please note that stuff here is still subject to editing and additions. also probably a ton of typos because i may as well be blind sometimes - ya boi snaptrap♥

---Species---

Mi-Go – The bug folks, essentially. Underworlders resemble shelled insects and arachnids, like scorpions, centipedes, and more commonly, shrimp and lobsters. Overworlders, meanwhile, are humans mixed with, well, any sort of bug really. Overworlders always have multiple arms and eyes, tusks or ‘outer fangs’ as they are often called, and antennae. Some may have wings, and even more rarely, some may have a horn of some kind, like many beetles. Overworld Mi-Go are probably the most varied species on Velosa!

Mi-Go all have either bright green or bright orange acid blood, their shells and/or wings and eyes reflecting that. Overworlders specifically can also inject others with this blood or simply poison them using their tusks. It’s also important to note that Overworld Mi-Go are almost entirely deaf in their ears, mainly using their antenna to sense vibrations and ‘translate’ sound. And while it’s unknown if this is an actual trait or not, in many cases, Mi-Go appear to be highly extroverted.

Mi-Go are the embodiment of the Body and as such, are typically advanced in a physical skill, like super strength or incredible flexibility, or have some sort of positive anatomical mutation (such as Bec’s firespitting ability).

There aren’t many Underworld Mi-Go left on Velosa, and if there are, they probably aren’t staying for long. They have an affinity for travel and love visiting the other realms of existence. Don’t be surprised if you ever see one soaring the skies. They’re probably just tourists! Just don’t try to attack them. Unless you desperately want to know what it’s like getting your brain harvested.

 

Krakens – Krakens are the cephalopod monsters of Velosa. Underworlders usually either Cthulhoid or merfolk-like in terms of anatomy. Some also like to wear painted shells as decoration. Overworld Krakens all have tentacles somewhere on their body, usually attached to the lower back or replacing their hair. However, some instead have tentacles replacing their arms or even the upper lip. Even more interestingly, Overworlders can collapse their tendrils into a mix of ink and blood to fuse with objects, though because they’re constantly losing blood in this state, this can be dangerous over long periods of time. Krakens, over and under, are essentially vampires without the need to drink blood. They’re nocturnal, as the sun burns their skin (or, at least, it used to); and while they don’t need to drink blood, they certainly can, certainly have, and certainly will continue to do so. Blood is an addictive substance to Krakens, though, and it can possibly start to trigger a shift in form among Overworlders if they get greedy enough.

Krakens have an inherent need to devour as much knowledge as possible, Underworlders even having the capital of their city be a giant library that’s constantly being expanded. They have bright pink blood, both sweet smelling and tasting, making those with a particularly keen sense of smell an especially big threat. Their blood is also normally rather cold and thin, so they often seek warmer, humid climates. However, there are arctic Krakens (with notably lavender blood and typically a bit bulkier) living in and around the waters of Zachariah.

Krakens are the embodiment of the Mind, every Kraken being born with at least one unique psychic power and often being immune to weaker attempts at possession. However, while not necessarily disliking it, they are weak to magic, and typically can’t comprehend how to create their own.

 

Capricorns – The goat-folks. more to come.

 

Leviathans – The species that makes up the majority of Velosa’s population, both over and under. Underworld Leviathans are serpent-esque mer-people and known as the tricksters of the seas, finding entertainment in pulling pranks, being unnecessarily creepy, and generally just poking sleeping bears (or Krakens, in this case). Instead of legs, they have long fish tails. However, their tails are much longer that one would think, generally spanning somewhere from four to ten feet on average. The top half is a bit more human-like, though adorned with wispy, flowing fins, sharp claws, big teeth, and lightless eyes, among other things. Overworld Leviathans, like Overworld Mi-Go, are incredibly varied. They are, in short, humans mixed with practically any sea creature you can imagine. If it has fins or flippers, there’s probably an Overworld version of it. Interestingly, arctic Leviathans tend to be modeled after either fresh water or arctic creatures, versus tropical Leviathans being exclusively based on salt-water or swamp creatures.

