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Humans are the dominant species, distinguished from magical Others. Most humans are Innocent of magical affairs, and so "human" is sometimes used as a synonym for the Innocent, but a few are Aware or actively Practice magic.

Properties[]

Humans are a material, visceral species. They have a Soul, a complex bundle of living energies that is core to their Self. Human blood has power in it tied to their Self.

Human civilization covers much of the Earth. Since humans now dominate the world, Others must deal with them and learn the ways of humans of become marginalized.[1]Others (and even Practitioners to an extent) have less purchase on human affairs, making it difficult for them to rise in human society.[2] Wars and similar are invariably the affairs of men.[3]

Humans have more free Connections than most Others, making it easier for them to hold onto property and relationships.[4]

Humans, as a natural species that arose by chance, are agents of change - a third party to the cosmic battle of order and creation (angels) and destruction (demons).[5] They have the ability to help define reality and give it structure, a role in which they have increasingly displaced the Gods, and driven out the undefined Primevals.[6][7] Blake speculated that human belief was the most powerful force in the universe and was responsible for all magic and Others.[8]

Gaining and Losing Humanity[]

Humanity is a spectrum; some Others are more human than others, while some humans - especially Practitioners - give up or lose some of their humanity and become more Other.[9][10]

Devouring/absorbing humans or human Echoes can give an Other some humanity and make it easier for them to function in human society.[11][12][13] Halflight Practitioners will often keep a store of humanity in case they lose too much, such as fingernail clippings or old blood.[14]

History[]

Origins[]

From Faysal's perspective, humans were born by chance as random molecules assembled, thus taking on the ability to change and carry chance with them.[5]

Early Others assumed that humanity would die out relatively quickly.[1]

Early History[]

Many Others picked up intelligence and emotions from early humans, becoming more human in turn.[15][5]

In the early days of humanity, they were constant prey for Others.[16][17] They used cats and dogs to protect them from the worst minor Others, instilling them with instincts to protect humanity from the darkest things that they retain to this day.[18]

Practitioners of a sort have existed for millenia; they predate recorded history, and seemingly even human colonization of North America.[19] Wild Practitioners serving Other patrons were the norm.[20] As humans grew more powerful, many Others tried to bargain with or exploit them, but humans frequently managed to twist even the most formal deals and concessions to their advantage.[21]

Post-Solomon[]

With the creation of the Seal of Solomon, the relationship between human and Other was formalized.[21][20][21] Others were barred from interfering with humanity "without excuse", protecting the Innocent.[17] The modern Awakening ritual was established as the means of going from Innocent human to Practitioner[22] and Practitioners agreed to accept usually-Other Judges and Lords.

Post-Solomon Practitioners and humans generally tended to view the world as a chain of being: God was above King, who was above Lord, who was above Man, who was above Animals, who were above Others. This may be the origin of familiars taking on animal forms, as they grow "closer" to human and are "raised up" to a more trusted status.[23]

Over time, human civilization spread and prospered beyond what anyone had anticipated. Others who had struck deals that barred them from civilization, or chosen to avoid civilization out of fear of humanity, became increasingly marginalized.[1][24]

Variants[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 We did not think humanity would last nearly as long as it did. [...] The Others that came before did not think humanity would spread as it did. Many of the predatory Others promised protections and sanctuaries, thinking your civilization would be pockets of light in vast darkness. Now the light from your world is so bright you must often travel a distance to properly see the stars in the night sky. Some suffered more than others. Many have died out or become beggars instead of predators. - excerpt from Back Away 5.d
  2. “I think if you looked to the upper echelons of the social ladder, at celebrities, at the moguls, at prime ministers and other leaders… you wouldn’t find many Others. Or practitioners for that matter, though there are more of them than Others. You’d think you would. After all, Others have power that humans don’t, don’t they?”

    “Yeah,” Verona said, her eyes wider.

    “That isn’t our world. It doesn’t embrace us. It’s… not quite karma, but it’s not a clear way forward, either,” he said.

    “The cogs of bureaucracy turn slower when they push the paperwork or finances of someone like Matthew or me through,” Edith said. “People won’t even realize they’re doing it, but they’ll leave us behind, or miss our names. The higher we climb, the less room there is for something or someone with an oddly shaped configuration like Matthew or myself.”

