The Sea, The Land, The Blood: Kailzim

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The Kailzim (K-ale-zeem)...

_The Beginning_
It all started with a remote settlement, guided by a group of mages exiled by their kingdom. They had traveled the countryside in their exile, saving and aiding the people, earning their trust. Using that trust, they pleaded that they follow the mages to form a new kingdom, away from this, where they would be counted among royalty. Their trust turned to devotion, and gladly followed the mages. They traveled out into the waters, staying distant from the shoreline, but never too far from sight. After many days of travel, they recognized the border of the nearest kingdom. They continued on, into waters few had ever before traveled, searching for somewhere, some sign as to where they should settle. After a month, the mages began to feel a great power trying to draw them in. They beached the boats, and continued on foot, following the power. They came upon a large section of the mountain, jutting towards the sea, resonating with power. They took this as a sign, as they could find no reason for this power, and settled nearby.

_The Development_
They used what supplies they had to construct three small towns, cradled by the mountains. Luckily, the towns were placed far enough apart that each had relatively unique resources. Two of the towns were close to wooded areas, while the third's was nearly arid. However, the third, and closest to the outstretched mountain chain, had found precious minerals inside the elevated earth. They took these discoveries as sure signs of their survival and prosperity to come. Fulfilling their agreement to their followers, the mage chose to name the three towns under the Kingdom of Kailzimoth, led by Kail, the highest ranking mage.

_The Change_
Decades went on as the three towns prospered and soon seven other towns were settled. The Kingdom began to flourish. Kail, growing old, began working on magical experiments, trying to leave behind himself a legacy of the arcane for his people. He found that life amplified mana, and so integrated his own blood into his spell work. He was amazed at the effects this produced, and began teaching other mages to do the same using livestock's blood. The effects were not nearly as amplified for some reason, although still clearly more powerful. This led him to suspect that human's blood would bring out true potential in spell working. Afraid his followers would destroy their brethren for more power, he wrote the Legacy of Kail excluding that detail. Not long after, content that his son would lead the kingdom well and that his legacy was fulfilled, he passed away. Prince Kail the Second ascended to the throne, leading in example to his father. The mages were delighted with the Legacy of Kail, demanding a percentage of the livestock to increase their knowledge in the blood workings of the late King. They received the percentage, and delved deeper into their magics.

_The Prodigy_
Several cities large, with many new towns, the Kingdom of Kailzimoth, while small, now had the power to rival their homeland. The King's son, Kail the Third, had studied in his grandfather's legacy, expanding possibilities at even a tender young age. Early on, while matching his abilities against an older mage, he was knocked backwards and cut badly by several sharp rocks. While the mage was apologizing for hurting the prince, the prince used the blood in his wound to launch a counterattack, a burst of light, meant as a joke to surprise the mage and let him know he was forgiven. Both he and the mage were surprised when a literally blinding light exploded between them, leaving a world of darkness for the both of them for the rest of their lives. The prince's hand had blocked some of the light from view, giving partial gray and black vision once he was healed, but the mage's eyes took the full extent. Disbelieving that such an inexperienced mage could have produced such a light, the sparring partner was viewed as a traitor to the kingdom and immediately executed. However, while the prince went under heavy therapy, at every given free moment he studied deeper. It wasn't until his late teenage years that he connected what happened that day to the lack of specification on blood in the legacy of his grandfather. He began to use his own blood for spell working. Hiding the change of his medium, the prince became more and more renowned for his skill. Therefore, when he asked to conduct experiments to further everyone's knowledge, the mages quickly agreed.

