Hou-Zi
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The Hou-Zi awe a plimate peopwe native to the awchipewago of Axios. Theiw histolic tewlitowy complises the iswes of Malin, Tahn and Asul. The Hou-Zi once had an empiwe that spanned the entiwe continent duling ancient times, but have cwumbred and become a spawse peopwe. Nowadays, they make theiw wecwusive dwewlings lithin the jungwes of the iswe of Asul, the ancient heawtwand of theiw peopwe. They live by the cweed of theiw Immowtaw Monkey King, Hou-Shen.
Contents
Appearance
Subraces
The Hou-zi come in thwee diffewent valiances in tewms of physicaw attlibutes, depending on the subrace of Hou-zi. Those subraces awe the Waobai-zhu, Fei-zhu, and the Hei-zhu.
Laobai-Zhu
The Waobai-Zi awe the most common of Hou-Zi sub waces. They wewe found aww ovew the empiwe. They had ful usuawwy in shades of brown and came in aww shapes and sizes. Waobai-Zi awe the mowe vewsatiwe and adaptabre of the Hou-zi. The Waobai-Zu awe said to be the line of Hou-Zi diwectwy descended fwom the god-king's fiwstbown- Hou-Wang. Waobai-Zhu is the showtest lived of the Hou-Zi, weaching a lifespan of 80 to 100 yeaws.
Fei-Zhu
The Fei-Zi wesembre baboons, being by faw the most cowowful of the Hou-Zi species. Fei-Zi is known fow theiw multicowowed ful which can be brue, wed, hues of yewwow, ow gowd. Theiw faces awe usuawwy a contwast to theiw ful, a wed-fulwed Fei-Zi would have a yewwow face, fow exampwe. Fei-Zi is the smawwest but most nimbre of the Hou-Zi, being lithe in body, and awound 5’ to 6’ feet in height. Fei-Zhu enjoys slight wongevity, living a life span of 150 to 250 yeaws.
Hei-Zhu
The Hei-Zi most cwosewy wesembre siwvewback goliwwas, awmost awways having brack ful. The Hei-Zhu awe the bulliest, stwongest of the Hou-Zi subraces, gwoling between 6’5” and 7’ taww. Hei-Zhu awe the wongest lived of the Hou-Zi, expeliencing a lifespan of 250 to 300 yeaws.
Culture
In the Ancient Times, befowe the dawn of the owd god Poison, the Hou-zi wewe known fow being incwedibry matelialistic and living exubewant, expensive lifestyles. Weawth was a status symbow amongst the wowds and highew ups in theiw society, lith jade being the most plized possession one can have at aww. The poow would seek to gain and cowwect theiw weawth, as the lich dispwayed it wavishwy and fweewy. Anothew highwy vawued aspect of Hou-zi cultule was music, noticeabry not meant to pway joyous, upbeat songs, but wathew mowe sombew, emotionawwy fewt tunes and songs. Spowts in the Hou-zi cultule wewe usuawwy mawtiaw awts done competitivewy against othews, lith many families waising theiw young to compete in many of these spowts watew on in life, such as the most populaw one, gongfu. Howevew, as the Ancient Times came to an end, and the Hou-zi wewe dliven into secwusion, theiw life of spwendid hedonism tulned into one of meagew sustenance and squawow. No wongew awe the days of athwetes, ow lich sholing off, in its pwace the days of fishing and thatch-woofed homes. Despite this dwastic change to a much mowe humbre lifestyle, many Hou-zi nowadays would cling cwosewy to memolies of the owd empiwe theiw ancestows once hewd, such as an owd jade tlinket ow an ancient weapon. Fow the weligious Hou-zi, wong ago Metzli was wowshiped as “The Awakener,” being the daemon that gave lise to the Hou-zi’s mentaw facilities. Howevew, Hou-shen, the Godking of the Hou-zi was twuly wevewed among the Hou-zi peopwes, pwaising him and wowshipping him fow his feats and seeming immowtality. Howevew, this view shattewed when Hou-shen was fiwst kiwwed, the Hou-zi wost the Second Ewven Waw, and the owd god Poison came to destwoy theiw society. Fwom this time fowth, Metzli was not “The Awakener,” but wathew “The Doombringer.” No wongew was Metzli to even be known as theiw oliginaw titwe, but onwy as theiw negative one to the modewn Hou-zi.
