Qual'Zyanya
Xioquo Renegade
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on the Shadow Knights and the Xioquo. Sub a fun unit for rp and flavour. This is a resubmission of this unit, which was approved under the old Codex rules. It is being subbed under a different subaccount because I originally used the wrong one for it.
Image Credit: Here. 'Female Dark Elf' by John Dotegowski.
Role: Force infantry.
Permissions: Access to Firemane gear since I'm the owner Permission for all ArmaTech gear and all other subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here.
Links: Twilight of the Goddess, Tides of Darkness.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Champions of Azyr.
Affiliation: Shadow Knights, Court of the Shadows, Xioquo, Qual'Zyanya.
Classification: Infantry.
Equipment:
Armour:
Rifles:
Sidearms:
Melee Weapons:
Misc:
- Grenades.
- Force focusing visor, lightning gloves, Individual Field Disruptor.
- Lifeform scanners, Ghostwave communicator, anti security blade, scrambler key, data breaker, communication wave descrambler, slicing equipment.
- Taozin Amulet.
- RL-40 Stun Net Launcher.
Description: The Champions of Azyr are a rogue Xioquo cult that has split from mainstream Xioquo to seek its fortunes in the stars. Azyr is the Xioquo word for the deified personification of the sky. It is an entity they are in awe of, but also dread. This is only natural since the Xioquo have dwelt beneath the earth for millennia. Bright lights and the sun are painful to them. To them, Mother Earth offers sanctuary and protection, whereas the Light brings pain and destruction.
Nonetheless, the Champions revere this entity. They are also technophiles who believe in technological advancement and embrace machinery. The members of the cult are highly skilled technomancers, who possess the rare skill of mechu-deru. In the old days, the Xioquo were the most technologically advanced race of Tygara. One can only imagine what they could have achieved if their society's development had not been held back by Dark Side worship, slavery and despotism. Contrary to popular belief, totalitarianism is inefficient. In the old days the Champions built primitive war engines and gyrocopters.
The Champions dislike the present state of affairs in Xioquo society, though they equally dislike the old guard matriarchs who only want to roll the clock back to the old days. Having refused to accept the new order of things imposed by Firemane, they have used trickery to acquire 'wings of steel' and venture into the stars. To fund their operations, they have offered their services to other parties, such as the Shadow Knights. The cultists are not very interested in financial compensation beyond what is needed to cover their expenses and fund their operations. Instead they are interested in the procurement of technology, rare alchemical texts and so on.
Their services do not come cheap, but their significant skill in electrokinesis and technomancy makes them a potent force. They are particularly strong against tech-heavy enemies, can conduct sabotage, overcome security systems and damage infrastructure. The sect is fascinated by droids, especially those who blur the line between organic and mechanical beings, such as Humanoid Replica Droids but also normal droids that have acquired a personality of their own due to having gone without a memory wipe for a long time. It makes a special effort to acquire such thinking machines for study. Some members of the sect have taken an interest in cybernetic implants. Yohara Taenasi, the chief scientist of the Shadow Knights and Magister of the Court of the Mind, has good relations with them. Their intellectual interests overlap in some cases, and so the sect has at times cooperated with her and helped her steal tech she desired for research.
The Champions are close to Qual'Zyanya, a renegade Xioquo matriarch. Once she was part of the aristocracy of the Xioquo. Her sister was a member of the ruling council. However, the two sisters dissented when the council decided to awaken Mystra. They rightly suspected that awakening the dark mother would be the doom of their people. However, their attempt to sabotage the ritual only hastened her return. The old guard considers Zyanya to be a traitor, but she is also at odds with the new régime due to her continued adherence to the Dark Side. Her time offworld has broadened her horizons and compelled her to accept some uncomfortable truths, such as the fact that the Xioquo cannot rise again by clinging to the old ways. This has made her pragmatic enough to seek alliances with the Eldorai renegades. Her foreign connections have helped the Champions find their footing in the greater Galaxy.
The leader of the coven is a Xioquo witch called Alza'Tarqil. Tarqil realised the way the wind was blowing and feigned acceptance of the new order. Her mother chose resistance and was killed fighting Firemane. Called a coward and a collaborator by the old guard, Tarqil seemed obedient, but was actually playing a double game. She realised that the holdouts that continued the struggle from the depths of the Underealm were fighting a losing battle. She had to put up with racism from foreigners, who did not realise that the natives were not inferior in anything except technology and that this gulf would not be there forever. When the moment came, the Champions absconded with a starship after they had learned what they needed from the sky people. Tarqil is cunning, patient and not afraid to play a long game to get what she wants. She has taken a keen interest in the sky people's technology and caught up fast. Having grown up in a harsh, cutthroat environment, she is a ruthless fighter. She has some ideological affinity with the Shadow Knights, but her partnership with them is also to a large degree a matter of convenience.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Medium
Unit Availability: Unique
Unit Experience: Elite.
