The Somber Folk

_{"_Would you kill an innocent Child??_ I asked. _If I could find one. Perhaps I would. However, up to this day, all children I met where guilty of something. Of existing if nothing else, what is a crime against non-existence fairly punishable by death. I looked the lipless half elf in the eyes for a while, looking for any sine that he was joking. Found nothing. He was not boasting either, or trying to shock anyone. I would say he talked to me as if I was a voice inside his head, if that commentary could have any sense. Was my impression. _Existing is a crime against non-existence punishable by capital sentence?! Them you should kill everybody here, should you not? Yourself included.
To my surprise the elves who there three tables away, and had not directed on look in our direction until them, looked in our direction. One of them almost jumped. Only their lord continued seemingly distracted by the slave-girl's melancholic song.
_Perhaps I will.
Now even the elven lord made a move. Neither to unsheathe his glassy blade nor to run. He just closed his eyes and touched the annular finger of left hand between the eyes, in the forehead, a gesture I had been told to have religious significance for some of the Pretty People.
No one else in the pub showed interest in our conversation. We where not shouting, least not more than average table conversations on a busy days like that.
_Some other day. Non-existence will have wait, for non.
So, he WAS just joking after all!! Nice to know.
The lord of the pretty people opened his eyes. The rest of his table was still looking, but starting attempts of pretend they where not and never had been.
And that got me thinking, the coldness of those fellows.
Elves are usually very polite and caring with each other. They are smug beyond the human limits of meaning for the expression, always; and do consider half-breeds implicitly inferior; but they still make place for them at their tables. Half virtue is better than no virtue, I suppose. Yet, here they had done nothing to hide their discomfort with this humble mongrel dressed as a barbarian when the man walked inside.
Horribly unpolite that behavior, for elves. The half-elf didn't showed surprise though"}

Fathers of Shadow, Grey Walkers, Sorrow Elves, Anti-Elves, Old Singers, the Somber Folk: Wandhor.

Most humans can't see the difference between them and the elves. An elf who had arrived to Sharitarn recently cold make the same mistake at first. Such a person cold even mistake a Wandhor for a product of human and elf bloods mixed with the aid of magic. The source of this mistake is superficial appearance, curious accident, and nothing more.
Archmage Altair names them "Leshay", taking the world from a fictional specie of Earth's first table RPG.
Those people is on Sharitarn since the early days of Barbaric Times, more than 8 billion years ago. The same individuals, almost without exceptions.
The Wandhor came from a Parallel Universe where death isn’t. Where it does not exist at all. What ever came into existence, being a living thing, is in the existence for good up there. Whit no way out.
Whatever you think you know about torture that is silly joke when compared to Wandhory basic educational system. Because to teach intelligent people who have no notion of personal finitud any sort of moral limit do takes an astronomic among of physical pain.
So, the utility of Wandhory as torturers, and as teachers, was always obvious for other species. They are famous for have disciples of any intelligent race who develop in days what they could hardly hope achieve in years following the guidance of any other tutors. The challenge is to persuade a Wandhor to work for you, or teach you anything. They are notoriously unpredictable, in large portion because their motivations are impossible to decipher.
Some of those individuals are certainly oldest than Planet Sharitarn itself, and is plausible to ask if they are not the oldest beings on this Universe. Or at least the oldest intelligent minds.
For those eldest Leshay the period since the Vortex must feel like a sunrise, or not even that. They had trillions of trillions of years to travel, study, love and worry about things in their home Universe before the unique experience of met the Vortex, that changed everything irreversibly in their existences.
They did more than torture and teach on Sharitarn trough.
Being among the few species from Barbaric Times to survive the Desolation Age, they are also among the even fewer species know for participate in the foundation of Mage Universities and share whit the humans the administration of those institutions. Wandhor never forget anything, they seldom answer questions, but would be one of the few sources of information about the obscure period know as Age of Spiders if could be persuaded to share their experiences on this topic.
Since their arrival through the Vortex the Wandhory had a conflicted relationship with the ephemeral species of Sharitarn and other Parallel Universes. Unlike the elves they do not face those conflicts as a united front, however. Not even organize themselves on tribes or cities, most the time individuals of this specie walk the world alone. Couples may join for a few thousand years or less, but rarely stay together longer than that, and groups of a couple hundred individuals join for festivals at unpredictable occasions each thousand years or so. Social meetings seems to be just for mutual enjoyment, since they do not present demands or make treats as a collective, to humanity, Mage Brotherhood, or to any other group.