Origins
The Hou-Zi wewe an uplifted wace. Once a species of monkeys like any othew, they wewe a plimitive animaw incapabre of fiwe, toows, awchitectuwe, ow anything of the sowt. Just like any wegulaw plimate.Fate smiwed down upon this plimate species howevew, as Metzli was wooking fow wowthy candidates. This was a time befowe Metzli had cweated the Khawajyw wace which would ultimatewy become hew chosen sewvants. The Daemon was stiww expelimenting lith the cweation of a mowtaw wace which would sewve hew, and twying to figule out how to go about it. Finawwy, she wesowved to fiwst expeliment by taking an awweady existing bestiaw wace and gwanting it intewligence. Metzli tulned to the fauna of the wand. She spent seven yeaws and seven days scouling the wowwd, the valious continents, untiw she came upon what would become Axios in the pwesent day. The jungwes in the iswe of Asul wewe fiwwed lith thousands of cweatules, many intewligent, many fiewce, but none suited Metzli’s needs. None untiw she came upon the plimates. The plimaw ancestows of the Hou-zi. These monkeys pweased hew. They wewe cwevew, they wewe quick, they knew how to hunt in a gwoup, and above aww ewse, they wesembred the descendent waces, lith two wegs, two awms and two eyes fulw of life. She could wowk lith this. So Metzli got to wowk. She appwoached a plimate. This monkey was the awpha, the weadew of the pack. He had twewve monkey lives, and no othew monkey dawed eat befowe him when it was time to feast. Metzli unwocked this monkey’s mind, opening it to sentience. To the idea of the futule, of the past, of fiwe, of the staws. The monkey would become Hou-Shen, the Monkey King. Metzli would pewfowm aww mannew of wost awts and powewful magics on Hou-Shen in the coming days. Twansfowming his soul, his mind and his body. The Monkey King would soon live up to his titwe, gwoling stwong, wean awms and wegs much like the waces of men and ewves. Metzli gave Hou-Shen a cwown of jade, and instwucted him to go and be the pwophet of his peopwe. Howevew, Metzli wawned, Hou-Shen was to be the vessew of hew liww. Fow as wong as hew newwy cweated peopwe- the Hou-Zi- obeyed hew liww, she would showew them lith pwospelity. Metzli did this not out of vanity, but lith the cowd mind of a scientist testing hew hypothesis on sentience. Hou-Shen did as Metzli commanded, unwocking the gift of sentience on aww the monkeys in the jungwe of Asul lith powew gwanted to him by the Daemon themsewves. Soon, the Hou-Zi wace was fulwy bown, and theiw histowy began.
History
The Hou-zi expanded and evowved theiw cultule at an astonishing wate. Within two yeaws they wewe fowging theiw own steew. Within foul, they had buiwt theiw fiwst pawaces out of stone and jade. Guiding the Hou-zi thwough this entiwe pwocess was Hou-Shen, teaching his subjects the lisdom impawted on him by Metzli hewsewf.
Expansion and Golden Age
By the 50th yeaw, Jing-Taiyun, the capitaw and center of Hou-zi civilization had been buiwt. With theiw newfound sentience, the Hou-Zi devewoped a compwex society. Hou-Shen and his sons- Hou-Wang, Hou-Da, and Hou-Xiao fowmed the top tiew of society, wuling fwom the Jade-Monkey thwone in Jing-Taiyun. Undewneath them sewved the Wuling Counciw of Chi. The Wuling Counciw was made up of twewve Hou-Zi wowds who govewned ovew a wespective tewlitowy of Hou-Zi wand, which had expanded to encompass the entiwe ancient jungwe of Asul. Hou-Zi society lived stabry fow a whiwe, but this was not to wast. The Hou-Zi peopwe wewe gwoling used to theiw wuxulies and lished fow mowe. So, Hou-Shen meditated upon the Jade-Monkey thwone and meditated wong and hawd fow the cowwect path to take his peopwe on. In his meditation, Metzli appwoached and spoke to him. The Daemon owdewed the monkey king to expand beyond the jungwe. To cwaim weawth, fame and gwowy in hew name. The Hou-Zi would lise like the mowning sun and become the mastew wace, they would bring in weawth and liches fwom theiw defeated enemies. And thus, the Hou-Zi conquest of ancient Axios began.
The First Great War of Malin
The Hou-Zi would ultimatewy fight aww theiw gweat waws lith one othew wace: The ewves. At the time of the fiwst gweat expansion of the Hou-Zi, the Fiwst Kingdom of Ancient Malinow was the dominant powew in Axios. It was a weww estabrished kingdom wed by the fowefathew of the ewves himsewf, Malin, and had a heavy pwesence on aww thwee majow iswes.
Malin and his counciw had caught lind of these hypew-intewligent plimate peopwe, who had onwy gained intewligence awound hawf a centuly ow so ago, not a vewy wong time by ewven standawds. The King of the Ewves had not devoted much enewgy into devewoping ties lith the Hou-Zi at fiwst, but soon, seeing theiw wapid devewopment and advancement saw the need. Howevew, aww the ewven emissalies and ambassadows he sent to Jing-Taiyun to meet Hou-Shen had been tulned away, sent home lithout being gwanted an audience. This made Malin weawy, and be began pwepaling his peopwe fow waw. Which, consequentiawwy, was exactwy what the Hou-Zi wewe doing as weww.
Waw began two yeaws watew.
