Human Species in ORCA | World Anvil
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Human

Humans in this world are how they are in the real world. Modern civilisation works as it does in real life, and most humans live normal lives unaware of the world of the magical and supernatural, nor how it is being destroyed. However, humans are the beings with the greatest potential for magic. Only a select few animals can wield magic and only humans can do it consciously. This makes every human a blank slate for all kinds of power, and over the centuries they have transformed it into everything from a fine art to a brutal weapon. As such, lots of the magical world revolves around humans, be they artefacts, libraries, diseases, or myths and legends.   However, humans are also creatures capable of unparalleled blindness and hatred, and that is why so many other humans over the millennia have dedicated themselves to destroying the supernatural. Some have little success, but others come to understand their enemy and have dealt deadly blows to human magic wielders. In current times these book-burners have come to dominate.

Civilization and Culture

Major Organizations

Other than the major organisations relevant in the real world, the important ones among the magical community are:   ORCHESTRA; The Enneagram Alliance

Average Technological Level

Most of humanity is at the technological level of the real world. However, in some cases secret organisations have advanced their technology much further. This is especially true with ORCHESTRA, who because of their global influence, resources, and lack of ethical concern, are able to advance their technology aggressively. This has led their weapons and vehicles to be far beyond anything else, and has led them to develop an array of impressive magic detection and anti-magic technologies.

History

Whereas most of human history is as categorised by historians, there is another secret history of humans and magic.   No one knows when or how humans first discovered magic, but it was likely before recorded history. It could have been from interaction with naturally magical objects or beings, or just pure chance. In the beginning the magic was likely very raw and uncontrolled, early humans only being able to do basic energy transformation like moving objects and producing fire. It is also likely that there existed some degree of civilisation present, otherwise magic would logically have spread to all humans. Therefore, at some point in the past, either magic became ostracised and magic users hid, or magic users only wanted it for themselves so kept it a secret, or magic users knew its danger and set up the masquerade.   Whichever of these is true, eventually the masquerade was set up. Human magic users kept their powers secret, and sometimes lived in secret communities. Over the centuries they explored their power, trying out new techniques and abilities. This must have been a dangerous and unstable process, and it was likely that for a long time magic was passed on through mentoring, and it was a while before magic was written down. Magic users also explored what other things the rest of the magic world held, from the spirits that guarded the ecosystems, to the mythical creatures that inhabited them, and over time developed bonds.   Throughout the centuries before the modern day, many things were learnt and lost, created and destroyed. It is thought many disciplines of magic were perfected and used to create extraordinary things not possible today, but were then lost to the sands of time. Many artefacts were created, and the few of them that remained were prized, as they weren't just relics that contained rawer magic from a different time, but could do things no longer understood. The most ancient texts from this time were also highly prized, some of them untranslatable, as they taught methods and secrets from long ago. The magical community held the venerable in high regard.   However, also throughout this time humans came to learn of the magical world that did not approve of it. Because of personal, religious, or other reasons, some humans persecuted the magical world. Some hunted magic creatures, whereas some sought to kill humans that used magic. There were various groups and movements that did this over the years, some bigger than others, and some more successful than others. The witch trials in England in the middle ages did catch some witches, though they mostly murdered the innocent, whereas the Inquisition of the Catholic Church secretly also hunted the supernatural, and managed to do serious damage to the supernatural world. Yet, in time, they faded away and the magical community lived on, thriving throughout certain periods of history.   As humanity burgeoned throughout the middle ages, some magic users realised that their community could not live on forever disparate and scattered. Magic users were mostly separated, doing their own things, and while some formed small communities, they had to keep themselves secret and defend themselves on their own. This was a dangerous state of affairs, global as it was, and it was surely only a matter of time before the masque was broken somewhere. These magic users sought to create a controlling organisation that would provide order to their world, allow them to work together to learn and develop themselves, and allow them to coordinate themselves to maintain the masquerade and defend themselves against those that sought to persecute them. They created The Enneagram Alliance.   The Enneagram Alliance kept the magical community in check for hundreds of years. Though initially only confined to a single country it eventually spread worldwide, becoming the ultimate sovereign power in the supernatural world. It guided the community of human magic users, allowing them to organise defenses against their hunters, and allowed them to provide a stable support to the masquerade, so it wouldn't get broken accidentally. They provided places for newcomers and train and learn, and for the more experienced to experiment and learn new things. They also put in place rules to govern the actions of magic users, certain powers were banned, and those that broke them shunned and punished (some of those humans even went to form their own societies of forbidden magic). Eventually, though a great combination of power, they created a pocket dimension, in which they built their centre of operations, Vagus Library.   However, the Enneagram Alliance was not omnipotent, and eventually they met their match. In the 1970's, a new organisation was formed of humans that sought to destroy magic and the supernatural: ORCHESTRA. They too started small, and initially were not much of a concern to the alliance, merely another hunting organisation to be dealt with. However, they were determined like no others, and their power grew with the strength and genius of their members. With the invention of their anti-magic technology they became a serious threat, and eventually the magical world was plunged into war with them, in the Unseen War. While the magical world fought bravely, ORCHESTRA was inexorable, and eventually won over, destroying the Enneagram Alliance and Vagus Library.   Today, ORCHESTRA works throughout the world in secret, hunting down and eliminating what remains of the supernatural. Some magical humans hide, others fight, but ORCHESTRA is now too huge and powerful to be defeated with mere hope and bravery. Unless the humans of the magical world do something big or drastic, they are doomed to be destroyed entirely.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Most humans are unaware of magical and supernatural species. However, for those are are, it is generally a either a friendly relationship or an actively hostile one. Most magic users believe in the interconnection of all magical things, and seek to be friendly and amicable with other magical beings. There are a few exceptions with creatures that are actively aggressive, or hostile, such as some creatures with transformativism.   On the other hand, some humans, especially those from ORCHESTRA and the like, loathe magical species in their entirety, for a variety of reasons. They do whatever they can to eradicate them, prioritising some creatures above others, but ultimately they hate them all.
Genetic Descendants
Scientific Name
Homo Sapiens
Related Organizations

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