Lu-Qiri

The **Lu-Qiri**, or "demons" as humans call them, were a species that came from another plane of dimension. Lu-Qiri require a Blackblood master to tame them and help them. Many of these creatures were banished to the Plane of Ashes when the Blackbloods were betrayed, but several were freed when Talon opened the portal. However, after months of being on their own in the Plane of Ashes, the Lu-Qiri killed each other along with their masters. When Vorta called the Lu-Qiri to her, she brought them to Janya to consume their life essence so she would be stronger. With the combination of deaths in the Plane of Ashes, the Green World, and the rise of The Seven, the Lu-Qiri are officially an extinct species.

## History

In "*Two Heads Are Better Than None*", Talon goes against The Smith's advice and reads from the parchment he gave her. When she reads from it, a portal appears in her room and a Lu-Qiri named Baphnoro comes through. Talon yells at him to leave and he puts a hole in the ceiling and then lunges through the window.

In "*The Mistress and the Worm*", Baphnoro left a dead body under Talon's window. According to The Smith, the Lu-Qiri left Talon alive because she’s the only one who can let the other demons in. To get rid of it, Talon has to banish it back through the portal. To do this, she must command the Lu-Qiri, now known as Baphnoro, to return to the plane of shadow and ash. The Smith then explains the plane and its history to Talon.

In "*Strange Bedfellows*", the Lu-Qiri continues to leave dead bodies under Talon's window. Marshal Wythers likens this to a pet leaving gifts for their owners. The Smith instructed Talon to banish Baphnoro using the Voice of Command. He begins to help her reach a mindset that is without fear or self-doubt. When Baphnoro kills an old man, Talon goes after Baphnoro before she is ready. Unable to use the Voice of Command, Baphnoro strikes Talon and stabs her through the torso, and leaves her for dead.

In "*Bones to Pick*", Talon returns to her room and finds Baphnoro with a peasant man. She tells him to let him go but he doesn’t listen. She speaks in Blackblood language, which Talon is surprised that Baphnoro understands. It hesitates but ultimately kills the man anyway.

At Talon's execution at the hands of Marshal Wythers, Baphnoro emerges from the sewers and grabs Wythers. Talon tells it to let Wythers go in her native blackblood language and, much to her surprise, it obeys. She commands it to leave, and it does. While speaking with Garret and Wythers, Talon theorized that it only listened to her because she spoke in her ancestral language. Wythers pieces together that she can control the Lu-Qiri because of her black blood. She explained that this was the first time it listened to her. Wythers tells her to handle the demon and then leave the outpost.

The Smith warns Talon that next time the Lu-Qiri might torture Talon to open the way for the rest of its kind. She asks how to banish it back to the plane of ashes, but Smith doesn't have the answers. He explained that her ancestors lived in fear that the power would be used for destructions, so they took great pains to hide any information about how to open the portal.

He elaborates that all Blackbloods have the power to control demons, but only one at any time can open the passageway to the Lu-Qiri's world. That power is handed down from father to son, and mother to daughter. Talon realizes that the power to open the portal is what her mother passed onto her moments before her death.

Talon led Shek and two other members of the Bones to the tunnels where the Lu-Qiri kills two of the members. Shek outsmarts the Lu-Qiri and embarks in a vicious fight with Talon, which Baphnoro dislikes and it tries to break into the room.

In "*The Book of Names*", when Shek is defeated, Talon finally can command Baphnoro back to the plane of ashes. She learns from a scar on its arm that Baphnoro was the one who saved her from the archer as a child. Upon learning that, the portal appears, and she commands it to leave through the portal and Baphnoro does. Talon and Janzo later learn that with the Book of Names she can conjure every Lu-Qiri from the plane of ashes and command them to do whatever she wants. Gwynn asks Talon to summon the Lu-Qiri so they can fight in her rebellion against the Prime Order.

In "*The Colipsum Conundrum*", Janzo is reading the Smith's book that describes the Lu-Qiri and their relation to Blackbloods. According to the book, the Lu-Qiri overlord mated with a human woman, which resulted in the creation of Blackblood. Talon dismisses the theory due to the inhuman figures of Lu-Qiri and that no woman would ever survive mating with a Lu-Qiri.

In "*Beyond The Wall*", Janzo explains the origin of the wall around Gallwood Outpost to Talon. He tells her that the wall was built years before men discovered it. Some say the Greyskins built it, while others say the Lu-Qiri did.

