Hallows
Hallowed Sidereans, or hallows for short, are Sidereans with abnormal amounts of anima mundi, prima materia, or viriditas in their system, so named due to taking after the Creators in various ways. Their powers are greatly enhanced, they can easily handle and utilize their respective divine substance, and their physical traits bring the Creators to mind.
Hallows are typically respected if not outright revered due to their association with the Creators, often viewed as having been directly blessed by them. This, however, isn't really true; one's hallowed nature is nothing more than a standard (for Siderea, anyway) soul mutation. It's possible for someone to become like a hallow through artificial means, but most wouldn't quite count this or would view such a thing negatively. For instance, most beings full of prima materia are that way due to corruption (such as in the famed case of Rigel), not because they were simply born that way.
When hallows are viewed negatively, this is typically the cause. Without knowing someone's past, at times it can be difficult to tell if someone's had a run-in with a liminal parasite and has been subsequently hijacked and stabilized or if they've just got a funky soul. Even in cases where one knows it's a soul mutation they might still distrust hallows, believing their soul to be unstable or that their natural corruption will spread and consume them. Alternatively the sheer amount of power hallows have can intimidate people, causing hallows to be ostracized from some communities out of fear that they'll abuse their power.
For the most part the birth of hallows is somewhat random. There are higher odds of hallows giving birth to more hallows, especially if both parents are the same type of hallow, but hallows are born from bloodlines with no history of hallowed children all the time. Hallows can be directly created by the Creators, however, and many of the first zodiacs were hallows as a result. For instance, nearly all of the first Scorpios were Fadelikes due to Asena not really holding back her power or thinking about things much. Hallows can also be created by zodiacs in the form of homunculi by consciously over-adding one's divine substance of choice, but homunculi are exceedingly difficult to make and also that's illegal. Finally, hallows can be born from high concentrations of the respective divine substance, though that's obviously rather rare in modern Siderea.
Hybrid hallows don't exist; if someone had both abnormally high amounts of anima mundi and prima materia in their soul then... well, them being balanced is how it's supposed to work, so they'd simply be more powerful without any particularly notable physical traits. One can gain the appearance of being a hybrid hallow, however, via things like corruption: a Starlike with prima materia corruption would look quite like a Star-Fade hybrid, for instance.
Types of Hallows
Below is a listing of each type of hallow and their unique traits. When it comes to physical traits, note that the lists in question are neither wholly required nor are they exhaustive. Typically a hallow will have at least 2-3 of the listed traits; enough for it to be visibly clear what they are. There are a few traits common to all hallows as well:
Common hallow traits:
- Above-average height.
- Long hair.
- Markings, structures, or other features made of their respective divine substance.
(Disclaimer: the "Notable (hallows)" section on each of these is subject to change at any time since many of the characters on the list are still WIPs and I come up with new furries all the time.)
Starlikes
Starlike hallows are Sidereans with an abnormal amount of anima mundi in their soul, causing them to take after the High Star (Frenzael). They tend to excel in creation and water magic. Typically a Starlike will be defined by the desire to create things, often taking to the arts and/or being eager to start a family. They use magic almost effortlessly, having such power and confidence that they often don't need to formally cast spells for their desired results to manifest.
Stereotypically, Starlikes are considered inspiring, capable, imaginative, serene, and generous. At their worst they're assumed to be domineering, stubborn, detached, difficult to please, and/or dramatic.
Starlikes are the most commonly revered hallows thanks to Frenzael being sort of the "main" god of the trio and few sects existing that view them in an antagonistic light. There's sort of an attitude that they can do no wrong and are automatic leaders, which tends to end up going wrong. Either Starlikes end up feeling overly pressured to take charge of everything like Frenzael themself or they end up being pompous and spoiled - or, worse, they abuse the stereotypes put upon them to manipulate people and use their powers for personal gain. In modern Siderea stereotypes aren't quite so strong, but there's been more than one tale of Starlike tyrants that got that way simply because everyone inherently worshiped them.
Common Starlike traits:
- Black or azure hair/fur.
- Multi-toned hair akin to Frenzael's, with one color on "top" and one color on "bottom".
- (Literal) white or azure skin.
- Azure sclera, white pupils, and/or golden rings around the pupil.
- Azure, white, or black horns/hooves/scales/carapaces/pollux/etc.
- Aquatic and/or flowing features & aesthetics.
- Star shapes and/or golden detailing.
- Third eyes and/or extra arms.
Notable Starlikes:
- Librae
- Saint Ea
- Graffias
- Betelgeuse
- Haniel
- Isafire
- Sadalsuud
- Realta
- Marea
- Nilam (maybe)
- Andromeda/Antarmada probably in retrospect...
