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Native to the
kingdom of Xerathis are the Zhu race known as Xerin. Outside of the Zhuni the
Xerin are the most populous Zhu race within the Capital Kingdom. Appearance
wise they look like Zhuni with fox ears and tails naturally growing on them,
the tails ranging anywhere from 1 to 9 in number. With more tails being a sign
of higher magic potential (3 Being the average 9 being very rare) and being one
of the biggest status symbols among each other. Unlike the Zhuni who live as
individuals and small family units, Xerin tend to be divided in much larger
clans with all of their communities both in their own kingdom and within the
greater Empire being made up of people within the same or closely related
clans. The clans that the royals come from is often a subject of heated debate
among Xerin and can get ugly fast, and they will frequently go and try to speak
to the Empress about how the certain clans shouldn't be allowed to.
Culturally they are
very similar to Zhuni when it comes to how important Honor is to them but
differ when it comes to their primary form of worship. Whereas for Zhuni it is
discipline, for Xerin it is grace resulting in their major form of expression
being not in the martial arts but in elaborate dances. Through these dances
they activate their chi much how a Zhuni would with a stance, allowing them to
manipulate their own and nearby energy as they do so. These dances range from
forms of complex communication (Zhu Races can see more layers of the dance than
other races) to ways of dueling, and when large numbers of them do certain
dances they are known to directly alter the weather of their kingdom. This
results in them mostly being support units in military situations, dancing from
behind the front lines to aid the more directly combat minded Zhu in a battle.
Their dances can easily be altered for battle though and many of the stronger
ones are more than capable of channeling up waves of mystical energy and such.
Native to the capital, Zhu Shang, and the majority Zhu population overall are the Zhuni. Appearance wise they are
very human, specifically appearing as humans from the region of East Asia. That
appearance extends to the common aesthetic of many buildings and the majority of
their clothing, resulting in the superficial feel of being in ancient china to
travelers from Earth. The most major difference between humans and Zhuni is of
course that that as Zhu, Zhuni have a different form of chi and extra senses
built solely around energy. In general Zhuni are also physically greater than
humans in every aspect, although with significant training a human could bridge
the gap on most. They as a whole tend to look pretty fit, with the partial
energy being state of their existence pretty much making even the unhealthy
Zhuni rarely look it unless the result of a powerful poison or illness. When it
moments of high emotion or stress their eyes tend to glow whatever color their
chi tends to manifest itself as, their aura subtly becoming visible around them
as well. Appearance wise the sexual differences between men and women are the
same as with humans, though it mostly ends there. Physically speaking there is
no difference between Zhuni men and women in regards to strength, speed, or
toughness; though the women tend to be lighter and thus easier to knock
backwards. In regards to the Dantian women have a much wider center and their
chi reserves go deeper on average, with men having a narrow dantian that makes
using chi easier but normally weaker.
Zhuni have a very
stable birth rate and although spikes occur they mostly keep around the same
population for extended periods of time, with the majority of people almost
always being in their teens and 20s. The average life expectancy is around 55
although through magic and chi control one can live to be hundreds of years
old, it simply takes too much to be a practical solution to most. For the same
reasons the physical effects of aging rarely show on Zhu outside of their 20s,
their bodies keeping a mostly consistent form no matter how old they get and
only the energy itself beginning to wear down. Most couples have their first
child between the ages of 15 and 17 and another one shortly after; the Zhuni
having a pregnancy of only 4 months makes many births end up closer together
then on Earth. The family duties are pretty evenly split although with the
fathers normally having a much larger role than the mother while the first
child is a toddler as she will be in the military and on active duty in most
cases. A mostly matriarchal society (this extends to the most other Zhu races
also), the Zhuni mothers are head of the household and tend to be who makes all
the major decisions involving a family or clan.
