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As mysterious and secretive as old tales of lost civilizations, the Slizzar are by far the rarest race in Aloria; only a few thousand still exist in the entire world, but are peculiarly nowhere near extinction. Slizzar have, throughout history, played only a minor public role in the affairs of other races, yet often had a hand in matters behind closed doors, and in the private chambers of enamored rulers and politicians. Slizzar are universally distrusted among all races, though many continue to fall prey to the Slizzar ways of seduction. Slizzar continue to do nowadays as they have done for centuries: worm their way into the trust of individuals in power, and then silently and slowly make them susceptible to their suggestions. Slizzars are highly solitary—bettering solely themselves, and seeing all other Slizzar as competition to the idea that they should control world events behind the scenes alone. Slizzar make excellent courtesans and advisers, despite their self indulgent behavior, being both intelligent and quick witted. Few Slizzar can be found undisguised, in fact many of them choose to remain hidden in shifted form, though all Slizzar travel back to Ssasrakand once a year during the solar eclipse to have a sense of communion.
| Slizzar | |
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| Race | |
| Pronunciation | Slizz-ahr |
| Classification | Naylar |
| Subraces | None |
| Common Nicknames | Snake People, Shapeshifters, Puppeteers |
| Languages | Zasta, and whatever language they pick up in the societies they emulate |
| Naming Customs | Dependent on whatever society they are in, yet often contains many L’s, S’s and Z’s. Many Slizzar abandon their real name and only reveal this to those they really trust. |
| Racial Traits | |
| Distinctions | Highly intelligent snake-like people with limited shape-shifting abilities |
| Maximum Age | 120 years |
| Body Types | Often Skinny or Lanky, yet never above Toned |
| Height | 5’ - 6’ in their natural state |
| Weight | 100 - 160 lbs in their natural state |
| Eye Colors | Red, orange or cyan irises with dark grey sclera |
| Hair Colors | Varying colors |
| Skin Tones | Gray to black scales, with varying facial marks |
Physical Characteristics
The form of a Slizzar is something that is never truly settled; it can shift at their whim and will. Their race is the only race on Aloria that boasts shape-shifting abilities, meaning they shift between two or more physical forms to suit their situation. When in their natural form, Slizzar have no legs, but instead, a snake-like tail extending from their waist upon which they support themselves. They move about with a slithering motion. In their natural form, Slizzar are physically weak, lacking much upper body musculature, but compensate for this with immense lower body-strength, which can be used to strangle smaller individuals with their tail alone. Their skin is covered in dark gray scales, with various lighter patches on their softer areas such as the navel and forearms. Curiously, Slizzar have no belly button, nor do females have mammalian breasts.
The head of a "natural form" Slizzar consists of an elongated face with bared nostrils rather than a nose of cartilage and flesh, and a massive, hinged mouth that can open both vertically along the lips as well as horizontally along the chin. Slizzar don’t need to open their mouth to be audible while speaking. In fact, while their forked tongue might habitually flick out from time to time, it's rare to see them with an open mouth. The forked tongue serves to aid their sense of smell, meaning they can pick up fine smells and scents in about a twenty feet radius around them. Slizzar can use this to determine an individual's race, gender, and whether there is exposed blood in the vicinity. Underwater, their smell and capability to speak becomes nullified, but Slizzar can stay underwater without breathing for up to sixteen hours in shallow water and two hours in deeper water. Slizzar heads have hard skull extensions stretching from their cheekbones and forehead to cover parts of their "hair". They appear like ears, though don’t actually function as them since Slizzar ears are smaller orifices elsewhere. While they don’t actually have hair, in its place they possess a bundle of tentacles which have limited movement capabilities. These are usually bound up, similar in appearance to dreadlocks. These tentacles are often colored in gradients, though there is no strict gender enforced or otherwise standard colors. Slizzar have been witnessed having colors ranging from purple and cyan, to red and yellow, to green and purple, though these colors are always consistent with the colored patches of scales that Slizzar have in their natural state. Slizzar don’t visibly age, neither in their natural state or any of their other Shifted Shapes. They grow from an infant to an adult, and then much like the Altalar, simply show no signs of aging even when they perish from old age.
