WIP The Others

Fast Facts

Height: 4’ – 7’
Weight: 10 – 15 lbs.
Life Span: 70 – 80 Arcs
Creator: The Birth of The Suns
Population: 2.1 Million
Notable Features: Beings of Light.
Mostly Live In: The Southern Continent, Beyond the Southern Barrier

History

In the beginning, there was darkness. When at least light had been birthed into the world, it cast its rays upon the world below it. It was likely not the intention of Faldrun to bring such entities into creation when he had formed the twin suns above the world of Idalos, but the results were present nevertheless.

Light struck at the Pieren Grand Fracture, bouncing about its innards, casting into the frantic depths of magical power that were Emea, and from this journey into a world beyond was birthed a strange being. The first Other was formed after Light had struck at a series of Wells within for several Arcs, and it was from this cluster that the first Prism; the central organ of all Others was created. It was only barely sentient at first, and it roamed around the deep halls of the Grand Fracture, gradually growing in understanding as it wandered.

Though its knowledge grew over time, it gradually began to feel a sense of absence. There were other strange entities which wandered the area, but they were all either hostile in some fashion, or else impossible to understand, all of them material or immaterial, harsh or gentle. The being began to recognize that it was… Other, different than those present. Eventually, it finally settled upon a course of action, and it stood in the midst of the light which had birthed it into existence, directing it to another cluster of Wells until, much like itself, these eventually grew to life.

When at last these first pioneers crept from their crevice home and into the open air of Idalos around Arc -515, they found a world of destruction. All around them was desolation and destruction in all manners and forms, and it frightened the only recently birthed race. Suddenly confronted with the terrors of the Material world which stood in stark contrast to the world they had known, they began to flee.

Whether it was through some fault of their own, or whether they had simply managed to catch the eye of some unknown being, they did not know, but… eventually, they reached the confines of a great barrier. It was impossible to cross for the entities of light, but their fright at the world around them was subdued, at least for a while, by the arcane creation. For many Trials, they waited near the barrier, observing it intently until finally, one trial, a piece of it pulled away and opened, revealing a world that seemed… untouched by so much of the desolation.

Fleeing through the Barrier, the Others did not look back at the world that they were leaving behind, and as the wall closed behind them anew, they blinked a collective sigh of relief from the terrors they had perceived.

The Others lived in relative peace beyond the barrier, not even bothering to extend themselves particularly far from it, taking advantage of their sense of security, and spreading throughout the newly discovered realm, examining all that they saw, manipulating the world in order to make it more perfect. While those who had been created in the beginning possessed Prisms composed of Wells, those who were birthed forward subsequently were formed primarily of simply hardened light, the distinction meaning that their life-spans were subsequently halved as a result.

Appearance and Biology

The Others do not possess a biology that is at all similar to the other races of Idalos. Wherein most species are wrought of flesh, and bone, and blood, The Others have none. Instead of a biology focused on combinations of carbon and elements, The Others are instead possessed of no matter whatsoever. In place of it, The Others are made of solidified light in all of its many variants and forms.

The same light which flows from the stars ahead is that which is found within the form of The Others, though, the waves are dense to the point of being physically touchable, and are self-contained around the center-point of their being: The Prism. The Prism ensures that their form is kept around themselves as opposed to simply slipping away into nothingness. The Prism typically takes the shape of an orb of light.

In absence of requiring physical food, the Others rely upon a regular consumption of light to function. This may be the stronger, and more preferred rays of the suns, or it may be something as basic as the light of the moon. An Other kept away from any form of light will gradually begin to weaken and starve until it dissipates entirely, at which point its Prism will typically crack and fall apart.

Due to the wide spectrum available to light, most of the Others are only visible in chunks and pieces. A human, for example, may be able to see the center portion of one of the Others, but may be completely incapable of perceiving its arm which exists in X-ray. They are physical beings nevertheless, and are capable of being affected by physical contact, regardless of visibility, though the material they are composed of gives them a high degree of resistance to most kinetic contact. As such, they cannot phase through any material. Instead, they find themselves highly affected by heat and cold, both of which prove detrimental to them. Intense heat causes their light waves to speed up to the point that their Prism cannot hold them in place, causing the Other to dissipate, and intense cold slows them to the point of being effectively catatonic.