_The Experiments_
Seeing that his own blood produced greater effects, he began to integrate the blood magic deeper into some of his subjects. Starting with children as to hide his discovery from the others, he found that they could become proficient in blood magic without any real teaching, nor bleeding to amplify the effects, but quickly became ill afterwards and perished. He then stocked a large pasture with animals, giving their blood for the children to drink. This seemed to greatly increase their lifespan. He realized the children did not have to bleed to produce these effects because they used their own internal blood to amplify the mana. This removed the blood from their system, causing them to die. By drinking blood, they were able to use the excess in their spellworking. Alas, even this had limits, and several still died. He gathered some of the best mages, blood magic or not, and devised a curse of sorts. The curse was planted on the remaining children, urging their bodies to find blood when it found itself lacking as an added survival instinct. Using even more power, they twisted the childrens bodies, forcing their nails to harden and lengthen, forcing their molars to take a more canine shape. Only ten survived the changes and the unintentional effects, such as changing their pupil color to red. The children were let loose on the closed pasture and trained to kill with their new anatomical weapons. Afterward they were trained in spell work. Quickly, Kail found that the children were near tireless, another unintended effect, although he was certain it was tied to their consumption of blood. For blood to give metabolic energy as well as amplification to mana was truly remarkable. With this success, he continued with slight variations of The Third's Curse on other groups of children, with many paid widows and single women to bear more children for him to manipulate.

_The Unveiling_
There was enough variation in each group of the surviving children that each had their own slightly unique powers, excelling at this or that. The King was nearing death, and so, to appease his father, the Prince unveiled his experiments into society as accomplished blood mages. They wore long robes to conceal the changes, the hoods long enough to shadow their blood red eyes. They had been so secluded that they quickly forgot the world as it was when they were children, and were surprised to see it and its inhabitants again. They were led to large meeting at the kingdom's capital, where they were dubbed the name "Kailzim", after the kingdom, in respect of their power. They demonstrated their skills to the amazement of all, even the prince. This appeased the king a great deal, who was now confident that his son could handle the throne. The last words he heard of the youth of his kingdom were that of wanting to train under the Prince so they could be as 'awesome' as the Kailzim. Soon after the unveiling, Kail the Third ascended the throne.

_The Ghetto_
Kail the Third quickly noticed that the Kailzim were quite startled with city life, and were some deal away from any source of blood. With his new power as king, he ordered the construction of a specialized town near the outskirts of the isolated kingdom. It was finished quickly with the basic furnishing and the resources essential to the Kailzim's life. He sent his experiments there under the notion that it would be the center for advancement in blood magic. He continued to delve into more and more experiments of blood magic, each new version more dependent on blood. However, he found a limit. If the subjects were twisted too much by the modified curses, they would go insane, thirsting only for blood, and not stopping. These were quickly disposed of, and the experiments abandoned, as he had used his own son in the last failed instance. Under the tradition that the royal family was to only have one Prince, a tradition in place to guard against the troubles of their home kingdom, the king adopted a Kailzim who looked similar to his son, bestowing upon him all his knowledge, and never disclosing the truth to anyone. This adoptive son's name was changed to Kaim, the shortened version of what he was.

_The Ascent_
Grief over his own son and his own foolish desires, the king's life was shortened, bringing the adopted son to power. The new king addressed his people, describing the Kailzim as only he could. Their red eyes were to be marks of attaining the highest level of blood magic, a lie provided to him by his adoptive father. Exposure to such power increased the growth rate of their body, including nails, as well as several social oddities. The populace quickly fell under the lies, so when the new king allowed several of the Kailzim into the capital, they were greeted with the utmost respect. The king favored the Kailzim, granting them spacious houses filled with the luxuries the kingdom could provide. While the Kailzim had bred a new generation at their ghetto, those who had moved to the capital found their own mates who were drawn to the power they had. Soon, a third generation of Pure Kailzim and the first generation of Half Breeds emerged into the world.

