General Info: Shorthand for 'Incubi' or 'Succubi' (male and female respectively), the 'Cubi
race is a bit of an oddball race. Similar to a mixture of Angels and Demons,
they can have either feathered or leathery wings, and are equally adept at
either light or dark magic.
They do not have the power, toughness or reflexes of the Angel or Demon race,
but their wings are extremely tough and can be morphed into defensive shields
or offensive weapons.
'Cubi have an innate ability to read thoughts and to shapeshift (allowing them
to impersonate others). This has given them a sinister reputation as a whole, though the reality varies wildly from individual to individual.
This reputation which paints 'Cubi as deceivers, plus the war with the Dragons which almost led to their extermination, has caused many 'Cubi to go underground or hide amongst Beings to escape persecution. The eventual discovery of some disguised 'Cubi has only helped feed the suspicion against them as a race.
It would not be true to say that the 'Cubi race are blameless, and it can be
argued that the Dragon War was a necessary evil to make them buck up their
ideas. Even so, it has taken a long, long time for them to be accepted in
cities again and many of the more rural areas are still unsafe for their kind.
'Cubi have a small pair of wings on their heads, a trait that is unique to
their race. They have a number of innate abilities, such as shapeshifting,
reading thoughts, and ability to sense and feed upon emotions, which they are
able to catalyse into energy. As such, they do not need to eat, drink or
sleep once they reach a certain age. Individuals are better at absorbing
some emotions more than others, and typically have an affinity for a certain
set of emotions.
Their biggest weakness is that 'Cubi are themselves highly emotional and
often flighty. They experience emotions far more deeply than the other races
and this can provoke them into violent rages or other untoward behaviour.
There are numerous cases on record of 'Cubi losing control and killing or
injuring others without necessarily realising what they were doing at the time.
Similarly, 'Cubi are typically poor fighters since if they can be provoked
into anger, they will lose all sense of strategy and start lashing out blindly
making them vulnerable to attacks by a clear-headed foe. To help avoid this,
most 'Cubi undergo training at special academies to help them learn self-control
techniques that enable them to live more normal lives.
'Cubi belong to clans. These are not a social construct, they are based on
lineage and form a physical part of who they are, affecting their power and
which emotions they have an affinity for. If they cast magic frequently during
their childhood, a symbol will appear somewhere on their body, a marking which
represents their clan.
Each clan has a different symbol and although it can
be dyed over with body paint or similar substances, the mark itself cannot
be hidden by means of shapeshifting and such a symbol found on someone may be
a sign that the person is a disguised incubus or succubus.
'Cubi who are the child of a Being will take the appearance of the Being parent. Where the individual has two 'Cubi parents, they will belong to the clan which was most powerful at the time of conception.
'Cubi typically have a poor attention span. They like flash clothes and shiny things.
As a race they are rather fragmented - various clans have alliances and enemies
among the others. It is said that the Dragons instigated this to weaken the
race during the Cubi-Dragon War.
Occasionally 'Cubi have been known to impersonate a lady's husband for one night in order
to impregnate them. In some cases they may murder the husband (or wife) and take their place for an extended period of time, but this is rare. 'Cubi also have a reputation for seducing a victim and devouring their souls in their sleep, but this is far rarer than many would have you believe and soul-stealing is not looked upon fondly even among 'Cubi.
As a rule, 'Cubi remain in their 20s until about 1000 years old. After this they will slowly begin to age, usually reaching their natural lifespan around 2500-3000 years. The ageing process can be postponed further given a suitable source of energy, and this is one of the traditional reasons that a 'Cubi may decide to steal souls.