In "*The Vex Rezicon*", Talon, Janzo and Garret are captured by Greyskins and about to be eaten alive. When Janzo is about to be eaten, Talon summons Baphnoro from the plane of ashes to help them escape. She commands him to kill the Greyskins and as a result, he is murdered by them. Talon expresses guilt over sending him to his death as he saved her life more than once, but Garret merely states that it murdered innocent people. Later that night, Talon finds the true Book of Names, meaning the names of the Lu-Qiri trapped in the plane of ashes won't be lost.

In "*The Dragman is Coming*", Everit Dred wants Talon to summon a Lu-Qiri to prove to him and everyone that she is the monster the prophecy proclaims. She tells him that no one will come if she says the name he gives her, but he doesn't believe her. When he threatens to kill Garret she finally speaks Baphnoro's full name and Dred is surprised when Baphnoro doesn't appear. This confirms that Baphnoro did, indeed, die in the fight against the Greyskins.

When trying to figure out The Book of Names, Janzo recites a section in the Smith's book that says, "*only the Dragman can hear the fire-song of the Vex Rezicon*." He is intrigued by this and holds the Vex Rezicon over a fire and it glows blue and begins to whisper names. Janzo realizes that only the dragman can translate and hear the names clearly.

Later that night, Talon picks up the Vex Rezicon and is about to hold it over the fire when she hears a noise. She drops it in the fire and it continues to glow brightly and whisper inaudible names. She demands the person to show themself and is surprised when it’s Ilyin. She sits down and ignores Talon as she writes in her book. She then hands a page to Talon who asks if what is written on the page is a **Lu-Qiri** name. Ilyin continues to write and Talon asks her who she is, to which she responds, “*I am the Dragman*.”

In "*We Only Kill to Survive*", with the help of Ilyin, Talon is able to summon another Lu-Qiri. This one goes by the name of Ekkundi, who is then followed by his master Rebb. Before Talon can attack this new Blackblood, Ekkundi knocks her out with a single swing of his hand. Outside the Outpost Talon is about attack Rebb, only for Ekkundi to protect his master. After charging at Ekkundi twice Talon realizes that the Lu-Qiri is waiting for her to attack but does not want to harm her. Rebb explains that she needs the Asterkinj from Talon, and it can only survive inside a host. Talon and Janzo leave defeated and upset at the lack of progress done.

In "*Not In My Kingdom*", Talon has arrived at the same clearing she was in two days ago accompanied by Janzo. There she sees Rebb and Ekkundi together before Ilyin shows herself. Just as Talon is about to pass the Asterkinj on to Rebb, Illyin shakes her head telling Talon not to. Talon then takes Rebb hostage, so that Ekkundi does not attack the group. Talon then tells Illyin to follow Janzo before knocking out Rebb. Alone in the lab Talon then holds the Vex Rezicon above the fire so that Illyin can write down more names. However, when Illyin is alone by herself, Rebb sneaks inside the lab and kills her, afterwards burning all the names written down by Illyin. However, Janzo discovers that one name has been hidden up the right sleeve of Illyin containing a name. Janzo says that Illyin hid it from Rebb, but Talon suspects that Rebb planted it there for them to find.

In "*Regarding the Matter of Garret Spears*", Rebb takes Queen Rosmund hostage and has Ekkundi kill most of the guards outside the throne room. Tobin Aegisford drunkenly tries to come to her rescue, but Ekkundi easily overpowers him in the throne room, before tossing him out a window. Talon finally decides to use the name Ilyrin had on her dead body. Talon summons Vikka from the Plane of Ashes, who is then followed by his master Zed. As the two Blackbloods fight, Vikka just casually watching. Later on in the throne room, Talon she uses Zed's ring to summon Vikka so he could deal with Ekkundi. The two Lu-Qiri fight each other in the throne room, until they throw each other out the window. Once Rebb and Ekkundi are dead, Talon has Zed back his ring and Vikka back to him as promised. He then has Vikka go outside the Outpost to hunt.

In "*The Blade of The Three*" Vikka has been shown to have killed a lot of livestock in the surrounding farms. This leads to Queen Rosmund forcing Talon to send Vikka back to the Plane of Ashes. At night, Zed summons Vikka, who appears in the fog. Talon then opens the portal to the Plane of Ashes. Zed then tells Vikka to go through the portal. Vikka is reluctant at first, but after Zed yells and commands him a second time he goes through. Later on Zed says that he and Vikka have been together for a very long time.

In "*This Is Our Outpost*" Talon once again summons Vikka back to Gallwood Outpost with Zed. Zed then summons many Blackbloods and Lu-Qiri so that they can all fight against the Prime Order. After the bomb goes of the Prime Order gets denotated by Garret Spears, many Lu-Qiri's corpse can be seen at the entrance of the Outpost. After the battle is over, the Blackbloods along with the Lu-Qiri then take over the outpost.

