Unusual

An Intelligent Humanoid Unusual

## Information

***Unusuals*** are a species of creature that were discovered in Minerva during the time of its founding over a millenium ago. They are able to take many forms, and come in many different shapes and sizes. Unusuals are classified into two sub-categories, *Intelligent* and *Unintelligent*. Intelligent Unusuals are humanoid in nature, possess intellect, and have the ability to make free-willed decisions, as well as communicate. Unintelligent Unusuals are animalistic and savage in nature, attacking without any considerations whatsoever.

The strength and abilities of The Unusuals varies on a spectrum from Anomalies, the weakest classification, to Leviathans, the most powerful. The majority of Unusuals are classified as Anomalies, with the classification making up nearly 35% of all Unusuals in the world, though that doesn't mean that the world is safe by any means, as the total population of The Unusuals extends far into the tens of millions.

The appearance of Unusuals largely depends on that specific Unusual's origin. The majority of Unintelligent Unusuals will appear animalistic in nature with white hair and malformed limbs, sort of like a hound, though other forms exist for this classification like birds, fish, and other types of animals. On the other hand, Intelligent Unusuals will almost always be humanoid in nature. If a human is transformed into an Unusual, their form will resemble their former self with significant attribute changes such as hair and eye color, body size, muscle mass, and bone structure.

The origins of The Unusuals can be traced back thousands of years to the discovery of Minerva, in which a massive portal was discovered in The Vernati Desert, surrounded by corruption and sludge. The portal, which humanity has dubbed "The Fallen Portal", is the origin point of The Unusuals, and is where they spawn from. It is also rumored to be the location where the first humans were turned into Unusuals, including Kojitenski Ankou himself. The portal is located on the opposite end of the desert to The Spirit Portal.

## Origins

**Unusuals** were first discovered in Minerva shortly after its founding in 1093 by explorers who were expanding westward through the country, beyond the coast. According to the first ever documentation of an unusual, a man was wandering the roads near his village in the middle of the night when he saw a creature appear before him. The original note stated the following:

*"It appeared before me in the dead of night, but did not speak. It had the body of a man, but was significantly mutilated. It gazed into my eyes and tilted its head in apparent confusion. When I approached the creature, it shrieked at me and ran in the other direction at an incredible speed, one which the likes of no man could ever achieve."*

The note was recovered from an old wardrobe in a house in Dregl Town that was to be put up for sale. Upon cleaning the house in the 1920s, the note was recovered nestled between two pieces of wood. It was in decent condition, and the paper dated back an estimated 740 years at the time of discovery, much to the surprise of the archeologists who recovered it. The note currently resides in the City A National Historical Museum.

It would take multiple centuries of westward expansion and deep exploration before the original inhabitants of Minerva would discover the source of these creatures, as the sheer size and geological challenges the country had to offer made it nearly impossible to continue beyond The Vernati Desert and much of The Mitsurin Jungle, in fact, in the year 1393, approx. 200 years after the founding of Minerva, despite having driven The Unusuals to the western coast of the country and officially mapping the country coast to coast, 70% of The Vernati Desert had yet to be explored due to the dangerous climate and high density of Unusuals.

By this point, The Spirit Portal had already been discovered, its location being toward the southern tip of the desert close to where The Misturin Jungle starts. Inhabitants of Minerva had been communicating with and working together with the spirits for decades and quickly made peace with them, some even taming and travelling alongside one. This era (roughly 1250-1562) was called "The Spiritual Age", beginning with the first encounters with spirits during The Founding War, and ending with the beginning of The Great Siege.

Around the mid 1400s, an ambitious group of miners were planning to take an expedition deep into the uncharted territories of The Vernati Desert in hopes of finding rare minerals, gemstones, and oil, as much of the desert had yet to be mapped. The group was made up of twelve gentlemen, all of whom were extraordinary individuals, with five of them being active members of The Minervan Military. The twelve miners made their way into the desert and headed north into uncharted territory. They charted the territory and mapped out the northern region of the desert for the next five years, travelling to and from their marked positions monthly in order to keep their rations replenished.