    “Or us?” Avery asked.

    “You have a lot more control over your place in the big picture,” Matthew said. “Practitioners can keep their ordinary lives distinct from their practitioner lives, and fit their ordinary lives into some place in the big picture. Or they can find themselves in positions and configurations like mine or Edith’s.” - Excerpt from Out on a Limb 3.5
  3. It kind of always bothered me a ton that in whatever series where you go back in time or when magic was available, the protagonists are like, "Oh yeah, D-day? That was us."

    So if I were to lean in any direction in terms of giving official word, it would be that the world wars were affairs of men. Great efforts were spent to keep it that way- both from Others that secretly hoped it was the start of the end for mankind and the forces working in the background to keep Others and practitioners from trying to sway events. Were there practitioners and Others? Of course. but not in the midst of things, and they largely canceled each other out.

    World leaders in general don't buy into practice- for those who would or wouldn't, look to those who openly admit to believing in magic. In most cases, practitioners will try to form hidden departments and factions where they can influence and advise, mainly in the selfish interests of protecting national powers and practices. Making powers and Others a big deal has a way of, wait for it, making Others a big deal- its' risky to bring them into the forefront of public knowledge or the upper ends of politics, commerce, science, faiths, or wars. What ends up happening is something will ride the chain of successes and find its way to a place near the top of the hierarchy. Do people try? Of course. But it's a crab-bucket style trying and it's never simple.

    Keep in mind, and this is pretty big, that practitioners aren't necessarily aligned with the nation. If you have an American practitioner family but the family has deep-set roots going over to eastern Europe, it's very possible that they could be aligned with the Axis rather than the Allies. This very much complicates efforts to just say, "Let's get all our practitioners together and go stop the bad guys!" - Wildbow on Reddit
  4. It was tricky, sometimes. She could only carry so much. Miss had told her what she needed to know, before leaving. That being Lost made it hard to hold onto things. Many Others, with a big exception for those that were specifically about having stuff, had a hard time holding onto things. They had less connections, or connections meant for other things.

    She probably wouldn’t hold onto the butter knife, or holding onto the knife would mean losing something she didn’t really care about or pay attention to, like her own personal dog tag.

    Miss had had to use tricks to keep her stuff. If she didn’t come back, then maybe Snowdrop would take over the same position. Then she’d have to learn and use those same tricks, like juggling and lending things. Miss had made deals with Others who didn’t come into Kennet, giving them things with power, then taking them back when needed, or calling in favors, to keep people busy. - Excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.x
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Once, he had built. He had been a theme, spelling out a thousand narratives simply by being, like so many pens touched to an endless scroll of paper. He inked out paths and behaviors on the broadest scale.
    When man had come about, he had been reflected in man’s thoughts and behavior. As man became intelligent, so had the angel. He had guided man and been guided in turn, a symbiotic relationship.

    Man, however, created its own demons. Some were obvious, while others stirred in the midst of the noise and chaos and took form. Sentiments became figures, fears took form, and in some cases, man abandoned his kind to join the storm of thoughts and ideas. To become the monster.

    The creating ended, and man took the center stage, bringing change to that steady, stable creation. Born from chaos and noise like anything else, a chance configuration of molecules, man carried that change and chance with him. Each movement brought change, like a stirring of dust swelling and spreading out from underfoot.

    As man’s power waxed, the creators’ power waned.

    Soon, man’s power would wane, and it seemed ruin would follow. - excerpt from Interlude 14
  6. “It’s easier than it once was. To hear the older forces talk about it, it used to be lawless out there. But you know how lawless things were, teacher.”

    Durocher smiled. “That’s for later in the class.”

