Realistic or Modern Shadows of Lakora Lore

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CREATURES

VAMPIRES

Pale-skinned, semi-undead creatures that live off the blood of humans. In Devin, they’re organized into a handful of mafia-like families with a few loners. Humans can be converted to vampirism through blood transfusion, but it’s a difficult process that has killed many a weak human, especially by careless vampires. They can’t stand sunlight, although they aren’t instantly killed by it. They’re all inhumanly strong and fast, and some of them have powers like flight, shapeshifting, and hypnosis, especially the older and better-fed ones. Oh, by the way, vampires can never truly starve. If they’re deprived of blood for decades, they slowly become savage degenerate creatures of unparalleled hunger.

LYCANTHROPES

Often called skinwalkers or soul-kin by their own kind. Many have Native American ancestry. They revere nature, and each has the ability to turn into a specific animal, as well as a superhuman hybrid of that animal. In human form, each shifter has some slight resemblance to their animal; werebears are big and burly, while feline shifters are lithe with a yellowish tint to their eyes. They live about three times as long as normal humans, and some learned to wield nature-based magic. Weak to silver.

ELEMENTALS

More common in Asia, but plenty have made their way to the States. They live up to three hundred years, and all are immune to their associated element.
Fire elementals always have auburn-red eyes, and often flaming red hair as well. Their powers are pretty much what you’d expect.
Air elementals have light blue eyes and slender builds, and flighty personalities. They’re all fast and agile, most can control the winds in some form, and some can fly or cast lightning.
Earth elementals are stocky with deep brown eyes, typically honest and loyal. They’re some of the strongest creatures around, dwarfing vampires in terms of pure strength (although they’re almost always less agile). Many of them can “bend earth” as well, though most are slow to do so.
Water elementals have sea-green eyes and can breathe underwater, often with the ability to telekinetically control it as well.

DEMONS

There are seven known types of demons, each tied to one of the seven deadly sins. They all must indulge in their respective sin to survive, and if they do so they are virtually immortal. The indulgence is relative; a kiss or a minor act of bullying might sustain a succubus or kalvor respectively for a few days, a full intimate encounter or wild brawl might be enough for a month. Besides some type-specific powers, many demons various abilities including flight, telekinesis, and super strength. A few of the more common demon types are detailed below.
Greed demons (nalfeshnee) hoard and seize wealth whenever possible, and can inherently sense the presence of precious metals and other valuable objects. Some can telekinetically control gold.
Envy demons (nabasu) can suppress the powers of other supernaturals and are resistant to magic.
Lust demons (succubi/incubi) are all supernaturally beautiful, with charm magic that is practically irresistible to those normally attracted to their sex and can sometimes even work on others. The women in particular are sometimes thought to be corrupted fairies, having a similar affinity for hex magic that they’re fond of using on disappointing or would-be lovers.
Wrath demons (kalvor) are the ultimate bullies, the strongest among demons, and sustain themselves by fighting and intimidating the weak and slaying those that claim to be stronger than them.

ANGELS

Just as demons sustain themselves through sin, angels must keep their souls intact through virtue. However, they must follow all conventional virtues, as well as commit themselves to fighting evil (the bad guys have it easy!). Their abilities can be as broad as those of demons, though they're far more likely to have healing powers than manipulation powers.

FAIRIES

They embody both the perseverence of nature and the chaos inherent in civilization. Some are more representative of the former, and others of the latter. Regardless of type, fairies often have nature-based powers allowing them to control animals, illusions to trick humans, and hexes to bestow bad luck, modify their memories, and even transform people into animals.
Dryads are each tied to a specific tree and have strong plant-based powers.
Nereids and sirens make their homes out at sea, the latter being famous for their enchanting song.
Sprites are usually short, tricksy, and talented in illusion.