In "*For the Sins Of Your Ancestors*", with the Blackbloods taking over the outpost, they now have to bring in meat outside to feed to the Lu-Qiri. The next shipment is sheep coming in at night. The humans try to use this opportunity to try and sneak Queen Rosmund out of The Outpost, only for a Lu-Qiri to stop them. In order to save her friends, Talon opens a portal so Zed can summon another Lu-Qiri called Ketma. Once Ketma has come through they move to the side to allow their master, Yavalla to walk through.

In "*A Life for a Life*", Zed finds out that Tobin Aegisford has left the Outpost. So he sends Vikka after him. Later on during a meeting with Rosmund, Zed explains the function of his ring being a whistle for Vikka. Zed uses it to no avail. Later on Vikka finds Tobin and Munt with Vikka holding Tobin hostage at one point but Munt saves his friend with a swing from his hammer knocking Vikka out for a few seconds. Vikka then catches up to the two and is about to attack them when they are saved from the soldiers of Aegisford meeting up with the Baron.

In "*Under Yavalla's Control*", while examining the Aegisford army, Zed noticed that Vikka has returned to the Outpost. Whether from hearing the whistle call days ago or because he simple followed Tobin Aegisford back is unknown. When Zed sees his old friend in the distance, he blows his ring bringing Vikka back inside the Outpost.

In "*Kill the Rat, Kill the Kinj*", it is discovered that humans used to worship the Lu-Qiri as gods, which started a religion. Now that the Lu-Qiri are back that religion has started to practice again. A cult based in the Gallwood Outpost was sacrificing human women to feed the wild and masterless Xaba. When the leaders of the Outpost learn about the sacrifices, they break into groups in an attempt to save the kidnapped offerings. Garret searches for Warlita, the latest kidnapped victim, with the help of Munt, while Talon and Zed try to track the Lu-Qiri Xaba. In the end, Talon was able to tame and take control over Xaba just in time to save Warlita from the cultist. Talon then went on to become Xaba's master.

In "*Go Ahead and Run*", the Lu-Qiri are shown to be affected by the Red Kinj's power of pain infliction. When the Outpost is overwhelmed with Prime Order soldiers, Janzo bears the rings of the Lu-Qiri and summons three of them. He commands them, in his broken Blackblood language, to bring meat to the residents. The Lu-Qiri do obey him, despite him being a human, bringing some cows and sheep from their hunt.

In "*Dying Is Painful*", while not seen in person Munt and Janzo discuss about the lack of food the Lu-Qiri have been bringing. After a few days the three Lu-Qiri seemed to have stopped. Janzo then realizes that this is because Yavalla has ordered The Hive to starve The Outpost and has infected livestock or at the very least kept the livestock animals under guard.

In "*Violence is Futile*", Yavalla summons her Lu-Qiri, Ketma, after she sees Sai-vek Redwan has returned from the Plane of Ashes. Ketma bursts into the throne room and throws Sai-vek against a wall, the proceeds to impale him with a post. Yavalla arrives and commands Ketma to kill everyone in the room, leaving after giving the command. Talon attempts to fight off Ketma, to little avail. Just when Ketma is about to kill Talon, Xaba arrives and save Talon's life. The two Lu-Qiri wrestle each other in the room but eventually fall out the windows as they fight on the ground below.

In "*Someone Has to Rule",* Talon is ambushed at night on her way home from The Nightshade Inn. Because she is drunk and unable to properly defend herself from the trained attacked, she blows her whistle for Xaba. The Lu-Qiri, however, doesn't come to her aid. The next day, Zed questions Talon about Xaba's whereabouts. Talon admits that she whistled for her, but she never showed. Zed admits that he saw Vikka leaving Gallwood the other day and whistled for him. But Vikka left despite the whistling. The next day, Wren and Talon travel to a river where they see a group of Lu-Qiri along the river. Talon blows her ring, but the creatures ignore her signal. She then ask Wren if the Lu-Qiri have a mating season. Wren doesn't believe so, and neither of them can imagine that scene.

In "*A Throne of Your Own"*, Talon and Zed have tracked a group of Lu-Qiri harassing a bunch of humans. They blow their rings to which the Lu-Qiri hear and turn to face them. Xaba immediately kills one of the humans, despite Talon's protest. Before Vikka can kill another human, Zed uses his kinj to stop him. After waking up from being knocked out by the Lu-Qiri, Talon and Zed see that Vikka and the others are gone. Wondering why the Lu-Qiri spared them and not the humans, Zed summaries that the Lu-Qiri may still have some loyalty to the Blackbloods.