    “Sure thing. Right now, those of us who are canny enough are changing roles. Used to be we provided definition and structure. Now your species is doing that for itself. We’re smaller, we keep more to our own selves and family branches, and we game the systems if we’re smart.”
    [...]
    “The powers I tap originate from an age of primordial chaos. When light, land, sea, and sky mingled freely. As those things settled into layers, animals and other forces took form from the chaos. Gods gave it structure. [...] the Abyssal may be related to the same kinds of primordial chaos I tap into, simply refined by time.” - excerpt from Vanishing Points 8.1
  7. Primeval Beasts (Primevals from here on out) are beasts from a time or place where spirit, god, and man were not in a position to identify or clarify them. They are older than time and since mankind claimed the world for themselves, the Primevals have been driven to the fringes of reality and to the less habitable places of earth, with their existence in these places being secured with wards and countermeasures. [...] They prefer humans as prey, as humans are enemies to the Primeval, and the destroyers of the world the Primeval once knew - a world that was small fires in vast nighttime darkness, and numerous predators that could easily dispatch the primate intelligences. [...] Having been around since the dawn of man, the routine and manner of a Primeval has become entrenched enough to become a ritual unto itself, and that ritual has its benefits. - Primeval Beasts doc
  8. Remember that we can do this. That’s the basis behind the plan. The demons are essentially Faerie. Everything is Faerie.”
    [...]
    “I’m not crazy,” I said. “We challenge them the same way we challenge glamour. This is about belief. It’s about breaking from the conventions that shackle us. Humans and practitioners have a massive amount of power, and this is why the lawyers are doing what they’re doing. Rose and I caught on, but we didn’t buy into their deal and jump on board with them. Johannes caught on, and Faysal and the lawyers both went after him to take advantage of it. Humans are architects of change, and this threatens them to the point that they have to respond. They’re worried, and what we need to do is make those worries justified.” - Excerpt from Judgment 16.8
  9. I’ve wondered for a long time why the monsters gather in the same places the practitioners do. The obvious answer is that the practitioners follow where the monsters are, drawing on the power the monsters can give them. But I don’t think that’s it. The monsters should want to avoid the practitioners, who are the best equipped to bind them.

    The second answer is that monsters are practitioners. We know about some cases. See Mara in the files for Jacob’s Bell. It’s a common theory with Faerie, and obviously the likes of vampires and werewolves, which are much rarer and more monstrous than conventional media would have us believe. Again, it’s an answer, but it doesn’t feel like ~the~ answer.

    This is a thought I’m putting together as I put pen to paper, something I’ve thought about in the shower, but what if the monsters are following practitioners because there’s some fallout we’re not fully aware of? What if we’re gouging reality? I sit in on the council meetings, because I don’t trust Eva to go alone, and I won’t stop her from seeing what she views as ‘the drama’. I watch Sandra and Johannes interact, and I see them practicing. A part of me wonders, are each of those displays generating some attention? Are some or all of the monsters detecting magic in the air like sharks in the water detecting magical signals or sniff out blood?

    They become a little less human over time. They make compromises, and they might unwittingly be inviting the monsters into Jacob’s Bell. - Excerpt from Gathered Pages 10
  10. In Eclipsed Self we list some of the ways that a human might take steps to become Other, and why. Some practices are listed, and are somewhat scattershot in approach, providing only some waypoints for further research. The expert should already know where they wish to be, the beginner will want to start at chapter one and then turn to this chapter to get direction on where to go.

    In Fullest Dark we explore the ramifications of Other involvement in human affairs. What becomes of a family or bloodline? A marriage? It is possible for an Other to step into humanity and assume nearly everything about a human life, including the ability to practice, or to take up the life as a role, where they then assume responsibility for deals and contracts. Conversely, a life may be entirely abandoned, shirking off name, responsibilities, or consequences. What, truly, is the end result? Does an individual remember? Contains some transcripts. - Quasi, quoted in Bonus Material: Bedtime Reading.
  11. The Sinful Creature has been here for longer than humans. A primeval beast. It ate enough corrupted, twisted reflections of humanity that it can get by. Talk, understand. - Mile End: Awakening
  12. “I prefer subjugation over death. I surrender my self,” Canfield said. “It’s my understanding that an incarnation needs to root itself in humanity from time to time, to stay relevant and rooted in the doings of man.”

    “Yes.”

    “All I ask is that my daughter is taken care of.”

    “You’ll have it.”

    With that, the Incarnation stepped forward until it intersected Canfield.

    For an instant, Canfield was the one wearing white.

    Then, a moment later, the one wearing white had a trace of Canfield’s features.

