The Two Misunderstood Races of Monsters.

Origins

Sillombres and luminombres were both created roughly the same time millions of years ago. References being made to both species date as far back as 2500 BCE, usually as references of demigods, demons, angels, or any other immortal being associated with the gods. These references are most often found along early monster and human civilizations, such as Mesopotamia, early Egyptian civilizations, and early Rome. They've seen to exist side by side in all these early cultures, even spreading out to some of the smaller places. Each culture viewed the beings a little differently, using religion or what they've witnessed the beings doing in their homes to determine how to view these beings. Sillombres were often seen as the evil of the two, often being mistaken as demons, while luminombres experienced the opposite. Mass genocide of sillombres occurred during 1000 BCE, causing their populations to have a small recession in numbers compared to their light based brethren. This caused many of these early sillombres to flee from their homes, and eventually travel to sea and find a perfect set of islands to call home, which allowed them to grow back their numbers. Soon, luminombres joined them on the islands, and the island became a main hub for the species. As the populations grew, however, many began to leave their island home to explore the world, either helping to colonize new places to live, or to find civilizations more accepting of their race. One way or the other, these beings have always found their way in the world.

Sillombres and luminombres were created by their respective gods, Sillo and Lumine. Both gods are considered 'judgment' gods, as they determine what your afterlife looks like. The gods had been given permission from the celestial, Idyllic, to create these beings in order to provide more neutral Souls a chance at another life. Despite both beings having the same kind of role in regards to the afterlife, they are made of two separate kinds of magic.

Sillombres are made from Dark Pure Magic.
Luminombres are made from Light Pure Magic.

While both magic types are incredibly similar in their behaviors and abilities, differences are often seen in the way people of either race act. Sillombres tend to act more erratically while luminombres tend to act more calm. These differences never particularly caused any issues early on into their creation. It took the near extinction event for the sillombres before any new behaviors or differences had been noticed.

So what exactly occurred? Early Enchanters and Enchanted Form Beings believed they could force sillombres to 'explode' if they had enough dark magic forced into their bodies. Of course, this wasn't quite the case- yes, many sillombres did die, but many also survived and carried the extra dark magic, often passing it down to their children. The ones that did die often came back to Earth before Sillo even had a chance to undo the damage, and they had that excess magic. This caused many issues that still carry on today in the modern era, with a plus that with modern medicine and knowledge, there's a chance to better fix these issues.

Appearances

These two races of monsters look very similar with very minor differences. Besides the obvious difference in color schemes (sillombres being much darker, luminombres being much lighter), these two groups have differences pertaining to their anatomy and 'True Forms'. These beings are humanoid in appearance, with pointy ears that can move in any direction, the appearance of their Souls on their bodies, and occasional 'birthmarks'. Both beings can form little halos on their heads whenever they use magic or just on a whim.

As mentioned above, both these beings have a 'True Form', which is just a form these beings take on when in a weak/vulnerable state. Whether it's mental, physical, or a little of both. Sillombres take on a more ghost-like appearance, with just a head, moth-like antenna, and a bust that just barely floats. It is believed that they can float because of their Soul, which is often far more exposed in this form than in their normal form. Luminombres, however, take on a far different form. They often become orbs of light, surrounding their Soul. Their Soul isn't as exposed in this form as it'd be normally. They seem to have a much wider range of abilities to float compared to their darker counterparts.

Speaking of floating, you may have noticed that luminombres don't have necks. Their heads just float above where a neck would normally be. No one is very sure how or why this is, but members of the luminombre race think Lumine was just having fun when creating them. Sillombres didn't have this creative liberty taken.

While I mentioned their color schemes are opposites of one another in terms of dark and light, it's important to mention that the hues they are come from their Soul colors. This means sillombres and luminombres can be 12 different colors, based on their Soul colors. This does mean that they can't exactly be multiple colors, only one. There are very few exceptions, mostly for those who have been immortal beings before being turned into either race.

