Creature:Zith

The Uruie
Meaning the first in Zith language the Uruie is the earliest ancestor of the Zith.

The Yamayzzie
Meaning "small ancestor" this name is shared by several species that share the shame shape and behavior, generally a small game hunter.

Physical Description
The Ziths are bipedal reptilians that have adapted to their mountain regions were they evolved. They are covered from head to toe in scales, and are cold blooded. Internally the zith species have an interesting build. They are cold blooded, however there body heats up when in motion or when digesting food, so the ziths could be active rather than sun bathing like other cold blooded creatures. The ziths are extremely durable and are the biological equivalent of a tank. Having thick scales which, on its broad side, will only break at above one thousand pounds of force (a human leg bone breaks at around eight hundred pounds of force). Underneath their scales they have a white blubbery substance that the body uses as a shock absorber, which can save a Zith from a high fall from a mountain side. These physical traits make the Zith incredibly resistant to blunt trauma such as that caused form falling off the mountain side and smashing agents rocks. For example a fully grown man could beat a Zith with a bat for hours on end with out any serious damage to the Zith, although heaver metal weapons such as a mace, for example, could seriously injure a Zith. Because of this, blunt weapons: clubs, hammers, maces, est. are almost nonexistent in Zith history, and cutting weapons, swords, spears, and axes, are widely used.

Culture
The Ziths are a noble, traditional people, and as such, they are slow to change and hold old memories of the past in high esteem; because of this there are structures and artifacts with thousands of years of age across their world. Among the Ziths loyalty to family, country, and king is the glue that holds Zith society together, and they have a very strong sense of self sacrifice for the betterment of the whole. There society is segmented into three very broad classes, the royals, the nobles, and the common people. However there society is not strict or enclosed, and any zith can raise or fall in social rank depending on their actions.

There society is highly traditional, this is evident in there government, they are ruled by a monarchy that was founded thousands of years in the past. As for religion, the Ziths are polytheistic (believe in multiple gods), and actually very lenient in religion, and as far as most care, what another creatures believe is not as important as what they themselves believe. Indeed it is because the Ziths believe in more than one god, that they are open to the idea of other gods existing. Religious wars were unheard of for the Ziths until they encountered other races and the Ziths find the prospect of fighting for religious reasons hard to understand.

They Zith have a very rich culture, filled with a complex working of guesters and symbolism. For example bowing is widely used in most Zith cutlers to signify everything from greetings to rank to showing views of others. For example if a Zith wishes to show he his a high ranking noble when he greats another Zith, he bends less than a lower ranked Zith, and extends his frill less and allows the superior to fully extend. The highest of all Ziths, royalty, do not bow when demonstrating their rank, but extend their frill as far as possible.

Language
The ziths have a multitude of languages, every kingdom having it's own language. But the major languages broadly cover cultural areas. The common language used between cultures is an old language, called Altuz, that predates all the modern languages, and has an unknown origin. Zith legends tell that the language was the first given to the zith by the gods, but most scientific analysis dismiss such ideas. Regardless of origin, the Altuz is undoubtedly older than any other language on Inoria, and many ziths consider the language a sacred gift of the gods and a relic from the ziths most ancient past. The Altuz is a very beautiful language, it has far more descriptive words, adjectives, adverbs and a wide sort of descriptions and metifors. Many ziths state that it was made for poems and stories, but the language is ineffective in areas that requires precise and fast sentences, such as if you were to ask in English; "Were are you going?" in Altuz it would be; "Tickat pau ituze hiurm risha?" which would more effectively translate as; "Were (Tickat) do(pau) you(ituze) leave(hiurm) to(risha)".

When the ziths entered space stage and came into contact with other species, they had to quickly learn the standard galactic language, many zith merchants, diplomats and even ziths who never leave their world learned the language. When the ziths encountered the giliani and joined their fledgling alliance, they made gilian a widely spoken language.

Naming System
Because the Ziths are a people that retain all there history and legacy, they have an complex naming system that both identifies the Zith as an individual, and shows their family line. A Zith name follows this arrangement

Personal Name: Like a first name, is given at birth.

Family Line: Like a last name but includes the father's, mother's, and grandparent's last name, but grandparent's last name is usually only used in formal introductions.

