by The Dark Gun » Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:53 pm
After some careful consideration I've made another edit to this attempt, fixing lots of spelling and some grammer errors, as well as some changes in how cores, tears, and the like are specified to work. I also changed the rigidness of the culture a little bit... And here we go:
Appearance: Jumi are human in appearance and in most regards, except for a large gemstone set in their lower torso. This gem is over fist sized and is of an identifiable type, perfectly faceted. They tend to be tall, and very similar in height as a race, although females are usually shorter than males and show a greater range of heights (male: 5'9"-6'8", Female: 5'3"-6'6"). Their eye color always matches the base color of their gem (Exception: Diamond Jumi's eyes change color based on mood and time of day, and other white-gem (Opal, Pearl, etc.) Jumi eyes can be any color). In other regrads they appear very much as humans do, although they tend to have slightly more angular features.
Age: It is unknown if Jumi can die of old age. All of them who have been seen appear to be in their 20s.
Miscellaneous: A Jumi's core is actually a physical manifestation of its soul. The removal of the core causes the Jumi to rapidly die, and then the body to vanish completely. The astral destruction of a Jumi causes the core to leap out of its body.
Damage to the core can cause an almost infinite number of negative effects on the Jumi, ranging from a weakening of intellect, or a weakening of body, or both. It could also go so far as to cause a split personality disorder, or other effects of the like. This is not, however, the standard state of affairs. As the cores are quite strong, most attacks will do little more than chip or scratch them. This is quite painful for the Jumi, usually stunning them temporarily, and the slight damage tend to leave lingering ill effects. Such small things, though, gradually heal on their own, but deeper wounds take far more time to heal. A severe crack or fracture could take a matter of months to a year to heal properly. Though higher level healing spells are capable of hastening this repair, the only surefire way to heal a damaged core is the tears of another Jumi (Hence the importance of the Diana). Because of this, all Jumi fighting styles include defending their core as part of the overall stance, etc.
Jumi do not require as much food as other beings do, although they need to spend about one hour a day with their core exposed to a sparkling gem (As in: at least a mediocre cut and exposed to light) to feed of its brilliance. Failure to do so wears on them like failing to eat enough wears on humans, although it is possible that, by eating massive amounts of food, they could compensate for this lack. Two Jumi cannot share brilliance with each other, although they can stave off the "hunger" longer, particularly if traveling in a Warrior/Guardian pair (see society).
When a Jumi cries, actual flecks of their soul tend to escape with the tears. If it is a living being being cried for, these bits of soul can join with their body and make them stronger; easily healing any physical wounds they may have received. However, as the tears are bits of the Jumi's soul, this can cause a lessening of their overall life force. Because of this Jumi instinctively do not cry, and to overcome this they must exert an immense amount of willpower and be excessively sad (With one notable exception: Their leader, the single Diamond-type Jumi known as the Diana, can cry at will, having been carefully trained from youth to serve this purpose.). Other than the Diana, who is specially bread and trained to optimize the effect of this healing, the actual level of Jumi healing possible, and the cost on its user, vary greatly among Jumi. Many of the new generation tend to be able to heal others slight injuries with small exertion, but the older ones tend to be able to perform miraculous acts of healing at significant personal sacrifice.
On the other hand, any non-Jumi, fully sentient being who willingly and intentionally cries can transfer some fraction of their life energy to a Jumi by touching its core. However, this will always be enough energy to restore the Jumi to full vitality, while draining the same from the crier, including any permanent HP loss the Jumi has suffered from using its own tears (Assuming the Jumi’s tears ability grants them the capacity to lose permanent HP from crying, the crier "inherits" the permanent HP loss). Regardless of the manner by which this is done, or how much is healed, this places the giver in a temporary, almost unconscious state, as their bodies and souls are not built for this sort of a transfer the way a Jumi’s is. If this is used to revive a dead Jumi, however, the crier is petrified, and their soul is almost totally consumed. Nothing short of divine intervention or an equivalent power can resurrect them.
