The native human ethnic group of the Kejawen Archipelago in Maritymir.
 * Hesperian: The main ethnic group of western Eurodon, primarily on the Latium peninsula and the islands of Trinacria and Dell'ovest. The Hesperians have also been migrating steadily to Marlakcor through the Roman province of Serica, as well as to Nekcroz, Ingodija and Maritymir, through the Eurodian colonies, and to Aquilonis through immigration to New Albion and other avenues.
 * Meridian: The Meridians are the main ethic group of southwestern Eurodon, primarily in Hispania, Lusitania and related countries. The Meridians have also been migrating to Nekcroz, Ingodija and Maritymir, through the Eurodian colonies, and to Aquilonis through immigration to New Albion and other avenues.
 * Nekcr'zii: The main ethnic group native to mainland Nekcroz, and the relative namesake of the continent as a whole. Those few who didn't stay to live with the Eurodians in the Eurodian colonies have been gradually migrating south, where they remain the dominant human ethnic group.
 * Nubian: The main ethnic group of the Island of Nubia and the Empire of Kemet. They resemble the Cungbanto people, except they have lighter skin. According to legend, some of the Cungbanto came to Nubia via a portal experiment gone wrong, and those who arrived on Nubia assimilated with the locals. This has led to the widely excepted belief that the Nubians are descended from both the Cungbanto and the former local population.
 * Odrysian: The Ordrysians are the main ethnic group of their namesake kingdom the Kingdom of Dacia.
 * Ostlig: The main ethnic group of the Midgard Peninsula. Legend says that the Ostligs are descended from the Asgardians. The Ostligs have also been migrating to the Brythonic Isles and to parts of eastern Aquilonis.
 * Phrygian: The main ethnic group of the Phrygian and Hayastan Peninsulas in northwestern Eurodon. They live partially alongside the Gaians on the former due to the Akhaian Empire and the Seleucid League.
 * Salrin: The Salrins are the main ethnic group of central northern Aquilonis, and in Markaydia. The relative namesake of the former Salrinoa Federation, the Salrins used to be widespread on the Vieillesse Peninsula before the arrival of the exiled Gallics, the "Gallic Invasion" as the Salrins call it. Those who didn't stay have since migrated out of the peninsula.
 * Tuzhu: The main human ethnic group of Marlakcor.
 * Waikikese: The Waikikese are the main ethnic group of the Waikiki Archipelago in Maritymir.
 * Wildish: An ethnic group descended from the Atlantics, and main human ethnic group of the Wildlands.
 * Weir: The Weirs are the native ethnic group of Weirland, the northeastern subcontinent of Nekcroz, and the relative namesake of the land.
 * Yamato: The main and dominant ethnic group of the Yamato Islands in the Oriental Sea. The Yamato have also partially migrated to Marlakcor through Yamatai's possessions on the Marlakcan mainland, and have been increasing in population in the Kappa Islands in Maritymir.
 * Zedylric: The Zedylrics, the namesake of the former Zedylrian Empire, are the main human ethnic group of northern and northeastern Eurodon, and the northwestern peninsula of Aquilonis as well as Drakyncia.

Keralaut
Keralauts are an aquatic demihuman race that are human-like in appearance, but with some obvious differences. Keralauts have webbed fingers and toes, gills on their necks, and scales over much of their body. They are essentially aquatic humans that evolved for life underwater, and are rarely seen on the surface; the only time they really go up to the surface is when they need to harvest extra food sources from the shore. Keralauts have a thick layer of fat that allows them to survive in the cold depths of the ocean, and they have no need for clothing; consequently, they have little understanding of the custom of modesty prevalent amongst the people of the continents.

Despite all these aquatic adaptations, Keralauts are unrelated to merfolk in any way.

Kyuubi no Kitsune
Kyuubi no Kitsune (lit. Nine-tailed Foxes) are a pseudo-human race that appear in Yamato folklore as intelligent beings that possess magical abilities to shape shift. While some folktales speak of kitsune of wildly different moralities employing this ability to trick others, other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives. It is unknown if male Kitsune exist (as Kitsune can use both genders in their shapeshifting abilities) or if they are a single-gendered race.

It is said that the more tails a kitsune has (they may have as many as nine) the older, wiser, and more powerful they are. Because of their potential power and influence, some people make offerings to them as deities.

Lamias:
The Lamia are a reptilian liminal race with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake. A mono-gendered (female) demihuman race, lamias are predatory carnivores that form tribal villages on the outskirts of desert oasis, their serpentine tails are powerful enough to rend steel.

Believed to be deadly towards humans, lamia are reputed to lure men back to their lairs and kill them after they've had their way with them. However, this is only partially true, as due to being a female-only race, lamias would lure men to their villages and hold them as 'Communal Husbands'. If the male is resistant, lamia will use alchemical compounds such as incense to draw out their lust and force themselves upon them. Usually all the eligible members of the village would get involved, resulting in mass orgies. Following the initial orgy, the male has a choice to voluntarily stay or leave. Some lamias actually chose to leave for the purpose of finding a mate, starting their own colony, or simply making it on their own.

Echidnas
Echidnas are a sub-race of lamia. Because more of their bodies are covered by scales. Compared to lamias, echidnas are more closely related to Lizardfolk. Their name means "viper women", and true to their name, they possess poisonous fangs inside their mouths. Their venom is a type of hemorrhagin (meaning that it breaks down blood vessels) and must be treated with caution. Their snake-like lower bodies are covered in a unique pattern reminiscent of vipers.

Gorgons
Gorgons are a sub-race of lamia with snakes for hair. In mythology, their gaze are said to turn creatures into stone, but in thankful reality, they possess no such ability. However, their gaze seems to be very keen, and their glare makes living creatures unable to move, as though they've been turned to stone. In unfortunate reality, they have poor eyesight and only appear to be glaring despite their lack of ill will, as they are instead only trying to see more clearly.

Melusines
Melusines are a lamia sub-race with dragon-like wings on their backs. Due to this, they share characteristics with Dragonewts. In contrast to other lamia sub-races, they are more similar to sea snakes than terrestrial snakes and prefer to live by the shore. Sadly, their wings aren't strong enough to lift their long lower bodies, making said wings being more vestigial in nature.

Lizardfolk
Lizardfolk, Saurians as they call themselves, are a group of demihuman races that possess dinosaurian lizard-like attributes such as claws, scales and a tail. While reptilian, lizardfolk do posses aquatic abilities and are particularly gifted swimmers, able to use their tails to aid in swimming. Lizardfolk are almost dinosaur-like in appearance, hence their preferred term to call themsevles, and are sometimes mistaken for them at first glace. Lizardfolk are also carnivores, with their diet usually consisting of a fresh kill from hunting, though they will also cook it. Saurians are also adapted to eating fruits, but have a strong distaste for vegetables.

More common in Nekcroz, lizardfolk are known for being aggressive and warlike; they once held dominion over at least seven known empires in various parts of Patria, but were always forced from power due to infighting or constant invasions, save for two. The only two remaining independent lizardfolk states are Xzandor in Aquilonis, and Xotil in Nekcroz; the latter is more successful and prominent, as it holds vast territory over its home continent, as well as lands in Ingodija and Maritymir.

Lizardfolk outside Nekcroz have since become more self-controlling and docile, but are still known for violence if provoked or provided the right incentive; while the lizardfolk of Xotil still retain most of their more aggressive warlike behavior, they are still docile and patient enough to maintain control of their vast empire. Some Saurians are even docile enough to except servitude to other races.

Because some lizardfolk can't completely let go of the primal warlike instincts, it's not uncommon to find lizardfolk fighting as mercenaries in foreign armies, or wandering around with groups of bandits.

Saurians have a natural affinity with dinosaurs, and are able to bond with, and tame, most on Patria, including the most vicious of predators; although is undeniable that the herbivores are much easier to tame than the predators. No one knows why, but must assume it's because that saurians and dinosaurs are both reptilian, and therefore share some kind of bond, much like merfolk and sea creatures.

Saurians are one of the few sapient races that lay eggs. When females lay a fertile clutch, they often revert to their animalistic instinct to guard them jealously, letting only their mates near them.

High Saurian
The High Saurians are the standard lizardfolk. Adults stand as tall as humans, have tough scales of various colors (depending on dominant traits) that run down their backs, arms and spines, and bony crests that protect their head and back.

Caelidon
Caelidon are a lizardfolk sub-race with reptilian wings and can fly.

Chamelia
Chamelia are a lizardfolk sub-race that have a chameleon-like appearance and have the ability to change color.

Crocodons
Crocodons are a larger lizardfolk sub-race that are crocodilian in appearance. Much larger and stronger than an average saurian, crocodons are the muscle of the lizardfolk races.

Salamander
Salamanders are a lizardfolk sub-race native to mountains. They have bright-orange hides and typically live near volcanoes.

Skinks
Skinks are a lesser lizardfolk sub-race that are much smaller than a typical saurian.

