Unclaimed – Cindrani’s Everliving

Physical:
As Unclaimed are made up of all the other races, they are the most eclectic of all those found upon Alteria. While still somewhat identifiable as their previous race, every Unclaimed is easily identified by their pale, light blueish hue of skin and the mark of Cindrani’s essence upon their face.

There are some stereotypical archetypes that come about from specific races being selected by Cindrani for a second chance. Elves tend to become regal-looking individuals with fangs and glowing eyes. Savages tend to become monstrous behemoths with sharp teeth, claws and either fur or bone-like protrusions from their elbows and shoulders. Abyssals tend to sprout tattered wings and grow gaunt like in appearance.

One thing that is universal is that every Unclaimed is different from the next, as their reason for being selected by Cindrani is what usually decides their final physical appearance.

Society:
As Unclaimed society is mostly made up of a twisted Goddess’ sense of amusement, there are no guards, no police, no boring diplomats. Every Unclaimed duplicate is free to do whatever they want, so long as the original essence remains with Cindrani, at her endless party.

This has lead to some Unclaimed attempting to build powerful standings within Cindrani’s realm in an attempt at revenge, or as a way to try and grow their power base, but often times, Cindrani’s Plane is far too enticing of a place for these plans to ever remain fixated on.

As Cindrani’s celebration never stops, even when she is absent, those that can see the bright lights or hear the hauntingly beautiful music in the silent realm are drawn to it.

Through this constant state of amusement, lack of rules, regulations and continual ignorance of everything happening outside of Cindrani’s Plane, all those who remain within often times have a very skewed interpretation of Alteria and the laws, rules and regulations that apply outside of Cindrani’s Plane.

While Unclaimed are capable of taking matters seriously, most of the Unclaimed within the realm are always looking for the next newest thing to entertain themselves.

Whether it’s a newcomer to the realm, a living being walking among the buildings in the pale light or a new way to enjoy oneself, there is always a need to dig deeper into debauchery when within the Cindrani’s Plane.

Many other societies look down on Cindrnai’s and her Everliving. There is no hierarchy, no rules, no cares. Any rules that do exist are rules that are made by those who wish to enforce them and only followed by those who wish to play along.

Cindrani gives little attention to her followers and the followers, in turn, eventually venture out to explore new venues in their newly twisted ways – which always leads to problems on the other Planes, where consequences rule most of the other followers.

Lore:
Cindrani entered from the Oculus and landed upon her plane. Bathed in light, she looked at across the flat and dull surface of Alteria. Nothing was happening, nothing was here. It as as though she had been given a completely blank canvas for which she could mold her world.

She was immediately struck with inspiration and went to work. First, she tore the Oculus from the sky and placed it under Alteria. The light made everything have such a dull shine to it, it was not to her taste. She preferred contrast.

Designing her plane to be filled with fantastical acoustics, colourful creatures and amazing architecture that would glow in the pale light of the hidden Oculus, Cindrani had created the ultimate land where everyone would be happy to spend their time with her.

She went to her siblings to ask them to come and join her, but they had built their own dull places. Some would come and partake in her leisure from time to time, but none stayed.

Eventually, Cindrani found her plane to be lacking things for her to enjoy herself with, so she set out to Ith’Ir’s plane in order to try and tempt those whom he was paying all his attention to into joining her for an eternal party.

None of his tiring little Neutrals seemed to want to join her in the celebration as they were too occupied with whatever little task had been set before them. She waited and watched as the creatures toiled endlessly and eventually expired from their mortal frames.

She came across a woman weeping and asked her why she was crying. The woman replied. “My husband is dead. He has gone to Ith’Ir and I shall never see him again.”

Cindrani despises sorrow, so she swept her hand through the air, snatched up the essence of the woman’s husband and crafted him a body of her own design. Pale blue in the yellow gaze of the Oculus, he was free from exhaustion and no longer craving the material things of life across Alteria.

So shocked was the woman, but she was so happy to have her husband back. The two went to their house, thanking the Goddess. As Cindrani returned to her plane, she unclasped her hand, revealing the essence of the man.

Quietly, she remade his spirit into a duplicate of what she had left with the woman.

“You are with me now, little one. Together, we shall dance until this world crumbles.” She stated as she began to celebrate with the spirit.

As time went on, Cindrani was able to recruit more and more loved ones into her entourage. They danced and played and cared not for the needs of those that still lived. Though they did have bouts where they missed their loved ones, they were re-assured that their duplicates were doing just fine.

After years of pilfering Essences, the other Gods confronted Cindrani, demanding the return of the essence she had stolen. Cindrani refused and the Gods became angry with her, threatening to take their followers by force.

Cindrani did not like direct fighting. It took away from her fun, though fighting sometimes can be fun, the kind of fighting her siblings were threatening was nothing of the type. She excused herself for taking the followers, but explained that these poor creatures had lived lives of complete mediocrity. That they wallowed in dirt and expired to become burdens upon by their kin.

In her realm, they were free to do whatever they wish, however they wished. The other Gods were unmoved by her words. They decreed that they would stip all of the duplicates she had made of essence in order to replace that which Cindrani had taken.

Cindrani argued with them not to do such a thing, but the other Gods did not listen. They stormed her followers’ homes and took their essence by force, leaving only lifeless, essence void bodies in their wake. But the bodies did not stop.

Even with the lack of Essence, the bodies moved. They did not move out of love, nor of reprisal. They moved due to hunger. Hunger for Essence. Cindrani looked on in planned glee as these events unfolded.

The bodies fed off of their kin and their tethers to Cindrani fed the Essence they had stolen to the Goddess. The Gods were furious now. Not only had Cindrani taken from them, but when they reclaimed their proper followers, they lost more and more to the terrible, essenceless creatures that roamed the land.

Cindrani apologized for their oversight, informing them that from now on, she would be more careful of not taking any of their followers, so long as the other Gods agreed to never interfere with those that accepted her gift from her.

The other Gods knew that Cindrani’s wrath was one to be avoided, so they angrily agreed to her terms, unhappy with the Goddess.

Cindrani returned to her endless celebration. She painted all of her followers, old and new with her essence, vibrantly displaying their allegiance to her in the darkness,

This act of tagging her followers ensured that the other Gods knew exactly which God this essence was owed to and what would happen if any other God tried to reclaim what she rightfully took.

To this day, not one of the Gods has attempted to take back the followers they have lost to Cindrani’s Gift, making some wonder if perhaps Cindrani is the most powerful of all the Gods.

Unique Traits:
Unclaimed are notoriously hard to kill. As they do not require air, feel pain or otherwise have to deal with most unpleasant things of being ‘alive’, a simple stab to the heart won’t be enough to kill them, nor would a vile of Wyrm’s bile (Though it would incapacitate them)

For the most part, a single item, worn or embedded in the Unclaimed is the source of their life, their tether to Cindrani. The destruction of this item will guarantee that the duplicate Unclaimed is unable to return and that all the borrowed essence that Cindrani was providing the creature would be returned to the Goddess.

The one interesting thing about Unclaimed is that they are still capable of both birthing a child and impregnating a female. It is unclear how this goes about, but some theorize that Cindrani sometimes decides that she will instill some of her own essence for this act to be successful. Whatever the case, the child born is always an Unclaimed in appearance.

Cindrani’s Everliving are not necessarily immortal. They do not age and cannot die from the ravages of time as other races, but their time on Alteria is still limited. As Unclaimed continue to venture away from Cindrani’s Plane, they begin to feel drained of Essence.

This is because they are naturally losing the Essence within their bodies, which seeps back to the Goddess.

Unclaimed cannot create their own life force, so they must either feed off of others’ in order to remain ‘alive’. If they do not wish to feed off of others, then they must return Cindrani’s realm before their Essence expires or suffer the fate of Essence Thirst.

Most Unclaimed, upon outlasting their loved ones, return to Cindrnai’s plane to reunite with the original half of their essence. This, in turns, prevents them from leaving Cindrani’s side.

Those who refuse to embrace the Goddess’ call slowly drain Essence – as indicated by their fluorescent Essence markings which fade as they do.

Long ago, Unclaimed continued to beg Cindrani for more time and the Goddess got rather irked by their constant requests, so rather than listen to their requests, Cindrani gave them the ability to siphon essence from those around them. This, in turn, allowed them to feed of of their loved ones in order to remain by their sides.

It was a cruel gift, but Cindrani was never one to care about what others thought.

If an Unclaimed drains someone of their Essence completely, that person becomes a thrall to the Unclaimed and a follower to Cindrani.

If the Unclaimed that created the thrall wished to, they could impart some of their own essence to give the thrall some form of Freedom, but through the complete draining of Essence.

Whatever the case, the thrall will always seek their master’s approval and attention, much like the Unclaimed secretly all wish to gain Cindrani’s attention and approval