In "*The Gods Thank You*", Talon, Zed, and Wren go back to the Plane of Ashes to retrieve everyone and bring them back to the Realm. However, they discover that all the Lu-Qiri there are dead in an open battlefield.

In "*Going to Meet the Gods"*, Vikka is seen outside the cave entrance of Vorta's tomb. He allows Two inside in disbelief of the Blackbloods and Luna. Zed blows his whistle getting his attention. In Blackblood, Zed commands Vikka to leave his post. Vikka screeches in protest not moving. Zed then uses his kinj once again on his friend, forcing Vikka to leave his post. Inside the tomb are two other Lu-Qiri standing across from one another as Two stands before Vorta.

In "*They Bleed Black Blood"*, Vikka has returned and comes charging in the tomb with additional Lu-Qiri. Zed uses his kinj on Vikka once more to protect his companions. However, once released of the kinj's power he knocks Zed out on the command of Vorta. Vikka then carries his unconscious friend across the Realm. When Zed wakes up, he see that Two in the company of Vorta. Vorta then commands Two to suck the life out of the Lu-Qiri. Zed watches in horror as his friend and another Lu-Qiri die before his eyes.

## Plane of Ashes

*Main article: Plane of Ashes*
The plane of ashes is a secondary plane of existence in which the Lu-Qiri were banished and used to reside. The plane of ashes is a place of pain and anguish. They can be summoned from the plane by a blackblood, however, they don't always obey the blackblood that summoned them. Lu-Qiri won’t return to the plane of ashes unless it is commanded to do so forcibly by a blackblood. The blackblood must command the Lu-Qiri without fear, hesitation, or self-doubt. However after months of isolation and no way of hearing from the Green World, the Lu-Qiri residents killed each other along with their blackblood masters.

## Physiology

### Appetite

Lu-Qiri feeds on warm-blooded animals such as deer, elk, and Greyskins. When a Lu-Qiri does not have a master they will feed on humans. But when tamed, they won't feed on humans or Blackbloods.

### Intelligence

At first glance, Lu-Qiri were thought to be mindless demons who only wanted to kill. But upon getting to know Baphnoro, it was evident that Lu-Qiri were more advanced in intellect than that. He sought to free his fellow species from the Plane of Ashes and didn't care who he had to hurt in order to convince Talon to obey his desire. His intellect to decipher that she would care about the well-being of others is impressive for a creature that only speaks in native Blackblood language. Lu-Qiri in general is largely thought to be mindless demons who only obey their master and only think of survival.

This is contradicted when Janzo summons three Lu-Qiri using the rings. His Blackblood language isn't very clear, but he tells them their masters are captive and gave him their rings. He gives them instructions to "hunt many meat bags bring delicious animals for good mouth eating". They are smart enough to decipher what he wants; bring him animals to serve as food for the humans and Blackbloods. They also dropped off the carcasses at the place where they were called, showing a sense of understanding that they had to stay out of sight, or at the very least smart enough to know where to place their kills as Janzo never said any time or place in his instructions.

Without a master, a Lu-Qiri is a dangerous foe to have. It is wild and will do whatever it wants to do. Baphnoro and Xaba both killed humans with no regards, and Xaba even ate one. There have been multiple times when a Lu-Qiri has harmed a Blackblood trying to master it (ironically both incidents involved Talon eventually taming it), with even one time leaving a Blackblood to bleed to death.

With the rise of Vorta and her companions, the Lu-Qiri's behave changes dramatically. They disobey the orders of the Blackbloods, guard Vorta and her kind, and are instinctively killing humans. It is discovered that the reason for this is because the Lu-Qiri follow The Seven's commands, and that Blackbloods are descendants from one of the Seven.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Agility:** Despite their large size and slow pace, the Lu-Qiri have been shown to be very quick. Either at times of battle or when being called upon by their master. They are also show this when climbing up walls.
* **Claws:** The Lu-Qiri's claws are their primary weapons other than their brute strength. While each finger/phalange has one, the longest one is located on their first phalange and is the one mostly used. In "Kill the Rat, Kill the Kinj", their claws are shown to be strong enough to cut through chains. According to Janzo in the same episode, the cut their claws make can be blunt and precise. This can be confused with that of an axe blade on an autophsy. They also use them to help scale walls.
* **Intimidation:** Because of their appearance, Lu-Qiri are naturally frightening. They also make loud screeches and move their many mandibles to help them scare people.
* **Smell:** The Lu-Qiri's sense of smell is highly advanced. They can smell blood from miles away. This is evident when Vikka tracked Tobin from Gallwood Outpost to the wilds for days at end.
* **Stealth:** Despite their large size and loud stomping, these creatures can be very adept in hiding. Baphnoro was able to avoid being caught in the day by using the sewer system and hiding in the shadowed areas near buildings. He also showed this incredible skill when taking out the Bones in the tunnels.
* **Super Strength:** The Lu-Qiri are noticeably stronger than humans and even Blackbloods. Baphnoro lifted a grown man and killed him with ease. He also broke through a floor, window, and put a hole in a ceiling. Their superior strength is one of many dangerous traits. This strength also applies to their tails, as in one incident where a human was whipped away. When fighting other Lu-Qiri, they used their heads to butt and stun them temporary, indicating that their super strength also applies to their skulls. Talon said that it is very hard for a Lu-Qiri to control themselves/strength. This is evident to the number of times they have broken through structures.