Slizzar almost entirely lack sexual dimorphism in their natural forms, meaning that gender is indiscernible unless they shape shift. Slizzar have two shape shifted stages which are explained below. Shifting between forms takes less than ten seconds, is painless, and can be done multiple times a day. That being said, they only have one shifted shape per race, meaning they cannot emulate a different specific Humanoid. When they shift to the Fully-Shifted Shape, it will always look the same. Additionally, these shape shifting abilities only extend to classically Humanoid races like Altalar, Ailor and Songaskians, while races that diverge from this definition like Orcs, Rashaq, Maiar can never be emulated.
Semi-Shifted Shape
The Semi-Shifted Shape is the second shape that Slizzar can shape shift into, often also referred to as the second shape (if their natural state is the first shape). A Semi-Shifted Shape attempts to emulate humanoid features, but only creates what appears to be a hybrid between a natural Slizzar and a Humanoid person. The most striking change occurs when their tail splits into thirds, reforming into two tall, thin legs, and one thinner tail. Their newer, smaller tail is still used for balance, or as a third leg when the need arises. The skin retains the same scaled appearance, but the texture becomes much smoother and silkier to the touch. The upper bodies of females gain a large degree more elegance and in some cases even emulate the bosoms of other races. For males, their upper body becomes more masculine, yet still retains a slim shape and form. Facially, the Slizzar’s hinged jaw remains, though it takes on a far more humanoid shape. A small nose is formed, and ears form by the sides. Their “hair” remains tentacles-like in structure, but behaves more like real hair, losing its limited movement capabilities and hanging more naturally.
Fully-Shifted Shape
The Fully-Shifted Shape is the last shape that Slizzar can shape shift into, often referred to as the third shape (if their natural state is the first shape). A Fully-Shifted Shape almost flawlessly emulates a Humanoid shape with Humanoid features, to a degree that distinguishing them from the real thing is hard from a distance, though some telltale signs remain. A fully shifted Slizzar will attain a realistic Humanoid face, not unlike that of an Ailor or Altalar. Their ears, like Altalar are pointed, but curve slightly upwards while Elven ears curve in an arch. Their eyebrows are angular and often stick out, seeming somewhat raised from the head. Their tentacles form natural hair, where the colors (if they were unrealistic before) shift to more natural tones of browns, auburn, and blonde. The only thing upon their face that remains the same is their eyes, which retain the slitted pupils, yellow iris and blackened scleras. The telltale sign of Slizzar are the scaled patches on their face and body. They have smooth, gray scales on their ears, cheekbones, the hairline, between the eyebrows, and finally also on their neck. On their body, patches of these scales exist on their shoulders and along their spine. Another great difference to the other shifted shapes is that they do not have a tail at all. Otherwise, their body is a perfect imitation of a Humanoid, often with a toned Body Shape. The skin tone of this Shape Shifted state can vary between the Songaskian to Avanthar to Ailor tones. Even some Isldar tones have been witnessed, but this is seemingly random. Skin tone has no real bearing to parenting, and differs wildly from Slizzar to Slizzar. Additionally, Gender is not always strict. Even if the natural Slizzar is female, they can shapeshift into male and female Humanoid forms at will, which differ very little aside from the natural differences in gender, they appear as identical non-same gendered twins of one another if they were to be put side by side.
Mental Characteristics
Slizzar are known to be excellent advisers, tacticians, and spies. They are able to analyze a situation objectively, without emotional attachments, and calculate the best outcome. This makes them an incredible calculative race, prone to extreme selfishness and competitiveness. Slizzar will often compete with one another for the position of Shadow Ruler when they are trying to infiltrate a position of power, their greed and ego not allowing them to accept being lesser than another Slizzar. Slizzar are inherently solitary, avoiding contact with other Slizzar until the Solar Eclipse day, which is the 5th of January, when they reproduce and meet for religious festivals. This mental psyche is mostly bred by their religion, which advocates self-betterment at the expense of others. Slizzar are, without exception, highly intelligent, and able to predict or otherwise influence the actions of other races with great accuracy, due to their natural ability to seduce and convince others. Slizzar have a natural ability called Sensation Surge which they use to influence the emotions and feelings of others around them.
