HoS-KinndredAffairs

Kinn of Sinn, most often called simply Kinn are creatures unlike many of the other various races, they are categorized primarily in two different ways. They exist in categories called lesser or greater Kinn. The Kinn are creatures of profound darkness, and evil, whom worship a being known as “The Dark One”. This gives grounds to a number of the beliefs, ways, skills, and species abilities they possess as well as their quirks. It also sets the goal the species, a return to pure darkness. The Kinn in order to return to "perfection" must eliminate “the light” they often do this by preaching the "glory of Freedom sin gives" though on occasion “exterminatus” is elected as the fate of entire solar systems and races, genocide on a scale that many truly fail to comprehend. This is the reason that the astrologically inclined races have come to find vast expanses of nothingness amount the stars. There are any number of ways to present the sinful nature of this race and they way they proliferate their truth among the material realms, or encourage it, but the fact remains Kinn draw a fair deal of their power from the sins of others. Every sin committed in the presence of darkness adds power to their god, and cause. Take into account as well that those who sin “make the soul darker”. This both spreads darkness and also begins to “prune the soul” or make it more ready/easier for the Kinn to harvest.

In simple definition these creatures are "sin elementals". This of course does put them into a "Evil" category which has a few different effects on these beings. Namely their weakness to holy artifacts and presences, as well as "purifying" effects. The lower on the evolutionary ladder the Kinn, the more grievous damage these things inflict, the same is true concerning "light". In said instances, being lower on the ladder generally implies a lack of power, or less will to exert so to speak. For instance, an "intangible" Kinn normally takes asinine damage from light and holy in that state of being. This is because less will was exerted to make that manifestation, as thus it has much less energy for resistance. This also explains why the more evolved or advanced Kinn often require direct contact from the source of light as opposed to simply its ambiance regardless their state of manifestation, the same is true of holy effects. The larger more evolved Kinn tend to consuming the light from around them, as well exerting a presence so unholy in some instances their presence alone will bring discomfort to holy or light aligned beings. Their essence is often formed of thousands of damned souls, all bound by a dominant will, called the "Dominant soul". Now with that in mind they have thousands to exert a will of considerable force. This often far exceeds the common ability of other people one may run across, as no matter the background or origins more often than not they are individuals....as in ONE person.

The "power" a Kinn wields is determined by the pool of souls which it commands. The "Dominant Soul" gives the commands and the rest obey. Diversity here can be both a blessing as well as a curse. If the souls have too much focus on one thing other areas are bound to suffer. Take for instance a soul pool of primarily magic nature. This pool is bound to have perks as far as knowledge goes and likely have a plethora of spells and other magical centered ability and know how. Having a majority of magical souls though would imply a lack of more "physical" souls. This means that Kinn would have less fortitude and physically centered abilities, things such as resisting physical damage or armed and unarmed combatives. The traits which a Kinn displays and makes use of are entirely pendant on its soul pool. Given this fact harvesting souls is a high priority. Normally souls of the “evil” are gathered more easily by Kinn, this is because “evil people’s souls are full of sin”. That is to say those people considered evil have done a great many things making them “more dark”, or “tainted”. This makes their incorporation into the Umbra much more smooth a transition as they will have a number of preferable preconceptions and mannerisms to begin with. Hence requiring less “re education” and conditioning to bring them under domination in the soul pool usually. That is not to say that "pure" or "innocent" souls do not hold any worth and in some cases are more valuable to Kinn. "Greater Kinn" can gather souls by "rending" them from still living creatures. The method by which this is accomplished is by having souls from the soul pool of the Kinn attach its soul pool to the victims soul and pulling that essence from the targets bodily form and taking it into the soul pool of the Kinn. Souls deprived of corporeal form tend to be easier to absorb into the soul pool as they often have little to no method of resisting and lack a physical form to anchor to. Once the soul is made incorporeal and brought into the Kinn's soul pool it is assaulted by the entirety of the soul pool, which more often than not is overwhelming to the victim and makes resisting the absorption a moot point. To have any hope of resisting this the target would need be able to resist a force of what is often thousands, generally this simply is not plausible.

