Post by zipp on Apr 18, 2008 11:49:26 GMT -5
This will be posted in installments, each installment filling in another piece of the history and legacy of Zipp. The first installment deals with the Beast Creature's history and legends
In Southern Magnamund, the Beast Creatures, created by the Darklords, have come to live, having fled from their cruel masters ages ago. Of the original eight clans, only five remain. Of these five, three live on the plains of Ilion. The Boars and the Wolves rule the central plains, and the Cats are spread out through the rest, following the herds they hunt for food. The Beasts are feared by humanity and animals alike, banished from both worlds. Though they are unaligned intelligent creatures with their own society, they have been labeled as feral, vicious, and evil. This discrimination has made them untrusting of the human races, though only time will tell what further repercussions this may have.
This story is told in some form to the Childre of the Cat Clan, and is said to be the history of the Beast People:
“Long ago, the Beast People were created by Vashna, cruelest and most devious of the Darklords. Originally, there were eight races of Beast People: the rats, the foxes, the wolves, the Cats, the boars, the apes, the lizards, and the vultures. The Beast People, the Gorak Orgadak, were created to mix the most vicious qualities of humans and beasts and to be the main stay of their army.
"But the beasts, like most animals, couldn't abide the evil that the Darklords represented, and while most of the Gorak Orgadak were indeed feral and vicious, they were less than bloodthirsty, and few were evil, and they began to disobey and desert their cruel masters.
"This angered the Darklords more than anything and they began to torture and kill the beasts still in their control in an attempt to get them to cooperate. They would also torture and starve a beast, then leave them near a human village. The carnage that ensued was a delight to the Darklords. And they would finish off any survivors, whether that be the humans, or the beast. It was these raids which gave us the bad name that sticks with us to this day.
"Finally, the Darklords went so far as to annihilate the vulture tribe. That was all the incentive the tribes needed. With the race facing extinction, three Cats decided to try and break free once and for all from the Darklands and to take the tribes with them. The plan was tenuous, and almost didn't work. The escape took all of three days, but in the end the tribes were successful. Not without heavy loses, however. The rats had betrayed the plan to the Darklords, they were the ones who suffered the least under their rule, and sought to find favor through their betrayal. They then fled during the confusion. To this day, we know not what became of them.
"After escaping, the ape tribe had a vision of the plains the tribes would come to reside on. The Cats led the tribes there, and that is where we are now headed. the Ilion plains. But even after reaching them, times were not easy. For some reason, the lizards couldn't breed, and they died out. Then the tribes began to fight amongst themselves. The Apes were banished to Halia, the dark plains, where reside thieves, dark sorcerors, and bandits. The foxes left for the forests bordering the plains, and the boars and the wolves still fight over who has control of the plains. The Cats, and their heroes, the ones who originally brought the tribes to their home, were forgotten, left to wander the plains as nomads.
"And though there was no war between the tribes, they had all forgotten their vow of companionship, and lay broken, like pieces of a clay pot. Legends say that one day they will again be whole, but that is another story, and one that has not yet come to pass.”
One of the legendary Beast Heroes was Jyhipp, a goddess who could disguise herself as anything and control the minds of those who sought to do her harm. Another was Xhaviee, a legendary warrior. And the third was Aleiya, who created the cat's unique weapon, the Xhav Shah.
A fourth legendary figure is sometimes worshipped in dark circles, the mage Damascus. But perthaps rumours of his cults are just that... rumours.
* * *
This installment deals with the early history of Zipp
The wind swept across the plains, stirring the grasses and arrousing the gently humming insects that hid from the darkening sky and the promise of storm. The wind blew past them, coming to a circle of simple grass huts sat huddled together as if for warmth. These it shook violently, catching the attention of a creature who walked among them. He was covered from head to toe in a thick black fur. His tail swished back and forth as he walked. His eyes shone yellow in the gloom. He swatted with a five fingered hand at the air, as if warning the wind away. His name was Bacavar, of the feline race of beast creatures, and he was lost in his own thoughts. He had no time for the interuptions of playful weather. He paused mid stride, his ears twitching. From within one of the huts could be heard the mewling of kittens.
