Zhu is a general term for the collective of species and are the descendants of the final creatures created by the Great Mother. They are natives of the Zhu Empire, a space faring (through magical means) highly militaristic society that originated on the planet Kios. A diverse species made up of distinct races and many more subraces, they are all largely humanoid in shape though with various non human traits. Outside of their military they are a race most known for their natural attunement with energy and their intense love for nature.

While there are differences between the various Zhu races they all share certain key biological traits as well as certain things programmed into their minds. Most notably is their chi, the backbone of all Zhu life. Unlike most other creatures their chi isn't some passive energy that flows through all life forms, instead a unique living energy; their true selves in a sense. It is housed in their dantian like with humans but it is made up of an unknown energy type, theorized to have been brought into the Universe with the Great Mother. This energy is naturally drawn to others for the purposes of absorbing, granting every Zhu the ability to absorb energy and perceive all forms of it. These sense of energy perception is their strongest allowing them to fully navigate their environment through it as well as communicate with one another and other chi based creatures. Their ability to absorb energy is very powerful and can be used as a substitute for actually eating if the individual has strengthened the ability enough.

As they are at their core, energy beings, their physical shell is moldable to a degree making the Zhu populace latent shape shifters. Some speculate they were meant to have full control over their forms but the process wasn't fully developed, and others say it was a quirk that developed randomly through evolution. Regardless of how and why it is known that Zhu are capable of altering their bodies to a degree, most commonly in things such as forming claws, fangs, and in rare cases extra sets of arms. So far all instances of shape shifting are known to be additions to the body such as that, though it is possible more advanced techniques exist and are kept hidden from most people.

While all Zhu have free will, their minds are inclined to certain ways of thinking most notably towards preferring balance with one another and the environment, leading to them being very strict conservationists. Each Zhu race taking the minimum amount from the environment and leaving the vast majority as it was initially created by The Great Mother. Great care being taken to ensure everything is and every creature is kept in stable numbers and in as close to the proper condition as is possible. A large example of how such a thing consistently is shown is through every Zhu being born with an innate connection to their dragons. If a baby Zhu sees a baby dragon the two will instantly be comfortable around each other and even communicate through altering the wavelength of their chi. Similar innate interaction exist with other intelligent lifeforms in Zhu, leading to a deep understanding with every creature around them.

Zhuni:The native people of Zhu Shang Qiao and majority of the mainland population are a race known as the Zhuni. Appearance wise they are very human, specifically appearing as humans from the region of East Asia. That appearance extends to the common aesthetic of many buildings and the majority of their clothing, resulting in the superficial feel of being in ancient china to travelers from Earth. The most major difference between humans and Zhuni is of course that that as Zhu, Zhuni have a different form of chi and extra senses built solely around energy. In general Zhuni are also physical greater than humans in every aspect, although with significant training a human could bridge the gap on most. They as a whole tend to look pretty fit, with the partial energy being state of their existence pretty much making even the unhealthy Zhuni rarely look it unless the result of a powerful poison or illness. When it moments of high emotion or stress their eyes tend to glow whatever color their chi tends to manifest itself as, their aura subtly becoming visible around them as well. Appearance wise the sexual differences between men and women are the same as with humans, though it mostly ends there. Physically speaking there is no difference between Zhuni men and women in regards to strength, speed, or toughness,; though the women tend to be lighter and thus easier to knock backwards. In regards to the Dantian women have a much wider center and their chi reserves go deeper on average, with men having a narrow dantian that makes using chi easier but normally weaker.

Zhuni have a very stable birth rate and although spikes occur they mostly keep around the same population for extended periods of time, with the majority of people almost always being in their teens and 20s. The average life expectancy is around 50 although through magic and chi control one can live to be hundreds of years old, it simply takes too much to be a practical solution to most. For the same reasons the physical effects of aging rarely show on Zhu outside of their 20s, their bodies keeping a mostly consistent form no matter how old they get and only the energy itself beginning to wear down. Most couples have their first child between the ages of 15 and 17 and another one shortly after; the Zhuni having a pregnancy of only 4 months makes many births end up closer together then on Earth. The family duties are pretty evenly split although with the fathers normally having a much larger role than the mother while the first child is a toddler as she will be in the military and on active duty in most cases. A mostly matriarchal society (this extends to the most other Zhu races also), the Zhuni mothers are head of the household and tend to be who makes all the major decisions involving a family or clan.

