The Change affected each of the three races of Nosgoth differently. The following paragraphs describe each of the three races as they now are.
Vampires:
All vampires have blue skin, yellow eyes, black hair and massive wings with black feathers. They have very quick reflexes and night sight. The Change purged them of their bloodlust and immortality; it also endowed on them the immunity to water.
About a thousand vampires now live in Nosgoth. The majority inhabit the ruins of their old capital, which they are slowly restoring to its former glory. Some live in the human Citadel, Avernus and Perun’s Enclave; given the proximity of the Citadel and the vampire city (which, at present, remains nameless, as the vampires cannot agree on one name), most frequently visit the human city.
Vampires are naturally affined with Fire and, to lesser extent, Air magic. They are capable of the Whisper and teleportation; some, of fire telekinesis. Their insight into the Nature magic gives them a unique role in the Regents’ efforts to restore Nosgoth’s devastated ecosystems: vampire wardens foster the growth of plants in the experimental areas.
The greatest weakness of the vampires is their complete vulnerability to Glyph energy. Only the most powerful vampires can overcome it.
Humans:
The Change affected the humans profoundly. Alone of the three races, they can now regenerate from the majority of wounds; they never show signs of aging after they reach adult age.
Humans cannot fly, but their affinity with Air magic means that they can easily teleport to any place they have already seen. It also means that they are almost uniformly capable of the Whisper. The sorcerers among them (about 1/3 of the populace) are capable of telekinesis and assorted arts. Humans are not susceptible to Glyph energy.
Some select humans are proficient in Water magic in addition to Air magic. They are very few, and, by and large, carefully watched by Zosha’s government, if not employed in it directly. The reason is clear: they are either adept shape-shifters or capable of necromancy. Fortunately, as of now, there hasn’t been a recorded case of one person combining these two abilities.
About 3000 humans survive in Nosgoth, the majority of them in their Citadel, the Ash Village or the newly-founded colony in the former Razielim abode. Some act as envoys, either to the vampires or to the Hylden; many others prefer to satisfy their curiosity regarding the other races with frequent trips to Avernus or to the vampire settlement.
The humans are crucial to the effort to restore Nosgoth’s natural environment: their gardens preserved living samples of certain species, and their Mouseion, dead samples of others.
Hylden:
Some 10 000 Hylden survived the Banishment and the return to Nosgoth. They are now divided into two groups. The majority of the Hylden followed their rightful Queen and settled on the plains east of Avernus, in the shade of Kain’s Tower. About five hundred, however, decided to follow Perun, the last survivor of their Avici leaders. These all but disappeared from the face of Nosgoth, hiding in a place known only as the Enclave. No one knows where the Enclave is located; it is said that if one has a reason to find it, one does.
Of the two leaders, Perun is the more open-minded. The Enclave is, by all accounts, an egalitarian meritocracy: indeed, many humans and vampires live there as citizens. In the end, though, they always return home; because the kind of person who finds their way to the Enclave is usually the kind of person who knows that there is much work yet to be done in the two Citadels.
Some of the humans talented in Water magic live here as well. They are usually sent here by Zosha, so that they could understand and learn to harness their powers without harming their compatriots.
The Hylden are tall, slim and graceful, possessed of membranous wings. Their skin is covered with scales: their colours range from silver to green. They have green, vertically-slit eyes. They are affined with Earth magic; a select few are affined with Water. They are, thus, proficient in telekinesis and the use of Glyph energy. A few among them can manipulate time to a small extent, slowing it or hastening it for their personal use. It is said that their Queen is actually a Seer, and has a limited ability to see the future; but it is unknown how widespread this particular gift can be. If the Hylden themselves be believed, only the Queen and her children will ever possess it.
Their longed banishment to Avici had an acute effect on the Hylden, and the Change rectified this matter only in part. The Hylden are almost blind at night, and they cannot survive long in low temperatures: that is why they illuminate their settlements brightly, and why, whenever they visit either of the two Citadels, they tend to dress warmly. Very warmly. In fact, research is now under way to discover new textiles which would solve this very problem.
Very few of the Hylden have any affinity with Air or Fire magic. Therefore, few can teleport or Whisper. Their almost complete ignorance of Nature magic is, however, cancelled out by their technological supremacy: forced to survive in the hostile landscape of Avici, they developed a plethora of biotechnological techniques which they now use, to good effect, to bring back the extinct species of Nosgoth.
There are rumours that the technocrats of the Enclave are now working on creating a half-vampire, half-human hybrid. Few, if any, believe them: what would be the purpose of such research?
- taken from the Nosgoth: the RPG Sourcebook