    Those features were soon swallowed up in a greater ocean. - Excerpt from Interlude 5
  13. “He isn’t human,” I thought aloud, interrupting the conversation between husband and wife. “He follows a set of rules. There are things he can do, but there are an awful lot of things he can’t.”

    “Yes,” Rose said. “But any Incarnation will tap the ranks of humanity for fitting subjects and sacrifices, to give themselves a reservoir to draw from. Pride might be able to perform actions that don’t raise its standing or gain the ability to bow to others in a pinch. If they go too long without sacrifices, they start to become more… I don’t know how to phrase it…”

    “Mechanical,” I said. “They become more mechanical.”

    “Basically. Parts of the overarching machine of reality.”

    “Well,” I said, “That’s a weak point. How often do they need sacrifices?”

    “Depends how often they break their own internal rules. Once every thousand years? Once every hundred years? Daily?” - excerpt from Collateral 4.4
  14. In Harsh Moonlight we look at the means of storing and restoring humanity. Those who have been set on this path by another may find the techniques therein a good way to stave off transformations or progression of a condition, such as becoming a ghoul or securing a fading Self. Beginners of Halflight practices are advised to read that section next, and take steps to prepare and stock up on measures to control or recover from what follows. When a situation gets out of control, the stock of old fingernail clippings or stored blood may prove invaluable for a quick infusion of one’s prior self. - Quasi, quoted in Bonus Material: Bedtime Reading.
  15. “The town will fall, just as it rose, two hundred and fifteen years ago. Before that, I was here. I watched people come and go. Settlements rose and fell. Not many, not large, but a number. Before that, I was here.”

    “Been here a while,” I said.

    Her eyes narrowed. “The man and woman who brought me into this world came to this place on a raft of reeds, and I was so small I had to be carried. We traveled from the west to here over my lifetime, following the deer and the hunt. When my parents passed, I stayed. I was one of the first to lay claim here, and I have never given it up.”

    “Over the water to the west?” Peter murmured. “The lake?”

    “Ocean,” Tiff said, her voice almost a whisper.

    “I nurtured those who followed after me or passed through, offered them my hand and my amassed knowledge, so they could be communities, a people. Many are mine. Hundreds of years of work. I saw things follow in our wake, things stirred into existence by our being. Your Others, echoing our intelligence, echoing our pride and fear and pain, to join those Others that were here before the first people. I am familiar with them all. I know what man is, and I know that your love and law and fairness are invention.  Invention younger than I am.”
    [...]
    “You know the power of your repetition. Three times, you do something. Three times you bind it to make it so. Agreed?”

    “That’s the gist of it.”

    “Invention. But at the core, there is truth. I have not counted, but I can still be utterly confident in saying that I have woken up in the same place for more than nine million of your days. I have gathered, hunted, cooked and eaten the same foods on those same days. I have been born, bled for the first time, and been reborn on more than one thousand occasions. The wheel of life and death turns forward and I am an indelible part of it, especially here. This is a pattern, this is my ritual. Now tell me, what is the truth of this. What does it make me?” - excerpt from Sine Die 14.6
  16. “You’re an Other,” Maggie said. “That place is like an Other’s amusement park. There, it’s like the old days, before the Seal of Solomon. Before humans were really able to fend for themselves.” - Excerpt fromDamages 2.2
  17. 17.0 17.1 She lifted another book, turning it around so I could see a painting of a brown-skinned man with a funny little golden hat and a magnificent beard.

    Rose explained, “Suleiman. Sorcerer king. He was the first practitioner who really worked for the betterment of mankind and actually made headway. He established rules and contracts, and he systematically worked to challenge the biggest, baddest Others out there that he could, then used them to help get others. It brought about an age where humans could stop being the playthings of Others and start developing as a civilization.”

    “Okay,” I said. “And the seal?”

