While few have been shown to harness mystical energy and effectively practice magic, witches recieve their magical power as a result of heredity. The offspring of two witches will almost always be witches. Though the probability of the offspring of a witch and a non-witch, or a mortal, being witches are reduced to the 50%. No further explanation has been given regarding the mechanics or heritability of these genetics, but it's likely the source of their magical power, or the necessary instructions to produce their magic. Witches are organized into groups known as circles. While commonly circles are comprised of six members, the numbers can be much larger or smaller. Witches form circles in order to enhance their power and obtain greater knowledge of their Craft. Occasionally, witches may choose to bind their circles, which is a ceremonial ritual of mystically linking the members' bloodline together. While this link limits their individual power, their true strength lies in their collective power. Twelve families make up the group of 'originals': Parris, Williams, Hubbard, Good, Jorgensen, Putnam, O'Brien, Moreau, Nzeogwu, Laau, Perez, Blackwater.

Characteristics & Traits;
Innate Power Source: Through biological means, witches possess an inherent power source which they intuitively draw upon to channel magic. Witches are distinguished from mortals because of a genetic trait which seemingly grants them their innate magical ability.

Unique Blood: Their blood has mystical qualities though the exact nature of these qualities have yet to be explicitly stated. A pint of witch blood is a highly coveted item in the supernatural black market.

Marking Their Death: After their departure, a witch will leave behind a mystical form of energy, that can be controlled and harnessed by another member of their Circle. Depending upon whether or not a witch had bound their coven, if a witch is killed inappropriately, their magic will pass down to the other members of their coven, enhancing their power.

Powers & Abilities;
The primary ability of witches is to manipulate magic as an inborn attribute. They access or use magic in a variety of ways to achieve a number of fantastic feats.
All witches possess these three abilities.
Channeling: The act of drawing or summoning other forms of energy, by focusing on the magic of another witch.

Spell Casting: The act of changing and controlling events by magical influence. Spells are the most common method exerted by witches to focus their magic. Spells can range from simple commands to a series of words.

Potion Making: The act of brewing and concocting magical elixirs and potions that contain mystical properties.

Types of Witches;
Druids - These are witches that have a distinct talent for working with anything relating to plants, animals, and the human body. Their special abilities range from healing spells to the most sought after immortality potion. (A rare recipe that hasn't been seen in centuries.) Magic always comes with a price and any Druid that performs a spell of their variety risks taking the lifeforce of another living thing to heal a person. Including themselves. This variety is considered Light.

Mystic - These are witches that have a distinct talent for working with anything dealing with the past, present, or the future. They're known to have visions of any of the three with ease and are well more known for reading palms. Magic always comes with a price and any Mystic that performs a spell related to their variety risks getting stuck in another 'time' in a person's life. Mystics were trusted with the most important tasks in the supernatural world, guarding the information of their true Gods and never letting it being forgotten by magic praticioners. Generally a Mystic is sworn to serve a single deity, a God or Goddess, while a special family the Jorgensen were named the Gatekeepers of the Gods. They have access to a bridge between the worlds that allow the Gods to walk amoungst humans and 'beasts' alike as long as they retain the favor of The Sun King. This variety is considered Light.

Diabolists - These are witches that have a distinct talent for working with anything involving the dead or spirits. It was this variety of witch that pulled the first demon from the depths of hell and unleashed their kind on the world. They're able to not only speak with the deceased but they're also responsible for the Returned. Because all magic comes with a price, any spell relating to their variety can result in a random person, from any time, to be pulled from 'the other side'. Older or extremely talented Diabolists can simply perform this task as a single spell but again, it always results in a Returned that was not intended. This variety is considered Dark.

Elemental - These are witches that have a distinct talent for working with anything involving the elements. Earth, Air, Fire, Water are their specialty. They're able to perform spells that bend those elements to their will and have even been known to affect the weather & seas. Magic always comes with a price and any Elemental performing a spell relating to their variety risks causing one of their elements to fall out of balance; i.e. freak flooding, tornadoes, wildfires, winds, etc. This variety is considered Dark.

Weaknesses;
Ashwood: Can prevent a Witch from using magic when inside a circle composed of it and can also be used as a poison, it is very hard to find Ashwood and the Blackwater family is the only family known to be in possession of the substance.

Iron Sulphate: Substance used to suppress the magic of witches.

Sways: magical objects used to transfer a witch's powers to another person, whether another witch or a mortal, willingly or otherwise,

Malleus Maleficarum: a sigil that renders a witch powerless so long as they remain within it.

