Hirara Bio

Art by Henry

Hirara is an anomaly, not a single person alive knows where she came from or has any memory of her being a child or even when she first appeared.  There are no records of her family or any jobs she held in the past.  All people know is that she tends to show up wherever large scale events happen, always offering her assistance for whatever is going on.  Outside of that it was more likely for people to encounter her at random, the woman seemingly walking towards and unknown destination always willing to help out anyone she meets along the way or at least talk to them.   While always known, Hirara reached Empire wide fame after effortlessly beating several high profile martial arts masters who challenged her to a duel over what they saw as a slight against them.  Her combat prowess soon being what she was most known for as people from all over the universe came to either fight her or to try and learn from her, very few actually being taken as students (most notable of which is Xing Yi)

Nowadays Hirara can be found hanging around the Heaven's Gate monastery as an unofficial monk of discipline, but she still wanders about from time to time and is always willing to speak to and assist people.  Although her and Xing Yi apparently had a falling out there has been no government decree against her, and the rulers who followed the Matriarch have all held a great respect for Hirara and used her insight on many occasions. While she is respected there are many who worry about what her knowledge may cause, fear that she may cause them to be an early target of the System or that she may attempt to control the strings of future herself.

Outfits part 2

A few more awesome Zhuni outfits by Sara and Gi (links are in the artist tab) for my various projects

Matriarch Xing Yi Qiao

By Henry

Years of studying with a shady mentor, and dealing with personal tragedy has brought changes in the once idealistic and eager princess.  When she became Empress she was much harsher than people expected,  her rule cold and deadly while still ensuring the prosperity of her people, often at the cost of several others.  The typical mostly hands off approach was gone, replaced with what many referred to as the iron fist of progress.  She soon became one of the most feared leaders on several worlds, a war criminal and heartless tyrant to seem a beacon of hope and restoring former glory to others.  While her presence was everywhere in her reign, what she actually did outsides of policies and punishments is unknown to the majority of people. But she would frequently vanish for a while leaving her followers to simply follower directions laid out, as soon as her daughter became of age she left the Empire for over a decade with no sightings.  Only returned after her granddaughter began to go through training, and leaving once more (with the granddaughter) when the then current Empress died.  Now in present day she sort of just floats in and out, rumors about her personally dealing with those who know too much or she holds a grudge against. Despite being retired she holds a lot of influence and many remain loyal to her and many believe that she may still secretly run the Empire and that Empress Li Hua could be merely a puppet following her grandmothers commands. 

Rich Neighborhood

A recent concept of a building within the wealthier part of a Zhu city, and the neighborhood around it.

Done by http://danillovesfood.deviantart.com/

Old Royal pic

An Old image I found on my computer of the Empress and her daughter Aya Li Qiao. It's outdated as aya was redesigned but I still like it.

Lines by http://eclectic-lights.blogspot.com/

Qizhou

The Qizhou are the primary form of law enforcement in the Zhu Empire.  These men and woman can be found  in large numbers within every city, and smaller outputs out nearby more rural areas so they can patrol villages.   They are highly valued members of society that can be from any background, giving an effective way to bringing one's family honor if they are willing to go through the training.  Though they are loved by the Zhu people, immigrants are sometimes not as comfortable around them due to the very few regulations and oversight of the organization, allowing them to pretty much enforce law as they see fit.

Apperance/Equipment:

Qizhou don't have any real uniform that they have to wear, the closest thing would be the blue metal masks that low level warriors have to wear.  Once beyond the entry level positions Qizhou can wear pretty much whatever they want to, normally in line with their own abilities and attributes.  The only thing they all must have is the Qizhou symbol somewhere visible on their armor, clothing, or body whenever they are on duty.  Those that want armor have it supplied to them by the government, a generic suit at first but as they move up armor will be custom made for them to their needs.  Alternatively one can pay for their own armor if they have a more trusted smith or simply want something harder to get.  Either way as long as it has the symbol, it can be made from anything or look any which way they chose.

For weaponry the standard weapons are a form of spear with chi enhanced tip and metal pole, or a simple short sword with chi augmented edge.  They are all equipped with a small set of chains that turn into energy shackles for quick arrests, an average Qizhou carrying 3-5 on them to arrest multiple people in one patrol.  As they move up in rank they get more unique and devastating weaponry, some beginning to specialize in ranged equipment of both lethal and non lethal means.  Some also specialize in more trapping based equipment over actually fighting the criminals they are after.   Outside of that they carry specially crafted Zy-Karos that broadcast to all other Qizhou in their direct station, and normally have specially augmented shoes to allow them to run faster and longer.