Kinn in all their forms "feed" off sinful actions. This is more often than not purely semantics, nearly any action one can take is against the wills or codes of a deity can be counted as sin. Which brings up "What is a sin?" This more often than not can be broken down to semantics, which is the source of the issue with this skill for most individuals. So then, to rectify this we are going to set a more defined parameter on what is considered "sinful". This requires the Kinn player to ask a question of the room owner, or person hosting the RP PRIOR to entrance. Generally it is preferable to use the Christian concept of sin as it is the most commonly known and requires the least amount questioning or confirmation. However failing that agreement there is another option, for this a sort of “census” often comes into play, “majority rule” is generally agreeable. To that end it is the perception of the thought, deed, or misdeed by the majority of the group present at that particular time. This means the Kinn player will have to pay astute attention to the posts of others (as well as ask questions OOC, DO NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS). While it may seem limiting at first it is actually quite liberating, and provides for a great many possibilities. Once the consideration/definition has been set here we begin to define the severity of the "sin". Things such as thoughts, which require no action on the part of the perpetrator are minor, and therefore provide little to no sustenance, or energy. The Kinn therefore often gets no buff from this, however it would register to them that the individual had a "sinful" thought, the specifics of the thought of said individual are usually out of reach, and beyond perception for most Kinn. If there is a physical action taken on one of these "sinful" thoughts, then obviously now they have acted on the thought. Again here we must take into account just how "immoral" the action was according to the majority, obviously the more "immoral" the action the more energy a Kinn can acquire from said action.

All Greater Kinn are able to manipulate Umbra, it is a defining feature of the species, indeed required for true greater Kinn to even manifest. They manipulate it through "force of will", directing thousands, if not millions of souls to s single defined goal. In essence every solitary soul involved has divine shadow magic, a skill which is not so uncommon. It’s not all that uncommon for the occasional master shadow mage to be found, depending on where you are it is common. What would not be common would be thousands/millions of them joined in a sort of hive mind, all driven to the same end and gifted the gift of shadow manipulation by a god of darkness. So whereas a mage may be a master, he is only one mage. The will of the many, VS the will of the one, most people agree "majority rule". This explaining the common superiority of Kinn's shadow bending/manipulation, and why it is differentiated by calling Umbral manipulation. The tiers are Antumbra, the lowest tear and closest to regular shadow magic. Penumbra, a more forceful and potent form, in which the darkness or shadows manipulated have a notable resistance to light and a "corrupting" energy to it. The final tier is plain Umbral, the darkest most potent. This tiers manipulation renders darkness immune to regular physics concerning light and dark relations, has an unholy corruption to it and is more often then not necrotic as well.

The Greater Kinn manifest physically by pulling shadows into particular forms, exerting will accordingly to give the desired shapes mass. This takes a considerable amount of effort usually, which means the internal "details" tend to get fudged. The manifestation of Kinn are for show, and little more. They are a tool by which the Kinn make themselves known and interact. Now, that being the case there truly is not much there aside from the desired appearance. This means seldom if ever do they possess any form of internal workings. Since there is no need for common internal workings there are a few notable changes, namely a way a Kinn looks is practically irrelevant, pure vanity in most cases. The physical force they may exert has little to nothing to the manifestation. There are no muscle fibers, no nerve endings, no veins, no organs. This means they are generally immune to pain, things like poison are a moot point as well as there is nothing to suffer the venom. Kinn who have been around long enough have learned to manipulate their Umbra(shadows they control) incredibly well and are capable of producing things such as organs, or a nervous system, on the rarest of occasions they may even produce reproductive organs. The catch to a Kinn "reproducing" is it is not actual genetic off spring, hence it is seldom if ever considered as “Kinn”. They do not generally have actual bodies, so they possess none of the genetic material required to produce legitimate offspring. With enough practice and skill, or perhaps simply time one may however "copy" genetic material. They can effectively use Umbra as a sort of stem cell in this twisted sort of genetics project for this instance. Effectively "borrowing" whatever genetics it has an intimate working knowledge of.