You may also note that sillombres and luminombres both have the ability to change their physical forms quite a bit. It's not full on shapeshifting in the same way that Changelings can do, and it strains the magic (and body) of the beings, but they can change certain features about themselves if they chose.

Strengths vs Weaknesses

Sillombre and Luminombres are considered 'Long-Living Mortals', meaning they have an incredibly long lifespan. Unlike many other Enchanted Form Beings, they're made of less physical materials. This works as both a positive thing, and a negative thing. They don't require nearly the same amount of things to survive, but they can be weaker in physical combat. These two species scar rather easily. However, they are still difficult to kill, due to their bodies' unique properties. Both species can have three chances/lives. With some exceptions depending greatly on if they're ready to move onto the afterlife (if they're capable of doing so), or if the judgment gods want them to keep living for a while longer.

Both Weaknesses

Luminombre and Sillombres both share the same weakness as any other living being: hit the Soul and you kill the body. Although, you also do some damage to their future bodies as well.

Luminombres and Sillombres don't need food or water for several weeks on end, but they can still die if not given the right sustenance after a certain amount of time. With air, though, they can only last six minutes without oxygen before dying. It's the quickest 'natural' way to kill both species.

Some sillombres and luminombres have a unique ability to take magic from others. While this ability is rare, there are some that have this ability. The victims of this magic stealing ability are called Dumayas. If a person can kill the Dumaya before the magic is fully drained, then it'll temporarily weaken the magic sucking luminombre/sillombre. However, this window of weakness doesn't last long.

Luminombre Weakness

Luminombres need to return to a place with lots of light. They can live without lights for a couple of days at the minimum, but it's really not preferred. For a luminombre, being in the dark is equivalent to a human suffocating in a zero-oxygen tank.
As luminombre heads float above their torso, taking away their head can damage them greatly.
Even killing them in some cases. So many luminombres take great offense when anyone tries to reach around their neck/head region.

Sillombre Weakness

Sillombres burn in light. Some light sources take longer to burn a sillombre and depending on how strong the sillombre is, the harder it is to burn them. It's like being on fire for them. Light sources include magic types that produce magic as well, such as electricity and fire.

Sillombre's have a unique sickness called Sillombre Illness (Darkness Disease, Dark Flu, ect.) that can drastically alter what the individual's behavior is. This unique disease is an effect of the excess magic forced into this species all that time ago, and has actually reportedly killed many sillombres throughout time. More information on this disease will be provided in a future document.

The Ba'ance Isle

These archipelago islands are located out in the Pacific Ocean, with similar geography to Hawaii. These islands were created by volcanic eruptions long ago and have been taken over by the Luminombre and Sillombre races. There were once wars that had raged on these islands for hundreds of years, on and off, before the two species finally settled down together. The Ba'ance Islands are considered the birthplace of these two species, despite this being quite untrue. For anyone visiting the island, one might note how underdeveloped it is, technology wise. This isn't because the races are dumb or prefer traditional way of living (although the second one has some weight behind the reasoning), but mainly because the islands get heavy rains and tsunamis frequently. Instead of technology though, these species use high amounts of magic to run their island. This island actually contributed a lot of research into the ability to liquify magic and use it for technological means, and it was much more sustainable and durable compared to electronic counterparts. This is perfect for a species of people that live in the middle of the ocean. These islands have a government that consists of eight Elders belonging to each species; four Sillombre Elders and four Luminombre Elders.

These Elders all have special and unique roles in place for their island and the overall whole of the species. Not only that, but these beings are also truly immortal. They were specifically chosen by Sillo and Lumin to lead their species, and they are still successfully running the islands. Listed below are the different roles the Elders play as well as who plays them and how.

Managers - Monochrome and Opalescence
Responsible for keeping track of the laws, the amount of their people born (on the Islands), and overall reporting back to their parent gods.
Enforcers - Shade and Xear
Responsible for ensuring laws and rules are followed. They're the ones that dish out the punishments and are often the ones judging during trials on the Islands. They rarely worry about off-Island law breakage.
Peacekeepers - Eclipse and Cloud
Responsible for maintaining peace between the two species. Their role seems miniscule, but there have been many fights that have broken out between these two species. They help further Island developments too.
Ambassadors - Insom'Nya and Daydream
Responsible for keeping peace with other nations. They are responsible for putting the best image of their individual races for the rest of the world.