Tools;
Books of Shadows: Journals used primarily by witches that have documented various spells, information, potions, etc. These journals can be passed along different bloodlines for generations increasing the magical knowledge contained within.

Candles: Commonly seen tools used to focus a witch's spell and/or ritual.

Crystals: Crystals are natural materials which can be used to magnify an individual witch's magic. Crystals particularly serve useful for those bound in a circle to access their own individual magic.

Herbs and Roots: Various herbs and roots possess inherent mystical properties effective for magical practice commonly used in brewing elixirs or potions.

The legend of werewolves span so far back that their existence almost certainly predates recorded history. The common bottom line for their legend is that they were created with the intention to serve and protect the Vampire race by an allegiance between the Original Vampires and the Original Witches. Though like most times, things didn't work out exactly as planned and after centuries of enslavement the werewolves grew tired of serving their immortal masters. Created with the benefit of doubling a human's lifespan while simultaneously creating something that carried the brute strength necessary to protect their intended masters. The original six families led the uprising and after a silent yet bloodied war with the Vampires they finally won their freedom. Bitten or born is a very real social ranking in their society, only a werewolf born of two werewolves can be alpha or a proper alpha. They are social creatures by nature and almost always travel in packs though some have been known to break apart to live as 'nomads'. Packs are generally made up of an Alpha, the leader, with his/her Beta as their second in command followed with a Bolverk that holds rank to carry out 'difficult or dirty tasks' for the good of the pack while all others are simply members. These groups make up a werewolves 'family' and most join after their first full moon. Most packs allow a single witch to be a part of their ranks so they have access to their abilities while offering them protection when needed.

Types of Werewolves;
Bitten: Once a mere mortal, even a witch, once bitten by a werewolf while it was in it's animal state it's inevitable that they will become a 'beast'. The first change is a grueling process that some have died from, those that survive the transition find themselves healed of all scars, cured of any illness like asthma, epilepsy and even cancer. They can only shift during times of extreme emotions, danger, or during a full moon but years of experience and learning to 'live with their wolf' can allow them to have a better grasp over their ability. (This is generally for the older werewolves.) In the situation of a witch being bitten by a werewolf it should be noted that the magic practitioner will lose all of their previous abilities to adopt those of their new race.

Born: The offspring of two bitten werewolves or an original and a bitten wolf. They've never been human and begun shifting at the tender age of 10 years old which has given them plenty of time to learn to control their inner wolf. They're not the strongest but they do fall just under the Originals and can/have been treated as royalty, just like the originals they are the only subgenre of werewolves that can hold the title of Alpha. Can shift on nights without a full moon but cannot resist shifting on nights having one.

Hybrid: The offspring of a human/witch and a werewolf may not inherit all of their 'beast' parent's abilities but they do inherit enough to find themselves a subgenre of the race. Their abilities only extend to enhanced senses and agility, nothing more but they are always welcomed to join the ranks of the packs.

Orignial Cursed: The Laughlin, Dubois, Smythe, Khang, Abney, Mirabelli families were the ones cursed to serve their Vampire masters and were also the origin for all other werewolves. All Bitten, Born, or Hybrid werewolves can be traced back to at least one of these families. The Laughlin family is the only family located within Dun Laoghaire and their eldest male is currently the Alpha of one of the packs there. The Originals have complete control over when they shift and can even avoid shifting during a full moon or lunar eclipse.

Weaknesses;
Silver: All werewolves, except hybrids, are highly allergic to silver. If cut with a blade of silver they will heal at a drastically slower rate while being weakened and if stabbed with it could prove fatal.

Wolfsbane: Acting like a poison it can severely weaken a werewolf with effects similar to the common Flu. It will keep them from shifting as well.

Lunar eclipse: They become more or less mindless feral animals stuck in their wolf form during these times.

Vampire Blood: Acting like another form of poison it makes a werewolf severely sick, vomiting, fever, chills and in extreme cases even death.

Abilities;
Superhuman speed, agility, endurance, senses, and strength.
Ability to shift into a wolf, an actual wolf because these are not Lycans, who's coat color will reflect their natural human hair color.

All possess the ability to heal themselves at varying speeds depending on their race. Originals can heal almost instantly while Born heal at a slightly slower rate followed by the Bitten who once again heal at a slower rate while Hybrids find themselves healing at a human rate.

While in either human or wolf form they possess the ability to see in lighting ranging from dim to pitch black.

