Divine Races
First of the Gods' Children
The Divine Races are the four oldest races of creatures to emerge onto the world of Isekai several eons ago when Isekai was a new world. They are respected and revered by other races, even worshiped in some cases for their intense magical ability that can elevate members of their species to be on par with a demi-god. These creatures live for vast amounts of time, bordering on immortal when compared to commonfolk like Humans, Elves, and Dwarves yet they too have an eventual end in the grand scheme of things. In order of their appearance in the world: the Ancient Fey, the Noble Djinn, the Divine Sphinxes, and the Metallic Dragons.
While akin to something like siblings these races seldom interact in the modern-day and often they have competing interests but the truth about their relation to their creators couldn't be more different. While most creatures revere or worship their creators, these races see their deity as something closer to a parent or as the very pinnacle of their race. Because of their status in the world, many of these creatures see themselves as outright superior to other life forms which is hard to argue with given their near-immortal life spans, when they entered the world, and the difference in magical power between them and the common people of the world.
Date of Setting
901,000 I.M. on the first day of Spring's Morning
Related Ethnicities
Related Species
Ancient Fey
Djinn
Sphinxes
Metallic Dragons
In the early days of Spring's Morning in the year 901,000 IM, some of the gods chose to populate the world that they called their own. Some of the gods were against this, believing that there was no need to change the perfect world but others wished for children, peoples that would worship and listen to their words. Lycana set out first, creating children in her image, blessing them with magic beyond compare. Within days, other gods would come forward to place their own children upon the lands of Isekai.
The second was Olik, creating a people that would know and hold all magic, serving as stewards of a craft he enjoyed. The third would be the husband and wife, Sotark and Ivala, creating children of knowledge that wished to know everything about Isekai and the realms that attached to the world. Finally came Kallex, the Dragon God, creating children in his own image, using his scales to determine their colors.
These children would live for ages, learning and changing the world around them while still looking to their divine parents for guidance. Even so, eons later, little remains of the individual details of this occurrence. Few dare question such stories of the early days of the Divine Races as it would mean questioning the knowledge and honesty of a fierce Metallic Dragon or an all-powerful Djinn.
Many remain of the Divine Races that remember their creation, especially within the homelands of the Djinn and Sphinxes. These people are immortal and rarely leave their homelands for fear of finding those that wish to steal the great knowledge that they have. The legends of their creation are written in texts, stored in places like the Southern Library and the ruined city of Leyline, as well as places throughout the Wandering Forest where the Ancient Fey may have chosen to leave their memories.
Various retellings are sometimes incomplete, leaving out important details of the other races or specifics about the creation of their own race, but the eons have worn away both memory and text, creating myths and legends in the wake of lost knowledge. The Ancient Fey and Djinn in particular cared little for preserving complete accounts, believing their own lifetimes to be a testament to the legends that others kept.
Of all the accounts kept of the creation of the Divine Races, the most complete can be found amongst the Council of Metallic Dragons, a record well-kept by their meticulous historians, or amongst the volumes of the Southern Library, a massive realm of information hidden and protected by the Sphinxes and their chosen stewards.
For many, the existence of the Divine Races is little more than myth unless they have encountered a Metallic Dragon or their shadow. The Ancient Fey prefer to keep to themselves in the Wandering Forest, creating the wonderland that many stray away from, while the Djinn and Sphinxes have nearly removed their presence from outside their homelands. With little evidence that these peoples still exist, the younger races look to them as myths of demigods and great power.
Songs, stories, folk tales, and other myths are common across the world, often amongst the commoners who look for interesting stories to pass the days. These retellings are a source of wonder, entertainment, and even history for those with serious minds that wish to know more about the world of bygone days.
These are songs, stories, folk tales and myths told widely by the common people as a source of wonder, entertainment, and history for those with serious minds. Some find the stories of the Divine Races to be nearly religious texts, something to worship and follow, especially by the younger races of the world.
These are people that are often thought to be born completely of magic and emotion with little regard for the physical realm. The oldest intelligent life forms, they were created by the goddess Lycana, a powerful entity associated with nature and the moon that is often depicted with the likeness of an Elf, but they are closer in nature to a shapeshifter.
It is said that Lycana walked the earth on the first day of spring as the snows of a harsh winter melted away. She brought the plants out of their sleep, reaching towards flowers that immediately opened and blessing trees that would visibly grow higher. During this season she decided to plant a handful of seeds from her personal garden, high up in the realm of the gods. Yet, these were even more special than the plants that she had strewn about the world to fill it with life because she had breathed her own essence into them.