Combat Function: The Champions of Azyr are a unit composed of Force-Sensitive Xioquo. In terms of skill set, they are specialists rather than generalists, focusing on electrokinesis and technomancy. To be precise, the powers they focus on are Lightning, Ionize, Mechu-Deru, and Electronic Manipulation. This makes them very effective against droids, cyborgs or opponents very reliant on high-tech equipment. They can also help overcome security systems and manipulate computers. They possess skill in Tutaminis, which helps them absorb and channel energy attacks. They can pool their powers for attacks with a broader scale and range, but cannot summon a Force Storm or something of a similar nature. In addition, they can utilise Force Cloak and Force Stealth.
Aside from the obvious combat applications, their abilities are also useful for wreaking havoc on infrastructure, which gives them utility as saboteurs. Their skills as technopaths are also useful for information warfare, as they help with slicing. They can help sow confusion, disrupt or impede an enemy's response to attacks. They are very strong against droids and cybernetic beings. Moreover, they are skilled at close quarters.
Some of their conventional weapons are electrical in nature, which has implications when going up against opponents who are shielded against such attacks. Their conventional arsenal is more geared towards combat at medium or close range, which is pertinent if they are attacked from great distances and are not in a position to use their preternatural abilities effectively. This leaves them more vulnerable towards snipers and enemies using heavy weapons at far range.
While their electrokinetic and technomantic abilities are quite strong, their telekinetic abilities are weak, they do not carry lightsabres or heavy weapons like rotary cannons, heavy repeating blasters or anti-tank missile launchers. Lack of heavy weapons enhances their mobility, but poses a problem against heavy armour or large numbers of enemy infantry. Their conventional heavy firepower is limited to disruptors, which tend to have a small ammo capacity. Their Force powers do allow them to mess with vehicles, such as by sabotaging their electronics, but this is less practical when they are facing hordes. Being infantry, long range bombardment from artillery or aicraft is an issue for them. Ysalamiri and Voidstone would deprive them of their biggest advantage.
They are trained in the use of conventional weapons and would thus be able to defend themselves if they do not have access to their preternatural abilities, but would be significantly weakened. Electrical discharges are also a very flashy power, which has implications for stealthy operations and makes them easy to spot on a battlefield once they utilise electrokinetic abiities, rendering them obvious targets. They are good at stealth, but the moment they start shooting blasts of lightning around they are obviously easy to spot.
Lightning is one of the few direct Force attacks that works on Vong and other Force Dead, but the Xioquo must still deal with the issue that they cannot sense them in the Force. Rock earths lightning, which makes earth the direct elemental counter to lightning. While a crack unit, it is also a very small unit. This limits the number of warriors that can be deployed to a battlefield, which means they may be outnumbered. Common soldiers may lack their skill and preternatural abilities, but could overwhelm them through sheer force of numbers.
Strengths:
- Focus on electrokinesis and technomancy. Can also use the Force for concealment. Particularly strong against tech-heavy enemies, droids, security systems and at sabotage.
- Good at close quarter combat.
- Lack heavy weapons.
- Lack support forces such as combat vehicles or aircraft.
Historical Information:
Azyr is the Xioquo word for sky. For millennia the Xioquo dwelt in the Underealm, a subterranean realm beneath the earth of Tygara. There they grew strong in the Dark Side and become quite advanced technologically by the standards of Tygara. By the time the 'sky people' came to Tygara, the Xioquo could field ironclads, primitive war engines and ornithopters powered by steam and equipped their elite soldiers with bolt action rifles. Their sorceresses were able to use dark alchemy to construct monstrosities and golems. They might have been able to become the dominant race of Tygara, if they had not been held back by an oppressive, darkside mageocracy that enslaved most of the populace, their low numbers and their vulnerability to sunlight.
Living in the Underealm meant they were adjusted to darkness, but it made the sun and other bright lights painful for them, requiring them to wear covering attire when they ventured outside. Furthermore, there was constant strife between them. The matriarchs feuded amongst themselves, while slave revolts and perennial conflict with the Qadiri produced a paranoiac siege mentality. The old order was overthrown when the Tygaran Alliance stormed the capital of Tlaxqui. Mystra herself, regarded by the Xioquo as their Creator and a physical goddess, was slain in the battle. Some Xioquo resented the invaders and dreamt of restoring the old order. Others were quick to grasp the opportunities that had been opened up to them. The canniest among them who did not want to bow to outsiders realised they had to adapt.
The destruction of Mystra left a profound spiritual and political vacuum. The fact that she had turned out to be a mad goddess who fed on her people caused many Xioquo to turnaway from her. The vacuum was filled by a variety of cults. Some cooperated with the occupiers, others conspired or opposed them openly. The Daughters of the Destroyer deified Siobhan Kerrigan, elevating her to divine status for vanquishing Mystra. The Seekers of the Sky sought to break with the Xioquo's grim past and embrace the Light, seeing this as the best way to heal their people's wounds and lead them to modernity. This group was sponsored by the new Queen Liavondra, herself a lightsider who had kept her true alignment secret for many years. The Queen abolished slavery and emancipated the under classes by breaking up the old patronage networks. It helped that many defenders of the old order had perished during the fighting.
