Species Jasenzena
Order Mesecina
Classification Adelfoi
Family Belosestra
Sphere Void
Origin Made to resemble a daughter of the Vacant God
Lifespan 300 years
Habitat Lunar plains
Food Void fare
Description Jasenzena are female-assigned human-like beings with three insectoid eyes, skin that is palest white and almost translucent in spots, and hair that is like clear crystal fibers.
Procreation Like all mesecina, jasenzena are able to bear children but must be inseminated by beings from other species. They always produce other jasenzena.
Esoterica Jasenzena are beings of ancestral memory, lunar aether, and void. They practice the arts of each of these energies. They also study possibility, complexity, astral aether, rending, spirits, entropy, doom, shebv heya, Damaskian powers, humors and viscera, flux, mashoaab, psionic energy, symbolism, and kor.
Special Powers A jasenzena can speak to the insects that dwell on the White Moon. Their voices also influence these insects, allowing them to command them in small ways. Their skin nullifies small amounts of many esoteric energies (see void for more information). They can also turn small amounts of solid matter into void liquid if they hold it tightly for long enough.
Eye Powers All three eyes of a jasenzena are solid white. Their power wanes and waxes with the White Moon. Their left eye can see void energies. Their right eye can see a negative of the world (like a photonegative). Their upper eye can see lunar aether. When all three eyes are open, they can project a clear beam of void once per year.
Weaknesses Mana will cause harsh burns on a jasenzena. Brown aether makes them ill. Heavier atmospheric conditions will make them very ill and possibly cause physical damage by mild, sustained crushing.
Sisterhood Three or more jasenzena together can form a bond with one another that allows them to combine their visual powers, allowing them to amplify their range of sight for any eye. If they are with three or more mesecina of other nations, they can create the same bond, but their visual powers are exchangeable, not amplified. If they are with three or more adelfoi of other nations, they can bond to share other powers. The only exceptions to this are the arkefthad, who cannot bond with jasenzena.
National Culture

Jasenzena live in small clusters that they call aqadexmi (sing. aqadexmija). These aqadexmi are run by a small council called a bixorqratija. These councils are composed of the most powerful users of void, called poznisti. Lesser users of void are called izbrixze, and they are enslaved by the poznisti unless they can prove themselves worthy of being a poznisti.

All aqademxmi are centered on a school that is run by the council. Those who are not deemed adequate users of void are relegated to lesser work, such as being guards, technicians, medicinists, factory workers, machinists, and farmers. They are forced to work these jobs no matter what, and if they fail at them, they are turned into lesser slaves, called roqb. Children are raised by roqb until they are nine, at which time they are sent to school. In school, they must study void arts until they are 15. If they fail at this, they are sent to learn a different job. If they fail at this, they become roqb.

Gender is enforced; all jasenzena are female. Any variation from this means punishment, first enslavement as a roqb, and later with banishment or execution. Most crimes have these same consequences. Every aqadexmi has a strict set of rules. Jasenzena are not allowed to interact with non-adelfoi outsiders, and even most other adelfoi are treated with deep suspicion. Trade is the only time they are allowed to interact with other nations, mostly greater athaks.

Religion

Jasenzena worship the Vacant God, the maker of void, who dwells within the empty spaces within the White Moon. They believe that they were made in the image of one of His daughters, and that each of them is fated to be adopted by him when they die. As his adopted daughters, they become spirits who serve him, delivering his power to his most ardent followers. Worship of the Vacant God revolves around regular sacrifices to the void, weekly dedications of the use of void power, and enforcing the enslavement of the roqb.

Among the jasenzena, worship of other Divines is not allowed. They acknowledge a handful of other Divines: the Imprisoner, who controls the White Moon and keeps the Vacant God trapped; the Observer, a distant, unknowable Divine who lurks among the stars; and the Scourer, the Divine within the sun who seeks to burn away all life on the White Moon.

Priestesses of the Vacant God are all poznisti. They combine their faith with their skill at wielding void, and that gives them incredible authority and respect within the community.

Outside View Jasenzena are aloof and xenophobic, and most other nations view them as dangerous and mysterious. Mortals on Shem do not usually know of them, though they know there are nations on the moons.
Notables Nexvazeqiq, Jasenzena Manifest; Prazniqa, Poznisti-Supreme
Special Classes Poznisti (void master), Izbrixze (void user), Guard, Technician, Medicinist, Worker, Machinist, Farmer, Roqb
Estimated Population 9,000
Sample Statistics

PRO 9
ATH 9
STR 8
AWA 9 Left Eye 14 Right Eye 11 Upper Eye 13
WIL 8
ROG 9

Insect Control 8
Nullifying Skin 7
Liquifying Grasp 9
Voidbeam 14

Topic revision: r4 - 11 Nov 2021, SallyJaneBlack
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