Humans are those without special mystical bloodlines. They represent the baseline of humanity in Haven, from ordinary locals and visitors to highly trained soldiers and gifted individuals who have mastered magic through study. While they may lack the supernatural heritage of other archetypes, humans can achieve remarkable things through training, dedication, and sometimes the assistance of relics or augmentations.

The Faeborn are descendants of the Fae, ancient beings who were once humans that became extremely accomplished in fleshforming. Unlike the gods who sought power and leadership, the lords of the Fae were hedonists who used their abilities purely for pleasure, rendering themselves immortal but not entirely unkillable. They created their own realm very early on – the Other, a world forever caught up in a never-ending party. Over the centuries, increasing boredom has led to entertainment becoming more and more extreme, and the lords of the Fae have long since lost any sort of human empathy. Their entertainments vary from simple stories and dance to brutal life or death contests and recreational torture.

The Fae sometimes journey into the human world, taking on any form they choose – male, female, or animal. Sometimes they do this to capture people to bring back to serve in the Fae world forever. Those chosen may end up as simple entertainers or fighting for their life against brutal and monstrous creations. Almost no one ever escapes from the Other after they’ve been captured, and those that do are rarely the same. Other times, the Fae journey out to play pranks on humans as a sort of vacation. These pranks are highly variable – some incredibly mild and even helpful, like arranging for a homeless person to become a millionaire overnight, while others can be incredibly cruel.

The Fae are masters of manipulating fate, having given themselves a natural ability to do so – an elusive magic that can intelligently manipulate a thousand small variables to bring about a desired result, seemingly simply as a result of luck. When a Fae sleeps with a human, it’s rarely for simple pleasure and never for love. It’s almost always part of some prank, such as sleeping with a man in the form of his wife while she is stuck in traffic, or impregnating a young religious girl and wiping the sexual encounters from her mind. The chance of impregnation is low, about one tenth the chance of human reproduction, but it can happen. These offspring are called fae children and their descendants are called faeborn.

Fae are unnaturally sensitive to magnetic fields and can be kept weak and near incapacitated by powerful ones. Even their descendants show signs of this vulnerability, being made slightly dizzy by strong fields and suffering when struck with ferromagnetic weapons. Faeborn tend to be smaller in stature than most humans with more delicate, elfin features. They tend to have a greater predisposition towards mischief and often less empathy for others. The faeborn attract extremes in luck, being far more likely to win the lottery but also more likely to be wrongfully imprisoned.

The faeborn’s natural uncontrolled influence on fate can sometimes be harnessed. If a faeborn is captured and held prisoner, the captor will benefit from greatly improved luck for the duration of the captivity, while the faeborn won’t attract the same extremes in luck they normally would while held captive. There are three basic types of faeborn: latent (effectively entirely human but may activate later), passive (almost entirely human but with faeborn appearance, luck attraction, and special blood used in rituals), and active (manifest amazing and varied powers like supernatural strength, magical abilities, or shapeshifting skills, usually activating around the end of puberty).

Faeborn genes are erratic like other supernatural genes, usually activating only once every three or four generations. The chances of direct family also being active faeborn is astronomically small, though it’s possible for a grandparent or great grandparent to be. Twins, whether fraternal or identical, have a decent chance of sharing the trait if one has it. Note that faeborn are physically entirely human in appearance.

The gods were all once men and women a long, long time ago – humans who became so accomplished at the recently rediscovered art of fleshforming that they were able to create for themselves new, perfect bodies. Bodies that could not be damaged, would never age or die, truly immortal. As time passed and these individuals continued to not age and grow stronger, their influence became ever greater. Some humans began to worship on their own, while others assumed the identity of pre-created pagan deities.

As their power and influence grew, different groups came more and more into conflict, and the world was half torn apart by the fighting between these powerful beings. Finally they met and settled on an accord of peace and non-interference, creating for themselves their own pocket dimension in which to retreat peacefully – a realm called Asgard, Olympus, or any one of a number of other names. From there they continued to have some limited interaction with the human world, often venturing into it in disguise or taking it upon themselves to help certain favored individuals, but mostly remained aloof and apart from it. Masters of fleshforming, they have filled their world with various amazing and dreadful creatures, as well as semi-human servants and vassals.

Sometimes a god will sleep with a human while visiting the human world. At times they do this while in the visage of another, such as the human’s lover, at other times they do not. The reasons can be as varied as falling in love with a human to a simple lark. The chance of a god impregnating or being impregnated by a human is low, about one tenth of the chance of human reproduction, but it can happen. These offspring are known as god children and their descendants are called demigods.