The Kinn have a fair amount of stigmata to them as well. The most common affliction would be that they may not enter into a home without invitation. This for the Kinn relates to an ancient saying, "evil may not tread where it is not welcome". Kinn normally can not walk on "hallowed" grounds, mind you the grounds must remained sanctified. The instant the grounds are profaned the effect dissipates, the amount of sanctity left within that land will affect them, but the slightest violation of the sanctity does in fact mean they may now enter. Natural flames tend to burn a different color in proximity to a Kinn, the range and color the flame changes depends on the aura of the Kinn in question. They cannot cross running water, unless they are at least thirteen feet above it. This actually plays off of two different schools of thought. One going back to ancient Greece and that spirits cannot cross running water as it relates to the river Styx, which separates the land of the living from the dead. The other being that running water is seen as a symbol of Christ and purity. Perhaps the strangest stigma is Kinn CAN NOT lie. Of course they do not necessarily need to answer that question either, often leading to the half truths, or lies of omission. There is a catch here but it is unknown that if a Kinn is asked the exact same question, verbatim, then and only then MUST they answer.

Kinn also have a number of peculiarities in regards to damage and other various negative effects. Most obvious is light, given the Kinn are formed out of shadows this is to be expected. The effects they suffer are particular to their “phase or particular race”. Kinn do not have to be tangible(solid) which renders them immune to most conventional combat damage, however whilst non-tangible they have a much lower resistance to “light”, as well as most magic. If their manifestation is touched by the light given off from a source in this form they have no resistance, the light literally erasing the manifestation it comes into contact with, this does, as one might expect, translate to asinine damage, or more properly worded “aggravated damage”. While tangible however ambient light often has no effect on them, direct contact from the light is required to inflict any damage.
Another common racial weakness is “holy” energy; purifying/cleansing effects also fall under this category. A young Kinn takes aggravated damage from both sources regardless of its phase. Older, more powerful Kinn have a bolstered resistance to holy effects and light though they still take aggravated damage from “cleansing/purifying” effects/attacks( so long as they are not of a "holy" origin).
Iron is another weakness of the Kinn, this playing off of the old belief that iron is harmful to “fae” and “spirit” creatures. Iron will not cause aggravated damage to them UNLESS they are not tangible. Iron is able to cause them damage no matter the form they have taken, the more “pure” the iron and the less tangible the manifestation more effective it will be.
Perhaps the strangest weakness of the Kinn would be salt, this due to its relation once more to spiritual beings. They regard salt much as a ghost would. That means that they may not cross solid salt barriers, and if thrown at them it would have much the same effect as holy water or perhaps a highly corrosive acid. Salt causes an intense burning sensation and bringing quite a bit of discomfort.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly is this race is not "naturally occurring". Meaning while you can technically claim to be one, you MUST be "birthed" by an existing Kinn with the ability to make new Kinn.

More often than not, these Kinn are used more as messengers than anything else, on some occasions they are actually pets or familiars endowed to particular ends. They can often be found in the Umbral realm, though can be created as well by some of the greater Kinn, using very little energy and a fragment of a soul. Their bodies resemble cloaked birds, their necks are always enclosed in something akin to a high neck gourget and their heads often resemble various stylized spade shovel heads.

The Turpe are the lowest form of Sinn. Treated with a sort of mild neglect by their superior kin...which is all of them.
Turpe do not have many perks at all, an umbral body being perhaps the most significant. They are not capable of umbral manipulation, with one exception. Turpe may travel through umbra. Their bodies however are quite proficient, lacking any "true" organs or muscle tissue to limit them. The form naturally continues to move through a sort of "autonomic" umbral manipulation. The forms capabilities are limited by its construct components. These being the souls used to "birth" the Turpe. Commonly referred to as a "core" in the kinn of Sinn.
Their skin in unarmored areas usually has the density of a diamond, where umbral armor is, doubly so. Possessing six eyes they tend to be quite a bit more aware then most and are fully capable of seeing auras. Having no organs to transfer commands there is zero lag time in reaction, able to instantly react to their stimuli. The Turpe boast impressive physical prowess their strength and speed bestowed by their "core". Consisting of no less than five hundred souls.