Culturally they are a society that admires strength and martial prowess above most things, resulting in the highest levels of fame being that of great warriors and martial artists. To keep that focus all women are forced to undergo military training and brief service upon graduation from school, with men being able to choose if they want to. They are deeply entrenched in tradition and it shows in their extreme respect for their environment, animals, and the importance of family. They are bound by the concept of honor to such a degree that if known for having been dishonored you are treated as subhuman by many and stripped of your job in most cases. Entire books and branches of government exists to help define what things are dishonorable and honorable as well as to what degree since it is such an important part of life within the nation.

Xerin:Native to the kingdom of Xerathis are the Zhu race known as Xerin. Outside of the Zhuni the Xerin are the most populous Zhu race within the Capital Kingdom. Appearance wise they look like Zhuni with fox ears and tails naturally growing on them, the tails ranging anywhere from 1 to 9 in number. With more tails being a sign of higher magic potential (3 Being the average 9 being very rare) and being one of the biggest status symbols among each other. Unlike the Zhuni who live as individuals and small family units, Xerin tend to be divided in much larger clans with all of their communities both in their own kingdom and within Zhu Shang Qiao being made up of people within the same or closely related clans. The clans that the royals come from is often a subject of heated debate among Xerin and can get ugly fast., and they will frequently go and try to speak to the Empress about how the certain clans shouldn't be allowed to.

Culturally they are very similar to Zhuni when it comes to how important Honor is to them but differ when it comes to their primary form of worship. Whereas for Zhuni it is discipline, for Xerin it is grace resulting in their major form of expression being not in the martial arts but in elaborate dances. Through these dances they activate their chi much how a Zhuni would with a stance, allowing them to manipulate their own and nearby energy as they do so. These dances range from forms of complex communication (Zhu Races can see more layers of the dance than other races) to ways of dueling, and when large numbers of them do certain dances they are known to directly alter the weather of their kingdom. This results in them mostly being support units in military situations, dancing from behind the front lines to aid the more directly combat minded Zhu in a battle. Their dances can easily be altered for battle though and many of the stronger ones are more then capable of channeling up waves of mystical energy and such.

Xenkorian:e Xenkorians are a Zhu race who mostly stay within their own kingdom (Xenkor Hu), with very few full bloods living in the other Zhu kingdoms, although Zhu Shang has more than others due to being the capital. Their most distinct physical feature is the fact that they all have gray skin and bright red eyes, making their very human appearance seem very alien. These gray skinned Zhu's kingdom is on a world where barely any sunlight gets through, resulting in most areas being in complete darkness. As such Xenkorians have weak eyesight only able to see up close and in low light, them being completely blind during a sunny day on another world. As such they primarily see through energy perception and a form of echolocation allowing them to maneuver around and go about their lives with very little problems, as they are able to get all but the small details of people and things.

The main cultural distinction between them and the other Zhu is that they value cunning as second to honor. The Xenkorian people are just as aggressive and violent as the Zhuni can be only they don't brawl in the streets like their siblings, instead they goad, trick, and trap each other when they have problems. Moving up in a position is all about persuasion, it's not enough to have the needed skill you have to convince or trick the others into agreeing with you. They are very rapid thinkers, their minds thinking things about everything they know to aid them the second they learn something. Their chi tends to be less refined than the others as they use it primarily as a way to survive, but it allows them to require next to know training to use it as a sense augmenter and they even are born being able to use it to substitute breathing for a few minutes at a time. In the military Xenkorians tend to be assassins and spies and stick to ranged energy based combat when in direct fights. Given their methods of seeing, they are virtually impossible to sneak up on, and also make good look outs. While not normally training beyond basic level fighting, the Xenkorians that do decide to become more dedicated warriors are very feared given their unique way of seeing and rapid minds making misdirection and feints all be useless on them.

