Racial Spotlight:

By S. Lei Pyke

Race: Daitari
Type: Cursed Hybrid
*note: this document replaces the entry on Linyth Hybrids found in “Maestros and other
things”

The Daitari (dī-Tä-rē both singular and plural form) are alternatively known as
mages. They are currently the only human type beings that the Maestros will allow to use
Calnese magic. This is because Calnese magic is a part of the fiber of their being.
Daitari must be born in one of two ways. In the first from, they appear as the
direct result of copulation between a linyth and a human. This method is rare by the third
age of the second cycle. Before the linyth were cursed into their ungulate form by the
Maestros, their nearly human appearance made it easy to commit fornication between the
races. After the Maestros cursed the linyth, their more equine appearance made it
difficult for all but the most depraved individuals to mate between species.
Daitari can be male or female, and can breed with humans or with linyth, however
the result will always follow the race of the pure partner. This is how the second method
appears, and that is as in an atavistic trait that has the potential to show up in every
generation following a Daitari/human or Daitari/linyth pairing. To be Daitari is to endure
a cursed existence that is not alleviated with death, but only by direct intervention of the
Maestros, and Meranna in particular.
Daitari begin their lives as humans, and enjoy a period of growth that is twice that
of a human. For that reason, even if a Daitari is born to linyth mother, it is always given
to humans. A Linyth mother will usually give the baby to a temple of Meranna, where it
will grow up understanding its lineage and so come to its choice at maturity with full
knowledge of its choices. If a Daitari is born to a human mother, however, it is possible
that the Daitari might grow up separated from the path of Meranna and be initially
unaware of its parentage. The problem is that the birth of a Daitari always begins in
sorrow. Complications always occur resulting in the live birth of the baby cause the
wasting death of the mother.
Daitari reach sexual maturity at the same rate as a human, but they retain a
prepubescent body in all other aspects until they reach the age of 30. At that time, they
awaken to their linyth ancestry and mature; their bodies rapidly and horridly transforming
until they are a nightmarish combination of human and quadruped. Their arms grow to
be as long as their legs, and their feet and hands twist and extend until they are forced
into an apelike quadrepedal gait. Their spine also twists until their backs have a
noticeable hump. Their ears extend and flop over, and their hips eventually break and
reform, preventing bipedal motion for the rest of their lives. Some even develop a long
tail or vestigial, bat like wings. At the end of their maturation, their foreheads also sport a
bump that never breaks the skin. This is a stunted horn. Maturing Daitari attract
lightning just as the linyth do, and require it to sustain life once they begin to mature, but
it burns and melts their skin and causes incredible pain.
As children, however, they enjoy an extended youth. Their skin is always pale
and their hair is always blond and straight. Before they begin to change, their eyes can be
any human color, but are usually either gray or albino pink. They are graceful, beautiful
children with exceptional strength and balance and skin that does not scar or blemish,
though it can deform in the heat of a fire or the flash of electricity. They are immune to
both diseases that infect humans and those that affect the natives of Caln. Their minds
are sharp and they are usually insatiably curious. They are bipedal, but they can run as
fast as their linyth parent when pressed. Since even linyth born Daitari grow up among
humans, most learn early to avoid showing this off because it is a dead giveaway of their
cursed nature.
The first sign of a Daitari’s maturity appears as it approaches 30. Its eyes change
first, becoming purplish-blue with gold flecks. Then, its finger tips and toe tips change to
golden claws. At that time, a Daitari’s magic begins to manifest. The Linyth were
stripped of their magic, but the Daitari still express it. Linyth magic is the magic of air
and storms. In time, even as they twist into horrid hybrid monsters, Daitari are learning
to fly by the power of their magic, to take energy from electrical storms, and to walk on
water just as their linyth parent can do naturally. Unfortunately, their twisted bodies
cannot sustain life. Their organs begin to shut down almost as soon as they stop growing,
and at the end of their maturation, they usually live only about two to eight years, dying a
slow, agonizing death at the age of forty, ironically at the peak of their magical growth.
A Daitari can slow their maturation by about twenty years by refusing to use their
magic, but in the end they still die as twisted horrors. The Maestros designed the Daitari
curse to be a warning to both linyth and humans about the dangers of committing
fornication outside their own species.
Beyond death, they are not free from the curse. Their souls are not fully human,
and so they cannot enter the Feasthall, and are not fully Calnese so they cannot become
part of the Retinue. The problem is that the essence of a Calnese mortal has the same
essence as the gods themselves. Since the essence of humans and the essence of the gods
is so similar, only during life can a soul undergo the process of separation. After death,
they find that they share the same curse as half immortals. They are condemned to wait
until the end of time in the bleak, Erebus-like realm of Kohlerir.
There are some alternatives to this bleak life. Meranna of the Calnese pantheon
offers a method of salvation, while Anim of the Human pantheon also offers her own
version. Sorrith and Thrass also offer opposing methods of avoiding Kholerir that apply
universally to living creatures.

