Servant

## The Servant

The Servants are tasked with supporting Shengshi and all his guests with any qualms.

### Notable abilites

Reformation: While the ability is less prominent now, the Servant still possesses the ability to reform if they should break apart for various reasons.

Upon their creation by Shengshi, the Servant was actually a very simple spirit that possessed head-sized globules of fresh water and zoomed around the deck of Jiangzhou. The spirit was bound to the world under two rules: 1) It would serve Shengshi and his guests always, and 2) it would always keep moving. As it was bound to the concept of the Flow, the Servant could not stop and stand still for any longer than a few seconds. The failure to constantly move would bring the flow to an end and the globule would explode with a wet pop. The spirit was then released and immediately sought out a new, similar amount of fresh water to possess once more. If no such water was available, the spirit would die.

However, in the early days of the Age of Monsters, the snake saw a need for more sophisticated servants aboard his ship. As such, he summoned forth all the Servants onboard and infused them with water, sand, mud and detritus from Nanhe, fashioning them into humanoids made of water, beings very similar to Xiaoli, Shengshi's first avatar.

## Biology

Like Xiaoli, the servant is a being consisting almost entirely of fresh water fashioned into humanoid form. They take the form of both females and males and are capable of reproduction, though they cannot be considered mammals in spite of their humanoid forms. While they have no organs, they simulate a lot of organic processes such as respiration, blinking and blushing to appear more living. This was added with the intent of making the servants as approachable as possible.

The watery body is covered by a thin layer of fine beige sand that acts as simulated skin. The texture of this skin makes it much easier for the servants to grab onto other surfaces, while also functioning as a layer between their watery insides and surfaces that could suffer harm from exporsure to water, like paper or biscuits. The layer is not perfect, however, which is why all the cooks aboard Jiangzhou wear cotton or leather gloves to keep sand from falling into the food. While most of the servants have beige sand for skin, there are variations as well, depending on the ratios of mud to sand in their bodies, with some being almost entirely covered in mud. These individuals are often tasked with dry jobs, as they are less prone to 'dusting', the phenomenon where the driest outer later of sandy skin falls off and dirties the floor; likewise, when handling wet jobs, the mud-skinned servants' skin tends to wash off and dirty the water.

Most servants have hair, commonly made from blackened grass, soggy straws, plant detritus and strands of water coloured with mud. In some individuals, the hair grows naturally as to simulate humanoid hair grows; in others, the individuals themselves have to add substances to their hair to make it grow.

With their forms having been infused with considerably more divine power than it originally was, they are no longer required to be constantly moving to remain as one shape. As such, they are fully capable of standing still while performing tasks, which has made their daily tasks much less of a hassle.

As for the Servant's reproduction cycle, two individuals of either sex who have received permission from Shengshi to make a child will disembark from the ship and move to a suitable spot along a river. There, they will leave their skin behind on the riverbank and enter the waters together. They will proceed to dance and swim together in the river, combining their essences as their forms inevitably fuse together. When they split apart again, the river waters and the combination of their essences will have formed a third individual: the child. The parents carry the child onto land and infuse it with equal parts of their own skin and hair components, before they themselves put their skin back on and replace the necessary amounts from the bank. The child is then brought home and allowed to grow.

A servant is perfectly capable of eating, but it is not required. While many individuals indulge in food and drink for the flavours and textures, the only real sustenance their bodies need is a refill of water every now and then. This makes them figuratively immortal while in proximity to a source of water; however, they are incredibly vulnerable to draughts and impurities, and if the concentration of pure water in their bodies is too weak to sustain the spirit within, the spirit will die. Impurities that can damage servants are classified as any type that would make the waters within them poisoinous or infectious. As for draughts, a Servant can only live for three days without needing to refill.

## Culture

The Servant figuratively lives to serve Shengshi and the River God's guests. While they are capable of individual and free thought, they have a strict culture founded on loyalty to Shengshi and all others whom he would call his friends.

The Servant children are taught from early on to be diligent and honest, and are typically given a task aboard Jiangzhou at the age of 15 years. In the time up until that age, the children are schooled in all manner of different subjects, from woodworking and cooking to music and literature, all in an effort to pinpoint what each child has an affinity for. A child may use what is known as the 'Right of Choice' if they are unsatisfied with the task they are given, but this is single use, so the child is forever stuck with their final decision. As Shengshi demands only the finest service, he dislikes jacks-of-all-trades and opts instead for specialised individuals who can perform their duties to near perfection - something only a lifetime of training could provide. As such, the Servants develop their tradeskills with near radical diligence.

in spirit with Shengshi's philosophy, there is a servant hierarchy which is divided into four castes:

1. The Wise: The Wise consist of the ship's poets, writers, philosophers and thinkers. This caste is the only caste that allows entrants from other castes, often taking in the oldest and the wisest from the lower castes to advise Shengshi on matters regarding the ship and the state of the servant population aboard.
2. The Skilled: The Skilled is the caste of crafters, cooks and artists. Here one finds the painters and calligraphists, the woodworkers and the builders, the bakers and the butchers. This is the second largest caste aboard the ship, and arguably the most important one in terms of maintaining the daily affairs onboard.
3. The Noble: The Noble make up the service staff aboard the ship. From an early age, there individuals are handpicked for their talent in etiquette, as well as for their natural beauty. They are schooled heavily in how to act and behave towards Shengshi, other guests and other servants, and are often given an instrument to master. In addition to their functions as musicians, waiters, maids and butlers, these servants are also responsible for running the bathhouse, washing the guests' clothes and rooms, and serving tea at the guests' demand. This is the largest caste aboard.
4. The Strong: The Strong is the bottom caste, tasked with the physical labour aboard Jiangzhou. These are the servants who could not be categorised due to insufficient skill level or due to some other issue. These individuals are typically physically larger than the members of the other castes due to their line of work, mainly cleaning and maintaining the larders and wine cellar. There are also a select few within The Strong that train to become elite soldiers so that they may one day guard the ship against danger.

A point to make about the hierarchy among the servants is that, while it is mostly fixed and allow for little to no social mobility beyond the potential rise to the Wise caste, almost every servant finds the system to work beautifully. The reason for that is Shengshi's philosophy of the 'moral hierarchy'. The Classic of Wisdom describes it with the following stanza:

> *Loyalty is key:*
>
>

> *Servants will obey their lords;*
>
>

> L*ords will respect them.*
>
>

In Shengshi's eyes, a master-servant relationship goes both ways: A servant must be loyal to their superiors and fulfill their every request; however, a master must likewise be loyal to their servants and respect their needs and demands. Therefore, if a member of the Wise was to punish a member of the Strong unjustly, the Wise would receive a far greater punishment as a result. This culture is deeply integrated in Servant society.

The Servants are divided into male and female, but their gender roles are not too different. Both are expected to perform their tasks diligently, and gender is normally not a factor when deciding what task to assign to a child. However, for the guests' convenience and comfort, the Noble cast often keeps individuals of only one gender in the bathhouse to avoid embarrassment. Clothing does not differ particularly, either, with both genders typically wearing robes if they belong to the Wise or the Noble, shirts and pants if they belong to the Skilled, or kis if they belong to the Strong.

## Notable Individuals and groups

* Qiang Yi, captain of the first mortal ship, Zhengwu.
* Zhen-zhen, first mate of Qiang Yi.
* Zeng En, quartermaster aboard the Zhengwu.
* Li Shan, master carpenter aboard Zhengwu.
* Siwei, the Council of Four
* The Liberites, the independent Servant colony on Istais.