Overworld Leviathans typically have a long fish/shark/ray/etc. tail, along with fins on their backs, arms and legs; likewise, they have a large pair of fins on the sides of their head, acting as their ears. They also have webbed hands and feet, and gills on both their neck and on their torsos, just under the ribcage. And while Underworlders perpetually have completely black sclera, Overworlders can shift their eyes from semi-human ones, to a black pair to see in the dark by ‘flooding’ their sclera with a dark liquid. Lastly, all Leviathans have blood that can range from blue to jade green in color; typically, the closer one is born to the tropics, the greener it is.

Leviathans are the embodiment of the Soul, meaning they have an inherent skill in magic and witchcraft. This typically includes things like summoning, channeling and spiritual communication, astral projection, and potion making among quite a lot of other things. Typically, though, witches practice only one or two abilities. Be a master of one thing over being average at a bunch of things and such. Also, fun fact, ‘witch’ (along with most titles) is a gender-neutral term in Velosa! There is no such thing as a wizard or a male version of a witch, just like how kings and princes can be both men and women, with no queens or princesses.

 

Kelpies – The 'seahorses', an Underworld exclusive species. Not much is actually known about them, as they are rarely ever seen, and if they are, it’s usually just a single one. In fact, they are often mistake for Capricorn do to the rather strikingly similar silhouette. It’s unknown just what element they even are, if any at all, but they do actively pose a threat to both Overworlders and Underworlders; Making unsuspecting Overworlders drown themselves with enchanting songs, and ambushing and killing any lone Underworlder they come across, with no one sure if it’s all just for fun, out of spite or ill-will, or something more. One thing that can be confirmed, though, is that in every Kelpie encounter documented, the Kelpie in question had a musical instrument with them.

It’s suspected they may dwell mostly in Frijent (also known as Hard Water, also also known as ice waters), hence why they’re so rarely seen down by Cyril. But then why would they ever want to come down to warmer seas in the first place?

 

Dragons – Overworld exclusive. Despite the name, these reptilians don’t commonly have wings. However, they do come in a myriad of shapes, sizes, and colors. There are even a few rare ‘Chimera’ Dragons whose features seem to overlap with that of some of the other races. Rather than collectively being associated with one specific element, each individual Dragon is born with a random element instead. One may be born with firebending abilities, while another may breathe fire instead, and another still may have pyrokinetic skills. And that’s not to say all Dragons are inherently stuck with fire-based powers, of course!

Dragons have an almost natural love for music and are responsible for the creation of quite a lot of different genres, as well as often being the faces of the music and entertainment industry.

 

Gargoyles – Overworld exclusive. Winged creatures with skin hard as rock, Gargoyles aren’t attached to any element, meaning they have no powers. But while they technically have no strengths, this means they also have no weaknesses (elementally speaking, anyway). Prolonged exposure to the sun, however, will slowly destroy their stone skin.

Centuries ago, Gargoyles were highly persecuted for having no elemental attachment. As such, most were forced into hiding in the tall crags that breached the seas, far from land and anyone’s reach. Now, there’s hardly any of them left, and while their persecution has long since ended, many still choose to dwell in the mountains, still feeling the sting of past transgressions and seeing this as one of the few ways to preserve their dwindling kind.

 

Barghests - Big ol' dog/wolf people. Overworld exclusive. More to come.

Harpies - The birds. Overworld exclusive. Xenophobic to the extreme, they live in a walled city high in the mountains, far from any other civilization. Thought to be medical geniuses, it's said they have cures to nigh every disease known to beast, even to those outside of the realm, possibly even outside of the Nythe itself, but they only bestow said gifts to races and groups they feel deserve it. And in their eyes, hardly any do. They all dress in thick, heavy robes and wear masks filled with fresh, strong herbs, being absolutely terrified of any and all sickness themselves. It's not unheard of for them to banish one of their own kind from the city, should they ever get too sick. 

No one's sure what their element is, but there's been rumors they've learned how to alter a person's element surgically, possibly even learned how to give people multiple elements.