All of the Others are somewhat different from one another. The placement of their visible and invisible pieces varies between them, though there will always be portions of both mottled about their forms. They all possess at least a pair of limbs as well, though they may have anything between two and six in total. While the exact shape of these limbs can vary somewhat, they are typically capable of fine motor manipulation.

Despite being composed of light, the Others are not particularly speedy beings, at least no more so than any of the other races. They move through use their limbs as all other beings normally would.

The Others are entirely lacking in any form of vocal organ, though their Prism serves as a sensory organ in that it is capable of providing both sight and hearing to the Other in question. While other forms of their body may take the form of a head, this is typically vestigial in nature, and not entirely necessary to these functions.

While incredibly light in weight, the Others possess a strength which far surpasses what would be expected. This is linked to their ability to consume light, and the more that they are able to eat in a short period, the more solidified and stronger their physical structures will be. This allows them, at maximum, to lift roughly five times their weight.

Psychology

Due to the unnatural physiology of the Others, they are noted for possessing an extreme interest in the material world. As beings composed of light, this is an almost pathological compulsion to examine and analyze everything that they encounter from the material world, and to attempt to learn each and every aspect of it. Admittedly, this analytical behavior also typically exhibits itself in a nigh psychopathic lack of care for any entities composed of matter.

Part of the reason for this is that the Others have difficulty in discerning emotions or states of being in the mortal races. They are capable of identifying different aspects of a person, but only after examining them thoroughly, and even then it is more a matter of matching what they have seen up with information they possess as opposed to an instinctual understanding of them. They may understand, for example, that someone is displaying aggressive motions, but they would not know that they were angry until they began to piece together variable behaviors.

The desire of the Others to tinker and affect all that they can has also molded the race into being surprisingly capable engineers and mechanics. While they tend to lack the gifts of the Spark; an issue caused by the exceptional rarity of mages in the area, they make up for this handicap through their extremely precise creations, and understanding of the natural world around them. This has also been expressed medicinally in the creation of strange and variant medical procedures… and in the creation of utterly abominable procedures. All in the name of their curiosity.

The war with It Which Knows All; a sentient and parasitic plant-life, has forcibly re-directed much of their relatively lonesome curiosity into far deadlier straits. In order to avoid extinction and assimilation by their great adversary, they are willing to accomplish nearly anything as a people.

Perception of the World

The Others have never particularly loved the world of the mortal races, which was possibly one of the reasons that they isolated themselves away from them. The intentions of the races are difficult to discern, and while certain members of the race are capable of intensive deceptions and manipulations, for the most part the species is perfectly satisfied with their isolation away from the confusing flesh beings.

Recent events involving the war against It Which Knows All have made it necessary, however, to occasionally seek the assistance of such races. This is taken with heavy heart and intense debate, however, for the Others are quite aware of the war-like qualities that embody the souls of many of those separated from them. Beyond that, it means upsetting a delicate balance that has lasted for many hundreds of arcs, but… it may yet become necessary.

Culture and Values

The Others as a race hold a great deal of value for knowledge. They are not unlike other knowledgeable races in this regard, though they do not intend merely to become repositories of information. The Others seek to mold and create things within the material world, finding it distinctly different from their own existence, and fascinating because of it.

Despite the numerousness of the Others, there has also never been any recorded slaying of one Other by another. This is not due to any inherent peaceful nature amidst the species, however, and conflicts do arise from time to time between individuals. These have never escalated to the point of crippling or death, however, and as such there is no such legal precedence or system established to deal with such concepts as murder or manslaughter.

In lieu of any form of prison system, the Others punish others through a communal system of negligence and shunning, the time allotted depending on the severity of one’s crime.

Notably, there is no family system among the Others. While it is acknowledged which individuals have birthed forth new life, this is merely for the sake of record-keeping, and holds no correlation between loyalties or personalities. The only responsibility of Other parents is to bring a child to its First Light, at which point they are completely absolved of any responsibility over them.

Arts and Crafts

Given the innate fascination that the Others possess for the material world around them, there is little surprise that they make this known through fascinating and fanciful creations. While many of these are functional in some degree or another, there is also a burgeoning community of Others who prefer simply to create things for aesthetic reasons. Of particular popularity is the mixture of different substances which interact chemically with one another, and the subsequent creation of works of art which are nearly always in constant reaction.

