Species Index

Humans

Humans are a rarer breed than they used to be, but they're still around and rival most other species in number. They've become more diverse as a result of the Disaster.

Most surviving humans (98%) are immune to the virus that changed the world. The genetic traits that cause this immunity weren't linked to other traits, so humanity is still diverse in appearance and function. Immunity is also hereditary, which has ensured that the population of immune humans remains high. These are largely the people working to rebuild human society from its ashes (for good or ill).

Roughly 2-3% of humanity is not immune to the virus. The majority of these humans would be considered Altered, but a few have escaped mutation by living in cities and sheltered areas with high immune populations. These humans are none the wiser that they're one bad encounter away from mutation. There's no safe test for immunity, so even immune humans still hope for the best.

Altered humans occupy a unique social position. To some, they represent what could happen to their loved ones if they're unlucky. Many regions treat mutated humans as untouchable. A few regions revere them instead, seeing mutation as a gift from the gods; these areas elevate the Altered to holy status. Somewhere in-between are the towns that accept mutation as a part of life and move on without fanfare.

Altered humans often build new lives on the fringes of society, eventually founding their own towns. These communities often advocate for accepting the changed world as it is rather than struggling to return it to its pre-Disaster state, which isn't the most popular stance with immune humans. It's led to a considerable amount of conflict between settlements.

Shadowfolk

Shadowfolk are a curious breed. Their bodies are made of a tarry black substance that's able to behave as either a liquid or a solid (though it takes a few minutes to change states). While they can't gain or lose much mass, Shadowfolk can contort that mass into any shape that pleases them. Their name comes from their ability to blend into dark areas and their inability to tolerate bright light.

In Shadowfolk culture, community is all-important. The good of the whole always wins over the needs of the individual, and shadows are loathe to reject or neglect their own. If someone needs something, then the community will do everything in their power to meet that need. Even the most individualistic of shadows feels a strong pull towards their kin.

The Shadowfolk predate humanity by a considerable margin; while a few fights took place between the two in the past, the first real conflict came during humanity's Bronze Age. Humanity wanted to expand its cities and territories, but giving up more land would have prevented the Shadowfolk from meeting their own needs. War erupted. While a peace treaty eventually resulted, the Shadowfolk were greatly weakened by the war. Humanity's Industrial Age finally pushed the Shadowfolk out of their homeland.

Poorly adapted to other regions, the Shadowfolk struggled to survive for the next few hundred years. Small groups migrated south and west, finding patches of forest that were survivable; those who couldn't migrate usually died. The Disaster opened the Shadowfolk's homeland back up to them, and they've begun settling into the shells of humanity's cities.

Since the Disaster, rumors have spread surrounding the Shadowfolk's interactions with humanity. Some believe they've found a way to bring humans into their fold, changing them permanently into one of their own. Others whisper that the Shadowfolk have begun eating other sapient species^[1]. Whatever the case may be, the Shadowfolk are regarded with suspicion despite their outreach efforts. Disappearances in the area of their home cities haven't helped matters.

Sapients

Sapients are robots and low-level artificial intelligences that were created before the Disaster. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but the majority have bipedal or quadrupedal frames made of exposed metal with hydraulic joints. Most of them swaddle their bodies in fabric and other coverings to prevent rust and make it easier for other species to accept them.

Rather than being a monolithic species, Sapients are all unique in a physical sense. No two are exactly the same. Some of this is due to self-modification; many Sapients have taken to tinkering with their bodies to keep themselves running. Other differences are due to the wide variety of models produced pre-Disaster. Robots were often individually customized to the specifications of whoever ordered their creation, resulting in a large variety of forms and functions. This has made finding replacement parts difficult.

Much of Sapient culture revolves around survival. Power and parts are hard to come by after the collapse of industrial society, so many Sapients have taken to scavenging the shells of cities to keep themselves alive. Many form trade caravans and peddle scavenged goods in exchange for more useful items (such as fuel sources). A handful have settled down in cities that have basic electrical systems in place. These settlers often spend their time recreating pre-Disaster technologies, slowly improving the area's quality of life. Others have taken to serving the gods in exchange for power and repairs.

Sapients are one of the few holdovers from pre-Disaster times. They represent one of humanity's greatest achievements: true sentience in robotic life. Unfortunately, there are few replacement parts available for them, and their numbers have dwindled as wear and tear takes its toll. There are fewer than 100 of their kind still functioning in modern day.

Bugfolk ("The Hive")

The Bugfolk are tall, quadrupedal insectoids. Like most insects, they have a chitin exoskeleton, three distinct body segments, and complex eyes. Unlike most insects, they're 2.5 meters tall on average and developed prosthetic Mechos fingers to improve their dexterity.

The entire species operates as a "soft" hivemind. Bugfolk society completely disregards individualism, and one bug is equivalent to another. Each body does have its own idiosyncrasies, but they're seen as parts of the larger whole. It's like how a finger is made of individual cells. The hivemind is an emergent property that appears when large numbers of bugfolk spend time together, syncing up into a larger intelligence. This shared mind is able to split and merge into sub-minds as needed to manage smaller groups.

