Zendu

Zendu are humans who share a unique genetic mutation that allows their children to inherit the memories of their parents and their parents and so forth back up the chain of ancestors. These memories are known as a Zendu’s Lineage. For as long as history can remember, the Zendu have always been among the Star Traders in one form or another.

## Lineage Memories

A Zendu’s Lineage refers to all of the memories passed down from one’s ancestors. This Lineage -- the Zendu’s parents, grandparents and beyond -- determines the sum total of possibly accessible memories and knowledge available through the genetic remembrance. The things that have been seen and known!

While some memories, skills and knowledge may transfer between parents and child without purposeful meditation and preparation, the transfer of a Lineage is most effective when both the parents and the young children work through a ritualized process of deep meditation, patterned physical exercise, and self-hypnosis. The same processes that a Zendu uses to retrieve stored memories from his or her Lineage is also used to encode living experience into Lineage memories for the next generation.

The individuals who inherit the Zendu bloodline do so within a range of potential to retrieve and encode their Lineage memories. There are those who have great potential and those who have lesser abilities, and some excel at muscle memory while others can only recall visualized memories or the voices of their ancestors. Depending on their potential, the manifestation of Lineage memories is different for every Zendu, but there are some common similarities that have been recorded.

* The most common and constant input from a Lineage is muscle memories. Without prompting, these memories constantly help guide a Zendu’s actions, balance, timing, movements, aiming, fighting and any mechanical tasks.

* Visual memories can be summoned by a Zendu by an act of mental focus, looking back on moments in the past and seeing them unfold. Many such memories can be painful, and as with our own human memories, these visual recallings come with the full weight of the emotions of the ancestor. Such memories can come unbidden, welling up out of the Lineage when the living Zendu is presented with something that triggers a long forgotten memory.

* Some Zendu hear the voices of their ancestors in their head, explaining things or recounting facts. It is thought that such voices are memories of conversations the ancestor had with others, or the mental discussion the Zendu has with herself or her Lineage memories. Some Zendu have come to believe that their ancestors are talking to them.

A Lineage is lost forever if a Zendu does not have children and successfully pass their memories on to the next generation. Procreating is a societal responsibility within all Zendu sects and the tragedy of a Zendu dying before fulfilling this responsibility is deeply felt by all.

## Zendu Orders

The Zendu are broken up into various orders and sects, each with their own role defined by the generations that came before them.

### Templar Militant

The Templar Order, one of the largest Zendu Orders, most well known for their mighty warships and righteous Leviathan mechs, are an Order of various Zendu Sects, all united under the same banner and purpose. Founded by Shalun, they initiated and led the bloody rebellion for freedom for the Star Traders known as the Guild War. From the Exodus to modern day, they were charged with defending the Quadrants from the that which threatens all, from Xeno to malign cults to the Narvidians. The most well known of this order are the Templar Knights, who use their Lineage to pilot their Leviathan mechs to the best of their ability in the heat of battle. Other, smaller sects of the Templar Order include the communications and tactical officers, whose long knowledge of strategy, sensor scanning, and operation of high tech equipment allow for quick development and implementation of new strategies and tactics.

### Arbiters

Arbiters are an offshoot sect of the Templar Militant, chosen by Shalun himself to be guardians of Shalun Law. Their sect was formed near the end of the Guild War and given the responsibility to enforce Shalun Law, to help guide the factions for future generations and in some cases to take leadership positions within the Exodus fleets. The first Arbiters were picked from among the Templar Militant for their inspiring leadership, political leanings and dedication to the new laws that were being written.

The Arbiters have acted as impartial guides, advisers, leaders and judges for the factions since the end of the Guild War and the beginning of the Exodus. Their ability to act as neutral parties and their reputation of incorruptibility has seen them called into action in many arenas, moments of desperation and political disputes. While they are few in number, their influence holds great sway over faction leaders, princes and senators. In general, Arbiters rely on Star Trader Captains to assist them in travel and in their duties in order to maintain their impartiality.

Like all Zendu, Arbiters pass their memories down to their descendants. These experiences prepare each new generation of Arbiter for the challenges of their day, gifting them with deep knowledge of Shalun Law, heightened empathy, piercing ability to read people and brilliant tactical and strategic minds. As their ancestors survived the Guild War, the Exodus and the years that followed, many Arbiters have seen battle through their Lineages if not in person. Therefore, Arbiters can boast some of the battle prowess that is usually associated only with Templars though they fight as men and women, not from the confines of mighty Leviathan mechs.

Some of the most feared Arbiters are those few who have taken up the mantle of Hunter and ply the stars tracking down the galaxy’s worst criminals, xeno cultists and worse.

Arbiters are by far the smallest Zendu sect. Most Arbiters are agents constantly on the move among the stars and therefore they benefit from the life extending influence of the Void Engines. Combined with rigid practices of Zendu meditation and exercise and other life-extending technologies, Arbiters are said to be the longest living Zendu. As free agents of Shalun Law, Arbiters make their own choices about coupling and offspring to ensure future generations of Arbiters will be there to guide the Star Traders. However, in total their numbers can be counted in the hundreds and continue to dwindle two centuries after the end of the Exodus.

### Augurs

Augurs are the old guard of the Zendu who hail from a time long before Shalun and the Templar Militant. Augurs are a small but influential sect of Zendu who directly serve the most powerful Princes among the Great Houses and Syndicates. Augurs act as advisers and are often exceptionally skilled in reading human emotion and body language, to the point of being able to detect lies or predict what someone is about to say. In the princely courts where Augurs are present, they become a constant fixture and are called upon to advise, weigh in, or comment on almost all business that passes through the court. As their Lineage memories contain the hundreds of courts that came before them, their knowledge in political machinations, schemes, deception, loyalty and good policy are deep and invaluable to a Prince or Princess. It is said that if a Prince has an Augur but does not ask their advice, they are like a merchant who buys a load of Duranium without weighing it first.

Augurs are the second smallest sect of Zendu, but have found their own ways to survive and maintain their number. By serving only the most powerful Princes, Augurs gain access to the most advanced medical and technological life-extension techniques. Combined with the rigid practices of Zendu meditation and exercise, some Augurs have lived for multiple centuries. Augurs make their own choices about coupling and offspring to protect the future of their people. While their numbers may only be in the low thousands, their non-violent profession and extended lifespans have allowed their sect to endure for millennia.

Augurs often play a vital role in the education of the children from a clan or cohort that are being groomed for succession. Therefore, Augurs and the Princes or Princesses they serve often share a lifelong bond. In some cases, Augurs live long enough that they will educate and advise three generations of a royal bloodline or cohort succession.

Augur Lineages run back into time immemorial, but most contemporary Augurs are only able to remember back to the end of the Guild War with any clarity.

## Origins

The origins of the Zendu are mysterious, but there is documented history among the fragments and myths. The Templar Order, and by extension the Arbiters, originated from the Hadross Monks of Mal Direx Prime. These monks had been imprisoned there by the Planetary Guild, who by then had long been under the control of Narvidian masters. Mal Direx Prime, a hellish world of ice and snow, held an ancient secret. It was a bioforming world, created in the distant past by the Alfaan for unknown reasons. This ancient secret, over time, gifted the Hadross Monks with the ability to reach back into memories encoded in their very DNA, the beginning of the Lineage Memories.

The origins of other sects, such as the Augurs, have been lost to the sands of time and ravages of war.