Beyond the more material veil, the Others are also quite fond of creating works which reflect and manipulate the light.

Technology

Perhaps one of the most notable aspects of the Others is their creation of technological marvels. Their distinct understanding of the material world lends them the ability to compose spectacular bouts of mechanical genius. An example of this would be the usage of assorted metallic components to determine the direction of the world’s largest magnetic deposit, allowing for them to traverse the remainder with far more ease.

Far more advanced technological marvels abound, but these are typically found only in short supply and number, and their creation often begets the work of several-hundred of the race at once, both for the sake of design, and for the actual work of manipulating the matter of the world around them. These may include things such as advanced chemical reactions, the infamous Puppets of Quacia, and assorted other mechanical creations.

Religion

There is no formal religion of the Others. They acknowledge the existence of Immortals, and the power they possess, but do not recognize them as Gods. Nor are they particularly bothered with attempting to disprove the divinity of the Immortals. The material world is far too complex to bother with mere speculation, after all.

Reproduction, Aging, and Death

There is no gender among the assorted Others. As such, any two members of the species may reproduce at any point in order to create another, something which serves as a creator of confusion when confronted with the difference inherent in the mortal races.

Once two Others have decided to reproduce, the process is fairly simple. The two will both expel light from their Prisms in roughly the same area. This weakens the two who are reproducing for the duration of the process, and lasts as long as a season in some circumstances, meaning that a high degree of commitment is required. Eventually, the light spilled from the Prisms will begin to solidify in the area, and form its own Prism.

Once the new Prism has been created, it is placed by the two parents in a location which is likely to receive a great deal of sunlight, and is protected until it has been touched by the light. Once the new Prism has had the opportunity to feed upon sunlight, it will begin to form its body in accordance with the type of Prism it possesses, and the specifications inherent in it until it has become whole. This process is called First Light.

At this point, the parents of the new Other are absolved of any measure of duty to the new child, and it is sent to discover all that it wishes of the world around it. Others are physically mature immediately following their First Light, and typically begin to collect knowledge about their environment and the nature of their people afterwards.

Over time, the Prism that allows for the life of an Other begins to fail and crack, and once it has grown to a severe state, it is not uncommon for a Prism to transfer the last vestiges of its light into the Prisms of others nearby so that it may live on in them, at least, in a figurative sense. As such, the light which once formed ancient beings can at times be found still bouncing around in the Prisms of their modern descendants, providing a degree of lineage to be observed.

If the Prism of an Other is cracked or damaged to the point that light spills directly free of it without direction, an Other will also cease to exist. At times, this may require the complete shattering of a Prism, though it is not always necessary.

At death, the hardened light that made up an Other will fade into non-existence, leaving no trace that anything was ever there.

Language

The Others communicate through the usage of light, as they lack any form of vocal ability. This is typically done by changing colors in rapid succession with each being understood by one another to possess a different meaning. Given the extremely broad spectrum available to the Others, this allows for remarkably versatile communication in a manner not typically expected by those who rely more on their ears and mouths.

Due to this method of communication, names and designations may either be representative or literal. A place may either be a variant of Red and Blue, or it may be “The Great Palace.”

FAQ

1. What's the purpose of this race?

Primarily, the purpose is to let me create some more plot stuff in Quacia, though it also finally opens up one of the barriers surrounding the world, which means that subsequent plots involving the opening of those barriers could take place anywhere. Heck, it could even be a global. :)

2. Will this race be played by people? No. This is entirely meant to be an NPC group located outside of the Barrier near the Southern Continent.

3. What Barrier? The Barriers surrounding the world at different points, unaffected by divine or arcane magic. These have been canonical in the past, though there had never been any opening of any of them. As such, I received permission from the Dev TL to work on this little project.

4. So, are these basically just living Wells? No. The original ones were technically living Wells, because the rules around Grand Fractures are stated to be somewhat wonky in terms of how things work, and this seems like the sort of Emean craziness that could follow.

5. Could these beings hurt the Immortals? Yes.

6. What is "It Which Knows All"? That's the fancy Other name for the same entity known as the Creep in Quacia. Living sentient plant, already written up to an extent, though I'll probably work on some additions to it at some point to demonstrate how out-stretched it is.