Za'aan
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Za’aan are tall ominous beings with massive presence and remarkably complex minds capable of multi-threaded cognitive processes, including high level telepathy in all Za’aan. Their species is one of literally billions of years old, enhanced genetically over eons of scientific progress. All Za’aan have reputations of power, leadership and tactical genius by race alone. Their timeless existence coupled with their incredible mental prowess makes them unspeakable lords of the mighty Rian Republic. Their voices are deep and commanding, impossible to ignore, and they carry themselves with a majestic countenance.
Demeanour
Za'aan are obsessed with power, leadership and control. Not only are they physically imperious, Za’aan have enjoyed power for so long that natural selection and later genetic enhancements have provided the species with a predisposition for strong and imposing personalities.
Za’aan are supremacists, seeing all other species vastly inferior to their own. Za’aan see no shame in ego nor the expression of this arrogance.
Money and wealth are often secondary to a Za’aan, for they prefer greater numbers of subject serving via a military chain of command. A very rare few are corrupt, operating outside of the Republic, and seek power via ruthless crime organisations, but this is practically unheard of. Nearly all, however, believe strongly and patriotically towards the Emperor, or Supreme Overlord, and adhere to the military hierarchies for the power and benefit of all Za’aan. Along with the satisfaction they gain from ruling over others, most enjoy great personal power as well through Tau’Za’aan, the specialised Za’aan created weaponry, wielded by most Za’aan.
Despite a rather ominous appearance and perhaps selfish values, typical Za’aan are no more ‘evil’ than humans are in terms of ethical beliefs. That is, Za’aan wish to rise to high-up positions in their organisation through deeds, honour, respect and proper qualifications, but all covet power. A few, just like corrupt humans, use under-handed tactics to get what they want, and nearly all Za’aan employ fear and intimidation as one of the defining qualities of being Za’aan. The Za’aan people are diverse in this respect, however, there seems to be an almost perverse loyalty towards the Supreme Overlord, possibly having been bred into the species gene’s either deliberately of via natural selection.
History
Za are literally several billion years old. Over billions of years, they evolved beyond their physical bodies (of which we have no idea what they looked like and never will), becoming Za'ri (free mind spirits, or energy-based beings).
A mere hundred million years ago, the Za'ri encountered by chance a species they called the Aan. They discovered a symbiotic compatibility with the Aan whereby if the Aan was willing the Za'ri spirit could permanently blend with the Aan. The result was the Za'aan Lord.
Over the next several millennia the Za began to feel superior to other races and conquered the galaxy through a series of wars. This is fuelled largely because the Za'ri, upon blending into a Za'aan, gained emotions to a level they had not dealt with or experienced in ages. These emotions drove their expansion and rule for many sought power.
During the course of the conquest the Za began to split along ethical lines. The Separatist Za opposed the melding of Za’ri with Aan because it led the Za down the barbaric path of violence, enslaving, and oppression. This small group, however, was not as popular with the majority of Za'ri as the Za'aan were, who felt themselves gods and entitled to do anything they pleased to any lesser species.
Things changed though when the Za'aan conquered the galaxy. The Za'aan had no more space to conquer, and thus turned to the genetic manipulation of their slave races. These genetic anomalies were becoming dangerous, and even some Za'aan began to leave their host bodies, returning to existence as Za'ri, to side with the Separatist Za'ri against the cruel treatment of the slave races, and especially against the genetic manipulation of those races.
Soon the Za'aan Lords became the minority and the genetic manipulation was being curtailed. This angered many of the Lords, who had been the de facto leaders for many millennia. In their anger the Za'aan began to secretly experiment on a few races, with the intent of turning these races against the Separatist Za'ri. One of the races, the Maelon, was very good at what it was designed to do. The Maelon, with the secret support of the Za'aan Lords, revolted and began to kill Za'ri Separatists and their supporters.
The Za'ri Separatists saw this as the logical conclusion to the Za'aan Lord’s barbaric ways and chose to run and hide instead of fight their monstrous “children.”
Many of the Za'ri however, saw an enemy to once again conquer, and returned to supporting the Za'aan. Thus the Za'aan-Maelon war began. The war raged for many millennia as the core Za'aan discovered that they had made the Maelon too powerful and dangerous, and Maelons not only destroyed the bulk of the remaining Za'ri Separatists but also turned upon and nearly destroyed entirely the Za'aan. They were losing. In a last ditch effort the Za'aan created a terrible weapon capable of rending the very fabric of space-time itself.
The weapon worked far better than its creators had ever dreamed. It wiped out nearly 90% of the Maelon’s forces; however it also became unstable and formed the Tartarus Expanse. This single action essentially ended the Za'aan-Maelon war, but left the Za'aan and Za'ri both nearly extinct and the Maelons decimated.
The few remaining Maelons scoured the galaxy for any remaining Za'aan, Za'ri, and Aan and killed them. Both the Za'aan and Aan were hunted to complete extinction along with any Za'aan or Za'ri that didn’t go into hiding.
The Za'ri Separatists fled to the region of the galaxy where the SagDeg is colliding and hid in the ensuing chaos and have silently watched and guarded the progress of their children races their brethren the Za'aan manipulated. Through their philosophical and physics studies, the Za'ri eventually harnessed the ability to fold space to provide a helping hand in many areas whenever possible to the other young and old races (giving many of the old races their start) but without genetic manipulation or direct interference. They act mainly with information and as 'guardian angels' so to speak, but without control or manipulation of free will, in order to help those races maintain their independence of the ruling Za'aan.
Meanwhile, the Za'ri who had sided with the Za'aan discovered a rogue world (meaning, not part of a star system; present in a nebula) they called Arcana, and settled there to regroup and hide. There is nothing but the spiritual Za'ri left... no Za'aan Lords or Overlords at all.
Much later a human colony ship came along. The Expansionist Za'ri learn that humans are also suitable for blending, only the second species thus far compatible. They approach and help these humans, with another slightly more nefarious purpose in mind. The result of these manipulations on the human becomes the new Za’aan who are slightly modified genetically to both improve their physical forms and also to make blending a bit easier yet.