Turpe, unlike most Kinn, are formed from completely twisted murderous souls, and often are quite insane. They possess no "dominant soul" meaning that all of the souls of the Turpe vie for control of the body. These creatures have only one purpose, that is to serve the Sinn. To them, the words of a Sinn are the words of the Gods. Their desires of a Sinn are the goals of the Turpe.

Turpe more simply put would be "legion" in an umbral body, which forces fealty. They are not terribly clever, though they certainly display a predatory cunning which at times can be alarming. Behaviorally they are easily and often compared to spiders, with the exception of being surprisingly social among themselves.

These beings appearance is much like a mini one winged angel of evil purposes. They only stand about 1 foot tall with one massive 6 foot wing coming from the left side of their back. Their wing is vorpal, an umbral base material made up of primarily crystallized evil energy, hard as diamonds and sharper than obsidian with some magical resilience. They wear skirts that are far longer than need be, usually three to four feet, occasionally these skirts are made of valuable materials, like Drider Silk. More often than not these being are armed with a long spear like weapon, typically enchanted to some ends. Despite their size, they are rather superior craftsman. Generally these beings are loyal to the greater Kinn that summoned them. The are skilled in crafting soul forged aretifacts though are not capable of soul rending. Their wings however are powered by the same method by which Kinn feed off of sinful nature.


The Greater Kinn are beings that have proven themselves worthy in the eyes of The Dark One, their dominant soul placed into the Umbra, The All Fathers will granting them new life and purpose. They are manifested shadows, willed into a physical form they desire at that point in time. These physical forms are more or less for show while they wander the material realms in search for the worthy and useful. These beings are considered to be sin elementals, this is also where the PC class of Kinn officially begins.

Shades of Sinn

This race is considered to be more or less the civilians of the Kinn, workhorses and scouts mostly, though from time to time there is the exceptional among them that prove to worthy of evolving. They typically have no authority what so ever over other greater Kinn, there is one exception to this, which is the "Marshal", who lords over all of the shades of Sinn. Shades of sinn are a singular dominant soul and birthed with no less that 3,000 souls, but no more than 5,000 souls. They are also gifted in a particular sort of shadow manipulation among the Kinn referred to as Umbral manipulation. They are able to manipulate what is known as "Antumbra". They are also able to "soul rend"

Marshal

The Marshal is the pinnacle of the shades of sinn and is responsible for all shades of sinn that go unclaimed. they ensure the "young" fully understand their position within the ranks, they serve to bring the young in line and educate them on the finer points of being Kinn. The Marshal is also the only shade to be able to birth other shades. It is also their duty to bring the worthy to the attention of the Lord Marshal

These creatures are the lowest of the Greater Kinn, in most cases they are regarded as even lower than lesser Kinn. They usually come to be through what is a truly rare phenomenon, they are generally created when a Nefas mates with another person. There are also occasions where a person tainted by Kinn contact (be it through an artifact of contract) might go about conceiving a child in complete ignorance of the effect it almost always has. Kinn may occasionally chose to seek out one of these particular individuals or even a grow and set forth a series of influences, temptations if you will, leading form one sin to the next, baiting the individual in a sense, to see just how far the being is willing to go to reach their desires. These individuals are called black bloods because the infected individuals blood is Antumbra (the lowest form of Umbra).More often than not these children don't make it past the early onset of puberty if they are not killed when born, they are often taken for experimentation when they are discovered, and typically they do not survive. In some rare instances when the children do survive. A Kinn might see them as having potential. It is not unheard of in these instances for one of the Kinn to take a shining to one of these children when they are found, and may decide to test them, to see their true potential, and even mold them to their will on occasions they are seen as worthy.

Admittedly most Kinn would see them as nothing more than slaves or a perverse pet. in the rarest of occasions a Kinn may see more than just that, and keep them at their side for further molding, or perhaps send them out on their own to spread Veritas. The black blood that flows through their veins is much like regular blood, it is their life stream for want of a better term, but also more than that. Because they are borne with it, it does not harm them. they are also nearly immune to almost all forms of poisons. With a bit of training it can allow them to do a great deal. For instance in time they may learn to weaponize their blood. For example if a single drop of their blood touches the surface of anything living or undead, it often begins to spread, and devour living cells eventually if they are powerful enough it may even consume the soul. At this point the blood will go back to its body, bringing with it ever ounce of energy that was taken from the vitem. Usually all of that victims memories, abilities learned over the years, everything that was the being is now part of the black blooded individual that consumed them. This particular ability has a plethora of applications, most notably the possibility of achieving a form of eternal youth. That being said, not all the abilities absorbed by the blood will be able to be used, as it is a form of Kinn tainting it is considered extremely evil, and as such can not use abilities, nor can it learn the abilities of any purely holy or angelic beings.

