The Mystics

The Old Ones

The mystics were the world’s first mortal peoples—ancient, powerful, and strange. They were created during the waning era of the Ynue, when gods still walked the lands and shaped life to purpose. Each mystic race was formed for a unique place in the world: the forest, the mountain, the sea, or the flame.

The mystics lived in balance with the world around them. They were not meant to conquer, but to remain—to endure, to guide, and to maintain harmony with the land itself. For a time, they did. In the earliest ages, before iron and empires, the mystics ruled—not through kingship or coin, but through their bond with the living world.
Now, that time is over.

With the rise of the corporeal races—those made to change, spread, and evolve—the mystics were pushed to the edges of history. Now, they are the hidden ones. Carriers of the memory of an older world.
They remember what came before. And the land remembers them.

Nature

Mystics are biologically distinct from corporeals in every sense. They age slowly, and possess innate magical capabilities that they hone over the course of their long lifetimes. They are deeply tied to their environments—some cannot survive away from their natural homes for long, while others have more freedom to move around.

They change, but they don't evolve nearly as much as the corporeal races. A mystic child is nearly identical to their ancestors from a thousand years ago, only their circumstances and how they deal with them have changed. Their strengths are purpose-driven, not general. What they cannot do is often as telling as what they can.

This lack of change is not a flaw, but a feature—they were not made to compete. They were made to last.

Magic

Each mystic race wields a form of magic unique to its role and origin. This is not the structured, element-based magic of corporeals, but a kind of living expression of the mystic’s connection to the world. Their magic is intuitive, often ritualistic, and deeply personal. It flows from blood, instinct, song, movement, or will.
These systems are not interchangeable. A fae cannot wield dragonfire. A fairy cannot breathe life into the forest like an ent. Each mystic's magic is a reflection of their place in the world’s original design.
Some mystics have forgotten the purpose of their magic. Others cling to it fiercely, even as the world shifts around them. In either case, their magic remains a vestige of the first age, shaped not for conquest but for stewardship.

Reproduction

While mystics are mortal in the broadest sense, their lifespans, in most cases, far exceed those of corporeals.

Reproduction among mystics varies wildly. Some bear children in rare, sacred cycles; others reproduce quickly, though only under specific conditions. In all cases, mystic children are born with their race’s full potential—there is no slow awakening of power, only gradual mastery of it. For many of the mystic races, children are rare and often treated as communal treasures rather than private heirs.

Decline and Persistence

The mystics have not gone extinct. But they are fewer now, scattered and cautious, their sanctuaries shrinking with each new town, mine, or road. They avoid corporeal politics, wars, and trade. Most would rather disappear than engage with a world that once rejected them.

Still, they endure.

In secret places, deep forests, high cliffs, and ocean trenches, the mystics keep to their old ways. They raise their children in silence. They pass down stories the world no longer remembers. And when needed, they act—quietly, powerfully, and without apology.

They are not of this world. They are what the world once was.