There's always been tales of creatures of the night that feed on the blood of humans, with good reason. The original eight vampires were cursed by witches and betrayed by demons to become what they were. A small circle consisting eight members, one set of twins and a brother and sister, from separate families and six members of other families were victim to the ultimate betrayal. When the feud between the small circle and the original witches came to a full boil with lives lost on both sides the Jorgensen family decided enough was enough and enlisted the help of a demon to curse the family as they saw fit. Destined to survive off the blood of mortals for all of eternity while they watched everyone around them grow old was a terrible prices to pay though magic always has it's price, especially when used for vengeance. The Original Eight became more powerful than ever expected and harder than expected to keep in control. Of course things have calmed down over the years and the vampire races consists of an unknown number of 'members' now descended from the first to bear their curse. The process to become a vampire isn't a fairly lengthy process and only requires that a human, or witch, drink the blood of a Vampire before dying. Once officially dead they remain that way for a total of three days before they finally 'awaken' to their new life. There are only THREE 'living' members of the Originals left, the rest have either fallen into a sleep state induced by other witches or been killed by the other races.

Types of Vampires;
Originals; They are a group of extremely powerful vampires that are known for being the first of their bloodlines and the first generation of vampires. A number of characteristics separate them from the vampire bloodline that they begat, but the main thing to note is that they became what they were because of a spell and not by ingesting the blood of another vampire. Unlike most vampires they are indestructible and cannot be killed by anything other than a stake made of Wollemi Pine with the blood of AT LEAST four of the original witch families on it.

Bitten; This refers to any vampire that is not a member of the Original eight. While still a force to be reckoned with they are drastically less powerful than the 'royal bloodline'.

Characteristics & Traits;

Being already dead, they do not need most normal things required for life by many of the other races, such as oxygen. They do not breathe unless they're simply keeping up appearances. Most vampires, outside the original, tend to have paler skin than when they were alive and when not feed for an extended period of time their skin tone can become ruddy in appearance. They're always cool to the touch with the exception of shortly after a feeding. Vampires do not cast shadows but DO have a reflection in mirror and show up in photographs.

Abilities;
Superhuman strength, speed, senses, agility, durability and healing.

Enhanced emotions, control (remove or dulling emotions).

Mind Compulsion: The ability to influence or control thoughts, emotions, and behavior and even altering or erasing memories. Originals can compel not only humans but other vampires and some werewolves.

Sire Bond: It's rare but it happens often enough to be mentioned. If a human or witch have strong emotional feelings for the vampire who turns them then they will become extremely loyal to their sire.

Telepathy: It's a limited ability but they can easily enter the minds of humans, witches, werewolves, and some demons. Under this also falls Dream Manipulation; using their power of telepathy to control the dreams and subconscious of humans, werewolves and other vampires.

Fangs & Eyes aka Vamping Out: Hidden under their normal hidden face is something far more terrifying. The sclera of their eyes turn a dark shade of red, veins appear around their eyes while their canines and lateral incisors extend into razor-sharp fangs that allow them to easily puncture the flesh of their next meal.

Weaknesses;
Sunlight: With the exception of the Original Eight, all vampires avoid the light of the sun. Direct sunlight can burn them on contact and further exposure can lead to them bursting into flames. However, this weakness can be avoided with a piece of enchanted jewelry that gives protection to a particular vampire while it is worn.

Fire: It's a sure way to make sure they're not getting back up during a fight since they are all highly flammable and sensitive to fire. Broken Neck: Breaking the neck of a vampire will not kill them but it will give you a varying amount of time to figure out your next step by leaving them unconscious. How long they're out for depends on the age and diet of the vampire.

Invitation: It's been active practice for a circle of witches to cast a protective barrier over the homes of the humans, witches, and werewolves that live in the city they reside in. One that doesn't allow Vampires to enter a home without an invitation by the owner of said house. This only works within the area a circle inhabits, generally entire cities, but nine times out of ten rural homes are not so lucky.

Stakes: It's silly sounding and aggravating but if you manage to get a stake through the heart of a vampire...they'll never get back up again. An exception is the Originals.

The offspring of the 'sons of God' and the 'daughters of men', or simply put, what you get when an Angel and a human mate. Nephilim are perfectly balanced between their two heritages, if sometime rather precariously being 2/4 human and angelic and have both free-will and a good amount of power. There are likely a number of definite traits and instincts that draw them towards their angelic heritage.

Characteristics & Traits;

The physical characteristics of Nephilim tend to vary, however, they are generally revered as unearthly beautiful people. Most of these Nephilim simply appear human in form with minor angelic traits, unique natural eye or hair colors similar to that of their parents.

Nephilim grow up with a sense of entitlement, and a strong impatience when they don’t get their way. Adult Nephilim are frequently viewed as egotistical, even megalomaniacal.