The Fathers of Shadow

Some say the Shadow Magic Way was created by human mages primarily as a mean to erase the sons of Wandhor from existence. Others say that some Wandhory willingly helped, or even that the humans had no part of it and the Wandhory created the the Way of magic which deals whit non existence for their own initiative, to finally get rid of those siblings they had hated since before the Vortex.
For those who have personal experience dealing with Wandhory seem more likely that they created the Shadow Magic Way for themselves, but not to use in their sibling foes. They probably did so to get for themselves one thing taken for granted by other intelligent races: death.
The desire to go back to their home Universe is a common theme among involuntary immigrants. Most dream about that, and make their best effort to make Sharitarn more "like home". Almost all species of ii idealize their origin in some extent, making it better in their memory than it was in reality. That's one thing no somber folk do.
They will never tell you details about their Universe, except maybe vague tales about personal adventures of minor importance.
Life was in expansion in their Universe, it had been for a long time, and would continue for a period billions of times longer. But they knew that life would not expand for ever.
In their Universe time will come when every particle of existence will be alive, and the impulse of continue expanding will still be present but there will be no more space to expand. Life will continue, since there is no way for it to stop, but in a suspense state of immobility and frustration. Pain as we know it is meaningless for them, but the notion of this inevitable destine was so terrifying that nothing they found after the Vortex can compare to it.
This is one ii specie that has no desire to go home.
They high concern for most their time as iis, and the only thing shared by them all, was find a way to avoid bring upon Sharitarn Universe the same fate their own Universe was destined to. Afer cover that, each individual allowed himself to fulfill life with meaning in a personal manner.

And Their Children

What determined the tragic fate of their home Universe, what made it inevitable, was the conjunction of two elements: life up there is indestructible, and the living things carry a urge for reproduction. The old singers brought both characteristics with them, and for some time could not know for sure if the nature of their adoptive Universe would allow them to disarm the time bomb by erasing one of the two tragic factors.
They solved the indestructibility side of their equation, and without it the other part of it brings no concern
The Wandhor born on Sharitarn are educated to avoid being recognized by their true nature. Especially those who came to life after the foundation of Mage Brotherhood. Their specie will not join to protect them, and they lack a lot of the power, and indifference, that makes ephemeral species pause when they consider if would be convenient or not to capture a Sorrow Elf and experiment with them to try find the magical secret of their amazing resilience.

Why?

_Patroco was my friend and my lover, Uraeus!! Great as both, though he was a even better son human. Because he tried to kill me, forced me into a public duel determined to end my life! Just because his father gave him that order...