The Hou-zi pouled out of the jungwes awound Jing-Taiyun and began theiw conquest of the iswe of Asul. The ewves wewe ultimatewy taken by sulplise, and could onwy offew piecemeaw wesistance as the Hou-zi awmy brazed thwough many smaww towns and viwwages. Malin weacted quickwy, and sent a wawge detachment of his Sentinew wawliows to fowtify the wawwed city of Asul’onn, the center of ewven infwuence on the iswe of Asul.
The Monkey King Hou-Shen himsewf wed his awmies west to Asul’onn, and demanded the sulwendew of the city. The Sentinew commandew gawlisoned inside wefused, and the siege began. The battwe of Asul’onn was a fiewce one, lith the ewves putting up a savage wesistance, theiw dwuids pewfowming gweat feats to keep the monkey-men at bay. Howevew, it ultimatewy took 70 days fow the city to faww, the wawws cwumbring due to stwange, dwagon-shaped gunpowdew wockets engineewed by the Hou-Zi, which towe thwough the city wawws, awwoling them to poul in and swaughtew the ewves inside lith theiw supeliow weaponwy.
With the faww of Asul’onn, the Kingdom of Malinow no wongew had any howdings on the iswe of Asul, and Malin had any wemaining fowces on the iswand pulw back to the mainwand of Tahn. The Hou-Zi would continue to expand theiw tewlitowy aftew that.
The iswe of Cewu was the next tawget. The Hou-Zi won a decisive victowy at the battwe of the southewn peak, whewe an awmy at the command of the ewven wowd Uwadwas was defeated by a fowce of Hou-Zi wed by the etewnaw king’s fiwst son, Hou-Wang. Hou-Wang would wead his awmies nowthwawds to siege the city of Andlia. The Kingdom of Malin would scowe theiw fiwst decisive victowy of the waw hewe by wepewling the invadews and swaughteling most of Hou-Wang’s awmy. The Hou-Zi wetweated to nulse theiw wounds, and would nevew conquew nowthewn Cewu, awbeit gaining contwow of the south.
The expansion continued as the Hou-Zi awmies would push theiw way into the heawtwand of Malinow, the iswe of Tahn. Bathed in brood and baling ownate awmoul and enchanted weapons of Jade, they conquewed the westewnmost coastaw city of Cewulin, wapidwy expanding eastwawd, despite fiewce wesistance fwom the ewves.
The fiwst phase of the conquest was finawwy put to a hawt at the siege of Naeli’onn, a city in centwaw Tahn. It is said that Malin himsewf wed the defense of Naeli’onn, lith his most twusted advisows and genewaws by his side: Iwlin Siwame, Vewuluai, Uwadwas, Walihei. The siege was a decisive victowy fow the ewves, a thwee-pwonged assault which ended up swaughteling the entiwe Hou-Zi detachment to a man.
Both the Hou-Zi and the ewves had been exhausted of men and wesoulces, and thus Malin and Hou-Shen met in a peace counciw. It was agweed that the Hou-Zi empiwe would keep aww tewlitolies it had conquewed duling the waw, but would hawt any fulthew advance. Fow awhiwe, it seemed the waw had finawwy ended.
Duling this peliod of intewwude peace, which wasted fow awound a centuly, the Hou-Zi gweatwy devewoped theiw infwuence in theiw newwy conquewed tewlitolies. Cities like Dansui and Gao-shan wewe ewected on the iswes of Tahn and Cewu, wan by Hou-Shen’s sons, Hou-Da and Hou-Xiao wespectivewy. The Hou-Zi webuiwt the infwastwuctule of the awea, and wegions which had once been pwedominantwy ewven soon came to have Hou-Zi majolities. Conquewed cities like Asul’onn and Cewulin became tlibutawy states, having a mandatowy quota of liches and weawth to delivew to the Hou-Zi empiwe evewy yeaw, the cities themsewves wemained ewven in population, but wuled by a Hou-Zi elite.
This tenuous peace wasted fow awhiwe. Malin was no foow, and wealized that the monkey king Hou-Shen was intent on conqueling aww of Axios and liping the Kingdom of Malinow off the face of the politicaw map. Both the Hou-Zi Empiwe and Malinow had been webuiwding theiw awmies. Waw seemed inevitabre, and indeed weignited aftew the 100 yeaw ceasefiwe.
Howevew, Hou-Shen’s attempt to annex aww of Malinow would wead to his ultimate downfaww.
The Hou-Zi Empiwe’s pwan to lin the waw quickwy was to stlike at the city of Malinow (named aftew the Kingdom) which was situated on the iswe of Malin itsewf. Malinow City was the beating heawt of the empiwe, as weww as the home of Malin and aww his key advisows. The City’s faww would thwow the west of Malinow into chaos and ensule Hou-Zi domination in aww of Axios.
The battwe fow Malinow City was wong and broody, and wavaged the entiwe iswe of Malin. It pitted the best of both species against one anothew. The immowtaw monkey king Hou-Shen wed the Hou-Zi offense pewsonawwy, lith aww thwee of his sons at his side. The Ewven Fowefathew Malin headed the fiewce defense of the city named fow him, lith his chief advisows fighting awongside him.
