Seraphs

Heirs to a demonic lineage that gives them an affinity for fire, the Seraphs are the scourge of the magical world.
Despite their relatively small numbers, the Seraph family has a larger-than-life reputation and have played an integral part in the history leading up to the creation of Genesis; their infamy is well-earned, and they've managed to bring down whole kingdoms in the past. Though their declared enemy is the Reaper, they've little love for any of the races and have never shown any reluctance when it comes to throwing themselves into combat against them. They've precious little in the way of friends, admittedly for good reason, and a thousand enemies. Still, they thrive nonetheless.

Typical Physical Characteristics

Seraphs are biologically identical to human in all but their characteristic abilities, and have no physical features that make their ancestry readily apparent. They have no 'average look' and vary as widely as humanity itself; the family completely relocates about once a generation in pursuit of the succession of Reapers, meaning that they're a thorough mix of ethnicities and their current generation will generally favor the population of wherever they lived last. This trend is also exaggerated by many members of the family's population not being true Seraphs, but rather those who married into the family. The 'present' generation of Seraphs currently trends ethnically Italian/American.
If there's anything that can be considered an underlying genetic heritage, Seraphs who strongly show the family's bloodline will have a faintly Middle Eastern or Arabic look to their features. Gray eyes and white hair are also considered Seraph traits, with the latter vanishingly rare and seen as a strong indicator of the Flame's favor. Though it's not readily apparent, many run hot-blooded and are slightly warmer than average to the touch, with resistance to extremes of temperature.
Seraphs display ability for natural magic at a similar rate to humans, but have an inborn affinity for fire that presents without exception so long as they have at least one Seraph parent. Many choose to refine their innate abilities in preference to becoming dedicated mages.

Natural Abilities

All born or 'true' Seraphs display their demonic heritage in several ways, which shows a large degree of overlap with the naga with whom they share a common ancestry. They're most known for their relationship with fire; all parts of a Seraph's body are immune to fire and the effects of extreme heat or heated objects, the limits of which haven't been thoroughly tested but seem broad. They can also generate and manipulate fire from their inner lifeforce in a way that greatly resembles a Caster-mage, but with only a fraction of the effort. Seraphs also have the paradoxical ability to magically manipulate truesilver, an anti-magic metal compound whose creation process they carefully guard.
Seraphs are also intrinsically linked to their demon-god ancestor, and can theoretically commune with the Immortal Flame at any time. The Flame is capable of influencing its descendants, and can gift them with enhanced natural abilities and raw power that increases proportionally to the purity of their bloodline. Most notable among these gifted abilities is a corrupted form of their natural flame, which is capable of burning even other Seraphs.

Life Cycle

A Seraph's lifespan is generally considered to be equal to that of a human; though they might theoretically be prone to slightly longer lives due to their demonic blood and physical fitness, the intensely violent nature of a Seraph's lifestyle means that most die in their prime before ever reaching old age. It's common for Seraphs to die somewhere between 30-50, though those who do survive prove that they can stay active and capable well into their eighties, if not beyond.
Seraph childhood is short, and most begin training in physical and magical combat by age twelve. They join the family's fighting force as soon as they're considered to no longer be a liability, with little regard for youth. They're expected to take on adult burdens and responsibilities by their mid-late teens, and by their early twenties they should be bringing a married partner into the family and starting to produce children.

Reputation

Reputation is the well-deserved other half of a Seraph's fighting edge; they're universally known, and universally feared. The people of Genesis (rightfully) view the Seraphs as vicious, merciless, and fanatical in service of their god. While they're not without their good qualities, being fiercely loyal and strictly adherent to their own set of principles, these tend to make them a more dangerous enemy rather than less. By and large, the other races despise Seraphs and are profoundly grateful for the fact that Genesis's magical borders were created to keep them out.
Seraphs, for their part, treat everything and everyone with an attitude best summarized as mild contempt. They don't actively hate the magical races; however, those same magical races stand as allies to the Reaper, and that makes them enemies by default. They view the humans of the Old World as incompetent and helpless, the unwitting beneficiaries of what the Seraphs consider a war being fought on their behalf. While Seraphs won't go out of their way to kill just for the sake of killing, they feel little qualms about doing so; they're not inherently immoral, but their ideas of what's right and just don't necessarily align with those of their enemies.
For a more in-depth examination of their philosophies and outlook, see Seraph Worldview.

