Special Species
This is a page listing specific species that differ from how they are commonly portrayed and thus need further specifications. Those involve special design quirks, number limitations due to rarity, or even forbidden species altogether. All kindreds are involved in this system, so take a look at the list before making a character because even rootkin characters are included.
The availability (if you're allowed to design your own) and status (how rare they are to encounter in Mereldia in general) are sorted in the following system:
Availability
Open
This species is open for anyone to design and include in character backstories and NPCs.
Limited
Specific conditions must be met before designing a character of this species is allowed. NPCs and mentioned encounters in character backstories are allowed, but should be held to a singular character.
Restricted
This species is only available through special character slots that must be earned first. An encounter with this species is allowed in a character's backstory, but NPCs of this species are not allowed unless the appropriate character slot is earned.
Forbidden
This species is closed and no one but Lilafly is allowed to design a character of this species. This includes NPCs and mentions of an encounter with this species in a character's backstory.
Status
Common
This species is widely spread and can be used for characters of most factions (keep faction-specific design and species criteria in mind).
Uncommon
It is more unusual to encounter this species. Reactions are usually limited to curious looks rather than becoming a spectacle.
Rare
Whenever this species shows up somewhere, they attract attention.
Mythical
This species is seen so rarely that they count as mythical and a lot of people even doubt they exist at all.
Kindred
Rootkin
This species is a natural species that is listed here due to special criteria applying to it.
Chimera
This species is considered a chimera under the kindred classification system and only deviates from that kindred when demon or fae lineage in the recent family tree exist.
Demon
This species is considered a demon under the kindred classification system.
Faekin
This species is pure faekin and usually consists of ancient fae lineages that saved themselves from the first War of Extermination. They are not related to the Aos Sidhe that coaxed Mereldia back to life after the world tree's fall and commonly only associate themselves with their own kind, living wildly or choosing to live in family clans withn cities.
Otherkin
This species does not fit within the kindred system or shows immense variation in mana strength and can therefore not be generally classified.
Dragon
Availability: Forbidden
Status: Mythical
Kindred: Otherkin
Dragons are creatures as old as Mereldia itself. They are enormous in size, living in secluded regions where they are not disturbed, occupied with the eternal task of being soul shepherds. They lead the souls of the dead back to their origin, allowing them to reincarnate into new life. Meanwhile, they do not need food, water, air or even sleep to live, as the leylines themselves keep them sustained eternally. This also gives them access to enormous power, the source of all magic itself, which makes it fortunate that they are solely observers of life rather than active participants. They usually guard treasures beyond imagination in their hoards, all of which things they consider as too dangerous for mortals and immortals alike to ever use. With this, they keep the balance in Mereldia. Due to their lack of participation in either of the two great wars, it is unlikely they would join if another one were to break out. And if they would, it would surely be the end of Mereldia for good.
Gryphon
Availability: Open / Limited
Status: Mixed
Kindred: Chimera
Gryphons are the oldest known chimera species, dating back to before the fall of the World Tree and even before the war that led to Mereldia's ruin. The original gryphons were a combination of a lion and an eagle, reportedly created in an attempt to produce the strongest and most noble creature. Over the tens of thousands of years since then, gryphons have diversified from this original lion-eagle form into a broader range of feline-avian combinations.
A gryphon's front half—including the head, forelegs, and wings—is always avian, while its hindquarters—including the hind legs, back, and tail—are feline. Their tails are also partially or entirely covered in feathers, which provide greater stability during flight. The extent of this feathering varies between individuals and species, with some having feathers only at the tip of the tail and others having a fully feathered tail. Despite their avian appearance, gryphons are mammals. They give birth to live young and nurse them, and do not possess the organs necessary to lay eggs.
Gryphons have the longest recorded history of any known species in Mereldia. Their oldest surviving texts date back to 2653 B.W., when the entirety of Mereldia was still ruled by the gods and the war had yet to begin. Gryphons are traditionally proud and stubborn, with a strong preference for isolation and a deep distrust of modern city life. They typically live in prides within caves, particularly in the wild lands, and generally avoid interacting with other sentient species, whom many gryphons consider unnatural.
The main exception is Nordberg. The gryphons' ancient kingdom of Sraderham became a refuge for those fleeing the war in ancient times, led by the gods who would eventually become the guardians of Nordberg. The gryphons accepted their help in rebuilding the portions of Sraderham that had been destroyed, allowing the refugees to establish homes there as well. The refugees and their gods eventually became permanent residents, choosing to coexist peacefully with the gryphons.