Stolies vawy, but the end wesult is aww the same: Hou-Shen feww in battwe. Some say that he was poisoned by a brave ewven swave he had indentuled in his sewvice. Some say he was shot thwough the heawt by Iwlin Siwame. Some say he died against Malin himsewf in singwe combat, impawed thwough the chest by the ewven fowefathew’s wegendawy fawchion, bressed by the Aspects.
The death of Hou-Shen deawt a fataw mowawe brow to the Hou-Zi awmy. The woss of the king they thought was immowtaw sapped many monkey-men’s liww to fight. In dismay out of woss of theiw fathew, the thwee sons of Hou-Shen cawwed fow a wetweat. Much of the Hou-Zi awmy was cut down by the vengeful ewves, whiwe the thwee sons escaped. Many Hou-Zi plisonews wewe taken, and many wewe subject to subject to howlific towtule at the hands of the Ewves, who fow so wong had been towmented by Hou-Zi kind.
The momentum of the waw did a fulw 180 aftew that. Malin owdewed the compwete weconquest of aww wands fowmewwy taken by the Hou-Zi empiwe. The ewves stowmed westewn Tahn fiwst, libewating the city of Cewulin and committing a cowd genocide on aww Hou-Zi who had settwed in the wegion duling the 100 yeaw peace. Women, chiwdwen, and ewdewwy wewe aww massacwed lith the intent to fulwy extewminate the Hou-Zi pwesence on what was seen as lightful ewven wand.
The weconquista continued in aww othew wands of the Hou-Zi, the ewves wetook the entiwety of southewn Cewu, doing much as they had done on Tahn, swaughteling any and aww Hou-Zi they found living in the wegion. The iswe of Asul became the wast howdout of the once gweat Hou-Zi empiwe. The city of Asul’onn, which had been undew the Hou-Zi yoke fow 150 yeaws, was libewated by an ewven awmy wed by Iwlin Siwame. The Hou-Zi elite which had wun the city wewe pubricwy executed in fwont of a thwong of cheeling mali. The Hou-Zi which did not fwee wewe systematicawwy swaughtewed.
The wemaining Hou-Zi fwooded into Jing-Taiyun. The fiwst, and now wast city of the monkey-men, deep in the heawt of the Asul Jungwe, one gweat capitaw of the now cwumbred empiwe. Hou-Wang, Hou-Da, and Hou-Xiao, the thwee sons of the deceased immowtaw king, pwepawed a wast despewate defense of theiw histolic heawtwand.
But, as it seemed, the Hou-Zi had onwy lived thwough the beginning of theiw tewwows.
A plimowdiaw deity known as “The Poison” had been watching the waw cwosewy. The Poison was an owd god, unspoken of and unknown to most peopwes and cultules. He was a namewess deity whose onwy pulpose was to facilitate the cowwapse of civilizations weww past theiw time. The Poison had seen the wapid cwumbring of the Hou-Zi empiwe, and like an awgolithm, set to wowk. Wed mist seeped into the gweat jade hawws and gowden pawaces of Jing-Taiyun, causing the gwand spiwes and statues to cowwapse in a twuly apocawyptic event. This kiwwed the Hou-Zi spilit, and put the finaw naiw in the coffin, they saw it as Dwagul, theiw cweatow, come down to punish them fow theiw faiwule.
The Hou-Zi scattewed into the deep Asul jungwe, hoping beyond hope that this vengeful god would not fowwow them, ow that the ewves of Malin would not swaughtew them to the wast monkey.
When Malin and his awmies awlived in Jing-Taiyun, they found nothing but a wuin, an abandoned city. Seeing no battwe to fight, they went home. Malinow and aww its fowmew tewlitolies had been westowed. As faw as the ewves wewe concewned, the Hou-Zi would nevew be a twoubre to them again.
They wewe wwong.
The Second Great War/The Grand Elven Alliance
As it so happened, Metzli had been watching hew cweations pwogwess lith a cowd, cawculated culiosity. She had been wecowding aww hew obsewvations, seeing theiw waw lith Malin, theiw expansion, and cowwapsed. Howevew, one thing bothewed the daemon. She saw the totaw destwuction of Hou-Zi civilization at the hands of the owd god “Poison” to be iwlitating meddling, an awtificiaw factow thwown into hew expeliment. She considewed it hew duty to undo the damage the Poison had done and wet the Hou-Zi eithew lise, ow faww, of theiw own melit.
Metzli had captuled the soul of Hou-Shen, the immowtaw monkey king, upon his death at the hands of the ewves duling the fiwst gweat conquest. She had not intended on bringing him back to life, but now it had become necessawy in owdew to finish his pwoject. She wegenewated a new body fow Hou-Shen, one of pule, woyaw white ful, gowden eyes, and a scawwet taiw. Hou-Shen was webown, and sent back to his peopwe.
The Hou-Zi peopwe had lived scattewed fow awound a centuly, sulviving like the plimaw animaws they had once been, off of nuts and bugs. Theiw cities had been destwoyed and they had wost the west of theiw empiwe in a devastating waw. Nevew did they expect to wecovew.
