Azin

**Azin** ("Angels" in the language of Mortals) are the denizens of Ether, and servants of the Gods. They are the sworn enemies of the **Elzin**, those who keep the **Zzin** in check, and the Watchers of **Mortals**. While Mortals may see them as mythical entities or fairytails, the Zzin tend to fear or despise the Azin; as they are extremely different as entities and can easily kill the wayward Demons. Azin are known among Zzin and Elzin for their **Te'Lux abilities**, which can often put to shame even the impressive powers of Mages and Zzin alike.

## BIOLOGY

Azin are incarnates of life and purity, and their bodies are made up of 60% Light - paralleling how Humans are made of 60% water. Their blood is usually pure white in color, and is like a corrosive acid to Zzin, Elzin, and all other corrupted forms of mortality. Azin typically have two arms and legs as most mortal forms, however some Azin have been known to have four arms. Their anatomy is quite meek and slim at first glance, but they pack an incredible amount of punch. The body of an Azin tends to glimmer and illuminate the area around them, and their bodies disperse dark energy upon contact. How powerful an Azin is at birth is dictated by how many wings they have - ranging from two to eight. Some Azin are born with feathered wings, while others have wings composed of pure holy light.

As Azin are made up of light, they require a stockpile of it to maintain physical form. Their body naturally converts light into holy energy via breathing. They do not need to breath to survive as Mortals do, it serves a different purpose for them. Azin are able to breath in light, which their body will convert into Holy Energy. Any impurities or darkness breathed in will instead be converted to Magic, which they exhales. This is the origin of the term "Dark Arts" when referring to magic.

Younger Azin, specifically those who have not gathered enough holy energy to exist outside of Ether, can only enter other plains of existence through possessing a host. They usually will not have full control and live dormant inside their body to communicate with their user. They can however come out for short amounts of time if they must protect the host, and can communicate with their host in their mind. Azin who posses others at an early age will often have their physical form altered to be similar to their host.

### Diet

Azin for the most part, do not eat regular food. While they are able to do so, it does not mean much to them. Azin thrive off of light; thus they typically will only eat meat or fruit if it contains potent life energy in it. Otherwise they are fit to simply be out and about during the day; and rays of the sun increase the rate at which they heal.

## LIFE CYCLE

### Birth

Azin are not born in the typical sense, as Mortals are. While Azin are capable of crossbreeding with other species and giving birth to lesser entities who have Azin blood (Most of which will usually inherit a Te'Lux ability), no pure-blooded Azin is truly "born."

As they embody life, Azin are born from fruit. When a God - typically an Ozin or Izin of divine blood, breathes into their hands within the realm of Ether; they create a Holy Seed. This seed is then planted in a Holy Garden of one of the great Cities - and then fertilized using the blood of said God.

Over the course of five years, the seed will grow into a mighty tree of pure white wood and glimmering cyan leaves; sprouting a Golden Spherical Fruit known as Garja - or Holy Apples. After this, the Garja remains in place and becomes dormant. This will result in one of four occurrences:

###### **1. Birth of an Azin**

After 100 years of laying dormat, a Garja will crack open and bloom into an Azin - this can only happen given the Fruit has a source of holy or sunlight on it at the time. Garja will never bloom if there is no light.

###### **2. Birth of a Star**

If a Garja should happen to fall from its Holy Tree, it will hit the ground; and somewhere in Mortala, a new Star will be born from its light - the older the fruit, the greater the size of the star.

###### **3. Birth of a Barren Planet**

If something goes wrong during the growing process of the Holy Tree, or the life of the fruit itself; the Garja will rot, and once it falls from the tree, a barren planet will be born within Mortala.

###### **4. Birth of a Holy Sword**

A rare fourth option is also possible - if a Holy Seed is planted and then fertilized with a drop of blood from each of the Holy Ozin and the Azin it is meant for at the peak of **Yggdrasil** in **Skypoint**, then in Ten Years time, it will grow into a Holy Tree bearing no Garja, but having the gold color of one. This special tree bears the unique wood that can be forged into a holy sword, and said blade can only be picked up by the Azin whose blood was used to fertilize it. Otherwise, it will turn into a stone blade, unable to be picked up.