Sensation Surge
A natural mental ability which Slizzar possess is Sensation Surge, the ability to transmit an emotion or feeling to another person by means of skin-to-skin touch and eye contact. The exact nature of the ability is not understood, but some suspect it to be magical in nature. A Slizzar can convey feelings and emotions by first locking eyes, and then conjuring up a feeling in their mind before touching a person to transmit it. This touch usually occurs on the arms, and must be done with bare skin on skin. A person wearing something with sleeves, or the Slizzar having gloves will disable the effect. Emotions and sensations often transmitted this way are seductive in nature, with the most popular use being to enthrall others into becoming enamored, or even in love with them, if they can frequently repeat the action. A Sensation Surged emotion or feeling can last a few days at most if it is an emotion, meaning seduction requires constant upkeep. Transmitting simple feelings to guide behavior however, such as anger or happiness, often last for half an hour and are used in particular situations to gently steer the actions of the individual to the Slizzar’s liking. Sensation Surge only works on the more Humanoid races like Altalar, Ailor, Avanthar, Drowdar, Songaskian and Qadir. If one Slizzar uses Sensation Surge while another is still active, it will always override. This includes Sensation Surges by two different Slizzar; a Sensation Surge transmitted in the morning by one Slizzar will always be overwritten by a Sensation Surge transmitted that evening by another Slizzar. There is no outward way to cancel the effects of a Sensation Surge beyond simply waiting it out, though it has been noted that in some cases, Sensation Surge flat-out does not work.
History
Slizzar have always been a race attached to others throughout history. The first mention of Slizzar in modern documentation was during the middle of the Elven Empire, when the Elves began expanding their elegant cities in search of greater power. The Elves stumbled upon the Slizzar living in tribal conditions in the north of Hadar, and, intrigued by the race’s Shape Shifting skills, decided to bring the dwindling civilization into their Empire. Shape Shifting had always been an ambition of the Elves; to transform their bodies into something better had become a dream of even the strongest mages at the height of Elven arrogance and decadence. They hoped to unlock the secret of the Slizzar by inviting them into society and providing them positions of modest power. Unfortunately, the Slizzar developed faster than the Elves had anticipated. Various Slizzar snuck their way into high political positions within the ranks of the Elven governors, and began turning them on each other, using them as pawns in some sort of bizarre game.
In fact, the Elves had become the first puppets for the Slizzar to start competing with one another, as their religion had dictated. Thousands of Elves died on the battlefield in civil skirmishes between governors until the Elven Empire pulled out its resources to focus on the Humans, who around 300 BC, were becoming more aggressive and militarily armed. After their dismissal from the political positions of the Elven Empire, the Slizzar enjoyed 200 years of practical isolation from any other race, until the Ailor made first contact around 100 BC. Slizzar initially had amiable relations with the Humans, though not for the Human race’s betterment. They saw the Ailor as yet another puppet to use in an attempt to overthrow the Elves. It could be said that the Regalian Empire has had visions of grandeur, and that the Elven Empire had its glory days, but the Slizzar are the only race who perpetually and permanently dream of global domination.
