The last true children of the old world. Humanity now lives almost entirely within the Towers, venturing into the darkness only when necessary. They are a people shaped by loss, faith, and relentless ingenuity. While some still dream of reclaiming the surface, most have accepted that survival means living behind walls of ash and steel. Their societies are built around the Edicts of the Blood Curse, with towering spires serving as both sanctuary and prison. Generations have passed without seeing the sun, yet hope flickers in the form of ancient texts, forbidden experiments, and whispered prophecies of a world where light might one day return.
Those who bear the Blood Curse yet retain their will. They walk the line between humanity and monstrosity. Marked by glowing veins and heightened senses, the Fourthburn are both revered and feared. Some serve as guardians of the Towers, using their curse-given strength to protect the last bastions of humanity. Others wander the storm-lashed wastes, seeking meaning or redemption in the endless night. Their existence is a constant struggle against the hunger that threatens to consume their minds, sustained only by iron discipline and the fragile bonds of community.
Mindless, ravenous beasts born when a Fourthburn loses the last of their will to the Blood Curse. The Fallen are the tragic end of the curse's progression — once human, now hollow shells driven only by an insatiable hunger for blood and flesh. They roam the darkness in packs, drawn to any spark of life or light. Though terrifying, they are also a somber reminder of what awaits those who falter. In rare cases, echoes of their former selves surface in fleeting moments of hesitation before the hunger takes hold once more.