Next Era is going back to the Blue Sea….
…
You know what? I'm going to make an island that's actually a giant corpse.
That's in a constant state of decay and regeneration.
Then I will probably be making Demon Inchlings. I'll have to figure out how to differentiate them from Winged Inchlings, but... it should be fine. Speaking of, we now have Inchlings, Giant Inchlings, Winter Inchlings (my poor forgotten children), Winged Inchlings, and Void Inchlings (which are taller than giant inchlings). The first three unfortunately suffer from earlier eras being weaker and, more importantly, not having acts that specially empower them like with the Winged and Void Inchlings who are kind of stacked.
You know what, let's do a bit of a round up.
[I'm not sure why I did this, it took quite a while.]
Inchlings
Tribal, elf-like peoples that are 1 inch in height, blessed with great fertility. Their preferred diet is fruit and insects, and they build their homes on the branches of the forest canopy, which they navigate with ease. In the
First Era, they gained knowledge of primitive tools, such as rope, stone knives and axes, shovels, bows and arrows, etc.
Giant Inchlings
Behemoths of strength and speed, these Inchlings stand a full 2 inches in height on average, they tower over their brethren on the first island. They are also considerably stronger and tougher than their size would imply. They populated the White Isle, living in the Stone House and House Trees. In the
Second Era, they shepherded Inch Sheep and sail rather than war like they used to.
Winter Inchlings
Inchlings with stout bodies that are ½ the height of normal Inchlings. Despite their shorter height, these Inchlings are considerably more durable and their bodies are naturally resistant to the elements. They are naturally good climbers. In the
Third Era, they populated the cold sea, the Iceberg Isle, the Golden Isle, and the Pretty Palaces.
Winged Inchlings
Inchlings with insectile wings that they can use to fly. They're ⅓ of an inch shorter than normal Inchlings and have wings that are an average of two to three inches in wingspan and can vary in shape from family to family. The inchlings can manipulate the environment with their mind. Their range and power depend on their own natural talents and training, with the greatest of them being able to affect human-sized areas with ease. On average, however, it would require a dozen or so inchlings to achieve that same effect. Rare inchlings are born with a Type, unique magical abilities or innate traits that expend type energy. Running out of Type energy can be fatal to certain Typed inchlings. They can produce golden dust that allows them to temporarily share their abilities like flight, sight, or their Type based on amount and size that can't be stolen and must be willing given.
The One That Will Be was born who, upon death, reincarnates with their memories fully intact and the power to slightly influence their next life. The more they accomplish in their previous life, the more they can change about their next. The One Who Will Be maintains this blessing until the day they willingly pass on the mantle to someone else.
In the
Fourth Era, they populated Marrow Town and rode Verbose Parrots.
Void Inchlings
Inchlings that are taller than even giant inchlings standing a full 3 inches in height on average, though with considerably thinner frames than even normal inchlings and have more delicate features. They are born with either black eyes and white hair or white eyes and black hair. Very rarely, they will be born with both. They are natural-born tinkerers and inventors. Void Inchlings with black eyes can see through falsehoods like traps and illusions while those with white eyes can see hidden truths like secret messages and intentions. How effective these abilities are varies between Inchlings and requires training for their full potential.
When a void Inchling reaches of skill, and they learn to see the world the way an Inchling of the opposite color does, they will begin to see the underlying truths that make up the world. This allows them to do a lot of different things technically, but in practice we can divide them into three schools: Tricksters, Seers, and Wonders.
Tricksters do tricks that can easily be mistaken for magic, although they require considerably more set up or strain than just a flexing of will like a Winged Inchling can.
Seers can predict and manipulate events in the world around them to an extreme degree of accuracy.
Wonders can make technological wonders far beyond their current era, though they rarely last and are practically impossible to reproduce by non-wonders.
This stage is obviously much easier for heterochromatics to step into, but their naturally lower skill with Yin and Yang eyes still means it's not a walk in the park for them either.
They are deeply bonded to the Inch-drakes.