The Shar
General Information;
The shar are a humanoid race, predominantly female, with unique physical features and abilities revolving around mental control and compulsion. Male shar, born with uncontrollable magic far more powerful than others, are often killed shortly after birth to protect the race as a whole. Even normally, a shar's magic is potent and powerful: if a shar touches the bare skin of another with their hands, they may release their power into that person like a deadly poison.
Statistics;
Name:: Shar
Average Lifespan:: 400 years
Average Height:: 6ft/1.8m
Average Weight:: 150 pounds
Location Found:: Abroad.
*all statistics based on averages; extremes in any direction, or found in odd locations, are always allowed.
Notes;
Offspring Shar are invariably hybrids; they reproduce with others not of their race, fathers that are human, elf, or otherwise very similar in appearance. However, shar blood is exceptionally strong, and these children exhibit no sign of their other blood at all. Thus, it is thought that the genetics of the father are eradicated during gestation and all shar children are considered 'purebred' if asked.
Should a male shar reproduce, the offspring of that pairing will exhibit hybrid traits, and their abilities will be a mix between the mind-compulsion Touch and whatever abilities the mother may have had.
Kuraian Origins Shar were once human, experimented upon by the demons of Death. Thus, shar may have an instinctual hatred and fear of Death demons - though this has faded some over the years. Certain individuals, upon sensing a demon or hellwolf of Death nearby, may be overtaken by exceptional fear and will flee until their presence may no longer be felt.
Diet This is what this species, and any variants, may eat at any given time.
Common:
fruit, nuts, fish, vegetables.
Uncommon:
white meat, grain, shellfish.
Rare:
red meat, tubers.
Overview:
Shar are omnivorous, but they tend towards a more vegetarian diet, preferring fish over white or red meat. They tend to eat light meals prepared with little in the way of seasoning or sauce. Depending on what region they commonly live within, their diets may reflect that of the common foods of the area, though their staple foods never change.
Credits;
Species info credited to Kayla, SherniKaur, and Verridith.
In-Depth Information;
Appearance Shar resemble humans or elves in basic features; they are often tall and lithely built, and can have any skin and eye color. However, their hair is invariably white, and their eyes are shaped less like a human's and more like an animal's. Twin black slitted pupils - akin to that of a cat's, but doubled - split each iris, and these are always bordered in a second, subtle color. In addition, every shar carried a white birthmark in the shape of a coiled S that often resembles a serpentine dragon, whose mouth gapes in an eternal roar on their shoulders.
Many shar will wear loose-fitting, flowing clothes made of vilam or silk, most often colored white and decorated with soft blues or shimmering golds. Almost all wear long gloves up to their elbows no matter what other garb they sport or what other culture they may have found themselves within, though jewelry, tattoos, and paints often remain in hues of gold or blue. Shar never wear red - it is considered a mark of shame and disgrace. Upon most traditional shar clothing (when living among other shar), the S will be emblazoned on the shoulder over their birthmark in gold or blue thread.
Culture Predominantly female - with most shar being born female regardless - the shar are a strictly matriarchal race, led by a woman called the maharani that oversees the species at large. This maharani is directly responsible for making sure that shar society is kept safe from those who seek to harm them due to their mind-controlling powers, to bring criminal shar to justice, and to hold mothers accountable for being rid of dangerous male children. Beneath her is an heiress chosen, called the rani, who will take over her place when she is no longer able to lead.
Unlike other races, male shar are born without the ability to control their magic; it grows in them from the moment they are born to chaotic levels far stronger than any female shar. As their touch alone can destroy the minds of others far more thoroughly, and due to the fact that they often go mad in their teenage years, males are thus culled upon discovery of their birth. To attempt to save a male shar is punishable by imprisonment or death, and should one survive, they will be hunted down and slain at the command of the maharani.
It is said that, very rarely, male shar are capable of surviving to adulthood - often due to a mother's mercy and birth in secret, then luck or enchantment later in life - but these are never able to rejoin shar society, and cannot reveal themselves to their race. Thus, they often hide who and what they are, integrating into human or elf societies while protecting those around them as best they can from their own chaotic power.
In shar society - whether it is villages, towns, or cities they hold or simply dwell within - menfolk are not often found unless they are Touched. As shar still need to procreate, they often will travel to find a male in a humanoid race (commonly humans or elves, though others have been recorded) to Touch and bear a child with. If these males are brought back, they will remain Touched for the rest of their days. If not, their meeting of the shar will be as a passing dream, and most will never know of the offspring they helped to create. Younger shar women, when traveling abroad, may seem awkward or nervous around the unTouched. In shar communities, unTouched men are seen with some level of mistrust, and may even be attacked by shar women, driven away for fear of their power even though they are of other races.