When the Cataclysm occurred, the Slizzar lost a large portion of their numbers to the violent volcanic eruptions in Hadar. Their population continued to diminish until the massive influx of Allar took place around 100 AC after the Sendrassian Civil War. The Allar were welcomed, less as friends but more so as tools for the Slizzar to use for their own good. The Allar and Slizzar seamlessly integrated with each other—the Slizzar often setting up puppet rulers among the Allar who were under their control. The reason why the Essa Empire was always such a fractured political entity was because the Slizzar would constantly pit their puppets against each other in a bid for total control over Essa. Empress Miko Missa was the first, last, and only Slizzar Empress that managed to control the entire Empire and halt the infighting due to her religious and magical powers. The Slizzar civilization finally came crashing down when the Regalians invaded Hadar with their superior military equipment in the Chrysant War. The Slizzar were first weakened by the Humans, and then suffered full racial genocide at the hands of the betrayed Allar, who had since learned of the serpent’s puppeting ways. Presently, only few thousand Slizzar remain scattered all over the world, attempting to grasp power wherever they can—though, in no way could it be said that their people are dying. In fact, the Slizzar enjoy this situation far more, as it means there are fewer of their own kind to compete over power with. The Slizzar manage to keep their populations stable through their seamless integration into foreign society, coming together just once a year to procreate en mass.
Society
Slizzar society is near completely nonexistent. Slizzar have, since the Chrysant War, existed by integrating into other societies and becoming part of their political machine without them even knowing. It is rare to see two Slizzar in the same place together, and even if they were to be, they would be constantly competing with one another to the point where they would not socialize or spend time together unless they absolutely had to. If two Slizzar were forced together, it would be a constant war of passive aggression and attempting to outwit one another.
Culture
Slizzar culture is dominated by their religion and their constant drive for world domination through intrigue and subterfuge. Most other races are aware of this, but the Slizzar skillfully use their Shifted Shape and natural allure to seduce and bargain their way into positions of trust, after which they use that position to better themselves. Culturally, Slizzar have a heightened affinity for dancing, and often wear long, silky, and loose robes to accentuate their elegant bodies and movement. To Slizzar, everything they do is part of an elaborate dance or performance to woo their potential puppet into letting them into their trusted circle. Other than that, Slizzar mostly adapt to whatever culture they find themselves in: eating the same food, speaking the same language, and adopting cultural traditions to look like one of the others. The only time when Slizzar intentionally come together is during the Solar Eclipse day, when all Slizzar travel to Ssassrakand to participate in the religious festival and procreate.
Religion
The Slizzar follow the Nessrassian Faith: the faith of the giant Deep Sea Serpents. This faith has several gods embodied as various snakes which represent various aspects of a Slizzar’s personality. This religion is central in their life, for it guides their actions, and in hopes of becoming successful, they worship and offer tribute to their gods who they constantly aspire to become. It can be said as such that the Nessrassian Faith is less a religion, and more a life view or life philosophy. Still, the Slizzar worship the snakes as divine beings—and would even bow to the living ones if, or when, they surface.
Economy and Technology
Slizzar don’t formally have an economy or technology. They simply take whatever is available, meaning Slizzar tend to be wealthy from stealing or bartering with other races, though they don’t actually engage in any economic activity or technological advance. Slizzar inherently believe that their strength must come from their mind and conviction, as opposed to the tools they use. This is one of the reasons why the Essa Empire was so hopelessly outmatched by Regalia during the Chrysant War.
Combat and Warfare
The Slizzar don’t traditionally engage in warfare or combat. Instead, they convince others to do it for them. If a Slizzar is forced to fight, however, they have a strong tail capable of holding or strangling small and untoned people (if lucky), and a mean bite in their hinged jaw. Additionally, Slizzar are excellent bowmen due to their precise eye sight and their ability to detect others within a certain radius around them. Still, Slizzar prefer to avoid combat as much as possible, as they are very aware that they are physically inferior to most races.
Trivia
- It is rumored that one Slizzar once managed to worm their way to the chambers of Emperor Justinian I of Regalia and the Chancellor Morgann Kade. There is no physical evidence of this ever having occurred, but it would explain their erratic behavior.
- Slizzar tails that have been cut off slowly grow back over the course of two years, so long as the cut occurred below knee level.
- Slizzar attempting to use Sensation Surge on one another can cause a Sensation loop where they both become affected by the emotion or feeling that is being transferred.
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