Merpeople:
Merpeople, also known as merfolk, are a demihuman race with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish. Males and females are called mermen and mermaids respectively. Their tails include two pelvic fins, a dorsal fin and a fluke. They also have webbed hands. Although they spend most of their time underwater, merpeople have been known to deliberately beach themselves on sandy beaches because they love to sunbathe like seals. To prevent their bodies from drying out when they sunbathe, they are covered in a moist mucus which keeps them wet when they spend time on land. Standard merpeople live all waters of Patria, but waters of warm tropical oceans and their scales and fins are colorful like tropical fish.

A great many merfolk are nomadic, but most merfolk live in permanent colonies. There are hundreds of different colonies of merpeople all over Patria, but the only two recognized solely merfolk nations are Cnidaria and Bivalvia in Maritymir. Nearly all colonies have been known to form a society of coexistence with the locals over a few short generations; Ningyo Shima in Aquilonis, and Renyu Dao in Marlakcor, the Arawak Islands in Nekcroz, and Hawaiki in Maritymir, are prominent examples, and this is also a normality in various places in Maritymir. Telmarnia, Yamatai, New Hylar, Long Qundao and Atlantis also have several well-known, colonies of merpeople in their waters. There are some merfolk colonies in Eurodon and Ingodija, but they're a bit rarer.

Half-merfolk, hybrids between merpeople and humans, can live either on land or under the sea; but whichever they choose usually depends on their upbringing or a personal choice. Half-merfolk have the ability to transform their lower bodies between legs and tails when they get wet, but most can't control it until they learn how at an adult age. Human-merfolk hybrids can lose this ability with successive generations as their bloodline becomes more diluted either way, becoming either fully merfolk or human.

Merpeople also have a strong bond with the creatures of the sea, and live amongst them in an almost symbiotic way.

Amazon Mermaids
Amazon Mermaids are an all-female race of merfolk that live in the waters of Kujira. Save for being merfolk, they are no different from the local Amazons.

Arctic Merpeople
Arctic Merpeople, sometimes known as Ice merfolk, thrive in cold waters and are built for survival and polar temperatures. They live in the waters around Arctica and are generally protective of their territory.

Evolved to withstand cold climates, they have extra body fat to insulate them against the cold keep themselves warm. Arctic merfolk usually have larger eyes to see well, paler skin and lighter hair colors. Their tails are also usually darker.

Eel Race
The Eel Race are merfolk with long bodies like a lamia. Unlike most merfolk, they have no trouble living on land. This is because they produce even more mucus than standard merfolk, though as a result, they have trouble wearing most clothing materials. They have a tremendous amount of stamina and often stay up all night, consequently making them sleep-deprived most of the time. Their mucus possess cosmetic properties as well, making it a highly coveted substance for use in massages.

Freshwater Class
Unlike standard merfolk, which reside in warm ocean waters, these merfolk regularly travel from rivers to oceans and back again; some also live in freshwater lakes, Loch Wyvern in Caledonia being a famous example.

These merfolk are known for journeying through any fierce rapids or waterfalls that may stand in their way. Because of this, the have slim and fit bodies. Their colors are more muted than those of standard merfolk.

Shark Merfolk
Skark merfolk, sometimes known as Mersharks, are a merfolk sub-race armed with sharp teeth and having the lower body of a shark. Shark merfolk are also entirely carnivorous, a rare trait among the predominantly omnivorous mermaids.

Shark mermaids have a enchantingly sweet singing voice, and due to their carnivorousness, are sometimes believed to be the sirens of myth.

Their personalities are wild and aggressive. Many engage in pirate-like activities, and are popular with the most ruthless as a way of looking even more menacing. Like sharks, the skeleton in the lower bodies is made of cartilage, making them very delicate. They are mentally weak, as well.

Tropical Merfolk
Tropical Merfolk are a rare sub-race of merfolk found within tropical waters, usually near or within coral reefs. Capable of living in both fresh and salt waters, Tropical Merfolk are a minority race amongst the Mer-races but are widely famed for their beauty.

Minotaurs
Minotaurs are a demihuman race with bovine attributes. Minotaurs are visually muscular, possess, legs, tail, feet, and head of a bull, but with a human torso, and are taller than an average human while also possessing greater physical strength that may rival a Centaur. There are two types of Minotaur, the lactating "milk producing" types (female) and the aggressive "bullfighting" types (male).

Ogres
Ogres are horned humanoid beings that possess the notable feature of not only great size, but phenomenal strength.

While many of their depictions in mythology may not hold true to how they are in reality, Ogres are indeed very tall in stature, ranging from two to three meters (6'6"-9'10"), and possess incredible strength. Thought to live in mountainous areas or badlands, most Ogres have a single large horn protruding from their head and tend to have thick, tanned skin. Despite their large size, female ogres are laid-back and carefree, while males tend to be more violent

Gigantes
Gigantes are an incredibly large Ogre sub-race. The largest known race to date, Gigantes averagely reach heights of over ten meters (about 32'7"). Because of this, Gigantes are truly giant, but are nevertheless distinct from true giants, which can reach much higher. Because they can easily injure humans with their massive bodies if they are not careful, they spend their time quietly holding still if they have nothing to do.

Fashion is no concern to Giganti, as practically no clothes are large enough for them to wear, so they dress themselves in whatever rags they can to preserve some sense of decency. They are not known to attack other creatures.

Troll
Trolls are a very muscular Ogre sub-race. Stronger and larger than regular Ogres, Trolls can reach heights over three meters tall (9'10"). They have a greenish brown skin and one or two short, thick horns on their head. They have long, protruding lower canines. Both males and females are extremely well-muscled with massive limbs. Like standard Ogres, Females are easy-going and carefree, while males tend to be more violent.

Because they are physically much larger than humans, they are unable to wear most clothes, leading to concerns regarding their inability to dress well.

Oni
Oni a horned race native to Yamatai and parts of Marlakcor. They have colorful skin ranging from red to blue and have two small horns. Standing only two meters tall (6'6") they are larger than the average human.

Red Oni are thought to be crybabies and Blue Oni are considered self-sacrificing, but it is unclear whether or not there is any truth to these claims. It is customary for Oni to dress in tiger-striped clothes.

Orcs
Orcs are a race of brutish, aggressive and generally lustful pseudo-humans. Possessing large lower jaws with prominent fangs and a snout, their features tend to be "pig-like" in appearance. Taller and thicker than a human by half, they would have about the strength a two bears, and have noses capable of accurate olfactory sense to up to a kilometer out.

Aggressive scavengers and opportunistic carnivores, while they possesses a low cunning and a low intelligence when compared to other more intellectual races, orcs do possess a crude culture of their own. Violent by nature, they will fight ferociously if compelled but tend towards more chaotic/destructive behavior such as pillaging, rape and/or cowardice. Their only joy in life seems to be to ravage settlements, rape women of all races, and to steal things made by greater societies. It is for this reason that half-orcs are generally discriminated against, despite being less violently-inclined than their orc parent. Orcs are not without a sense of reason, and some are known to be hired as mercenaries or join mercenary bands with the promise of pay.

Despite their brutal lifestyle and instincts, a few are intelligent enough to maintain the sovereignty of the widely recognized Orc Empire. However, while there have been several independent orc states in recorded history, none have lasted for long due to infighting; the current Orc Empire is the only organized Orcish state currently in existence

Pans
Pans, are a demihuman race possessing characteristics of a goat, sheep or ram, including a pair of curved horns on the head, a small tail, ungulate ears, furry goat legs and hoofed feet.

There are two types of Pans; Satyrs and Fauns.

Pans of either type typically don't wear trousers.

Fauns
Fauns have thick roundly curved horns out of the side of their head like a bighorn ram.

Fauns are some of the more common, and popular, subrace of pans and have integrated into most societies extremely well. Fauns are shy and sheepish in general, and thus are known for bouts of extreme embarrassment, particularly the females. As expected of the symbols of virginity (the sheep), most are protective of their chastity. But as they age, many fauns have grown more confident and can interact with other races smoothly, becoming as cool as cucumbers.

Female fauns are known to grow some thick wool out of every surface of their body, excluding the hooves, hands, fingers, and face. The rate of this wool's growth normally follows a seasonal pattern; meaning that it grows more in the fall and winter, and less so in the spring and summer. If left unchecked, this wool will grow at enough of a pace to become unbearable to the individual in question without occasional shearing.

Satyrs
Satyrs have thin slightly curved horns out of the top of their head like a domestic goat.

Satyrs are generally more warrior-like in nature, and tend to be protective of their own kind. Satyrs are more secretive as well, and are not normally seen outside of their natural habitats, which include forested groves with nearby rivers or streams. Satyresses (female satyrs) don't grow very thick wool like fauns do.

Papillion
Papillions are a diminutive demihuman race with butterfly attributes. Roughly the same size as an adult pixie when fully grown, Papillions have butterfly wings, antennae, and an extra set of arms.

Papillions hatch from eggs in their larval stage; during this stage they resemble caterpillars, termed a "Caterpillio," and have a single set of arms with a caterpillar body and feet. After some time eating to a necessary weight (it varies by the individual) they then go into their pupa stage by encasing themselves in a chrysalis, emerging in their adult form after roughly six months. They are extremely vulnerable in their pupa stage, and generally go into their chrysalis form in a safe place such as the hollows of trees.

Like normal butterflies, Papillions feed primarily on nectar; for this reason, it is believed that Papillions can share a symbiotic relationship with Alraunes, but this is unconfirmed.