Etherian: Rediscovered in the arid Galkahr region of the planet Ternu Si, are the race known as Etherians. They are one of the younger Zhu races, one of the last few to be created and the most recent to be reintegrated. Their appearance is that of humans with very rich solid red and pink skin tones and often glowing chi points across their body. They tended to be heavier than most other Zhu races, their bones being very dense and their muscles capable of growing at a moment's notice. They are the most naturally gifted of the Zhu races in terms of power both physical and magical, quickly coming upon more potent applications of their abilities with little to no training. They are capable of boosting their abilities even more by going into a berserker state where their chi pushes itself into overdrive their bodies becoming harder to damage and all of their abilities vastly increasing as their mind does nothing but pump the energy out at whatever is before it. The ability is very powerful and hardwired into their genes, occurring on its own both when stressed and randomly until they learn to control it. During the state they are unable of stopping themselves until they run out of energy and fall asleep, or are incapacitated. While various objects and methods arose to snap them out of this, the only reliable way was through special signals sent from chi of other Zhu races. The most effective and reliable method was through the dancing of talented or powerful Xerin, the dance calming them back to normal rather quickly in most cases.

When the Zhu races were split apart thousands of years ago, the Etherians handled the isolation the worst. Their natural aggression and uneasy mental state made them quickly become enemies with other intelligent species on the planet their home ended up forming on. Eventually they ended up the only species of any intelligence left on the planet, resulting in a society that was only stable long enough to rebuild after it destroyed its cities fighting itself. When they were found by the rest of Zhu and their world reconnected to the Empire they were immensely grateful, and have reformed their actual Zhu society with the help of their sister races keeping them calm.

The pinnacle of religious dedication can be found in the monasteries, these massive and secluded religious fortresses are scattered across the various Zhu kingdoms normally in either hard to reach places or just far from population centers. There live the women who have completely devoted their lives to nothing but the religion itself for reasons that vary wildly from woman to woman. But in order to stay there for longer than a simple visit (Anyone can come look around as long as they are respectful) they had to prove their dedication through physical and mental tests that would kill or break lesser people. Once they prove their worth they dedicate their lives to becoming living embodiments of the tenets of faith, doing nothing but study, observe, and apply their ideals until they reach enlightenment. As such the monasteries are home to people much more versed in the religion than any priestess other then maybe the High Priestess herself. Due to their focus on honor and inner peace they tend to be mostly nonviolent (outside of simple sparring) but when compelled to a worthy cause the pure discipline and mastered state of chi (along with the tenet of strength) gives rise to a fighting force that puts even the best warriors to shame.

Strength: Weakness in all of its forms is to be challenged and overcome and not allowed to fester within one's body, mind, or soul. To accept the weakness within is to fail the Great mother and accept dishonor.

Courage: Never allow fear to take hold of your mind, one must fight through it and continue on with whatever causes them distress. To follow Zhu is never whimper in the face of fear, but to bear your fangs and destroy it.

Loyalty: Blood may be thicker than water but Loyalty is stronger than blood. Your loyalty must be the most sacred bond you have no matter who it may be too. When you swear loyalty you must stay true to it as long as it stays honorable, the faith and those who you are loyal to must take precedence over any others.

Discipline(this one is flexible and can be replaced with things like grace or guile I'll explain more on that later): A sound soul resides within a sound mind, and a sound body. Followers of Zhu must strive to achieve harmony within themselves and the universe at large, for only when one has mastered them self can they even begin to perceive the Great Mother in all her glory. Only those who have been enlightened will become Warriors of the Faith and be her favored children in the next life.

Honor: The most important of all tenets is to be an honorable person at all times. To disregard Honor is to forsake the Great mother and be a blight on society and those above you. Even in the face of certain death, Honor must be maintained for the integrity of one's soul is more important than the vessel of flesh.

Every one of those can be ignored for self preservation except for honor. Honor is to be upheld at all times even in the face of death.