Jumi are capable of copulation and bearing children, however, the female must swallow a gemstone prior to the copulation for a child to be born. The gemstone will become the child's core. Jumi carry their "children" for 6 months before birth, although the child is not fully developed when born. In fact, it is merely a highly absorbent core stone. It requires 12 hours of exposure of brilliance per day, much less and it weakens and dies. It takes 5 months for the core to full develop a body, which appears as a 9 or 10 year old human child. It then takes 2 to 3 years for the "child" to become the standard Jumi form of a 20 something year old human. They are considered "babies" during this period. For the first four years after they gain their "adult" bodies they are put into intensive training, the first year determining their aptitudes, and the rest preparing them for the roles they will assume, either Warrior or Guardian. However, most stay "in study" for two more years picking up either more combat/healing skills, or a variety of other things, like agriculture, that they believe will serve the Jumi people. Until they leave "school" they do not work in pairs, and may remain unpaired for up to a year afterwards.
Jumi tend towards different genders based on gemstone. The Diana (Diamond) is always female (Also note there can be no more than two Diamond Jumi at once, and then only if one is quite old, and tutoring the other, who should be rather young. The last act of passing on the Diana's powers to a new Diamond Jumi is actually a ritual of self-sacrifice that ends with the old Diana's core shattered and the shards sprinkled upon the new), as are Jade types, just as Ruby and Lapis Lazuli types are always male. However, with the rest, either gender is possible, although Pearl tends towards female, Opal towards male, Emerald towards male, and Sapphire towards female.
History: The Jumi are an ancient race who, until recently, had become, for all intents and purposes, completely extinct. A few large gemstones around the world were all the fragments that had surfaced in current times. There are, however, a few lost cities, two are known to have sunk into the ocean, and one was buried. This buried city was discovered by a small group of explorers and excavators. This city proved to be the original capitol city of the Jumi, and possessed annals of their history, including their tragic and sudden decline. Filled with emotion over what he had read the head of the expedition laid his hands upon the pedestal and wept, wishing that the Jumi would live once more. Under normal circumstances this would have effected nothing, even though the pedestal did have a Jumi core set in it, the lack of true intent should have made the act just a demonstration of sorrow... But something strange happened. The Jumi in question was, in fact resurrected and, as was the customary trade, the man was petrified. The other explorers, seeing only the scintillating burst of colors that was the Jumi being reborn, ran, afraid that their comrade had unleashed a trap. Instead he had done something quite different... He had resurrected the last Diana of the Jumi, who had died before her time, and, because of this, had led her people to death. Living once more, she set about the rites to revive her nation. They came alive, now ages later, confused, uncertain. Their Diana, from using so much power, was weak, and so their newfound existence was tentative at best. They left the ruins, though, and left the caves, carrying what gems they could with them. A few were sent out to learn about who lived in the lands now, and returned with news of the outside world. The most worrisome of which was the value of large gems, like those that composed the Jumi's cores. Due to this and their general lack of knowledge of the ways of others at this time, they have founded a small, hidden village (Location of all these things unknown as this entire idea has not yet been approved, and I'd need to clear it with someone to get it placed in Igala somewhere. I have no idea if Pervy's offer still stands as I've been gone for quiet a long time) and are currently trying to "feel out" the current times.
Society: The Jumi society is very hierarchal, and has a caste system ingrained in it. All Jumi belong to one of two castes, they are either Warriors or Guardians. The Guardians possess no physical offensive fighting abilities, instead they are trained only to ward off blows against themselves and their core (Unarmed Fighting, only PA) and concentrate on healing magic and other aspects of life, such as cooking, farming, etc. Guardians tend to be female, although this is not a rule. Warriors are trained in many forms of combat, particularly in the defense of another individual (Their paired Guardian). Though they specialize in physical combat, they are more than just fighting machines, particularly those who never intend to leave whatever town/city they are raised in. Warriors tend to be males. Certain core colors tend towards certain castes (and the Diana is always a Guardian). A Guardian/Warrior pair is meant to look out for each other, and for one of a pair to die is a societal black mark against the other, as is the abandoning of one by the other. In a pair, one can sense the others presence at a reasonable distance without being able to see/hear/smell/etc them in any other way. To do so, however, takes concentration, and causes both of their cores to flash for a second with visible light, the searcher's one second before the searched. Although the pairs are usually male/female this does not suggest any deeper relation than that of comrades and close friends. It is possible that a Warrior may live without a Guardian, particularly away from Jumi society, but a Guardian without a Warrior would have trouble surviving for very long. Also, a lone Warrior is usually treated with derision, and a lone Guardian is treated much like an orphan, usually well taken care of by others, but pitied and usually not respected. Though, culturally, this is still all strongly believed in, practicality has begun to rule the day. Though they still train for combat and such in this manner, due to their reduced population, many Jumi have been forced to work on their own when moving out into the world, in part to avoid suspicion and detection, and also in part because it lets them, on a whole, cover more ground. Because of this, most explorers sent away from the small town are Warriors; though some of the more magically inclined Guardians have been sent out as well.
