IFPEism lore update

this entry is the first of several in depth descriptions of specific parts of the IFPEism universe, to get a necessary background, please see the first lore entry. this is gonna be a long one.

this entry discusses two things: first, a resent addition, is golems or personas (along w/ some discussion of familiars) and a comparison of the different types of undead.

so, a little about familiars that you may not already know. a familiar is a being that manifests from the "essence" (personality, will, and potential to create a familiar), they are usually at least somewhat sapient and relatable, have minds, and patterns of behavior. every familiar is unique to the traits of its creator, and can have any of a variety of forms, personalities (usually complementing or mirroring that of their master), and powers of supernatural abilities. they and their master constantly share information telepathically, and they can appear, disappear, and become transparent (but not always invisible), and intangible at will. they are both a part of their master and independent beings.

everyone has varying levels of innate potential to create a familiar, and can become more capable with practice. once a person creates their familiar, as their power increases, the familiar is capable of being larger, stronger, and have more complex and powerful abilities. eventually, the user becomes capable of creating their barrier. barriers are similar, but are entire environments, and grow larger with the users power. the user can store objects their, summon people inside without their permission, and the "skin" of this pocket dimension can be used as force field (as protection or as a means of attack or smother and slow down enemies, in fact, the familiar is a "pseudopod" of the barrier). then, after you control a limb (the familiar), and then the body (the barrier) of this internal reality, you can control and make more limbs: after the barrier, the user can make many familiars. as their power continues to grow, they can make more familiars, and the familiars become more distinct, as they turn into different beings separate from each other.

a persona, or golem, is a artificial mechanical "skeleton", which the user raps their barrier around, creating a familiar like being. because they are not all familiar, they power themselves with demonic energy (as in, the demonic arts, unfortunately, there are not demons in this universe), and are larger and more powerful than the user could accomplish alone. they were originally created as war machines, so they are rare outside militaries and heavily regulated. they come in two main forms, 20 to 30 foot pilot able "mecha", and telescopic frames that with a barrier, take mostly human form or function as a weapon for the user to wield. with a unique user, every persona is different, and changes when a new master uses it, though individual persona can be more or less compatible with a given person.

the undead are victims of a supernatural, viral, and incurable STD (well hey, its transmitted through bodily fluids! don't compare with other diseases of that type), undead can turn others undead, and their children are undead. there or a this point in development 5 types (which are separate diseases, and a person can have several at the same time): vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghouls, and revenants. each has fast regeneration, the ability to control their biology, characteristics that make them medically dead, and a supernatural connection to their own kind. silver is poisonous to undead.

vampires are faster, stronger, and often smarter. they can create thrall, and control them if they with, as well as commune telepathically with their relatives. they have living cells, but do not breathe, sleep, have body heat, sweat, blink, or have a pulse: their bodies, on a organ level, are dead and do not function, but they do not decay. they can control their bodies somewhat, lengthening fingernails into claws, stretching arms, and slowly reconfiguring organs. they can eat food, but only need to to fuel regeneration; due to their living tissue, they prefer living food, particularly blood. the are allergic to the sun.

werewolves have faster regeneration, and can store large amounts of biomass to use for transforming into larger, stronger, vaguely canine, forms. they can control the extent to which they transform, and mix and match forms, but can do little else with their bodies. werewolves have very low life signs and biological needs, but must eat more to maintain their larger transformed bodies.

zombies have great potential. despite never fully regenerating, if they wish, they can expand like cancer, and cover large areas, fuse with each other, and control severed parts. they slowly decay, but not enough to impede them. they are better at recycling biomass, and aren't picky where it comes from. for instance, a subtype are dryads, who eat large quantities of plants and fungi, and can preform photosynthesis, make nectar and fruit, and have leaves.

ghouls have great (but not as robust as werewolves) regeneration, and have exceptional control of their biology, able the grow new bones, create new types of tissue, replicate the forms of things they haven't eaten, impersonate people, and rework their nervous system. they breathe eat, sleep, sweat, and salivate, but have no cellular metabolism (living bodies of dead cells, as a sort of opposite to vampires). due to their dead tissues, they prefer to eat dead biomass, particularly of their own species. they will even take hunted prey, kill it, and bury it for weeks, however, they hate dirty, even rich compost dirt.

revenants are even harder to kill, they do not regenerate from fatal injuries, but it doesn't matter. they sleep, but do not feel tired, fatigued, or in pain (well they do, but only intellectually). they can integrate their bodies with inanimate objects, and some even become techno- or garbage dryads, or eat steel, and develop armor.

EDIT: now with selkies!