"Nordberg" originated as an alternative name for Sraderham found in ancient gryphon texts and was initially used alongside the kingdom's original name. Over time, however, Nordberg became the name by which the former kingdom—and eventually the capital city of the North Lands—was known. Many gryphons resented this change, particularly as other species gradually became established throughout what they still considered their ancestral homeland. This has contributed to the resentment some gryphons hold towards the other peoples of Nordberg today.
Not all gryphons share these views. A small number have become more accepting of modern society and have ventured beyond the North Lands, choosing to live in cities elsewhere in Mereldia.
It is rare to see gryphons within cities outside of Nordberg.
It is uncommon to see them in the North Lands outside of Nordberg.
Within Nordberg, gryphons are common, particularly in the parts of the city that correspond to the original Sraderham and survived the war's destruction.
You are allowed to create as many gryphon characters within Nordberg as you want.
When it comes to gryphon characters that start out outside of Nordberg, you are only allowed a single character.
Hippocampus
Availability: Open / Limited
Status: Mixed
Kindred: Chimera
Not much is known about hippocampi due to their habitat being primarily aquatic. Generally, they are a mixture of a horse and an aquatic creature, having the front half of a horse and the hind half of the aquatic creature in question. Like many chimeras, their unusual appearance stems from experimentation by the gods during the war. Unlike most chimeras, however, hippocampi were not created through a physical merging of forms, but through a curse. The curse is hereditary and has persisted to this day.
Hippocampi usually live in the water and spend the majority, if not all, of their lives there. They are nevertheless able to leave the water and regain their land form. The transformation is triggered by leaving the water and completely drying out, a process many describe as excessively painful. Once completely dry, they regain their equine hind legs, though they may retain features of their aquatic form, such as scales or fins. A hippocampus can remain in this land form for as long as they wish. They only return to their aquatic form after fully submerging themselves in water again, which triggers an equally painful, though considerably shorter, transformation.
Hippocampi can also have offspring while in their land form. Such offspring are born without any physical hippocampus features and initially appear entirely equine, but the hereditary curse remains dormant within them. Once the child fully submerges itself in water for the first time, the curse activates and they gain their aquatic form. After this first transformation, they may retain aquatic features in their land form that were not present before the curse manifested. The curse only manifests in chimera and rootkin offspring; crosses with demonkin or faekin generally suppress the curse entirely.
It is rare to encounter hippocampi far inland, particularly in countries without a large body of water nearby.
It is uncommon to see them in the streets, as relatively few choose to undergo the painful transformation into their land form. They are also uncommon in the North Lands, as most hippocampi live in warmer waters.
Hippocampi are common in the Coastal Pond and are highly valued members of ship crews. They are also found surprisingly often in central Koruna, though these are usually individuals who prefer their land form and deliberately avoid living near large bodies of water.
You are allowed to create as many hippicampi characters for Koruna as you want.
When it comes to hippocampi characters outside of Koruna and the Coastal Pond, you are only allowed a single character.
Hippogriff
Availability: Limited
Status: Rare
Kindred: Chimera
Hippogriffs are said to be an ancient attempt to recreate gryphons with different components. Much like gryphons, they pre-date the reign of the gods and the fall of the World Tree, but they never existed in the numbers that gryphons did, making them much rarer to encounter.
Most hippogriffs live in the wild lands nowadays, though some have settled in cities as well. They are a rare sight either way.
Unlike gryphons, they have much less variety in their avian halves, likely due to their smaller population allowing for fewer variations to develop. Their front halves usually resemble those of birds of prey, particularly eagles. Their equine back halves can show more variation, however, as hippogriffs can produce offspring with horses. Their tails also vary, being either horse-like or made entirely of tail feathers, with some hippogriffs having a mixture of both. They are slightly more common to encounter in the kingdom of Ravonne or as messengers.
Hippogriffs are rare and therefore limited to one character per person, including NPCs unrelated to the hippogriff character. That means that you are allowed to make NPCs that are hippogriffs if they share the same family and are therefore connected. So you cannot create another hippogriff character or an NPC connected to a character that is not a hippogriff character, if you already have a hippogriff character.
