User:The Collective Mind/Shur Zabaik

"None may stand too close to divinity without changing."

The Shur Zabaik, also known as the Akashic Chorus and individually as Chanters, are architects, schemers, engineers, and flesh-crafters -- the masterminds of the Kindred, loyal servants of the Angyir. A crafty and cunning race, their physical weakness is outweighed by their psychic strength, which is further amplified when multiple Chanters work together; hence the name of Chorus.

Journal of Maon: The Chanters
''The magic of the Shur Zabaik is so far removed from the Essence it derives from that I hesitate to call it that. They call it zabashid--a rough translation would be "song of manipulation". As far as I can tell it is unrelated to any of the known types of Essence energy, but it is so warped and distorted by their hymns and chants that any recognizable form would become unrecognizable anyways.''

''The great power of the Shur Zabaik is the power to ALTER REALITY. Their songs suspend the laws of nature and write new ones in their place, however briefly. The Shur Zabaik BECOME those new laws. I have seen them bend space with their powers and make rock flow like water to be shaped like clay. ''

''They are not limited to only the physical world. If you know something they want to know they will sing a black worm to circle around your thoughts and peel your mind open layer by layer. They will shuck you like an ear of corn to take what they need and discard the rest of you to flop on the ground like some pale fish dragged out of water.''

''The Angyir have the same power, but theirs is purer. Stronger. They do not need the chants. Perhaps the Shur Zabaik have no power of their own, but channel that of the Angyir.''

Biology
Chanters are spindly, four-armed bipedal endotherms. Though eyeless, calling Chanters blind would be a mistake -- they simply see through other means, by sensing the ambient Essence around them. While lacking traditional sight, Chanters are still fully equipped with all other senses, and notably have a potent sense of smell.

One of the most notable physical traits of a Chanter is their signature head crest, the size and shape of which can be used to distinguish individual Chanters. The crest helps regulate their body temperature, in much the same way an elephant's ears help cool them off.

Chanters are omnivorous, despite their multiple rings of very sharp teeth.

The Shur Zabaik can live for centuries. Four hundred years appears to be their average lifespan.

Chanters tend to be physically quite frail. They simply aren't built for athletics, however, they make up for their weakness with both intelligence and an unusually high Essence affinity. Your average Chanter wields Essence with the kind of ease that normally only comes with years of experience and training (not to mention good genes), and working together, they can boost their powers to an even greater degree.

Powers and Abilities
"Their devotion is born of fear and desperation."

Chanters have many of the abilities you'd expect from a powerful Essence user. Telepathy, telekinesis, ESP, the works. But in the eyes of the Shur Zabaik, those powers are blunt and coarse, frequently beneath their dignity to use. What makes the Akashic Chorus so dangerous is its ability to channel Essence in other ways. Chanters aren't called Chanters for nothing -- by invoking certain symbols and repeating certain mantras, Chanters may harness their natural Essence affinity to perform feats of power that the ignorant would call sorcery. Driving minds mad with fear, summoning billowing clouds of darkness, stopping hearts with a single word -- those are powers worthy of the Shur Zabaik. The art of spellcrafting is a difficult one to master, but Chanters can live for centuries. Few in the galaxy can match them, power for power.

And of course, the Akashic Chorus isn't called a Chorus for nothing. One Chanter is already formidable. Multiple Chanters acting in unison are truly a force to be feared. Part of the reason for their chants is so that multiple Chanters may work together towards a single purpose, without any mental deviation to pollute the resulting spell: everybody's reading from the same spellbook, so to speak. And some interaction in their Essence amplifies their power in a sort of arcane synergy-- two Chanters working together can accomplish more than two Chanters working separately on the same goal.

But for all the spells the Shur Zabaik can sling, there's one more infamous than most.

Fleshcrafting
The art of fleshcrafting is perhaps the signature power of the Akashic Chorus. How it works is a closely guarded secret, even for the already secretive Shur Zabaik. It is the power to create life. But it is a false life, a hollow life. By any regular definition, fleshcrafted creations are alive -- they eat and breathe, their hearts beat, everything works as it should -- but there is nonetheless something fundamentally wrong with them. Simply being in their presence can be unnerving. Some have compared them to puppets: soulless shells that imitate all the functions of life, yet somehow cannot truly be called alive.

For as long as they have existed, the Shur Zabaik have always surrounded themselves with fleshcrafted servants. Known as Ghuruk, they are feral beasts yet mindlessly loyal, used for all work that the Chanters find degrading. But the Ghuruk are not the only things fleshcrafting can create.

The bodies of the Angyir are perhaps their crowning achievement in fleshcrafting technique. Though the required rituals are arduous and exhausting, the end result is a body capable of permanently withstanding the power of an Angyir mind.