Hey everyone, I started a Character Hub basically today! If you want to support my work and share it around, here's the link!

https://characterhub.com/profile/NeonZeta

5/7/2024: I edited this post to correct a few grammar mistakes and make a couple of lore adjustments (mostly to balance out and clarify the magic system)

This is just a brief introduction of a world to come, for my Djinn story. (Rated teen for mentions of death, mental health topics and generally controversial topics)

Worldbuilding

God made two species of order in the beginning. The children of Adam and Eve are the flesh of the Earth, known as Humans, and they are the beings that seek to understand the laws of the Earth. Humanity argue ceaselessly on the meaning, purpose, existence and quality of life that they have been given, and regardless of their faith in God they are given the gift above all other earthly animals to govern themselves, rather than be governed by the mercy of chance.

Djinn, on the other hand, are children of Iblis and Lilith. They were made of what the Quran call "smokeless fire", or pure energy. With that power, God gave Djinn the power to govern themselves in the Spirit world, and just as humanity seek to find out the laws of Earth, the Djinn are blessed with the task to find out how the Spirit world works. When the Djinn and Humans found a way to cross between the realms of Earth (which the Djinn call Bashalaam) and the Other-world (which the Djinn call Djinnalaam), it became clear that God intended for the two to remain separate in forces but united in purpose.

Like Humans, every Djinn have their own beliefs, strengths, weaknesses, desires, morals, jobs, fears and hobbies. Many Djinn are Christian, Hindu and Muslim, but unlike Humans there are many more that still hold on to ancient Pagan beliefs unique to Djinn, and in some cases nearly the same as Human counterparts (the Celtic Djinn are named in a way that roughly translate to "the fair ones", and it's thought some Human stories about the "fair folk" are actually exaggerations of Human-Djinn interaction. Some Djinn also claim important religious figures were actually Djinn, most notably Odin).

Today the Djinn live in a loose collection of oligarchical kingdoms that have laws favoring one's merit based on actions. Some Djinn think this system is superior to Human governments while others feel like the government is unfair and seek to either abolish or change the system, but this system has been enforced because of the stakes of the powers of the Djinn.

Magic

Humans were taught how to shapeshift, do alchemy and use talismanic magic in large part due to the Djinn. Despite this, Humans still frequently trade technology and refurbished items for magical items from the Djinn because the Djinn are inherently better at magic.

There are three types of magic: Soul magic, Affinity magic and Alchemy.

Soul magic is the rules of the Djinn's (or Human's) three souls. The three souls are the Fetch, the Soma and the Highform.

The Fetch is holds the personality of the Djinn and manifests as one or two animals. Humans also have Fetches but instead of manifesting Fetches, Humans default to shapeshifting into them, which is based on the Djinn technique of shifting one's awareness to one manifested Fetch. It's found that generally speaking, Humans can perceive Djinnalaam better in their animal forms while Djinn can send their Fetch(es) to be more mentally grounded in the earthly realm, but this is a risk for both Humans and Djinn because if a Fetch dies, it will change the person forever. Humans and Djinn with one Fetch will simply become vegetative. Djinn with two Fetches can have one of two outcomes happen; if both Fetches die, the Djinn becomes vegetative. If one Fetch dies, the other one will become distraught and might even try to destroy itself, which is difficult to achieve. The Djinn will exhibits signs of delusional thinking, severe depression and extreme mood swings. Very few Djinn who find themselves in such a situation manage to live good lives, because the loss of one Fetch is literally a loss of at least half a personality. The only way to heal a vegetative person caused by a lost Fetch is to use alchemy to bind a half-Fetch to the person; a half-Fetch is a spirit that becomes a Fetch or Soma upon the discovery of a viable embryo. ("Ghost lights" or Will-o-wisps are said to be herds of half-Fetches).

The Soma is the spiritual glue found in all soul-havers. Djinn have the most Soma, followed by both spiritual and earthly animals and then humans, then plants and fungi. Soma is what gives eukaryotes animation and life. Not much else is known about it. Djinn, animals and Humans all also have Highforms, which is a special part of the soul that gives an organism exceptional cognition and reason. Humans tend to have more powerful Highforms than Djinn and can also manifest Highforms when in Djinnalaam, but Djinn cannot usually manifest Highforms unless they are dreaming or on the verge of a mental breakdown. Highforms are usually described as anthropomorphic beings clad in white and brightness, but they take on many other forms. Highforms are the part of the soul that is totally destroyed upon the death of a person or animal (animal Highforms exist, but are largely an enigma).

Affinity magic is based on the ten components of order. Djinn have special titles for individuals who control each affinity, which are believed to determine one's life path and, to a smaller extent than Fetches, personality. The ten affinities are as follows: Air (Gustling; also wind and gaseous matter), Heat (Burnling; both fire and ice), Liquid (Dewling; mainly water), Crystal (Gemling; mostly minerals and metals), Light (Murkling; both light and dark), Echo (Vibling; this mostly covers sounds but encompasses other waves), Volt (Shockling; this also covers magnetism), Toxin (Toxling; users control atoms to regulate or change pH and/or radiation), Form (Physling; they can control their own body and other molecules to change shape and quality) and Gravity (Hauntling; this includes ignoring and exacerbating gravity).

While these powers have considerable overlap, they focus on different aspects of both the earthly and spiritual natural worlds and are balanced to give motives for experience and survival. Just as some Humans who believe in both God and science say that science is the watch to the watchmaker, the Djinn believe that affinities are the watch that hold the world together. The Djinn consider themselves blessed to have been entrusted with affinities, and there is a story detailing that the Djinn gained this ability after Judea fell in 586 BCE (Human Georgian calendar) so the faithful Jewish Djinn would guide believers after the tragedy. Affinities are the primary genetic way Humans and Djinn differ; each Djinn has at least minor control over exactly one affinity.