Inside, the mother lay exhausted on a hard cot. She looked down at her new litter. Felicia, the midwife, told her it was a good birth. She believed all of the childre would survive. The mother was yet too weak to answer with words, but her smile spoke of her happiness and promised a quick recovery. And then her eyes shut in sudden pain and she let out a quick yell. The pain was sharp, but over quickly. The mother opened her eyes to see Felicia staring as if in shock, her whiskers bristling. The mother looked down, her green eyes widening in astonishment. There on the cot another childe lay, a female kitten. This wasn't so surprising in itself. While rare, it was hardly unheard of that the last childe of a litter could be born sometime after its siblings. It was not that which now brought a blanket of speechlessness over the two women. Even as a newborn, when the hair was barely grown, it was clear that this childe's fur was blue.
The childe's eyes opened, further than a newborn's should. It stared first at Felicia, then looked to its mother. It had had clear yellow eyes, clearer than any Felicia had even seen a newborn possess. Unlike its brothers and sisters, the childe did not cry, but sat silently, turning to watch as its siblings rushed to suck at their mother's teats.
"It is a demon," whispered Felicia in a hoarse voice, her eyes never leaving the newborn. "We should do away with it."
At this the child turned to her and gave her an appraising look, as if judging whether the words were spoken in a moment of superstitious fear, or out of real hatred. The mother reached out and took the childe in her arms, lifting it to her face. She stared into its eyes and smiled.
"No," she said. "We'll keep it and raise it as we would any other childe. I shall give it a name, so that it may walk as one of us."
"That's against our rules," argued Felicia, her voice quiet as if she feared that others were listening. She knew that giving the childe a name would mean it had been accepted by its mother. And after that, getting rid of it was no longer an easy option. Besides, the giving of a name was a sacred ritual. "You should wait until the naming ceremony, or the elders may not accept it into the tribe."
"They'll have to make an exception," the mother said, a growl forming in her throat.
"But you don't even know the childe yet," Felicia begged.
"Then I'll give her the name of someone I do know, someone we all know. A name that portends great things to come. I give this childe the name of our great ancestor, who helped to lead our tribes to freedom from oppression and whoose eyes could see further than any other. She who was able to change her sex so that the tribes would never be without childre. I name this childe, Jhyipp."
Felicia said nothing, but her tail flicked furiously and she glowered at the childe. To give the childe such a powerful name was an act of defiance on the mother's part. It bordered on blasphemy, and she knew the elders would not approve. But if the bond between the elders and their tribe was respected, the bond between mother and childe was sacred, and a mother would defend her litter with her life. As she thought this, Felicia saw the childe was again watching her, and she shuddered, turning away from it.
Outside the tent, unaware of the drama playing out inside, Bacavar watched silently as lightning flashed across the sky. It was a bad omen, that his childre should be born on such a day.
Zipp was a cat creature. She had blue fur, green yellow eyes, and was about 6 feet tall (an above average height for a cat creature). As a cat creature, her anatomy was more human than feline. Her tail (as mentioned), was missing, though the hair conceals the scar. She was lithe, quick as any other cat, even without the tail, and had excellent hearing. She also had retractable claws on both her hands and feet. She was known for her yellow sage's robe, modified to include a hood with which she could hide her features.
Zipp was born a cat creature and given the name Jyhipp (which is pronounced Zipp in the human toungue), named by her mother after the Feline Goddess Jyhipp, who was said to have helped lead their race to freedom from the Darklords and who had the power to see into the future and also to change her sex.
Zipp's fur was a rich blue and she had a strange aura about her. She was estranged from most of the other cats. The tribe wanted to rid themselves of her from the moment her birth became known, but the mother openly protected Zipp, and her father secretly made it known that his wrath would fall on any who harmed his daughter.