These seeds were scattered by the handfuls in what is known today as the Fairy King's Wood. These seeds immediately took to the soil and sprouted into large flowers that dwarf even the exotic blooms of giant jungle plants from the Southern Continent. Lycana took the time to care for each plant that sprouted, watering it and blessing it and departing after the moon rose to its highest point. Several days later, great wide plants broke through the earth and suddenly erupted into bloom. These flowers were many in number and the colors they bore seemed erratic, having a mixture of red, blue, and yellow in the pattern of stripes, bursts, and stars. Flowers that these plants bore were monstrous in size, some enough to dwarf a Giant while the smallest were still larger than the tallest men and out of these flowers came forth the Ancient Fey. Creatures that were more akin to emotion and concept than flesh and blood, to them was given the forests to rule over.
The Ancient Fey are people of varying shapes, sizes, and designs as if there were no constraints to what they could be or what they could do. Being the most ancient of creatures they have the greatest understanding of the innate magic that the gods put into the land. They are responsible for the wild state of many ancient forests, the creation of the Wandering Forest and the Lost Paths, their descendants are seen throughout the world in a variety of species even today. All Fey creatures either descended from the Ancient Fey or came into being from a concept that gained life in the Wandering Forest, their most direct descendant among modern-day civilized races are the Fairies.
In ancient legends and divine texts, the Ancient Fey are said to be the children of nature and that no place would ever be beyond their grasp.
These people speak often and loudly about how they are truly beings completely born of and composed of magic in the purest form. The second oldest intelligent life forms, they were created by the god Olik a powerful entity associated with magic and desire that is depicted with the likeness of a modern-day Djinn, but his true form is unknown.
It is said that Olik traveled the known world in a day, he saw everything that there was to see at leisure from the highest peaks and stars to the lowest depths of the earth and he found it to be entirely too quiet. He regarded the children of Lycana with interest, but they were too erratic, changing and unfocused for that interest to remain, so he desired to create beings that understood his way of thinking. He gathered the primary elements of the world, the base existences that expressed the flow of Isekai and infused them with understanding and divine magic on a scale that many celestial beings would question.
He created the first five Djinn, magnificent and powerful beings that were full of curiosity and intrigue. Their minds were not given a spare moment to wander as Olik took them directly under his tutelage, all things they were made to understand from the depths of the world to the heavens and every realm that used their home as a crossroads. Olik instructed them on the nature of evil beings that lived in the corners of existence and how they would one day walk upon the ground of Isekai, he told them of the Fey and how they were to be noble neighbors and friends to all that they could afford to and lastly he instructed them about the true nature of magic and what secrets they would never be allowed to reveal to others. Indeed, he kept them only a moment and gave them as much knowledge as he could but in doing so he caused them to miss out on meeting the children of Lycana and the others that followed for two thousand years.
The Noble Djinn are often depicted in legends and stories as Giant-like humanoids with no relation to the foul creatures of the north. They have four specific lineages that are told of: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Their physical characteristics and the appearance of their magical ability will often give away their heritage with distinct skin coloring, sudden flame or eruptions of water upon their emergence from a vessel. It is said that all Djinn that came after the second generation were forced to learn their powers through study, reflection, and service to others because of a catastrophic event in their history where a group from the first generation attempted to assert their place above the other races by way of force. Because of this, all Djinn are imprisoned in a vessel and sentenced to use their incredible powers in service of mortals so that they might learn through experience what the efforts of greed and kindness yield.
In ancient legends and divine texts, the Noble Djinn are said to be the children of pure magic and that nothing is beyond their power.
These people were once thought to be gods themselves but in actuality were the direct heralds of many powerful celestial beings in ancient times. The third oldest intelligent life forms, they were created by the god Sotark and the goddess Ivala. Sotark is a powerful entity that is associated with music and history that is often depicted as a Bard in flowing robes and carrying some sort of instrument. Ivala is a powerful entity that is associated with secrets and loyalty that is often depicted as a Gynosphix with four pairs of wings all imbued with a different element.
It is said Sotark and Ivala watched with great interest the efforts of Lycana and Olik. One questioned the other and asked what would become of these people, what would they do and what wondrous things would they bring into the world. In that instance of their conversation, they found themselves feeling both lonely and estranged from these creatures that they saw. While the Fey immediately climbed every tree and set about seeing the world and the Djinn were undergoing instruction from their creator, Sotark and Ivala desired to create a race that would be stewards of truth and history.
