Let's Talk: Night Watchers
Night Watchers are believed to have evolved alongside home sapiens, and are believed to have existed alongside some of the earliest ancestors of humankind. This makes them the oldest existing species to date, as there is no way to date the existence of Dragons. They are magic-users but draw much of their abilities from the natural world. Because of written texts from the earliest Watchers, many modern-day Watchers lack the more meditative personalities of their ancestors. This causes them to often lose certain abilities over time/to struggle to control certain things like fire and water.
They do not often refer to themselves as Night Watchers, but as Clatunate. When interacting with other species or when other species are present, they continue to use Night Watchers.
The earliest Night Watchers did not necessarily go out of their way to keep the early humans safe, but after a certain point, it was clear their ability to manipulate things like fire gave them a big advantage in survival. Thus, they began to integrate themselves into human societies as healers and guards. They provided fires and treated the wounded. Eventually earned themselves the name "Night Watchers" from the fact they would keep the night watch to protect the humans, as well as the fact they were mysterious people that could often be found watching the sky/stars.
Night Watchers helped humanity thrive and were rather proud of their relative species. Acted as a median between newer species like werewolves, vampires, etc. Once Dragons found a way into this dimension, the Night Watchers worked with them to find a way to keep their worlds separate.
This is where their alliance comes from; a joint respect for humanity's protection.
Then came along Death Crawlers, who were created out of a fear of the unusual. One particular human that found the magic of a Night Watcher to be unnatural and made a deal with Demons to create a new species that inherently wanted nothing but ill-fortunate for humanity. Humanity, by this time, had been named the Night Watchers' "Greatest Love", and it wasn't uncommon for humans and NWs to marry and have children.
However, when Death Crawlers began to run rampant, Watchers took the only action they deemed the best to protect humans.
The Council, a select group of the eldest/most skilled magic users within the Watcher community, came together to combine their power. They banished themselves, erased the memory of all monster-kind from humanity (thus were the myths came from, because there no longer existed any evidence), and cast a protection on humans. The protection meant that Death Crawlers could not directly hurt humanity, but could still influence them into hurting themselves.
There are Night Watchers dedicated to the craft of maintaining their underground safe-haven. This includes monitoring the sealed portals between the Realm and humanity's space (what they refer to as Topside), keeping the caverns stable, and monitoring weak points.
Some of the animals/creatures found within the Realm are cavernous type creatures. Most are almost mythical, nightmarish versions of cave newts and salamanders (as if those weren't already terrifying enough). These are predatory creatures that pose a threat to the sheep, goats, and chickens the Watchers keep. They do not pose a threat to the thriving unicorn herds.
Unicorns were a gift from the Dragons as a sign of friendship. The Dragons intended this to be "Look, we offer great food!" whereas the Watchers took this as "Oh, a working animal! We shall care for and love these magnificent beasts!" Unicorns found within the Realm are so spoiled, in fact, rather than be skittish like the rest of their kind in the Dragon world, these ones tend to be aggressive/outgoing/bossy/arrogant. You name it. They've also adapted to living underground, and tend to come in more neutral colors, whereas Dragon Realm Unicorns come in a variety of colors. The white/lighter color ones in the Night Realm tend to be almost opaque, and all of them have more of a haunting appearance.
There is an entire agriculture-focused center of magic, where large groups of Watchers maintain fields and farm animals. This looks like providing "sunlight" and rainfall, while monitoring the growth of the harvests (which include wheat, barley, corn, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and asparagus).
Yes, you read that right. Night Watchers have parasites.
These parasites are called Ethereals, as they are spirits that attach themselves to the essence of a Night Watcher. More often than not, an Ethereal goes unnoticed throughout its host's life, and when the host dies, the Ethereal will jump to another available Watcher in the area. Watchers can only have 1 (one) of these at a time. They are typically not bad, but also not necessarily good. They often exist undetected and when detected, aren't usually a nuisance.
Ethereals feed off of emotions, typically ones that are abundant (like happiness, stress, exhaustion, anger, sadness, etc. There are a few rare Ethereals that feed off of emotions like Fear or deeper things like adrenaline highs. These types are the dangerous kinds, as they often have to force their hosts into situations that trigger Fear or adrenaline.
These types are so rare, in fact, that they can all be named. There are four of them in existence today: Dante (feeds off depression), Starla (feeds off manic joy), Fineas (feeds off adrenaline highs), and Xander (feeds off fear). Starla and her host, Claudia, are kept safe in a facility after Starla's hunger drove Claudia mad, which led to her spree-killing. Dante and his host, Paul, live a quiet life, yet there are healthcare workers that regularly visit Paul to ensure his safety.
Fineas and his host, Alastor, serve as the Head Knight of the Royal Guard. Alastor is Hades's cousin, and I love my weird little freak. Hades is Xander's host :)
Ethereals can influence their host in a manner of ways. This includes speaking to them telepathically, making them involuntarily move, appearing as their reflection, or forcing them to laugh/cry. The other way is for an Ethereal to take full control of the host's body. This comes with minor shifts in the host's physical appearance such as becoming taller/shorter/fatter/skinnier, changing the color of their eyes, changing the way their hands/feet/nose/chin appear, and adjusting the tone/accent/other characteristics of the host's voice.
Anyone familiar with the Host will always be able to tell when the Ethereal has taken over. This is RARE though! It requires an inherently powerful Ethereal, one that is incredibly old which means they have a high count of hosts, or one of the rare types that feed on darker things, like the above mentioned.
As far as I'm aware, this is it for our good boys the Night Watchers! Please don't be shy in asking questions or complimenting my work! I don't care if it's in replies, reblogs, my inbox, or through dms!