At an early age Zipp was brought before an aging sage who predicted that she would destroy her tribe, but also eventually reunite all beast tribes. Shortly after, Zipp's mother died of sickness. When the elders also became old and turned over power to the younger tribesmen, Zipp's place in the tribe was no longer secure. The new elders felt that they should join some of the larger tribes and begin claiming territory beyond the plains. Zipp opposed this, incurring their wrath. They murdered her father (though losing some of their numbers in the process), who bought Zipp enough time to escape. In the fight, there was an accident and almost the entire tribe was slaughtered. It was Zipp's doing... but she doesn't know how.
One of the survivors was a childhood friend named Khallot. He went with Zipp in order to protect her. They travelled to the other plain tribes, seeking to turn them from the idea of warring with the humans for land. However, the matter had become political and one of patriotism, and their efforts ended in failure, and a more drastic one this time.
Accused of having slaughterted her tribe, Zipp was captured, brought before a high council, and made example of. She was raped, and her tail chopped off as a warning to the other tribes and as a final humiliation. She was then banished to a dark part of the plains that held outcasts. Khallot escaped capture. His fate was, for a long time unknown (but that is another story). Zipp was 14 at the time.
Despite her disfigurement and her precarious position, Zipp survived, accepted as "A Dark One" by the outcasts on the Halia plains. But peace would not last long. One year after her banishment, a vicious raid on Halia by monstrous creatures destroyed the new tribe that had accepted her.
Once again alone, and badly injured, Zipp made her way to the human lands. Unfortunately, she discovered that most humans care not for the beast creatures and would like to see them destroyed, thinking them bastard children of the Darklords.
At 16, Zipp felt her death approaching. Starved, she crept alone into the sewers of a human city near the Tantaria, and made ready to die. It was here that Tyrenis, inexplicably, found her.
Tyrenis, well aware of the growing tension between beast creatures and humanity, decided to raise the childre as his own, inducting her into the sage academy. He was careful to keep her out of sight of all but his closest staff, though of course rumour of a beast creature could not be kept hidden for long.
In Southern Magnamund, the Beast Creatures, created by the Darklords, have come to live, having fled from their cruel masters ages ago. Of the original eight clans, only five remain. Of these five, three live on the plains of Ilion. The Boars and the Wolves rule the central plains, and the Cats are spread out through the rest, following the herds they hunt for food. The Beasts are feared by humanity and animals alike, banished from both worlds. Though they are unaligned intelligent creatures with their own society, they have been labeled as feral, vicious, and evil. This discrimination has made them untrusting of the human races, though only time will tell what further repercussions this may have.
This story is told in some form to the Childre of the Cat Clan, and is said to be the history of the Beast People:
“Long ago, the Beast People were created by Vashna, cruelest and most devious of the Darklords. Originally, there were eight races of Beast People: the rats, the foxes, the wolves, the Cats, the boars, the apes, the lizards, and the vultures. The Beast People, the Gorak Orgadak, were created to mix the most vicious qualities of humans and beasts and to be the main stay of their army.
"But the beasts, like most animals, couldn't abide the evil that the Darklords represented, and while most of the Gorak Orgadak were indeed feral and vicious, they were less than bloodthirsty, and few were evil, and they began to disobey and desert their cruel masters.
"This angered the Darklords more than anything and they began to torture and kill the beasts still in their control in an attempt to get them to cooperate. They would also torture and starve a beast, then leave them near a human village. The carnage that ensued was a delight to the Darklords. And they would finish off any survivors, whether that be the humans, or the beast. It was these raids which gave us the bad name that sticks with us to this day.
"Finally, the Darklords went so far as to annihilate the vulture tribe. That was all the incentive the tribes needed. With the race facing extinction, three Cats decided to try and break free once and for all from the Darklands and to take the tribes with them. The plan was tenuous, and almost didn't work. The escape took all of three days, but in the end the tribes were successful. Not without heavy loses, however. The rats had betrayed the plan to the Darklords, they were the ones who suffered the least under their rule, and sought to find favor through their betrayal. They then fled during the confusion. To this day, we know not what became of them.
