Azai

The **Azai** are natives of the jungle-swamp world of Jun-Junar and are both famed and feared for their ferocity and skills in combat. They live in large tribal communities, and the Azai people as a whole are made up of many culturally distinct ethnic groups. The Azai homeworld became the centre of numerous conflicts during the New Era Wars due to its strategic position in the galaxy and reports of immensely powerful Essence deposits harboured within the planet itself; but with the rise of the NEN Republic, laws were put in place to prevent further invasions of Azai-occupied territories on Jun-Junar.

## Biology and appearance

The Azai are a diverse race of generally slim-built, bipedal reptilians, native to the vast jungles and swamps of planet Jun-Junar. Their skin is scaly and typically green or green-blue in colour, with some individuals exhibiting pure blue skin. They are one of the more variable races of alien in the galaxy, with some Azai growing to enormous sizes and developing colourful dewlaps, while others appear stunted and tend to scurry about on all fours. In most cases, the Azai have long tails, held rigid for balance. Most Azais have the ability to regrow their tails if their tails are severed, though many of the large-growing Azai lose their tails altogether and possess only a hard, scaly stump.

Sexual dimorphism does not seem to occur in Azais, with much of their variability being dependent on levels of dominance rather than sex. In some cases, dominant Azais experience subtle colour changes, including the development of colourful patterns on their scales. Some dominant Azais grow horn-like projections from their heads. All Azais typically possess sharp teeth and claws, and have prominent dorsal spines running down their backs from the neck to the tip of the tail.

Azais are oviparous, with females typically laying clutches of about 20 eggs once a year during a synchronised nesting period. Parental responsibilities are shared by all members of the community, with hatchlings developing no attachment to a single parent. The young hatch after an incubation period of about 80 days, having a similar appearance to that of the smaller, more subordinate Azais. They typically lack dorsal spines at this age, developing them with age and status, and run quadrupedally - another trait of low-status Azais.

## History

### Essence-theory origin

The first mention of the Azai homeworld, Jun-Junar, comes from a Jurrikian source, documenting the planet, referred to then as Uano, as being a world of enormous and impenetrable tropical rainforest. The document mentions the existence of innumerable reptilian species, though never mentions the existence of the sentient Azai. Curiously, though, it states that the planet Uano comprised multiple "blue-glowing chasms" around which these reptiles of all shapes and sizes would congregate, as if they were "either worshipping or feeding off of the glow."

Essence theorists surmise that these chasms were tectonic vents, arguing that the blue glow was the result of Jun-Junar's subterranean Essence deposits becoming exposed, suffusing to the surface and becoming visible as blue-glowing Essence overspill. They believe that this exposure to the Essence fed the local reptilian fauna, effectively supercharging their brain functions, and that the galactic events of the Great Silence in the Bleak Epoch radically intensified this process, causing the reptiles to hyperevolve into what we know now as the Azai.

This theory is disputed, with other theorists hypothesising that the Azai were simply too elusive to have been encountered by the Jurriks of the time, giving the false impression that they were not already existing there on Jun-Junar. However, numerous images of reptiles congregating around what appears to be a blue ball of light are depicted in Azai stelae, temple walls, and other examples of artistic stonework. Azai clothing, ceramics and even weapons have been found to portray similar imagery, which have been discovered all over Jun-Junar. This seems to suggest that the Azai themselves, potentially unanimously, share a similar concept of their own origin.

### New Era

Not much is known about Azai history or how they lived their lives prior to the wars of the New Era, with the majority of information coming either from archaeological evidence or rare encounters. The first confirmed report of Jun-Junar being a populated planet came from a small group of travelling Meegons, during the 2nd Age of the Second Dawn Epoch, NE. The Meegons reported stumbling upon a vast, abandoned city, hewn from stone and enshrouded in the shade of giant, sprawling trees. The city was said to have appeared as though its occupants had simply vanished the day before, leaving belongings such as baskets full of food strewn about the public spaces.

