Species Categories

There are two major ways species are categorized by the Census Committee:

1) type — a measure of how magical a species is

  • "how did this species come to be" and "how much magic does this species produce"; they're interrelated
  • "how did this species come to be" relates to how much magic was used in a species' evolution / creation in the first place
  • "how much magic does this species produce" refers to ambient magic / auras; ranges from "almost none" to "enough to power a small city"
  • should not be confused with overall capacity for magic; all species can use / cast magic freely

main types

  • mundane: almost no ambient magic; came to be through natural evolution with no magic involved (ex: humans)
  • magical: some ambient magic; also through natural evolution, but magic played a significant part (ex: elves)
  • mythical: a lot of ambient magic; magic was the driving factor in their evolution (ex: fairies)
  • created: ambient magic varies; was artificially made by mortals / on the material plane (ex: anifel)
  • divine: extreme amounts of ambient magic; was made via divine action or influence (ex: archons)

2) designation — a rough estimate of how plentiful / healthy / stable a species is

  • an overall estimate across ALL planets — if [species] is dying off on one planet, but are the dominant species on another, the species on a whole is doing well
  • birth / death rates, rate of immigrations, average life spans, etc, are all taken into account
  • ratings are updated every 50 years (unless something drastic happens)
  • numbers have to be fudged for (near-)immortals because birth / death rates are screwed

main designations (rough equivalents to IUCN Red List categories in parentheses)

  • thriving (least concern) 
  • surviving (near threatened)
  • faltering (vulnerable / endangered)
  • waning (critically endangered)
  • vanishing (extinct in the wild)
    • stage i: less than 10 countries / independent territories with significant [species] presence left
    • stage ii: less than 10 cities with significant [species] presence left
    • stage iii: less than ~15k - 50k members of [species] left
    • stage iv: less than ~100 - 1k members of [species] left
    • stage v: less than 10 members of [species] left
  • extinct

side designations (for special cases; can be used in combination with / instead of the main 6)

  • data insufficient — there is a population somewhere but species is in hiding and resistant to being observed / counted
  • designation pending — two meanings:
    • new species has moved in or has been created / discovered and is getting a designation for the first time OR
    • something drastic has happened and [species] is undergoing a recount
  • lost to the sevenfold (often shortened to just lost) — species as a whole has withdrawn from life in the sevenfold, either by mass exodus (usually to someplace out of the sevenfold's reach) or by straight-up disappearing (and there's no indication of a mass die-off). once this designation is given, it's only updated if / when they come back
  • unknown — there's so little information we can't give them a designation. we don't know what the fuck is up with these bitches. we're not even sure there's an actual species here

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