Transcendent Species in Cytan Cluster | World Anvil

Transcendent

Transcendent are the inhabitants of the Transcendent planes, as the name would suggest. They are beings of thought, each one devoted to a singular principle. Though they are not slavishly devoted to their principle, they are more focused than most mortals would be. Since the Transcendent planes themselves are constructed out of abstraction, they do not have or need a distinct 'body', with their form simply being an extension of their spirit. It is, however, possible for Transcendent to travel to other planes, at which point their spirit spontaneously forms a body out of ectoplasm. They remain, however, fundamentally beings of spirit and soul, and thus can be affected by magics that influence such spiritual energy, and even shuck their body to inhabit other objects, a phenomenon known as possession.   Transcendent come in an astonishing variety of forms, based on their principle and nature, but are classified into groups based on having similar principles, and thus living in a particular Transcendent Plane.   There are three main varieties of Transcendent - first are the High Transcendent, created from the souls of mortals. Or rather, they are former mortals who fit a particular principle. These are the most notable, as they remain sapient, and possessing free will, agency, and the capacity for self-awareness - everything implied by the presence of a soul. In a sense, mortals can be thought of as the 'embryonic form' of High Transcendent, though that is, to say the least, a controversial opinion. Second are Lesser Transcendent, entities born of the Transcendent planes themselves, created essentially as 'ambiance', and lacking in sapience. They exist not so much in themselves but because the High Transcendent feel they should. Finally, there are Transcendent Hybrids, a peculiar anomaly. Transcendent cannot reproduce among themselves, but many *can* reproduce with mortals - and such cross-breeds are themselves Transcendent, generally having the physical characteristics of their mortal parent, with the general abilities of all transcendent, plus those of their general principle. All life, therefore, is ultimately derived from the mortal planes.   Transcendent are in many ways astonishing in their capabilities compared to their mortal forebears. Not only do they have spiritual bodies, but they also have effectively instantaneous reflexes, perfect memory, and no physical needs, they are entirely immortal. Though they can be disrupted, this only causes them to reform from a source point, just as they did when they first died. Somewhat oddly, the observed age of Transcendent is not as high as one might think, with only a handful older than say, three thousand years, and very, very few around five thousand years. Some surmise they ascend to a yet higher level of existence, or that they simply fan out to generally unknown corners of the multiverse.
Genetic Descendants

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