Ivala pulled sands and gems from the bottom of the sea to sculpt the body of the Sphinx while Sotark shaped the light of newborn stars and the essence of the sunset to form their minds. Sphinxes were fashioned carefully, one by one, in a variety of forms and sizes upon the threshold of the divine realm and the physical world and because of that they inherited the ability to return to the threshold even today. Sotark and Ivala charged the Sphinxes with acquiring wisdom, the purest form of understanding and do it by learning and speaking with all manners of creatures so that they might know everything that could be known. Some Sphinxes departed for the physical realm of Isekai while some stayed on the threshold and stayed with Ivala to learn what they could from their makers, these were taught by of the stars and the passage of time and became the first messengers of the gods.
The Divine Sphinxes are creatures with the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and a face that differs depending on their sex and origin. Good Sphinxes often have lion or humanoid faces and possess immense powers associated with time and knowledge that often spans millennia. Evil Sphinxes exhibit much lower intelligence and can have a variety of faces from that of a hawk to a reptile as punishment for turning away from their initial purpose. Legends and modern sightings identify them as acting as messengers of certain gods, oracles, or guardians of ancient relics and doorways that lead away from the physical realm of Isekai. These creatures are most well known for their riddles and often use them as a way to teach mortals how to think for themselves or to test their ability, for above all else a Sphinx values intellect.
In ancient legends and divine texts, the Divine Sphinxes are said to be the children of time and secrets, as such they shall act as guardians of history forever.
These people are the symbols of power, majesty, and are considered to be a supreme existence by most Scholars yet unlike the other Divine Races they have a limit to their long lifespans which effectively makes them the youngest of the Divine Races but the oldest of all mortals. The Metallic Dragons were created by the god Kallex, a powerful entity who is associated with war and pride that is often depicted as a gargantuan Dragon with scales that shift in color like a shimmering mirage.
It is said that Kallex watched as the Sphinxes were created by Sotark and Ivala, he even conversed with the ones that lingered at the threshold and his eyes followed those that descended to the world. He found them to be wise creatures but lacking in motivation and spine. In that moment he desired to create a race that would be champions of the world, destroyers of evil, and protectors of the world that would be looked upon as the greatest creatures to live in the world by all others that came after them. He left the divine realm and cast a shadow upon the world as he descended to collect the necessary ingredients, the children he created would be many in nature and full of aspirations to pursue everything under the sun. He gathered great deposits of metal from the earth, each of them the metals that he considered to be the purest and most valuable that the world had to offer.
Kallex gathered piles of metals that each equaled the size of small hills and brought them high above the land. He bathed them in his own breath causing them to melt down from the size of a small hill to that of a small egg in his grasp, only ten feet in diameter. These were of an incredibly pure form of metal that has never been seen again in the world. These twelve eggs made of Adamantite, Brass, Bronze, Cobalt, Copper, Gold, Iron, Mercury, Mithril, Orium, Silver, and Steel were hurled to the ground from high above and descended through the clouds like shooting stars. These eggs landed in a circle with a great impact creating what would be known as the "Metallic Council" as the first Dragon nest. Kallex watched from high in the heavens and roared, shaking both heaven and earth as he commanded the first Dragon wyrmlings to hatch according to their natures and the virtues he had deemed worthy of their metals.
Metallic Dragons are huge creatures that resemble reptiles with wings and scales that vary depending on the subspecies of the Dragon in question or if they are mixed between more than one lineage. From the beginning, each Dragon has had different interests, some love battle while others love history, and where they choose to live varies as well to the point that at every corner of Isekai you will find a different type of Metallic Dragon. It is often wondered why that Metallic Dragons were made as mortal creatures despite being made in the same year as the other Divine Races, though in the fall as opposed to the spring. The answer passed through legend has been that Kallex recognized mortality as a necessary virtue for a creature to exhibit true valiance and courage which would be required for them to be seen as the pinnacle of all creatures because they stand as much to lose as any other mortal creature when it comes to a conflict.
In ancient legends and divine texts Metallic Dragons are simply known as the children of Kallex, as such they shall pursue everything that the world has to offer. They will laugh the loudest, fight with the most conviction, live with the most courage and die with the most glory.
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