Meranna’s path:
Meranna’s path of salvation is specifically for Daitari. It allows a Daitari to enter
the Feasthall and Meranna’s domain within Innus. Meranna has two methods for daitari
to make it through judgment. When a Daitari’s fingertips turn golden, it can go to
Meranna’s church. There, it is offered up before the altar where it is given the choice of
two different lives.
In the first, Meranna can direct and slow their transformation so that they live a
somewhat comfortable existence, and usually get to live as humanoid creatures for about
70 years. During that time, they get to keep their fertility and their abilities as mages.
Spiritually, they are undergoing a long separation process within their soul that is
separating their human parts from their linyth parts. At the end of the process, the Daitari
undergoes a strange ritual where their bodies are prepared as if for a funeral, and they are
shut alive in special tombs marked with Meranna’s magic. When they emerge two years
later, they are fully linyth, and their human soul is cast off as dead to join the feasthall.
They lose all their memories and experiences and they continue their lives as linyth but
they are black colored to mark their origin.
Black linyth are sterile, but otherwise are exactly like true linyth. The difference
is that because they have been cleansed and reborn, they are considered sacred by true
linyth and humans alike. Whether or not they live up to that sacredness is their choice as
mortal creatures, but black linyth are not denied vocal speech or their own magic. At the
end of their lives, they undergo judgment as purely Calnese creatures, and even in death,
they never see their human side. Even if they were to meet on the eternal battlefield, they
would not recognize each other.
This method is only available at the hidden temple called “Ashakiran” high in the
mountainous interior of the continent of Mehran. Daitari who wish this path are
consecrated at their local temples and sent out with nothing but a walking stick and a
single change of clothes. The idea is that their pilgrimage prepares them for becoming a
mage and teaches their soul about the nomadic life that the linyth lead. They are required
to stop at every temple to offer prayers and offerings to Meranna. Only at the temples are
they given a place to sleep other than the ground. If they must cross the ocean to reach
Mehran, they must do so on foot, using their magic to keep themselves on top of the
waves.
In the second method, as they are offered up to Meranna, she can almost
immediately take the Calnese portion to herself. It is easier for her to call out the Calnese
portion because Meranna is also part of Caln, and part of the essence of all sentient
creatures comes from the Maestros directly. The piece of Calnese soul cannot join her
because it is not actually dead, and it never passes judgment. This removes the daitari’s
ability to use magic, but since half the daitari’s soul resides with Meranna, their bodies
are made nearly immortal, but sterile.
A daitari on this path finishes growing, but as a normal human. At the end of their
growth, they remain ageless at their prime. Over the centuries, they darken in color until
their skin and hair becomes a deep, luminescent black, while their irises fade to a
colorless white. They can still be wounded and disfigured and they can still die by
physical or magical means. They do not have the regenerative power that full immortals
have, and they still have to sleep like a normal mortal, but they do not grow infirm and
they are immune to poisons and disease. They are granted the abilities of telepathy and
tongues that is common to the master races.
The drawback to this path is that once a daitari chooses it and completes the ritual,
death cannot be an option. If a daitari on the second path is killed, its Calnese portion
comes back to it in the afterlife and they are judged as normal daitari. According to
Meranna, they must wait in this half-immortal state for the end of time, at which point
they will be free of their curse. Because not all daitari can actually keep their sanity until
the end of time, Immortal daitari can freely choose to switch to the mortal path as long as
they are willing to take the pilgrimage to Ashakiran. To switch, then, is a doubly hard
quest, due to the fact that they are denied their magic until they reach Ashakiran. Those
on the first path cannot ever choose to become immortal.
The only way to complete the second path is to enter Meranna’s temple at
Arynstar. Those wishing to seek this path are given passage by boat to the continent of
Man because they are choosing to become more human in their earthly lives. They are
usually also given large amounts of money for the trip by the temple they are leaving
from, and rich clothes that will get them past the city gate.

