Interspecies Relations
Interspecies Relations
- What it is: The complex, often fraught relationships between humanity and the other sapient species of the world.
Humanity is not the only sapient species in the world. The rapid expansion of human magitech and the Spread of Magical Training have pushed civilizations into ever-more-frequent contact with non-human intelligences — and the results are rarely harmonious.
In most human nations, non-human sapient species are not recognized as citizens and are afforded few, if any, legal rights. The enforcers rarely investigate crimes against non-humans unless the violence threatens human settlements. This legal vacuum means that the fate of non-human species in human-dominated lands depends almost entirely on local attitudes, individual relationships, and raw power dynamics.
Shifters
Shifters — humans who carry inherited animalistic transformation traits — face significant prejudice in mainstream society. Often viewed as cursed, dangerous, or primitive, they are frequently marginalized. Many shifters find work as mercenaries, trackers, or in the dangerous lower tiers of the Dungeon delving industry, where their physical enhancements are valued over their social standing.
Shifter tribes maintain their own traditions and social structures, separate from human society. Some, like the cat shifters and pigeon shifters of Cyoria, maintain covert presences within cities. Others live in remote territories. Relations between different shifter types can be tense — cooperation between tribes is rare and noteworthy.
Morlocks
The Morlocks — once rulers of a vast underground empire — now exist on the periphery of human society. They face heavy discrimination due to their historical association with Blood Magic, slave raids, and ritual cannibalism. Despite their forced assimilation by the Ikosian Empire, morlock communities remain culturally distinct: white-haired, blue-eyed, with excellent low-light vision and perfect hearing.
A morlock attending a human academy, like Kael, draws instant prejudice regardless of their personal character. They must work twice as hard for half the respect.