Transformations
Transformations are profound alterations that fundamentally change one's nature. Subsequently, they are considered distinct from the nineteen species found in the Splinterlands and are classified separately.
The types of transformations are:
Awakened Beasts
Awakened beasts are mundane beasts with human-like intelligence, self-awareness, the ability to reason, and sometimes the capacity for speech. Awakening can occur through magic spells, alchemy, arcane anomalies, and a wide variety of other means.
Corrupted
The corrupted are beings of various races who have been twisted and reshaped by dark forces, sacrificing their former selves—willingly or not—in exchange for unholy power. Their transformation is often the result of a dark pact with malevolent entities, exposure to unstable or chaotic magic, and other corrupting influences that erode their will and reshape their bodies and minds.
Some embrace their corruption, believing it to be a means of achieving their goals, while others resist, struggling to maintain what remains of their former identity. Regardless of intent, all corrupted bear permanent scars—physical, mental, or spiritual—that mark them as something twisted, fractured, and no longer whole.
Undeath
The subtypes of undeath are:
Ghouls
The ghoul virus is a rare and highly contagious pathogen that transforms infected beings into ghouls—mindless creatures driven by an insatiable hunger for flesh both living and dead. As the virus progresses, sentience deteriorates, leaving only a primal urge to feed.
The infection causes progressive decay, giving ghouls a rotting appearance that worsens over time. Feeding slows this deterioration but never reverses it, and some ghouls are rumored to have persisted for centuries. The virus spreads easily through bites, scratches, and contaminated remains, making even minor wounds a potential death sentence.
Liches
Liches are powerful undead spellcasters who have used dark magic to achieve immortality, binding their souls to a phylactery to prevent true death. Their bodies are withered and decayed, often with exposed skeletal features and flesh in various stages of decomposition. Most wear robes rather than armor, relying on their magic for protection.
Nearly all liches are evil, as the process of lichdom requires the sacrifice of sentient souls to sustain their existence. They maintain their immortality by continually feeding on these souls, ensuring their phylactery remains charged with life force.
Becoming a lich is a complex and horrific process that requires mastery of necromantic magic and a willingness to commit atrocities:
Acquire Knowledge. The spellcaster must learn the secrets of lichdom, either through a dark pact with an evil entity, receiving a dark gift, or self-discovery of the ritual.
Craft a Phylactery. A phylactery, often an enchanted reliquary, is created to house the lich’s soul, anchoring it to the material plane.
Bind Souls. The phylactery must be filled with the souls of sacrificed sentient beings, which will sustain the lich after death. The only way to permanently destroy a lich is to find and destroy its phylactery.
Perform the Ascension Ritual. The final step requires drinking a potion of transformation, a lethal concoction that kills the spellcaster. Upon death, their soul is drawn into the phylactery, and they rise again as a lich.
Once the transformation is complete, the lich is soulless, its existence tied to the phylactery. As its stored life force depletes, the lich must consume additional souls to avoid decay or oblivion. If its physical body is destroyed, its soul remains bound to the phylactery, allowing it to possess another form and return once more.
Revenants
Revenants are undead beings who retain their intelligence and autonomy after death. Unlike mindless undead, they possess self-awareness, free will, and the ability to form societies. Most are reanimated through necromantic rituals or dark bargains, their bodies preserved by magic, alchemical treatments, or other means both mundane and arcane.
Aware that the living often perceive them as unnatural, revenants are often pragmatic. Some are disdainful of the living or envious of their mortality, while others seek coexistence, forming enclaves or integrating into mortal societies.
While some revenants struggle against their condition, seeking a cure, redemption, or release, many accept undeath as simply another state of existence—one free from aging, pain, and mortality.
Indeed, the Dark Eternals have forged a vast, structured society around the belief that undeath is salvation. They see life as suffering and undeath as transcendence, evangelizing their philosophy to the living... and sometimes enforcing it upon those who would resist the truth.
Specters
Specters are incorporeal undead, lingering remnants of the dead who failed to pass on. Unlike shades, a distinct race of fiends, specters are the disembodied spirits of once-living beings, bound to the material world by unfinished business, violent deaths, or overwhelming emotion.
Lacking physical form, specters appear as ethereal, ghostly figures, sometimes resembling blurred, translucent versions of their former selves. Many are driven by hatred, sorrow, or vengeance, haunting the places they died or pursuing those they once knew.
Unlike other undead, specters do not decay and are immune to physical harm, passing through solid objects with ease. However, they remain vulnerable to holy magic, exorcisms, and enchanted weapons. Some retain their intellect, while others are mindless echoes, endlessly reliving their final moments.
While most are malevolent or tormented, rare exceptions exist. Some specters cling to their former identities, serving as guardians, messengers, or reluctant wanderers, trapped between life and the afterlife.
Vampires
Vampires are beings infected with the vampiric virus, existing in a state of undeath and sustaining themselves by feeding on the blood of the living. Almost any creature can become a vampire, except for constructs, which are immune to disease due to their artificial nature.