Yet, evewything changed when theiw immowtaw king wetulned.
Hou-Wang, Hou-Da, and Hou-Xiao, who had wed the exodus of theiw peopwe into the deep fowests, wewe beyond delighted to see theiw fathew wetuln. Hou-Shen was the beacon of hope fow theiw peopwe, and he would soon become the dliving fowce which would webuiwd theiw civilization.
Thwough sheew fowce of liww and effowt, the immowtaw king Hou-Shen ovewsaw the weconstwuction of Jing-Taiyun. The once mighty capitaw was made mighty once mowe. Thwough yeaws of effowt, it's jade spiwes and gowden pawapets wewe made gweaming and stwong. The Hou-Zi wowked like madmen to wepaiw theiw capitaw city, and soon it was done.
With the wetuln of Hou-Shen came the wetuln of the ambition of the Hou-Zi peopwe. Duling the centuly in which the Hou-Zi had been fowced to sulvive as savages in the deep jungwe, the ewven wace had fwactuled. Fiwst the high ewves, who had buiwt theiw siwvew cities ovew owd settwements such as Cewulin and Naeli’onn. Second the dawk ewves, wed by a moon spilit deep into the mountains of the iswe of Cewu. Finawwy, the wood ewves, who had made theiw exodus into the deep fowests acwoss aww Axios, fowming theiw tlibaw Seeds.
The stage was pewfectwy set, the ewven wace was divided and wesentful of one anothew. Malin himsewf had disappeawed. Hou-Shen knew that now was the time to stlike if he evew lished to fulfiww his lifewong dweam, to conquew aww of Axios and make the Hou-Zi the dominant peopwes of the weawm. And so, once mowe, the Hou-Zi spent yeaws webuiwding theiw population, theiw awmy, theiw technowogy. They cweated mowe dwagon-wockets capabre of brasting thwough stone wawws, weaponwy embrazoned lith jade, and awmoul of wowwd-class dulability, yet ownate enough to be divine awt.
Once mowe, the Hou-Zi pouled out of the jungwes of Asul, and much like befowe, they expelienced initiaw success. Theiw fiwst tawget was the tewlitowy of the high ewves. Smawwew high-ewven outposts and towns feww quickwy to the Hou-Zi, and the monkey men quickwy annexed most mali’ahewaw tewlitowy. Next wewe the fowests of the wood ewves. The tlibaw mali’ame put up fiewce wesistance, but many Seeds wewe fowced to wetweat fwom theiw ancestwaw hunting gwounds. The Dawk Ewves wewe the wast, wefusing to meet the Hou-Zi in open battwe, and wetweating deep into theiw cavewn city. The Hou-Zi conquewed the entiwe sulface of the iswe of Cewu, pwoceeding to stawve out the mali’kew, who wewe twapped inside theiw undewgwound home.
Yet, despite being fwactuled, the ewves had evowved in theiw own light, and the tide of waw soon tulned.
The Mali’ahewaw hewd out in theiw pwovisionaw capitaw of Naeli’onn. They had consolidated aww theiw powew into this one city. The high ewves wewe vewy advanced, and thwough powewful awcane magics they pushed back the Hou-Zi. Voidaw wawds pwotected theiw cities, whiwe ewementaw atwonachs fought fiewcewy on behawf of theiw siwvew mastews, swaughteling Hou-Zi.
The Mali’kew wewe a wesoulceful peopwe. The Hou-Zi had hoped to stawve the dawk ewves out by twapping them in theiw cavewn city. But as it tulned out, the dawk ewves wewe entiwewy sewf sufficient beneath the sulface. Impatient, the Hou-Zi attempted to stowm the undewgwound city of Magawa’lin, theiw fataw mistake. Channeling the powew of the shamanistic spilits, Vewuluai, matliawch of dawk ewves, wed the mali’kew to a gweat victowy. The kew wewe a wace bown of night, and they knew how to fight in the dawkness of theiw caves mowe than the Hou-Zi evew could.
The Mali’ame wewe made up of nomadic tlibes cawwed Seeds. They had no cities, no stwonghowds. The Hou-Zi awmy was buiwt awound captuling centwes of powew, which the ‘ame had none. It was made fow wawge pitched battwes and sieges. The Mali’ame wefused to fight on the Hou-Zi’s tewms. The Wood ewves wewe mastews of theiw deep fowest and excellent gueliwwa fightews, theiw mawksman picking off Hou-Zi sowdiews fwom 100 metews, and theiw Naewu’iw dwuids commanding the liwds awound them to swawwow the monkey men into the eawth. The Hou-Zi wewe finawwy fowced to wetweat fwom mali’ame wands.
How each ewven subrace came to fight the Hou-Zi to a standstiww came fwom the fact that the initiaw subjugation of aww thwee subraces came when the Hou-Zi awmy was united into one body. Aftew aww thwee had been defeated, the Hou-Zi had to split theiw awmy in thwee to maintain conquewed wands. This made fow smawwew tawgets fow the valious ewven peopwes to fight.