Societal Structure

Seraphs have a complex and loosely defined system of leadership, which follows little in the way of official rules. Factors taken into consideration when choosing who will lead the family involve combat skill, tactical sense, strength of bloodline, and authority over and respect from the group as a whole.
Seraph leaders are called Huntlords, a gender-neutral term for a role that can be held by men or women. While advising power can rest in the hands of more than one individual, the Huntlord is the commander in battle and the final voice of authority in decisions; they're the figurative heart of the family and have a great deal of influence in the manner in which it operates, if not its motives. Succession is often planned in advance with an heir prepared for the role, and occurs naturally when a Huntlord is killed or when they reach a point where they feel they're no longer the most capable individual to lead the family. In the latter case, they'll often step back to the role of Patriarch or Matriarch where they continue to heavily influence decisions but no longer lead in combat.
Within the Seraphs as a whole, all smaller family units make up a single larger community. While they'll often have a widely spread net of allies and humans who owe them loose fealty, true Seraphs and their spouses will always live with the main group due to the risks of being isolated. They maintain their individual connections on the core level, with children being raised distinctly by their immediate parents, but maintain a strong sense of kinship where all other Seraphs are considered cousins/aunts/uncles/etc regardless of the details. Members of the family trust one another with their lives, and there's little room for personal rivalries or conflict. They live, train, and fight side by side from an early age.

Social Norms and Values

For more specific racial customs, see Seraph Customs.
TRADITION AND CEREMONY
As one might expect from a family whose core identity is as much a religion as it is a heritage, the Seraphs put a great deal of value on their traditions. They use it as a framework to stabilize their otherwise violent and chaotic lives. In truth, there's a more practical underpinning to many of their specific customs; a number of Seraph rituals actually reinforce their connection to the demon that serves as their god, and their offerings strengthen him in a much more concrete way than symbolic.
LOVE, SEX, AND MARRIAGE Sex is a low priority for most Seraphs, and marriage is rigidly arranged and more of a working partnership than romantic. All Seraphs in their early twenties are expected to bring in a devoted partner from outside the family and subsequently produce children; as a result, on their end few marriages stem from love so much as convenience and compatibility. Any sort of longterm sexual relationships outside of this timeframe and not leading to marriage are rare, due to the demands of a Seraph’s lifestyle. While the Seraphs have no stigma surrounding homosexuality, homosexual members of the family are still expected to perform their duty to expand the family by bringing in an outside partner and producing at least one Seraph-blooded child by whatever means available. Regardless of how personally distasteful or traumatizing this may be, Seraphs are expected to put their own needs and feelings aside for the sake of the family.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Among Seraphs, crime and punishment provides a complex problem; while they tolerate no disobedience in a community where a moment's hesitation or lack of trust can cost lives, the family's small numbers and high mortality rate means that they can ill-afford any unnecessary loss. As a general rule, any disloyalty to the family or disobedience in following their Huntlord's command is treated as crime with equal gravity; interpersonal conflicts and malicious intent towards another Seraph is similarly unacceptable. Matters between two members of the family are typically settled via resolution by combat, with the Flame's favor thought to determine the victor and therefore the 'right' of the matter. Crimes as defined by the Huntlord offer far less leniency, and have no opportunity for the accused to state their case.
Punishment varies from case to case, and range from shame before the family to non-crippling physical disfigurement to execution; punishment is carried out by the victor of a sanctioned duel or the Huntlord themselves. Execution is extremely uncommon, and is at the discretion of the Huntlord with approval of a majority of the family.
DEATH
Death is a common occurrence for Seraphs due to the innate dangers of their lifestyle, but is still a matter of importance despite it being something they're taught from an early age to accept as inevitable. Officially they neither celebrate nor mourn the dead, but they do choose to remember them and often have small remembrance shrines dedicated to close kin who've fallen. While many do mourn privately, even with their close family ties most Seraph children grow accustomed to losing kin at an early age and learn to adopt a certain level of detachment where death is concerned.
Whenever possible, the bodies of the dead are retrieved to be ceremonially cremated with the family in attendance; in a battlefield situation, they're simply set alight and abandoned. The Seraphs believe that burning the body returns the soul to their god, while those who are unburned wander in darkness forever or fall prey to the gods of Genesis. As a result they'll also burn the bodies of enemies if given the opportunity.

Relevant Articles

INDIVIDUALS
Darius Seraph

LOCATIONS
The Old World

OTHER
The Immortal Flame
Naga
Reapers