Factbook of Nazhen Zi

[Nazhen Zi]

Welcome, curious lifeform. You have stumbled across a collection of information regarding the zheden zì, also known as zhedens, zhedenkind, and similar. Some of this knowledge has been obtained by peaceful observation of the species' behavior, while some has come to light as a result of violent confrontation. However, the vast majority of the content on this page has been shared by the zhedens themselves, and so, as ever, should be treated with some degree of skepticism.

Because it is impossible to predict the reader's level of interest in the subject, all sections except the introduction will be preceded by a short summary that provides an overview of their subject matter. Interested readers may then go on to read a more detailed explanation by opening the main body of text.

[Nazhen Zi]

Zhedens are a technologically advanced, interstellar civilization, in possession of faster-than-light (FTL) capabilities. They are known for their unusual and distinctive life cycle, during most of which male and female look and behave as a single organism. Their dominant society is monarchic, highly stratified, and, at least to most humans, extremely ritualistic. The most well-known of these rituals is their method of greeting, commonly called the coin flip. The outcome of the flip determines the tone of all future interactions.

If you are reading this page, it is very likely because you have come into contact with one or more zhedens and wish to proceed diplomatically. For this reason, the greeting ritual, as well as how to behave once it is completed, will be addressed first.

[Nazhen Zi]

Section Summary

Zhedens flip a coin twice each time they meet someone, once for each party, in order to determine which party should behave as the superior. An outcome of one force, one yield benefits the party who flipped force. Two yields means that both parties are equal, and two forces means that the two parties should part ways and not interact further at all. If the meeting is important enough, two forces may be re-flipped instead.

Should you happen to have met a zheden face-to-face, the first thing it will do is almost certainly to offer you a coin of some sort. The two sides of the coin will always look different, heads and tails if you will, and your first task is to determine which side corresponds to “force” (also known as “hawk”) and which side corresponds to “yield” (also known as “dove”). Many different types of coins are used in this ritual, which means that zhedens have to assign “force” and “yield” virtually every time they perform it. This makes your job rather easy: just go along with what the zheden indicates. Should the two of you share a language in common, it will simply tell you which side is which; otherwise, it will show you one side and gesture to it as if attempting to draw your attention to it, while ignoring or concealing the other side. The side it pays more attention to is always “force”.

Something important to note here is that, if you seem unfamiliar with the concept of a coin flip, the zheden might flip the coin once or twice to show you. The result of this demonstration never counts as the zheden's actual result; the owner of the coin always flips second.

Once you know which side means “force” and which side means “yield”, the zheden will expect you to flip the coin and show it your result. When the zheden is satisfied that you both know what you got, it will want the coin back so it can flip for itself.

What the zheden will expect you to do next depends on the combination of “forces” and “yields” that the two of you get.

The best possible outcome for you is to get “force” while the zheden gets “yield”. When this happens, you effectively become the zheden's superior, and it will do nearly anything you ask of it. The severity of the demands it will tolerate depends on a variety of factors, but as a general rule, if you don't purposefully attempt to abuse your newfound power, you won't overstep your bounds by accident.

By the same logic, the worst possible outcome for you is to get “yield” while the zheden gets “force”. In this scenario, the zheden will immediately start to consider itself your superior, and besides adopting a modified vocabulary to reflect this, it may insist that you perform tasks for its benefit. Whether or not you comply with its demands is, of course, up to you, but refusing to abide by the rules of the ritual will almost certainly prevent you from interacting with the zheden (or any others it tells about you) any further.

Should both of you get “yield”, the zheden will treat you as its equal, and expect you to do the same for it. In this case, it may still make “demands” of you at some point, but they are understood to be entirely optional and you will not sever the relationship by refusing.

Finally, should you both get “force”, what follows will depend on the circumstances.

If your reason for approaching the zheden (or it approaching you) is trivial, i.e., if both of you could accomplish the same thing by talking to someone else, the pair of “forces” is taken as a bad omen, and the two of you are expected to part ways.

However, if the meeting between the two of you is very important (for example, in a first contact scenario), the cost of cutting off the relationship because of an unlucky coin flip is usually deemed too high, and the omen will be ignored. In this case, simply repeat the flip until one of the other three possible results is achieved.

Once you have determined the nature of the relationship between you and the zheden, you are both expected to adhere to it for as long as that particular interaction lasts. However, should you part ways temporarily and meet again later, the zheden will expect that you perform the ritual again. The results of the second coin flip override the results of the first. Should you meet a third time, the third ritual will override the second, and so on.

[Nazhen Zi]

Section Summary

Zhedens exhibit extreme sexual dimorphism. Female zhedens are humanoid, while male zhedens resemble armor for the female and vary in shape accordingly. A female who appears to be covered with such armor is extensively integrated with him and cannot safely remove him until death.

Beyond the coin flip, another common stumbling block when it comes to interacting with zhedens is knowing what their various components are, and how to properly address them. Terms like “he”, “she”, and “it” can quickly become confusing when applied to a zheden. To speak to a zheden with even a shred of politeness, a basic understanding of their biology is necessary.

First of all, zhedens have two sexes that are commonly referred to as “male” and “female”. One should always keep in mind that these terms are only loosely analogous to their Terran counterparts, however for our purposes they will suffice.

The female zheden is fairly easy to identify, and probably the stage in the life cycle most relatable to humans. Her form is humanoid, with two arms, two legs, a head, and (sometimes) a tail. She stands upright for most of her life, only walking on all fours during the juvenile stage. It is during this time that she retains her tail; it is gradually reabsorbed early in her life, approximately the same time when she learns to walk on two legs. Her skin is fairly soft, except for plates on her arms and face, and ranges in color from pale white to maroon, with darker colors found closer to the equator. Often, there is a visible mottling pattern consisting of darkened regions of skin, most pronounced around the head and wrists.

She has three sections of smooth, thin, very light gray armor: one just above each wrist, and one covering her face. The two on her arms are ovoid and bear three black pockmarks, forming a triangle with the point facing toward her hand. The one on her face is kidney-shaped (curved upward, with the convex side facing down) and has four sockets for her eyes, which are similarly black. The two closer to the center, roughly where human eyes would be, are noticeably larger and face forward. The outer pair are oriented more to the sides, giving her a wide field of vision even without moving her head. She also has several short, fleshy protrusions on the top of her head, which are not present from birth but emerge slowly during maturation. They cannot normally be moved and their purpose is, so far, unknown.

Her legs have two “knee” joints, one bending forward and one bending back, though like Terran organisms with this trait, the second joint is homologous with the ankle of related species. Her hands bear six fingers, arranged in opposing groups of three. These groups do not directly oppose each other but are at an angle, so the hand can only be flattened one way. When placed flat, the fingers closest to the center are longer than those furthest out. