Sentient Species of Ifrit

Ifrit is a land that is filled with a variety of unique species that populate within its rich diverse sets of environments, but overall, there are species in Ifrit that have developed enough to form complex magical functional societies that sustained themselves for thousands of years. There maybe other sentient species in Ifrit, but these categories of species are specific enough to order groups of sentient creatures as to recognize them.

## Typing Sentient Species

When it comes to categorizing ANY species in Ifrit, you do not categorize a species based on physical biological attributes. Instead, you categorize it based on its magical capabilities, because the more similar a creature's magic is to another, the more closely related it is. Therefore, when it comes to categorizing species, it becomes much easier to predict a creature's range type of magic.

This goes the same for sentient species as well. For each "category" of sentient species, there is a representative species in which similar creatures are compared against to whether or not it is typed within that category, for example, Kitsunes are classed under as "Tanuki", because they are similar to Tanukis in terms of magic.

## The SSSCS

There is a category system in which Ifritian species are categorized as when they are officially recognized as a sentient species. This category system was formed based on the ideas of ancient philosopher and researcher Elgabrier Sterelli, who's a pioneer on the classification of "sentient" Ifritian species. It was established by the International Union of Ifritian Affairs (IUIA) which was formed after the Kazabeer-Klepjurian wars. It is called the "Sterelli Sentient Species Category System" (SSSCS). To be classed as a sentient species, (or classed under one of the categories of sentient species), one must fit certain qualifications:

1. ***You are a biological living physical organism*** For one to be even classified as a species in Ifrit, you MUST be a physical organism that is completely alive and possesses physical body matter, and not just a swarm of sentient energy such as Demons (which are just made up of fragments of one or more souls) or Spirits, who do not possess a physical body.
2. ***You must have at least gained at least basic self-awareness and intelligence*** This is the point were categorizing becomes controversial, as many different individuals have their own standards for what counts as an "intelligent species". This is not often a blanketed term as it depends on a case by case basis. In this case, what this means is that a species is at LEAST intelligent enough to understand spoken language and communicate, and have reached intellect to achieve self-awareness, as in being aware of their own actions and having formed basic intuition and the capacity to understand deep meaning.
3. ***You must have a sustained system of organization in a society formed by your own species*** This is often the most debatable point. Does a species truly require to form an industrial social society in order for it to be considered as an "official" sentient? In this case, when a creature is INDEPENDENT and does not form a complicated social structure, then it falls instead into one of the sentient species categories that it has the most similar traits to (IE, a Kistune is a solitary sentient creature, but falls under the "Tanuki" category).
4. ***You are aware of the type of magical ability you have*** Lastly, in order for one to be considered as a sentient creature in Ifrit, a creature must be fully recognized for its abilities and completely researched and known about, that is including magical abilities. This is what separates Kitsunes from being classed as "Cynocphali" instead of "Tanuki", as Kitsune have *shapeshifting* abilities, LIKE Tanukis. What this means is that a species is easily categorized and therefore different laws of magic are applied to it, as different species come specialized with different types of magic, and need different types of laws applied to it. IE, for shapeshifting Tanukis, one cannot transform into dangerous types of animals or objects, or Salamanders having their fire abilities inhibited and may only practice it in fireproof locations.

Now, the SSSCS has been met with much controversy and criticism over the course of many years, ranging from advice to questionable decisions given specific cases to outright rejection of the system. It has even been considered to be rewritten many times, but in the end the simple reliability of it is what made it kept coming back to its feet. Only a few edits have been made to rectify some of its clauses as of yet.

## Types of Sentient Species

### Humans

*Main Article: Ifritian Humans*

Ifritian Humans are different than regular everyday humans in our world, as they have magical capabilities and have some different physical characteristics. They are intelligent and practical, and have a great sense of intuition, sociability and curiosity, similar to real life humans. They are very much loyal to their own species and always prefer to have social interactions

#### Physiology

Humans often have enlarged ears and mostly hairless bodies. They have five fingered hands and come in a variety of flavors, from skin colors to hair style. Overall, they're not too different from real-world humans with the exception of magic.

#### Habitat

Often in green grassy environments with pastures readily available for farming (like cultivating crops or herding livestock). Their home nation is Kazabeer.

#### Abilities

Humans are masters of special awareness and location based abilities, such as opening portals, teleportation, summoning various objects, levitation and even have dimensional abilities, like being able to conjure up small "pocket dimensions", useful for storing things.

### Satyrs

*Main Article: Satyrs*

Satyrs are the closest species to Ifritian humans in terms of both physical appearance, location, sometimes even magic. They are renown for their strength, collectiveness, sociability and friendly disposition. They are drawn to nature and are brilliant farmers and heavily rely on the basis of a good community, in which is where their absolute strength lies.

#### Physiology

Satyrs often possess the physical characteristics of both ungulates and humans, possessing a set of horns (in which sexual dimorphism is rare), hooves and ears. They are primarily herbivorous, though are occasionally carnivorous in rare instances, such as starvation.

#### Habitat

They live in woodlands, grasslands and shrublands, often near sources of water available for farming. They might also live in temperate forests. Their home nation is Trunklund.

#### Abilities

Satyrs are naturally drawn to nature. They can plant, cultivate and harvest life, and are masters of the art of agriculture. They can almost "communicate" with wildlife using their magic, making them grow and an incredibly fast rate, the fastest out of any sentient species in Ifrit. They also have great durable strength and can even possess healing magic as a defense and for medicinal purposes.