During one of their final expeditions into the desert, the group of miners stumbled upon a second portal which they had mistaken for another Spirit Portal. This portal was much larger than the other one and emanated a violet glow from the entry point rather than a green glow. Furthermore, the portal made strange humming noises and hissing sounds. The twelve men approached the portal and took note of the surrounding area. They noted that the portal was surrounded by red and black sludge, much like the sludge produced by Unusuals. The portal also seemed to have a strange effect on the men, inducing headaches and other undesirable symptoms.

Curious as to where the portal went, one of the twelve miners decided to enter it. They walked through the portal and disappeared without a trace. The remainder of the eleven miners remained outside, anticipating their comrade's return, but he would never come out. Anxious, the miners continued to wait for a few more hours, before a second miner decided to enter the portal to check on him. Much like the first, the second miner never came back, sparking fear and panic among the crowd. The portal had consumed two of their comrades, and despite their intense dread, the remaining ten miners were all drawn to the portal, tempted to enter it themselves. One by one, each of the miners entered the portal.

It's unknown what lies beyond the portal, as all but one of the miners died upon entering it. The sole individual who managed to return from the portal had been severely corrupted from the mysterious realm, their body overcome with malice and evil. They gained supernatural powers far beyond those of the Extraordinary Individuals, and their appearance had changed drastically. The miner who lived would then go on to become Kojitenski Ankou, his mind corrupted with evil due to the effects of the portal. He would go on to command an army of Unusuals in an attempt to take over the country of Minerva.

## Appearance

**Intelligent** unusuals can assume many forms, including an original form, or the forms of humans whom they have killed, though the majority of intelligent unusuals prefer to take on their original forms. If a human is transformed into an Unusual, their form will resemble their former self with numerous attribute changes.

**Unintelligent** unusuals have no way of assuming any form other than their own. One characteristic of most unintelligent unusuals is the presence of *white hair*, regardless of physical appearance. This applies to both animalistic and humanoid unintelligent unusuals.

Humanoid unusuals have traits consistent with other humans, with a few noticeable exceptions, such as the presence of white hair, dark spots around the eyes, and vibrantly-colored pupils. Unusuals may also possess disproportionate body sizes, such as being considerably tall, buff, and possessing extra limbs.

## Location

**Unusuals** were first discovered and documented in the nation of Minerva between 950-1,000 years ago. Before this, nobody in any nation in the world had ever encountered any strange or unusual creatures. However, a couple hundred years after their discovery in Minerva, reports started coming in of Unusuals existing on other nations, primarily Skiens Island, Corikas, and Yevigar. This is rumored to be a result of westward expansion taking place in Minerva between the years 1100-1250, in which millions of Unusuals were driven to the western coast of the country and killed, with many escaping into the ocean.

Below is a list of the estimated unusual populations of the four nations who have reported Unusual activity within the last year.

**Minerva -** 55,630,000 (est.)

**Aldorei -** 24,950,000 (est.)

**Skiens Island -** 8,745,000 (est.)

**Corikas -** 3,265,000 (est.)

**Jathax -** 2,940,000 (est.)

**Yevigar -** 975,000 (est.)

The majority of unusuals are indigenous to Minerva, as it is likely that this was their point of origin, and that they have been settling and living here for possibly over a millennium. Only recently have they started popping up in other nations, leading many to believe that unusuals are fleeing Minerva and settling in other nations, possibly as a form of security and safety from the Extraordinary Individuals, whom there are most of in Minerva.

Strangely, Remington and Breling have not reported any unusual sightings in years, despite being the two closest nations to Minerva.

## How to Defeat an Unusual

**Unusual** bodies follow similar biological principals to human bodies, in the sense where they both have ligaments, organs, and structure. However, the primary difference between the two is the existence of what are known as "***cores***" within an unusual's body. Somewhere inside the body of an unusual, there is a solid sphere known as a core that must be destroyed in order for the unusual to perish. If the core is not destroyed, the unusual's body will simply regenerate, and it will continue to live.

For example, if the core of an unusual exists within the torso, you must destroy the core to kill the unusual. Decapitating an unusual but leaving the core intact will cause the head to regenerate as the core lying within the torso was not destroyed. If you slice their arm off, it will simply regenerate, so long as the core does not exist within their arm.