He fought well and died well, as a valorous soldier and a skilled swordsman. Ignoring the task was impossible. He never knew I am immortal, Uraeus. But his father knew my true nature when the command was given. Why, noble man? Why do you used my sword to murdered your only child?
_That was your decision, leshay. Not mine!
You could have admitted what you are, used the true to decline the challenge. My son would be alive.
_And I would have lost my citizenship, since Micula laws are not kind with those who lie about their race. Your fellow humans would have arrested me, and I would be lost in the dark makes of your Mage University, being studied as a prisoner for as long as this city exists. Your son would probably die trying to prevent that, would he not?
_Or he could despise you for lying. That would be his choice, in any case his actions would have been clear and honorable, attracting no shame over him. No suspect of treason.
_Is your Earthling traditions against sex between men?
_No, may not please me to admit my son's tastes in that area but it is not that important; since no one cares except a few old school Earthlings like myself. If you disappeared he would have gone back to his slave boys, and it would make no difference to anyone.
To keep a non-human friend like you on the other hand, that could destroy him, and his family. As you said, Micula isn't kind with those who lie about their race. Ours is a human city, the one of this kind where humans will always live under stronger suspect and vigilance.
And that much you knew when you decided to make home withing our walls. Now, what are you going to do leshay ? Are you going to kill me for defend my city against an elf spy?
_If I was an elf, probably I would. No, unlike elves and humans my people gives no importance to vengeance, justice, or retribution. And I personally don't feel like torturing you to death. So, I will do what you wanted instead. Tonight I leave the Pearl of West to never return. Next time I walk those streets this will no longer be a living city.
That day maybe I will see your face again.
_What you mean? My family has nothing to do with necromancy and I have no desire to be transformed into a undead monster. If Micula ever fall I will be long dead, my bones turned into ashes by the time.
_Dead you will be Uraeus, I am sure. Perhaps not for as long as you think.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Physically they are humanoid mammals, with about the same size of humans. Their eyes are of one single color, without iris or pupils, but they can learn to change the colour of them at will and even make complex draws with the mind. Wandhor can change the color of their hair, nails, teeth and skin as well, as much as the shape of their nose and ears and even the extent of their limbs in some extent. Not of those changes is immediate however, takes decades to go from green eyes to brow, or from blue hair to white; centuries to change the appearance from human to elf or vice versa. 
   Make those changes is something they all can learn, but is not a capacity that naturally develops. Takes theoretic instruction, practice, and self-discipline. And even for masters it the changes are not much faster to do, just more precise.

Genetics and Reproduction

The wandhor are sexual mammals. Their reproduction is a rare event however. 
  Elves are famous for have few children, and the most noble and powerful sub-species are the ones where reproduction happens less frequently. Compared with the wandhor the nobler elf clan do not breed like humans, it breeds like rabbits. Ages have passed without a single children leshay enter existence.

Growth Rate & Stages

They reach the age equivalent to 7 human years around 100, what gives them about the same aging rate of some larger noble clans on Erevi (the Elven City).
Some elf lineages never grow old or die naturally, they are exceptions in the specie. Those lineages reach a sort of half-maturity around 500 years (whit biologic adulthood, more or less) social adulthood around 3.000 years (with the right of speak in public, marry with the authorization of an family elder, and own some kinds of personal property), and full legal adulthood only after 27.000 year or more (only them they can own real state and be in charge of raise children) and is at this point when their faces start showing the few signs of age they will ever show. The wandhor adapt well to this rate of maturation, when they hide in elven communities to raise a child.
   By their own culture the parents stay together for at least a couple of decades, and them they only one of them remains responsible by the child. The other may stay or go, but will never interfere with the child education unless the responsible parent asks. Usually the parent of same sex stays responsible, but not always. In any case when the new wandhor has about 500 years the responsible parent declares it an adult and no reciprocal obligation remains. They are two adults of their specie, bond by their very few laws and free to stay friends or became indifferent to each other as they please.

Ecology and Habitats

The specie can live anywhere, really anywhere. They eat and drink, but only for pleasure.  
   No temperature, pressure or radiation level makes them less confortable. However, they do prefer dry land over oceans and most of them try to stay in contact with a society of some sort. Just not their own society.  
    The "big players", so to speak, make no move against them. There is old treaties granting several immunities to the specie against the Mage's Brotherhood and other powers close to that level of power. Old singers who are here since Barbaric Times know enough about those treaties to evoque the pertinent ones when needed, and are individually powerful enough to fear nothing from individual human nations and a circle of young liches or another. Those somber folk walk publicly most the time. 
    Anyone who is not old enough to not worry about "minor" treats is advised to hide. Create a ephemeral identity and replace it from time to time. They cannot enter Magic Universities using those false identities, but in exchange mages are not supposed to expose their true nature either, the Brotherhood just ignores them. In the past it accepted members of this race, but will hardly do that any time in foreseeable days.

