Realm Drifter
"With them came the first grains of sand to spawn the Great Desert. They are the heralds of our inevitable demise."
-- Enbur Ortheri, Parcinthian scholar, 20 AB
Starting 126 years ago the Realm Drifters began appearing on Indur. They signaled the beginning of the blight that afflicted the land, turning verdant valleys to dunes of sand, lush countryside to a craggy, barren landscape, and dense forests not protected by fae magic to wither away into nothing more than a dead woodland made of dried husks. They brought with them new diseases that Indurians had never before encountered, and plagues with high fatality rates quickly spread across the continent like wildfire. From the very beginning of their appearance Realm Drifters have been met with hostility and racism, yet it is obvious that they have become a permanent fixture of Indur.
Whether it be through a magical spell gone awry, a mysterious rift in the fabric of existence, or any number of strange and mysterious happenstances, Realm Drifters almost always appear on Indur involuntarily. It has yet to be discovered just why Realm Drifters only began appearing 126 years ago, but one thing is for certain, and that is that the world was irrevocably altered once they began arriving. Many natives (otherwise known as Indurians) hate and despise the Realm Drifters, and it did not take long for them to be coined with the name Kyther; a derogatory term used to convey the mistrust and loathing towards the foreigners.
Kyther appear on Indur randomly in both time and location, with no rhyme or reason to it, and along with them come strange beliefs and incomprehensible languages. Inexplicably, some Kyther are fortunate in that their own native common tongue somehow mysteriously matches that of the common tongue used on Indur, predictably named Indurian. Those not lucky enough to arrive with the same common tongue are left lost and alienated, and once they manage to find their way to one of the large cities, almost always find themselves being ushered to sign a contract. The same odd occurrence applies to many a Realm Drifter's power as well, with many arriving upon Indur either significantly weakened or entirely robbed of their magical prowess, with yet other more mundane Realm Drifters suddenly finding themselves endowed with new and strange powers.
The contracts that many Kyther are tricked into signing are legally binding, and are upheld by the local government, such as the Grand Council found in Dimesca. Upon placing a signature upon the legal document, a Kyther then undergoes a mind augmentation given by a Mage Priest, enabling them to immediately comprehend spoken and written Indurian. Unfortunately, Kyther also then realize that the document they have signed is a binding contract which requires of them to provide indentured servitude for a set amount of years to a noble House.
The practice of urging Kyther to sign a contract they can not even understand, and then forcing them to provide free labor for so many years, is just one of the many setbacks they are faced with by a population that is largely racist. Kyther are faced with cultural imperialism on a daily basis from the Indurians, constantly being urged to abandon their supposed barbaric or heretical beliefs in favor of the dominant religion. Culturual appropriation is yet another affront that many Kyther face, watching as many self-absorbed Indurians steal certain aspects of their culture, such as forms of dress, personal adornments, and even social practice with no regard for its indigenous context, and blithely apply it within the framework of their own lives.
Nevertheless, there exist many Indurians who sympathize for the plight of the Kyther, and who fight to improve their rights on a daily basis. They vehemently speak out against such things as requiring indentured servitude of Kyther, ostracizing them from society, and forcing them to live in segregated communities. Not all Indurians are entirely close-minded, and many openly question and refute the stereotypes of the Realm Drifter and why they deserve enmity. Even more are unafraid to question whether enforcing isolationism is right or wrong. So, while it often does feel as though Kyther have no allies to speak of, they do exist.
Whilst half-bloods of certain creatures have managed to drift into the world of Arilu by and large unharmed, certain entities, such as angels and demons, are completely incapable of manifesting within this realm. Even items endowed with either an angelic or demonic presence are spun anew, the entity cast out from the appurtenance during the drifting process to transform the item in question into something purely mundane. Technology that surpasses what exists upon Indur is also beholden to this drifting law, vanishing at some point during the transition to never be seen again by the owner. This occurrence happens for unknown reasons, and remains as mysterious as the cause behind the appearance of the Realm Drifters themselves.
Credit goes to Lakhesis.
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