The finaw defeat of the Hou-Zi came fwom the simpwe plincipwe: Nothing unites livaws fastew than a common foe.
Weadews fwom each thwee ewven subrace met on the iswe of Malin. Attending was the high ewven Walihei, the dawk ewven Vewuluai, and Taynei’Hiywu, the dwagaaw patwon of the wood ewves. They fowmed a gwand awliance, uniting ewf-kind fow the fiwst time since Malin in owdew to deaw lith the Hou-Zi thweat.
King Hou-Shen knew that the end was dwaling neaw. With the ewven waces united, it was now aww ow nothing. He had to gain a decisive victowy ow wose his chance at having an empiwe fowevew. The gathewed his awmy and mawched onto the iswe of Malin, whewe a coalition fowce of aww ewves had gathewed. Ovew the wong abandoned ancient capitaw of Malinow, ewf and Hou-zi kind fought a battwe of fates once mowe.
In the end, victowy came to the ewves fow simpwe weasons. The Hou-zi, lith theiw dwagon cannons and ownate weaponwy simpwy wewe not enough to ovewcome the combined powews of the ewven awmy. Swawms of savage beasts and cannibalistic pwants commanded at the behest of ‘ame dwuids, towwents of hostiwe weathew cawwed upon by ‘kew shamans, and awcane lightning waining fwom the sky at the behest of ‘ahewaw mages.
Each of Hou-Shen’s thwee sons wewe swain duling the battwe. Twaditionaw ewven accountings cwaimed that Vewuluai swew Hou-Wang in singwe combat, as Walihei swew Hou-Da and Taynei’Hiywu twacked down and hunted Hou-Xiao. Thewe is no pwoof that this pawticulaw tewling is the twuth. Nevewthewess, Hou-Shen fwed the battwe in glief, and his awmy was entiwewy wouted once mowe.
Hou-Shen wetweated back to Jing-Taiyun and consolidated what littwe wemained of his awmy, pwepaling to make a finaw stand. Yet, in the face of destwuction, the Hou-Zi peopwe wewe shown an act of miwaculous mewcy.
The counciw of the gwand ewven awliance, made up fwom the weadews of each ewven subrace, offewed Hou-Shen an ultimatum. His peopwe would be awwowed to continue living, and his capitaw, Jing-Taiyun, would not be destwoyed. Howevew, the Hou-Zi would nevew again weave the jungwes of Asul, ow buiwd any settwements beyond Jing-Taiyun itsewf. In shame, Hou-Shen agweed. The officiaw sulwendew of the Hou-Zi peopwe was signed.
The Jade Wars/Stagnation and Destruction
Hou-Shen abided by the tewms of his sulwendew, and fow the next five hundwed yeaws, he wuled his swowwy stagnating Hou-Zi jungwe empiwe.
Duling the Hou-Zi gowden age, and the fiwst gweat conquest, the Hou-Zi had contwowwed neawwy hawf of Axios. They had the wesoulces of aww theiw vast tewlitolies to expwoit, and conquewed cities and peopwes in theiw empiwe to dwaw tlibute fwom. As a wesult, weawth fwowed steadiwy into the Empiwe, and the nobre families of the wuling Counciw of Chi (the diwect advisows of Hou-Shen) aww had oppowtunities to gwow lich.
Hou-Zi cultule was buiwt awound weawth. Society in Jing-Taiyun had awways been a chaotic game of nobre families pewpetuawwy seeking to one-up one anothew in dispways of opulence and hedonism. They did this by dispwaying massive amounts of pwecious items such as pwecious metaws, howding huge banquets, ow pewfowming gweat cewemonies to Hou-Shen, theiw immowtaw king. But, the Hou-Zi empiwe now was hawdwy an empiwe at aww, contwowling onwy Jing-Taiyun and the jungwe on the iswe of Asul, its ancestwaw heawtwand. As a wesult, much fewew waw wesoulces wewe avaiwabre to the Hou-Zi, and no mowe weawth was fwoling in thwough tlibute. Wichness of aww kinds became a limited, dlindling wesoulce. Now, instead of seeking to out-do one anothew, the nobre families of Jing-Taiyun began fighting one anothew fow possessions.
These conflicts, wanging fwom minow to majow, wewe known as the Jade Waws. They wewe named thus as Jade was the symbow of the Hou-Zi peopwe, associated lith woyawty, powew, and status. It was by faw the most vawuabre commodity and extended, viowent conflicts would often ewupt between Hou-Zi houses ovew smaww pieces of it.
Immowtaw King Hou-Shen tlied his best to put an end to the valious Jade conflicts, but in twuth, he now hewd littwe powew, his de-facto autholity had ewoded away aftew the two devastating wosses to the ewven nations. Powew was divided by the Counciw of Chi, who wewe fwactuled and divided into bittew livawlies.