Nephilim do everything on a large scale. They are prone both to acts of great heroism, and massive evil. When Nephilim build structures they always endeavor to make them as large and imposing as possible. Nephilim love to build palaces with myriad rooms dedicated to single activities. They prefer to take many lovers at the same time rather than settle down with a single mate.

Abilities;

Superhuman Intelligence & Perception: Nephilim possess enhanced intuition, pattern solving, information storage and retrieval, and logical and philosophical structuring. As a result of their heritage they are capable of knowledge outside the ability of a human, witch, vampire, werewolf to understand.

Omnilingualism: The ability to speak, write, understand and communicate any language seen or heard before.

Superhuman Combat, strength, speed, durability, endurance and healing.

Flight: Nephilims have the potential to fly they just have to learn how to. When a nephilim learns how to they can fly any were instantly.

Sacred Blood: As beings of angelic descent the blood that courses through their veins are blessed with the essence of the divine. Their blood is sacred, and is delectable and intoxicating to vampires, or other blood thirsty creatures. As such any that would feed off the Nephilim or worse, commit the basest sin of Amaranth, find that they are punished for their transgression, as the blood burns through their vile damned bodies. Nephilim can also be use their blood to heal others by transfusing them with their own blood, it could also be used to restore a deceased human back to life.

Longevity: Their aging process is slower than most humans but they will eventually die even if that takes five hundred years, most never make it past 90 because of how heavily they're haunted.

Weaknesses;

Half-Human - Nephilim are still half-human, possess human-like souls, and still experience human weaknesses. They're stronger than any other being, expect the angels can mostly overpower them with their might unless the Nephilim is the offspring of a significant angel, such as an angel of the first sphere (Thrones, Cherubim and Seraphim).

Heaven’s Enmity - Angels and God regard the Nephilim as the worst kind of abominations, more detestable than even demon. An angel will always react negatively to a Nephilim, and will always interpret the angel’s words and actions in the worst possible light. Only a direct order from the deity they serve will ever cause an angel to aid a Nephilim in any way. Nephilim can never benefit from healing or other miracles from angels.

Angelic Wrath - When a Nephilim is furious their power becomes unstable. Since a major aspect of their strength comes from their rage this could give them a advantage over deities. However it's a double edge sword that leaves the Nephilim blacked out once that power is far beyond their control.

Hunted - Nephilim are very heavily hunted for not only their abilities but for their blood as well.

Magic - Nephilim are still a mortal and are, as such, still vulnerable to the workings of magic in all its forms. Witches are able to give supernatural aneurysms that cause the blood vessels of Nephilim to explode. Black magic has an adverse effect on them, and they're able to be trapped inside of an pentagram which weakens their powers to where they're no stronger.

Products of magic practiced by Necromancers they are humans that have been pulled from their eternal sleep to walk the Earth again. Often times they have no recollection of their death or that they even died to begin with.

Characteristics & Traits;

Upon initial arrival and for about 1 year a Returned can look just like your average human but after that they begin to develop a more distinguished look that allows them to be singled out. Their eyes lighten to a startling shade of pale blue that is very obviously not human.

Abilities;

Memory/Trait/Skill Absorption: When they consume the brain of another race they can absorb the memories of the deceased but also the personality of them as well. It's also worth noting that after consuming a brain that they can also have the skills that the deceased had, languages, instruments, knowledge, etc, but this is always temporary and wears off between feedings.

Immortality-ish: Constantly walking that line of living/dead while never falling into either particular side. Returned will not age past the age that they were when they return to the 'land of the living' nor can they get sick, be killed by anything other than a shot to the head or decapitation.

Beast Mode: When in danger or in the midst of violence the Returned's undead characteristics come to the surface. Causing their eyes to gloss over a startling shade of red and their strength to increase to something that could rival the strength of a newborn Vampire.

Weaknesses;

Head Shot: Any gunshot, arrow, smashing of their skull will result in their permanent death...one they can't come back from.

Amnesia: They have no idea that they're dead when they first return and also have no memory of how they died. Those that do remember their deaths tend to be less reasonable and it can be used to catch them off guard if needed.

Hunger: Once they returned from the dead all Returned have an strong need to eat, a lot. While they can survive for a couple of weeks on copious amounts of normal food they MUST eat brains at least twice a month, or more, to keep their humanity and survive. If they do not feed on human brains as often as needed they can deteriorate to a less than intelligent state a more primal.

Sensitive Emotions: When a Returned is faced with intense emotions such as fear, excitement, or anger they have a very hard time hiding their 'beast'. If provoked hard enough they will lose control completely until they finally regain their mental strength.