Vashti

The Vashti are the fourth race from the first-generation of Novus, and the children of the Numen, Dominique Verdoux. As with the other Novus, the Vashti inhabit Xyon, and rule the Vashti Dominion, as well as a number of Xyon's nine realms. The Vashti one of the most populous of Novus, and have been one of the premier military and political powers on the planet since the First Xyon War in 642 AE. The Vashti are notable for their chivalic society, extreme piety, and militaristic culture.

Biology & Appearance
See also: Novus

As is the standard, the Vashti are ageless, undying, and three times stronger than a human adult. As for themselves, the Vashti possess pale white skin and blue eyes. The Vashti blond hair and their blood is of a shimmering gold color which glows when exposed to the air (the result of Dominique's attempt to create a "divine" race). They are naturally immune to all diseases, and possess photographic memory. Additionally, they are a mentally powerful people, their minds more resistant to mental attacks than most other Novus. Their piety is genetically encoded, meaning that every Vashti is naturally devout, and their faith unwavering. This was done to keep them loyal to their god if not to Dominique.

The Vashti can see perfectly fine in the dark, and their buildings are thus very dimly-lit on the interiors. They have highly flexible bodies and hand-to-eye coordination rivaled only by the Izanagi, which put together, allow the Vashti move in a very pinpoint fashion where inertia doesn't effect them. Additionally, they don't get motion sickness, allowing them to perform stunts that are too difficult to perform with excessive movement. Their minds are extremely vivid, allowing to make detailed creations with ease surpassing every other Novus race with the exception of the Nexusians, Draconians, and Aluxians.

The Vashti reproduce in much the same way as humans, with a six rather than nine month gestation period. The physical strength of the individual Vashti is more passive than active, meaning that the Vashti are typically stronger than their Novan cousins without having to build up the strength they already posses (once again the product of Dominique's to recreate a chivalic race of warrior-knights). The Vashti are naturally adept to cold enviornments, as well as hot, the latter due to Dominique's plans to crusade against her desert-dwelling rival, Shula Damanhur and her Alin children.

Society & Culture
The Vashti culture and their society is largely based on that of medieval era Europe on Earth. The church, headed by Dominique, and the nobility, also lead by Dominique, control the majority of the Vashti's way of life and economy. The church is the omnipresent force through which Dominique excerises control over the Vashti, and the nobility her eyes and ears wherever the Vashti are found, typically in areas where the church cannot go, such as non-Vashti lands. The Vashti center their whole life around pleasing their God, and fulfilling His will, waging wars that have contributed to much of the devestation on Xyon. As with medieval Europe, the majority of people are largely uneducated and poor, the majority of their wealth given to the knighthood which serves as Dominique's military arm.

Contact with the outside world is largely prohibited, the Vashti not wishing to sully their minds with the "dribble" of the foreign peoples. The knights of the Vashti race are imposing figures in their society, contributing greatly to the common population, and serving as the proof that their's is truly a nation to be envied. The knighthood is the target every Vashti seeks to attain. They control the military and serve the Queen directly. The merchant class is considered the middle-class of Vashti society, they controlling whatever wealth the church and the nobility haven't ripped from the common masses, and what the knighthood has already picked over by then. This class serves as the more attainable future hard-working Vashti can achieve within a few hundred years of adulthood.

Being a race of knights, priests, maidens, and nobles, the Vashti hold themselves to high regard considering their belief that they are the race their Lord and Saviour will use to bring about the end of the heathen populations on Xyon. Devout to extreme ends, the Vashti have been the cause of many wars, launching numerous crusades against those who refuse to bow to the one true faith, enemies and allies alike. No more is this more evident than in their dealings with the Alin, whom the Vashti have launched hundreds of crusades against over the last 16,000 years. They are in fact involved in the largest one to date, known as the Great Crusade of Xyon. Their attempts to force their beliefs on others annoy the allies of the Vashti to no end, and this has resulted in their race being deemed "unstable".