Nations Mark: A name given to the Zith once they have grown old enough to take an oath of loyalty to the nation.

Bhelion       Daco         Imuzu         Kullu        Imuzu | Oukin | Kullu | Ruuz

Personal name| nation mark| fathers name| mothers name| grandparents name

When one zith marries another zith there names remain the same, indeed the only signification of marrage is wedding bands, and it is considered an offence to strip a zith of their family name as it is an identification of that ziths lineage and inheritance. It is a favorite past time among the Ziths to try to trace their lineage as far back as possible. The farthest going as far back as the invention of writing.

Philosophy
The Ziths are the essentially knights, as they are honorable and chivalrous in wartime, and hold noble values. They have a very strong moral code, and high standers of every thing from their rulers, to there allies, to the honesty of merchants. Because of these high standards the Ziths have come into conflict with species with immoral actions. Ironically, if the Ziths come into conflict with a species that they consider unloyal and trustworthy, they can and will manipulate there enemies because they are considered "fair game".

''It is on three principles that our civilization is built. Truth, with out which distrust would tear us from within. Loyalty, a mark of noble people and with out which we would be untrustworthy brigands. Unity, the bond that holds all from the King to the farmer together, making us stronger than we would be alone.''- Philosopher Aratch, Zith Code of Principles

''What makes the Zith great you ask. Loyalty, bravery, and fine Zith metal.''-Huippa a Zith general on the flag ship Himmar.

The modern Zith philosophy, is currently dominated by the Natchicu (which translates, Search for Wisdom) which has spread throughout Inoria, and the colonies of the Zith. Natchicu was created by Aratch, a philosopher, historian and scribe to the royal family.

Fundamental Views
The following is a list of the most important subjects in zith philosophy.

Interconnections: The zith believe that actions are universal in their effects, and because all living things are connected, every action has consequences to everyone, regardless of involvement. Actions behave similar to a ripple on a pond, each action spreading out and affecting other living beings, and will eventually rebound back to its point of origin. For example if a being dose a good thing, the action will spread and touch other living beings and affect them in, hopefully, a positive way; but what is good for one may not be good for another (see good). This concept also works in reverse. If a person commits a action that brings harm to others, it will touch all living beings in one way or another and eventually bring that harm back to it's point of origin. It is because of this idealism that the ziths do not tolerate the "evil" actions of others, regardless if they are involved.

Good:One fundamental aspect of the Natchicu is in in the way that the Natchicu, treats the idea of good. In the Natchicu, the good is any positive thing that improves the physical or spiritual well being of a living thing. In this term of good, it is divided into two types, the pure good which is any good action that brings good (or dose no harm) to others. Then there is the tainted or impure good, which is an act that improves the good of one, but brings harm to others. There has recently been a new trend in thinking that there exists a few, pure goods, which brings prosperity and happiness to all involved. The number of these pure goods has fallen after the Ziths encounter with aliens, but many believe that there is a handful of good deeds that all would consider good. So It is because of this mentality of what is good for all is good for the individual, that the majority of Ziths do not tolerate any wrongdoing even if they are not directly affected.

Freedom: Freedom is considered an important aspect in zith thinking, however few ziths call for revolutions or changes to their living styles. Instead, the ziths believe freedom is not something that can be fought over and won or lost. Instead each and every living being is born with freedom, for freedom is the ability to make choice, and decide you're path. In their own words: We are free, and no power, not even the gods, can change that fact. It is because of this zith rebellions are rarer, and wars for freedom are unheard of. It is also because of this that the ziths believe that control over any other living being is impossible, and anyone who tries to control another is foolish in trying to complete the impossible. There are two things in which we are not free to do, we are not free to restrict another living being's freedom, and we are not free to not be free.

Dark Heart Zith
''We walk the dark border between life and death. For we are alive yet dead, ziths who's souls have left the mortal plane, but our bodies and minds have remained. Beware, for we are the Shira, Thous with darkened souls, and we have nothing to louse''

Zwith, zith dark heart, and dark heart leader.