The second account of the Azai came again in the 2nd Age, this time from the lone survivor of a Leonite expedition to the planet. The survivor recalled finding the abandoned city that the Meegon had found previously, but noted that there were no baskets of food or any personal belongings strewn about. He remembered assuming that this was the result of animals scavenging the place, and he and his company thought little of it at the time. The next day, he recalled, his company was attacked by a small group of large, heavily-armed reptillioid warriors, whose weapons were basic yet seemed to glow blue. The Leonite company was quickly dispatched, but the lone survivor managed to survive the attack by fleeing into the jungle. He was pursued for many days by the mysterious "lizard people," but successfully came to his company's landing site where he was able to singlehandedly launch his ship and flee the planet.

### Involvement in the New Era Wars

With increasing tensions in the galaxy of the New Era, the Azai homeworld of Jun-Junar became embroiled in a number of conflicts throughout the ensuing New Era Wars, mostly due to its strategic location in the Draian Arm. The planet was surrounded by vast expanses of desolate space, in which most of the star systems harboured no terrestrial planets. This meant that Jun-Junar, the only inhabitable planet in its own star system, became the most-easily navigable bottleneck of that part of the galaxy, situated between the territories of many of the combatants of the Wars.

#### First Invasion of Jun-Junar

The first invasion of Jun-Junar came from the Orogogs in 49, 3rd Age of the Second Dawn Epoch, who sought to colonise the planet as a military outpost from which they could defend their territories, launch military campaigns, and ultimately gain control over much of the Draian Arm. They successfully established colonies on the planet, but quickly came into contact with the hostile Azai, who were eager to defend their planet from invasion. The Orogogic settlers were inept in the dense jungle terrain, being more accustomed to wide, open spaces. They began deforesting vast swathes of land, exposing many previously unknown Azai settlements. What they uncovered was unfortunately destroyed.

The Azai retaliated fiercely against the destruction of their jungles, amassing untold hordes of Azai warriors from far and wide. The sheer number of Azai, and the swiftness of their ability to move from place to place unseen, overwhelmed many of the Orogogic military bases. Meanwhile, the Orogogs' primary form of attack was simply the destruction of Jun-Junar's densely forested habitats. This was because the Azai were unpredictable when concealed in the rainforests, and were able to flee their cities and move to another one almost immediately, undermining the militaristic superiority of the Orogogs.

More and more Orogogs arrived on Jun-Junar, swiftly replacing those killed by the Azai; and by 58, 3rd Age, Second Dawn Epoch, the Orogogs had managed to segregate areas of jungle via a patchwork of deforested zones. This meant that the Azai were unable to move about so freely from place to place without being seen, and that communication between tribes would be more difficult to achieve, resulting in reduced possibility for reinforcements when under heavy attack. This dramatically shifted the odds in favour of the Orogogs; but in 59, 3rd Age, a massive fleet of Topi Skyriders came into Jun-Junar's orbit, besieging it, and prevented the Orogogs from entering or leaving the planet. The first official battle for Jun-Junar ensued, with conflicts occurring both in space and on the ground. A small Quelyan force arrived to join the fight, aiding the Topi in the displacement of the Orogogs from the planet. Last to arrive were the Tawshike, whose fleet rivalled the Topis'. They engaged both sides of the battle in combat, allying with no one, as was typical of the Tawshike at this time. The Topi and the Quelyan successfully defeated the Orogogs on Jun-Junar, and managed to repel the Tawshike fleet, freeing the Azai of the Orogogic invaders.

#### Second Invasion of Jun-Junar

The victorious Topi took control of Jun-Junar at the end of 59, 3rd Age, after intense fighting. They remained there, occupying the planet to prevent the Orogogs from reclaiming it and effectuating their military campaign into the rest of the Draian Arm. The occupying Topi rarely came into contact with the Azai. They refrained from entering the jungles, strictly keeping to the military bases constructed by the former Orogogic occupants so as to maintain relatively peaceful relations with the Azai. A second wave of Orogogs invaded Jun-Junar in 63, 3rd Age. This time their numbers had doubled, but they were kept from landing on the planet by the sudden arrival of a Leonite fleet who intercepted the Orogogs while in the planet's orbit. A large number of Orogogs broke through the Leonite fleet and engaged the Topi on the ground, who were also sending troops into orbit to strengthen the defence.

This second wave culminated in Jun-Junar being occupied by both Orogogs and Topi forces, holding out at the established military bases and engaging in constant fighting. The Leonites also had a small holding on the planet. The Topi and Leonites on Jun-Junar formed an allegiance with one another, though politically they were not affiliated. In order to ambush the Orogogic war camps, both the Topi and the Leonites resorted to using the jungle as cover, since the Orogogs easily dominated in open warfare. This, again, brought the war to the Azai, who became extremely hostile towards the Topi, Leonites and Orogogs in equal measure.

The aggression received from the Azai by both sides of the Jun-Junar War helped to solidify Jun-Junar's reputation throughout the galaxy as a treacherous place, and the Azai themselves quickly became regarded as a monstrous, hostile people; although little can be known of a people whose sole contact with the outside galaxy has been one of confrontation. Despite this misjudgement of its people, the war on Jun-Junar continues even today; but with the founding of the Republic of NEN, new laws were put into action regarding the occupation of Jun-Junar. According to Republic law, no occupant of the planet can enter known Azai territory, nor can they develop new territory of their own save in the capturing of enemy military bases. It also states that no deforestation is permitted; but with recent findings of supposed Essence deposits hidden deep in the jungle, this law is now in question.

## Society and culture

### Religion

*main article: Azai Religion*

While very little is known about Azai religious practices, studies of abandoned Azai settlements and deceased individuals have revealed that the global Azai population seems to share a basic mutual religion, with variations on that religion occurring from people to people. Much of the information concerning the Azai religion comes from religious imagery found in stelae, statues, temple walls and sculpted reliefs. It is believed the Azai use stonework as a form of recording culturally significant information, chronicling events, and for worship. Other sources of information include ceramics, clothing, jewellery and weaponry, most of which has been procured as a result of warfare with the Azai.

#### Deities

The majority of Azai communities all over Jun-Junar appear to share a single, central god, Ta'um Kez, whose attributes vary depending on where he is worshipped. He is depicted in a variety of forms, most typically as an earth deity, and is generally considered to be associated with birth, life, protection, leadership, growth and unity, and natural phenomena such as rain, floods, thunder and clouds. Aquatic plant and animal life is emblematic of Ta'um Kez, particularly amphibians, who inhabit both aquatic and terrestrial habitats in the same way as Ta'um Kez inhabits both mortal and immortal planes.

#### Beliefs

The Azai believe in a vast array of different mythological stories and likely practice many different religious customs. Only a very small fraction of these have been depicted in the limited sources available to theologians, so it is likely that the vast majority of Azai religious belief is as yet unknown.

A common belief shared by all Azai groups is the story referred to as *The Circle of Reptiles* - a story most clearly depicted on the walls of the main temple at the abandoned City of Twelve Torches. The imagery carved into the walls of the temple depicts a sequence of colourful scenes. The first scene appears to convey a tangled, chaotic lattice of blue ribbons, tipped with sharp-toothed mouths holding a variety of plant-life in between their teeth. The second scene depicts what appear to be four red suns, each one anthropomorphised with an enraged expression and sharp teeth with blood dripping from them. Each of the four suns has long, twisting arms ending in talons pressed against a central blue sun, which itself is dripping. The third scene depicts numerous reptiles, all congregating in a circle facing a central blue sun, whose rays twist about one another, extending into the mouths of the reptiles. The fourth scene shows what appears to be an enormous, blue explosion, with blue rays ending in long-clawed talons slicing four bleeding red suns in half. The fifth scene conveys a central blue orb in the stomach of a giant amphibian, surrounded by reptiles, who is holding the four red suns in its four hands and appears to be consuming them. The sixth scene shows numerous reptiles arranged in a circle around a central blue orb, this time facing outwards from it, each one with its mouth open appearing to be consuming drops of blood. The seventh and final scene conveys multiple small, blue orbs inside the stomachs of many reptiles, each one dripping with blood and standing on a talon holding a species of plant.

