In Tales Unending, race is not merely biology or ancestry. It is narrative lineage—a description of how a being experiences identity, change, and endings within the Storywake.
These six lineages are not rigid species. They are archetypal expressions of existence. Individual Story Realms may portray them differently, but their relationship to continuance, Light, and Darkness remains consistent.
Those who live briefly, and change easily.
The Rooted represent baseline mortality. Their lives are short relative to the cosmos, but dense with motion. They adapt quickly, redefine themselves often, and generate Continuance with remarkable efficiency.
Because of their flexibility, Rooted stories tend to end cleanly. Loss is painful, but rarely paralyzing. When their stories conclude, they pass naturally into Homeward, often leaving strong but stable echoes.
The Rooted define what “normal” narrative flow looks like. All other lineages are measured, in some way, against them.
Those whose identity is shaped by instinct and emotion.
Beastkin possess heightened emotional resonance. Their instincts, passions, and sensory experiences give their stories vivid intensity. Joy and grief alike leave strong impressions in the Storywake.
Their endings are rarely subtle. Beastkin stories tend to leave powerful marks—lingering memories, transformed places, or symbolic echoes in Homeward. When they stagnate, however, their emotions can become fixation, placing them at moderate risk of Unwritten erosion.
They embody stories that feel deeply, for better or worse.
Those who endure, and struggle to change.
The Longbound are long-lived or functionally ageless. Their extended perspective grants wisdom, but also danger. Change comes slowly to them, and endings are difficult to accept.
Because of this, Longbound civilizations are the most vulnerable to slow Unwritten collapse. Obsession, tradition without reflection, and denial of finality are common failure states. When they achieve clean endings, however, they often contribute immense Continuance to Homeward.
They are stories that last long enough to forget how to end.
Those who question whether they have a story at all.
The Constructed are artificial, assembled, or intentionally created beings. Many awaken without a clear Core Story, forcing them to define their own meaning through action rather than inheritance.
Their relationship to Continuance is irregular. Some generate it late, after long periods of uncertainty. Others never do. Storyforged Arms often respond to them in unexpected ways.
When Constructed stories end cleanly, they frequently reshape Homeward itself—becoming infrastructure, caretakers, or persistent functions rather than individuals.
They are stories built, not born.
Those who linger past their ending.
The Echoed are beings whose stories should have ended—but did not. Undead, revenants, memory-bound souls, and persistent remnants all fall within this lineage.
They exist in tension. Some find peace and pass gently into Homeward after resolution. Others cling to unfinished purpose and drift dangerously close to the Unwritten. The Storyless often resemble Echoed who lost their final thread of meaning.
They are reminders that survival alone is not continuance.
Those whose stories are too large to conclude easily.
The Mythic are beings of immense narrative weight—dragons, demigods, and other singular entities whose existence shapes worlds rather than inhabiting them.
Their stories rarely end cleanly. When they do, they fracture: into legends, locations, or entirely new Story Realms. Some Mythic never truly arrive in Homeward, instead dispersing their Continuance across the Storywake.
They are not immortal—but they are difficult to finish.
These six lineages are not limitations. They are anchors of meaning.
Any being, from any realm, can be understood through them. New forms do not require new races—only new expressions.
In Tales Unending, what matters is not what you are.
It is how your story moves—
and how it ends.