Holy Swords are no longer forged by Ether in most situations. Because they must be linked to one person and take so long to grow, they're seen as impractical when so few threats even require one to beat. They take long to grow - in that time, the user could die or become evil and take advantage of that power, then the user must take more time to train with the sword - the same problems apply there, and for every one sword grown, the Gods could have made a entire trees worth of Arch-Angels. The last holy sword ever created was **Xalthazic**, which was cast Centuries ago into Underworld after its user became a Fallen Angel.

### Early Life

Azin spend most of their early years developing their **Te'Lux** and being educated in their respective chosen role. These years will be spent before they have fully developed Emotion. This will typically last around 280 years before they are deemed ready, after which they are sent to **Mortala**. Here, they are assigned to dormantly possess a host Mortal body in order to Protect them, as well as learn Emotion and Empathy from them. This is deemed the best way for the Guardians of Mortals to be able to understand and relate to them. Upon their assigned task with said Mortal being completed, they ascend back to **Ether**, usually resembling the Mortal they had possessed for so long. Before this Ritual, most Azin will be genderless and both look and sound relatively the same as others of their age; a blank slate of sorts.

### Mid-Life

Once able to process emotions and fully educated, they are allowed a chance to change from their chosen role. They may chose to become **Warriors** of Ether's Army against threats to reality, **Chroniclers** who keep track of all history and document it, **Messengers** who speak to Mortals for the Gods, or **High Guardians**; those chosen for the sacred role of protecting **Paradise**. They will spend most of their life from then on out training towards this ultimate goal, usually being assigned to **Izin** or other higher entities to train them.

### Late Life

Although Azin who dwell within Ether are immortal and will never die by age, those who dwell outside the Holy realm will not be so lucky. Indeed, Azin who live out their lives in Mortala, Underworld, or any other realm will slowly lose their eternal life. Particularly in areas with low amounts of light, the Azin will not survive very long. While a Non-Ether Azin's life cycle will still max out at one billion years, an Azin dwelling within a place such as Underworld may only live for around five hundred.

The singular advantage provided for Azin without immortality is that they have the unique aspect of growing more powerful as they age - even if not a day of their life is spend training, an Azin of two hundred years could easily overpower a human master of martial arts with little effort. This is an evolutionary trait resulting from their body attempting to grow powerful enough to overcome the process of aging - while this evolutionary trait is faulty and will never achieve its intended purpose, it has provided a unique advantage to said Azin.

### Death

Upon the Death of an Azin, be it by battle or by age; a pure white tree will grow in the vast forests of Ether, inscribed with the name of the one who it once was, immortalizing the Azin within their home forever. As such, Ether's forests are not merely where beasts roam, but seen as holy graveyards for the honored dead; and are held in the highest regard. Desecration of these Holy Forests is a grave offense.

### Azestic

The **Fallen Angels**. Azin who have betrayed the Realm of Ether, abandoned their nobility, become corrupted by shadow, or are reincarnated under the body of Zzin (Among other similar paths) become the feared **Azestic**. An incredibly rare and detested phenomenon, the Azestic are beings of both Light and Darkness, who are able to wield their holy abilities despite turning to evil; as well as gaining new shadow-based abilities. They are unable to be die by age under any circumstance; and like their counterparts grow more powerful with Age. Their wings turn a deep black, and they gain a stronger connection to Magic. Despite all these advantages; they are not without consequence. Upon death, no tree will grow in Ether in their name, and they are granted no afterlife. Dead Azestic are instead sent to the **Void** as punishment for their crimes.

## TE'LUX

Each Azin possesses a weapon unique to them known as their **Te'Lux**. These weapons are composed of holy light combined with Spirit Energy, and most often manifest in physical form. Based upon the Soul of a user and usually their desires, Te'Lux take on unique abilities such as shapeshifting or altering the properties of what they touch. As Te'Lux are an extension of their wielder's spirit, their power and stability of the user's mental state; thus emotions such as fear or uncertainty can weaken the power of a Te'Lux to the point of causing it to lose all functionality until the user regains composure.

The most common Te'Lux manifest as basic weaponry - Swords, Bows and Arrows, Shields, ect. The majority of Te'Lux for Azin will manifest as such, as a large quantity of Azin are very similar in mindset and thus have similar desires. More uncommon are the Limb Replacements or Armor type Te'Lux, followed by the Te'Lux that have no physical form and merely manifest as an Aura. Even more rare are the ones that manifest as separate usually non-sentient beings that are tethered to their user, and the rarest are able to separate from their user entirely. The most independent Azin also tend to have the by far most hard to find Te'Lux - one that is fully sentient, having a mind of its own.