Kelpie
Availability: Limited
Status: Uncommon
Kindred: Faekin
Kelpies are among the wild fae and very rarely venture into cities. They are carnivorous water horses that live in bodies of water and kill their prey through ambush. With their talent for glamours, they disguise themselves as people or creatures that might entice their prey to draw closer, whether it is someone they desire, someone in need of help, or anything else that might catch their attention. Once their prey touches the kelpie's skin, they become stuck to it as long as they are dry. The kelpie then drags them into the water, where they drown before being devoured.
Kelpies most commonly have offspring with other equine fae, usually other kelpies, though it is possible for a kelpie and a horse to have offspring as well. The latter is rare, as kelpies would usually regard horses as prey rather than potential partners. Offspring with kelpie blood inherit the abilities of kelpies, though these are generally weaker than those of a full kelpie. Their skin may be less adhesive, for example, or their glamours may be less potent. The strength of these inherited traits varies between individuals.
Kelpies usually have dark coats that blend well into the dark waters of bogs and lakes. Their manes and tails also tend to be darker in colour, though brighter colours are possible. Most characteristic, however, are the pieces of kelp and other aquatic vegetation tangled throughout their manes and tails. Kelpies that put little effort into their glamours may reveal their true nature by failing to disguise this vegetation. This has led to the superstition that vegetation tangled in a horse's mane is a sure sign of a kelpie. In reality, kelpies that take the time to conceal their vegetation simply do not leave witnesses alive to tell the tale.
It is uncommon to see kelpies outside of wetlands, as their nature does not make them inclined to wander far. The stickiness of their skin towards dry things makes travelling particularly impractical to begin with. They usually only wander during rain, when they do not risk having objects or creatures become stuck to them.
Kelpies should not be confused with the feared each uisge. While both are carnivorous water horses, kelpies live exclusively in freshwater, whereas each uisge live in the sea.
Kelpies do not live in cities and do not tend to wander far from their usual habitats, making them a particularly poor choice for a roleplay character. If you still wish to create one, you are required to follow these limitations and find a way to make the concept work despite them. Klpies are limited to one character per person.
Kirin
Availability: Open
Status: Uncommon
Kindred: Chimera or Demonkin or Faekin
Kirins were an attempt to recreate unicorns in order to let them collect souls for experiments involving manifestations. Created with an equine base, kirins became a varied-looking oddities rather than a useful soul gatherers. In fact, they could not collect souls at all, though that did not stop their creators from attempting to create the perfect artificial unicorn. In the end, kirins remained as the product of those failed experiments. They are especially widespread in the south-east of Koruna where the worst of the war has been said to take place and left its scars in both ecology and landscape.
Due to their varied origins and different creators, some kirins hold more magic than others. Their magical capabilities and base instincts are usually what determines their kindred rather than their appearance and they can even be estimated as high as faekin in capabilities in some cases.
During the war, a group of early experimental kirins escaped their creator and ventured north where they settled down in the forest of Jengu. This population interbred with fae there over the generations, resulting in a line of kirins with faekin mana strength. Any kirins rated faekin nowadays are descended from those kirin. Meanwhile kirins with demokin status are most common around Eriwon and in the wild lands east of it.
Kirin characteristics are rather persistent within the generations, which makes the chimera classification of kirins the most common among them. Their pure kirin origin likely lies many generations back, making their magic a regular rootkin-adjacent level while their appearance still clearly shows their origin. These kirin are usually descended from the demonkin variant of kirin, as the faekin variant takes more generations for the magic strength to drop significantly and by that time, the features will have thinned out as well.
Due to the high rate of enslavement and slaughter of demons in Eriwon, where kirins originate from, they usually prefer to not venture into lived-in areas or even emigrate to entirely different places. While kirins have become increasingly more common in cities outside of Eriwon over the past centuries, their numbers are still rather low compared to other chimera populations, making them an interestin sight.
Appearance-wise kirin are varied depending on their specific origin, but certain trends have been observed differentiating the faekin kirin and the demonkin kirin, as well as chimera kirin descended from them each.
Faekin kirin line
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antlers (for all genders)
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cloven hooves
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long tails with tail hair on end (can grow long like a horse's tail)
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scales usually scattered over shoulders and around eyes
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can also be spread more, but never more than 30% of the body
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Demonkin kirin line
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horn on the forehead
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usually solid and slightly curved back
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can be wooden (which can regrow)
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never spiralled
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can also have two horns
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cloven hooves
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long scaled tail
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mane line goes over the entire spine and can even go down the tail
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scales across the entire back and top of neck
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can also be spread more, even the entire body can be covered in scales
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Faekin kirin are found in the north while demonkin kirin are usually in the south. Chimera kirin are found everywhere equally, though they might have stronger features in the south than in the north.
