Arcanid Typology

The Arcanid Typology is a system used to classify arcanids - arcane creatures - according to certain characteristics. This includes the inhabitants of the orbis alius, of the orbis umbra and beings native to the orbis terrarum that exhibit higher than average interaction with mana, which are often imperceptible to or remain hidden from the inept.

Development

As humans delved into the arcane the need to explain and document the beings that inhabited it became urgent. Thus was coined the colloquial hypernym "creatures". When mages started to reconvene after the cinieval period, the need for common lexicon became apparent so that practitioners could communicate and discuss their findings and observations. To facilitate the study of the endless discovery of new existences a typology was developed in a way that could group them loosely into descriptive categories.

Terminology

Today, arcane beings are referred to as creatures even among scholars. This colloquialism, however, is reserved for conversations between mages given its potentially belittling connotations, which are incompatible with the many intelligent beings known today. When in a formal context, the term arcanid (latin: arcanidae, arcanus "hidden, secret, enclosed" and -idae) is preferred.

It was agreed that attempting to produce a taxonomy similar to that in the Systema Naturae would be pointless. Maintaining cohesive and explanatory categories that could embrace the protean nature of magic would be impossible, as well as proposing cladistic theories about beings with no knowable ancestry. A typology was instead chosen so that it could adapt to the necessities of the study of such arcanids, comprised of descriptive and non-exclusive categories. This system coalesced into the Arcanidae Typologia, the Arcanid Typology.

Categories

The typology was developed taking into consideration a series of distinct factors, among them the nature of the genesis of a given species, its levels of sentience and intelligence and its native plane. The categories are:

• Beasts - non-sapient arcanids that present above average interaction with magic. This category embraces species endemic to the Orbis Alius, magical beings that are native of Orbis Terrarum and creatures that are traditionally devoid of magic, but that have been altered by intense contact with Mana;
• Beings - sapient arcanids that present above average interaction with magic. Most Fae belong in this category;
• Ethereal - arcanids that inhabit the demiplane of the Orbis Umbra such as ghosts and spectres;
• Converts - arcanids resulting from transformation by spells or malisons;
• Spellborn - beings created by the magic of other beings like constructs, homunculi and others;
• Entities - magical beings of unknown origin that do not fit other categories, but possess observable and studyable behaviour. Most eidolons belong in this category;
• Deity - beings with powers of divine scale, capable of performing miracles;
• Enigmas - beings that defy classification. Enigmas usually fall to other categories if ways to study them become possible.

What makes an arcanid?

Some arcanids, despite looking uncommon to mundane observers, do not have explicitly magical abilities while some mundane animals - for those who know how to look carefully - have subtle but observable interactions with mana which are explained away as superstition. Arcanids' parts also have special properties that can be used in alchemy, but so do many mundane creatures. So how do we separate griffins from goldfish? Or cats from caladrius? How is the line drawn between arcanids and mundane animals?

Inhabiting primarily the Orbis Alius is obviously one of the criteria, as their mere survival without being affected by the taint is already a magical feat in itself. This, however, does not account for creatures that do inhabit our plane, and some animals are known traversers of the Orbis Alia without being considered arcanids. The last question, then, that needs to be asked for a creature to be considered an arcanid is more simple:
Does this creature precipitate arcane events?
The mana posessed by arcanids is usually enough to attract the attention of magical beings, especially those that feed off of magical energy like spectres or those affected by the taint. Even if the creature's use for its magic isn't explicit, it can attract the attention of creatures not as inconspicuous.