Biological Cycle

The somber folk do not age after they reach adulthood, that is not usual among the races on Sharitarn but is far from unique. 
    What they have of unique is that they cannot die or be killed: ever. Not by natural means, not by magical means either. Even hurt them is impossible, their epidermal cells are as indestructible as their own, each living part of their body is eternal and cannot be separated from the rest.  
    They do reproduce, by sexual union of male and female. From the point of view of humanity they are a male dominant specie, but sexuality matter little for the somber folk. They do have lovers sometimes, and are know for promote endless orgies of unsurpassed depravity and delight from time to time. However, there is a thick layer of make believe in their sexual relationships with other races, a emotional distance only they know about. And they avoid to share intimate relationships with each other.   
   There is actually one way to kill their specie. It was invented here on Sharitarn.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Their natural senses are about as precise as humans, except for their difficulty to notice changes in temperature. Whit enough effort they may develop (and mostly eventually do develop) larger spectrum of perception in all senses. One noticeable capacity that most Old Singers have is perceive the world with their internal sense of gravity. 
   A mage in past Ages studied this gravitational perception and accidentally created the White Eyes, a human tribe of the Piwag where all children became blind at the age of 5, gaining the capacity of perceive the world through gravitational sense in exchange for their vision. 
   The strange perception of the world gives old singers a perspective that makes them look like aliens for young members or their own specie. Is common for young leshay to consider ephemeral races and their cultures as more familiar than their own parents. 
    The somber people elders in general pose no objection against that "treason" to their own culture. They even encourage it. On the other hand they make serious point in not share the best parts of their culture with the young ones too soon, only those who prove their will and capacity for "polite conversation" and "proper behavior" are oriented about their racial potential.

THE DEFINITIVE ACTORS

    The really ancient Wandhor, those who came from their specie home Universe, and sometimes lived millions of times more up there than they lived on Sharitarn, are very strange people. However, most the time they look very ordinary, so much so that you will never suspect their true nature. 
     Imagine a video-game player with all cheating codes you can bring to your mind. Yet, they create a character, and stay in character. Sometimes for decades, sometimes for thousands of years, dozens of Ages. That is a common trope in Artist Caste plays, by the way. The character may be an human slave-girl, a Elven War Lord, a half-elf fisherman, it matters little what the character is. They will "play" it to the core, and is considered extremely rude for one of the specie to expose the identity of another. 
      Elves cannot be fulled by them, despite all power of the Wandhor no one can pass for an elf to another elf. However, almost no elf is stupid enough to expose the farce. As long as the Wandhor is "in character" he, or she, is predictable and poses little treat to anyone. 
       In all cases, the act will eventually end. When that happens the Sorrow Elf will usually just leave. They never punish anyone for mistreating them, and seldom leave behind a gift or a good by. Anyone with half the intelligence of a Lizard-Man will step aside and let the immortal invulnerable stranger go. When between characters they are among the most dangerous things Sharitarn has to offer. 
       There is little they cannot do. And their actions have no purpose or reason any human mind could hope to grasp.  
       Younger  Wandhors  can be much more reasonable. They came in all kinds, from those billions of years old to the ones born mere decades, or years, ago. However, the specie does not has many individuals. Their total population is fairly small, and the chances of find one are close to zero.

Conservation Status

They are not a endangered specie, but may end up extinct.
Since is not impossible to kill them, their very power may one day cause their extinction in the hands of Mage's Brotherhood. Is a matter of debate if that is feasible or not, but the most probable answer is yes. There is mages of this race, who are part of the Brotherhood and in some cases founders of it. However, humanity has decided to eliminate entire races before, and some of those faced extinction precisely for challenge the humanist hegemony in the realm of magic.
Another possible cause of extinction for this specie is suicide. They have no survival extinct in the normal sense of that expression, since they have no possibility of die naturally. There was cases of collective suicides motivated by sadness, the dragons came close to that, very few survived the racial depression that laid waste to them short after the Imperial Age.