Etherbeings
Etherbeings are creatures made from ether rather than physical matter. As a result they are unaffected by physical damage.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Etherbeings are the most diverse species on all of Elos. Making broad claims about etherbeings' appearances would be fundamentally inaccurate. While mortals have outlined specific details of etherbeing species for the purpose of categorization, even they are limiting and often not entirely accurate.
Growth Rate & Stages
Etherbeings don't have a set lifespan and don't age with the passage of time. An etherbeing may age via manipulation of their ether. There are no set life stages for etherbeings because of this.
Due to the lack of a lifespan, an etherbeing can only die if it is killed by significant destruction to it's ether, usually by means of reaping weapons or powerful magic. Upon death an etherbeing dissipates into ambient ether, all that is left behind is the etherbeings core.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Any use of magic expends a creatures ether. Because etherbeings are creatures made from pure ether rather than physical matter, the very action of existing expends the ether that creates their forms. Because of this, if an etherbeing goes long enough without consuming external ether, it will "starve" to death.
Etherbeings can consume any kind of external ether, including ambient ether in a location or the individual ether of living creatures (including both mortal creatures or other etherbeings). When consuming another creatures' ether, they show a great preference for creatures with large ether pools. Following the events of the Near Extinction, however, there are very few mortals that have a sufficient amount of ether.
Biological Cycle
"Birth"
Etherbeings often come into existence in areas with high levels of ambient ether when the ambient ether comes together to form a creature. It's unknown how or why ether is attracted to a specific point in order to create an etherbeing. An ether core is created during this process when the ether compounds, putting pressure onto itself causing a small portion of the ether to solidify into the etherbeing's core. This core becomes the anchor to which the rest of an etherbeing's ether is tethered. The formation of an ether core stabilizes the etherbeing. Etherbeings which did not attract enough ether during it's initial development do not form cores, and without the core they are highly unstable. Etherbeings that don't develop ether cores tend to fizzle out of existence after a short period of time."Death"
Etherbeings that have formed ether cores do not die the same way mortals do. When an etherbeing is killed, the ether that makes up it's body is released back into the etherstream, returning to ambient ether. The ether core is unable to be dispersed in this same way, and is thus left behind.Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Etherbeings can be found all across Elos but are found in highest quantities in etherbeing hotspot, which are typically locations with very dense ambient ether.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Most etherbeings are sentient, but don't have all (or any) of the same senses as mortals. Individual etherbeings may not have one or more of the basic five senses. One of the few things that is true for all etherbeings is the sense of ethersight which allows them to see ether both in an area and in a creature. In addition to seeing the amount of ether in a given space, ethersight allows an etherbeing to determine etheric origin and elemental aspect of ether.
Civilization and Culture
Common Taboos
Although etherbeings are capable of consuming the ether of other etherbeings, it's not customary. As etherbeings can sense the origins of nearby ether, they can identify a cannibalistic etherbeing. Although there isn't so much of a "society" nessecary to create a sense of social shame among cannibalistic etherbeings, other etherbeings may become hostile towards cannibalistic etherbeings.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Mortals
Etherbeings can largely subsist off of the ambient Ether in a given location, and only on rare occasions have to consume mortals for their ether. Due to the Near Extinction, in which etherbeings attacked and consumed all mortals with large ether pools, mortals are extremely wary and distrustful of etherbeings. Because the extinction killed any Mortal with the magical prowess nessecary to harm or kill an etherbeing, modern day mortals are all but defenseless against etherbeings.Keepers
Keepers have compulsions to hunt down and eliminate certain etherbeings, but the origins of these compulsions or the reasoning behind them is unknown. In a world without powerful mortal mages, keepers are the only beings with power over etherbeings.
Lifespan
Unknown
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