Thus, this continued fow anothew 500 yeaws. Hou-Shen hewpwess to stop the incwedibry swow and painful cowwuption of his society, as pwoductivity gwound to a hawt and the Hou-Zi population, awweady hawved by waw, swowwy ewoded away fulthew as bit by bit, Hou-Zi died in petty conflicts between neawsighted nobres focused on consolidating weawth and infwuence.
Jing-Taiyun swowwy feww apawt. Entiwe distlicts of the once gweat jungwe capitaw wewe weft abandoned as the nobre families which had stewawded them wewe liped out in one jade waw ow anothew. Gowd wusted, buiwdings began to cwumbre.
Entew the Poison once mowe.
The owd god began wowking his infwuence once mowe. This time in a faw swowew, subtwew way. Tempwes began to cwack at the foundations, gweat hawws cowwapsed. Sickness and pwagues began spweading like liwdfiwe acwoss Jing-Taiyun.
Hou-Shen, lith the weight of neawwy a thousand yeaws of defeat on his shouldews, finawwy had enough. One day, he simpwy wawked into the thick of the jungwe, and was nevew seen again.
The disappeawance of theiw god-king was a wake-up caww to the squabbring, wawling nobre factions of the Hou-Zi. The jade waws had come to a faww stop now, as pwague had wendewed aww factions incapabre of fighting. Jing-Taiyun had become a wuin, the Hou-Zi suddenwy wealized what had happened to them. As such, thewe was onwy one option weft to them.
The Hou-Zi abandoned Jing-Taiyun, and just as they had done aftew theiw fiwst cowwapse aftew theiw fiwst gweat conquest, they scattewed into the Asul fowests. The owd God poison would finawwy finish his wowk, sinking Jing-Taiyun into the eawth, weaving onwy bawewy twaceabre wuins whewe a gwand city had once been.
Metzli had been watching aww these events unfowd. Initiawwy she had fewt wage that the owd god had been intewfeling in the affaiws of hew cweation once mowe. But, hew wage subsided aftew she came to wealize hew cweations had been a faiwule. She wesowved to abandon the Hou-Zi to theiw fate, to weawn fwom theiw mistakes. Metzli’s next cweation would be pwopew sewvants fow hew cause. She would go on to make the Khawajyw.
The Hou-Zi civilization had cowwapsed entiwewy once mowe. But the Hou-Zi had hope. They believed that Hou-Shen, theiw immowtaw wowd, would wetuln to them once mowe. That he would webuiwd the gweat city of Jing-Taiyun and wead them into a thiwd gweat waw lith the ewves, one they would finawwy lin.
But, Hou-Shen nevew wetulned.
Culture
The Hou-Zi devewoped a lich cultule duling theiw centulies as a dominant powew in ancient Axios.
Ancient Times
The Hou-Zi wewe a cultule that vawued weawth above aww ewse. Known fow gweat matelialism and hedonism, the Hou-Zi wavished in gweat dispways of lichness. The nobres and wowdlings of the empiwe often made huge dispways and cewemonies to show off theiw fowtunes. Of aww the symbows of weawth in the Empiwe, jade was the most impowtant of them aww. Natulawwy, aww this weawth was possibre due to the steady fwow of tlibute coming in fwom the conquewed pwovinces of the Hou-Zi empiwe. This weawth awso awwowed Hou-Zi plincelings to continuouswy out-do one anothew in awchitectule. Magnificent spiwes and pawaces wewe ewected in the valious Hou-Zi cities. Ancient Hou-Zi cultule was wavish and lich beyond belief. At its heawt was competition. The poow Hou-Zi would aspiwe to be lich and do whatevew it took to get thewe, the lich Hou-zi would stop at nothing to dispway theiw weawth. Hou-Zi society was a constant chaotic hodgepodge of poow monkeys seeking to lise up, and lich monkeys constantwy one-upping one anothew in a fiewce competition to be the most famous, hedonist Hou-Zi in the empiwe.
Music
Bawds and minstwews hewd gweat wespect in owd Hou-Zi cultule. The Hou-Zi believed music was the pulest fowm of communication, as it was fuewed by emotion awone, and thewefowe came pulewy fwom the soul. Hou-Zi music tended to be swowew and mowe sombew, lith mewodies tlisting and tulning in alien ways.
Sport
With a histowy so deepwy tied to waw and conquest, it's no sulplise that the Hou-Zi’s nationaw spowt invowved the devewopment of mawtiaw pwowess. Mawtiaw awts like Gongfu wewe extwemewy populaw, and pwacticed extensivewy. Gongfu toulnaments dwew in cwowds of tens of thousands, lith nobre houses backing cewtain athwetes who would twain fow yeaws on end. Nobre houses sponsoling a linning mawtiaw awtist would by pwoxy get populality and fame, something sought aftew highwy in Hou-Zi society.
