Chimaera

Chimaera are the native inhabitants of Eretz, composed of a mixture of animal and human body parts. "Chimaera" is actually a blanket term that refers to a numerous amount of separate races and tribes that have been united for centuries under a single cause, the war against the seraphim.

History[]

The origins of both races, chimaera and seraphim, are not well known.

According to chimaera mythology, it all began in a time before time: where only the sun and the two moons of Eretz existed. The Sun had been betrothed to Nitid, the older of the two sister moons. Still, it was her sister, Ellai, who stirred his lust. He came upon her bathing in the sea, and took her. She struggled, but there was no escape. Afterwards she was able to stab him and run, the blood of the sun flowing like sparks to earth. There, they became seraphim, "angels" of fire. After Ellai ran, she found her sister and Nitid wept, her tears falling to the earth and becoming chimaera, children of regret.

For as long as the two races existed, the chimaera have been enslaved by the seraphim, until the rebellion of Astrae. It was lead by the Warlord and the Resurrectionist, who proceeded to wage war, and continue to fight for the freedom of chimaera.

Characteristics[]

There are an untold variety of chimaera, and an untold variety of possible characteristics. Examples include fox, wolf, and cat. It depends on the clan, but all chimaera can fit into at least one of these three main types:

High-human aspect: a chimaera who has a higher ratio of humanoid aspects than animal, normally constituting the head and the upper torso of a human.
Creature aspect: a chimaera who is almost entirely made up of animals; often animal-headed. Creature aspect chimaera with the head and torso of animals and the opposite of High-human aspect.
Revenant: fallen warriors who have been brought back to life by a resurrectionist, who takes their soul and puts it into a body created to hold the soul. Revenants also have hamsas on their hands, which are an indicator of what they are. Resurrection gives chimaera a form of immortality.

Society[]

Different species of chimaera are separated into various tribes. While they have animal appearances, their personalities are very much that of humans. They are found all over the land of Eretz and have formed an alliance to defeat the seraphim. Chimaera society has an unofficial hierarchy to it. They place a lot of importance in superficial appearances. Chimaera who are high-human are considered more beautiful. Those who have never been resurrected are referred to as "pure." Most chimaera are able to have sex with each other and many are mutually fertile. The main might of the chimaera army has always been drawn from some dozen of the fiercer tribes.

Language[]

Their language is called Chimaera. Their language is "a harsh tongue, growlsome and full of fricatives, with much of it rising from the throat. It makes even German or Hebrew seem melodious."^[1]