Kitsune
Availability: Limited
Status: Rare
Kindred: Faekin
Kitsune are faekin most commonly found in Eriwon. They are fox-like and known for their shapeshifting, illusions and unusual relationship with souls. Kitsune are capable of taking on the appearance of other people and creatures, making it difficult to distinguish them from their chosen form without close observation or magical means.
Kitsune are soul eaters, but their prey are specifically the souls of the dead. Most souls naturally return to the nearest dragon after death, where they can be fed back into the reincarnation cycle. Those who have unfinished business or simply do not wish to be reborn instead remain in the living world as will-o'-wisps. These wandering souls are what kitsune consume.
As souls are composed entirely of magic, consuming one allows a kitsune to absorb that magic and increase their own reserves. A kitsune that has consumed enough souls can therefore become exceptionally powerful, making particularly old or well-fed individuals extremely dangerous. Kitsune are also able to sense the presence of souls, allowing them to find will-o'-wisps that other people might overlook.
The connection between kitsune and will-o'-wisps has given rise to the Eriwonese name foxfire for the phenomenon. Despite the name, foxfire is not a different kind of flame but a visible manifestation of a soul that has remained in the living world.
Their most distinctive feature is their tails. Kitsune develop additional tails as they grow older and more powerful, with particularly ancient individuals being capable of possessing nine. Not every kitsune reaches this number, and the number of tails should not be taken as a simple measure of their magical ability.
Kitsune have a reputation for being mischievous and deceptive, often using their shapeshifting and illusions to trick other people. However, their reputation does not mean that all kitsune are malicious. Their intelligence and affinity for deception can be used for harmless mischief just as easily as for more dangerous purposes.
Although kitsune can be found elsewhere, Eriwon has the largest population of them and is particularly associated with their kind.
Since kitsune are rare and usually powrful, you are only allowed to create one single kitsune character.
Novein
Availability: Restricted (only available as prize in the Egg Hunt event)
Status: Rare
Kindred: Otherkin
They were an ancient attempt to receate dragons. Back then, the leylines were known as veins, and since dragons were creatures born of the veins, people attempted to recreate their own creature born from them. Unfortunately, the result of that might have looked like a small dragon, but it had no connection to the leylines. Therefore it was called a No-Vein Dragon, which later simply became the proper noun novein.
Like all known creatures born from the leylines, they were not designed with audible/physical speech in mind. Instead, it was expected that they would be able to imitate a leyline-creature's ability to use the leylines' magic for a forced aura talk. Since noveins cannot use the magic of the leylines, this ability did not end up manifesting either. Instead, they use regular aura talk to communicate with words, giving them the regular restriction aura talk comes with.
Magic-wise it is difficult to categorise noveins into a kindred since their magical capabilities can vary greatly even within the same families. Some have magic as great as that of a faekin, while others showcase mere rootkin capabilities.
Another variation lies in their appearance, starting with their size. Most noveins are small, about the size of a fox. However, sizes bigger than that, even up to the size of a moose, have been recorded. The body size meanwhile is not an indicator of their magical capabilities, as small individuals with strong auras have been observed before, as well as big ones.
Noveins do not live in cities usually. Their rarity and inherent inability to audibly talk, often makes them more of an attraction or even a pet than them being seein as a viable citizen. Most therefore live in the wild lands, often even among groups of wildlanders who respect their idependence and intelligence.
Noveins, being a solely artificial species made with dragon scales and stolen souls, have little in terms of instincts. While chimeras and other experimental creatures usually carry the instincts of the different animals they were made with, noveins are a solely original species and therefore need to learn everything from scratch. They are long-lived (up to 200 years) and are rather durable once they reach adulthood (around 20 years old) but they commony make for poor parents. A brood usually consists of one to four eggs which all need to be kept warm for an entire year while the young develop. Mothers often lose their patience or are not coordinating with their partner well enough and need to hunt for themselves. Novein eggs therefore have only a rare chance of hatching naturally and are often victims of egg thieves when a nest has been abandoned.
Okapi
Availability: Limited
Status: Rare
Kindred: Rootkin
Even before the war, okapis had a low population in small ecological niches south of Koruna. During the war, the numbers of sentient rootkin individuals reduced further, almost making them become extinct as a sentient species. Only through a strict culture that valued big families above all, were they able to bring themselves back from the brink of extinction, though their numbers remain low even today. Okapis usually stick to their own in the southern Korunan region and are therefore rarely encountered elsewhere in Mereldia.
