Afteran

The Afterans is the collective name for the many races and beings that inhabit the world of the Ever After.

Biology
The Ever After is a realm that exists beyond the world of Remnant, where the laws of physics and nature are wholly different. It's inhabited by many creatures that defy logic:


 * Living Toys
 * Hunter Mice
 * Dodo Birds
 * Living Objects
 * Paper Pleasers

In regards to the origins of the Afterans, its suggested that they are created beings, each given a purpose or role to fulfill by an entity. Afterans do not die, not in the normal sense, and are quite long-lived, but are capable of physical and mental fatigue. Whenever they are damaged in some way or when they fulfilled their purpose, Afterans are recalled back to the Ever After, or the Tree in the center of the world. This process is called ascension by the inhabitants as here they are given a new role and purpose. The call to return back to the tree can be resisted by Afterans, if they do not have the motivation to do so, but doing so can cause them to be in turmoil and somewhat lost.

Depending on what the subject of ascension feels they desire to be, Afterans may or may not return as they were. And neither do they remember their past lives, though there still are lingering remnants of their pasts if their emotions to specific events are strong enough to retain.

Outsiders from Remnant, especially humans and faunus, view this to be abhorrent, misunderstanding that the tree represents death, that the tree is a nameless horror that feeds upon memories in a cyclical path of death and rebirth. Though repeatedly it is not the case despite attempts by some Afterans, who find it confusing that humans would fear such a thing as the tree in the Ever After has no power over them, and only to the Afterans. However this has caused misunderstandings despite simply the "[Afterans] are not like you".

While death is uncommon to the Afterans, there is however one exception to this rule. Afterans can cease to exist if they are eaten by another native creature called the Jabberwalker which consumes them, preventing an Afteran from returning to the Ever After.

Background
According to the Blacksmith, the personification of the Great Tree and the embodiment of the Ever After, in the ancient past, the Ever After was overgrown, wild and dangerous. In order to build a new world, the Tree created two beings, two brothers who would ready the world that would come after. For their task the brothers were given the power to destroy, clearing the wilderness away and the power of creativity to imagine what and who would replace the wilderness.

Shortly following their clearing of the wilderness, the Great Tree then created the Ever After's newest inhabitants, the Afterans, who were given homes and roles to play by the brothers. Though the brothers did their task, as they matured the two entities began to grow curious. In the utmost secrecy, using the tools and skills they were given by the Great Tree, the brothers designed their own creation.

The first was a being who would later be known as the Curious Cat who they gifted with inexhaustible curiosity. From their success with the cat, the brother realized that their creations could do their own work. The cat was then given the task of locating the broken parts of the Ever After and sharing its heart to comfort them.

The brothers then moved unto a new creation, the Jabberwocker, a creature that would finish what the cat would started by permanently eliminating those broken. Unfortunately the Jabberwocker proved to be too brutal and deadly efficient in its task. Not only would it kill Afterans but its kills would never be able to ascend to the Great Tree and be repaired. The older brother believed that they had disrupted the balance of the Ever After and destroyed the Jabberwocker. This act however put him in conflict with the younger brother, who immediately restored the Jabberwocker to life as he believed they should not condemn their creations for their mistake. This caused contention between the brothers whose rivalry created a never ending battle and began to adversely affect the Ever After.

The Great Tree eventually learned of the brothers experiments and while it was proud of its progeny for their miraculous works and ambitions, it could not bare their disruptions to the realm. The Tree understood that the brothers had outgrown it and their roles, so it gifted them with a doorway that led to the greater beyond where the brothers could try creating world of their own. The door would always be open to the brothers for them to return home to the Ever After and for any of their creations.

Since that then, the brothers would go on to create the world of Remnant, one becoming the God of Light and the God of Darkness. The two would go on to create humanity and the Creatures of Grimm to populate their creation.