The Ziths are a very emotional race, and when they experience a complete heart break (loss of family, friends est.), most Ziths would die from the pain due to heart failure, (a similar effect exists in humans called broken-heart-syndrome). However, some Zith's will to live is stronger than their grief, and instead of dieing, they lose nearly all feelings; mostly positive feelings, however some negative emotions have been known to remain,(hate, revenge, est). Zith scientists who have studied these Ziths have discovered that many parts of the mind and body that effect emotion become inactive, or are "messed up" to the point of being unrecognizable. These Ziths are known from then on as Shira: Black Heart, it is more effectively translated Darkened Soul, but Dark Heart stuck better. Many Ziths in this state believe that they are mere shells of their former selves, and so many completely dedicate them selves to service for others, usually their nation, not caring what happens to them. They wear all black cloths to identify themselves. Many serve as assassins, executioners, interrogators, things that most Ziths could not bring themselves to do. Rumors abound that some dark heart are organized as soldiers, to partake in missions that other ziths could not complete, although this has never been proven.

Government
The Zith are divided into a series of kingdoms ruled by a signal king and queen, with a body called the 'Counsel of Nobles' below them, who act as advisers and leaders on the battle field, in war time, and in the royals ambiance, in peace time. The Counsel of Nobles is made of Ziths who have reached the position of Noble either by being born into a noble house, or earning the position by proving his worth to the king. Although the royal family hold the majority of power tyrants are rare, as the Ziths are often more interested in the welfare of the nation than there own desires ie. most Ziths have little ambition, some times to a harmful point. The Ziths have high standards of their kings and any sign of a despot and the Zith council of nobles and the general populace will come together and decide if the ruler should be removed from office. There is undoubtedly corruption in their government, and most Ziths are willing to admit it, but the level of corruption is small and not majorly damaging. The royal family run the overall management of the country, but bellow the royalty, the Zith nobles class run many of the aspects of government. For example the Zith legal system, which varies from culture to culture, is run by a court of nobles who dedicate their lives to serving in that position, giving it up when they reach a certain age or they can no longer hold the office. The space age Zith Empire is ruled by a Court of Kings, which is made up of all the kings of the zith race, which is formed into two levels of administration. The kingdoms are first organized into cultural circles, and minority groups are represented by a miniature group of high ranking Zith of that group who send a representative who acts as their "king" in the Court. When all the votes within the cultural circle are taken, then a representative from each cultural circle to a summit meeting that represents the entire zith race with four members. The court of kings came together every year to discuss maters of importance, such as social problems, impending wars est. In the court each king's vote counts as one vote, however if a vote is passed that one or more kings highly disagree with, they have the power to vote to remove the agreement as long as at lest half of the kings agree. When the Ziths reached space and the planet was on the verge of unity, a problem arose. No zith would accept any lord other than their own royal family. So a new system was developed to solve this problem. Each royal family would maintain their places, but they would all form together to form a senate-like group, that came to be called the "Court of Kings".

Kings
Zith kings hold near absolute power in most zith cultures. New kings comes into power when the previous king dies or passes up his crown to his chosen heir. Heirs are often chosen by the king, but the "default" choice is the eldest child. Female ziths can and have become rulers, and have all the powers of their male counterparts, indeed the ziths find few differences, in their language queen is merely a feminine version of king.

Allies
Galien Alliance The zith have gathered a large number of allies to there banner, especially after they joined the Galien Alliance. They have made some note worthy allies in the Alliance.

Giliani: A race of diplomats that founded the Gilien alliance. The ziths and giliani have forged a strong alliance, the ziths finding the giliani a respectable race and the Giliani believe the Ziths dedication to stability and peace in line with their own views.

Werewolves: The technological and traditional races have formed a strong alliance, often going to war for one another. The ziths and werewolves share many of the same morals and views of the galaxy, and despite their differences, have forged what started as a shared military conflict to a strong alliance.

Laws
The zith laws are very strict and non lineal, there are no bails, no excuses, once deemed guilty punishment is dealt with no exceptions. For the zith lieing is a crime punishable by the full power of the law, and often a zith will admit there guilt rather than lie, trials are often more to decide if a zith is lieing or not.

Sarim
Ziths do not believe punishments are to "correct" criminals. Punishments are to undo the damage done and pay back some measure of what was taken. Sarim is a punishment dealt by the zith judges, which places the offender in a lower "cast" in which they preform such works such as maintenance of buildings, cleaning and disposing of garbage, est. They serve for a certain amount of time depending on the crime, and wear a symbol on there chest with numbers underneath it, to signify that they are Sarim, and what level. The Sarim are divided into three classes, Class One Sarim are Ziths who have commuted rather small crimes, thievery of replaceable objects, stealing a est. They serve for at least a few weeks, to a month, and can stay in there homes when the days work is done. Class Two Sarim are Sarim who have committed damaging and serious crimes, attempted murder, stealing of precious or holy artifacts, and treachery to a fellow zith fall into this category. These zith must serve for several months to years, and must stay within a prison during there punishment. Class Three Sarim are murderers, traitors, and conspirator to the kingdom itself. These must serve for years, or even for life, and are openly scorned on the streets. They must spend there punishment inside a prison, and if held for life, there possessions are given to a family member.

Technology
The Ziths are rather backward in technology, stone castle like buildings, primitive machinery, and a lack of a large industry. Zith technology may not the most advanced in the galaxy, but they do have access to some interesting crafts. The ziths are experts in metallurgy, and they have developed artificial metals with almost any traits or uses imaginable. Yark, for example, is a super heavy supper strong metal used in ships; which can withstand tremendous amounts of stress pressure, heat, cold, est. The zith are also experts with fusion energy, and it powers nearly every object that requires energy, from vehicles to cities to their ships.

Space Travel
The zith faster than light travel is some what unwieldy and crude, but effective. What they do is they overload their fusion reactor on their ship, and send that energy in one large shock at the rear of the ship. This causes a disturbance in space, sort of similar to a ripple, and the ship or ships ride the ripple to their destination. The distance jumped can be increased or decreased by the amount of energy used, and the calculations are made by the ships on-board computer. This is not the most effective way to cross light years, across too much distance the pilot must make multiple jumps, and they still jump in regular space, and must avoid obsticols in their path.

Economy
The zith economy, or rather the lack thereof, is in most senses an advanced form of barter. They

Religion
The main Zith religion is polytheistic, meaning that they believe in more than one god. They have many gods but surprisingly they treat their gods as more of a high and powerful race rather than a invincible deity as they can both be born and killed. The Ziths also are very open to the idea of other deity's existence and indeed there scholars say that it would be a near impossibility that there are only a hand full of gods that created the countless beings of the Galaxy. Because of this open believing of other forms of religion, wars over religion were unheard of until they meet other species, and there for the Ziths find religious wars both hard to understand and barbarous.

Gods

 * Yisamar: Creator of the Zith world of Inoria, and the father of the other gods. In Zith religion Yisamar gave the crown and leadership to his eldest son, Zaton, and then departed to parts unknown.


 * Zanton: King of the gods and the god of unity, loyalty, and truth. In Zith mythology Zanton created the Zith race and Yisamar's oldest child. He was charged with the creation of the mortal races that would inhabit Inoria, along with Alteno. He holds the zith to be his children, and his name means father in the older languages.


 * Alteno: Queen of the gods and the goddess of life, protection, and love, oddly Alteno is said to not have come from the family of Yisamar, and came from elsewhere. When asked of her origins her priests say that she came from a high and noble family of gods. Other than this nothing is known. Alteno and Zanton were charged with the creation of mortal races. Like Zanton Alteno treats the zith as her children, and her name means


 * Fravo: God of metal and fire, in stories he makes weapons, armor and tools for the gods. He was created by Yisamar to help in forging the world of Inoria, making him Zanton's brother.


 * Raisi: God of war and the captain of the armies of the gods in war time. He is mostly worshiped in wartime to give strength and support in hard times. He is the oldest of Zanton's three children.


 * Yirma: Goddess of Freedom and wild things. She is one of the odder gods to worship in Zith society and all her shrines are in the wild. She is the second eldest of Zanton's three children.


 * Urrmshi: The god of messengers, diplomacy, language, and communication. He is the youngest of Zanton's three children.


