Serafi

The Serafi are a sapient humanoid race native to Arkha and Veridius, the two worlds shaped by Eliur within his solar-system. Their advanced technology complements and enhances their mastery over the arcane and spirit magic alike.

The Serafi are attuned to spirit magic, which brings them to value the balance of the world and believe that everything is interconnected. Where many individuals see nothing but a synchrony of events, the Serafi believe these occurrences had a single thread binding them. The Serafi are virtuous, pious and honorable (though exceptions exist) and have been slowly building their civilizations over most of Veridius's *Mainland.* Surprisingly, their civilization didn't come at the expense of other races, as they use their mastery over magic to soothen the animals' behavior, thus taming them and keeping them as unharmful pets. They are highly religious: they worship Eliur, their creator, as the main god of Veridius. In their eyes, the titan has given them a mission of self-growth and they take such a mission with pride and earnestness. The other titans are also acknowledged as deities, although prayers and sermons usually involve aphorisms, exercises, meditation groups or theories for personal wisdom, rather than prayers to the gods. The Serafi priests and monks are great wielders of spirit magic.

Surprisingly advanced in their usage of arcane, few others races can claim such a mastery, although their control over arcane is rivaled (and likely surpassed) by the Parian. Unlike many other wielders of the Arcane however, which use magical formulas, the Serafi's usage of magic is, for the most part, raw and not fully conscious. Their release of magic occurs in an unique fashion, often inspired by their instincts and emotions rather than rituals and formulas. This peculiar form of arcane magic is also referred to as "psychic". Far from being a disadvantage, this connection with their arcane powers has allowed the Serafi to place a great emphasis on their educational system and expand their mind; in a few cases, helping them develop their advanced technology. The Serafi build conservatories, temples and schools to teach and spread the awareness of their knowledge to the rest of the population. The Augari are the most talented order of arcane practioneers. The Serafi are also great astrologers.

## Characteristics

### Physiological Description

Serafi tower at around 7–8 feet tall. Their skin tone is generally blue but can range from white to dark violet. Their blood is also blue. They have several shades of hairs such as black, gray, white, teal, purple blue and brown. Serafi possess hooves and a long tail, which tends to be thinner on females. They can also have horns or forehead plates on their heads. While males have tendrils growing out from their chin and neck, female tendrils are thinner and grow from behind their ears.

#### Aging

Serafi can live for thousands of years. Ancient serafi have yellow eyes (rather than blue) and long white hairs. As a display of their role in society, many ancient serafi have magical markings. As serafi grow in age their magical power increases. As such, older Serafi are more powerful than younger ones. As older Serafi tend to be more conservative than younger Serafi, this has created a society which is devoted to mantain its core values.

### Culture

The serafi culture is centered around three main elements: self-growth, racial growth and improvement of the world. They believe each and every individual has a right to research his or her ultimate good, such as happiness. At the same time, they believe such a goal has to be harmonized with the Serafi interests as a race and, ultimately, the betterment of the entire world. Their devotion to these beliefs has been passed down since the first serafi were born and came to this world. They believe this is Eliur's will, and that the titan has inscribed this *natural purpose* within their souls. To them, harmonizing these three purposes is the true core of their existence.

In their eyes, the virtue of justice governs our relationships with others. Specifically, it denotes a sustained or constant willingness to extend to each person what he or she deserves. For this reason, the Serafi don't treat everyone equally, but have a meritocratic society which believes in a hierarchical structure of values. Compassion, in their eyes, is important; hence the serafi are not a cold or close-minded and try to remain benevolent with all creatures, as long as they don't endanger their own safety. They use their affinity to spirit and their psionic powers to communicate with other living beings and grasp their needs. It is common for Serafi to speak directly in the mind of each other, so that they can understand each other position.

Spirituality and education and interwoven. Priests and monks are often educators. The serafi are expected to recognize the benevolence and might of the titans. To them, it is a cultural imperative to respect the titans' image, but it isn't required to pay homage or worship the makers (they fear that imposing a taxing religious cult would bring to an excessive humility and self-deprecation).

They value intelligence, magical prowess and moral virtue, and are often educated to reinforce these three values through study, meditation and training. As they are proud people who treasure their customs and values, they frown upon vandalism or emotional outbursts, and in many cases vandalism and blasphemy are sanctioned and punished. They organize shows that celebrate magical prowess, wit and intelligence. Serafi do not often have children because they are so long-lived. Children are treasured and highly valued, as they are considered a 'public good' for the Serafi society. Willingly damaging a child is a great crime. Ancient serafi that have distinguished themselves display magical marks upon their forehead as a symbol of their importance in society, aswell as great wisdom.

When they claim a piece of land, if it is inhabited by non-sapient races such as panthara and talbuks, they enchant crystals to subdue the creatures and tame them, eventually relocating them or simply turning them into pets. Nevertheless, they rarely expand as a people and try to concentrate within their cities, letting a fairly harmless nature grow.

#### Military tactics

While they are mostly a peaceful race, they are not above fighting and engaging in brutal and swift wars. When they first came into this world, they had to fight against the elementals to tame and control the land. They often train in combat to mantain a firm discipline upon their instincts. During fights, Serafi use magic, technology and their massive size to subdue, overpower or destroy the enemy, preferably in an honorable way. Warrior serafi prefer to fight head-on, taking advantage of their massive size and magical prowess to overwhelm the enemy, while their mages and ranged weapons release their spells from a safe distance. Priests and monk are often kept as healers alongside the arcanisters. Hunters may eventually use subdued animals to ambush or attack the enemies from the rear, creating confusion admist ranks. If the situation is dire, they will resort to more technology during the battle.

#### Technology

As they focus a lot on improvement, the serafi have developed advanced technology. Their technology is mixed with arcane magic, and as such it is difficult to understand where one begins and the other ends. Engineers are praised and creative individuals are usually nudged to express their potential either through art or through innovations. Their craft is astounding for a mortal race and, in many ways, it surpasses even that of Eliur's own keepers. The serafi have learned to shape crystals for all kinds of purposes, ranging from power containment to data storage. The purple crystals often associated with draenei that decorate their buildings, weapons, and armor are used to power everyday serafi society. They emanate almost imperceptible spirit radiations, which soothen wild beasts' behaviours and harmonize the feelings of the very serafi.

#### Role of magic

Much like they focus on technology, serafi also have an heavy focus on arcane magic and spirit magic. Although not as gifted as the parians, they are still masters of the arcane.

## Taxonomy

Other than the standard serafi, there are two other types of serafi.

* The Arien are the 'firstborn', the first generation of serafi that walked over Veridius. Being the warriors of the Keepers, it is their duty to protect and watch over the worlds they inhabit. They are much bigger than the average serafi and are consider themselves a different race altogether. Unlike most serafi which focus on harmony and balance, the arien focus on discipline and war-like virtues.

* The krokul are serafi that have become deranged. Seemingly corrupted by an unknown cause, these once proud serafi have found themselves losing their very powers and beauty. As of recent, about 20% of the serafi population has been afflicted by this unknown curse. The serafi are terrified about this new disease which deteriorates their magical powers and physical form, with their priests and scientists trying to find a cure. The krokul are kept away from serafi settlements and they have since begun to live in small villages, hunting for survival.