Despite being diminutive and capable of flight, Papillions are unrelated to pixies in any way.

Plantlike Races
Plantlike races are beings that have plantlike attributes. They can appear human most of the time, but can take on a more plantlike appearance under certain conditions. When in plant form, their bodies change according to the amount of nutrients and water they have absorbed. This holds true for their human form as well, regardless of their actual age, making it impossible to determine their age by appearance alone. Plantlike races do not wear clothing.

Alraune
Alraune are a pseudo-human female-only plant-like race with the form of a extremely beautiful, nude, women covered in flowers, and have flower-like qualities. When in humanoid form, they typically have flowers sprouting in their hair and the joints of the their bodies.

they are timid and normally prefer to not move around very much. Noted for being carnivorous (both literally and sexually), they're always releasing sweet smelling fragrances that attract men, and they wait for their prey. This pheromone-rich fragrance is released from their bodily fluids, and the fluid is called "Alraune Nectar", and the nectar also acts as a powerful aphrodisiac. As they use cross-pollination rather than self-pollination to procreate, they do require interaction with other races (primarily humans).

When an alraune reproduces, the process of which takes roughly a month, they appear pregnant like a human woman; but when they give birth, a giant flower bud grows out of their naval; when the flower blooms, a new alraune is born and the flower withers and falls away. Their nectar also acts as "breast milk" for their young, but alraunes in general are completely unaffected by the aphrodisiac effects of their nectar.

Dryads
Dryads are a plantlike female-only non-human race that is associated with trees and bushes.

They normally take on the form of beautiful, nude, human women, but can change into a more plantlike form, with qualities similar to those of small or medium sized tress or vines, at will. There hair is also known for being cluttered with leaves in addition to normal hair. When they are angered or feel threatened, they transform into large tree-like monsters. They’re normally warm and welcoming, but they will attack those who threaten the forest without mercy.

Though they are easygoing and mild-mannered, they tend to not associate with other races (this is true of all plantlike races). However, exceptions are made for those who do not harm them or provide them and their home with care, and they sometimes open their hearts to helpful members of other races.

Dryads normally spend a lot of their time amongst trees. They will wander around their forest usually keeping to themselves, but when something spikes their curiosity, normally visitors in their woods, they will try to get as close as possible without being seen. When they sleep, they merge directly with a tree, becoming one with them.

Mandrake
Mandrake, also known as Mandragora, are a plantlike race with root-like qualities. Preferring solitude, even among the timid plantlike races, mandrakes are known for being exceptionally timid and cowardly, although this is not so much due to xenophobia as being due to extreme shyness. Unlike other plantlike races, like aryads of alraune, there are male mandrakes as well as female.

The scream they emit when removed from the ground is fatal; but the screams of younger ones are not. But as their scream is still very loud, it does sometimes cause loss of consciousness of hearing in those standing in the vicinity.

Selkies
Selkies are a humanoid race that are fully human on dry land but turn into seals when they enter the sea. On land, selkies are only identifiable by their silver hair and hazel-gold eyes. Selkies are more commonly found in the waters around the Brythonic Isles and Eylanda, but are also found in the waters around New Albion and Telmarnia.

Serkets
The Serket, named for the Kemetan deity of the same name, are a demihuman liminal race with the upper body of a human and the lower body and claws of a scorpion. Their scorpion tail contains a highly potent venom that can kill a mammoth within minutes.

Serkets are said to be skilled in the knowledge and curing of any manner of animal poisons, ranging from scorpion stings to snakebites.

Septemtrian
Septemtrians are a race of humanoid beings native to Arctica, or Septemtrio, as they call it. Septemtrians are human-like save for a few obvious characteristics: they have blue skin, green sclera, and grow antlers. Septemtrians are evolved and adapted to live in the harsh climates of Arctica where most races wouldn't survive. Septemtrians can also swim in the frigid waters of the north without suffering hypothermia. Despite all these adaptations to live in such an inhospitable environment, they still require some measure of protection against the elements.

Soul-Wraith
A Soul-Wraith is a non-being and Dark creature, considered one of the foulest to inhabit the world. Soul-Wraiths feed upon the happiness of other beings, and thus cause depression and despair to anyone near them. They can also consume a person's soul, leaving their victims in a permanent vegetative state, and thus are often referred to as "soul-sucking fiends". They are known to leave a person as an 'empty-shell'.

There are certain defenses one can use against soul-wraiths, specifically the Astral-Fauna Charm. Soul-Wraiths hold no true loyalty, except to whomever can provide them with the most people to feed off. They cannot be destroyed, though their numbers can be limited if the conditions in which they multiply are reduced, implying that they do die off eventually.

Soul-Wraiths have a humanoid shape, approximately three metres, or 10 feet high, and are covered in dark hooded cloaks of long ripped black cloth, making them closely resemble wraiths. Its body is greyed and decayed looking, like a decomposing corpse, and its breath sounds rattling, like it is trying to "suck more than air" out of a room. Its hands are "glistening, greyish, slimy-looking, and scabbed". They seem to exude cold.

A soul-wraith's face has empty eye sockets, covered with scabby skin. There is a gaping large hole where the mouth should be, which is used for sucking the soul out of the victim in a process called the Wraith's Kiss, leaving victims in a state generally considered worse than death. The soul-wraith pulls back its hood and sucks out its victim's soul, leaving the person an empty shell, alive but completely, irretrievably 'gone'. Unlike other creatures, who move through some means of physical support, soul-wraiths can fly freely. However, they are still solid and cannot pass through solid obstacles.

Soul-Wraiths are also known to be blind, as they do not have any eyes. However, they can sense whether a presence is near them or not, by sensing the victim's emotions.

Soul-Wraiths seem to suck all the light and happiness from the air as they draw long rattling breaths, and cause darkness to close in everywhere and the victim to feel incredibly cold. They can glide toward a victim without sound, and they are sapient enough to taste and sense fear, being drawn to it and the promise of positive memories that it can feed off of. They are also intelligent enough to be greedy.

In addition to feeding on positive emotions, soul-wraiths can perform their last and most dangerous ability: the Wraith's Kiss, in which a soul-wraith latches its mouth onto a victim's and sucks out the person's soul. The victim is left as an empty shell, incapable of thought and with no possibility of recovery. It is believed that existing after a Wraith's Kiss is worse than death: as a person's soul is their true self, to be 'kissed' by a soul-wraith is to cease to exist, and yet also remain.

Succubus
The Succubus is a female-only race with a penchant for seducing men. They appear in various places in search of men, no matter the race. The succubi are a race that always has the form of a woman and feed on human body fluids, typically the sexual kind. They are human-like in appearance normally, but they have bat-like wings and flexible devil-like tails and horns. They sometimes hide their wings, tails and horns to take up residence in human settlements unnoticed so they can hunt in a similar way a human woman would, by simple flirting.

They are typically deshabille, but will sometimes wear normal clothes in order to blend in; some other succubi never wear clothing of any kind, going their entire lives in the nude.

In order to meet the desire of a wide variety of types of men, they range from having full, voluptuous bodies, to having bodies that stay like that of a child; while their initial everyday form is supposedly hereditary, it's said they can change their form, such as their breasts, waist, hips and butts, to suit the man's fancy, but this is unconfirmed. They are also apparently adept at changing their personality to suit the man's taste, such as that of an ignorant child, that of a distinguished noble lady, or a bodacious prostitute. Despite the variations, all are beautifully lewd, arousing the desire of men. Just as their appearance vary greatly, so too do their personalities, but every succubus has in common being extremely lustful and dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure. Also, they do attack human women as well, often simply out of preference.

They have a powerful affinity magic, but nearly all of it is used for seducing men. Whenever they find a human man, they use charm spells, their gorgeous bodies, naturally produced pheromones, and various means to seduce him, and gain the greatest pleasure through sex. Every aspect of the succubus is designed to enable her to bewilder men. Few, if any, would be able to elude the temptation, save for those men who possess truly remarkable willpower. After gaining spirit energy, if they fancy a man, they’ll bring him back to their residence, sometimes for marriage. A pregnant succubus will not usually stop trying to feed on men, no matter how far along they are, but will into hiding when they give birth.

In some cases, they can pour their pheromones into their partners through sexual acts, and change women into succubi like themselves, or men into incubi.

Despite all this, succubi aren't evil by any means; they're just a race that enjoys the pleasures of the flesh more than normal beings.

Incubus
An Incubus is the male counterpart of a succubus. They typically seduce women, but are known to play with succubi as well.

Vampire
The vampire is a human-like being that feeds mainly on blood. They can be distinguished from regular humans with their long canine fangs, palish skin, and unnatural eyes that glow, but are otherwise indistinguishable from humans. They also have enhanced senses, agility and healing abilities, and they're also regarded as slightly more intelligent than regular humans.

There are three types of vampires across Patria; there's the ancient, but few-in-number, Narkpiors, also known as True Vampires or Nightcrawlers; the more recent and numerous Zyorites, also known as Daywalkers, who have evolved to a near-human state; and the beastly Skratcies, sometimes known as Plague Vampires.

