Kherubim

Gallery

 The Kherubim were a humanoid space-faring race that systematically traveled from world to world and conquered races to feed their gene and subjugate the native population as slaves.

## History

Using vast Planet-Shaper Engines, they remade entire worlds into Kherubim compatible habitats for their leisure. Thousands of years ago, the Kherubim destroyed their own planet, according to Titan myth. They then came to Khera and settled it, subjugating the Titanothropes. The Titans would slowly become more or less accepted within the Kherubim society, but remained second-class citizens to the Kherubim.

Millennia ago the Kherans came into contact with the Daemonites, who were actually created as a slave race to the Kherubim but rebelled, and a war erupted between both species. This war would last several centuries. A small group of Kherans and Daemonites would crashland on Earth and would inspire humanity with tales of gods, angels, demons and monsters. Their conflict would continue till the end of the 20th century, while in space the Kherans would go on to defeat the Daemonites. Kherans imposed heavy indemnities on the Daemonites and their society went bankrupt trying to pay them off. Khera allowed Daemonites to migrate to the more prosperous planet, but all Daemonites on Khera had to live in ghettos.
When a small group of Kheran and half-Kheran heroes from Earth, known as the WildC.A.T.s, arrived on Khera, they were welcomed as heroes, but they quickly found out that Kheran society had changed over the years. They left the planet, but now the Kherans knew of Earth.

Recently, the Kherubim Lord Majestros found hidden Kheran devices, known as Planet Shaper Engines, beneath the surface of the Earth. It turned out that humanity and Kherans are closely related and that the universe has been seeded with their type of species. Similar Planet Shaper Engines landed on Khera, converting the original Titantrophes species into a subservient species and raising a Kheran species. It was also revealed that a similar device landed on Daemon and tried to turn the population into slaves. The device gave birth to the Daemonites as a servitor race and the local 'Kherans' tried to exterminate them when they turned out to be rebellious, but the Daemonites killed their would-be masters.

The Shaper Guild from Khera arrived on Earth and announced that factions within Kherubim society had noticed that Khera was falling apart and that Earth would be an ideal place to relocate to. They planned on using the Planet Shaper Engines to terraform the Earth into another Khera. Kherans are divided over the matter and a civil war is the result.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

Kherubim resemble humans in appearance, but are physically far stronger and more durable and extremely long-lived, nearly immortal. However an evolutionary drawback to their near-immortality is that Kherans are almost infertile, only very rarely will a Kheran produce offspring. This effect is seen in real world natural environments, as longer living organisms will have fewer offspring than organisms with short lifespans. This is a natural check against overpopulation. Only one in 10,000 kheran females is capable of giving birth, and only then at her very first mating. Of those, only one in approximately 10,000 will become pregnant, and only 1 in 1000 of those babies will be born alive. The rest are stillborn. This infertility doesn't seem to apply when the Kheran is mating with another species though as Earth has various Kheran/human hybrids. Their vocal cords are highly developed allowing a far wider range of tones than is possible for a human being. Four of the most notable Kherubim include:

* **Lords**: Kheran Lords serve as the oldest and most powerful of the Kherubim and act as the highest ruling body in Kherubim society as members of the Pantheon. Each possess the ability to manipulate energy and psionic abilities. A Lord is capable of undergoing the ritual of Ascension when they are read in which a Lord asks a partner or good friend to destroy their body so that their spirit can be free. A Lord usually has so much energy stored in their body that this process tends to consume both Kherans involved. Lord Entropy and Jacob Marlowe act as examples of Kheran Lords.
* **Adrastea**: Adrastea, once slaves turned global criminal cartel within Kheran society. They possess psionic talents ranging from TK to Empathy. Nemesis is the only example thus far.
* **Warlords**: Warlords; sometimes called High Lords, served as the most highly evolved and altered of the Kheran nobility described as the most indomitable and invincible of the Kheran's forces capable of leveling cities in the blink of an eye. Majestic and Imperator are examples of Kheran Warlords.
* **Shapers**: Shapers are a subspecies of Kherans. They are shapeshifters born with a special genome whom are able to change their bodies into a mercury-like substance. The Wildcat Warblade is an example of their powers.
* **Coda**: An all female enclave comprising many of Khera's deadliest warriors and assassins. A strict, taciturn and viciously militaristic sect in Kheran Society. The Coda are often at odd's with the High Lord coterie whom they compete against for control over sociological influence on the political stage. Many of their number are skilled in the practice of magic and conduct blood rituals between older members as an initiation passage between newer generations to pass on their immortality. Zealot is an example of the sisterhood.
	+ **Skien**: A secretive splinter sect of purebred Kherubim within the Coda whom are, even by Zahnnah's standard, considered radicals without humor. Born and trained to act on the order of the High Priestess for maintaining the status quo of Khera. Lady Harmony is both an example and the leader of their order.
* **Titanthropes**: Though genetically a different species, the Titanthropes (or simply Titans) have been part of Kherubim society for so long that they are also often called Kherubim. However they are considered, and treated as, second class citizens of Khera by the kherubim. They are large, purple-skinned humanoids who are able to increase or decrease their mass. They have large yellow horns growing from their backs. When increasing his size, a Titan will lose intelligence, but gain strength, and when decreasing his size, a Titan will grow in intelligence. They were often used in Kheran armies as shock troopers and berserkers.
* **Bladesmen**: Bladesmen are the counterpart of the Sisterhood of Khera. Eugenically bred in artificial wombs to be the perfect warriors, they are trained to suppress their emotions and become adept social intuits in order to become more efficient spies & killers. Raven is an example of their number.

