Meili Feng
Character
Zanshi Crown Prince engaging in a traditional duel
- Intent: To create a new sithspawn species to populate the planet of Shuiqui
- Image Credit:
- Flag: Original Image; Photoshop by me
- Zanshi Emperor engaging in a traditional duel: Hero
- Two Zanshi Fighting: Final Fantasy 14 Stormblood Trailer; Final Fantasy 14
- Canon: N/a
- Permissions: N/a
- Links:
- Name: Zanshi
- Designation: Sentient
- Origins: Created on the planet Shuiqui by Auksifas Kal’Evos
- Average Lifespan: Roughly 200 years
- Estimated Population: Planetary (A Large Concentration on a single world or system, rarely found off-world)
- Description: A near-human species, the Zanshi can very easily pass as human to the untrained eye. They stand, on the whole, slightly smaller than average for a human, although their small frames belie the strength they can call on if needed. The Zanshi generally have brown or black hair, with brown or dark eyes. The Zanshi can easily pass for human to the untrained eye, blending into the galactic scene quite easily.
- Breathes: Type 1
- Average Height of Adults: 1.8m
- Average Length of Adults: N/a
- Skin color: Pale (Will tan if they work outside)
- Hair color: Mostly black and brown although some Zanshi have lighter hair.
- Distinctions:
Although the Zanshi are a near-human race, and can pass as human to most observers, there are a few key differences which set them apart and would allow them to to be spotted by a trained eye. As a whole, their emphasis on combat and martial arts as a culture has lead to a race that on the whole carry themselves with a dancer's grace. A race whose every action is careful and measured, the Zanshi’s speed and ability to observe even minor actions has made them very careful. In pubic they hold to a very rigid, careful public image. Each slight action and shift of muscle can carry a wealth of meaning to them.
The Zanshi’s biggest distinction is their ‘Red Eye’, the species-wide affliction that allows them to fall into a force rage. At the cost of heightened emotions and a loosening of control they are able to increase their physical capabilities. The side effect of this is a massively increased bloodflow through their boy. This is most recognisable in the reddening of the eyes of the Zanshi, and a visible aura surrounding them as their emotions warp the force..
Two Zanshi activating the Red Eye (Force Rage) while fighting.
- Races: A manufactured race, the Zanshi remain homogenous, although they will tan
- Force Sensitivity: All
- As a race of sithpawn all Zanshi unconsciously are able to touch on the force to enhance their physical abilities. However, it is extremely rare for a Zanshi to be able to actively control the force in the same manner as the Sith or the Jedi.
- Sithspawn:A manufactured species, the Zanshi might look human but are actually sithspawn, created to serve as soldiers for the New Sith Empire. The Zanshi are capable of drawing on the force to subconsciously increase their physical abilities. The Zanshi are unable to shut off their access to the force and the boost to their abilities that it brings. They have the ability to use the following force powers:
- The Red Eye: The Zanshi were designed as the ultimate soldiers, including the ability to boost their abilities through the force. Sometimes though you needed more, more survivability, more speed and strength. The Zanshi were able to use Force Rage, utilising their own emotions to drive their capabilities to the next level. A side effect of this ability is while the Zanshi are under the influence of Force Rage their eyes turn red as their bodies pump more blood around their body. A visible aura can be seen around their bodies as their emotions warps the force around them.
- A culture of combat: Combat, both militarily and personally, has been a huge part of the history of Shuiqui. Children on the planet start training almost as soon as they can walk, learning first from their parents and then the various combat schools across the planet. Families tended to either have their own styles, or send their children to a specific school of martial arts to learn. The notion of combat, of martial arts was so ingrained into the culture of the planet that everyone was trained to fight. More than that however, the emphasis on martial arts has sunk so far into the culture that the minutest shifts in weight and posture can be read and have profound implications. Control, the expressions of emotion and small motions became a language within its own right. In the truth of combat it was impossible to hide those twitches that revealed the truth about a person.
- The Red Eye: While the Zanshi’s ability to use Force Rage does allow them to push themselves further than an opponent would expect, it came with a cost. Fore Rage feeds on your anger and pain, bringing them up to the forefront of your mind. The Red-eye is generally seen as a curse rather than a strength by the Zanshi, when under the thrall of this power the Zanshi’s eyes turn red due to the increased blood flow around their bodies. The biggest curse though is the heightened emotion, their anger and hatred blooms, often making them more focused on beating their enemy by any means necessary. Great for their purposes, to act as cogs in an army, but much worse for their survival as an individual.
- Mental Attacks: Due to the Red-eye, the Force Rage simmering just below the surface the Zanshi as a race are more susceptible to emotional or mental attacks. Some individuals might be more resistant or have more control from martial arts, but as a whole, the species can easily be unsettled or pushed into a frenzy by a user of the mental aspects of the force.
- The light: Sithspawn are steeped in the dark side of the force, a byproduct of their creation, this gives them many many strengths, it also leaves them very vulnerable to the light side of the force. It acts as an antithesis to the, driving them back and leaving them uncomfortable, a powerful enough blast of force light is even able to kill a Zanshi outright.
- Metabolism: Do to their inherent abilities, the Zanshi have a higher than average metabolism, and will burn through food at a prodigious rate.
- Force null: Like any other Sithspawn the Zanshi rely heavily on the force to provide them with boosts and abilities that push them beyond a normal human. However in the presence of a yasalamir or voidstone the Zanshi’s force granted abilities abandon them, leaving them no more capable than an average human.
