Taxonomy of Lifeforms according to Nioshi

A background on Species and the taxonomic description of lifeforms in Nioshi

Vocabulary

The taxonomy of all life, as it is outline by modern scientific minds in Nioshi can be thought of as a tree that looks as follows: LIFE > DOMAIN > KINGDOM > PHYLUM > CLASS > FAMILY
What humans call "species" best corresponds to Nioshan "family."
I will do my best to explain the world of Nioshi in human terms for this encyclopedia, but as a Nioshan myself, I may lapse into using Nioshan vocabulary when explaining a topic in-depth. I believe that context will keep misunderstandings from arising, but apologize in advance for any confusion. Please contact your nearest Dolmanner diplomatic consul to pass along any revisions to this text.

Origins of Life

What humans might call the "world" of Nioshi or the "universe" in which it exists, the Nioshans themselves call a "plane" or "realm of planes." Nioshi itself is one known dimensional plane within a realm of similar planes that are disconnected, but which share the same laws of physics, an equal proportion of magic within its elemental make-up, and an existential sense of place ("feels like home" is the naturalistic phrasing for this phenomenon).
Nioshans have been aware of other realms and eventually to other planes within their own realm for thousands of their years by use of their dimensional portals and the discovery by early otherworld explorers of portals in other realms that lead to Nioshan realms outside of Nioshi. (There is a philosophical debate about whether to call these Nioshan realms, since Nioshi cannot be found through them; indeed, the very nature of these planes - if they are parallel, perpendicular, temporally adjacent, or paradoxical in nature - has been a subject of debate among scholars since the age of exploration.)
Nioshans have been aware of lifeforms that existed on other planes or in other realms include all known life in their taxonomy, so there are levels which describe life outside of the Nioshan plane of existence. Here is how that taxonomy is broken down:
LIFE is all life in the world and its adjacent worlds. All known worlds are connected to each other.
DOMAINS, or realms, break down all life as it originates, and is contained, within worlds: The domain of Earthlings (life that is contained within a spherical, solitary environment), the domain of Dolmanna (life that is contained within a dimensional plane that is separated from and connected to other planes of existence by portals or “dolmens,” the domain of Infratoma (life that exists in the space between the substance that makes up other realms), and the domain of Aura (life that exists in non-corporeal form). Domains are not necessarily incompatible with each other, but physically remain separate as their various physical laws may contradict each other. The few known attempts to align domains has historically resulted in extremely unpredictable and often lethal conditions for the lifeforms attempting it. This is not to say that lifeforms cannot cross or even reside in a realm not of their origin, but the lifeform must evolve the necessary mental and physical changes to remain intact when traversing realms. Aurans, for example, are the most naturally adaptable lifeforms to other realms (excepting Infratoma, because Aurans do not command a strong sense of scale however, even they cannot always evolve the necessary mental bridges to remain sane when existing in another realm for any notable length of time.
KINGDOM of Affinids - as distinct from the Kingdom of Stone, Kingdom of Trees, the Kingdom of Liquids and the Kingdom of Ethers.
PHYLUM collects Affinids by affinity. All Affinids have affinity to a primal element, which strengthens or weakens them based on the circumstance. By contrast, lifeforms of the other kingdoms are less variable in their physical abilities.
CLASS has historically been conceived as a way to describe a physical level of complexity in the lifeform. Fae are one class of Affinid.
A Note: Modern scientific minds use the term "class" very carefully, and any valuation or judgement of a lifeform's intelligence, sapience, or worth is avoided so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past. In this context, "class" refers simply - and only - to the shared anatomical structures of those lifeforms.
FAMILY is the smallest scientific observance of the collective distinction of a lifeform group. In the case of fae, family is often defined by affinity alone (though if the population size warrants, some may distinguish by other characteristics, such as the waterfae segregation of fresh and salt water houses). In the case of trees, family is often distinguished by type, such as oak, birch, or cedar. Interestingly, trees care little for this distinction because of their cultural tendency towards cosmopolitan forest diversity, although one can arguably say that a racial segregation pervades between coniferous and deciduous families. In the case of stone, family is the next distinguishing feature (given that the Kingdom of Stone follows to one phylum of Stone, which has one class, Stone...). There are three Stone families, igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic; however, Stone itself does not treat this distinction with any great weight, believing itself to be in constant transition.

Fae by affinity

There are four known types of fae:

• Waterfae
• Airfae
• Earthfae
• Firefae

Each of these fae families are distinct in their affinity to a specific element. While the fae share a common language, each fae family has a dialectical tongue that if often used as the home language, spoken from parents to children and used among close knit tribe members.