Cho

Two of the few Cho to escape the Havenic Cho Purge of 43 HE. These two are Ningencho, meaning that they are Cho that have metamorphosed from humans; this is by far the most common type of Cho, though any race can become Cho.

## History

The Cho are all descended from a single creature known as Cho Prime. Cho Prime arose from Inismona in 5,000 BH as a consequence of the island's human population disrupting the normal environmental cycles meant to take place on the island. Cho Prime liquefied many of the island's humans with a single psionic attack, an event which caused the surviving humans to flee the island; this event was so nightmarish that it is still etched into the cultural consciousness of many human lineages to this day.

Following this restoration of balance to Inismona, Cho Prime itself now had to leave the island in order to keep from further disrupting it. Using its immense psionic powers, Cho Prime teleported to a ley line confluence on a remote island in the Dawn Sea which would eventually come to be called Shiroishima. By exerting the force of its psionic powers on these ley lines, Cho Prime would plant the image of a "promised land" in the minds of those receptive to the energies of the ley lines. After several decades of drawing small packs of seafaring mortals (mostly humans) to Shiroishima, Cho Prime would, in 4,900 BH, voluntarily break itself apart at the cellular level and would enter into the drinking water supply of the villagers living on Shiroishima.

Upon consuming the water infused with the cells of Cho Prime, the villagers of Shiroishima would begin to metamorphose; at first this process would happen slowly, with their limbs slowly becoming covered in chitin and small antennae sprouting from their heads, but eventually they would become encased in cocoons to finish transforming. Upon emerging, they would be remade in Cho Prime's image, possessing striking lepidopteran characteristics, including wings and distinct markings; they had become Cho.

In addition to being physically transformed, each Cho was now psionically linked with every other Cho via Cho Prime's decentralized psionic consciousness. Able to perceive the emotions, thoughts, and experiences of each of their fellow Cho, they soon transitioned from an idyllic island community to a near-utopian one. With the help of the influence of Cho Prime's consciousness, they worked to continue to exert an influence on the ley lines to draw more travelers in to recruit them to the Cho.

This would go on indefinitely for many thousands of years, with Cho also occasionally leaving Shiroishima to form colonies in distant lands and to bring more races into the Cho collective. However, to avoid exposing Shiroishima to dangerous forces such as Haven, The Guild, or The Corporation, Cho Prime would periodically spend vast reserves of psionic power to teleport the entirety of Shiroishima to a different location along the ley lines. Though they were occasionally visited by dangerous outsiders (including the Iron Helix Syndicate on one occasion), this kept the Cho relatively safe.

However, sometime around 43 HE, an immensely powerful chaos god known as Oorn would manifest a physical form in the Material Plane, and the magical disturbance from this event would be so severe that it would reverberate across the ley lines; this would cause minor tremors in Haven, but would cataclysmically fracture Shiroishima, leaving the Cho to evacuate to whatever lands they could reach. Many were lost at sea or died in inhospitable lands such as the deserts of Bilraqighan, but some managed to reach Haven.

Upon arriving, the Cho attempted to form a colony among the denizens of Haven's most comfortable neighborhoods, but the Cho's infective practices soon became known to the Haven Guard and an extermination campaign was launched which drove them underground. From this safehold, the Cho would continue to lure in wanderers with psionic calls for help, most notably an ancient and world-weary gold dragon by the name of Shangxin. Shangxin would take an interest in the Cho, and would become their protector, though he would not yet assimilate into their collective.

It was around this time when the Cho's safehold was located by the Iron Helix Syndicate during a rampage throughout the sewers of Haven. Though the Iron Helix contemplated slaying the Cho as well, Shangxin expertly negotiated with them and persuaded them to be satisfied with the Cho exiling themselves from Haven to a distant land, never to return. In return, he assured the Iron Helix that he and the entirety of the Cho would support the Iron Helix Syndicate if they were called upon. Though they hated the Cho, the Iron Helix were enticed by the prospect of having such a powerful gold dragon on their side, and so they allowed the Cho and Shangxin to leave.

WIP