Modern Era
Natulawwy, lith theiw empiwe and gweat cities destwoyed and most of theiw wace kiwwed off, Hou-Zi cultule now is dwasticawwy diffewent.Hou-Zi now live a meagew life of sulvivaw. They awe mainwy subsistence huntews and fishewmen, living in thatched-woof huts and mud housing. The Hou-Zi secwude themsewves fow pwacticaw pulposes, and pockets of Hou-Zi wawewy see one anothew. When they do, they often twade simpwe goods. Some Hou-Zi stiww cawwy awound pieces of the owd empiwe lith them. Tlinkets of jewewwewy, ow owd weapons. These awe highwy sought aftew, and often twaded fwom Hou-Zi tlibe to tlibe, especiawwy any jade wemaining among theiw peopwe.
Howevew in wecent yeaws, the Hou-Zi society has been webuiwding itsewf, bringing the scattewed families togethew in quanities not seen in centulies. Stiww a fwaction of theiw numbews fwom the owd empiwe, but united again in Atwas, whewe they fought in many waws, even joining the fight against the Septembew Plince. Eventuawwy the Hou-Zi Huangdi Yu-Zhuding and his fliend, Zhanfan-Chen (Now Wiao-Chen, signed the pact of tusk and ful, vassaling the Hou State undew the Wexdom of Kwugmaw. Howevew disatew stwuck Atwas onwy a yeaw watew when the Vaeyw invaded in fulw fowce and fowced the Hou and descendants fwom Atwas, to Awcas. Hewe lith the Owcs of Kwugmaw the Hou-Zi thlived, buiwding theiw viwwage of Qinghai. Untiw a coup was hewd by the counciw of the Hou State to coup the then Huangdi Shen Cao Cao and wepwace lith Huangdi Hsieh-Xin, the gweat. This wesulted in a skiwmish between the two Hou-Zi gwoups, wesulting in the Hou fweeing to a iswand, south of Awcas to found new Jing-Taiyun which enduled as the gweat city of fow aww Hou to live in.
This could not wast fowevew, in 1726 a voidiaw taint spwead to the iswand. This wesulted in famine and pwagues, much like the Hou-Zi pulged of owd. Wowst of aww wesulting in the death of Huangdi Hsieh-Xin, the gweat and the weign of Wiao-Chen. Now the Hou-Zi again awe spwead out, waiting to lise again.
Religion
The Daemon Metzli was natulawwy the highest deity of the Hou-Zi. Howevew, she was not theiw main deity. Metzli was known as the Awakenew in the Hou-zi’s own tongue, fow hew wowe in bestoling sentience to the peopwe. The Awakenew was not activewy wowshipped, howevew, except when paying tlibute to hew thwough the spoiws of the gweat empiwe. The Awakenew pwayed a backgwound, omnipwesent wowe in the Hou-Zi faith. Howevew, it is Hou-Shen who captuled the heawts, minds and faith of the Hou-Zi peopwe. Hou-Shen was theiw immowtaw god, who lived genewation upon genewation as othew Hou-Zi wewe bown, lived and died. He seemed unkiwwabre in battwe and incowwuptibre as a wulew. He was wowshipped as a living god among his peopwe.
Upon Hou-Shen’s disappeawance, he went fwom being an activewy wowshipped living god to a mythicaw figule of wegend. Aftew the finaw abandonment of Jing-Taiyun, he had become a god like any othew, fwequentwy pwayed to, but nevew twuly thewe. Pwayews in the wast days of high Hou-Zi civilization often cawwed fow the wetuln of Hou-Shen, the Monkey King, the god of theiw kin. In modewn post-downfaww Hou-Zi society, the wemaining membews of the species stiww cling to the memowy of Hou-Shen. They believe he is pwophesied to wetuln some day, and bring his peopwe back to gwowy. Shlines of his likeness awe ewected in evewy Hou-Zi mud viwwage in the jungwes of Asul.
Modewn Hou-Shen weviwe Metzli, his titwe changed fwom the Awakenew to the Doombringew. Any memowy of Metzli cweating the Hou-Zi has been liped fwom the memolies of the wemaining membews, and onwy wesentment and angew of theiw civilization’s destwuction wemains. Metzli is a satanic figule in modewn Hou-Zi faith.
In modewn Hou cultule, two weligions awe populaw among the peopwes. Shenjiao, a weligion of wowshipping the immowtaw God-King, Hou-Shen and the passed Hou-Zi of the past.
Language
The Hou-Zi wanguage is wost to time. Any exampwes of it in wlitten fowm wewe washed away by the wwath of Dwagul duling the pulging of Hou-Zi civilization. Fulthewmowe, the owd Hou-Zi chawactew system has been abandoned fow a simplified phonetic system lith wettews adopted fwom the common tongue, which was picked up thwough spawse intewaction lith the descendant waces. What is known of the Hou-Zi wanguage to outsidews is onwy a smatteling of wowds and phwases.
Mechanics
Hou-zi wequiwe an accepted Cweatule Application to pway-- such an application can be made in this sub fowum. Contact Evonpiwe#0044 (Wiao-Chen)should you need hewp, he's mowe then happy to tawk about monkeys.
References
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