The Champions of the Azyr were one of many cults that sought to take advantage of the power vacuum. They had fought against the Tygaran Alliance and Firemane but had seen which way the wind was blowing when the allied troops knocked down the gates to the Underealm. Recognising that the Xioquo's strength had been their affinity for technology, they sought to learn as much about the designs of the sky people as possible. While they did not mourn the mad goddess, they regarded the Xioquo's new overlords as foreign occupiers.
True to their name, they believed the Xioquo needed to become self-reliant and reach for the stars. Though the 'natives' were underdeveloped, they were not inferior to the outsiders in any way outside of technology. Rather than wage guerilla war against the sky people, the group collaborated with them with the aim of expanding its knowledge of the outside world and its mysteries. As a result, they earned the contempt of diehard Mystra zealots and other partisans, but they considered this course to be wiser in the long-term.
They understood that the sky people were just that - people, not demons or deities. Of course, their technology was beyond anything the Xioquo had possessed, but could be roughly understood in terms that made sense for them: Blasters and bolters were high-tech versions of the rifles the Xioquo used, starships were metal ships that traversed the sky-ocean and so on. Their desire to master outsider technology reach the stars soon acquired a religious aspect, as they believed that they were being guided by the spirits to escape the confines of the Underealm.
This was reflected in their devotion to Azyr, which is not just the Xioquo word for sky, but also its deified personification. While Mystra, or, as the Xioquo call Myrou, had always been the supreme deity, the Xioquo acknowledged the existence of minor deities and primordial forces. Azyr was one of them, though the devotees at times skirted dangerously close to heresy; heresy was a wonderfully vague term that could be used to justify purging political rivals. The devotees of Azyr regard it as a powerful elemental force; one they fear but are also in awe of. They resolved to one day acquire metal wings, face the perilous rays of the sun and reach for the sky.
On the day when the natives of Tygara expanded into the stars, the Champions of Azyr seized a Firemane ship to ensure they would be able to leave the planet on their terms and become an independent fraction. Their expanded knowledge of technology and its vulnerabilities came in handy in that regard. The Champions recruited their members from the ranks of Force-Sensitive Xioquo with a knack for electrokinesis and manipulating machinery through the application of technopathy. Their aptitude for machines was a boon for them when they found themselves in an unfamiliar Galaxy. Initially they relied a lot on the stolen ship's reprogrammed droids. They learned how to cope in an unfamiliar world through trial and error.
The group aligned itself with the Shadow Knights, whose agents they had encountered during the exodus from Tygara. They are a rogue organisation of Eldorai dissidents opposed to both the Eldorai Matriarchy and Firemane. Coincidentally, the Shadow Knights had often found themselves in conflict with a machine cult called Archangel. This made the devotees of Azyr particularly useful because their skills were quite effective against droids and cyborgs. In addition, their knack for tech makes them useful for breaking and entering missions. The Champions of Azyr have tried to share their insights with other Xioquo who have joined the movement, seeking to encourage them to follow their example so that they would not be beholden to their Eldorai 'cousins'. Having been raised in a harsh, cruel culture, they are ruthless fighters.
The Champions allied themselves with Qual'Zyanya, a young Xioquo matriarch. Zyanya was the scion of an influential house that had grown rich through shipping, the slave trade and the construction of war engines. The grand citadels that protected the Underealm from external attack were built by them. Their war machines proved vital in repulsing an invasion by the Qadiri Mirza of Lakish. However, they were not enough to stop the forces of the Tygaran Alliance. When the Xioquo Council voted to awaken Mystra, Zyanya and her sister Qual'Ixtar dissented. They conspired to assassinate the council with a bomb in order to prevent the awakening. Their assassination attempt was successful, but backfired as Mystra fed on the deaths and rose from her tomb.
The Quals were denounced as traitors and Ixtar was murdered, but Zyanya was able to escape. Unwilling to submit to the Tygaran Alliance, Zyanya teamed up with Sumiko Tanaka and become the her apprentice. She travelled with the Sith Lord for a while, seeking to learn her secrets while competing for her favour with the Eldorai Illyria, her rival for the position of First Apprentice. She swallowed her pride to learn all she could about foreign tech and the Force. Eventually she returned to Tygara, arriving just in time to play a part in repulsing a Kraal raid. While her role was minor, it helped boost her prestige amongst the Xioquo. For a while she acted as a secret agent for her mistress, trying to ingratiate herself with the new Xioquo Queen. Some Xioquo reviled her as a traitor or were suspicious of her motives, others saw her as heroine for trying to stop Mystra. She subtly began to distance herself from her Master. Conveniently Sumiko was murdered by Illyria, freeing Zyanya from her puppet strings.
Zyanya, who believed the Xioquo must rise anew and that her house was best equipped to bring this about, conspired with the Champions after reclaiming her heritage. Both share a belief in progress and self-strengthening. She helped them acquire technical know-how and shared some of her knowledge of the greater Galaxy with them. This helped the renegades find their way after departing Tygara. Some of the Champions were Xioquo who were recruited by Zyanya during her exile. She continued to be associated with them, seeing them as a means to increase her personal power and implement her progressive ideals. It was an alliance based on convenience, but also ideological affinity.
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