#syiari

So, the wingless, as the name might imply, have no wings. The anjenni have one pair of wings, the seraphs have three pairs. Additionally, as one moves upward through the races, they gain both vocal prowess and imunity to other vocal prowess.

So, anjenni can exert minor control over wingless (and other races), whereas seraphs can exert full control over wingless (and other races). Additionally, anjenni have some resistance to seraph voices, and full resistance to other anjenni voices. Seraphs are entirely immune to the vocal powers of both other seraphs and anjenni. 

So, they’re weaker than seraphs, but stronger than wingless, and have a staunch philosophy of “mind your own business and don’t bug the upper class”.

Wildlife on Syiari tends to be somewhat earthlike, mostly because I haven't thought about it much. There are a lot more flying creatures, however. A great diversity of avians, flying mammals, and flying reptiles abound, especially in the high mountians, where the cities are. There are even some larger flying insects, of much greater size than anything we'd see around here. Anjenni and seraphs prefer pets who can fly, for obvious reasons. (Though seraphs aren't really flyers themselves. They glide, at most, and only when they have to. True flying is 'undignified'.)The more wings a creature has, the more desirable and elegant it is.

There are different 'nations' you could say. Seraphs are a fickle sort, and part of having a society that celebrates power and ruthlessness means that those in power are those who have backstabbed and politicked their way up there. There tends to be a ruling family in each city, though many less powerful families toe the line between respectful deference and attempting to maneuver their way into the top spot. Some successful families manage to establish dynasties and stay in power for a while, others tend to change ruling families every few years as another manages to oust the previous.

Creation Story

According to their tradition, long ago there were three sister goddesses who discovered the power of creation. Each of the three decided that they wanted to create a race of beings to worship them, and so they divided the power of creation into three equal parts.

However, the eldest sister was a cunning sort, and tricked the youngest sister, stealing her portion of the power. With her own portion and the extra, stolen portion, the eldest sister created the Seraph race, giving them three pairs of wings and powerful voices that could control the wills of any who heard them. Because of their power, the seraphs are also immune to all vocal effects, themselves.

The middle sister saw the conflict between her sisters, but decided to hold on to what she had and not get involved. With her power, she created the Anjenni (who used to be called 'angeli' but I decided to change that because an author is a fickle thing). She gave the anjenni on pair of wings and limited powers of voice, as well as some resistance to seraph voices, though they are not totally immune.

The youngest sister, tricked out of her rightful portion, used what scraps of power she had left to create the wingless race (which I am considering giving an actual name one of these days). The creation power she had was not enough, so to breathe life into her race and allow them to exist. Doing so left her much weaker than her sisters, and as such, the wingless are the weakest race, with no wings, no vocal powers, and are fully succeptible to the vocal powers of anjenni and seraphs.

Worship

Each of the races worships their patron goddess, not the other two. Each sees their patron as the best goddess, and they tend to dislike the other goddesses, though they tend to respectfully ignore the other two goddesses, rather than risk upsetting them.

SeraphsThe seraphs worship the eldest goddess, celebrating her strength, power, and cunning. They learned from her example that those with power have the right to use it, and those who are weak deserve to be used by their betters. The seraph ideals are superiority in all things. They see the two goddesses as inferior and not worthy of seraphs' time.

Seraph worship ceremonies tend to be elaborate. No expense is spared in lavish temples and ornate robes for priests and priestesses. Song and sound are exalted above all, and a choir of seraphs singing in unison have a powerful influence that cannot be matched by anything else. Seraphs who join the clergy focus on sound above all, and use their headwings to cover their eyes whenever they are in public. Regular seraphs also cover their eyes when they pray.

AnjenniThe anjenni worship the middle goddess, celebrating her self sufficiency, independence, and wisdom. From her example, they learned that it is best to stick to one's own affairs and make sure your life is in control and successful. Worrying about others or attempting to get involved in their business leads to trouble. Anjenni aren't loners, but they look out for their own above all else. Young anjenni tend to clique up in gang-like groups and gain a hyper-loyal us-against-the-world mentality. Anjenni concept of family is similar. They see the elder sister goddess as dangerously powerful and above their station and the younger sister goddess as weak and to be ignored.