- Diet: Omnivores - The prevalence of water on the planet has lead to the Zanshi’s diet being replete with seafood. From fish to crustaceans, there isn’t a family on the planet that doesn’t eat fish as a staple. Although meat used to be a rarity and is now more common, seafood remains the primary staple for most on the planet.
- Communication: Zan, native language of the Zanshi, and Basic.
- Technology level: Slightly above Galactic Standard
- Religion/Beliefs: Although the Zanshi have no prominent religion, their emphasis on honour, and familiar honour have led to a form of ancestor worship. The great deeds of ancestors are recalled and held up as something to aspire to, actions which bring the family more honour and prestige.
- General behavior:
The Zanshi’s culture is built around a focus on 3 pillars, honour, combat and family. From the earliest days of their history the Zanshi have been a species focused on war and combat. From smaller raids from one village to another to the wars waged by the city-states the Zanshi were forged in the fires of combat. Early on, every aspect of their culture became about supporting that martial tendency. The lords of the city-states focused on prestige and family, the building culture of honour made it harder for generals to turn on their lords knowing that their families would turn against them, but few would follow a leader with such a stain on their honour.
The culture of combat has carried them through to the modern-day, almost all children born on the planet are taught martial arts from the day they could walk. Combat and martial arts are an integral part of a day, most workers will find some time during the day to practice, to continue their training. This has lead to a culture in which the slightest movements can be spotted, a culture in which the slightest movements can carry a whole host of meaning. A culture where combat and training are a part of everyday life.
The second major pillar of everyday life was honour, both personal and familial. Everything that a person did from the moment they woke to the moment they fall asleep was built around this idea of honour, maintaining and increasing it. Obedience to your superiors and the rules, doing right by others, a variety of small and large events that happened to everyone are seen through the lens of honour when making decisions. Everyone around you would judge you based on your actions and the honour they accrue, more than that however, they would judge your family for those same actions.
Family was the other main pillar of the Zanshi, not just your immediate family but your extended one. Family is very important to their culture, sprawling social networks of people who will always have your back and support you. Your action are tied to the prestige of your family, the bigger an action, for good or bad, the more it ripples through that connection. Doing well on a test might just affect your parents, but saving someone’s life is something your entire family is buoyed by. In the same way a negative action can bring shame on your entire family. They are responsible for your upbringing, and so all your choices reflect on them. In the culture of the Zanshi, it is this prestige that brings families high and low in the socio-political game.
The story of the Zanshi began with the New Sith Empire and a sorcerer by the name of Auksifas Kal’Evos. Auksifas fancied himself a scholar of history, and believed that the new sith were doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past, to fall just as the empires before them had fallen. While each Sith was a fearsome warrior or sorcerer, a maelstrom of the force to be unleashed upon their enemies, the Sith were not able to be everywhere to police everything. Even on the battlefield, the Sith could be overwhelmed by the strategy and tactics of their opponents, borne under by sheer weight of numbers.
They needed more than just powerful Sith to prevent their empire from falling, they needed soldiers. Only, looking around the galaxy he found the species, the soldiers available to them lacking. So he decided to make his own.
To begin with Auksifas looked to see which was the most deadly, most capable race present on the galactic stage. While it was hard to argue with the strength of the Wookies and the Barbel’s, the stealth of the Noghri or the unity of the Killiks there was one race that had spread across the galaxy. One race that could be found anywhere, was the backbone of just about every galactic army. The humans.
Humanity may not have been the strongest, the fastest or the stealthiest, but there wasn’t a category they were not capable in. It was here that Auksifas had found the basis of his soldiers, the basis, since to protect the Sith would take nothing more than the best, he decided to take a baseline human and upgrade them, turning them into a Sithspawn. In order to do this though he needed a planet where he could experiment in peace. Gatherin his acolytes he settled down on the planet Shuiqui, bringing a large selection of human slaves for labour and experimentation.
The creation of the Zanshi took him a few centuries of fine-tuning, experimenting using the force to alter baseline humans, to infuse them with the powers he needed. The first few attempts failed, the biology of the humans unable to take the amount of force powers he’d tried to provide. Over time though, as his skills improved so did his planning, he didn’t need lightning fists or the ability to absorb energy, not for his soldiers. He needed them to be able to fight better, longer and harder than anyone else out there.
Creating sithspawn alone wasn’t enough to generate an army, Auksifas needed them to do more than blindly charge at an enemy position. He needed them to be able to work together as an army, utilising tactics and supporting one another to achieve their goals. Rather than force this upon his creation’s minds he chose to go another path, letting them organically develop into an army with the traditions that could push them beyond just being an army into a cohesive unit. Traditions of victory and support that allowed an army to achieve things that people thought impossible. So he set them loose on the planet of Shuiqui and let their culture develop with a few small nudges here and there to send them down the path he wanted.
Unfortunately the New Sith had less time than he’d thought they did and by the time the Zanshi were ready, the Empire had fallen. A race bred for war and combat ready to be unleashed on the galaxy. A race who’s very abilities and connections to the force made them ideally suited for combat, as long as they could keep the curse of the Red-Eye under control.
Over time the Zanshi developed into the dominant species on their planet, slowly spreading out to colonise their entire system and setting their stage on the galactic stage. A community of warriors and fighters, Auksifas’ dream had come true, just not in time to save the New Sith.
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