No Longer Human

THE BEGINNING

            In the beginning, there was only light. They had no name, no purpose, and no discourse. There was no peace because there was nothing to compare it to. With no need to be met, there was no reason for jobs. They simply existed, filling their time with music and dancing.

Not all of the Light were content, however. Five beings with a darkness in their heart began to meet in secret, longing for something more. Together, they built a secret corner of their world to fill with the dark things they desired. They experimented and invented, researched and practiced, looking to break their corner apart from the rest of the Light so they could live without hiding their intent.

During their experimentations, each being found a source of darkness that resonated with them stronger than any other. Plague, war, famine, death, and temptation were the first sources of darkness to manifest in this world, each attaching to a being.

The five beings began to refer to each other as their darknesses, as a way to differentiate themselves from each other during communication. For the first time in existence, there was a difference between the beings that existed. A balance was brewing, and the Light had no idea what was in store for them.

The Dark, as they called themselves as a collective, eventually unlocked the secrets to breaking their corner of reality into a new Realm. They rallied other Light beings to join them, calling them Daemons, and without warning split the Light Realm in two.

None of the Dark had any real idea how to use such magicks, however, and doorways between the two realms remained. The realms were tethered together, and the Light and the Daemons could travel between the realms openly.

This was all fine, until the first of the Light learned they were with child. The child was half Daemon and half Light, the first of its kind. When it was born, it possessed an equal balance of Light and Dark.

More and more offspring were being born, but there was a problem. The Light, the Dark, and the Daemons all possessed some sort of ability. The stronger the ability, the higher ranked the being was. The offspring between lower ranking Light and Daemons held no abilities and were vulnerable to physical harm. This had never been heard of.

The higher ranking Light and Dark came together, two of each, to discuss what to do to ensure the survival of this offspring. They decided to break off another part of the Light to create a realm for this offspring to live full and healthy lives without abilities. They called this realm Midworld and sent all mortal offspring there.

Mortals are a bit like magickal mules, in the sense that they cannot give birth to children with magickal abilities. Soon, civilizations began to form and stories of their origins were lost to time.

During this time, Light and Dark were still able to travel between all three realms. With the new realm, a balance between Light and Dark had to emerge. Travel between the realms was at an all-time high, with higher ranking beings travelling as well. Through this, more species of offspring were created. Many of these offspring had abilities, but they were not nearly as strong as the other beings in their home realms.

The two Light and two Dark beings came together again, and decided it was for the best that these stronger offspring be sent to Midworld to keep the mortals safe. They became known as the witches and were quickly seen by the mortals as enemies and hunted. This resulted in them choosing to exist in the shadows of Midworld, hiding from their hateful brethren.

Not all witches were content with this decision and decided to fight back against the mortals. This was the birth of warlocks. Most warlocks started off as weaker witches, their hatred warping them into hideous and disfigured husks of their former selves. One warlock, who was very strong, had a feud with a wealthy family after their son had promised to ask for her hand in marriage before bedding her, then choosing to marry a mortal woman from a neighboring village.

The warlock, feeling as if the son had sucked the value from her and stolen her life, came up with a curse to steal his life and the life of everyone in his bloodline. She cursed them to rely on the value of mortal life for survival. To balance this curse, Fate granted them immortality and the ability to procreate naturally and spread their curse as they chose.

Another strong warlock, having been adopted by a mortal family after being abandoned by his daemon mother, cursed his adopted family when they too abandoned him for practicing magick under a full moon. He cursed them to show the hideousness within, to give them a beast as ruthless as they were. Fate again stepped in, giving these beings the ability to share their curse with others and giving them full ability to control the shift between man and beast.

The Light and Dark were still intermingling in their realms, and a third and stronger race of offspring was born. This race did not contain a balance of light and dark, but instead favored one or the other. They were very powerful, though not as powerful as their parentage. Those who favored the Light were beautiful and gentle creatures, working with the forces of nature to maintain balance.

Those who favored the Dark had angular, sharp features and wicked hearts. They would lure innocents, no matter the race, to their deaths and feast on their carcasses. Oddly enough, neither side could exist without the other. If there was no balance, these new beings would grow ill and die.

To keep them safe without putting the mortals and witches at risk, the two Light and two Dark met yet again and decided to break a corner off from the Dark realm and move this offspring there. They named this realm Fae, and the offspring was placed under one of two names: the Fair Ones and the Sharp Ones.

It was decided then that there would be no more intermingling of Light and Dark. The many species existing on Midworld were constantly warring, with the blood-bound (who had named themselves vampyres, and their turned offspring were named dhampir) hunting and feeding on the mortals (who had named themselves humans, and believed they came from primates).

The Light and Dark came together once again, deciding to help Midworld exist how it was intended. They formed a Council, named the Elder Council, and employed certain mid-ranked Light to monitor the mortals and report back on what they needed. These Light were given the title of Guardians.

The Guardians reported back that the mortals were struggling with an overabundance of souls without bodies, as the dead had nowhere to go once their bodies had given out. The Dark, who were responsible for death, created a faction of low-ranking daemons called Reapers and sent them to Midworld to collect souls as they were released. Death, the Dark, created a system for storing the souls of the dead until such a time they were to be reborn into Midworld or absorbed back into the stars where all souls originate.

Next, the Guardians reported that mortals lacked love in their lives. They married out of necessity but felt love in their hearts. The Council pulled together a small group of higher-ranking Light, naming them Cupids and assigning them to help put love in the realms. With this, soulmates were born and Midworld filled with love.

Finally, the Guardians reported that there was still war between the mortals and the blood-bound, and the blood-bound and beast-bound (who named themselves shifters, and their turned offspring were named were-creatures), and the witches and every other race in Midworld. The Sharp Ones had somehow found a way to Midworld as well and were causing mayhem and turmoil.

The Council met with Temptation and asked him if the Dark had any ideas on how to stop this. Temptation suggested a set of laws to keep the mortals safe. The Council agreed, and the Inter-Racial Accord of Laws and Guides was created. To enforce these rules, the Council decided they would just trust the creatures affected.

It did not work.