Translating this story is fraught with inevitable misconceptions and cultural biases due to the lack of supporting context, but theologians generally consider this to be the Azai story of creation. Essence theorists have suggested that the blue sun/orb in the scenes depicts the Essence deposits said to be localised within Jun-Junar's core, with the fourth scene conveying the cataclysmic event known as the Great Silence.

### Social organisation

Azai society is rigidly hierarchical, with each tribal group governed by a ruling class. The Azai themselves exhibit extreme variation in physical morphology depending on each individual's status in society. The ruling class of Azai typically become enormous and develop colourful features that lack in other social classes. The most common class of Azai are the worker and warrior classes, whose morphology tends to consist of slender, upright bodies with typically green-blue scales. These classes make up the bulk of Azai society, and the two are interchangeable, with every working Azai being expected to fight in battle and every warrior Azai being expected to work in society. At the bottom of the social hierarchy are the subordinate classes, whose role is to serve the worker/warrior classes. The subordinates are less likely to fight in battle, although it is not uncommon. They are generally made up of the youngest members of society who incrementally work their way up, developing the physical features corresponding to the social class. Many Azai remain stuck in this subordinate class, and therefore remain physically stunted.

### Militarism

The Azai are most famous for their fearsome warriors and ferocity in battle due to the hostility received from them when they have been encountered. This has meant that little is understood of the Azai beyond their militarism and warring cultures, yet these encounters have provided a small insight into the private lives of the Azai.

#### Tactics

Azai warriors typically wield relatively basic weapons, consisting primarily of long spears, bows, and swords, but the main strength of the Azai horde is the environment of Jun-Junar itself. The planet's endless expanse of jungles enables the Azai to navigate space and remain hidden, using ambush tactics to overwhelm opponents. Another key feature to the Azai war strategy is the maintaining of social relations with neighbouring tribes, with whom warriors will be shared in order to amass enormous hordes of Azai, yet remain undetected. With this ability to move vast armies relatively quickly across impenetrable terrain and not be seen, the technological superiority of the Azais' enemies is rendered ineffective. This forced the first global enemy of the Azai, the Orogogs, to attempt to deforest the planet's surface in order to impede the efficacy of the Azai war machine.

#### Essence-wielding weapons

According to numerous accounts of soldiers who have engaged in conflict with the Azai, it has been noted that some Azai warriors wield weapons that appear to glow blue. These warriors are thought to be of a different class to the majority of Azai warriors, with generally larger bodies and colourful features, although the "default type" Azai have also been seen wielding these weapons. Azai weapons, including the blue-glowing weapons, tend to be basic, with most warriors carrying a combination of a long spear, a bow, and a short sword. Any of these weapons have the potential to glow blue. The blue-glowing weapons, however, are reported to have the potential to operate similarly to a typical laser weapon of other races in the galaxy, and when used at long range can fire a beam of blue energy towards the target. The impact of this blue energy tends to disintegrate targets immediately, and when used upon large structural targets it can burn holes through walls, blow apart buildings, and melt metals.

Essence theorists have argued that these weapons are imbued with a kind of wieldable, malleable Essence, believed to be in some way connected to Jun-Junar's subterranean Essence store, which the Azai have over time learnt to harness, effectively using the potency of the planet itself in order to defend it from the intrusion of outsiders.