Zernus

The Zernus are a species born from humans inflicted by an ancient Gaufbeyn curse. They are sometimes referred to as devils, demons, and possessed by those familiar with ancient human religion, and have been considered one of the toughest of the human-originated races. Being capable of taking a bunch from a Ellietic and simply walking away with a bruise.

Race & Origins

The Breathing

Formerly a group of fifty humans who arrived on the planet of Anheriia, they have become one with the planet and have become absolutely immortal, living and breathing alongside the planet. Incapable of leaving it's soil and water, The Breathing Zernus heal nearly instantaneously and can shift through many forms, horns and black blood seem to be the only things that stays constant through every form. They are capable of procreating with themselves and it is likely that they could with other humans as well, however this has yet to be revealed.

The Birthed

Near-human entities that were born from the fifty or their children, a birthed Zernus held vestigial horns that crowned their heads in varying patterns, growing during puberty. These horns but one of many differences from their human DNA, another was their skin color, which often took on a red-hue, and eye color, which held darker colors, sometimes even black, sclera, yellow pupils, and iris' with colors that ranged from purple, yellow, green, and white. Their skin has gained a rough, coarse texture, similar to sandpaper. Another part of their differences, was the addition of multiple extra organs, like a second heart, and two pairs of lungs, which allow them to hold their breath for longer periods of time. As well as this, they were capable of expanding their blood vessels to allow more blood to flow through their bodies.

Most Birthed have shown sadomasochistic tendencies, and commonly hold obsessive personalities, which came from a strong sense of confidence, believing they could accomplish any task they sought. This has lead to many holding a sense of superiority over many other species, however seemed to rarely hold it over their own or humans. Most viewed themselves as apart of their overall race, and worked purely to aid it, however not all held this mindset, with many who showed a preference towards individuality being killed. Sometimes referred to as dedicated, intense, and extremely focused, the Zernus, have discovered opposition from most races due to their personality, along with their achievements.

The Decayed

Once a Zernus dies, it _.

Culture

Forming the Jenoya Entente, the Zernus are considered creatures of darkness and chaos, only to be approached by the bravest and strongest, in both mind and body.

Competition holds a large part in Birthed Culture, martial arts being a requirement for the young. Entertainment is an alien word and concept, as the primary form of joy they get comes from the achievements of not only themselves but their people as a whole, of which they include humans. Tattoos seem to hold a large part among Birthed culture, holding a variety of meanings, as well as scars which seemed to offer a type of status effect, with the larger a scar or more one has, the higher it is considered within Zernus society.

The naming schemes of the Zernus were a bit different than most other cultures, where their family name was the generation they were from The Breathing, while their given names are taken from the first kill they manage; until earning this, they are referred to using observable nouns of their character and appearance. Upon death, Zernus gain an honorific among their people, which is based on what or who killed them.

History

Like those who created the Ellei and Exaiume Ententes, pre-Zernus come from the inhabitants of Cetra-02, when the ship slowed to orbit the system of Theanratecin, a crew was sent after a scout pod returned stating that Nezinau was habitable, however on their return, finding a place to land the ship, they discovered the colony ship was being invaded by the Heaothep, whose military seemed far beyond anything the ship's inhabitants were capable of fighting, and so they changed direction. This minor mixed crew of fifty soldiers and civilians instead landed on nearby planet, Anheiriia in the Donkarul system.

Anheiriia's Will & The Breathing

It was quickly discovered that the planet of Anheiriia held it's own will, as the fifty went through what can only be described as an absolute horror story, hearing and seeing visions, beginning to attack each other and slowly evolving new physiology, including the growing of horns and the blackening of blood, both of which were later discovered to be caused by the planet joining with them, where the horns were types of keys that would connect them to it, and the darkened blood being similar to most of the planet's living beings. Once the fifty accepted their new world, they would soon begin to procreate, bringing about the Birthed, who would be considered not just the fifty's children, or born from humanity, but from the planet itself.

Anheiriia's Origins & The Birthed

The Birthed would eventually go on to establish various kingdoms and factions on Anheiriia, as well as reattaining galactic flight, as Anheiriia used the information attained from the fifty to reassemble various types of travel, including recreating their scout ship. While most of the Birthed history is the creation of their society, they have evolved alongside space-travel, traveling to the Ellei Entente and killing several of the Ellietic, as well as traveling to the Harolaoua Entente and slaughtering through a number of the Heaothep military, where they learned Anheiriia's soul was the experiment of the Gaufbeyn who had journeyed there sometime before, and used Aaryn to bring in something from another place that attached itself to the planet, changing it. This entity scared the Gaufbeyn to the point of leaving it, unable to stop it from killing them, with a similar reaction from the Heaothep, which was the reason they had stopped chasing the ship when it entered the planet's atmosphere; assuming the fifty aboard had died like all the others.

Anheiriia's Purpose & Jenoya Entente

The spirit of Anheiriia wishes to return to it's home, feeling tortured in this environment, and sensed humanity's curse of tearing the Bulwark, it believed they would be capable of aiding it's goal, and as such many of the Birthed have made it their life mission to make a new opening. This effort has lead to a great many dangerous events surrounding their people and home, including several Aithereal tears. This has sparked a great amount of agony and fear among the other species and the Adrophontic League as a whole, with there being a period where their people were outlawed to leave their home. The League has even made many attempts to destroy the planet and genocide it's people, something that has been against the League's laws since creation, however nothing seemed to work, not even Starkiller, whose affect only took a month to be reversed, where Anheiriia replaced it's star with itself. A feat nothing else in the known galaxy has been capable of.

After the only known failed use of Starkiller, the League made a deal with the Zernus, to give them their freedom in exchange for military power and scholarly knowledge on a variety of things, this was the establishment of the Jenoya Entente.