Ba'ance Island Punishments

Luminombres and Sillombres put together a shared list of laws and punishments that they abide by to this day. The laws are just the typical ones you might expect from a functioning society, with a few clauses for unique cases. The punishments, however, are done in a unique manner compared to most other societies in the world.

These islands do have the usual punishments, sure. They do have prisons, a criminal record system, and more. Due to these species being long living though, they have to go about many of these normal things in different ways. For example, the record system is controlled largely by the Enforcers and groups of Notetakers that frequently update and upload information into a shared computer. In the early days, this computer was actually a library that was in separate areas of the island. These records keep track of not just one chance a sillombre lives, but all of the ones they live. This is helpful in determining how to go about punishing certain individuals, especially if they commit the same kind of crimes in a previous life.

The Ba'ance Islands also have a shared prison system under the ground of the island, under a decently sized building. The rooms in the prison are created by concentrated dark magic for structure, and concentrated light magic to enter and exit the rooms. Each prison room is designed differently depending on who's in the room, and what they've done. Whether the prisoner is a luminombre that stole from a jewelry store being put into a brightly lit room with the bare minimum essentials to a sillombre murderer forced on a bench with a stream of light magic hitting them in the thigh, the rooms are easy to manipulate and change. The size can also vary. Prisoners do have some freedoms, depending on what kind of crime they did. There are two large courtyard-like rooms for recreational activities.

Speaking of these rooms, certain criminals can be killed for their crimes. Sillombres and Luminombres can be killed from the weaknesses previously stated. Besides Sillombre Sickness, anyways. This is only in the most extreme cases, and in the modern day, it doesn't happen as often as it used to. Ba'ance Customs These two islands share many customs together. Those not living on the island often participate in these events as well, either by visiting the islands or doing it in their hometowns. It's the only time that most of the two species will come together and celebrate, so of course there's a want for everyone to be unified in the celebrations.

Deity Reverence Day (celebrated on the third Wednesday in October): This day is very similar to Thanksgiving and Christmas, as it's a big day full of family, feasts, and gift giving (not only to the gods, but to neighbors and family). The reason for the gift giving is to honor the gods that gave these two species life. There is a big feast that the two species share, as well as a big festival and a big day of celebration overall. Any and all babies born that year are put in the center of town and are surrounded by food. Anyone not on the island tends to just have a mini celebration at home or travel to the island to celebrate. It's a pretty big tourist attraction too, so many humans and monsters can come by and join in! In the past, this was purely for sillombre and luminombres to celebrate.

New Years Week: A full week dedicated to welcoming in the New Year. It lasts from January 1st to the 7th! Basically, it's a week similar to Hanukkah where there are seven lit candles and one gift per day. The difference comes into play for how each day goes. During this week, the two species will not eat or drink. They do wear jewelry consisting of gold, aquamarine, and emerald, as well as specially made clothes consisting of silk and magically-enhanced threads. Gold is for riches, aquamarine is used for good luck and protection, and emerald is for a good year and love. The silk represents status and fertility, often being used to encourage reproduction among the species. The thread is simply used to enhance the look of the outfits. Here's the days as follows:

Jan 1st: For both species, this is the day to wake up as early as possible and start work on cleaning up their homes. This is to help clear up the home and the minds of the residents in the home. They also get to come up with one goal to do in one week and one goal to do before the end of the year. The goals can range from trying out a new hobby, saving money, or even bond with family. This day is for clearing the mind and to come up with plans.

Jan 2nd: This day is the day that both species have to stay inside. This day came to be a way to make the residents in homes grow a little closer, and it is believed that the Elders created this day so that they could have peace and silence. In the modern era, business owners use this day to prepare for another year of business.