Affinity magic takes the most energy to use and produce. While many Djinn can use their powers for mundane tasks, such as making a brief breeze to move an object closer without moving much, and not have this action affect their energy levels much if at all, it's a different story for maintaining the action or using it in a large area for an extended length of time. For example, an average length of time a Gustling can maintain the wind currents and placement of a category 5 hurricane without fainting is 28 minutes. If they have to create the hurricane from scratch, this changes to 15 minutes. If the Gustling must do this further away from their body rather than around it, it also affects the time, with the maximum area that magic could possibly be active is 2 miles (although this requires great focus and energy to work on the edge of that bound). While this is enough time to cause much damage in a single area, affinity magic still is used strategically and usually with the aid of both Fetches and alchemy to honor the balance of magic in Djinnalaam, and by extension the order of Bashalaam.

Lastly but not least, alchemy is a magic that can be used by everyone and is equally effective when executed exactly by two different people. However, unlike soul magic and affinity magic, alchemy requires substantial study and practice to use, instead of being tied to a mix of instinct and training. This is because alchemy requires four humors, or prerequisites; Materials (the Black), Formula (the White), Purification (the Yellow) and Concentration (the Red). The exact combination can be quite esoteric even to the standards of respected masters, but generally the Material is the subject to be transformed, the Formula is the mathematical or linguistic code needed to initiate the process symbolically, Purification is the honing down of the fundamental elements of the Material, and Concentration is the goal set by the Formula to transform the Material by way of Purification.

Some Djinn are better at alchemy than others, and alchemical tool-making is a popular trade for Djinn that are unable to use affinity magic effectively. But a Djinn who can master both affinity magic and alchemy is considered exceptionally powerful, especially if they also have a strong bond with their manifested Fetch. Very few Djinn dedicate their lives to magic, however, and despite this all three forms of magic are a commonality in Djinn life, in work and entertainment. Alchemy also has a long history of military use, even more so than affinity magic as alchemically created objects were usually made to enhance or maintain energy in affinity magic.

Education, gender and transitioning to adulthood

Djinn reproduce sexually and have a similar biological process for pregnancy and birth that Humans do. They also age similarly but are 25% slower to reach mental maturity and 50% slower to reach old age. Djinn can be born male, female or intersex. There is generally a tolerance of one's gender expression, gender identity and sexual attraction to similar genders, although many Djinn emphasize the importance of reproduction as a part of their beliefs. Polyamory is also more common in part due to this tolerance being expressed with an expectation; in fact, marriage is typically reserved for nobles and is mostly contractual in nature. The primary function of marriage in Djinn society is to keep track of inheritance. Djinn typically live with their maternal family or in a found family unit, although paternal family and nuclear family households are also represented (the nuclear family is an especially common sight among conservative Christian Djinn).

Djinn spend most of their childhood learning about magic, how to control their affinity, how to bond with their Fetch(es), the basics of alchemical formulas, the natural world, the basics of etiquette to both other Djinn and Human visitors and how to pray or acknowledge to God according to their beliefs. Some families treat people born different genders with different expectations, but others do not, which has caused some divide among the childhood experiences of transgender and non-binary Djinn. When they reach puberty, they start in general schooling, which is equivalent to secondary school in much of the Human world (for US readers, this is approximately middle and high school combined).

University is optional for Djinn and is free in most kingdoms. Most Djinn spend a year or two either working a job or helping their family unit before deciding to go to university, although nobles are generally expected to graduate university to prove that they have the disciplinary skills and knowledge to run a kingdom. An heir could be considered ineligible for the throne if they cannot demonstrate university level or equivalent experience, a requirement which has ended several bloodlines and gained much controversy for a variety of reasons. Despite this, attending university is still considered an important part of any Djinn's life experience and is highly encouraged.

Conclusion

I should point out that this is my personal project based on traditional Arab interpretation of the (d)jinn combined with my own personal interests, experiences I had as a human person, my studies in social sciences and humanities, and a mix of esoteric ideas. It's not meant in any way to reflect my personal beliefs, the ideas of others that belief in (d)jinn, or any other intellectual property. I also do not intend to tell a religious group that they have the wrong idea about the truth. This is just a base for a story I'm working on that I want to have a complex, human-like foundation while having other elements of their life and beliefs seem fantastical or unfamiliar to humans.

If you manage to read this entire thing, I hope you found it interesting!

Neon Zeta

Hi Newgrounds, I'm not a new artist generally but I'm a new artist to this site. Basically I was on DeviantArt as a kid and then decided to move on to other art sites for various reasons (I made my late DA account just before I got into high school and then deleted it before the AI controversy but after Core became orange, so even though AI wasn't the reason I ended up leaving DA, it was the reason I decided to never go back. So that should give you an idea of how long I did art before now).

I'm graduating university and decided that I wanted to do art as at least a part-time job after all even though my degree is in a social science. That's the main reason I decided to come here. I'm not doing a lot of mature or adult content at the moment but I might in the future. In fact some stories I'd like to tell will need to delve into mature themes for them to be told the way I see fit.

I have been a furry since my DA days (even though I wouldn't have said that until a couple of years ago lol). I'm also on Fur Affinity for similar reasons I made an account here: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/neonzetafox

It's nice to meet everyone.