Some immensely powerful unusuals can have multiple cores within their body, requiring you to destroy all of them in order to defeat the unusual. This is primarily seen in demons who have lived for a considerably long time (100+ years) or powerful unusuals, such as the members of The Mezurashi.

When you destroy the core(s) of an unusual, the remainder of their body will turn to stone, leaving a statue of what they were in place of where they were killed. Some statues left in good condition can fetch a high price if the demon was considerably powerful, and some might even be preserved in a museum.

Most unusuals have a core within their neck, meaning decapitation is almost always required as one of the procedures in defeating an unusual.

## Nomenclature

Although the descriptor "Unusual" is universally used to describe all mysterious beings and creatures within Minerva, intelligent and unintelligent, humanity has come up with a few alternative names of their own to describe unusuals, they are as follows:

**Unusual:** Universal classification of all mysterious beings and creatures.

**Demon:** Common alternative, primarily used in descriptions of humanoid and intelligent unusuals.

**Anomaly:** Common alternative, used by witnesses who are unfamiliar with the concept of unusuals, or do not know them by their scientific terminology. Not to be confused with *Anomaly* (Threat Level).

**Devil:** Uncommon alternative, used in place of Demon, primarily in foreign countries such as *Skiens*, *Jathax*, and *Yevigar*.

**Fiend:** Uncommon alternative, primarily used in descriptions of animalistic unusuals.

**Beast:** Uncommon alternative, primarily used in descriptions of very large and powerful animalistic unusuals.

## Classification

There are two primary subdivisions of unusuals, those which are Intelligent, and those which are Unintelligent.

The majority of unusuals at the time of their discovery were unintelligent, barbaric creatures who attacked when threatened, assuming animalistic forms and behavioral traits (wolves, bears, etc). However, alongside the unintelligent unusuals exist a species of intelligent unusuals who take the forms of humans. It's unknown when most unusuals began appearing with intelligence, as the ratio of unintelligent to intelligent unusuals did not reach an estimated equilibrium until well into the 1300s, after "The Founding War".

The most widely accepted theory states that in the centuries after the first war, the intelligent unusuals that existed began to procreate at an increased rate in order to build their population in anticipation for a counter-attack or defense were humans to attack again. This is supported by the incredibly large volume of fossilized unusual remains (stone chunks/bones) that date back to the 1300-1400s.

### ~Intelligent Unusuals~

Intelligent Unusuals are unusuals which are able to communicate fluently with humanity through spoken language, and are able to make conscious decisions based on the concept of free will. They are as smart as humans, if not smarter, and are significantly more capable. All unusuals in The Mezurashi are intelligent, as they are able to communicate VIA spoken language, with the exception of Kazekura, to humanity. Kazekura is intelligent, as he is able to make free willed conscious decisions, and communicate VIA the language of the spirits to other spirits.

### ~Unintelligent Unusuals~

Unintelligent Unusuals are unusuals which possess no ability to communicate VIA spoken language, and possess little to no logical reasoning behind their decisions. They are primarily animalistic in appearance, though there exist some unintelligent humanoid unusuals. They are barbaric entities who attack when threatened, and have no sense of the value of life when it comes to those whom they kill. It is impossible for an unintelligent unusual to gain intelligence.

## The Mezurashi

There exists a group of powerful intelligent unusuals known as The Mezurashi. They act as a "government" for the unusual race, as all other intelligent unusuals fall beneath them, and obey their orders. It's unknown exactly when this group was formed, but they were officially recognized as an organization sometime between the years of 1880-1890 according to historical documents of extraordinary individuals from those years, who state that between these years "demons of unprecedented strength and intelligence" began to show up across Minerva, each claiming to be from a "newly formed organized conglomerate of demons".

More Information: The Mezurashi

## The Reclaiming War

The Reclaiming War is an ongoing conflict between unusuals and humans in which humans are slaughtering unusuals, as they consider them a significant threat to the function of humanity. The conflict is commonly believed to have started as a result of the Wakantobi Incident, which took place 149 years ago, which is the third major documented attack on humanity by the unusuals, led under their leader Kojitenski Ankou.

More Information: The Reclaiming War