Okapis are rare and therefore limited to one character per person, including NPCs unrelated to the okapi character. That means that you are allowed to make NPCs that are okapis if they share the same family and are therefore connected. So you cannot create another okapi character or an NPC connected to a character that is not an okapi character, if you already have an okapi character.
Pegasus
Availability: Open
Status: Common
Kindred: Chimera
Pegasi are the most common and widespread chimeras in Mereldia. They exist in all imaginable variations, though they are always based on an equine with a pair of feathered wings on their back.
Many pegasi also have feathers along their backs and shoulders around the base of their wings, as well as feathered tails. However, it is equally common for their wings to be the only feathered parts of their bodies, leaving them with a horse's coat and tail everywhere else. Tail feathers can either accompany a horse tail or replace it entirely.
Pegasi with tail feathers are usually better fliers, as the feathers give them finer directional control in the air. However, having tail feathers does not guarantee that a pegasus is a capable flier.
The shape and size of their wings vary greatly and can resemble those of a wide array of bird species. Their wing markings, however, do not necessarily correspond to the markings of any particular bird.
Pegasi are especially highly regarded in Koruna and often hold high social positions. Capable long-distance fliers are often employed as messengers, while the most prestigious messenger guild—the Aerial Couriers' Guild—is managed by a family of pegasi, the Ferris family. Being employed there is one of the highest honours that can be bestowed upon someone with wings and aspirations of becoming a courier.
Selkie
Availability: Limited
Status: Rare
Kindred: Faekin
A type of shapeshifting fae that carries said shapeshifting qualities in their coat rather than in their magic affinity. That means that they do not need to have a dark affinity in order to transform, as the ability lies in a physical, sheddable coat and is not anchored in their own magic.
They have two forms: a water form and a land form. In their water form, they are seals, only differentiating themselves from regular seals through occassional unusual coat colourings and, for all of them, the faint iridescent shine of their coats. In their land form, they are deer. Ancient tongues day they were once something else on land, but there is no selkie old enough to remember any other form than that of a deer. In order to take their land form, they shed their seal coat and step out of it. The coat is then carried with them everywhere or kept somewhere safe, as it is the very thing allowing them the seal transformation in the first place. If a selkie's coat is damaged, the selkie received the same damage on their deer body. If the coat is destroyed, the selkie dies. If the coat is taken by someone who is not a selkie, then the selkie will try everything in their power to get it back, as that person then holds their very life in their control. This often leads to coercion and even enslavement of the selkie until the coat is returned to them in one way or another.
Selkies are born as seals in the sea and will spend the first few months of their lives in their seal coat. Around the six months mark, a selkie will shed their seal coat for the first time, revealing a fawn with fur of the same colour and pattern as their seal coat, underneath. They usually live their entire lives in and close to the sea, shifting from one form to another regularly. Selkies don't do well further inland, becoming melancholic as they feel homesick for the sea. If they are seperated from the sea for a long time, they can become severely depressed.
Selkies are rare and therefore limited to one character per person, including NPCs unrelated to the selkie character. That means that you are allowed to make NPCs that are selkies if they share the same family and are therefore connected. So you cannot create another selkie character or an NPC connected to a character that is not a selkie character, if you already have a selkie character.
Unicorn
Availability: Forbidden
Status: Mythical
Kindred: Otherkin
Tall equine-like beings with cloven hooves, long tails and covered in the same scales as the dragon they serve. Most characteristic, however, is the spiral horn on their forehead that people have long-since suspected to be two dragon horns twirled into one singular horn. Unicorns are tasked with collecting wisps and bringing them to dragons, so that these lost souls can be reintroduced into the reincarnation cycle. They also protect souls from soul eaters like cait sith or kitsune when they happen to be nearby. If they encounter a dangerous object, invention, spell, etc. that they deem unfit for mortals or immortals alike, they take it with them to their dragon and leave it with them to hoard and keep safe. Just like dragons, they are creatures of the leylines and thus do not require food, water, sleep or even the act of breathing. They are perfectly capable of performing any of those feats, but they are not necessary for sustained life.
Their communication with anyone outside their dragon is rare as they prefer to not be spotted. And if they do communicate, it is solely through a forceful version of aura talk that comes from the leylines themselves and does not require a prior invitation to function.
Witnesses have described their encounters with unicorns as severely unsettling and usually wish to never see one ever again.