Vartiz

This article is about the ancestral Vartiz race. For the collection of semi-shapeshifter races that exist in modern times, see Vartiz Races.

The Vartiz were one of the four original races of Serenza alongside the Arakos, the Kasil, and the Serenghe. Designed by the 12 Titans, they were a diverse race that possessed powerful shapeshifting abilities and a few magical skills, but lacked the full magical prowess of their Kasil brethren. They are the ancestors of the Shinzoka, the Madizi, the Kuthawa, the Komera, the Mizulen, and the Todawa.

Origins
Early in the 1st Age as the gods and goddesses were building Mencu and creatures to inhabit it, the gods and goddesses that would later become known as the Vartiz Pantheon decided to form races with powerful connections to the six Mencuan Elements: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Light, & Darkness. As such, the Vartiz were born. Despite the differences between them and their Kasil brethren, There was minimal to no enmity between the two races, and they intermingled freely.

Over time, the Vartiz began to specialize more in specific types of forms. These were the precursors to the Shinzoka, Madizi, Kuthawa, Komera, Mizulen, and Todawa. Many of the early Vartiz would master multiple forms, becoming something that might have been considered a hybrid if it existed at the time of the 181st or 182nd Ages. It was not uncommon to see fairies that could also transform into dryads, sirens that could morph into dragons, avians that could morph into beasts, or several other intriguing combinations.

Development and Division
The specializations of the Vartiz did not stop at dragons, sea life, avians, plant life, spirits, and mammals. They diversified into various other categories, and began forming tribes that matched their specialties. These specialties did not appear to be random either, and instead seemed to generally correlate with the elemental affinity of the Vartiz in question. As such, different forms began to be associated with different elements, and so division among the Vartiz continued to grow.

Despite this, the divided tribes of Vartiz still mostly saw themselves as Vartiz, although as they spread across Tsominku and had less contact with each other, each one began forming different cultures and dialects, among other things. Most of them also coexisted with the Jalenga and the Kasil for centuries and ages, but they tended to migrate more towards regions that were more fitting of their respective elements. The six major tribes that sprung up were the Shinzoka fire tribe, the Madizi water tribe, the Kuthawa air tribe, the Komera earth tribe, the Mizulen light tribe, and the Todawa shadow tribe. These tribes were also the precursors for the nations their descendants would form.

Decline and Disappearance
As the Vartiz began establishing their own nations and borders, individuals were born that were different form their parents. Instead of possessing the wider range of shapeshifting abilities that their ancestors did, these Vartiz could only transform into various forms that their tribes specialized in, such as dragons for the Shinzoka Tribe, avians for the Kuthawa Tribe, and so forth. However, they also possessed more control over these abilities and were able to transform into mightier versions of these creatures than their forebears, and they possessed more powerful elemental abilities as well. These Vartiz began growing more prominent, while the original Vartiz began to decline from age and the natural flow of time. It was clear at this point that the original Vartiz were on the decline.

As time went on, fewer of the original Vartiz were born, and eventually their birth rate disappeared entirely as the newer, more specialized Vartiz began taking over. This "takeover" was not considered a war or hostility, but more an aspect of evolution in the race, and as such, the ancestral Vartiz did not view these newcomers as invaders or destroyers, save perhaps for a few radical sects of extreme conservative purists or the like. None of these factions lasted very long in the grand scheme of things, however, and these new Vartiz were here to stay. These were the predecessors of the Vartiz Races.

The End of the Vartiz
With the influx of these newer, specialized Vartiz, it became clear that they could no longer all be called Vartiz when they were so vastly different. A Vartiz from the Komera tribe, for example, no longer had very much in common with a Vartiz from the Madizi tribe, and thus the new naming convention for the six developed races was born. The Shinzoka Tribe became known as the Shinzoka race, the Madizi Tribe became known as the Madizi race, and the same naming conventions were given to the tribes of Kuthawa, Komera, Mizulen, and Todawa. The final Vartiz, an ancient woman who specialized in dryad-type transformations, died at what would later mark the end of the 75th Age.

The six races that sprung up from the Vartiz all still exist to this day, and each one has a varied and colorful history that differs greatly enough between races that they all have their own stories to tell.

Biology
Despite their differing natures, Vartiz were humanoid creatures similar to the Kasil, and were even biologically compatible with them as a result. Unions between Kasil and Vartiz, and even with Serenghe on occasion, were all normally fruitful. Like most others, unions between them and the Arakos and Wakuda were never attempted.

Physical Appearance
Vartiz were strong and robust, but despite having such vastly different biologies when they split off into their different races, the original Vartiz were surprisingly considerably more uniform in size than their wildly various-sized descendants. They were slightly taller and more robust than their Kasil counterparts, and much larger than the Serenghe. In some ways, they resembled the Arakos in terms of physical build, only slightly shorter. Ultimately, male Vartiz typically ranged between 5'2" and 6'10" in height, while female Vartiz typically ranged between 4'9" and 6'5". Skin colors were anything from very pale to very dark, with hair colors following a similar spectrum. Apart from Zaderei, whose eyes were always glowing red, a Vartiz's eyes could be nearly anywhere on the color spectrum. Also like all humanoid creatures on Mencu, the Vartiz sported pointed ears.

Lifespan, Age, and Population
Vartiz did not reproduce as swiftly as their Kasil brethren, but lived to be about the same ages as them, which were between 200 and 300 years of age. As with all races, females lived slightly longer than males.

Like Vartiz races today, the ancestral Vartiz tended to hit puberty between 12-14 years of age, and finished "maturing" around 20-25. However, they were not considered full-fledged adults until around 30-35 years of age due to mental and emotional developments that developed a bit slower, much like with most other Mencuan races.

Role in the Series
Because the Vartiz have been gone since the 75th Age while the entirety of the The Crest of Zabutur series takes place in the 182nd Age, no living Vartiz are seen on Mencu during the course of any of the novels. However, a vast number of their descendants in the form of Shinzoka, Madizi, Kuthawa, Komera, Mizulen, and Todawa, all of which play major roles in the series.

While her people coexisted with the Vartiz for centuries, not even Zivia knows much about them save for what she was told by her parents and ancestors, considering that Zivia was born in the 170th Age, nearly 95 ages after the last Vartiz had gone the way of the world. However, there are detailed records of them in some of the depths of the Jalengan archives, waiting for someone bold and cunning enough to retrieve them...