Xihe

In reality, the Nefali are the youngest creation of the Zevarian Goddess, having originiated only four to five hundred thousand years ago, in comparison to the billion year life spans of their cousins. In comparison to her other creations, The goddess created this species, but never gave them knowledge of the act. Further separating them from her earlier creations, the Nefali were solitary creatures, created at her whim to do whatever they felt, a fact further displayed by their shapeshifter abilities and time spent as feral animals.

Though it was unnecessary, The Goddess did gift a planet in the Zevarian system to the Nefali, known to the others as Faliverte. Because a thick magical cloud layer completely obscures the atmosphere of this planet, as well blocking all entry by flight or portal, this planet is misunderstood by the other civilizations. The purpose of Faliverte is not a planet to live on, but rather a massive portal allowing the Nefali to reach the Zevarian system quickly from anywhere in the universe. Rather than truly being a planet, under Faliverte's cloud system lies a physical manifestation of The Void realm within the Zevarian system, surrounded by floating patches of land.

Contrary to popular belief, movement between the two realms is not an exact match spacially, but it is related. This makes it important that a nexus in The Void be available to a Nefali, should it have any hope of getting back to the Zevarian system quickly. Due to the high number of intense magic users, Most Nefali prefer to hunt within Zevaria, use the islands of Faliverte as a rest stop, then use the gate to return to their favorite 'home'.

Since they were never entrusted with a mission of any sort by their creator, nor any information about them, Nefali come to their own decisions on religion. Though they have mortal bodies that can be killed by traditional methods, the immortality that comes from continuing to feed makes most of the existing Nefali tens to hundreds of thousands of years old; this in turn tends to lead them away from religious practices. These creatures are sterile despite immortal, so one can only assume the Goddess adds to the ranks whenever the mood strikes her. No one can say for sure how many exist, or where they could be.
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Despite the Nefali being solitary creatures, they do fall into one of two categories depending on how they use their magic. Those who gouge themselves while feeding are known at Fenta Nefali, where as those who are more pacifist and simply feed for nourishment are known as Vala Nefali. It is expected that these names were given originally by Primordials or Pravda, and then simply taken on as identies within the Nefali species.

The Nefali are a species of shapeshifting creatures dubbed 'Siren Shades' due to the characteristics they share with these mythological species.

The physical anatomy of a Nefali would be described as a cross between a large cat, bird, jackal, and something of a Jerboa in their feral form, with additional humanoid traits in bipedal form.

In each form, one will find elongated legs and ears, with tufted-prehensile tails they never seem to stop growing. The bodies of these creatures are slim, and display wings in either state. While their average height varies, there are no exceptions to this body shape.

Transformation from one state to the other can be made in a fluid transformation of expanding joints and limbs or, more typically, via a slip into the abyss, making the transformation nearly invisible to anyone watching.

Nefali have a disturbing amount of control over each and every part of their bodies, allowing them to achieve an almost Cheshire Cat effect when moving from our dimension into the Void. Though one may come across what appears to be part of a Nefali, the other half is simply on the other side of this dimensional barrier.

The last blatant identifying feature are the eyes of a Nefali. While they span the spectrum of color, they are always a particularly vibrant and crystalline color; paired with the neutral colorations of Nefali fur colors and patterns, the bright colors make it difficult not to focus on these features. The hungrier a Nefali is, the brighter their eyes will glow, drawing more attention when they need to feed and less when they're satisfied.

Nefali move in and out of a dimension they refer to as 'The Void'. They are incapable of taking others into this dimension, but use the area both for quick travel as well as defense. Because the Nefali have predators in both dimensions they inhabit, they are often found slipping back and forth constantly to escape.

The 'Siren' aspect of the Nefali's nickname comes from the magic in their voices, and their own predatory nature. Nefali feed off of lust, admiration and loyalty. At full strength, they're far quicker and more agile than most species, with their long legs and sleak forms allowing them to keep the flexibility of their feral form even in bipedal form. Their ability to shift between realms is fluid, giving them an advantage of invisibility when hunting, though it's rarely needed. As Nefali never show signs of aging or fatigue, and are born with naturally alluring beauty, as well as voices that allow them to entrance their prey, most hunting done by a Siren-Shade will be done in pure sight. The longer a victim remains influenced by a Nefali voice, the harder it then becomes for them to break free. Physical contact of any kind allows a Nefali to feed, however, it is incredibly rare to see a Nefali attempting to feed on an "unwilling" (I.e. unenchanted) victim, as to do so would give very little sustenance to the hunter.

Instead, Nefali set traps of kindness to lure in victims. The spoken voices of Nefali in any capacity have a siren effect on any that hear it. Short doses can manipulate actions and moods, while prolonged exposure will end in essentially enslaving another in a 'love-trance' of sorts in which to feed off. This means that feeding only transpires after the target has started to show blatant affection for the Siren-Shade. Killing a victim in this manner would take days of continual contact, so it's entirely possible for a Nefali to feed without notice. In these instances, the only evidence would be a slight loss of energy from the host.

If a Nefali doesn't feed normally, it's abilities will begin to malfunction, sometimes stranding the Nefali in one realm or the other. In some extreme situations, they can be splinched between the two, leading to death.