Races

Zish (Zissah and Ziyn) - by T.A. Saunders ©2010 v1.5

Racial Articles Following the Path of Serenity and the Road to Doom

Over the the next several thousand years, as the fallen Asyndi became the Shar'Vaire and they began to shape themselves as a culture, the Zissah had so completely abolished arcane magic use that the very knowledge of its working became beyond their reach as a people. The concept of arcane power had become a myth and something to humor hatchlings with before settling them to bed and not something any Zissah truly believed existed anymore.

With the turning away of the Lords of Chaos and shattering of the old order of evil, also came new priests that touted the Spirit of Serenity as the harbinger of Zissah salvation. Any magic that was practiced was done so by the high priests of Serenity; powers that always had a root in divine guidance and were not corrupted by the predaceous Zissah mind. To a lesser extent, shamans that called to the spirits of Zissah ancestors was also an accepted practice but often came to a great deal of criticism since the Zissah ancestors fell prey to the whims of the Lords of Chaos.

Worship of the Spirit of Serenity became a focal point for the Zissah race; the base predator instincts of their kind were honed, directed and reshaped into a peaceful, focused mind that did not rely on violence, except to hunt and defend one's self. It is believed that during this cultural revolution came the first teachings of the Yaug-Taj fighting form, which teaches to use the spear as a defensive weapon to not only keep an enemy at bay, but to intimidate an enemy to never strike at all. The entirety of Zissah society had given themselves to this path, with few exceptions and the idea of aggressive conquest was as unthinkable as the use of arcane power

By the end of this change in Zissah society, there had only been minor contact between themselves and the Shar'Vaire. The latter had sailed from Tal'Rah to Irys occasionally and a few times to Shalzaar where they had met and traded with the Zissah peacefully. The Dragons of this time had very little to do with them, and the Van`Su had long retreated into their aeries in the cold and distant north so the Shar'Vaire were the only other people they had any real contact with.

Mostly the Zissah wanted the Shar'Vaire to trade and leave; given how dependent they were on arcane power and the preaching of domination over dark forces they knew could have no master, many elders realized it was only a matter of time before the shadow they saw upon the Shar'Vaire people fell and consumed them. Mostly, they came to trade for their Mjiora Stones, or more commonly known as Witchfire Crystals. The Zissah used them to tip their throwing spears, which when thrown at an enemy had a devastating result when the Witchfire Crystal shattered. Most commonly the tactic was to throw a spear tipped in this fashion near the intended target, to startle them into rethinking their desire to attack. So long as the Shar'Vaire traded and didn't linger the Zissah were friendly…but curt.

The Shar'Vaire saw the potential for Witchfire Crystals and strove to discover where the Zissah were finding them. Once they had their first airships, it didn't take long for a few enterprising Shar'Vaire to do a slow fly-over Zissah territory to discover where they were going to get the crystals. After weeks of secretly watching their neighbors, the massive underwater cave complex where Witchfire Crystals were growing was located. It was not long after making this discovery in 8500 BF that the Shar'Vaire began their war with the Zissah people.