Lausorijô

The **Lausorijô,** or **Lausorjo**, are a race of stocky, clown-like humanoids.

## Characteristics

Lausorijo are bipedal humanoids with white skin, curly red or crimson hair, and red-coloured noses. They also tend to be tougher and stronger than normal humans, and some can be a little taller.

Their weaknesses include fire and any injury towards their large feet, which causes them to severely bleed.

Like most races in the Galaxy, Lausorijo can be born either as males or females. Males may tend to be more aggressive and tougher, but both genders are equally-skilled in artistic talent.

Lausorijo are naturally jovial, except in times of disaster. They also tend to be polite.

## History

Thousands of years ago, the Lausorijo were created by the Konjor Supercorporation as slaves, toys, and entertainers; from the remains of the barbaric Velkachan race from the volcanic planet of Karvachun. And like many Konjor creations, they can go berserk when triggered by shrill noises, which drives them into a savage state that makes them aggressive and cannibalistic.

After their defeat of the Konjors, the Lausorijo were given their own land where they became into a nation of artists and guards. At the rise of the Ontemazei Empire millennia later, the Lausorijo were among the first to rebel, as they were appalled by the Ontemazei's growing savagery and cruelty. The Ontemazei armies swiftly defeated their rebellion, and after they tortured, killed, and ate their prisoners they used their cells to create the monstrous Kelunne.

The surviving Lausorijo fled to the mountains west of Vozolaz, where they joined the Dai Mandorai alliance. They shared more information about the Ontemazei Empire's armies and aided Dai Mandorai troops in their battles. Some Lausorijo formed their own fiefdoms away from all settlements, where they created societies that imitated the Sarmelonids or formed bands of knights.

Some were captured by various armies that sought to use their cells to turn their armies into super-soldiers, leading to their isolation from the rest of the world or their departure to several refuges. Like the Ontemazei, Lausorijo across the world migrated to those nations that protected them: Porashon, Rabydos, Yawanda, Vintland, Rukania, and Umbirab. Some Lausorijo like to send their sons and daughters to learn engineering in those human realms, since they are more accepted than Ontemazei for their gentle and friendly attitude. The Lausorijo who became squires and knights in Rukania made the local Ontemazei lucky enough to pass on their skills to the Rukanians, enhancing their technology.

Some of the Laurorijo at northern Rabydos have built Burrow-cities of their own, and they are known for their metallurgy and their adoption of Rabydosian culture, including conversion to the worship of Marduk. Others built isolated cities disguised as mountains, using the rubble of civilisations before the Ontemazei Invasion, tending to countless travellers across the ages, and supplying their voyages with little or no cost.

The Lausorijo of northern Rabydos were mostly autononous for the most part under the rule of the Rabydosian Empire, and when its emperor Burendil III sent hordes of vampiric clones to terrorise the locals, the clown warriors joined a growing resistance movement to defeat the vampires. The same warriors also joined their human allies against the Thralondian legions, fortifying settlements against the Wraithstorm by building energy domes.

Some Lausorijo were among the knights who followed the Zvestarids to liberate their homeland. They were especially notable for protecting innocent Terrans by dragging them to safety, fighting past angry mobs who sought to kill the Terrans. There were also several Lausorijo, all of which joined the resistance against the July massacres; or some of the same knights from Rukania who also pushed back against the slaughterers.

## Culture

Many Lausorijo have retained the Sarmelonid traditions of their ancestors, but some have been influenced by nearby cultures. For example, the Lausorijo whose cities were located along the Jasper Mountains of northern Rabydos have mostly adopted the Rabydosians' culture, including their clothing, art, and their worship of Marduk.

The Burrow-Cities of the Lausorijo formed a kingdom, the Hurasim Holds, to defend themselves from Ontemazei remnants (known as *kelkuri*, from "Kalakeya"). They are ruled by an elected high king, and the number of their rulers is 136. Their capital is the majestic city of Azarsal.