The legends also state that vampires can turn humans into vampires by biting them. While this goes without saying for Narkpiors, amongst norits, only purebloods can turn humans into vampires by bite. The transformation is achieved via a naturally-produced venom that is mixed with the vampire's saliva. Nonpure Zyorites, Zyorites with any human ancestry, don't have this power, and neither do Skratcies, but any natural-born vampire can turn a human into a vampire by having them drink their blood.

Some ancient societies regarded vampires as undead, but this isn't true; vampires are living beings just like all others; thus they do have to breathe, and they can die if a vital organ is damaged enough. All vampires of each type are naturally stronger than humans, but they can drown or die of asphyxiation, and one can damage an organ beyond biological repair if enough force is applied.

While there are many covens, noble houses, and simple families of vampires all over Patria, the only independent vampires-ruled nation is Transylvania.

Narkpior Vampires
In most legends vampires are portrayed as nocturnal, reflectionless, shape-shifting beings with allergies to sunlight (the sun's ultraviolet rays to be precise), garlic and silver, and only feed on blood; they mostly consume the blood of humans or other beings, but sometimes animal blood (like sheep, goat, cattle, pigs, deer, bison, wild boars, etc.). The legends are true only for Narkpior Vampires, sometimes known as True Vampires or Nightcrawlers, vampires who are often many centuries old and feed only on blood; the reason being that they can't digest anything else. Human food is not usually harmful to Narkpiors, but it can be toxic in large quantities.

Sunlight can turn a Narkpior vampire to ash, but what they're actually weak to is the sun's ultraviolet rays; their skin is 85% less resistant compared to other races, so while sunlight won't kill them immediately, the process is excruciatingly painful. A Narkpior's only real weaknesses are those mentioned, and it should also be noted that beings turned into vampires by Narkpiors share the same weaknesses.

To those who don't know better Narkpiors are considered immortal, as they usually don't die from old age, and are highly resistant to most diseases. No one knows why, but when Narkpiors consume blood, their youth is partially restored, giving them the ability to stay young for centuries; although, how much of their youth is restored seems to revolve around the quality of the blood they drink, not the quantity. Thus, a Narkpior has some degree of control over how old or young they appear, making their actual age impossible to determine on sight alone. It is not uncommon for a centuries-old Narkpior to appear a young adult, a teenager, or a child (e.g. A 500-year-old Narkpior can possibly appear much younger than 400-year-old). However, not only does their youth wear off when they fast, but if a Narkpior goes too long without consuming blood their age can catch up with them, causing them to age to dust. Thus they are not, inherently, immortal.

One other way they stay alive for centuries is to hibernate by mummifying themselves. This allows Narkpiors to hibernate for decades or centuries before being reawakened again by being fed blood. This is the only way for them to survive extremely long periods without consuming blood. However, they are extremely vulnerable while in this state, so they tend to hide their resting place from all but a trusted few (e.g. the ruling family of Transylvania).

Narkpiors can also hypnotize their prey, even fellow members of their race, with their gaze; which makes them a formidable threat if wronged. Another gift Narkpiors possess is the ability to see memories by tasting their prey's blood. Zyorites don't have this ability, but the only known exception is Zelda Tepes, a 46th century AFZ lunaculus of Eurodon.

However, Narkpiors are relatively few in number. Since they're no longer a common sight due to vampire hunters hunting Narkpiors, there are about 10,000-15,000 left on Patria; but it is now illegal to hunt Narkpiors due to a peace pact and they are now recovering, increasing in numbers once again.

Zyorite Vampires
The modern Zyorite Vampires, sometimes known as Daywalkers, are vampires that have evolved and adapted to live alongside humans. They are no different from humans save for a few obvious characteristics, and the fact that they still drink blood; but they mostly feed on animal blood, only drinking human blood if offered or if they have no choice. While they are still preferably nocturnal, they can operate on the same sleep cycle as humans if they choose, and many do. Their evolution resulted in their skin-pigmentation being identical to humans, and now allows them to blend in more easily, making it difficult to identify a Zyorite on sight alone.

Zyorites maintain their enhanced senses, agility and healing abilities, but they're half as powerful as Narkpiors. Zyorite Vampires eat human food, yet must still drink blood every couple of weeks or suffer malnourishment; or worse, they can descend into insanity, becoming Skratcies (though exceedingly rare for a natural-born).

They are unaffected by sunlight, and have no allergies to garlic or silver. The only drawback is that they age and die like humans and are just as vulnerable to disease, and they can't mummify themselves like Narkpiors can. Nevertheless, they still live much longer than humans, sometimes around 200 years. Zyorites don't posses the ability to shapeshift either, and they have reflections in mirrors. Pureblood Zyorites, those who have no human ancestry in their veins, maintain the ability to turn humans into vampires with their venomous bite; but non-purebloods, those who do have human ancestry, such as a dhampir, or being descended from a pureblood and a human-turned vampire, do not produce the venom.

The Zyorites first began when a coven of vampires decided to try and make themselves immune to sunlight so that they may feed more actively, an effort which succeeded after much trial-and-error. They developed a potion that would allow them to walk in the sunlight until the effects wore off, the only side-effect being the human-like pigmentation of their skin, as well as the loss of their allergies to garlic and silver. Despite the fact that the effects of the potion were temporary to them, the genetic effects were permanent; their offspring developed a permanent immunity to sunlight, along with the rest of the strengths and deficiencies that characterize Zyorite Vampires. The formula for the potion, immortalized with the name "Shelgaed", has been lost to history, but its legacy has remained in the form of the Zyorite Vampires.

Due to these many differences, along with many similarities to humans, most Narkpior Vampires consider Zyorite Vampires inferior and view them with disdain and scorn, bordering on open hostility. This even extends to Zyorites of their own decent, despite the fact that Zyorite Vampires outnumber them greatly, and the sentiment is getting worse by the decade, as the number of purebloods has been steadily dropping. Only a rare few are openly accepting to Zyorites.

Skratci Vampires
Skratci Vampires, sometimes known as Plague Vampires are the lowest of the entire vampire race. They are vampires who have lost their sanity and general humanity, descending into bloodthirsty beasts. Skratci vampires are considered vermin by both sane vampires and other races, and due to their beastly nature are the main reason for the ongoing animosity between vampires and other races.

Skratcies are skillful hunters, but they rarely ever attack in plain view out in the open; they prefer to corner their prey once they're alone. They are also labeled for execution immediately if they can't be brought back to sanity, or if they cause too much trouble.

Skratcies are a rare sight, as they normally keep to the shadows, and their existence is usually kept to a minimum. Skratcies are normally the product of humans-turned-vampires that go without blood for too long after turning. Natural-born Narkpiors and Zyorites rarely ever turn into Skratcies, but it can happen.

Volucyadal
The Volucyadals are a race of humanoid beings with elf-like ears and angel-like wings on their backs, and feathers growing on their back, arms and legs. Because of their appearance, they are sometimes called demi-harpies, but this an erroneous term, as their feet are still human-like and their arms and wings are separate.

They inhabit the flying city of Skyrkraftia. They typically aren't seen on the surface, and even when they do they are a rare sight. They are, however, known to visit the flying lands of Alfheim, Avalon, and Asgard.

Rumored to be the smartest and wisest beings on Patria, it is rumored that they keep an extensive library said to contain every detail of Patria's recorded history.

Even though the are technically "Winged Elves", they are not related to the main elf races or harpies in any way.

Werecats
Werecats are a demihuman race of beings who possess the ability to shapeshift between the form of a human and the form of a cat, either partially or fully. Werecats are considered the feline equivalent of the Werewolf. However, Werecats are more "tame" than werewolves, possessing "cat-like" behavior and mannerisms. Werecats were once believed to be the descendants/cousins of the Alfheimish Cait Siths, but this has since been proven false.

Appearances and sightings of Werecats have been reported around the world, with "feline forms" ranging from domestic cats to overly large lions, panthers and cougars.

Nekomata
Nekomata are a sub-race of werecat native to Yamatai. The only real difference between them is having two tails instead of one.

Werewolves
The werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope, lycan, or vargulf, is a demihuman race that transforms into a wolf-like creature every night when the moons are full. They are very carnivorous, and much like wolves, they communicate by growling, snarling, and howling. They are usually either quadrupedal, or bipedal, or both. They usually have wolf-like heads, tails, fur, teeth, claws, etc, and are allergic to silver. People who become werewolves usually lose control over the wolf, and have no memories after they transform into werewolves.

Most werewolves lose their mind to their savage instincts when they transform, but older werewolves can develop control, allowing them to transform at will and maintain their mind whenever they please, not just during the full moons.

Werewolves are incredibly strong, so they can pick up things about as large as a horse. They transform back into humans or human-like creatures when the sun rises. They can range in size from 5 foot creatures to 12 foot creatures.

Yuki-bito
Yuki-bito are a demihuman race native to Yamatai and parts of Marlakcor. In Yamato folklore, it is viewed as a snow spirits of inhuman beauty that appears before travelers trapped in snowstorms with the purpose of killing them. Females are called yuki-onna and males yuki-otoko.

Yuki-bito typically live in the colder northern regions of Yamatai and Marlakcor during warmer seasons, usually in mountain villages, but sometimes venture farther south during colder months.