 * Irtan: The god of treachery, murder, and thieves. Irtan was created as the dark side of Yisamar's creation, and therefor a steep-brother to Zanton, and uncle to all his children. He was at first only the god of treachery, but was slain by a mortal, and so he created his own realm of the dead for his soul to inhabit. It is said that when evil ziths die, especially if they were treacherous, they will follow Irtan into his death land; and join in his plotting to bring ruin to others.

The gods originally lived among the zith on a sacred mountain range, and built a city of polished white stone and gold and silver, with towers and turrets and massive spires. The city was divided into ring sections, the first was Zanton's palace, and all other sections were built around it. However after an unknown cataclysm the gods and all their constructs simply disappeared from the mortal realm. The zith believe that the gods now live in a realm unreachable by mortal means, and only reachable when the soul passes into that realm after death.

After Life
The ziths believe that once their soul leaves the body, they travel to the palace of Zanton, and there be judged by his servants, the Zour. Should they pass the judgment, the zith is sent to live with a god they had prayed to the most. There they dwell with the god for as long as they wish, but a zith can chose to be reborn and live again. In the legends while the gods lived in the mortal realm, the spirits of the dead would dwell with the gods, allowing the dead to interact with the living.

Other Immortals
The gods do not live alone in their palaces, they are followed by other immortals, who have pledged their services and loyalties to them. The gods also have mortals in their service, and together they aided the gods in the construction of their palaces, tools, weapons and other constructs.

Zour: The gods main spirit followers are the Zour, angelic versions of zith, believed to have been created by Zanton along with the zith. The Zour appear as tall winged zith with superior strength and mind. However Zanton decreed that both species were to live together, and the ziths were destined to rule over Inoria. Each Zour, like the zith, would pick one or multiple gods to follow and set themselves to master their skills. For example the Zour who dedicated to follow Fravo became masterful tool makers and metal workers, while those who chose to follow Zanton became leaders and rulers.

Other Gods
An important part of the zith religion is the belief of other gods. As mentioned before the ziths are willing to believe that other gods exist as it dose not interfere with their beliefs. Religious scholars often try to place the gods of other races within the scope of their pantheon. The zith believe that all living things can be described in two major groups; the mortal, who's souls are not strong enough to stay in one realm for ever, are in constant change, and who's bodies desires are often stronger than their souls; and the Immortals, who can remain in one realm for eternity, and who's souls are stronger than their bodies.

Warfare
War is a cruel lord, giving ruin to all and glory to few.

-Zar General of Daco armies, 165 Second Age.

The Ziths are not necessarily a war like species, however they are no strangers when it comes to war. The Zith's approach to war-fare is almost exclusively a state of total war. The Zith military is built around the idea of overwhelming their opposition both physically and mental, through shear weight of overwhelming might. For example a common formation involves the Dragons Horn Tank forming up next to each other to form a moving wall of steel while faster more maneuverable units move ahead to clear anything that could pose a threat to the tanks allowing the rest of their forces to flatten any resistance. The zith often use shock and awe, because their displays are meant to be so spectacular that the opponent is simply over awed into submission, rather than actually defeated. The ziths are also especially effective in defense, even more so on rough grounds of hills and mountains. A large sized zith force can lay layer after layer of infantry, tanks and artillery to slow or stop any attacks. The ziths skill in masonry and metal working means that they can build fortresses relatively quickly, combined with the ziths natural stubbornness makes any defense hard to crack. An interesting point to note is that despite the great importance they put on loyalty, they are known to exploit any disunity among their enemies to their advantage. This is because as far as the Ziths are concerned anyone who can be manipulated to betray their ruler and nation is in truth untrustworthy and there for, "fair game".

Warfare Between Ziths
Prior to the zith introduction to other species their form of warfare was very different. The zith's wars were very symbolic and ritualized to limit the number of ziths killed on the battle field. For example often the armies would march in the open with bright colors and make lots of noise. This was a show of might, and often armies would try to impress the opponent into ether surrendering or avoiding battle for another day. It was also considered a rule of war for the apposing sides to show mercy, such as giving medical aid to wounded solders, giving important items taken form enemy dead back, and generally avoiding the formation of grudges. Because of this form of ritualized warfare the ziths despised urban warfare, because of the unthinkable collateral damage that would be caused. Often cites would surrender rather that fight street combat, however if a city did not immediately surrender it was considered the rule of war to besiege the city rather than take it by storm. These rules were strictly followed by almost all kingdoms on Inoria, the frailer to follow the rules of combat would earn the long lasting anger of the victim nation, meaning that the enemy would be less likely to surrender, and fight all the harder and fiercer to avenge a wrong. When the ziths first encountered another species they were confused that they did not have the same ritualized war fare that they did, causing great anger and bitterness between them.