There is one way to be able to remove the affliction of black blood from its victims, they must have it cleansed from their body. IF this sort of ritual is performed on the origin of the black blood and is successful the black blooded individual will die. That being said purifying the person with black blood is no short or simple task and will often take days in the least if not months or years. Once the black blooded child becomes reaches the age of 18-25, the growing aspect of the mortals seemingly stops.

Nefas
Generally these are not considered to be truly Kinn, more like personal servants. In order for a person to become a Nefas they must encounter a Greater Kinn and enter into a contract in which they surrender their soul to a greater Kinn. The soul is NOT consumed at that point, though it is notably bound to the Kinn whom entered into a contract with the RPC. Once an agreement is reached that Kinn will "gift them with darkness" and brand them with an Umbral sigil, marking them as owned by that particular Kinn. This enables a Nefas to use a degree of the Kinn skills and or abilities, though they must be “gifted” by the Kinn which formed the contract with them. Most of the time a Nefas is also gifted with one of the Kinn's infamous Petrean rosaries which further “marks” them making them even more readily identifiable by other Kinn. Should a situation arise after that the Kinn who holds their contract may choose to rend them and they are not capable of offering any resistance as the Kinn already has the rights to their soul. A Nefas may not have any skill at a higher level then the Kinn who gifted it to them unless they had it prior, or have been gifted some artifact which enables the effect.
Given a Nefas is not truly Kinn their bodies remain their own and are more often than not left in their “natural”, this means they do not usually lose any of their innate talents, traits, or abilities and are generally not as afflicted by normal Kinn psychological and physical traits or dogma. The main difference in the RPC after becoming Nefas is that their alignment will shift somewhere into the “evil alignment” and gain a weakness to holy and purifying energy. Aside from this there are no influences which affect the Nefas unless the Kinn which holds their contract imposes them.

"Sinners"
are the combat inclined evolution of Shades of Sinn. This particular evolution serves to greatly boost one's combat prowess. This evolution may only be catalyzed by a Visser, or Lord Martial.
Sinners boast increased skill in shadow manipulation. Many tasks their young brethren would have difficulty in completing is as breathing to them. Their manifestations and summonings are much more powerful, and they are able to use, and acquire “counters” at a commonly accelerated rate. Aesthetically they tend to be more vain, adorning their forms commonly with silver jewelry or other various eye catching baubles. Most notable however would be the eyes, which gleam silver naturally, and are nearly impossible to hide or obscure except in rare cases.
At this stage of evolution another change becomes apparent. This being the aura which they exude, this tends to diminish inhibitions. Naturally it extends about thirteen feet in three hundred sixty degree sphere. This aura encourages those within its influence to commit sin. At full extension it is very weak, though through time and practice the field can be controlled (radius of influence). That in mind this effect only ever can be within the aforementioned thirteen feet radius.
Another skill the Sinner boasts would be the ability to "birth" Shades of Sinn.(player must still first pas kinn testing) Though this is far from a combat practical skill (meaning you can NOT do this in combat). Last and most easily noticed change would be a scent. Sinners always are accompanied by this, more often than not the smell being pleasant to most around them.
Psychologically they tend to be far colder and malicious than most kinn. Most having spent quite some time as a Shade of Sinn have acquired new personal quirks and tastes. By this point they also would have chosen a favorite "vice" or sin, which would begin to show perhaps even unconsciously in their manifestation. Often calm and collected most are afflicted with explosive tempers. Completely calm collected and civil one moment, and impersonating something akin to a nuclear explosion of wrath and fury the next. To call a Sinner vicious would be an understatement, their cruelty and innovation in such things often defies the logic of others. Once provoked they are the epitome of vicious.
The quirks of the Sinner are nearly mirrors of the Shades of Sinn with only a few changes. An inconceivable detest for Christianity. A weakness to both holy presence and artifacts as well as “purification” (though they have more resistance they are still weak to this). They may not enter a residence without being invited (mind you that is only for a “personal dwelling”.) May not cross running water, unless they are at least thirteen feet above it. They also may not tread on hallowed ground. (it must remain truly hallowed, not simply be called such). Finally in the presence of natural flame those flames will burn purple, they have no ability to prevent this occurrence from happening.
Their resistance to "holy" relics and skills as well as light-based attacks is increased, they do not commonly possess countermeasure for purification. Light sources now actually require physical interaction from the source to inflict harm (ambient light causes no damage, though it is still commonly annoying). At this point light will no longer inflict "aggravated damage" IF the Sinner is corporeal, though still capable of causing harm. At this level your first NEW stigma is inflicted. A Sinner CAN NOT lie, and MUST answer a question if it is asked the same way (the EXACT same wording) three times. This of course being a well kept secret