## Weaknesses

* **Voice of Command:** The Lu-Qiri follow an absolute line of authority, meaning that they must obey the orders of those above them. When a Blackblood harnesses a voice of command, they can command a Lu-Qiri to do anything, even sending them back to the plane of ashes. The blackblood must command the Lu-Qiri without any fear, hesitation, or self-doubt. Otherwise, the Lu-Qiri will attempt to kill the blackblood trying to command it. A human has been shown to command several Lu-Qiri at once using the language of the blackblood, but whether or not they had a choice to obey him is uncertain. With the rise of the The Seven, the Lu-Qiri disregard any commands given to them by Blackbloods, and only obey the commands of the The Seven themselves. Even if it means that they themselves will sacrifice their life for them.
	+ **Lu-Qiri Rings:** When within a certain mile radius, the Lu-Qiri is able to hear the call of its master blowing on a ring. It serves as a whistle and calls them back to their master. They will always acknowledge the whistle call and usually go to whoever blows the whistle. When a master of the Lu-Qiri dies, the demon is freed from their command and turned wild once more until another Blackblood masters it. However, they don't always answer or heed the call of the whistle as Vikka was seen with Zed and he left him even after Zed blew his ring.
* **Blunt Force and Impalement:** A group of Greyskins were able to overpower Baphnoro using blunt force, arrows and spears. With enough force and impalements, a Lu-Qiri can be killed, it just takes more than a usual amount.
* **Kinj's:** Lu-Qiri, similar to humans and Blackbloods, are susceptible to the influences of Kinj's. They are crippled by Jaaris' pain-infliction Kinj and even shouted in pain.

## Known Lu-Qiri

* Gezzekhan (Lord Emperor)
* Ekkundi † (Mastered by Rebb †)
* Ketma (Mastered by Yavalla †, Unknown status))
* Baphnoro-Decayana-Glakku-Sikkundi-Alonaiya † (Mastered by Talon)
* Vikka † (Mastered by Zed)
* Xaba (Mastered by Talon, Unknown status)
* Six Blackfist Lu-Qiri (Unknown status)
* Two other non-Blackfist Lu-Qiri (Unknown status)

## Notes and Trivia

* According to Janzo, the blood that runs in Blackblood's veins comes from Gezzekhan, the emperor of the Lu-Qiri.
	+ However, it is revealed that the Blackbloods are descended from the God Aster. The reason for this mix up would be lost knowledge throughout the years.
* The old clans of Blackbloods have rings that help them command one Lu-Qiri at a time. It is activated by blowing on the stone.
* After the Lu-Qiri came through the portal in *This Is Our Outpost*, they were tasked with guarding  Gallwood Outpost's walls to keep anyone from leaving.
* It would seem that each Lu-Qiri has a slightly different color painted on their skin as well as the pattern on them. Whether this is to distinguish them, for recreational purposes, or something else entirely is unclear.
* According to Wren in "Kill the Rat, Kill the Kinj" the Lu-Qiri are considered to be beast of burden among the Blackbloods.
* Every time a Lu-Qiri fights another Lu-Qiri, the fight seems to start with one crashing through a window and ending with both of them being thrown out a window/wall.
* It would seem that Lu-Qiri can sense when their masters are in danger. Since Xaba was able to save her master, without being summoned or even knowing what Talon's status was.
* They are shown to be the guardians of Vorta and her species. While never shown or explained why they follow them one can assume that the Lu-Qiri follow The Seven because The Seven had conquered their world.
* In They Bleed Black Blood, Talon says that The Seven killed all of their Lu-Qiri. This is never confirmed or if she was just merely exaggerating.

## References

1. ↑ As seen in *For the Sins Of Your Ancestors*