Supernatural Origins

With the many planes of existence making up the universe of PFC, it is no surprise that a few supernatural folk have arrived on Jaern and Cahyali, and taken up adventuring there. On this page is an overview of some of the additional supernatural origin options for your adventurer.

Supernatural Origin Details See this page for an overview of mechanics for playing a supernatural race.

The infernals, also known as demons, hail from the plane of the Beneath. Some simply spawn from those hellish pits, while others are mortal souls, corrupted into demonic forms by the fell magic suffusing the Beneath. Archdemons or Fallen Servitors are known to have the power to create demons. Most demons must feed on souls - but for the purposes of a player-character demon, this limitation is ignored. Mortal food is assumed to be enough for most demons on Jaern or Cahyali.

Interestingly enough, demons have a notable liking for coffee and caffeinated foods. It isn't uncommon for a group of demons to meet up over a coffee much like humanoids might meet up over alcohol, and the Beneath is known to feature several cafes with the feel of bars.

Adventuring demons come in a few general variations, although demons are an incredibly diverse folk with even more subraces than this.

• Impling: Small, winged folk often considered to be a lesser form of demon, implings have a reputation for being crafty and mischievous.
• Fiend: The type of infernal creature that most quickly comes to mind when most people think of 'demon'. Footsoldiers and general citizens of the Beneath.
• Devilkin: Unlike other infernals, devilkin are closer to mortal than they are demonic. They are born to mortals, mostly as half-demons, the result of an infernal contract, or from long-dormant ancestry. Devilkin are rare and often misunderstood.
• Balor: The brutes and bruisers of demons, with strong bodies and faces resembling wild beasts. Said to be manifestations of human fallacies and fears.

Demons have a poor reputation on the material world, with most civilians likely to run, scream, or call the nearest priest if one is seen. This is due to their history of violence against mortals, with demons more often than not only appearing on Jaern or Cahyali to raid, pillage, kill, or forge Faustian bargains. However, most demons taking up adventuring are likely far less bloodthirsty, having broken the ranks of the Beneath's usual cruelty and come to the material world with a willingness to mingle with and be generally decent to the mortals around them.

The Veiled Empire of Jaern was well known for binding demons to their service and unleashing infernal power to conquer much of Jaern from the 7800s to 9100s on that plane. This created a strong link from the Beneath to Jaern. By comparison, Cahyali has much less connection to the Beneath. However, the nation of Ruefang has old, legendary links due to the Fall of Shuibian, leading to the creation of a unique infernal race limited to the Abundant Expanse known as the Kijin.¹⁾ The Kijin have died out and faded into legend by the 11th millennium.

Each god is known to have a host of angelic servants, each taking a vastly different form; for example, the celestials of Neptune fly on watery, gossamer wings, while the celestials of Orus might manifest as living tongues of flame. A celestial may be created by a god or ascended from a mortal soul, and some are even entirely different creatures hailing from planes yet unknown. When not living on the celestial planes attending to their god, celestials may visit the mortal world to carry out a divine mission, or sometimes simply for leisure.

Adventuring celestials come in a few variations:

• Angel: The most common celestial creature; ethereal and beautiful humanoids with a large pair of feathered wings. The sort most think of when they picture celestials.
• Nephilim: The offspring of a celestial and a human, powerful and sometimes revered, but often hunted by the heavens that disapprove of this union.
• Sunborn: An enigmatic race with unknown origins that is generally humanoid, but with the faces of shining stars or burning plasma.
• Risen: Formerly-mortal individuals whose time was up, but were resurrected by the divine as celestial beings, usually to carry out a certain task or mission.

When an angel violates the missives of their god, or otherwise commits a grave sin, they may Fall. A fallen angel goes through a few specific changes as their divine light fades. Their appearances also often change - white wings may turn black, for example, or a certain heavenly glow may fade; resulting in the angel far more resembling a human. See the Fallen Angels block in the Supernatural Origins document for more information.

The plane of the Dreaming is one of the most known, yet least explored planes in the history of Jaern and Cahyali. Their inhabitants are referred to as fey or Dreamt, living carefree lives powered by emotion and subconscious action. The Dreaming tends to overlap the material world, making it possible for people to slip from one to the other. Those fey who find themselves on the material plane, with no clear way back, often become adventurers seeking a way home. Some fey also intentionally cross over to live amongst mortals, whether as tricksters or out of simple curiosity.

Adventuring fey come in a few variations:

• Faerie: The folk that most imagine when picturing Dreamt; jovial, vaguely-elfin folk with gossamer wings and beautiful colors.
• Changeling: A being from the Dreaming with the unique ability to change their form to become or imitate most any person.
• Satyr: Known as the often perpetually-drunk party animals of the Dreamt, satyrs have the upper bodies of humanoids and the legs and horns of goats.
• Spriggan: Borne from nature itself, spriggans are plant-folk, with a unique and esoteric connection to the earth and the wilds.

Compared to angels and demons, fey often have an easier time blending in with mortals, and are most often considered neutral beings. There are as many benevolent fey interacting with humans as there are malevolent fey, but many mortals are cautious of them regardless, due to the difficulty of telling which is which.

Unlike the other supernatural origins, the undead don't typically hail from other planes. Instead, the undead are just that: those who have died, but somehow - usually through magical means - still walk the Material Plane. Most undead are mindless creatures, simply obeying any command given to them by their summoner. They are often considered monsters or pests. However, some have broken these restraints - one way or another - and have regained not only a sense of self, but a desire for adventure.

Most adventuring undead come in a few variations:

• Zombie: Animated corpses with remnant flesh on their deathly frames; well-known and feared by most for their propensity to strike in shambling hordes.
• Skeleton: A type of undead that has decayed to nothing but bone. Well-known to adventurers as low-level guardians for dungeons and crypts.
• Mummy: A preserved, animated corpse usually wrapped in bandages and bindings. Most mummies were powerful people in life, and maintain that power in death.
• Ghoul: A ravenous sort of creature feared for its blistering speed, brutality, and bloodthirst; created by malevolent necromancers as an attempt to raise artificial vampires.
• Vampire: A scourge of the night that needs little introduction, vampires have seemingly been rising from their graves since time immemorial.

Those undead that are playable from character creation differ from the undead one can become via a Ritual of Undeath, and have no particular resistances, susceptibilites, or other blanket abilities other than being identified as undead by magic.