Outsiders are fairly commonly seen and heard of, and especially, they like to intermingle with mortals and often end up having children - resulting in the planetouched beings known as aurin, metrin, and nethrin.
However, full Outsiders don't tend to linger in mortal realms overlong. It's rare to see one live in a world like Yalasra for more than a little while. That said, again, it's not unheard of, and they're not exceedingly rare - just hard to spot, because they're often adept at concealing themselves and their energy. For how they conceal themselves, see:
Side-shifting
And, while Outsiders tend to be several steps above mortals in power, they're not impossible to subdue and, in rare cases, imprison and siphon their almost endless amount of energy. Outsiders, in general, have a poor sense of the scale of time, unless they adapt to living on a given planet that has a way to track linear time. Being gifted with eternal life, Outsiders are also incredibly hard to kill, but they also don't feel the passage of time the same way mortals do.
The Types of Outsiders
There are nine main types of Outsider, one of each that generally matches with the
cosmic alignment system. Keep in mind that Outsiders are as varied and individual as humans or other sophonts, and their goals, desires, dreams, wishes, and motivations run across a great spectrum.
While many often get involved with mortals, many more still do not, either because they find mortals uninteresting, or even confounding. Outsiders serve about as much purpose as any lifeform in all of creation, and their individual purposes depend largely on their home realm and whether they have relationships, alliances, or allegiances to other beings.
Archangels - Incredibly powerful beings, they may resemble anything from cosmic eldritch horrors to the epitome of ethereal humanoid beauty. All have wings of some type, and all are able to shapeshift to a degree, either hiding or revealing their wings, or compacting their huge forms down to a more manageable size for smaller mortal races’ benefit. The greater their power, the more of themselves they are able to shapeshift. There are only a handful left in existence, and those that remain are split between the nine layers of
Empyrea and the seven layers of
Tyratheon, each assigned to rule over a layer of their respective realms.
Then, standing aside from these Outsiders of alignment-oriented realms, are the strange and spirit-like
elementals.
For mortal descendants of Outsiders, see
Planetouched.
Empyreans
Empyreans encompass all beings who call the overrealm of Empyrea their home. Native beings include Angels, Archons, and Eidolons. Empyrea is a 9-layered realm, divided into three triplets, each triplet aligned towards a cosmic energy.
Empyreans tend to be more amenable to helping mortals in need, but they all have wills and agendas of their own. They can be organized and called to action by an archangel they serve, however.
Angels - Usually Fair Benevolent. Most often, they appear to be ethereal humanoids. Most have wings of some kind. They call the triplet of Merithos their home.
Archons - Usually Orderly Benevolent. Most have wings, and appear humanoid, with some unique features. They’re often of a grayscale coloration, but this can vary quite a bit among individuals. They call the triplet of Auritheon their home.
Eidolons - Usually Chaotic Benevolent. Once more, most have wings and appear humanoid, but sometimes one may take on animalistic traits and qualities. They call the triplet of Caprithia their home.
Mediants
Mediants, or neutral Outsiders, consist of the caeris, sephynkis, and pemorsyn, all beings whose energies are more aligned in the middle of the positive and negative spectrums.
Caeris - Usually Chaotic Grey, caeris are usually humanoid, but may on occasion possess animalistic traits or qualities. Caeris call the realm of
Pandemonium their home.
Sephynkis - Usually Fair Grey. Sephynkis call the realm of
Limbo their home. They are often grayscale in their body’s color palette, but this can vary across individuals, and doesn’t hold true for all.
Pemorsyn - Usually Orderly Grey. Most have wings and appear humanoid, and often resemble the ideal of what would happen if one crossed a classic devil with a classic angel. Pemorsyn call the realm of
Hulanith their home.
Abyssals
Abyssals are comprised of Devils, Demons, and Daeva, and are spread amongst the Syferia (a realm of uncaring), Vortium (a realm of unbridled savagery and chaos), and Tyratheon, which is a seven-layered realm, each layer governed by a fallen archangel, and is a realm of law and malevolence.
Daeva - Usually Fair Malevolent. Daeva often resemble classically demonic humanoids (without the red skin), complete with horns, wings, and a tail. They primarily inhabit the realm known as
Syferia.
Demons - Usually Chaotic Malevolent. They call the chaotic realm of
Vortium their home. Often, parts of their anatomy and/or biology make little sense, like some kind of mutated humanoid.
Devils - Usually Orderly Malevolent. They call the seven-layered realm of
Tyratheon their home. Often thought of as beings who make contracts and deals with mortals, usually for a high price. They look largely humanoid, but may be varying colors and hues, and while many have wings and/or tails or horns, there’s a lot of variation.