Most vampires are gaunt and pale, though appearance varies based on race, pigmentation, and biology. The virus causes elongation of the cuspids in species that possess them, resulting in distinctive fangs. All vampires experience an overwhelming biological urge to consume blood.
Due to their immortality, many sapient vampires amass vast wealth and knowledge over centuries. They are often charismatic, calculating, and ruthless, as the virus severs their ability to form genuine emotional connections. Detached from moral concerns, they pursue personal interests without remorse, showing little regard for the rights or suffering of others. However, rare exceptions exist. Some retain vestiges of their former principles and choose to sustain themselves on the blood of livestock and beasts rather than sapient creatures.
The vampiric virus spreads through infected blood, typically via a vampire’s bite—provided the victim is not drained to death—or by consuming tainted blood. Contrary to superstition, the virus is not transmitted through other bodily fluids, such as saliva, or intimate physical contact. There is no known cure, though certain preventative measures can inhibit transmission.
Vampires are highly allergic to garlic. Silver, sunlight, holy artifacts, and consecrated grounds also act as potent deterrents, causing severe allergic reactions. Additionally, a vampire cannot enter a home uninvited; however, once welcomed, they may return freely. The reason for this remains unknown, though scholars speculate it is linked to the sanctity of the home and the virus’s aversion to the holy.
While vampires cease aging and are functionally immortal, they are not invincible. They can be killed by a stake through the heart, decapitation, prolonged exposure to their known weaknesses, attempting to enter a home uninvited, blood starvation, or extreme temperatures such as fire and molten metal.
Vampires do not cast reflections in mirrors, though contrary to common myths, they are neither harmed by nor fearful of them. In undeath, they gain enhanced abilities, including immortality, heightened strength, senses, and speed, as well as preternatural healing. Some vampires are also vespertiliothropes, a subtype of therianthrope that allows them to transform into bats or bat-like creatures, though they remain classified as vampires rather than therianthropes.
Dhampirs are the offspring of a male vampire and a female non-vampire (as female vampires are infertile). They are living beings who, like their sires, must feed on the blood of the living to survive. Dhampirs are exclusively of sapient races, as non-sapient creatures afflicted with vampirism are driven by an instinct to feed rather than reproduce.
Dhampirs are nearly indistinguishable in appearance from their non-dhampir counterparts, apart from their elongated fangs. They experience a biological urge to consume blood, with most sustaining themselves on livestock or other beasts, though some choose to prey on sapient beings.
While not immortal, dhampirs age slowly and can live five to ten times the typical lifespan of their race. Their long lives take many paths—some pursue wealth, knowledge, or renown, while others dedicate themselves to eradicating vampirism from the Splinterlands. Some seek only to coexist peacefully, while others embrace cruelty and destruction. However, such tendencies are not a result of their condition; dhampir blood carries a diluted strain of the vampiric virus that grants many of a vampire’s abilities but does not inherently alter morality.
Even diluted, the vampiric virus has no known cure. It makes dhampirs resistant—but not immune—to full vampirism. If bitten by a vampire or if they consume a vampire's blood, they risk becoming one themselves. The more blood exchanged, the greater the likelihood of infection.
Unlike vampires, dhampirs are unaffected by garlic, sunlight, holy artifacts, or consecrated grounds, and they may enter homes freely without invitation. However, they can still be killed by a stake through the heart, decapitation, blood starvation, fire, or old age. They possess many of a vampire’s strengths, including extended lifespans, enhanced strength, senses, and speed—though not to the same degree as vampires—and accelerated healing. However, they lack true immortality and the ability to shapeshift.
Despite their advantages, dhampirs face widespread social stigma due to their vampiric heritage. Many are suspicious or outright hostie toward them, considering them predators lurking on the fringes of society. Some fear dhampirs will inevitably succumb to bloodlust, while others see them as cursed beings tainted by undeath—despite being very much alive. Subsequently, dhampirs are often shunned, exiled, or even hunted by those who mistake them for true vampires. This alienation often forces them into isolation or transient lives, struggling to find acceptance while resisting the lure of the undead. Even where they are tolerated, dhampirs are rarely fully trusted, their existence a reminder of the thin line between mortality and monstrosity.
Therianthropes
Therianthropy is a condition that causes a transformation between humanoid and animal, typically triggered by lunar cycles, intense emotion, or a conscious will. It is often acquired through a curse, an infectious bite, a spell, or divine ritual, although a few are born with it. While some struggle between their dual natures, others embrace the instincts and power that it grants.
The known subtypes of therianthropes:
Boanthropes
Also known as werebulls, boanthropes can shapeshift into bulls or oxen.
Lycanthropes
Also known as werewolf, lycantrhopes can shapeshift into wolves or wolf-like creatures.
Felinthropes
Also known as werecats, felinthropes can shapeshift into panthers, tigers, and other feline-based creatures.
Lupinothropes
Also known as werefoxes or kitsune, lupinothropes can shapeshift into foxes and are often associated with trickery.
Ophidianthropes
Also known as werereptiles, weresnakes, or werelixards, ophidianthropes can shapeshift into various reptilian cretatures.
Ursanthropes
Also known as werebears, ursanthropes can shapeshift into bears and large bear-like creatures.
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