Demigods usually inherit some small degree of the perfection of their parents. They tend to be more attractive, more physically capable, more resistant to disease and injury, heal faster, and age more slowly. They often also tend to have a psychological predisposition towards their godly ancestor’s aspects – the descendant of a thunder god, for instance, may enjoy being out in storms. Demigods may also be favored by their divine ancestor, who might take it upon themselves to aid in their life or set them to tasks they wish to see accomplished. Most, however, possess no real supernatural ability beyond their innate remarkableness.

In ancient times, to be taken as a god’s lover was a great privilege, and the gods bestowed a gift upon those they slept with, imbuing them with health and longevity. Some degree of this persists in their children. After having sex with a demigod, a person will heal more rapidly for about two days, as well as not aging or becoming sick in that period. While this can be a great gift from a demigod lover to their lover or spouse and has even led to some demigod couples being effectively immortal, rumors persist of those who pay highly for captured demigods to use them forcibly in order to stay young forever.

Today demigod genes are erratic like other supernatural genes, usually activating only once every three or four generations. The chances of any of your direct family also being an active demigod is astronomically small, but it is possible for a grandparent or great grandparent to be. Twins, whether fraternal or identical, have a decent chance of sharing the trait if one has it. Demigods can be latent (effectively entirely human but may activate later), passive (mostly human but with resistance to disease and aging, more attractive and capable, with the sexual healing effect), or active (gain additional supernatural powers, usually activating around the end of puberty). Demigods can hear prayer-like thoughts and receive additional stagger when struck with radioactively augmented weapons.

A long time ago, the Gods created the ultimate servants for themselves. They designed them to be beautiful, to have wings and the power of flight for speedy transportation, and most importantly to be incredibly, supernaturally empathic. These beings would feel the wants, needs, pains and dislikes of those around them even more keenly than their own. If you wanted a message delivered, they wanted to deliver it; if you wanted your feet rubbed, they wanted to rub your feet. They were the perfect servants. However, the secret to creating them was eventually lost, and over time they have all but died out.

Their descendants, however, remain. It’s unclear if they were named Angels because of their similarity to the biblical beings, or if indeed the biblical beings were named Angels because of their similarity to them. Their descendants today are referred to as angelborn. Exceedingly few today still have wings or any remnants of them, but many have an innate appreciation for heights and dream of flying. They are also more attractive than most people and tend to live a little longer.

Most importantly, angelborn still have some degree of the original Angelic empathy. While not nearly as strong, they still naturally want the same things as those around them. It works like a sort of unspoken peer pressure, and draws them naturally to jobs and lifestyles that are more selfless or service oriented. It’s common to find them working in charities or as aid workers, or even as masseuses or prostitutes. This empathic nature makes them more susceptible to supernatural influence than others.

The tears of the Angelborn can be used to make a sort of love potion. If someone swallows a shot glass or so worth of Angelborn tears, they will be infected by a powerful version of angelic empathy, focused on the first person they become aware of. For the next 5-6 days, that person’s wants and desires will become their wants and desires, and they’d do whatever they can to fulfill them.

When they were first created, angels were given a vulnerability to obsidian in case their empathy ever failed at keeping them in line. While this has never truly been needed, the vulnerability is still present to this day. Angels and their angelborn descendants become weakened whenever struck by obsidian weapons and cannot break out of obsidian bonds or cages no matter their preternatural strength.

Today angelborn genes are erratic like other supernatural genes, usually activating only once every three or four generations. The chances of any of your direct family also being active angelborn is astronomically small, but it is possible for a grandparent or great grandparent to be. Twins, whether fraternal or identical, have a decent chance of sharing the trait if one has it. Angelborn can be latent (effectively entirely human but may activate later), passive (mostly human but with angelborn appearance and supernatural empathy), or active (gain additional supernatural powers, usually activating around the end of puberty). Note that angelborn are physically entirely human in appearance.

Demons are biological weapons, fashioned a long time ago by wizards in an attempt to win a war in another realm. They now run that world, which is called Hell. There are billions of demons in hell and more are regularly being made. Hell is run by a central administration headed by a group of archdemons, believed to number twelve. These are unbelievably powerful sorcerer demons and are responsible for running hell as well as creating most of the other types of demons.

Several of the upper echelons of demons, including archdemons, can influence Earth. They have the ability to reach their magic across to affect things, using this power to make things worse where they can and often to improve the life of those who agree to do their bidding on earth. Demons of varying strengths are known to offer smaller bargains to benefit people at the price of making them more vulnerable to dark influences, raising their invitation level.