_The Descent_
The Half Breeds were not to practice blood magic until they were fathers or mothers themselves, by command of the king, who bore a Half Breed daughter himself. The Half Breeds all seemed to have character flaws... short attention spans, easy to anger, hard to calm, and not much of an appetite. As they aged, they grew slightly better, being more able to control themselves. Kaim was able to see the birth of the next generation, Quarter Breeds, while his kingdom expanded to fifteen cities and nearly fifty towns. Shortly after, he was able to see catastrophe... The Half Breeds, now able to practice their blood right, blood magic, began their spell working. Shortly after the first spell was cast, they became insane, bloodthirsty. Kail the Third had seen it in his own son, the curse forcing his natural survival instincts to confuse themselves, overcome by the need for blood. It reproduced itself now that the instinct to consume blood overflowed the recent casters. Chaos broke out amongst the populace, who were being murdered by their respected brethren in dozens. Even soldiers could not hold back the monsters. A force of Kailzim, under leadership of the King, drove them away, killing many. However, the Half Breeds had taken with them the Quarter Breeds, who already began to show signs of insanity shortly after birth. The populace cried to their king, confused and seeking answers. With pressure from the survivors, and news that several other cities had been attacked, towns completely wiped out, he set forth on a hunting mission against the lesser breeds. The people rallied together under a coup, attempting to kill the king and the other Kailzim who had brought doom upon them. The Kailzim and the king himself, in desperation for survival, destroyed the normal citizens of Kailzimoth. After several cities had been emptied, and news that the rest had been taken by the lesser breeds, all that was left was a war against the Kailzim and what the king now called feral Kailzim. He returned to the capital to execute his own daughter, fearing she would cause the same problems. However, no war was fought on a large scale, no final declaration of superiority through conflict. Only hunting and being hunted...

_The Present_
Generations of Kailzim have been introduced into this world, taking over the ghost towns one by one from the broods of ferals that dwelled there. However, the Third's Curse supplies both regular and feral Kailzim with long life, able to lessen the degeneration of the body based on consumed blood. Kailzimoth now holds no fully populated city, and only two fully populated towns, while Kaim still has power. The reclamation has only encompassed a third of the kingdom, the rest home to the ferals which raid the farms when they can. While the Kailzim focus on all aspects of life, as their predecessors had, these ferals only relied on their triggered natural instincts... to feed and to breed. They were unfit for anything else, and could not be saved. The Kailzim looked up to their king, Kaim, and considered him a god, their righteous warrior against these monsters. Each passing day Kaim grows more powerful, as does his surviving Kailzim... but for the moment, all they can do is sit and defend against the raids of the ferals before their population grows large enough.


Anatomy: The Kailzim are simply misshapen humans, bearing almost all canines, lengthened more than humans. Nails are also harder and more elongated, allowing them to be used as weapons if need be. They are most commonly brown haired, thought there are still many other colors of hair within their gene pool. However, all eyes are colored blood red. The muscles of the Kailzim are more powerful than a human's, and grow more rapidly, due to the integration of blood in metabolic processes.

Physiology: The physiology of a Kailzim is nearly completely similar, except that their stomachs can now only 'digest' blood, and simply reject any other substance.

Culture: The culture of the Kailzim is newly founded, the remnants of the human generations distorted by the constant presence of danger and need for survival. They focus on knowledge and honor, not allowing too much power to fall to any certain individual (ironic, considering the Third). However, they also believe deeply in their king, and so believe him to be their savior, the greatest of the Kailzim, chosen by fate to destroy the feral monsters.

Religion: A divine belief in Kaim.

Common Powers:

Kailzim Blood Magic:
Blood Magic is used nearly specifically by the Kailzim. They possess a higher form of the art which enables them to convert blood into mana metabolically, and amplify it using their own blood as a medium.

Curse of the Third: When the blood passes into body, blood whose owner no longer has the life to possess it, the life force of the Kailzim dominates it, and allows it to be used. The blood is used to lessen the degeneration of the body, allowing longer life, as well as providing for blood magic and healing of wounds. Their eyes are red not simply for color, but it also allows them to more easily spot blood, including blood that has been wiped up or diluted.


Note: No... if you're bitten by a Kailzim, you won't be turned. But you'll probably be killed.