The Watchers:

Much like their names suggest, these are the watchers of Gaea. An ancient race who seems to have survived as long as the world has. They document and record all things that happen around them but their skill comes especially from their ability to see future events.

Location and Population:

The Watchers all reside in Tranquility, the floating mass of land just to the west of Hsarus. It is from atop this island that the Watchers meditate and keep records of the development of Tranquility. Tranquility also acts as a kind of safe haven for the Watchers. There are only about fifty Watchers in the entire world, a number that will never change no matter how long time passes.

Biology:

The Watchers are eternal. They cannot die from age however mortal injuries can still kill them. The Watchers cannot die from starvation or dehydration which eliminated the need for them to eat, drink, and even sleep, though many still do. This brings to mind why the race is fixed at such a small number. All Watchers do not have the ability to reproduce, a factor that has kept the race from exploding exponentially and spilling off the floating island of Tranquility. There are, though, 'males' and 'females' of the race even though their reproductive organs do not exist. People have assumed that this was to better assimilate into the world of man before they had retreated into Tranquility. It is said that when a Watcher has died, their spirit is reborn through the World Tree, a massive tree that dwells in Tranquility. Then their bodies are reincarnated and they emerge from the branches fully grown though without memories of their previous lives. Therefore all Watchers are adults and never do they age.

Watchers do not have a humanoid form. In fact, it doesn't even seem that they have bodies. All Watchers are dressed in a kind of white billowing robe which almost seems to be their bodies as they grasp things with their sleeves and float about the floor with bodiless legs. Their heads appear deeply hooded, turbaned, wrapped with not an inch of their skin showing. The only things that seem to distinguish Watcher from Watcher are their horns which sprout from their robes, just above where the ears would be. However, all Watchers have a human form which they assume the moment they step from Tranquility. Their human forms retain their horns.

All Watchers have the ability to tap into their powers of prophecy through their horns. They are tuned in to the World Stream which flows constantly through the sky, invisible to the human eye. Their perception of the future seems to be stronger the closer or higher in the sky they are, which made Tranquility the most ideal place for the Watchers to live. Supposedly the World Stream flowed much closer to land though the amount of activity and the blossoming life seemed to have driven it further away.

Their powers of foresight is not a power that can be mastered. They may be able to get more of an understanding of the scene if they meditate but their visions are generally vague in terms of place and time and can only be clearly understood with research and contacts.

Culture:

The Watchers have always been an intellectual race that thirsts for information. However their encounters with man have been all but unpleasant. The Watchers are a cautious race, especially when it comes to knowledge of their power. They are extremely removed from Gaea and there are the pious few that refuse to do anything but quietly ponder the future. Due to their everlasting nature, the Watchers are extremely wise and well versed in the ways of man. Because of their ability to perceive the future, the oldest few, who have taken up the roles of elders and leaders of the race, have even assumed the fate of the world in their hands. However there are the few extremists that go even further and hope to steer mankind along the path of the prophecy, especially if prosperity of the land lies in their prediction. The two factions of Conservatives and Radicals have never met in arms but they have always had extreme moments of tension. A great majority of the Watchers now are Neutral as their fear of man had dwindled as the years passed. In fact, due to their isolation in Tranquility and their never ending thirst for knowledge, recent policy has allowed Watchers to yearly descend to the lower lands to record events that happen in various nations.

The appearance of man have always been a cause of concern for the Watchers, especially with their arrival on Tranquility. The conservatives have taken to hiding while the radicals have gone as far as to take on the guises of humans and board the airships on their return trip back down onto Gaea. Of course the issue has become more and more of a concern for them as they fear that over harvesting of minerals may cause the floating island to fall back down to Gaea, or that their exploration of the land may end up harming the World Tree. This is perhaps the one reuniting factor of the Watchers. Interaction with mankind has increased over the years but their race is hardly known beyond the well-informed high circles of society.

Regardless of their political outlooks on life, the one most important thing to a Watcher's life, even beyond their own lives, is the World Tree. It is what gives them eternal life and sustenance for living. If the World Tree is destroyed, the entire race will indefinitely go extinct. However it's location inside Tranquility provides natural barriers and protection for the tree. It is located deep inside the center of Tranquility inside an underground lake, supposedly connected to the lake in the center of Tranquility. It does not need light to grow but it's branches, leaves and trunk glow an eerie white. The cavern walls are made of an indestructible stone which support the ceiling as well as protect the cavern from diggers. However there are passageways that lead to the surface though the Watchers go through great troubles to guard the entrances.

History:

Legend has it that Tranquility was once part of the world rather than floating separately in the sky. It was at this time that the Watchers had lived amongst the primitive people of Gaea. Their population was plentiful and their powers were actually well used as they foresaw disasters. However, eventually the greed for information and knowledge of the future had led to the Watchers being hunted and when they resisted, they were maimed, tortured, even killed. The Watchers eventually fled back to their World Tree where several had been followed by man. They had discovered their precious World Tree and destroyed some of the branches. Thousands of spirits were destroyed, their population dwindling tenfold, extinction almost imminent. It is said that the World Tree itself had split the land, creating the expansive void and lifted into the sky in order to protect its children. Thus Tranquility had been created and as timed passed, knowledge of the Watchers turned from legends to myths to forgotten entirely.

The Watchers, over time, have gotten over their fear of man just as man has forgotten about them. Those that survived the massacre became the leaders of the race and some are still alive today. They, unlike those that were lucky enough to have died and be reborn, still remember the massacre. They make up the main body of the Conservatives. It would take several years for their population to rise from the single digits but damage to the World Tree was irreversible. Their population has been fixed at fifty since.

Just to make it clear. They don't know any more knowledge than the average person, if not less.