Job/Status:

The Qizhou carry out the will of the law in Zhu society, from street level crime to corruption in companies and people of power.   They operate as a well oiled machine with various different departments and positions working together to reduce, stop, and solve various crimes that go on every day.  There are the warriors who patrol the streets and respond to reports which tend to be the people most seen and  thought about  when Qizhou are brought up.  Within the stations are people who handle the reports and negotiations with various groups who either need help or want a reduced sentence/punishment.  There are more heavily armed and powerful units of Qizhou who handle raids and serious threats to society, such as holding off hostile forces until military aid can arrive.  There are various detectives and magi who specialize in figuring things out, such as who a criminal was, and how exactly someone died.  Smiths employed to forge the equipment along with old warriors to train the recruits.  And of course various leaders who run the local stations and assign everything. 

When a report is given the Qizhou normally send someone to investigate, a warrior if it's still going on and a detective if it's an older crime.  If a criminal is found on the spot the Qizhou can do whatever they personally deem necessary to bring them in, and can kill them if they chose to, assuming it's a violent criminal.  They don't find one a case is opened where depending on the priority the leader will set up a certain amount of people to search through various ways of finding the criminal, generally speaking they can search anyone or any place or bring in any person for questioning simply because they think it will help and need no form of review or consul beyond asking their commander if the person is protected.  In all but the most extreme cases the Qizhou themselves set up what a criminals punishment will be and operate the prisons and talks with servant agencies themselves, acts of high level terrorism and magic based crime are handled by Royals and School of Magi accordingly. 

While some outsiders view such aggressive power as uncomfortable most Zhu are fine with it, being a society that is quick to handle their problems any way they can.  The Qizhou are regarded as heroes and given respect all through Zhu, from free food and services, to the unmarried men and women receiving dozens of marriage offers.  The few years of training needed makes it a very attractive looking career path but the dangerous nature means less actually stay then would like to, as they openly get into fights to the death with various killers, gangs, and cults.  Regardless successful Qizhou are important members of the community and the commanders are considered high ranking government officials in their own right giving them the authority to change or completely overturn sentences as long as they get at least two other commanders to agree, regardless of who the criminal was (unless a Royal family member overrules it).

The Kougari

Beneath the surface(One could say the entire Crust) of Kios exists a place known as the Dark Realm, a forever separate yet connected world beneath what most people call Kios. Drawing it's named from the sky only alternating between dark gray and dark red, this world within a world is the source of all dark energy and black magic within Kios. Like most realms it has its own ecosystem full of unique plants and animals dotting it's jagged landscape. Most importantly however are the intelligent life forms that evolved there. As in known with Kios, energy only can build up for so long before it ends up changing form. In the Dark Realm that energy became Kougari (closest translation would be demon).

In the ancient days of Kios, the buildup energy began to draw in thoughts from the realm above, the powerful emotions reacting with it and forming the ancient Kougari lords of old. Hungering Kiku-Tunka, Bahu of Shadow, Lunkr of Filth, Painful Cen Hup, and Rageborn Ri-Sun. These ancient demons were masters of their realm, soon spreading out to the other parts of Kios and making their mark known. They were still new to life, obsessed with bringing their bodies and minds newfound pleasure driven by impulse and little more. They spread untold destruction across all planes of Kios, until one by one they were forced back into the dark Realm with Kiku-Tunka and Cen Hup being sealed between realms in a state between life and death. When they returned those things were different, there were other Kougari now, weaker yet more complex ones, it had became a species. With very rarely ones like them forming from individuals drawing in so much magic over time and becoming a unique entity.

The Kougari are a collection of intelligent life forms formed from the dark energy of the world, while they had roots in random formation they are now creatures in every sense of the word reproducing through sex and needing "food" to survive. They lack any form of true society their species too diverse for its own good as they have thousands of variations with vast differences; most preferring to live in packs of their own kind so they can focus on fulfilling their desires. Every now and then individuals crop up who want to forge more but all attempts fail, or only last for either short term of small groups normally resulting in the more social Kougari to move into Raiki cities and live among them.

The countless variations normally saw their genesis in a reflection of a fear or thought from the surface, creating things such as succubi/incubi, rage beasts, love demons, fear feasters, etc. As such many feed on raw emotion, ideas, and concepts instead of actual physical meals although many are capable of doing so. Their natural connection to the energy that forms their realm allows them easier access to the other realms much like their ancestors before them, making their primary hunting ground against the races that live on the surface. Their hunts shaping the various species as great enemies of the majority of intelligent life living above them, the Kougari themselves having no organized view on other creatures and simply hunting them because it was fun and useful to them some actually liking them.

They have a rather unusual biology in the sense that the magic within them allows them to breed either any life form no matter how radically different from them. If it can reproduce sexually they can impregnate it or be impregnated by it, the Kougari normally taking said creature back into the dark realm with them making it not an uncommon sight to see non demons or Raiki amongst Kougari packs or settlements but such are normally slaves or toys, and only rarely are they there out of love. Mixed children with the Kougari are always Kougari but possesses traits from whatever the other parent species is ones that happen a lot becoming their own sub races over time.