Bugfolk operate almost exclusively in groups of nine or more, as they consider nine to be a mathematically perfect number. Even their counting system is base nine (largely because bugfolk have nine legs; four on each side and one in the back).

It's extremely rare to see a bug on its own. When separated from the hive, most bugfolk experience severe depression or anxiety that worsens the longer they're kept away. Eventually, their bond to the hive breaks. This outright kills most bugfolk, as they're unable to regulate their own bodies without group influence. A small number can exist as independents if eased out of the hive, but few want to. Being immersed in the hive is blissful.

The bugfolk's tendency to see hivemindedness as an ideal state has caused a lot of conflict with other species. To the bugfolk, bringing someone into their hive is a gift. They've spent considerable time and energy learning how to bring other species into the hive because they see independence and freedom as burdensome and painful, and they want to relieve that pain in others. There's genuinely no bad intentions behind it.

To other species, the bugfolk are forcefully kidnapping and brainwashing their people. A few individuals have joined the hive willingly, but this doesn't soothe the fears of those who'd like to keep their independence. Instead, it fuels the fire.

Crystal Walkers

The Crystal Walkers ("Walkers" for short) are parasites that secrete a crystal-like shell to protect themselves. The color of this shell appears to be influenced by ambient temperatures, and it ranges from pink to turquoise. It's quite hard, but can be cracked off with enough force.

Walkers spread through skin-to-skin contact. While there are a handful of cases where prompt washing of the area or removal of affected tissue prevented full infestation, it's generally believed that anyone touched by a Walker is a lost cause.

The life cycle of Walkers has two main life phases. Nymphs reproduce asexually, spreading the parasite further across and into the unlucky host. If the host is around other Walkers, then nymphs mature into adults, who reproduce sexually. The progeny of adult Walkers may as well be a different creature, using their parents and their hosts as body scaffolding as they develop. Once mobile, they seek out new hosts to begin the cycle anew.

Most Walkers are not sapient, but a small portion of them do develop awareness and strive to accomplish goals during their short lives. These Walkers effectively possess their hosts, driving them to do as much as they can before the responsible parasite expires. Adult Walkers seem to retain personality traces of their hosts, often seeking to perform last rites or fulfil dying wishes. This is usually misinterpreted by other sapient species.

Mistfolk

Mistfolk are rarely seen or spoken to, and they're regarded as a myth by most other species. Some even believe them to be spirits. In truth, they're a humanoid species that's able to manipulate the transparency of their bodies, appearing and disappearing at will. A subset of them have found ways to extend this ability to their clothing, weaving cloth that reacts to the state of their bodies.

The Mistfolk are a very recent species, having come into existence somewhere around Year 115. They were the first species to be created by the gods' intervention; a prophecy was given about a human ending a war with her death. The prophecy was self-fulfilling, as humanity placed it on the shoulders of one of their own, who proceeded to carry it out because she believed that she had no other choice. Rather than dying, she was squirrelled away to the remains of an underground laboratory by one of the gods (along with about a dozen other humans in the area), who set about modifying those unlucky people to their liking. The few Mistfolk still in contact with this god refer to them as Soul or Fog.

Many Mistfolk are in close contact with the gods, serving their wills for mutual benefit. They otherwise tend to be loners. Most of their culture consists of ritualistic gestures and the occasional inside joke.

Guardians

Guardians are tall, winged humanoids with feathered hair. This hair sometimes extends along their arms and legs, and it typically comes in brown, tan, white, or black. They have high metabolisms and attempt to conserve energy where possible, as their bodies consume more calories than other species even when idle.

The Guardians came into existence a few decades before the Disaster. They were created as part of a military project to create better soldiers; modifying humans to fly seemed like an excellent idea to the local government at the time, as did making those humans more durable than they had any right to be. Enough Guardians survived the Disaster that they were able to establish a community. Since then, they've taken on spiritual connotations to other species, and they're regarded as either heralds of death or ferrymen to the afterlife.

Many Guardians have leaned into the spiritual ideas placed on them, and they've developed a culture based on respect for the dead and dying of other species. It's commonplace for Guardians to memorize the names of every person they've met so that they'll be remembered after death; it's believed that a person's name must be remembered for them to find their way to the afterlife. Tracking all of these names is no small undertaking. The majority of Guardians live where stone or clay is readily available so that they can carve names into something.

A subset of Guardians have been touched by Light and serve that god as a result. These Guardians are easily recognized by their black-and-white feather patterns^[2] and progressive flesh tumor deformities. It's rumored that the lifespans of Light-touched Guardians have been greatly extended, and some believe that these Guardians have multiple lives. Each black feather supposedly counts one death. Most other species fear these Guardians, treating them as bad omens.

Footnotes

[1]: Shadowfolk are obligate carnivores, but they stick to vermin. Eating people is taboo for good reason.

[2]: Bicolor feather patterns do not naturally occur outside of Light's strain of mutation.

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