Jan 3rd: On this day, only the sillombres are allowed outside their homes. During the day, sillombres tend to clean up their streets and prepare for the later evenings events. A big festival is held during the evening hours where the sillombres show off their magic to each other, use their shape-shifting abilities to prank each other, and just overall have a good time. This day was held to honor their creator god, Sillo.

Jan 4th: This is the day where both species send over one or two people from every household to represent them on a day where they get to show off talents, magic, and whatever else. It's also the only day where these two species are allowed to eat food! This day was created by the Elders to have the two races maintain a level of respect and bond together over Living Magic.

Jan 5th: On this day, only the luminombres are allowed outside their homes. During the day, lumines would hold a big festival, similar to the sillombres. In the evening, they would then clean up the aftermath and head on home. This day was held to honor their creator god, Lumin.

Jan 6th: A day to calm down and rest. Usually, any extra cleanups are done on this day. Visits from the Elders are very common on this day too. The Elders love spending their time on this day to check in on their people, give gifts, speak about the signs their parent gods sent for that year, and many other duties leaders tend to take. The Elders are very heavily protected by their guards during this time, especially if there is a high amount of non-natives on the island. These non-natives are visited as well and given small tokens of appreciation, as well as given the chance to take photos with the Elders and overall get to be treated like old friends.

Jan 7th: The final day is a large day of festivals and celebration. As it is the last day, all the species come together and celebrate the day. It's an all day affair with everyone involved being expected to finish their chosen weeklong resolution. Businesses that are open have big sales and the Elders are there to help the celebrations carry on. At the very end of the day, a mass clean up party is created that receives a large paycheck once the island has been cleaned up. Often, it takes a few days after the initial creation of the crew, but the pay is worth it to many of the members. In more recent years, non-natives were allowed to be a part of the cleanup crew, but in the past, it was shunned upon for them to even offer.

Other Holidays: Many holidays in many countries over the world are celebrated in recent times on the island.

The most celebrated are Halloween (or Day of the Dead) and Easter, funnily enough. Both days have a unique meaning to the island natives, often being used to celebrate both the Elders and those who have been reborn after first becoming shadow/lumine.

Valentine's Day is celebrated mainly by luminombres, who are often the ones to fall head over heels for others. This day is highly used to celebrate relationships of all kinds, just like it typically is all over the world. However, merchandise on the island for this holiday is near non-existent, so handmade items are often what are given out.

Christmas (often called Giving Day) isn't as heavily celebrated, as the islanders already have a similar holiday in place of giving gifts and being generous. However, several families that have migrated to the island do celebrate it and have converted many others to celebrating it as a sort of 'pre-New Years Week' celebration.

Parental holidays such as Father's Day and Mother's Day are instead celebrated on the same day, sometime in June. Many other holidays aren't as talked about or celebrated except in very small communities on the island, such as Cinco De Mayo, Good Friday, Boxing Day, and more.

Interesting Facts

Neither species needs to eat or drink as often as other monster species. They do still need to eat, but can go so much longer without eating. They're often compared to snakes with their high energy conservations, likely due to the magic their body is made up of.

These two species do actually have celebrities! They can be famous for the same things as our celebrities are. These include acting, modeling, having certain features no one else has, being an influencer of some kind, and more.

There is ONE sillombre who used to be an angel. Her whereabouts are unknown currently.

There are more sillombre hybrid children than there are luminombres. It's not clear as to why this is, as generally speaking, sillombres have a lower sex drive compared to their lumine counterparts.

Some luminombres and sillombres can see ghosts. Not necessarily ghost-like monsters, but genuinely dead people that haven't passed on or reborn as one of their own or a fellow 'Undead Monster'.

Elder luminombres and sillombres (that aren't The Elders) have a more faded look compared to the rest of the kind.

Sillombres and luminombres are considered 'Undead Monsters', although due to their unique genetics and who their parental gods are, they do not need to ask for Birthing Favors by the gods.