"After escaping, the ape tribe had a vision of the plains the tribes would come to reside on. The Cats led the tribes there, and that is where we are now headed. the Ilion plains. But even after reaching them, times were not easy. For some reason, the lizards couldn't breed, and they died out. Then the tribes began to fight amongst themselves. The Apes were banished to Halia, the dark plains, where reside thieves, dark sorcerors, and bandits. The foxes left for the forests bordering the plains, and the boars and the wolves still fight over who has control of the plains. The Cats, and their heroes, the ones who originally brought the tribes to their home, were forgotten, left to wander the plains as nomads.
"And though there was no war between the tribes, they had all forgotten their vow of companionship, and lay broken, like pieces of a clay pot. Legends say that one day they will again be whole, but that is another story, and one that has not yet come to pass.”
One of the legendary Beast Heroes was Jyhipp, a goddess who could disguise herself as anything and control the minds of those who sought to do her harm. Another was Xhaviee, a legendary warrior. And the third was Aleiya, who created the cat's unique weapon, the Xhav Shah.
A fourth legendary figure is sometimes worshipped in dark circles, the mage Damascus. But perthaps rumours of his cults are just that... rumours.
* * *
This installment deals with the early history of Zipp
The wind swept across the plains, stirring the grasses and arrousing the gently humming insects that hid from the darkening sky and the promise of storm. The wind blew past them, coming to a circle of simple grass huts sat huddled together as if for warmth. These it shook violently, catching the attention of a creature who walked among them. He was covered from head to toe in a thick black fur. His tail swished back and forth as he walked. His eyes shone yellow in the gloom. He swatted with a five fingered hand at the air, as if warning the wind away. His name was Bacavar, of the feline race of beast creatures, and he was lost in his own thoughts. He had no time for the interuptions of playful weather. He paused mid stride, his ears twitching. From within one of the huts could be heard the mewling of kittens.
Inside, the mother lay exhausted on a hard cot. She looked down at her new litter. Felicia, the midwife, told her it was a good birth. She believed all of the childre would survive. The mother was yet too weak to answer with words, but her smile spoke of her happiness and promised a quick recovery. And then her eyes shut in sudden pain and she let out a quick yell. The pain was sharp, but over quickly. The mother opened her eyes to see Felicia staring as if in shock, her whiskers bristling. The mother looked down, her green eyes widening in astonishment. There on the cot another childe lay, a female kitten. This wasn't so surprising in itself. While rare, it was hardly unheard of that the last childe of a litter could be born sometime after its siblings. It was not that which now brought a blanket of speechlessness over the two women. Even as a newborn, when the hair was barely grown, it was clear that this childe's fur was blue.
The childe's eyes opened, further than a newborn's should. It stared first at Felicia, then looked to its mother. It had had clear yellow eyes, clearer than any Felicia had even seen a newborn possess. Unlike its brothers and sisters, the childe did not cry, but sat silently, turning to watch as its siblings rushed to suck at their mother's teats.
"It is a demon," whispered Felicia in a hoarse voice, her eyes never leaving the newborn. "We should do away with it."
At this the child turned to her and gave her an appraising look, as if judging whether the words were spoken in a moment of superstitious fear, or out of real hatred. The mother reached out and took the childe in her arms, lifting it to her face. She stared into its eyes and smiled.
"No," she said. "We'll keep it and raise it as we would any other childe. I shall give it a name, so that it may walk as one of us."
"That's against our rules," argued Felicia, her voice quiet as if she feared that others were listening. She knew that giving the childe a name would mean it had been accepted by its mother. And after that, getting rid of it was no longer an easy option. Besides, the giving of a name was a sacred ritual. "You should wait until the naming ceremony, or the elders may not accept it into the tribe."