Yuki-bito normally keep to themselves, but they will occasionally descend to villages and sometimes reproduce with a human. However, there are no real hybrids; offspring between a yuki-otoko and a human female do not inherit their father's powers, while offspring between a yuki-onna and a human male is a full yuki-bito. It is believed that this is so because yuki-bito fetuses produce a chilling aura, even from the womb, that increases in potency as the baby grows to maturity. And so nature allowing a human female to carry a yuki-bito with its father's powers would freeze the woman to death before the infant is even born. Opposite that, it is believed that a yuki-onna carrying a baby without inheriting her powers would not survive to be born.

However, their have been rare cases in the past of a woman carrying a yuki-bito fetus to term while surviving the freezing aura, and there have rare been cases of a child of a human woman and a yuki-otoko developing their father's powers later in life. There have also been rare cases of a baby between a yuki-onna and a human man being safely born without inheriting its mother's powers, and either never, or only partially, developing them later in life. So the question of whether or not there are real hybrids within the race is a bit ambiguous.

While the Yuki-bito race is not inherently malevolent, their stoic demeanor and their natural environment being hazardous to humans, may have given rise to myths that they intentionally cause deaths. While possessing elemental control over ice and snow, Yuki-bito can not live in high temperate environments without assistance.

Fauna
Along with normal fauna found in our world, a number of magical and mega-fauna fauna are found around Patria. Several species of animals not found in our world anymore still exist in Patria as well.

Acromantulas
An Acromantula is a species of giant spider, native to the northern of Ingodija, particularly Gupta, where it inhabits dense hollows.

Acromantulas sport eight black eyes (white if blind) and are typically covered in thick black hair, with a leg span that can reach up to fifteen feet. They are the size of a bull mammoth at full adult size.

They possess a set of giant chelicerae which they use to eat live prey or their own dead kin. Their pincers produce a clicking sound when they are agitated or excited. They also secrete poison when excited. Their fangs contain highly toxic venom.

The female is usually larger than the male, and can lay up to one hundred soft, wide, beach ball-sized eggs at a time. They usually hatch in six to eight weeks.

Acromantulas tend to reside in thick jungles and heavily forested areas, and their webs are large and dome-shaped.

Arthropleura
The Arthropleura is a species of giant millipede native to swamps.

Basilisk
The Basilisk is a giant serpent, also known as the King of Serpents. It is a creature bred hatching a chicken egg beneath a toad. A basilisk can grow up to fifty feet, or longer, in length, and is a dark green color with large yellow eyes. Basilisk skin is armored like that of a dragon's, and a basilisk sheds its skin at intervals, like all other snakes, when it grows.

Basilisks can live a natural life of at least nine hundred years, though some basilisks have been known to live for approximately a thousand years. This is accomplished by the creature going into a deep sleep that prevents it from aging, similar to suspended animation. Their mortal weakness is the crowing of a rooster, although no one knows why. While basilisks feed off vertebrate animals, it is unknown how much they eat at one time. The male can be distinguished from the female by a single scarlet plume on its head.

Basilisk eyes have the power to instantly kill anyone who looks into them. When a victim looks indirectly at the basilisk's eyes, such as its reflection, they will merely become Petrified. Another way of surviving a basilisk's gaze is by seeing it through another object. Phoenixes alone are immune to this deadly gaze.

Basilisk venom is an extremely poisonous substance that only has one known cure: phoenix tears. Basilisk venom is so powerful that it can kill a person within minutes, making the person drowsy and blurry-visioned before they die. It has a very long lasting effect which still remains potent even up to five years or more after the snake has died. It can also damage inanimate objects so thoroughly that they are impossible to restore.

A basilisk egg is the egg of said creature. Normally, they are chicken eggs hatched beneath a toad, thus creating the deadly King of Serpents. Female basilisks do lay eggs, but even if they are fertilized they are unlikely to hatch on their own. Breeding of basilisks is illegal in most parts of Patria, the penalty often being death. However, even though they are nearly impossible to domesticate, there are still illegal breeding operations at work around the world, due to the serpent being a great threat to any who oppose it.

Cerberus
A Cerberus is a giant three-headed Dog.

Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptilian species that range from human-sizes to gigantic proportions.

Direwolf
Direwolves are an unusually large and intelligent species of wolf native primarily to the northern regions of the northern hemisphere. Their range is usually farther north, but they have been known to venture south. They're still relatively common in Aquilonis and Marlakcor, while the direwolf population in Eurodon is steadily declining.

An adult direwolf is as large as a small horse, and can rip a man's arm from its socket. Even a juvenile direwolf is quite capable of killing a man by ripping out his throat. Physically they are not simply larger versions of wolves, but have slightly different proportions than their smaller cousins; their heads are larger with a leaner, more pronounced muzzle, their legs are longer in proportion to their body, and they have proportionately larger teeth that are often used to crush bones.

Direwolves can give birth to litters of at least seven puppies.

Tame Direwolves are loyal to their masters and will attack anyone who threatens them. They will also come to the aid of those they know are loyal to their masters.

Dragons:
Dragons are giant winged, fire-breathing reptiles. Widely regarded as terrifying yet awe-inspiring, they can be found all over the world. All dragons are able to fly and breathe fire, and are considered dangerous if handled improperly. Dragons cannot be truly "tamed", but they can be bonded with and trained, and can be fiercely loyal to their masters.

Probably the most famous attribute of dragons is their ability to breathe fire. Dragon flame can turn flesh to ash, melt steel, even Zedylrian Steel, and crack stone. Young dragons can only let out only a mildly hot fire in short bursts, but as they get older dragons can produce more intense flames for a longer duration.

At first glance, dragons appear too heavy for flight, but they have large hearts and a honeycombed bone structure, traits typical of flying creatures. Dragon flight relies on a pair of sacks in their bodies called flight-bladders. Dragons produce hydrogen and methane when they digest their food; these gasses are stored in their flight-bladders. The lighter-than-air gasses allow dragons buoyancy, thus enabling flight.

For dragons with wings too-small to fly, like forest/jungle dragons or marine dragons, they serve a different purpose. For forest/jungle dragons, the vestigial wings are too small to allow flight, thus such dragons are only able to glide small distances with their stunted wings; but the buoyancy of the gas bladders let them tread less heavily, and thus quieter when stalking prey. The forest/jungle dragons gasses can also be used for another purpose, a unique adaptation: mimicry. By controlling the flow of gases out of its bladder, a dragon is able to mimic the sounds of other animals, and thus entice prey to come closer, or tricking competitors into thinking they have easy prey. For aquatic marine dragons, who spend their entire lives in the sea, only venturing on land when food in the water is scarce, their flight bladders become swim bladders, allowing extra buoyancy, and preventing the dragon from sinking.

A dragon's fire-breath relies on the gasses too. Dragons have molars in the back of their mouths, but not for eating plants; these molars are for holding a metallic mineral: platinum. The dragons shoot the gas out of two tubes in the back of their throats; when these gasses hit the platinum and mixes with oxygen, the platinum ignites the gas, resulting in the concentrated flames dragons are known for. The bodies of dragons are also very resistant to fire, particularly their own flames, which don't even damage their own mouths as they expel them.

All dragons lay eggs, and dragon mothers build a furnace-like nest out of rock and breathe fire on the nest with their eggs inside to keep them warm. The rocks shield the eggs from the direct blast while also retaining the heat, and the eggs usually hatch within three, four or five months, depending on the species. As mentioned above, dragons produce hydrogen and methane from digesting food. While dragons eat meat from the time they're born, and thus produce their crucial gasses early on, the dragon's first fire breaths, usually accompanied by thick grey smoke, appear when the dragon is around six months old. However, the ability to fly is normally developed later, at around twelve or thirteen months, and the dragon will not be fully mature and ready to live on its own until it is six or seven years old. The only known exception to these "rules" is Suguha Oda's dragon Hitokage, who was able to fly and breath fire from the moment he hatched.

Dragons, like birds, tend to imprint on whoever is present when they hatch, regarding that person as their parent. Depending on the size of the egg, and the adult size of the species, newly hatched dragons are about the size of a small cat or dog; but they grow very rapidly, reaching the size of a small pony in about seven months, and the size of a large horse in only one or two years. The only known exceptions are the magical Hachukaji eggs lying at the bottom of a pool guarded by Ran-Shao in Mt. Hirotomo, which are twenty-five feet long when they hatch (CP:SG:Chp1).

It is unknown at what age dragons reach reproductive maturity, but dragons usually reproduce for the first time at about five-to-six years of age. Dragons usually stop growing at the age of ten or twelve.

Adult dragon sizes vary by species; depending on the species, some full-grown species never get larger than one or two full-grown horses, while others can reach the size of two or three bull mammoths. However, much like fish, they grow in accordance to their environment. If dragons are chained or confined into an enclosed space for long periods of time it can hinder their growth and their overall size once fully mature.

While regarded as fauna, dragons are fairly intelligent animals, and like a horse or a dog they can be trained by handlers to respond to basic voice commands; some can even understand a whole language. Some experts even regard dragons to be as intelligent as sapient beings.

