Looking Deeper
An often misunderstood race, the Zith are complex, dangerous, animalistic, curious, passionate, brutal and loving all at once. The most distinctive aspect of the Zith that separates them from humans is that they embrace their bestial instincts over humanoid reason and morality.
The Zith are not a noble, politically influential, civilized race of beings. They do not act with elegance or social grace and they most definitely are not, in no way, no shape, no relation to socialized, civilized humans. They do not speak like noble humans or even civilized ones. When they do talk to others not of their kind, their tone and the subject matter is simplistic, animalistic and matter-of-factly. Their grasp of humanoid languages is barely at a basic level at best.
The Zith, having been created from humans, have instinctual embraced the darker instincts often repressed by most of civilized humanity. The term bestial is often associated with the Zith however they do possess an extreme sense of curiosity and are renown for their passion for learning that often conflicts with their bestial natures. They learn and adapt rather quickly to new situations and because of this have, over the centuries since the Valterrian, evolved from simple beasts to calculating, very focused hunters. That said, their primary motivations in life are still driven by passion and emotion tempered by animal instincts. This leads to a dangerous, unpredictable mix.
The Zith are often violent and unpredictable. They can in one moment, be loving and caring creatures, passionate in both. Another moment, they are brutal, viscous beasts that will try to rip the throats from those they were close to seconds before. They are unpredictable much of the time but have been known to focus their passions and emotions on specific agendas. Such a focus does not end until the task is complete/mastered or something else takes on a greater hold over them.
The whole idea of nobility, superiority and many of the social constructs humanity has created, fails to enter the minds of most zith. Usually, the zith see others as prey or at the very most, see others in terms of how useful they can be to the zith. If for example, the zith come across a beautiful human female, they likely would see her as having potential as a slave for use in all manner of undesirable (to the human) activities. If they instead came across a physically fit human male, a potential slave for labor then presents itself. An overweight, slow, unattractive human, male or female, would likely end up as the zith's next meal. The Zith generally view non-zith in such a way; always judging potential worth in various degrees.
The Zith love to hunt. They revel in causing fear within their prey. They see this as a way of flavoring the meat as it were. Whether or not they kill their prey, enslave it or whatever, the joy of the hunt stands above all else.
As for slaves, the zith are not like the slavemasters of Ravok. They do not mercilessly beat their slaves or otherwise abuse them for the fun of it; not as a rule anyway. They choose slaves based on usefulness. Strong slaves are good for labor. Pretty slaves are good for physical pleasure. Intelligent slaves are good as teachers. Most others are good for food. There is no such thing as a zith keeping a slave that is physically superior to the zith or otherwise threatening in some way. If a slave is seen as being a threat to its master, it is killed and eaten. If the slave is too sick or weak to be of use, it is also killed and eaten. Beyond that, slaves of the zith are more or less well cared for, by zith standards. The zith see it like this, if a slave presents itself as being useful, non-threatening and bares potential, that slave will be cared for like a pet. On the other side of the coin however, if that pet proves to be a threat, sickly or otherwise unnecessary to keep around, it will be removed.
Zith society as it stands, is not all that civilized. Most zith spend their days asleep or engaged in more passive activities that require little energy. At night, the hunt begins. Returning from a hunt, be it successful or otherwise, usually ends up in hours spent having passionate often brutal relations with members of the opposite gender (zith or slave) or contests of strength and skill all in the name of celebration or consolation. In those colonies that maintain slaves, the slaves may perform duties such as teaching various members of the colony a number of different skills. As mentioned, the Zith love to learn and are able to learn rather quickly. They enjoy learning and speaking the common tongue as well as other languages. They enjoy art and various other trade skills. Perhaps it is a lost fragment of their human origins that drives them to seek out knowledge that they would otherwise not possess but whatever it is, the zith love to learn. Slaves also tend to any sort of harvesting of the moss, Salialana, a powerful aphrodisiac. Slaves clean up after the zith and perform many of the duties that slaves in other cultures do. Punishment however for not obeying their masters can have a slave end up being eaten.
It is important to note that, despite their love of learning and ability to adapt, they are still driven by their animal instincts.
Living conditions in most zith colonies is also quite different from outside world. Zith live in caves, caverns and tunnels. They do not live in traditional human households. They do not wear or even own fancy clothes or carry expensive weaponry. They do not sleep in luxurious beds with silk sheets nor do they eat elaborately cooked meals served on plates and cut with knives and forks.
Zith culture is very primitive even though some small trappings of human civilization can be observed scattered here and there. Clothing, if any exists both for zith and slave, is negligible as the zith see little need for it. Formalities in speech and conversation also do not exist. Zith communicate in a language unlearnable by non-zith when engaging one another in speech. Such conversations involve boasting, bragging, demanding, taunting or courting. Involved discussions on philosophy for example, are unheard of in zith society. If a zith communicates with a human, it is usually in the common tongue and occasionally in another human dialect. These conversations are rather simple in content and involve the zith telling the slave what to do and when to do it (usually immediately). Rarely though it does happen, a zith may actually have a slightly more in depth conversation with a favored slave about personal matters however most of the more detailed conversing takes place when a slave is expected to teach and pass on their knowledge and skills to their zith master.
Being the slave of a zith is something of a complex situation. If one is chosen to be a slave over becoming food, they have proven themselves to be of worth. Because of that, the zith will try and make their slave feel as comfortable as possible while instilling in that slave the fact that the zith is the master. This goes back to the idea of a pet. The zith doesn't want their pets to hate them. To the contrary, they want their pets to love them (perhaps some instinctual need passed on through the many generations from the first zith who were once human). While they can be harsh at times, especially toward a disobedient slave, the zith still wish to gain something positive from the slave. As long as the slave does what is expected of them, they will find their lives to be absent of an over-abundance of pain. They generally have security and food as well as some form of companionship. However, older slaves can expect the end to come much sooner while living in slavery among the zith than they would in human society as the zith have no use for elderly, weak slaves.
Playing a Zith can be a challenging yet rewarding experience. While most civilized societies shun and often ban the existence of zith, these misunderstood creatures can still find a place among those who despise them. Urban zith stalk the lower rungs of society. They often learn to adapt to the life of the dregs who survive off the leftovers those of higher station leave behind. As their body structure is still quite humanoid (they can fold their wings down over the front of their bodies), urban zith often done heavy hooded robes to hide their bestial appearance. While they have difficulty learning the common language, they are able to pick up enough to pass as a poor, uneducated, slummer. Their natural hunting ability allows them to earn a basic living trading furs and meats in local markets. Their skill at tracking can also lead them to occupations as bounty hunters which relies on charisma and more on related natural skills/talents.
The more a zith can blend in with society, the more they are able to acquire the skills needed to further entrench themselves into a foreign city.
As for rural zith, the same skills and talents embraced by urban zith still apply. Rural zith make for amazing hunters who are able to make a substantial living selling all manner of exotic furs and animal products. They can also gain some amount of wealth from raiding caravans or even from protecting them (in disguise) from other zith by guiding their charge along safer routes.
Not all zith have to be dark and evil. Their natural curiosity opens them up for just as wide of a variety of emotions, desires and directions as any other humanoid. |
by Orin Fenix on October 6th, 2015, 4:23 am 
. It would be cool if there were more Zith players, they're a pretty cool race. I imagine they're hard to do justice though, which is probably why so few people are able to play them in the first place.