## Miscellaneous

### Type of Government:

Aristocratic Oligarchy

The Kherans have a political system where various parties vie for power. The major factions:

* **The Pantheon**: the party of the Kheran Lords. They are currently in power and stand for stability and economic progress.
* **The Coda**: a Sisterhood of warriors second to none on Khera, chosen at birth from the ranks of the finest Kheran dynasties to become the greatest martial institution on Khera. They want war and combat to prove their worth.

So far all Pantheon members seen are male and all Coda-members seen are female, but the open hostility between both factions makes it unlikely that the whole Kheran race is divided into those two factions.

The minor factions:

* **The Shapers Guild**: represents all Shapers within Kheran society. They follow the orders from the Pantheon, but have their own secret agenda. They claim to shape the destiny of Khera and are aware of its true origin.
* **The Titantropes**: while individually repressed by the Kherubim, hold great power as a faction. While being only a small political faction, it is in fact their vote that either keeps the Pantheon in power or puts the Coda in power. So far the Pantheon has been the lesser evil according to the Titans.

In **Wildcats: Nemesis** two other factions were revealed:

* **The Brotherhood of the Sword:** a male version of the Coda, its members are created through genetic engineering and cloning. They devote their whole life to the mastery of bladed weapons and suppressing their own emotions. Some Bladesmen sacrifice themselves to become Scimitars, using stolen DNA from the Shapers Guild to become living war machines. The Brotherhood on Earth betrayed Khera and allied themselves with Daemonites.
* **The Adrastea:** a race of Kherubim empaths, originally bred to be slaves, but they soon became the largest crime syndicate in Kheran society by channeling their psionic skills into underworld activities such as espionage and assassination, which were their specialties. The Adrastea were deemed a sub-species upon the overthrow of their masters and were denied the full rights of other Kherubim as an inferior caste.

### Level of Technology:

Advanced.

While preferring bladed weapons in combat, Kherans are technologically highly advanced. They own spaceships capable of interstellar flights. They are capable of inscribing knowledge in the form of organic molecules, which when injected into the bloodstream downloads that knowledge straight into the brain. Kherans possess nanotechnology which can effect multiple purposes such as physical preparation are apt at engineering capable of manipulating the laws of chance, simply for the purpose of entertainment as their 'Coincidental Mansion' shows. Armies of very advanced androids known as the Spartan Guards serve as soldiers programmed to revel in the chaos of combat. Spartan Guards have shown high intelligence and superhuman physical capabilities. Their most impressive creation is probably the Kheran Dream Engine, which is capable of turning dreams and thoughts into reality. It is unclear whether this is a rare artifact or a mass-produced item of entertainment.

### Cultural Traits:

Warrior Conquerors

* Kherans are a warrior race with strong emphasis in hand-to-hand combat and an honor system. Bladed weapons seemed to be preferred despite the vast technological abilities the Kherubim have.
* Despite fighting common foes, Kheran society is highly divisive, with each faction using underhanded means and subterfuge to undermine the influence and authority of others to gain more control.
* Due to their low fertility, a ritual has been introduced where every Kheran man and woman coming off age has to mate with an appointed partner. When the woman gives birth, she has to become a priestess. If not, she may go on to live her life as she wishes. Lady Zannah has managed to avoid becoming a priestess, despite giving birth, because her mother told others that the baby had died, allowing Zannah to become a warrior. Her mother then passed Zannah's baby, Kenesha, off as Zealot's sister. Unplanned was that as the mother of two, Zannah's mother, Harmony, has become a living legend. No Kheran can remember the last time a Kheran woman gave birth to more than one child in her life. Zannah became the founder of the Coda Sisterhood.
* It remains unclear what makes a Kheran a Lord, but a Lord is capable of undergoing the ritual of Ascension when he is ready. The Ascension ritual is an important part of Kheran culture, where a Lord asks a partner or good friend to destroy his body so that his spirit can be free. A Lord usually has so much energy stored in his body that this process tends to consume both Kherans.
* The Coda worship a goddess, Hecate, but little is known about this religion. Other Kherans apparently don't worship any gods, but believe in individual enlightenment through Ascension.
* Though originally portrayed as noble and protective of other species, recently the Kherans have shown themselves to be very speciesist. They look down upon other species while thinking that they are in fact very tolerant and benevolent.

### Representatives:

Emp, Ferrian, Mister Majestic, Zealot, Savant

## See Also

* Appearances of Kherubim
* Race Gallery: Kherubim

## Links and References

1. ↑ *Majestic* (Volume 2) #11
2. ↑ *Wildcats: Nemesis* #2