THE TERMINOLOGY!

[danger]

downworlder • noun, p. downworlders • Slang term applied to the creatures spawned from demon infections; fey, vampires, warlocks and werewolves.

fey • noun, p. fey • The rumored offspring of angels and demons, fey are beautiful, wicked creatures that can live for thousands of years. They are typically described as having green skin or flowers for hair or iridescent silver wings or all white irises and pupils. For the sake of this rp, they’re going to have these features, but use a glamour to make themselves look human. Fey cannot lie, but they are masters of telling half truths, and this works well with their love of mischief. Fey enjoy playing tricks on people, usually mind games, and are rather skilled in magic; they can make you dance until you legs are bloody stumps, or you can ask one to bring back the dead, only to have the dead be so unlike they were when they were alive that it drives the asker to suicide. Hurt by iron. Also called faeries or , there are different types of fey, such as kelpies and nixes, that are all basically just different breeds of fey.

mundane • noun, p. mundanes • Slang term used by nephilim and downworlders to describe humans; “mundane” simply means “ordinary.”

nephilim • noun, p. nephilim • A breed created when Jonathan Shadowhunter drank the blood of the angel Raziel; demon fighters sworn to protect humans, keep downworlders in check, and rid the world of demons. Nephilim originated in their homeland of Idris, located between Germany and Luxemburg. They attend school to learn how to how to use runes, how to fight, and about other useful skills such as herbal remedies and foreign languages, as well as typical subjects such as English and math.

vampire • noun, p. vampires • Originally created by a demonic infection, vampires are made by sharing blood and then digging oneself out of a grave. Once reborn, a vampire is typically pale and attractive, without a heartbeat but with sharp needle-like fangs that are hidden when sheathed in the gums. They are reborn with more acute senses, such as hearing and sight, as well as stronger muscles and a better endurance; the attractiveness is just another tool given by the infection that makes it easier for a vampire to lure in prey and drink their blood. Without blood, a vampire will perish, just as they would if exposed to the sunlight (which would cause one to burn into a pile of ash.) Holy water, crosses, and running water (like a river) can also harm a vampire, or at least make one queasy in the case of the latter. Garlic is just a myth. Also known as the children of the moon, or derogative names such as bloodsucker or leech.

warlock • noun, p. warlocks • Warlocks are born half demons, half humans, the demon part of their DNA giving them their magical abilities and the ability to live much longer than typical humans. Because of their demon side, warlocks are born with a mark of the devil, usually an animalistic characteristic, like cat eyes, webbed feet, or wings. Wielding magic is just like any skill- it gets better with practice, and sometimes certain warlocks are just good at it from the get-go. It requires no wand, and some warlocks have a higher capacity to pull the strength required to cast spells. Also known as Lilith’s children, it’s uncertain if anything is particularly harmful to warlocks.

werewolf • noun, p. werewolves • Like vampires, werewolves were originally created by a demonic infection that gave the infected the ability to transform into a wolf, as well as wolf-like hearing and sight while in human form. To become a werewolf now, one must either be born with the infected genetics, or be bitten by a werewolf, and with the latter it’s still a tossup as to whether one will be infected or not. If the infection takes hold after the bite, the new werewolf will transform on the next full moon, and probably not be able to remember the events of that night, or remember blurry snippets. Little is known about what happens if the werewolf is born a werewolf, as so few cases of this actually exist. As the wolf matures, eventually the full moon will not make them transform, and they’ll instead be able to transform on command. Silver burns them, and since the two breeds of demons that infected them were at war with each other, vampires and werewolves hold a supreme dislike for each other. Also known as the children of the moon, or lycanthropes.

the accords • noun • An agreement signed between downworlders and nephilim to maintain peace between the species.

the clave • noun • The nephilim government that keeps everything running smoothly, housed in Idris and stationed worldwide. Led by a shadowhunter with the title of the Inquisitor, it’s the clave’s job to make sure the laws agreed upon in the Accords are being followed. Basically, they have to make sure that warlocks aren’t summoning demons and vampires aren’t slaughtering people and that nephilim aren’t killing downworlders without proper reasoning.

the council • noun • A group of representatives of each of the species of downworlders who are in charge of negotiating the laws to keep things fair for their species.

glamour • noun • A magical disguise put in place to hide magical things from the mundanes. Glamours can take the form of altering something to make it look normal, or completely cloaking whatever it is so that mundanes either won’t notice it at all, or in rare cases will see it and then forget about it immediately after.

the grey book • noun • A very old book that’s used to teach nephilim runes. It contains illustrations every rune ever created.

institute • noun • A safe house for nephilim when they’re out of their homeland, Idris. Every major city in the world has an institute, each run by a different person/family. Institutes have weapons and food and places to sleep and clean up, and all other essentials needed to effectively hunt demons.

rune • noun, p. runes • Big, black tattoo-like marks that are applied with a stele. Used by nephilim, and only nephilim, it is said that when a rune is applied the skin feels like it’s on fire, but in a good way; sometimes it smells a bit like smoke. There are several different runes, each with a different appearance and a different “power”, so to speak. Some runes heal, others open, others help with balance and speed. Runes can be permanent or temporary; temporary marks fade into fine little white scars. Also called Marks.

the seelie court • noun • Currently run by the Seelie Queen, the Seelie Court is an underground realm that houses all of the faeries that reside in and around New York City. The Court has its own rules, which the Queen has to make sure are followed and not broken.

the sight • noun • The ability to see through glamours. Typically only referred to when a mundane has it, because it’s very peculiar when a human can see the goings on of the magical world. The sight is passed down through genetics, so any mundanes with it probably have a vampire or nephilim* hidden somewhere in the branches of their family tree.

the silent brothers • noun • A group of shadowhunters who have decided to dedicate their life to research and protection. They isolate themselves from the rest of society in the Silent City, hidden deep beneath Manhattan, and disfigure themselves with seriously powerful runes that provide them with some serious magical mojo. They’re called the Silent Brothers because the runes take away their voice; they communicate telepathically, when they communicate at all.

stele • noun • A tool used by nephilim to apply runes. A small, pencil-sixed cylinder that tapers to a point.

*for the sake of flawed little experiments, we’re going to ignore what Will said in Clockwork Angel; nephilim genetics are not dominant. There can be carriers of nephilim genes that are not actually nephilim.