Gephaim

The Gephaim is the antagonizing group of powerful creatures that oppose the Heudmli and all associated lifeforms that were once under their rule. Although they were initially a passive species with high magical capacity, they transformed into beings who now currently corrupt and shapeshift into a variety of physical, spiritual, and magical forms that hide between even the most normal of living beings.

Banishment and Reconstruction
Said to be existent since the origins of the universe, the Gephaim were powerful masters of many kinds of magic that once terrorized the planet they once inhabited in. When the Heudmli were created from unknown magical sources, they discovered the potential danger of the Gephaim in the natural order of the galaxies, and they posed a threat to the planets they closely inhabited by. Afraid for them to generate disaster, the Heudmli punished the species by teleporting them into a far away, desolated planet, and completely removed them of their magical power, but not the capacity of controlling such. Their new world was very different from their homeland, lacked any creatures that acted as a food source, and had them have to reconstruct their whole civilization again. They had to acquire farming as their only way of feeding themselves, and created mostly agricultural towns, causing them to grow much more calm and sedentary.

Thousands of years passed, and the Gephaim reformed as an absolutely peaceful creature. Their magical capacity was still present, however. Some members sought a way to recover their magic, but wanted to use such in positive manners, while others disagreed and declared that the magic of the ancients should be used for the same reason it was created: to conquer the galaxies with their blessing their ancestors would have wanted to.

A way to reobtain a source of magic was found, when they were able to communicate with one of the Heudmli. In a far away mountain with dangerous tempests over it had spawned a massive temple, and a statue could be found in it, where a Heudmli would be encontered and met with certain requirements for a Gephaim to obtain ther magical essence once again. The requirements involved: The understanding of the superiority and purpose of the Heudmli in keeping balance, the request for forgiveness and total regret of their mistakes of the past, and a magical essence from a being different to their own. To assure that no or at least few Gephaim would gain their essence again, they needed to find a source of magic themselves, be it by killing a creature that had one, or by founding a relationship of trust and companionship with a bearer of a magical essence. There were several ways to qualify for regaining their essence, but to the Gephaim, the two methods previously mentioned were the most known as the highly likely solution.

As their technology advanced slowly, discovering other sources of materials and energy from mining and other renewable and non-renewable areas, the Gephain never were able to have any of their species reobtain their magical essence to fill their true inner capacity once again. The method of doing such became more of a mere legend, and the location of the Heudmli's temple medium became mostly unknown. The Gephaim civilization advanced until they reached a level somewhat higher to that of Humankind, but stood there due to their incapability to mantain their population. They consisted of around 2,000,000 of their species, much less than what they originally were, but feeding from merely plant-based meals was not enough to sustain their growth. Though they did not have many complications, as their health was notably high, had no enemies or predators, or dealt with natural disasters, their food supply could not mantain many more. A Gephaim required far more food than a human to stay healthy and with energy.

Appearance of Possibility
The completely unexpected chance for the legend of the Heudmli to be true started with a young Gephaim named Aeskkan, a child who lived as a carefree wanderer through the smaller parts of the city. He was not an orphan, but his relatives did not seemed to care for him, and rather let him have his own life. Aeskkan was very kind and honest, and never got in trouble in his childish ways. He was a normal kid, but he respected his elders and knew how to be educated and fair.

Physical Appearance
Their true appearance even can vary depending on the origin of a Gephaim's family, such being the kind of magical essence they were initially born with. In general, a Gephaim stands between 7 to 8 1/2 feet tall. Their head has reptilian and bird-like aspects, such as having scales across their small snouted front which ends in an avian-like beak. Like snakes and similar reptiles, their tongues can stretch far beyond their jaw and contain poison, as well as their long front teeth. The poison cannot harm anything, however, becoming null as soon as they had to sustain a non-carnivorous diet. They have feathers and fur starting from the top of their heads. Large pairs of horns sprout from the sides of their heads, which amount varies depending on the age of a Gephaim. Behind those horns, are their tiny, though hidden ears that actually stretch across their sides, neck, and back, allowing them to hear normally regardless of the orientation their head is facing. Their shoulders are covered by a pattern of thick scales and feathers in between, and have spikes from the back of such said body part. The rest of their body mostly consists of tough leather-like texture, with spikes similar to the ones on the upper parts of themselves across the back of their legs, back, feet, and other places.

On the front of their limbs, which are four identical arms and two feet, are a patch of scales that act as a way to protect them from being cut or damaged by direct attacks. Their four arms have 6 fingers each, five of them placed similarly to a human, and the last placed sideways, hardly noticeable from the front. A Gephaim's legs are long and able to jump large distances and heights, and have 5 toes. Their fingers and toes are somewhat long, and are covered in scales and end in a nail-like tip which can be sharp but made dull easily. Having a long, thin tail, it can act as a fifth arm, as they have long, flexible finger-like spikes at the end of it. At the sides of this tail, they have two "smaller tails". Their back is incredibly thick and hard to damage, as it is covered by a layer of feathers, a second of scales, and a third of the same leather the rest of their body is composed of.