Sorrith’s Path:
Daitari are eligible for enlistment into Sorrith’s army. The ritual is the same for
Daitari as it is for humans. All Daitari receive a golden orb if they pass their judgment.
It is a position that is outside the normal chain of command.
A Daitari enlisted is referred to as Karlinyi. Their supernatural flesh can
transform from a human form to a linyth form and back as often as they like and as long
as they like or are commanded. They can also take on both forms of linyth: both the
modern, cursed form and the original form. In the cursed form, they are entirely golden,
like a palomino horse, but painfully emaciated. They are invaluable as scouts,
messengers and diplomats, and can use their magic without fear or curse. Karlinyi are
dedicated so fully to Sorrith that though they are not allowed to actually dwell in the
Feasthall, they are among his most favored and trusted followers. After their time on the
mortal plane is done by Sorrith’s command, and they have a new job witnessing and
watching the gates of Pathir and acting as bailiffs and witnesses in Sorrith’s courtroom.
They also take up the job of couriers, and are freely allowed in every part of Insir except
for Lemari’s domain and the place of locked portals.

Anim’s Path:
Anim’s Path is a path of Damnation. For the Daitari to walk it is to lose their
body completely. Like Meranna, she has two paths. These can be completed at any
temple to Anim.
The first path is the path of the hound. The demon god twists their soul into a
construct of stone and metal, where they are given over to Ruex, who uses them for as
long as they retain their sanity. Since they are constructs, they die only at their soul
crystal’s destruction. In the second path, called the Path of the Morim, they are brought
into the temple and trained to use their magic, and then let out after a glorious feast.
There, they take the role of the Morim, a six limbed desert fox, and are hunted until dead.
Afterwards, their bodies are skinned and their flesh consumed in a gristly orgy. The skin
goes to make the binding covers for the most sacred of texts for the pantheon of man. It
may seem as if the Daitari are being mocked and killed
Most Daitari are not inclined to follow either path. Most are captured and then
brainwashed and tainted until they comply. Others who have been captured choose to die
by their captors’ hands rather than allow themselves to become a toy or a beast. Anim
cannot interfere with a Daitari already on Meranna’s path, but Daitari that are not are free
game for her hunt.
Daitari on Anim’s path go to Kohlerir unless they have been found to have
actually sought out the path. Such a depraved individual is cast fully into Pathir after
Sorrith’s retired Karlinyi thoroughly beat it as it is escorted.

Thrass’s path:
Thrass is the lord of slaughter, and the Daitari can easily fall into his path. The
path of Thrass is more enticing for Daitari than for humans. He can remove a Daitari’s
soul altogether, crush it, twist it, and leave the body an undead shell with all the
memories of its life. The magic Thrass gives them substitutes the Calnese magic with
demonic sorcery that is similar, but wholly destructive. The most cruel, vicious sorcerer
mages on Caln come from this elite group. An undead Daitari sorcerer named Lumi sits
at the left hand of the god-emperor, acting as the emissary of Pathir and conducting the
horrid rituals to Thrass that are demanded of the army.
Undead daitari are bloodthirty, evil creatures that are obligatory carnivores. Their
favored prey is any sentient creature. Because they are undead, they are patient,
calculating monsters who can concoct evil plans that stretch for centuries.