The Sthrenar, also known as feyfolk or sthrenborn, are a broad group of intelligent humanoid species. In general, they are defined by having some sort of Sthrenic connection, either by the manner in which their
Identity operates or by sharing their body anchor with another Sthrenic mind. Their variety is staggering, though they can be split into a number of broad groups. Those are the Viraja, Melgma, and Diviana. It is generally possible for most Sthrenborn, due to their supernatural nature, to reproduce with other humanoid species, most commonly
Humans. They mostly originate from the
Thren Rift, though have spread throughout the
Sky.
Viraja
The first of the broad Sthrenborn subspecies are the Viraja, sometimes called Alfar or Faeries. They are actually Sthrena that have in some form been able to cross over into the physical realm and have become native to the physical. Viraja have done so by either possessing inanimate matter such as stone in the case of trolls, or having formed bodies from asa directly, such as pixies. Such Sthrenar include Pixies, Heresprites, Trolls, and Kobolds. They still have a connection to their
place of origin.
Melgma
The Melgma, sometimes called the mixed folk, hybrids, and for a large subgroup, beastfolk, are a species of Sthrenborn that are a descendant of regular humanoid creatures with the Spirit anchor of a Sthrena. The two species have fully merged into a new being. A large part of these are the beastfolk, which are humanoids which take on the appearance of an animal to varying extents. There are aquatic beastfolk, reptilian beastfolk, avian beastfolk, basically if an animal is relatively common, a lineage of beastfolk exists to fill that niche. It is common for beasfolk to also take on some of their animal's mentality or mannerisms, though greatly subdued in the face of being fully sentient and in most cases, civilised.
Diviana
The Diviana are a subtype of Sthrenar in which the merger of humanoid and sthrena is new and circumstantial, not hereditary. This means that any humanoid could theoretically be a Diviana. In a sense, they are incomplete mergers, having two beings within one body. One is physical, the other asaeic. For some this spirit acts as a cooperative guardian, for others it is an entirely silent observers, and for some unlucky few, the sthrena is adversarial and uncooperative.