Organization/Ranks
Zith Soldier: The standard rank and file of the Zith army. Although these Ziths are the rank and file of the Zith army, they are nonetheless well armed and armored. They have extremely effective armor, and will outlast many other species. The Zith empire covers multiple cutlers, so the solders vary from nation to nation.

Zith Captain: The leader of zith platoons, they are experienced zith solders who have served for many years. The captains are often better armed than the average rank and file zith, but they are armed with much the same equipment



Kings Swords:The elites of the Zith armies, the Kings Swords are chosen from the finest and most loyal of the Zith forces. They are not part of the normal chain of command, they directly answer to the king, and are not officially part of the armed forces. However they can take command of other troops, and they can be seen leading other Ziths into battle. They wear there symbol on their order on their chest, a sword above a mountain. The Kings Swords are common across the Zith cutlers, but there are variations across nations.

Fears
Most Ziths do not consider themselves a paranoid people and not cowards. However there are things that nearly all Ziths fear and many species may find their dread to approach near unrealistic levels. The one thing that nearly all Ziths fear is water. Not the substance it self, but the creatures that might live in it. This is particularly true for oceans, but Ziths are hesitant with any body of water that they can not see the bottom of. This is not a paranoia or unrealistic fear, and is caused by the fact that the oceans of their home world is filled with creatures of huge sizes, many of which hunt Ziths when it's opportune to do so. This is also true for murky rivers, however the creatures are much smaller. There are exceptions however, such as the Ziths who inhabit the southern end of the continent, have conquered their fear of water and were the first of their kind to sail the oceans. Another and possibly greater fear is mental rather than physical, which is the removal of a Zith's name from history is considered one of the worst offenses that one Zith could inflict on another. Although Ziths do not believe there after-life being affected by the loss of their place in history, but nearly all Ziths feel that they need to leave a legacy behind them not only through their children, but also through their name in the history books.

History
The zith history is currently organized into ages, each varying in length. The ages are begun and ended by an important event, rather than any mathematical organization.

The Mythic Age: Length unknown

The First Age: Age of the Gods: Length unknown

The Second Age: Age of The Zith: Length hundreds of thousands of years

The Third Age: Age of Daco: Length

The Fourth Age: Age of Ruin: Length

The Fifth Age: Age of the Empire of Rin: Length

The Sixth Age: Age of Inoria: Length

The Seventh Age: Age of Unity: Length

The Eighth Age: Age of The Zith Empire: Length

Narmi War

Coloring
The Ziths come in many different colorings, depending on which region of there world they inhabit. This happens because of the fact that ziths need to digest certain minerals from there local environment, which causes the zith to gain the coloring of that mineral. The mineral changes color depending on which part of the planet it was formed, resulting in differently colored ziths. For example the Ziths in the central mountain range of there land, have a light blue coloring, while the Ziths of the east have a bright green. In all there are five major groups:

Central Mountains: Light Blue

Northern Tundra: From White to Dark Blue

Eastern Mountains and Steeps: Bright Green

Southern Lands: Bright Red

Western Mountains: Vary due to the fact that this area has a long history of outsiders settling in this land and mixing with the local population, however the most dominant color is a Bright Yellow

Home World
Inoria, is a relatively warm planet with two continents. One continent, which is called Guzu, is covered with thick jungle like growth and has the larges number of mammalian and bird like animals on the planet. The other continent, which is named Zait, is the evolutionary cradle of the Ziths, this land mass is much farther north of the equator and is very mountains, making it much cooler in climate than it's southern cousin. The continent of Zait is mostly dominated by reptilian creatures.

Taxonomy

 * Kingdom:
 * Phylum:
 * Class:
 * Order:
 * Family:
 * Genus: Zithia (Haghog999, 2008)
 * Species: Zithia bleumuseaumonstre (Haghog999, 2008)