"They'll have to make an exception," the mother said, a growl forming in her throat.
"But you don't even know the childe yet," Felicia begged.
"Then I'll give her the name of someone I do know, someone we all know. A name that portends great things to come. I give this childe the name of our great ancestor, who helped to lead our tribes to freedom from oppression and whoose eyes could see further than any other. She who was able to change her sex so that the tribes would never be without childre. I name this childe, Jhyipp."
Felicia said nothing, but her tail flicked furiously and she glowered at the childe. To give the childe such a powerful name was an act of defiance on the mother's part. It bordered on blasphemy, and she knew the elders would not approve. But if the bond between the elders and their tribe was respected, the bond between mother and childe was sacred, and a mother would defend her litter with her life. As she thought this, Felicia saw the childe was again watching her, and she shuddered, turning away from it.
Outside the tent, unaware of the drama playing out inside, Bacavar watched silently as lightning flashed across the sky. It was a bad omen, that his childre should be born on such a day.
Zipp was a cat creature. She had blue fur, green yellow eyes, and was about 6 feet tall (an above average height for a cat creature). As a cat creature, her anatomy was more human than feline. Her tail (as mentioned), was missing, though the hair conceals the scar. She was lithe, quick as any other cat, even without the tail, and had excellent hearing. She also had retractable claws on both her hands and feet. She was known for her yellow sage's robe, modified to include a hood with which she could hide her features.
Zipp was born a cat creature and given the name Jyhipp (which is pronounced Zipp in the human toungue), named by her mother after the Feline Goddess Jyhipp, who was said to have helped lead their race to freedom from the Darklords and who had the power to see into the future and also to change her sex.
Zipp's fur was a rich blue and she had a strange aura about her. She was estranged from most of the other cats. The tribe wanted to rid themselves of her from the moment her birth became known, but the mother openly protected Zipp, and her father secretly made it known that his wrath would fall on any who harmed his daughter.
At an early age Zipp was brought before an aging sage who predicted that she would destroy her tribe, but also eventually reunite all beast tribes. Shortly after, Zipp's mother died of sickness. When the elders also became old and turned over power to the younger tribesmen, Zipp's place in the tribe was no longer secure. The new elders felt that they should join some of the larger tribes and begin claiming territory beyond the plains. Zipp opposed this, incurring their wrath. They murdered her father (though losing some of their numbers in the process), who bought Zipp enough time to escape. In the fight, there was an accident and almost the entire tribe was slaughtered. It was Zipp's doing... but she doesn't know how.
One of the survivors was a childhood friend named Khallot. He went with Zipp in order to protect her. They travelled to the other plain tribes, seeking to turn them from the idea of warring with the humans for land. However, the matter had become political and one of patriotism, and their efforts ended in failure, and a more drastic one this time.
Accused of having slaughterted her tribe, Zipp was captured, brought before a high council, and made example of. She was raped, and her tail chopped off as a warning to the other tribes and as a final humiliation. She was then banished to a dark part of the plains that held outcasts. Khallot escaped capture. His fate was, for a long time unknown (but that is another story). Zipp was 14 at the time.
Despite her disfigurement and her precarious position, Zipp survived, accepted as "A Dark One" by the outcasts on the Halia plains. But peace would not last long. One year after her banishment, a vicious raid on Halia by monstrous creatures destroyed the new tribe that had accepted her.
Once again alone, and badly injured, Zipp made her way to the human lands. Unfortunately, she discovered that most humans care not for the beast creatures and would like to see them destroyed, thinking them bastard children of the Darklords.
At 16, Zipp felt her death approaching. Starved, she crept alone into the sewers of a human city near the Tantaria, and made ready to die. It was here that Tyrenis, inexplicably, found her.
Tyrenis, well aware of the growing tension between beast creatures and humanity, decided to raise the childre as his own, inducting her into the sage academy. He was careful to keep her out of sight of all but his closest staff, though of course rumour of a beast creature could not be kept hidden for long.