Lord Marshal

The Lord Marshal is the best of the Sinners and is responsible for keeping order within the ranks of the Sinners as well as lifting up the worthy from the ranks of the Shades of Sinn and evolving them into Sinners.

One of the most difficult evolutions to achieve, as the soul pool is very different from the majority of the other Kinn, they have a soul pool of no less than 13,000 souls with most of them being of some religious background. This class can hold 3 dominant souls, and 10 special souls.

These Kinn may only be created by the Evencar. This class is considered to be the priests and law givers on the Kinn. Though they are more or less like diplomats they prefer not to get involved in the combative aspects unless they are provoked. Then they are considered to be the most potent of the Kinn. They are notably forbidden from initiating physical combat. They are able to manipulate all three types of Umbra (Antumbra, Penumbra, and Umbra). Their aura of sinn is twice as strong as the Sinners on average, but still remain at the 13 foot radius, they are also able to inspire particular sins within their auras radius. With their soul pool being made of a majority of religious souls, they are almost completely immune to holy effects, though cleansing and purifying effects still remain a weakness. They also have the "profane presence" trait, some have even acquired "Soul pressure" and of course may soul rend and soul forge. The Vissers are also able to evolve those proven worthy into the Sinner class.

Vissers are without question the most potent of kin of Sinn. That being said they are noncombatant unless necessary, due mostly to concept of fair play. Their umbral manipulation second only to Caliga's, their aura about twice as strong as that of a Sinner on average, though its effects range still remains at thirteen feet.. Flames burn black in their presence, holy artifacts and images also tend to writhe as if in excruciating pain as well if they fall within their aura or concentrated sight.

Their primary function relatable to that of a priest, as well as diplomat. They are also used on occasions concerning Sinn's as a sort of law enforcement. When enforcing laws and edicts they are Zealous combatants, though they are forbidden to attack first. The Visser's souls are primarily of religious background, converted during their afterlife. Bringing the zealous nature of those beings with them. With this also comes a new quirk in them. Visser's are nearly completely immune to holy effects, though cleansing works just fine against them. The exception there being holy cleansing effects.

Visser's are also the only kinn of Sinn able to create Sinner's regardless of rank, (Sinners must still be approved by a small council)

Another unusual and uncommon skill they often use is "Soul forging". A process which manifests a soul(s) into a form that is tangible so that they may be worked into what are often very powerful artifacts, occasionally creatures as well. The number and nature of the souls affecting the forged artifact accordingly. The artifact must be Umbral in nature, aside from that there are few actual restrictions. That being said, IF a Visser forges an artifact a sheet must be produced on the GP. The sheet must explain the artifact, how it was made, and what its effects are. Also in the list the avatar name, as well as the char name whom the artifact was given to.

Evencar

The Evencar acts as the ruling head of the Kinn of Sinn as such it is the most skilled Kinn and responsible for the movements and missions of Kinn throughout the realms. It is second in authority only to the the dark one itself. The Evencar seldom if ever leaves the umbra and is often perceived as a living legend if not a god.