One tradition of theirs is painting their own faces, as a mean to invoke their ancestors or their patron deities before combat. Another has to do with a pride in mining, industry, crafting, and mechanics, but many of them prefer to recycle their wastes, to avoid polluting the mountains and offending the gods.

## Armaments

In traditional Lausorijo culture, Lausorijo warriors used hammers, scimitars, and chainsaw-swords. These were symbols reclaimed from the Imperial Ontemazei hosts, representing refusal to be evil, redemption (just as the weapons were reclaimed from the Ontemazei), and cooperation with humans.

The Lausorijo of the Jasper Mountains also ride on slender mechanical panthers known as *muskhuskhu*. These artificial steeds can also breathe fire to burn their riders' enemies, and their legs were designed to climb steep slopes.

Rukanian Lausorijo ride on heavier, bigger horses. They also wield rifles, lances, and pistols as their human compatriots do, but as heavy troopers, they also carry cannons as effortlessly as a human would with a machine gun. Hammers, a traditional weapon of the Lausorijo, are nowadays used only by captains and elite knights, as an equivalent of the trident for humans. Some Lausorijo of higher ranks are also presented with tridents, which are heavy and thick-bladed enough to be used as glaives and pikes.

## Notable Lausorijo

* Lâroto - A male Lausorijo who was banished from Ontemaz as he and his girlfriend were wrongfully accused of murder. He was put into slavery by a faction of Technocrats, and he led a rebellion. He was trapped into a chamber by the Wannaenids, but was freed by Azdortil, and helps the local Nevkrenian troops seize Barandon Castle from the Wannaenids' control.
* Vinâela - A female Lausorijo who was banished from Ontemaz as she and her boyfriend were wrongfully accused of murder.
* Kaidaro - A wandering Lausorijo who befriended Zurbon the Zuronnon. Together, they went on a westward trip into the Tornarin Empire in search of treasures.
* Palishin, Azadral, Makrando, Gîrdalka, and Roizadulen - Five immortal Lausorijo men who were captured and made into immortals as an experiment. During a power failure, they escaped, and they learned that they were unable to age. Grateful to their god, Marduk, for allowing them to live and escape, they aided bandits and helped others escape, seeking to punish the Wannaenids for kidnapping them. They were also formidable warriors, their strength allowing them to defeat the superhuman Wannaenid troopers more easily.
* Captain Ryhaldo - one of the expeditionary forces who led Bujanski knights in liberating their homeland. It was he, on the urging of several knights who were disgusted by the murders in one liberated town, who purchased several Terra prisoners to protect them. Days later, the knights fended off an attack by a death gang mob.
* Several Terrans, who were the prisoners rescued by his knighthood, wanted to follow Ryhaldo to undergo penance in Rukania. He granted them their wish, so the hundreds of Terrans and their families were allowed to enter Rukania by portal. Thankfully, none of them have committed the more serious acts, and they were all granted royal pardons by the King himself to begin their naturalisation. Twenty-three of them became squires, who went with him to aid local resistance movements against the massacres of the Anti-Terran Action.
* One of them became an ambassador between the two kingdoms. He was among Ryhaldo's best students, renamed "Pyvino".

## Trivia

* The Lausorijo were inspired by the evil clowns of pop culture and the clown sightings of 2016, as the author wanted to subvert their tropes by focusing on their physical strength.
	+ In some way, they also correspond to dwarves from fantasy works, although they are taller. He also based them on the Dawi, the Dwarfs of Warhammer, for their strength, skill in forging tools, and friendship with humans.
* One notable incident was when a drunkard wandered into a Burrow-city along the Jasper Mountains. He was arrested for using a slur towards dozens of disgusted passersby, which was "klusum", which was from an old Ontemazei word that meant "menial slave". But the one thing that elevated his sentence from simply idling in a comfortable cell was beating up several residents and yelling that word, all while being drunk!
	+ His punishment was to be an assistant for an irate, scrawny mechanic for three months, in a jail somewhere southwards in Rabydos. When he went back, his neighbours poured beer on his hair at the airport and cursed at him.

## See also

* Imdegabat
* Arnadjanai