Dragons are heavily armored along their head and back, and usually have softer underbellies. dragon hunters usually exploit this weakness, but over the centuries, many dragons have learned and many have adopted strategies to protect that weak spot, though the underbelly is still relatively armored in its own right. Their eyes are a weak point as well, the weakest of all, but they're not an easy target.

Dragons are also rumored to have a strong connection to magic, but to what exact extent is unknown. What's more, it is rumored thar some dragons, very rarely, spontaneously develop the ability to shapeshift into a humanoid form, allowing them to reproduce with other races (most often humans). This exceedingly rare ability allowed the birth of people claiming to be descended from dragons.

Dragon Slaying & Dragon Taming
Dragon Slaying was an ancient "sport". It was originally believed that slaying a dragon was a glorious achievement, and made one legendary for being able to conquer one of the most powerful beasts in the world, since at the time they were believed to be nothing more than ferocious mindless monsters. Back then, dragon meat was considered a rare luxury, as the meat is supposedly better than the best venison. Dragon skin is also a highly coveted material, as it's supposed to be better than leather.

However, when a certain young girl, known to Patrian history as Minerva Eurodon, the first lunaculus of Eurodon, became lost in a mountain range, she came across a dragon. Though she was afraid of it at first, she soon realized that the beast's wing and rear leg was injured from an attack by a dragon slayer, and was in no condition to attack her (though it tried but was unable to breath fire). Minerva, taking pity on the creature, instead nursed it back to health, even stealing meat from a nearby village to feed it. Eventually, the dragon, which she named Nordraco, was able to move on its own again and did something most unusual... he allowed Minerva to climb on his back, allowing her to experience the dragon's flight. Because of her frequent visits and kindness, Nordraco had grown to trust her, even care for her. Minerva had become the first person in the world to tame a dragon and earn its companionship. The two remained companions for the rest of their days, and fought together with the rest of the lunaculi during the war against the Dark Lord.

Minerva and Nordraco's story soon sparked the realization that dragons could be their friends, and soon people all over Patria were taming dragons, for the use of military and labor, but most importantly: companionship. Noradaco is rumored to be buried with Minerva, but this in unconfirmed.

Dragon Slaying in general was soon outlawed in many parts of the world, but there are still people hunting and killing dragons, as not all parts of Patria have outlawed the practice.

Since slaying of wild dragons is now illegal in many parts of the world, some dragons are bred as livestock for slaughter for their meat and skin, much like farm animals. Even today, dragon meat is considered a luxury, and dragon skin is still used for many purposes as a superior to leather.

Known Breeds:
Dragons can be five-limbed or seven-limbed (that includes their tail).

Bipedal Types
Bipedal Types are dragons that stand on two feet. Their wings and arms can be one and the same, have arms and legs along with their wings (this type is rare), or they can have no arms at all. Some of these breeds are actually semi-quadrupedal, meaning that while they walk and run on two legs, they will drop down to all fours when they eat or stalk prey.
 * Drakyncian Frostyrion: The Frostyrion is an albino armless bipedal dragon native to the Heartstone Peninula occupied by Drakyncia, usually inhabiting the snowy mountains of the northwest.
 * Lechian Ironhide:
 * Raptor Dragon: Raptor Dragons stand on two legs and have arms with three main fingers and an apparent thumb, a rare trait for a bipedal dragon. Its wings protrude from its back and it has two horns. Raptor Dragons are the smallest of any known dragon species when fully mature, reaching the size of a large horse. Raptor Dragons are not inherently aggressive towards people, and are a popular species for breeding as mounts.
 * Soleilian Ironbelly: A bipedal breed, metallic grey in color, with an immense wingspan, long talons and rough scales said to be as hard as steel. Native to Soleil, it is the largest breed of bipedal dragon, reaching up to six tons, and its eyes are deep red. Sometimes the eyes seem to be the same color as its body because of a protective scale. It gets it name from the fact that it has a hard belly, a trait rare for a dragon, which usually have bellies softer than their backs.
 * Sverigese Short-snout: The scales are silvery blue, and its powerful flame is also a brilliant blue color - and hot enough to reduce timber and bone to ashes in seconds. Its attractive skin is much sought after for the making of gloves and shields. Since it rarely comes into contact with humans, save for domestic ones, the Short-Snout has less deaths to its name than most wild dragons. However, the Short-Snout is nevertheless one of the most dangerous species due to its agile flying and the extremely hot fire that it produces. The Short-Snout tends to be less agile on the ground because of its lack of forward limbs.
 * Transylvanian Siverhorn: The Transylvanian Silverhorn has dark green scales, and two long, silverish horns, hence its name. Its arms and wings are one and the same.
 * Wyvern: The Wyvern is a dragon native to the Brythonic Isles in southeastern Eurodon, but it is also endemic to New Albion. Its breed is usually in one of three main colors, albino, green, and red. Its wings and arms are one and the same.

Marine Dragons
Marine Dragons are types of dragons that spend their entire lives in or near the sea. Their flight bladders become swim bladders, allowing extra buoyancy; the wings are vestigial and serve as fins, and the large tail is rudder-like. They are the only type of dragon that can't breathe fire.
 * Ocean Dragon:

Quadrupedal Types
Quadrupedal Types are dragons that walk on four legs. They can have front and back legs in addition to their wings, or their wings and their front legs can be one and the same.
 * Aztec Feathered Dragon:
 * Germanian Horntail: Native to Germania, it has black scales, and is lizard-like in appearance. It also has yellow eyes, its wings and forelimbs are one and the same, it has bronze horns and similarly colored spikes that protrude along the spinal area down to the tip of its long tail which it will gladly deploy in combat. The dragon's roar is a yowling, screeching scream, and its flame can reach to about fifty feet. While having a very far reaching flame, the Horntail's breath can reach extremely high temperatures as it can make a stone turn red hot in seconds. Its eggs are cement-colored and particularly hard-shelled. The Horntail's foods of choice include cattle, sheep, goats, and whenever possible, humans.
 * Huaxian Lion Dragon:
 * Ice Dragon: The Ice Dragon is a rare dragon species native to the frozen wastes of Arctica. It has forward limbs in addition to its wings. Despite its name, the Ice Dragon breaths fire just like a normal dragon. It gets its name due to its native lands.
 * Ingodijan Jungle Dragon:
 * Noregrian Ridgeback: It resembles the Germanian Horntail, except for the black ridges on its back instead of spikes, the browner texture in its scales, and its less hostile attitude. It has venomous fangs, and its food of choice is large mammals, including water mammals, which is unusual for a dragon. Its eggs are black, and young Ridgebacks develop the ability to shoot flame earlier than any other breeds (around one to three months). Female Ridgebacks are generally more ferocious than the males.
 * Saimese White:
 * Sand Dragon: A desert-dwelling dragon native to southeastern Aquilonis. It gets its name from the fact that it mainly inhabits dune seas, where it hides itself beneath the sand before jumping out to ambush its prey. Its approximate range is from the northern Great Kalahari Desert to the dunes of Kemet on Nubia.
 * Telmarnian Rainbow-scale:
 * Hachukaji: the dominant breed of dragon native to Yamtai. Hachukaji are long and relatively slender. When fully grown, they can reach up to fifty feet or longer from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, and their wingspan is usually equally long, and their bodies, from their neck to their pelvis, can get up to five yards around. Their muzzles narrow like crocodiles and their canines protrude out (the only teeth visible when their jaws are closed. Hachukaji also grow antlers, one of the few dragons that do.

Concertina Types
Concertina Types are serpentine-like dragons without legs, leaving only their wings for flight. Rather than serpents, these types of dragons are better described as legless lizards.
 * Quetzalcoatl: The Quetzalcoatl is a serpentine dragon with feathered wings native to central Nekcroz. Possessing dexterous wings much like a harpy's, a Quetzalcoatl is fully capable of flight despite their lower half's sheer size.

Gargoyle Beasts
Gargoyle beasts are reptilian animals closely related to gargoyles.

Gargoyle beasts are quadrupedal gargates. They have a more "animal intelligence," as compared to the "human intelligence" possessed by gargoyles. They also lack wings. Other than these differences, gargoyle beasts do not differ much from gargoyles, including turning to stone during the day.

Gargoyle beasts, like gargoyles, are fertile every twenty years; each egg hatches into one pup after two years of gestation in the egg. Also like gargoyles, gargoyle beasts have a variety of skin colors.

Gigacroc
The Gigacroc is a species of giant crocodile, the size and weight of two bull elephants, native to the inland Nahuatl Sea in Nekcroz.

Gryphon
The Gryphon is a creature that has the forelegs, wings and head of a giant eagle, and the body, hind legs, and tail of a lion. The main diet of the gryphon is raw meat. Gryphons are known as fierce creatures, however, despite this, skilled tamers have been able to befriend them. Gryphons are mainly found in Eurodon and Aquilonis, and some minor colonies have been reported in Nekcroz and Marlakcor, typically inhabiting mountain ranges.

Unless a partner dies, gryphons mate for life, and males are aggressively protective of their mates and young; the exceptions are people they've bonded with, in which case they will allow them to go near their mate and play with their young.