For a shar to truly fall in love with a man of another race is a rarity, and is frowned upon by their culture at large. As they cannot touch the other with their hands lest they corrode away at his mind, permanently damaging it, most of these relationships fall to ruin. Love between women is considered much safer, even if it is impossible to render children from.
Most shar cities are hidden, but they are found across multiple Realms in many different places. Those that still dwell in Kurai are perhaps the most secret of them all, as they are still hunted by the Kingdom of Death for their rebellion many years ago.
Abilities Unique to the shar race is their ability of nearly complete mental compulsion; through the touch of their bare hands to the skin of another, they are able to inject potent magical energy into their victim that surges through the soul and overtakes the mind. The potency, speed, and length of time an individual is controlled is dependent on how old and how strong the shar is. For adults of an average age, the effects of the Touch can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. This Touch is formed by a connection with the victim's spiritual and mental energy, siphoning their reiatsu, and replacing some of the shar's lost energy for as long as the effects of the Touch last.
A shar's magical Touch may be resisted or countered by those with a strong enough mind. If a shar’s ability is deflected, the shar will be rendered nearly immobile and temporarily paralyzed. Their energy will stolen away, and they will be left extremely vulnerable and prone to attacks for long moments as their system reels. Bereft of the slight reiatsu gained by a successful Touch, the effects are very similar to magical overtax, and in extreme cases, may lead to injury or death. How effective the Touch is may also differ with the size of the afflicted individual, as well as their general reiatsu strength. For example, a large dragon may resist the energy coursing through its system better than a human. However, those with extreme reiatsu pools will better resist no matter their size.
Depending on the length of time a Touched individual is infected with the shar's energized magic, it will slowly corrode at the victim's essence and corrupt the golden threads. While these effects fade with time, if the Touch is continually renewed, the victim will eventually become a simple, mindless puppet of what they once were. This person will be utterly prone the shar's every whim, their ability to create their own thoughts or emotions completely erased. Those under the influence of shar magic are called the Touched, and those that are mentally destroyed are referred to as the Lost.
This ability cannot be turned off or limited by a shar, male or female. Because of this, a shar will rarely choose to mate with someone as close as a pairbond; instead, if she chooses to have a child, a shar will mate with a Touched male so that there is less of a chance of her unleashing her power on the one she loves. If a shar female and an unTouched male become intimate, there is a chance that she may unintentionally hurt him, and/or permanently damage his mind. Male shar are even more dangerous, and those that become fathers often must raise their child alone as the female's mind may never fully recover from the effects of a Touch.
Such a Touch is not without drawbacks. The very use of this power will leave a shar physically and mentally exhausted, the amount of which depends on the length of time the Touch lasts and the strength of the shar in question. On average, a shar must rest for several hours to regain strength lost after a successful Touch. Shar are also weak to light and dark magic - thus, only these powers may cure the Lost of the shar’s energy-poison.
Physically, shar are fast and stealthy. They have adapted to using Kuraian ninja-like weapons such as throwing stars and kunai, even when found in other Realms.
Species Origin;
The demonic Death Kingdom has always been one to experiment heavily upon its own ranks, and upon the human ‘cattle’ they keep on hand as a ready source for satisfying the curse placed upon their kind. Sometimes these experiments bear some success, though most end up with some fundamental flaw or other, even if the original goal was reached. However, few if any of these experiments ended as badly for them as did the creation of the shar.
The goal was to make some of the ‘cattle’ into capable soldiers. Since humans were so much the inferior to demons in a physical sense, Death’s mages sought to increase their magical abilities. They planned to give these slave-soldiers the power to bewitch the minds of their foes, or even serve as assassins, luring their targets into a false sense of security through their powers before killing them.
They selected several women with the most potential, and began experimenting upon them. Eventually, after a few months, the first shar came into being. Death’s mages were pleased with their work, but they failed to realize their experiment had been too successful. The first shar managed to ensnare one of the mages without any of the others knowing. As the mages crafted more shar, still using only females, the first of them quietly managed to capture the minds of still more.
Eventually, the mages experimented on males, but had only achieved some minor, partial successes when the shar rebelled, having turned many of Death’s demon soldiers to their control. Death’s Lord struck swiftly, and cut through many of the rebels. The majority of the survivors managed to negotiate for their survival, and were subsequently banished from Kurai, though they were forced to leave everything behind save for the clothes they were wearing.
The flawed nature of male shar meant the females often had to seek lovers from other races to ensure the survival of their species, and over time, the males were mostly killed or banished, with any males born to the shar facing the same fate. Now, the shar mainly keep to themselves, only mingling with other species as needed to ensure theirs endures.
This species did not have an Ancient First.
subspecies
No subspecies have been discovered for this species yet!