Culturally they are
a society that admires strength and martial prowess above most things,
resulting in the highest levels of fame being that of great warriors and
martial artists. To keep that focus all women are forced to undergo military
training and brief service upon graduation from school, with men being able to
choose if they want to. They are deeply entrenched in tradition and it shows in
their extreme respect for their environment, animals, and the importance of
family. They are bound by the concept of honor to such a degree that if known
for having been dishonored you are treated as subhuman by many and stripped of
your job in most cases. Entire books and branches of government exists to help
define what things are dishonorable and honorable as well as to what degree
since it is such an important part of life within the nation.
The Xenkor are a Zhu
race who mostly stay within their own kingdom (Xenkor Hu), with very few full
bloods living in the other Zhu kingdoms, although Zhu Shang has more than
others due to being the capital. Their most distinct physical feature is the
fact that they all have gray skin and bright red eyes, making their very human
appearance seem very alien. These gray skinned Zhu's kingdom is on a world
where barely any sunlight gets through, resulting in most areas being in
complete darkness. As such Xenkor have weak eyesight/ extreme light sensitivity
only being able to see up close and in low light, them being completely blind
during a sunny day on another world or even a well lit room. As such they
primarily see through energy perception and a form of echolocation allowing
them to maneuver around and go about their lives with very little problems, as
they are able to get all but the small details of people and things.
The main cultural
distinction between them and the other Zhu is that they value cunning as second
to honor. The Xenkor people are just as aggressive and violent as the Zhuni can
be only they don't brawl in the streets like their siblings, instead they goad,
trick, and trap each other when they have problems. Moving up in a position is
all about persuasion, it's not enough to have the needed skill you have to
convince or trick the others into agreeing with you. They are very rapid
thinkers, their minds thinking things about everything they know to aid them
the second they learn something. Their chi tends to be less refined than the
others as they use it primarily as a way to survive, but it allows them to
require next to no training to use it as a sense augmenter and they even are
born being able to use it to substitute breathing for a few minutes at a time.
In the military Xenkor tend to be assassins and spies and stick to ranged
energy based combat when in direct fights. Given their methods of seeing, they
are virtually impossible to sneak up on, and also make good look outs. While
not normally trained beyond basic level martial arts, the Xenkor that do decide
to become more dedicated warriors are very feared given their unique way of
seeing and rapid minds making misdirection and feints all but useless on them.
Making their home in
arid Galkahr region of the planet Ternu Si, are the race known as Ethera. They
are one of the younger Zhu races, one of the last few to be created and the
most recent to be reintegrated. Their appearance is that of humans with very rich
solid red and pink skin tones and often glowing chi points across their body in
tattoo like patterns. They tend to be heavier than most other Zhu races, their
bones being very dense and their muscles capable of growing at a moment's
notice. They are the most naturally gifted of the Zhu races in terms of power
both physical and magical, quickly coming upon more potent applications of
their abilities with little to no training. They are capable of boosting their
abilities even more by going into a berserker state known as Qi-Zan where their
chi pushes itself into overdrive their bodies becoming harder to damage and all
of their abilities vastly increasing as their mind does nothing but pump the
energy out at whatever is before it. The ability is very powerful and hardwired
into their genes, occurring on its own both whenever stressed until they learn
to control it. During the state they have difficulty stopping themselves until
they run out of energy and fall asleep, or are incapacitated. While various
objects and methods arose to snap them out of this, the only reliable way was
through special signals sent from chi of other Zhu races or by something or
someone they have a strong connection to. The most effective and reliable
method is through the dancing of talented or powerful Xerin, the dance calming
them back to normal rather quickly in most cases.
When the Zhu races
were split apart tens of thousands of years ago, the Ethera handled the
isolation the worst. Their natural aggression and uneasy mental state made them
quickly become enemies with other intelligent species on the planet their home
ended up forming on. Eventually they ended up the only species of any
intelligence left on the planet, resulting in a society that was only stable
long enough to rebuild after it destroyed its cities fighting itself. When they
were found by the rest of Zhu and their world reconnected to the Empire they
were immensely grateful, and have reformed their actual Zhu society with the
help of their sister races keeping them calm.
