Appearance

The bellonese are half human (from their head to their torso) and half animal (from the end of their torso to their feet). They vary in coloration, skin tone, and even what animal they are.

The human-esque section of their bodies are typically upright as it balances on the animalistic section. They are very bit as human as a normal human or elf may be. They typically are fine with having their bodies exposed as their skin is similar to a soft leather, but soft to the touch.

The animalistic section is is one of the most varied parts of a bellonese. The animal takes the form of a mammal whether it be a horse, a big cat, canine, or more. They vary from animal to animal. The size of a bellonese is determined by the size of the animal counterpart. However, a bellonese can be larger or smaller than the size of a regular version of the animal.

The animal characteristics also determine how well a mating’s chance of success will be. Those that are of the same species have a regular chance of reproducing.ie. lion x lion, tiger x jaguar.

Those that mate outside their species (i.e. tiger x horse) have about a 2% chance of reproducing. It is not impossible for an offspring to occur between this pairing, but it is very difficult. The child born will take after only one of the parents. So if a tiger bellonese x horse bellonese had a child, their offspring would be either a tiger or a horse bellonese.

The Champion are distinguishable by their animalistic section taking the form of a mythical creature. This is the leading sign as to when a Champion is born.

Abilities

Physical

Bellonese take on the abilities of the animalistic section on their bodies. Their strengths and weakness are generally determined by the animal. Their bodies are able to sustain more damage due to their skin being extremely thick. Some bellonese take pride in the scars they accumulate.

Magical

They are only able to thoroughly master one element of their choosing as well as harness light magic to some extent. It is said that the power to wield light magic comes from their birth from the rays of light. Some lineages are able to pass on a specific element from parent to child. These lines are stronger than most at controlling the magic. They are also able to harness it in a way that is unique to their bloodline.

The Champions are able to take on the form of their animal or human counterpart. They are not able to sustain the transformation for long, but a highly experienced bellonese will be able to keep the form weeks. They are stronger in their bellonese form rather than their human or animal forms. This includes their magical and physical strength. Due to this, most prefer to fight as a bellonese.

History

It is said that the bellonese are made of pure magic, forged under the sun and stars. When the land was young, Haliea was still trying to learn how to transition between day and night with ease. Some days the night was longer while others the night never came. In an effort to try to help a fellow goddess, Nialle came to the help of the goddess. The day Nialle came to Haliea, she held the sun in her palm as she was trying to lower it to set. However, the stars had shown too soon before the night had set in; resulting with the stars out when the sun was still up.

As goddess of magic, Nialle spent time with the Haliea to harness her magical abilities. She spent a few hours each day to help Haliea understand how to control the days and nights with the use of magic. After days turned into nights and nights into days with no effort, the two celebrated by recreating the day Nialle began helping Haliea. Haliea set the stars in the sky while the sun was still up. She took a few of the stars along with the rays of light from the sun to create a gift for Nialle. Nialle, touched by the small gesture from Haliea, turned her gift into what are now known as the Ballonese. No one can tell which part of a ballonese is from the rays of light and which is from the stars.