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Spoiler: Scenery

The Old Light

Crow Island

Spoiler: The Town

Skyline

Main Street

The North Star, a club frequented by mages

High School
View attachment 518841
Old Mill

SETTING

NATURE OF THE SUPERNATURAL

Sometime during the Middle Ages, an alliance of mages and magical creatures created a massive enchantment called the Veil that would change the world forever. It effectively masked the existence of the supernatural, mostly in subliminal ways. To most humans, a vampire skulking through a dark alley would just look like a human or dog, and an ancient fey grove would just look like a normal patch of forest, especially to skeptics of the paranormal. Even if a human sees a werewolf head-on or recovers from a fairy's curse, he or she will probably either forget about it or refrain from sharing the experience with anyone else. Even so, the Veil is not infallible, and, as such, many supernaturals have moved to backwoods towns where suspicion is not as dangerous.

Humans that have glimpsed through the Veil can learn magic, one of the most basic spells being one that breaks the Veil permanently for that one person. However, the spells that a normal person can normally learn on one's own are not very powerful. They can be versatile, but they generally can't do much more than ward off weak creatures, conjure some fire, help plants grow, and maybe peer into the future. More powerful spells do exist in ancient tomes, but they either require morally reprehensible acts such as sacrifice or risk depleting the sanity of the caster.

TOWN OF DEVIN

A mid-size community of about 20,000 on the midcoast. It sees some tourists in the summer, but otherwise it's pretty isolated, relying on generation after generation of fishermen, loggers, shipbuilders, and formerly mill workers (as far as known, legitimate business goes). Its population has declined in the past few years, thanks to a combination of a dwindling economy and a number of strange happenings and mysterious disappearances from time to time. As such, there are a number of abandoned sites around town, including a lighthouse and a huge mill.

DEVIN HIGH

Mostly a normal school of a little over 1,100 students, underfunded but surprisingly strong in athletics. A good number of the students wonder about the number of kids that seem to sport fangs or horns, or appear to levitate above the ground for a split second once in a while. There's a semi-secret club (called the Seconds Club) organized by elemental music teacher Mr. Schultz every Wednesday that only invites supernatural students, and teaches some basic spellcasting.

SURROUNDINGS

Devin is surrounded by miles and miles of forested wilderness, a region archaically known as Lakora. The prevailing enchantments of the Veil impede nonbelievers from delving too deep into the woods where dryads, lycanthropes, and even wilder creatures roam.

A few miles off the coast, only visible through the fog on a clear day, is the ragged rock topped with dense, scraggly trees known as Crow Island. The whole town has a reputation for being haunted, but that goes double for the island; in fact, most supernaturals won't even tread there. Countless stories have been told about the place, including the fact that if one arrives near its shore on a foggy day and turn around, he'll only come back to the island, unable to leave.

FACTIONS

I've kept these sections intentionally vague so that players can expand upon them.

There are a handful of vampire families competing for power in Devin.

The Extranormal Investigation and Defense Agency (EIDA) is a top-secret para-government agency that seeks to protect the American populace from supernatural threats. Agents have general knowledge of the supernatural world, and sometimes know magic, although they're forbidden by law to ally with extranormals and vigilantes who do so. A few Devin Police officers and a couple of undercover civilians are EIDA agents, and they're rumored to have a secret facility somewhere in town.

Polaris is an order of mages dedicated to knowledge and study. It's based in the North Star club, which doubles as a secret library. They're generally rather passive, and forbid anyone to use their discoveries for the sake of personal power rather than knowledge.

The Talons of Lakora are an ancient order, having existed in its current form since the colonial era and tracing its roots to Native American groups long before then. Mostly made up of lycanthropes, but has a few faeries and other creatures. Used to be militantly against civilization, but has calmed down in recent years despite the preachings of a few radicals.

Beyond these, there have been rumors of a sinister cult in the service of an entity far older than humanity itself. No one knows where they gather, although some guesses people have made include the old mill, the lighthouse, and Crow Island.

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