Aether Torrent

You are probably one of these.

(Edits by the FCC.)

Physical:

Humans are thinly-haired bipedal mammals who share a common ancestor with apes. Several superficial morphological differences have arisen as adaptations to climate ranges. Most humans reach from five to six feet (1.5 - 1.8m) in height, with males generally being taller.

Full adulthood tends to begin between ages 18-21, but earlier or later maturity is possible. Given optimum nutrition and safety (a rare combination), some humans can live over 100 years.

Society:

Immensely diverse. Humans gain identity from their beliefs and close associations, defining themselves by what they aren't as much as what they are. It is said, accurately, that humans need other humans in order to be human. For that reason, neighboring cultures may have entirely different laws, clothing, food preferences, social mores and/or forms of government, but all humans have the same distaste for murder, theft, and dishonesty... at least toward their own culture.

No single political institution unifies humanity. The most notable in modern world events are the powerful Imperacy of Ragla, the populous Republic of Amrita, and the island nation of Dorn.

A recent multinational census estimated that the human population now numbers one billion.

Design Flaws:

Many. Human childbirth is uniquely hazardous owing to pelvic shape and fetal growth mechanisms. Human jaws evolved to be smaller while retaining the same number of teeth, leading to oral crowding. Their respiratory and gastrointestinal systems converge, their skin is UV-sensitive, their recurrent laryngeal nerve takes a long and unnecessary curve around their aorta, and their spines are an architectural nightmare. Finally, higher intelligence often correlates with poorer eyesight.

One species, various morphologies.
(Art credit: LKD.)

Physical:

The only bipeds of the class Armosichthyes (or "hinge fish," named for articulate skeletons).

Raiza gestate for over a year and can swim and run (on all fours) within an hour of birth. They mature in proportion to food supply; a well-fed raiza can reach full adulthood around age 10. Male raiza are comparable in height to human males, but female raiza are typically larger.

The three major "breeds" of raizan morphology are named for colors: Gray, Brown, and Blue. Each varies in fin shape, native range, and of course pigmentation. Brown, for instance, are strictly freshwater, whereas Blue prefer cool depths and Gray enjoy warm coasts.

As might be expected, raiza can breathe underwater. Cilia in their lungs absorb oxygen from air, while cilia in the flat bronchial tubes from their gills to their lungs absorb oxygen from water. Sensory pores on the undersides of their noses can detect the faint bio-electricity of muscle movements. Raiza voices are typically deep and can even pitch into infrasound, causing psychological effects in humans.

Society:

Whereas humans are totally dependent on community for survival and remain uncertain of themselves even into adulthood, raiza enter the world ready to take it on. Without need for caretakers, raiza lack natural filial emotions. Human bigots may think raiza heartless because of that, but raiza simply grow to love others not by proximity but by intellectual stimulation. They develop their strongest psychological affinity toward those who teach them new skills earliest. Raiza who wish to raise their own children therefore go to great lengths to be educators.

Raiza assimilate well into non-raiza cultures when desired. For example, they wear clothes if there is any chance of contact with humans, even though by human standards they have nothing to see. Their total population is believed to be lower than humans, but given that they can live comfortably underwater, an accurate census is impossible.

The word raiza is a human approximation of the native raiza word for themselves. Native raiza languages are deep, sonorous, and vowel-free, making them difficult to transcribe. In the time when raiza preyed on humans, luring them with voices laden with ultrasonic charisma, humans called raiza "sirens," but that term has developed into a racial epithet.

Design Flaws:

Raiza cannot sweat, making them vulnerable to overheating during sustained strenuous above-water activity. They can lock water under their scales for liquid cooling, but it must be physically replenished. The bone-digesting strength of their stomach fluids makes ulcers common as age increases. Finally, a minority of raiza have adapted so well to land that they can no longer safely breathe saltwater.

Some animals may be monstrous in appearance, such as the forest-lurking hearteater (Tamandua dirus), but true monsters are a class apart.

Monsters are animals which are born with aether focused in their bodies. They control magic of their birth element as if it were an appendage. Most monsters belong to their own species, such as the ziz (Argentavis procellae). All zizes are Air monsters and always will be.

A rare few monsters are mutants, one-off creatures born to ordinary parents of an ordinary species. Presumably, all monster species originated with highly lucky and/or highly fertile elemental mutants. Science is at a loss to explain what exactly causes aetheric mutations to arise.

Certain monster species possess such superlative magical ability, they can shapeshift. The carnivorous water horses known as kelpies (Backahasti nix) are notorious examples, but kelpies are wild. They can take the forms of sapients, but only as glamors -- elemental disguises. Kelpies can only truly transform into an oily polymorphic gel.

Sapient shapeshifting monsters, those whose alternate forms resemble ordinary sapients, are as apart from ordinary monsters as ordinary monsters are from animals. They even have a special classification.

A female three-pinioned wind tiger. (by ASM.)

The most feared and revered of all monsters are sapient shapeshifters called Sacred Beasts, which can take on the form of another species. One type in particular is very well known.

Wind tigers (Panthera sylphigris), feline creatures with cartilaginous sensory crests and collarbone-mounted wings, can transform into human shape. In the wild, they roam the skies of territories that may be as big as countries. Some practice tiger-like retiring solitude while others roam as small nomadic family units. Those who assimilate into human society are careful to police their fellow wind tigers, lest a few violent individuals turn all of humanity against them.

Zoology

Human

Physical:

Society:

Design Flaws:

Raiza

Physical:

Society:

Design Flaws:

Monsters

Sacred Beasts