This page contains some info about the three types of life that inhabit the Outcasts setting.



Flora are the oldest and simplest type of lifeform. Much like plants in the real world, they are typically stationary and often have structures that form repeating patterns. Flora sustain themselves by absorbing the ambient energy that flows through the space around them. They receive different amounts of each type of energy depending on their surroundings, which influences their shape and behavior. Because of this, Flora in similar locations will often share similar traits as well. However, each individual Flora will still have its own unique appearance and growth pattern: some spread out in a flat carpet over nearby areas, others grow partially underground and extend tree-like stalks, and so on.

Flora grow as much as possible throughout the first part of their lives without interfering with the growth of other Flora. At the end of their lifespan, they slowly shrink away, allowing new Flora to grow into the space. If there are no other Flora around to regulate its growth, an individual can grow to massive proportions.

Many Flora produce fruit that can be eaten by other lifeforms, and these fruit are the sole source of sustenance for all Forma. Other resources, such as natural medicines and building materials, are also frequently sourced from Flora. In return, Forma often take care of Flora by monitoring and cultivating their growth. Because of this mutual relationship, knowing which parts of Flora can be removed without causing damage or harm is considered an important skill by many Forma. Direct communication between the two types of lifeform is difficult, but Forma will occasionally possess the ability to listen to Flora for vague indications of their thoughts and emotions.


Forma are this world's closest equivalent to real-world humans, although their needs and priorities are sometimes quite different. Forma are always roughly humanoid in shape, but still extremely variable in their appearance. An individual may be any color, pattern, or texture, and can possess any of a wide range of different traits: scales, spurs, horns, antennae, extra or modified limbs such as wings or tails, and even floating body parts are just a few of the possible features. Some traits have more utility than others, potentially enabling new abilities or new types of movement, but Forma tend not to consider any to be inherently better or worse.

Even with the extreme range of possibilities, no individual's shape strays too far from a certain baseline. One attribute consistent between all Forma is a simplistic face, often completely flat, with eyes as the only facial feature. Even these are not strictly necessary - some Forma have no eyes, perceiving their surroundings solely through vibrations of energy - but eyesight greatly improves the quality of their perception. As with any physical trait, the shape, placement, and number of eyes can vary, though the vast majority of Forma have two.

Like all lifeforms, Forma are created when ambient life energy condenses together into a new being. Each individual begins their life in a small, energy-efficient child form, and their first instinct is to seek out a nearby group of other Forma and integrate with their culture. Instead of growing at a constant rate, Forma experience metamorphosis at a certain point in their lives; during this brief period, the energy composing their body shifts and their form becomes indistinct. At the end of the process they emerge with a similar, but slightly larger and more capable, adult body. Although there is no specific trigger for this transformation, it depends on the individual's mental development, including their self-sufficiency and their ability to understand the world around them.

All Forma instinctually strive for connection with one another and feel a strong attachment to those in their community, which could be anything from a small nomadic group to part of a massive, interconnected city. Each community is quick to develop in unique ways; no one political or economic system is dominant everywhere, and even nearby settlements can have very different cultures.


Fauna are the most varied category of life in terms of their form and ability. They are often large, and never shaped exactly like Flora or Forma, but beyond this there are nearly no limits to their appearance. One individual could even make up an entire location, or use multiple disconnected bodies. The one constant between all Fauna is an extremely high energy density, which gives them the ability to warp space in unnatural ways. The strength of this ability and how it manifests can vary greatly, meaning Fauna are responsible for a wide variety of strange and inexplicable phenomena. Manipulating elemental energy, warping space to create illusions or pocket dimensions, or changing their shape to mimic other lifeforms are just a few of the possibilities.

New Fauna are created whenever too much energy coalesces at once to properly form a lifeform of another type, making them somewhat rarer than other lifeforms. Another trait that sets Fauna apart from other types of life is that they were never intentionally brought into being during the creation of the world - instead, they are an unintended consequence of the way life energy naturally functions.

Since the shape of a lifeform influences the way it thinks, the intense variability of Fauna makes it difficult for them to find others they can understand and communicate with. Communities of Fauna are fairly rare because of this, but small ones do form whenever individuals find they are able to mutually understand one another. Some Fauna have bodies that are similar enough to Forma or Flora to allow them to speak with that type of lifeform, although this similarity is never perfect and communication is often challenging. Powerful Fauna of different shapes may have their own ways around this communication barrier, such as changing all or part of their shape to approximate that of another lifeform, or directly implanting thoughts in the mind of a recipient through unnatural means.