Description[]
The Din are a category of humanoids characterized by their possession of a Focus. A Focus is a sort of practice, aversion, taboo or belief that grants the Din immortality so long as it is continuously observed, as well as certain other powers or abilities, based on the sub-race of Din.
The Din themselves often quarrel over what precisely constitutes a Din. The Ohanedin, for example, maintain that Humans are also Din (they call them the Hostoadin) because of their ability to Ascend, which they consider a form of Focus. The Burdinadin, by contrast, do not believe that the Zells or the Ohanedin are Din at all, because both receive their immortality from higher powers, rather than from within. The Orredin believe that the Goblins are a degenerate and fallen form of Din that has forgotten its Focus (and thus, justify by precedent that the Orredin themselves are an ascended, superior race, while the rest are merely average).
In terms of appearance, the Din as a whole are generally similar to humans, but are usually marked by slightly tapered ears (though this varies between the modest and delicate Orredin, and the grand, some would say obnoxiously large Zells). Humans (for those Din who hold that the Humans can be counted among them) are simply a logical continuation down from the Orredin.
The Din are generally only susceptible to infectious diseases--congenital illnesses are rare, birth defects are rare, and cancer is close to unheard of. The Orredin call it "The Human Disease," and one of their great fears was that the "Purple Ones" bred from human stock would be susceptible to contracting it. So far they haven't, but the screening process has been greatly intensified as a result of these fears.
There is actually an in-lore reason for why the Din are generally immune--Cancer is essentially the breakdown of cells' reproductive functions, so that they replicate themselves incorrectly. The Din do not suffer this problem, and this is one of the things that separates them so starkly from the Humans.