Gryphon mothers lay eggs, normally five or six in a clutch during summer, which normally hatch after about ten weeks. Gryphons grow fast: gryphon hatchlings are about the size of a full-grown basset hound when they hatch, and after about six months they're the size of a full-grown golden retriever; by that time they learn to fly and their parents teach them to hunt for themselves. Full grown gryphons are about the size of a Clydesdale horse.

Gryphons reach sexual maturity after about only fifteen months, and females often lay their first fertile clutch before they're two years old, but gryphons reach full maturity after about three years.

Demigryffs
Demigryffs are a gryphon sub-species that has the whole body of the lion and the head of an eagle. Unlike normal gryphons, which have the forelegs and wings of an eagle, demigriffs have the forelegs of a whole lion and no wings.

Hippogriffs
A Hippogriff is a magical creature that has the front legs, wings, and head of a giant eagle and the body, hind legs and tail of a horse. It is very similar to another mythical creature, the gryphon, with the horse rear replacing the lion rear; this trait alone makes them unrelated to gryphons in any way. Hippogriffs have cruel, steel-colored beaks and large eyes. The talons on their front legs are half a foot long and appear deadly. Hippogriffs are normally grey in color, but other colors have been reported.

When Humans, or any sapient race, approach Hippogriffs, a proper etiquette must be maintained to avoid danger. Hippogriffs are intensely proud creatures, and an individual must show proper respect by bowing to them, and waiting for them to bow in return before approaching. Eye contact should be maintained at all times, without a single blink. The Hippogriff should be allowed to make the first move as this is polite. If offended, it may attack. Hippogriffs are tameable, but only by experts in their care. Although proud, hippogriffs can also be fiercely loyal and protective of those who have earned their trust.

The diet of the hippogriff consists mainly of insects, birds, and small mammals such as ferrets. They will sometimes paw at the ground for worms if no other food is readily available. When breeding, hippogriffs build nests on the ground, and lay only a single, fragile egg. The egg usually hatches in twenty-four hours. Infant hippogriffs are capable of flight within a week, but it takes many months before they are strong enough to accompany their parents on long journeys. It is unknown at what age hippogriffs are able to reproduce, but hippogriffs reach full maturity after about three years.

Hippocampus
The Hippocampus is a sea creature with the upper body resembling a horse, and the lower body of a fish.

Hydra
A Hydra is a quadrupedal, fire-breathing, reptilian, monster with five long-necked heads. This beast can grow up to the size of a bull mammoth, and is the only beast other than a dragon that can breath fire.

Legends say that if you cut off one head, two more will grow in its place, but this is nothing more than a myth.

Kraken
A Kraken is a sea monster that appears a cross between an octopus and a squid. The kraken can grow up to a mile long and have a body the size of a bull mammoths. Krakens have ten arms, and eight of its arms can grow five hundred feet long and have suckers on the underside, while its two longer arms can grow a quarter-mile long, and the "hands" are shaped like rhombuses and have suckers too.

Krakens are known for attacking ships, and such make crossing the sea dangerous; but the only reason they attack ships is because they mistake them for small whales, one of their prey. Aside for small wales, krakens are known to feed on dolphins or animals of similar size. Regretfully, krakens aren't alpha-predators because they are prey to leviathans, having less armor than the latter.

The kraken is most commonly found in the sea between Eurodon and Aquilonis, but sightings in other waters have been reported.

Leviathans
Leviathans are a giant carnivorous species of sea monster that can grow up to 2 kilometers long and 500 meters around. It appears and resembles a cross between several marine species; with a crocodile-like head, whale-like body and fluke, lobster-like claws and legs, and shark-like dorsal fin, they are truly monstrous in appearance. The topside of their body, below the dorsal fin, has a lobster-like shell for armor, but their undersides are fleshy like whales. Despite having a "Whale-like" body, a leviathan's belly is completely covered in scales, save for their claws, legs and armor.

They are the alpha-predators of the oceans, being predators of mainly small whales as well as sharks, marine dragons, Krakens, smaller fish, and sometimes humans and other species; although leviathans tend to only hunt humans and other species just because they mistake them for small prey. Other times it's because they view them as invaders of their territory, particularly during mating season. Sometimes they will prey upon each other when fighting over territory, and will sometimes kill younger leviathans that wander into their territory. Because leviathans are solitary creatures, they generally don't tolerate intruders, but will sometimes let the intruders go depending on their mood.

Extremely resistant to water pressures, they are capable swimming in the open sea or traversing the seabed, but they're not fish and must still come up for air, and posses three separate blowholes on top of their heads; although they can stay submerged up to eight days before coming up fro a breath.

Despite their massive size, leviathans are very agile in water; they're capable of bending their bodies 180° into a U-shape, allowing them to turn the other way when they sense prey or danger, not that most sea creatures are a danger to it; they are also capable of leaping out of the water, despite their large bulky build. Leviathans aren't as common as they were long ago due to habitat change, but the biggest issue was over-hunting by glory-seeking hunters, but a few hundred still inhabit Patria's waters.

Leviathans mate roughly once every ten to fifteen years, going into a period of sexual activity that lasts a full year. Males will often fight each other over a female, usually ending in death for one of them. Impregnated females lay a single large egg the size and weight of a bull elephant, and will usually lay their egg in warmer waters, nesting them in soft sand. The female will then become aggressive, guarding the egg zealously until it hatches, leaving only for brief periods to hunt; it is during this time that females are the most dangerous to humans, merpeople and other sapient life. The egg hatches approximately two years after it's laid, and the juvenile will stick with its mother for about four years, long enough to learn how to hunt, before striking out on its own. Leviathans reach full maturity after about fifteen years, and adult leviathans can live up to two hundred years.

In ancient history, and parts of Maritymir today, leviathans were worshiped as the heralds of water deities, and killing one was said to bring down their wrath. Even today it is the ultimate taboo, but many hunters ignore the superstitions.

Leviathan scales posses magical properties, and half-merpeople who can shape-shift their legs, but can't control them, use the scales to control their transformations.

Mammoths
Mammoths are an elephantine species with smaller ears and much more mass compared to an elephant. While mammoths and elephants are distantly related and are capable of reproducing together, they remain distinct species and hybrids are known to be sterile.

Southern Mammoth
The Southern Mammoth is a nearly hairless mammoth native to Nekcroz. They're mostly extant in Weirland, but there are herds on the mainland that have been seen as far as south as the Xotilic jungles.

Woolly Mammoths
The Woolly Mammoth, also known as the Northern Mammoth, is a hairy mammoth native to the northern tundra regions of northern Eurodon, northwestern Aquilonis and northern Marlakcor.

Manticore
The Manticore is a beast with the body of a lion, but with the tail of a scorpion, large bat wings, and horns. Manticores are among the most feared beats on Patria; not only are they considered an alpha predator, but they're vicious, and are known for attacking anything that moves. What's more, the venom from their teeth and tail is so potent, that even the most skilled of potioneers have a hard time synthesizing antidotes.

Manticores generally live in all matters of environment, but are more commonly found in mountainous regions, and are known to compete with gryphons over territory. Contrary to popular belief, since manticores are known to hunt alone, manticores are social animals that live in large groups, ranging from a pack of just five, to a familial colony of over a hundred. Female manticores lay eggs, usually a clutch of five or six, but most often only three hatch at once; the others usually turn out to be either duds, or are simply unfertilized.

Manticores are vicious and untameable, but not untrainable. As such, they were a popular beast of war in ancient times. Many fables tell of whole armies breaking at the sight of a single manticore charging the ranks.

However, recent years have seen the outlawing of training manticores for war in many countries (but not all of them).

Meganeura
The Meganeura is a giant dragonfly native to swamps.

Pegasus
The Pegasus (pl. Pegasi) is a winged horse. Pegasi are found on all corners of Patria, but are more scarce in Maritymir and Alfheim. Unlike normal horses, which are prone to capture for use as mounts and beasts of burden, Pegasi have an easier time escaping due to their ability to fly away.

Phoenix
The phoenix is a large swan-sized scarlet bird with red and gold plumage, along with a golden beak and talons, black eyes, and a tail as long as a peacock's. Its scarlet feathers glow faintly in darkness, while its golden tail feathers are hot to the touch.

Phoenixes will usually nest on mountain peaks or in caves in the rock face. Phoenixes are omnivorous: as birds of prey they normally feed on fish or small amphibians or mammals like frogs, mice, rats or insects; when not hunting, they will feed on small fruits, nuts, or berries. Despite being partially carnivorous, they are gentle creatures that are not known for fighting, unless it is over a mate.

As phoenixes approach their Burning Day they resemble a half-plucked turkey. Their eyes become dull, their feathers start to fall out, and it begins to make gagging noises. Then the bird suddenly bursts into flames only to rise from the ashes shortly after. Within a month, they grow back to full size. Thanks to this ability, phoenixes live to an immense age. They can also go into a premature burning day if they are killed. However, if a phoenix's ashes are swept away before it has reborn, it will die permanently. After being hatched or reborn, phoenixes generally go through a Burning Day naturally once every five or six years.

Phoenixes are immune to the gaze of a basilisk, which would normally kill anyone who has direct eye to eye contact, or petrify through indirect eye contact.