Fadelikes
Fadelike hallows are Sidereans with an abnormal amount of prima materia in their soul, causing them to take after the Great Fade (Asena). They tend to excel in dark and arcane magics. Fadelikes are typically defined by their enchantment with potential, seeking to learn things and discover limits - and more importantly, how to surpass them. Like Starlikes they use magic effortlessly, and in fact trying to think things through may only be a hindrance to the true extent of their power.
Stereotypically, Fadelikes are considered creative, flexible, fun, curious, and daring. At their worst they're assumed to be destructive, invasive, chaotic, uncaring, and/or reckless.
Fadelikes are easily the most controversial hallows thanks to the volatility of prima materia and Asena herself being the most divisive Creator. Due to prima materia being the most commonly-corrupting substance and typical origins of liminal parasites, Fadelikes might be assumed to be "infected" before they're assumed to simply be a Fadelike. Even if not, people sometimes fear that coming into contact with a Fadelike will cause them to get corrupted which definitely isn't the case; Fadelikes are stable and perfectly capable of not bunswording people with a simple poke. Of course, in other cases the fear is that they could bunsword someone with a simple poke if they so desired it, simply fearing the sheer eldritch power Fadelikes are capable of abusing.
Still, in most places a Fadelike can live a pretty normal life; it's mostly in smaller and more isolated communities that Fadelikes are assumed to be cursed or evil in some fashion. Thus it's typical for Fadelikes to either seek out larger and more understanding communities... but perhaps even more typical for them to become ostracized from their places of birth and seek out stranger communities. There are entire towns filled with just Fadelikes seeking refuge from the societies that shun them (or revere them in all the wrong ways), or at least those that began that way and remain thoroughly accepting of Fadelikes to this day.
Common Fadelike traits:
- Black, white, or purple hair/fur.
- (Literal) white, (literal) black, or purple skin.
- Black or purple sclera, slit or star-shaped pupils.
- Black, purple, or white horns/hooves/scales/carapaces/pollux/etc.
- Cosmic, demonic, draconic, and/or abyssal features & aesthetics.
- Horns on zodiacs that typically lack them.
- Sparkling/glittering features akin to a starry sky.
- Translucency/transparency, particularly on features like fins and wings.
Notable Fadelikes:
- Scorpius
- Saint Ishtar
- Saint Ganymede
- Saint Leviathan
- Sariel (the original one, anyway, although I mean the current one too technically...)
- Zadkiel
- Jeremiel
- Zoisa
- Hamal
- Altarf
- Rasalhague
- Diabel
- Bellatrix
- Lycianthes
- Datura
- Majriti probably huh...
- Tiamat
- Okda
- I keep waffling on if Laphystia is one or not :thonk:
- Demon Hands McGee
Glowlikes
Glowlike hallows are Sidereans with an abnormal amount of viriditas in their soul, causing them to take after the Vast Glow (Humilia). They tend to excel in light, nature, and healing magics. Glowlikes tend to be defined by emotion, seeking to nurture and protect the world around them and being in-tune with everyone they meet.
Stereotypically, Glowlikes are considered empathetic, comforting, altruistic, charismatic, and intuitive. At their worst they're assumed to be sensitive, weak, panicky, possessive, and/or incapable of thinking with their heads over their hearts.
Glowlikes are typically beloved, owing to their usually gentle natures, inherent sense of love, good people skills, and Humilia's continued presence while her fellow Creators have abandoned the planet. Their innate talent for healing others and understanding what's wrong with someone without even having to ask leads to them commonly going into medical and therapeutic fields. Similarly, their connection to life often leads to an interest in fields related to flora and fauna. Due to viriditas being not quite on the same level as prima materia and anima mundi (what with being a creation of Humilia's and not one of Entirety's basic building blocks) Glowlikes are the weakest magically of the three hallow subtypes, but they're still more powerful than an average Siderean.
Common Glowlike traits:
- White, spring green, or pastel hair/fur.
- (Literal) white, spring green, or pastel skin.
- White, spring green, or pastel sclera, white pupils, shaped pupils, and/or white rings around the pupil.
- White, spring green, or pastel horns/hooves/scales/carapaces/pollux/etc.
- Floral and/or angelic features & aesthetics.
- Flowers growing on one's person, typically the same type of glowy flower as Humilia herself.
- Glowing & shimmering features.
- Wings and/or halos on zodiacs that typically lack them.
Notable Glowlikes:
- Saint Astraea
- Ariel
- Chamuel
- Raphael
- Leda
- Mereniba
- Convallaria
- Asphodel
- Jauza (maybe)
- Veritate prolly...
- Ophelia Diaphaneitas, maybe?? i need more glowlikes...