The demonborn are a disparate group. While some are indeed the descendants of human and demon couplings, these are very rare. Far more common are humans who were affected by demonic forces while still in the womb. The result is basically the same however – a human who is in some small part demon. The demonborn tend to be physically stronger and hardier than most humans, also with a much higher tolerance for heat. Many find themselves drawn to and interested in fire as well.

The demonborn are infected with innate demonic sadism. They derive pleasure from the pain, discomfort or unhappiness of others. While this isn’t enough to make all of them behave like psychopaths, many do, while others tend to settle into some lifestyle or profession that allows them to get their fix. They are commonly found as dominatrixes or in pain-oriented kinky relationships, or in professions such as the military, law enforcement, violent crime, or combat sports. Demonborn can also sense what others are dreading, picking up on general themes and ideas that will best elicit suffering in others.

The blood of the demonborn is a potent, mystical chemical accelerant. It will augment any natural chemical reaction such as those of explosives. A drop of blood into the gunpowder of a bullet can double its penetrative power, while a glass of it can make any bomb much more deadly. When they were first created, demons were given a vulnerability to quartz in order to make controlling them easier. While this ultimately failed, they and their descendants still have this weakness today. Even powerful demons may be incapacitated by a quartz stake through the chest, and demonborn all become weakened when struck by quartz weapons.

Today demonborn genes are erratic like other supernatural genes, usually activating only once every three or four generations. The chances of any of your direct family also being active demonborn is astronomically small, but it is possible for a grandparent or great grandparent to be. Twins, whether fraternal or identical, have a decent chance of sharing the trait if one has it. Demonborn can be latent (effectively entirely human but may activate later), passive (mostly human but stronger and hardier, with heat tolerance, demonic sadism, and special blood properties), or active (gain additional supernatural powers, usually activating around the end of puberty). Note that demonborn are physically entirely human in appearance.

Vampires have existed for as long as anyone can remember. There are many theories as to their origin, ranging from that they are a type of demon to cursed souls. Vampires are immortal, or rather, immune to death by disease or old age. Their bodies are unlike those of typical humans, requiring blood in order to keep their muscles working. Although they don’t have a beating heart, blood suffuses their entire form in an almost sentient manner. Maintaining themselves requires a vampire to feed normally once or twice a week.

Most vampires feed from humans once or twice a week to maintain a typical level of activity. Very active vampires, particularly vampires who fight a lot, are likely to feed twice as much, while inactive vampires can feed much less. Many vampires have an innate talent with hypnotism, allowing them to place prospective prey in a trance state to feed. The human is left with no memory of the incident, at most feeling a recent rush of vertigo. Most vampires will kill about one person a year from feeding. This is not usually intentional, but a side effect of picking a target who has a weak heart, high level of blood toxicity, thin blood or who has recently lost blood. Regardless of how careful a vampire may be, it is impossible to prevent occasionally killing someone so long as a vampire feeds on humans.

New vampires are made by an existing vampire fully draining their target, then feeding the target some of their own blood. Turning does not directly affect a new vampire’s psychology. However, the combination of access to power and the hunger that drives vampires to occasionally kill do cause changes. Some newly turned vampires cannot adapt and end up killing themselves, but this is rare. Most do adapt, with world views ranging from balancing out their deeds with good works, to the belief that it is their right to be natural predators or monsters. Characters who are already dead, including ghosts and wights, cannot be turned.

Though they are capable of surviving wounds and injuries that the living cannot, a vampire can still die if they take enough physical damage. Vampires who are killed disintegrate into ash. Vampires are nocturnal creatures. They do not combust with exposure to sunlight, but do find it extremely unpleasant. Sunlight is very bright and painful to them, and is blinding without protection. Exposure to direct sunlight burns them in a manner similar to a sunburn, but much more quickly, particularly at midday. Some vampires can develop a resistance to sunlight. However, even if they are resistant, the noon sun is still extremely painful to them.

Vampires do produce reflections, but these reflections are unnatural. A brief glance may not discern anything unusual, but prolonged exposure to a vampire’s reflection first causes an uneasy feeling that gradually will intensify to the point it can cause insanity. Even the vampires themselves are not immune to this, causing them to use mirrors very sparingly. This effect happens with all images that may be considered live, with the vampire in the same room. Filming a vampire live or taking a picture which involves a digital screen will cause this effect. Flat images (photograph prints and portraits) and previously taken video or video not broadcasted in the same room will not cause this effect.