Their tears have potent healing capabilities. For instance, phoenix tears are the only known antidote of basilisk venom. Their tears are also able to bring a person back even from the brink of death, while the phoenix song will increase the courage of the good and strike fear into the hearts of the evil. Phoenixes are capable of lifting a great weight, such as being able to effortlessly fly up a distance with four people holding on to its tail. It can also carry immensely heavy packages in its talons, carrying it from one point to another without tiring.

Phoenixes are very difficult to domesticate, but phoenixes that have been domesticated, or hatched and raised by people, are extremely loyal to their owners, and would depart to find their own paths if their owners die, rather than finding a new master.

Phoenixes mate for life, a rare trait for birds. Fertilized phoenix eggs are glossy red with a natural orange flaming pattern that varies from egg to egg; unfertilized eggs are more a dull grayish-red. Female phoenixes lay a clutch of about five eggs at one time, hatching them over the course of a year. Just like when they're reborn after dying, phoenix chicks grow to full size in about a month.

Rhinos
Aside from rhino species found on earth, three other species are native to Patria as well.

Elasmotherium
The Elasmotherium, or Woolly Rhino, is a species of rhino covered in fur with a massive horn, as long a a full grown man is tall, native to the tundras of Rossiya in northern Eurodon and northwestern Aquilonis.

Embolotherium
A rhino with a wider horn that is horizontally narrower near the top. Native to Weirland on northeastern Nekcroz.

Megacerops
A rhino with a y-shaped horn, native to Weirlend in northeastern Nekcroz and parts of Ingodija.

Roc
A Roc, sometimes also known as Great Eagles, is an eagle of gigantic proportions. Rocs can reach the size of two bull elephants, but are nowhere near as heavy.

Rocs generally make nests in small elevated valleys tucked within mountain ranges. There have never been many reports of them being disturbed by predators; it is said their gaze can be so piercing, even the alpha predators steer clear of them.

Roc mothers normally lay a clutch of six eggs, each the size of three healthy human babies.

Scorpinok
The Scorpinok is a species of giant scorpion native to the deserts of Kalahar. Scorpinoks are roughly the size of a labrador when hatched, but can grow up to the size and weight of a two bull mammoths.

Smilodon
The Smilodon, more commonly known as the saber-toothed cat, is a large predatory cat native to Nekcroz.

Sphinx
The Sphinx is a magical creature native to southeast Aquilonis. It has the head of human, the body of lion, and eagle wings.

Sphinxes are renowned for being extremely intelligent: they are capable of speech, and are known for their love of puzzles, riddles, and enigmas. Their riddles are normally extremely long and complicated, with profusely subtle references to the answer that most people would almost certainly miss. They also possess superhuman strength, especially in their brutally powerful paws - this makes them very dangerous to other beings. Yet, despite their intelligence, they are considered beasts rather than sapient beings due to being a threat to unwary passersby.

Criosphinx
The Criosphinx is a subspecies of sphinx with the head of a ram instead of a human.

Hieracosphinx
The Hieracosphinx is a subspecies of sphinx with the head of a hawk instead of a human. This species if often confused with a demigryff or a gryphon.

Terror Bird
The Terror Bird is a large predatory flightless bird native to Nekcroz, found primarily on the northern half of the main continent.

Unicorns
The unicorn is a white, equine creature with a single horn on its forehead.

Unicorn foals are born pure gold in color. They remain so until they are about two years old, at which time their coat turns silverish. At around four-years-old their horn grows in. They are fully grown at about seven years old, at which at this age they turn to their dominant color. Unicorns are usually silver-white, but other colors such as black, grey and chestnut have also been documented. Their hooves are golden, (remaining so from their gold stage, the first two years of their life), and their blood is silver-blue in color and shines under the moonlight. It is not known how long a unicorn can live for.

Unicorns inhabit forests and are more commonly found in Eurodon and Aquilonis, but there are plentiful herds in Weirland as well. There are known small herds in Marlakcor too, but they're otherwise scarce there.

Unicorns prefer a woman's touch, but can grow more trusting if a bond is formed with a man. The young ones are more trusting and do not mind men as much. Unicorns are also so fleet-of-hoof that they can rarely be caught by hunters, and make excellent steeds.

Various parts of the unicorn, the horn and tail hair in particular, are used in potions. Unicorn hair in general is used for the cores of wands, and the tail hair can also be used as binding in bandages due to its incredible strength. The blood of a unicorn can be used for divination purposes or potions, but is seldom used because of recent laws tabooing it.

Hybrid Races
A hybrid race, or half-breed, is the offspring between two different races. It is not uncommon to find half-breeds produced from the mating between two different races as a result of societal coexistence.

While creation of hybrid races through reproduction is not uncommon, some races are more well known than others.

Hybrid Sapient Races
The most common sapient half-breeds on Patria are between Humans and another race. When a human reproduces with another race, the resulting hybrid is often called a "half-(whatever they reproduced with)," but other sorts of half-breeds have proper names.

However, since the majority of Patria's sapient beings value racial purity, half-breeds are often looked down upon by most societies. Only a handful of places on Patria don't discriminate between pure-bloods and half-breeds, particularly where two or more races have lived and coexisted for generations.

Cambion
Cambions are half-human half-demon hybrids resulting from the reproduction between a human and a demon. This term is also often used for offspring between a human and a succubus or incubus, but is actually erroneous.

Dhampir
Dhampirs are a hybrid race between vampires and humans.

Demigod
A Demigod is the hybrid offspring of any mortal being and a deity. Demigods are relatively rare due to most Gods preferring to remain out of the mortal world. But every so often one will descend, usually on a whim, and wind up conceiving a child with a mortal.

Some Demigods develop powers normally only used by full Gods, while others remain mortal throughout their lives. Also, unlike full Gods, Demigods aren't immortal, and will pass on unless granted immortality.

Nephilim
Nephilims are half human-half angel hybrids resulting from the reproduction between a human and an angel.

Sanaedhel
A hybrid of an elf and vampire. Sanaedhels have elf ears and vampire fangs. They come into being through one of three ways: reproduction between a vampire and an elf, two Sanaedhels, or when an elf is bitten and turned by a Narkpior vampire or a pureblood Zyorite vampire.

Troblin
A Troblin is a hybrid race produced between a Troll and a Goblin.

Vampcubus
A vampcubus (pl. vampcubi) is a hybrid race produced between a vampire and a succubus or incubus. Vampcubi inherit the sexual needs and abilities from their succubus/incubus parent, and the blood-sucking needs from their vampire parent. Like zyroites, they are immune to sunlight.

Werevamp
A Werevamp is a half-werewolf half-vampire crossbreed, produced either through reproduction or if a narkpior or pureblood zyroite bit a werewolf while it was in human form. Since vampires and werewolves have been at each others throats since forever, possibly since before the first lunaculi, such creatures are mostly viewed with disdain and hostility, scorned by vampires and werewolves alike, along with general society.

Yuki-hanbun
Yuki-hanbun is the term for a person born between a Yuki-bito and a human, no matter the pairing or if it has powers or not.

Alicorn
The Alicorn, or sometimes known as a "Pegacorn," is a pegasus with a unicorn horn. They are generally the offspring of a unicorn and a pegasus, but they can reproduce with one another as well. They are an extremely rare sight and seeing one is usually viewed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Although, they're not actually that rare. It's become a goal of many breeders to breed as many alicorns as possible, so that they can have a self-sustaining population on their own one day. There are small heard in parts of Eurodon, Aquilonis and Weirland, but the largest known herd is a locally bred herd in the Ouesteau Region of Gallia, and is believed to have more than one hundred alicorns.

Elephamoth
An Elephamoth an a hybrid species that is a cross between an elephant and a mammoth. Since the two species are known to be distinct, despite being related, most elephamoths are known to be sterile, with very rare exceptions.

Notes & Trivia

 * While Humans are indeed the most numerous sapient race on Patria, the populations of the rest of the races listed are significant as well. Although, some races thrive better in different regions than one others, and are therefore rare, or nonexistent, in certain parts of Patria.
 * Regardless, most races are so numerous that almost every major city on Patria, particularly capitals and major trade centers, have a reasonable population of a different race other than the country's dominant one. Elves, dwarves, fauns, centaurs, fairies, vampires and merfolk are prominent examples.
 * "Volucyadal" is a Portmanteau of the Latin words "Volucer Dryadalis/Dryadalibus", which mean "Winged Elf/Elves".
 * Nereids are "Sea Nymphs" in Greek mythology, often accompanying Poseidon.
 * Animal People are complicated:
 * Zoothropes are based off the inhabitants of the Sly Cooper Series.
 * Ferafti is a portmanteau of the Latin word "Fera", meaning "animal", and the Greek word "Afti", meaning "ear".
 * Ferafti are basically kemonomimi from Japanese moe anthropomorphism.
 * Apefolk (Jueyuan), and Lizardfolk (Saurians), are not included in the Animal People category, as they are separate races all their own.
 * It should be noted that, although Xotil and Xzandor are both Lizardfolk-dominanted nations, they are completely different cultures. Xotil culture is more akin to the cultures typical of central and southern Nekcroz. The culture of Xzandor, on the other hand, is more akin to the cultures of Eurodon and southern Aquilonis.
 * Given the way Eurodon is arranged compared to real-world Europe, the Ostligs are the Patrian equivalent to the Nordics.