    “A formal acknowledgement on the part of an Other, that they won’t interfere with mankind without excuse, they’ll obey certain rules, and the practitioners will leave them be. Typically an Other bears some symbol or token of this bargain. Over time it’s gained a power of its own. Being sealed physically alters the Other, but it also affords them certain protections against us.” - Excerpt from Bonds 1.7
  18. “Once upon a time, when humans weren’t much more than animals, we relied on our dogs to scare off the Others who wanted to prey on us and do mischief. Cats hunted and fought with the lesser Goblins, returning to owners with torn ears or small injuries. They still have those instincts. To destroy things of darkness, foulness and blight, before rot can set in.” - excerpt from Breach 3.2
  19. There are ways of being inducted into the practices, those esoteric traditions that predate computers, cell phones, the engines industry, and even paper and bronze. [...] One of the common ways is to be born to it. [...] The second way is to stumble onto it. To find a book hidden in a library, or an object both strange and powerful at a crime scene where the deceased was killed by something not human nor animal. [...] The last way, the old way? The road we’re going down? To make that deal directly. Find or be found by the fey things, the goblin things, the things that used to be ghosts and became something more, the things that used to be human and became something less. Strike those deals. Make those compacts. Those strange Others can give up shares of their power and teach their secret knowledge. - Pale: About
  20. 20.0 20.1 “Alexander,” Mrs. Durocher said. “You do know where they come from? I’m not the only one who’s put it together?”
    [...]
    “They’re wild practitioners.[...] Practitioners of old ways, Zed. Patron Others and practitioners who are tied to them. The way things were done before Solomon, when they were formalized. Which leads to questions about who and what spearheaded the organization of this little triad of practitioners.”
    [...]
    Alexander smiled. “Knowing that you’re wild practitioners with multiple patrons helps me to make sense of you. It tells me you’re probably strong, with a wide base of power. It means I can expect you to be… interesting students.”

    “Unruly and interesting,” Mrs. Durocher amended. - excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.4
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 “To try to formalize deals. To hitch their wagons to that of humanity, by striking deals that would establish them as Patrons. They teach their secret knowledge and ways of manipulating the world, in exchange for servitude… until mankind begins sharing that knowledge in ways few Others can stay ahead of, on paper and in tomes. Knowledge, instead of being taught from patron Other to Practitioner, becomes something kept in families. Others try to formalize a kind of equality, such as the familiar bond, and to make firm agreements about oaths, lies, and declarations, out of fear of being tricked again. But these things become their own weapon that humans wield. Humans sprawl, they work with concerted effort, and they establish and mutate patterns. [...] The Seal of Solomon, as it exists now, was essentially intended as one last concession. Or it was meant to be the last. A binding that would not be mutated further, that would be universal enough that it could be trusted by the Other, instead of having hooks and more traps attached to it. And as part of it, there was a deal that practitioners would manage the affairs of Others but select, powerful Others would have some say over the movements and dealings of Practitioners. Lords and judges. Roles above all other things.” - excerpt from Back Away 5.d
  22. “Suleiman Bin Daoud took the first steps to establishing a new relationship between human and Other,” Miss said. “A lasting compact between human and Other. There are forms of this ritual where we recite old words in your language and in Suleiman’s. There are forms where we conduct old traditions. At the heart of it, however, lies an invitation. For you to join our world, and for us to cooperate with you in interacting with the world of man. Would you invite us in, Verona, Avery, and Lucy?” - excerpt from Lost for Words 1.2
  23. In old traditions, in the post-Solomon reformations, God was arranged above king, who was arranged above lord, above man, who ruled over animal, who were declared above Other. We know this redefinition of the anno Domini provenance was in part an effort to redefine the realm of man and mark out borders on a cultural and linguistic front. Put in simpler words, mankind, in order to both survive and thrive, declared a new order of things and placed Other at the lowest point. The familiar relationship originated in an era where this was the common mindset among men both practitioner and innocent, and the traditions established then include the translation of Other to the nearest step in the chain, in what was often viewed as ‘raising them up’ to be animals, close but still subservient to man. In this, the tradition of giving them mortality through animal forms was established early on. - Excerpt from Famulus, quoted in Bonus Material: Famulus Text
  24. “How would you avoid it? What would you do?”

    “Not make any more deals?”

    “Some went that route. They detach from humanity, finding their own refuges. But humanity shapes the world, and everything is soon associated with humanity. These Others now find the world unfamiliar and hostile, they are ill-equipped to catch up or keep up, and they fall by the wayside.” - excerpt from Back Away 5.d
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