Hell, it's possible they've even been discovering new elements all together, and have just been keeping their knowledge all to themselves.

Jackalopes - 

Manticores -

---Spirits, Demons, and Otherworlders---

Angels -

Specters - Includes Ghouls, Zombies, Shadows/Shadow People and Black-eyed People. Anything undead basically.

Imps -

Oni -

Djinn -

Kitsune - 

Wendigowak – A greedy, brutal, malevolent species. Originally, Wendigowak were rare spirits that lurked in the dark depths of the jungles and forests, hardly ever showing themselves. It’s said that Ka Draknir created them himself to make his job lighter and help keep his children off the path of sin; but the Wendigowak were corrupted by their own power and abandoned their Father in favor of preying upon those they were assigned to aid. Or something to that extent. Even more so, it’s said that Wendigowak have their own small pocket dimension or realm of sorts; a frozen, unending, dead forest under a pure black sky where neither the sun nor the moon rises, where a Wendigo may rest and hide and plot, and where prey is whisked away to, never able to find a way home.

Whether any of that is true is unknown, but what is known is that while the Gargoyle race has been slowly shrinking over the years, the Wendigowak have been ever so slowly expanding. Wendigo spirits have every power to break and turn Overworlders in Wendigo themselves; On occasion, they do, though Overworld Wendigo do have some limitations, at the very least. Sometimes people claim sightings of missing loved ones and large, inexplicable chunks of meat in Greyport’s dead wood. But the Hunter’s Guild always just says that wasn’t them and ignores it.

The Wendigo is, to put it bluntly, wrong. Their human features are still very much present, but their anatomy is still somehow… no… no they shouldn’t move like that… they shouldn’t talk like that… s-somehow theyre every element at once… that’s not right its not like us it doesn’t belong

a select few say theyre nice and they haven’t done anything yet like they say but how can we trust them

---Anomalies, Abominations and Outsiders---

Things - 

Nightgaunts -

Outer Mi-Go -

 

Currently, tensions are high between the Underworld Leviathans and Krakens. The Krakens put up with the Leviathans mischief for a long time, but after blatantly stealing and ruining their tomes by the dozen and practically destroying their old capital, the Krakens have fought back in rather cruel and unusual ways; namely using hypnotic powers to lure Leviathans away from home to be cannibalized or lead into ice waters to freeze to death. Leviathans have countered with ambushing lone Krakens and taking them back to their cities to be magically and cruelly experimented on. Both sides have been known to sometimes keep slaves and hostages as well, though the former seems to be on an individual, case-by-case basis at the moment.

But even more unfortunately, the other races have started to get dragged into this feud as well. And while there have been good-hearted souls in every group during this occurrence, there are looming fears of an all-out war breaking out in the very near future.

please note that stuff here is still subject to editing and additions

---

Velosa is a mostly tropical plain, only slightly bigger than our Pluto. The only parts of the realm that see any snow or ice are the poles, and even then, temperatures have yet to ever dip below -40. It’s around 95% water, with only two large patches of land. Any other land is simply rock formations jutting from beneath the sea, though some have made their home in larger formations. The two patches of land in question are named Cyril and Zachariah; Cyril located in the tropics, and Zachariah located in the northern arctic.

Unsurprisingly, most of Velosa’s inhabitants are sea dwellers. Though there is a small population of various creatures (about 100,000) that thrive above the waves. There are a number of species in Velosa that are on the same level of intelligence as us humans, and they refer to anything below the waves as the Underworld and anything above as the Overworld. They have a lot of weird, obvious names for things, actually.

The Underworld’s populace is comprised entirely of sea monsters, all with their own cultures and traditions. Meanwhile, the Overworld has what could be best described as a hybrid between monsters and us humans (though they still wholeheartedly refer to themselves as monsters). In fact, Underworlders often describe them not as whole new species, but simply as their land-dwelling counterparts. Vice versa, the Overworlders simply see Underworlders as alternate, sea-dwelling versions of themselves and there’s a mighty good reason for that. Buuuut, we’ll save that for a bit later.