Hun'Sho

The **Hun'Sho** (People of Fire) are a humanoid species native to the Undercrust. They were first created thousands of years ago by Avar, the Primordial of Fire.

## Appearance and Physiology

The Hun'Sho initially appear to be made of lava, like small magma golems. However, the lava is in fact a thin coating which they secrete and can control.

Under the lava, a Hun'Sho's body appears humanoid, save for its gray skin and glowing eyes, much like a Hun'Kui. However, in place of a ribcage full of organs, a Hun'Sho has a large open cavity in their chest. The cavity holds some spare lava and has room to pull the entire lava coat inside for storage, if desired. It also holds the lungs. Most strikingly, however, the cavity has the Hun'Sho's core suspended in the center, roughly in place of a heart.

The core is a glowing sphere, which rotates once per day in synchrony with Eleg itself, thus giving Hun'Sho a perfect time sense despite living underground. This core is a Hun'Sho's seat of consciousness and their only vital organ. The core can survive when removed from the body, and indeed can regenerate a whole new body if needed.

Hun'Sho are immortal and reproduce asexually. They do not need to eat, though regenerating requires them to absorb rock. They are naturally infused with ardor, allowing them to perceive reapers. Hun'Sho are immune to the hottest temperatures of the Undercrust and can withstand cold at least well enough to visit temperate regions of the surface unprotected.

## History

The Hun'Sho were created thousands of years ago by Avaross, an incarnation of the god Avar. Avaross was at first a model father, strict but also instructive and attentive. Under His guidance, the Hun'Sho set out to create a perfect civilization.

However, over time, Avaross appeared to gradually lose his way. He paid less and less attention to the Hun'Sho and appeared more and more impatient and weary, though he denied that anything had changed. Eventually, he seemingly lost interest in the Hun'Sho altogether, and created the Hun'Kui. The Hun'Sho attempted to bring the Hun'Kui into their civilization, but were unable to fully connect to the much shorter-lived Hun'Kui, and Avaross was little help, having apparently lost all drive to teach or discipline either race.

This state of affairs was disrupted when another Primordial, the "God of All That Is Not", apparently eliminated Avar, along with all other Primordials save one. Left alone with a crumbling civilization, the Hun'Sho decided to solve the matter by force. Under the leadership of Guong Torosh, one of the original Hun'Sho, they enslaved the entire Hun'Kui species, and rebuilt their cities using their labor. Even the surface world was partly dependent on the Hun'Sho of this age. Another Guong, Seyos, left at this time to find the last remaining Primordial, the Bored God Malast.

Seyos eventually returned, having stolen Malast's only valuable possession, the Urn of Growth, and a vast hoard of other items taken from "the irresponsible and undeserving." He rejoined a thriving, but slavery-based, society and became a potentate in his own right. However, friction arose between him and the other Guongs, who viewed him not as a talented ruler, but as an enthroned thief who got lucky with talented subordinates. Seyos attempted to prove his mastery by building a great vault network, and attempting to summon and bargain with Malast. However, Malast proved too indifferent to be of use.

At this point, the Hun'Kui discovered a weapon they could use against their enslavers: the Sludge Sickness, a biological weapon which caused Hun'Sho to devolve into worms. A rebellion using this weapon toppled the Hun'Sho civilization, leaving only a few small enclaves of Hun'Sho survivors. One of these was in Seyos's vault, Himmekel. The survivors here eventually rejected Seyos's leadership, so he became a hidden tyrant, using his artifacts to watch and coerce the vault-dwellers from the shadows.