Anjenni believe that their goddess feels most worship when presented with great accomplishments. They try to do great feats and take risks, believing that she rewards those who are successful and scorns those who are weak. Self-sufficience and independence are tantamount, and while occasionally an anjenni orator will speak a message of encoragement, anjenni seek their spiritual paths on their own.

WinglessThe wingless worship the youngest sister of the goddesses, praising her for her kindness and self sacrifice, even in the midst of unfair situations against her. Wingless know that their lot in life has everything stacked against them, and the only way they make it through is by helping one another. They believe that the younger goddess still watches them, but has already given all she can to help and they must continue on without expecting divine intervention. They see the elder goddesses as cruel and selfish, not worthy of respect.

Nope.

The races see their goddesses as rivals. Seraphs wouldn't dare to worship one of the two "lesser" goddesses. Angeli have learned from their goddess that messing with the other two races more than they should is trouble, so they stick to worshipping their own. And the Wingless see the other two goddesses as "the one who betrayed their kind patron" and "the one who stood aside and let it happen." 

Someday I will write out an actual timeline for all the different worlds, but today is not that day. 

Basically, Syiari has known about other worlds for a few generations now, though it's just now coming to a point where familiarism is becoming widespread and popular. That is, among the Angeli. Angeli are the ones who seek out contracts, mostly teenagers/young adults who want to go have adventures on fun exotic worlds without having to worry about pesky things like dying or responsibilities back home. It's becoming more and more popular as a way to learn how to fight and to see other worlds among the Angeli.

The other races don't hardly ever become familiars. Wingless obviously aren't allowed to, as they're too busy being slaves, and the Seraphs see it as demeaning to serve another person and also as a silly Angeli fad. Seraph royalty will occasionally use shaile circles for transportation between worlds and diplomacy, but never under a summoning contract. Vanaline is... rather atypical in her seeking of a contract, and it would be quite a scandal if anyone found out she was doing so.

Mondial

There isn't much of a dominant religious movement on Mondial (as far as I have planned...). Many communities are vaguely animistic and believe in spirits and curses which affect luck and such. Soldiers are especially superstitious like this. There are a few minor religions though none which are terribly widespread. One of the most common is the idea that shaile, the substance used in summoning, is the blood of a god who came to Mondial and died, and the whole world was covered and filled with it, which is why it is believed that Mondial has such a high shaile content.

Syiari

The three races of Syiari have one unified religion actually, though each race practices it in different ways. Syiarians believe that the world and life was created by three sister godesses, each of whom was given an equal share of power to give to the race that each would create to worship them. However, the oldest sister tricked her younger sister and managed to steal almost all of her portion.

The eldest sister was able to give her race the greatest portion of power because of what she took, and she created the Seraphs to worship her. The Seraphs believe that they are better than the lower two races because of this gift and believe that anything which can be taken by one more powerful, deserves to be taken. They worship their godess for her power and rightful dominance over one who was weaker.

The middle sister kept her portion and gave it to her race, creating the Angeli. She stayed quiet when her sisters fought and managed to keep what belonged to her, not gaining more and not losing any. The Angeli worship her for her wisdom and prudence, learning from her example to be content with what they have and not falling into foolishness, while staying out of affairs which do not concern them.

Quick refresher for those following along at home: Vanaline's world is Syiari and there are three races. Vocal powers are the name of the game and each of the three races has a different susceptability and extent of power.

Seraphs are on top (like Vanaline), then Angeli, then Wingless. Wingless have no vocal powers and are semi-susceptible to Angeli voices and completely susceptible to Seraph voices. Angeli have semi-power over Wingless and are semi-susceptible to Seraph voices. And Seraphs are susceptible to no one, and have semi-power over Angeli and full power over Wingless.

It's a spectrum of Power/Weakness. And it puts the Wingless as the barely-seen-as-better-than-animals slaves, Angeli as the working class, and the Seraphs as the lazy nobility who live lives of luxury exploiting the other classes.

As for your questions: Have things always been this way? Pretty much. Not quite so institutionalized, but when you can't resist the orders or suggestions of the races higher than you, they tend to exploit that.

Will things always be this way? There isn't really any method for internal change that I've thought of. It's possible that the influence of other worlds might change things up as shaile breaks down the barriers between worlds. However, the fact that most other races are susceptible to Syiarian voice powers makes things interesting...