All vampire fluids are tinged with blood, including tears and saliva. Vampires can reactivate their physiology with some concentration. Only by doing this may they mimic typical human physiology in a limited form, allowing them to digest large amounts of food and drink or engage in sexual activity. This reactivation can be emotionally driven, but such concentration does require being awake. Theoretically, a female vampire can reactivate her body to the point she is able to carry a child for nine months, but the effort would require her not ever sleeping. Male vampires can impregnate a living female with much less effort, though it would still require some concentration to do. Reactivating their physiology causes vampires to age while active – typically taking about 100 years to visibly age 1 year. Vampires feel the urge to sleep during the day, which feels more or less the same as typical tiredness. However, regardless of whether the vampire has chosen to sleep during the day, all tiredness washes away with sunset. Vampires do not experience typical fatigue from physical exertion. Instead, they get hungry. Blood for them is similar to fuel for a car, and the more they exert themselves, the more hungry they feel, until they top up.

Werewolves have been around for as long as humans. They are made whenever a werewolf bites a human while in non-human form – the bite must pierce the skin. Not all bites are infectious; usually the more severe the bite, the more likely it will infect if the victim survives. Werewolves who wish to make another usually will bite the same place repeatedly. Cauterizing wounds soon after being bitten usually prevents infection. Werewolves can transform at will into very large wolf shapes, larger than a man and twice the size of a natural wolf.

Werewolves are much stronger than humans, regenerate quickly from wounds, and have heightened senses of smell. They are at home in nature, enjoying the smell and feel of the natural world. By contrast, highly artificial smells and environments make them uncomfortable, such as smog or cigarette smoke. The change takes about a month and begins gradually – the new wolf’s senses first begin to develop, then strength and healing abilities. The ability to transform tends to come quite late in the month, and many don’t realize they can transform until their first full moon.

Werewolf transformations aren’t entirely linked to the moon – they can change at any time. However, they are much weaker during the new moon. During the full moon, werewolves are subject to a condition known as Lunacy. Lunacy is a kind of rage or insanity that sets upon werewolves during the full moon. It makes them anger extremely quickly and be very prone to violence; some even hallucinate during it. It’s very common for werewolves to transform during this time and rampage, and a full nine tenths of new werewolves are bitten on the full moon from werewolves under the influence of Lunacy. Werewolves who can resist changing for 2-4 months are able to partially resist lunacy and are much less likely to end up killing people during it.

Silver causes itchiness and rashes to werewolves that wear it for prolonged periods. Additionally, silvered weapons are liable to cause temporary paralysis in werewolves struck by them. Werewolves are close to nature and have an intrinsic sense of what is and is not natural, as well as an innate dislike for unnatural things. While technically werewolves could perform magic, it causes a strong unpleasant feeling whenever it’s performed. Most believe that this feeling is nature crying out against it and are strong proponents of it stopping being used. Werewolves are somewhat more resistant to magic than others, but the werewolves who force themselves to practice the arcane arts find their magic weaker than their peers.

Werewolves are the embodiment of the natural world, vampires of the unnatural, and there has always existed a degree of antipathy between them. Vampires and werewolves find each other’s presence unpleasant. This doesn’t preclude some from becoming friends or getting along; it is more akin to a person having bad BO – unpleasant to be around, but not debilitating. Again, many werewolves believe this is nature telling them that the vampires should be destroyed. The fangs and claws of a shifted werewolf are capable of dealing quite a lot of damage to a vampire’s ordinarily resilient flesh, further cementing that belief for many.

Upon dying, a werewolf will turn back into their human form. This isn’t instant however and normally takes about an hour. The skin of a transformed werewolf is a prized possession – garments made from werewolf furs or tanned werewolf leather are extremely tough, wind resistant, yet light and supple. Most werewolves can smell when a piece of clothing is made from their skin, and it’s normal for those who wear it to be targeted for vengeance by the pack. Because of the werewolf’s transformation upon death, the hide must be harvested very quickly or even in some cases, while they are still alive.

Werewolves can get pregnant just like normal humans, and there is a chance the child will be born a werewolf. Having a werewolf mother gives about a fifty percent chance for the child to be a werewolf, a werewolf father about a ten percent chance. Werewolves can transform and are subject to lunacy at any age, even as infants, although changing is usually beyond their control until around the age of ten. Because of this, even werewolves who want wolf children usually prefer to have a human child and turn them once they’re old enough. Children born werewolves almost invariably have to be hidden from the world until they reach an age where they can control themselves. Werewolves are often considered among the most dangerous foes in close quarters combat. A combination of this and how easily they can create more if the need presents itself leads to them being some of the most sought out mercenaries in the supernatural world.

Otherlings is the umbrella term for Wildlings, Dreamchildren, and Elseborn, all representing visitors from other worlds connected to Haven. These archetypes share the common trait of originating from somewhere beyond the normal human world, whether that’s the Wilds, the world of dreams, or entirely different dimensions.