The Gifted

Summary

The Gifted are special humans blessed with a deeper connection to the spirits. They all have animal traits corresponding to the spirit they were blessed with. While parings of two Gifted from separate domains are possible, their offspring will only ever have one Gift. It has never been proven that they can have two, and more often than not they have none. The gifted have their spiritual abilities increased, as well as occasionally some of their physical abilities too, like an increase in their senses or agility. There are six types of Gifted, each corresponding to one of the spirits, all listed below.

Ari's Gifted

Ari's gifted are born with feline traits, often manifesting as cat-like ears and/or tails, fur on the feet and hands or even the limbs, fur completely covering their body, cat-like features like faces, and even paws. While not all necessarily present, the more features they have, the greater their Gift. Ari's Gifted are commonly well known for their incredible connection to Ari and her power, as well as a strong sense of smell, night vision, and adept dexterity. Again, while not all present, the ones with a stronger Gift have these attributes more developed.

Inari's Gifted

Inari's Gifted are born with fox-like traits, sometimes though they can be other similar canids, like coyotes. These traits often manifest as animal ears, tails, patches of differently colored skin/fur on their bodies, or completely fur-covered bodies, as well as canid faces like snouts and such, and/or paws. While not all necessarily present, the more of these traits they have, the greater their connection to Inari's power. Inari's Gifted are commonly known for their adept abilities with illusion magic, silver tongues, as well as a better sense of hearing. 

Torrin's Gifted

Torrin's Gifted are born with bird-like traits, often resembling owls, eagles, or other birds of prey, although there have been reported cases of different types. The lesser Gifted are often born with some feathers along their arms and backs, while some stronger Gifted have beaks, bird eyes, and some even wings. Only the strongest of Gifted can fly though. These Gifted are also well known for their intellect, their critical thinking ability, their aptitude with technology, and their wisdom. A lot of these turn to magic, wanting to understand it as much as possible, pushing the boundaries of what is possible with magical abilities, while others can also turn to technology, always inventing something else to make life easier, fill a need, or just because they can.

Zaragoza's Gifted

Zaragoza's Gifted are born with reptile-like traits, more often resembling snakes or lizards. The lesser gifted often have scales in select portions of their bodies, more often their hands and cheeks, while the stronger ones may have scales all over their body, reptile-like physiology like tails and even their faces. These Gifted are well known for their really fast reactions, agility, and even some special abilities like climbing or camouflage. Most of them end up either in the weakened city guard or as thieves and sell-swords who travel Aerith in search of coin.

Yrsa's Gifted

Yrsa's gifted are born with bear-like traits, often resembling brown, black or sometimes polar bears, although cases of pandas and even badgers have been reported, historically. The lesser Gifted often have bearp-like ears and/or tails, while the stronger ones have a lot of fur on their body, bigger body frames, and sometimes almost completely looking like bears, apart from their legs, that remain human-like in structure to allow for walking. They are really well known as probably the best defenders in all of Aerith, a lot of them finding work protecting temples, banks, and other places that look for protection. They are also known for their incredible strength, constitution and ability to make friends wherever they may go. You won't find any more trusted hired muscle in all of Aerith.

Siv's Gifted

Siv's gifted are often born with wolf and dog-like traits, resembling wolves and other similar races of dog. Among the lesser gifted are traits like ears, tails, and sometimes some fur on hands and feet, while the stronger ones have more animal-like bodies, like canine snouts, claws, teeth, and some have even reportedly looked like werewolves. They are well known for their fighting ability, especially when fighting alongside others. They have a keen sense of smell, and are feared all across Aerith as very powerful warriors and fighters.