The hierarchy of the society is set up with deference towards rarer gemstones, and with a tendency towards matriarchy (Because of the Diana's femininity). The Diana's word is the law that binds the Jumi society, and all obey her, to do otherwise is punishable by death, particularly now when they have just begun to live again in a world that may be hostile to them. Currently, the Jumi have been stockpiling whatever gems they can scrounge so that their small village has sufficient brilliance for them to survive. Small groups, and more commonly a Warrior/Guardian pair have been sent out to investigate the state in which the world currently rests. They travel in disguise, trying to prevent the world from knowing they have awakened until they know the general response. As most records of their existence have been lost, or are at least very obscure, they are uncertain of the attitude of the current dominant races, but fear they will be hunted for their cores. They also believe, and probably correctly, that they will be hunted for their healing abilities, while at the same time ostracized for the terrible price having a close relationship with one can exact.
A note on tears: It is considered taboo for a Jumi other than the Diana to cry, particularly in this current age, as it weakens the overall strength of the Jumi nation. To receive the tears of a Jumi is supposed to be a great honor, but the Jumi are more likely to treat the recipient with a derisive sort of "Well I sure hope you were worth it" type of attitude. On the opposite side, those who have wept for the Jumi are treated with great respect, and those who have been petrified so that one of them could live were once enshrined in a temple, though they lack the mans for such a grand structure at this time. Also, a Jumi is capable of crying for him/herself, and doing so produces no effect, positive or negative, however, in Jumi society this is considered an ultimate mark of shame.
Other Jumi tendencies: Because of their inability to express grief through tears, they generally do not express sorrow to the degree humans or other humanoids do. This tendency also causes them to be slightly emotionally withdrawn in general, not that they do not feel the full range of emotion, but they do not express them outwardly. This, of course, only a tendency, but a Jumi that expressed his/her emotions to the same range humans do would be considered, if not foolish, at least an oddity. Also, as Jumi almost always work in pairs, they are trained to support another person in combat well, either helping them ward off blows or some other form of support (Most Jumi characters raised in a Jumi society should take some sort of skill to represent this). It can be noted as well that a Jumi's core starts to glow faintly when they are very happy, under heavy emotional duress, or involved in combat. Jumi of either caste tend to be slightly more rugged than humans, and Warriors tend to be stronger than an average human. Jumi Warriors tend not to use magic, although such a thing has been heard of. This is because a magic user is not considered as proficient in defending themselves and others. Jumi range the spectrum of Magic Aptitudes, as some are very adept at astral manipulation, however most of them are identified at a young age and raised in the Guardian caste, as such most Warriors have little or no magical aptitude. Most magic using Warriors and their Guardians are expected to work with another pair in which the Warrior of that pair is of the standard variety.
Information as per Gaera Guide requirements:
Name: Jumi
1. Lifespan: Indefinite.
2. --
3. The Dark Gun/Thramkalith
4. Tend to be tall (Male: 5'9"-6'8", Female: 5'3"-6'6"). Feature a large, perfectly cut gem set in torso, eye color matches (Except for among white gems). Generally of innate good health. Also have a tendency towards angular features.
5. Tears of Healing, Soul Reception, Relies mostly on light refracted through gemstones for sustenance rather than food or water.
6. The Jumi are a recently resurrected race, and little record is left of what they were before. Now, though, they live almost unique in a singular small village, trying to hide from the outside world and propagate, even as they send some of their people out to explore the rest of the world. Jumi's protect their core above all things, because it is a physical incarnation of their soul. If removed, they die instantly, as though their aura was rent.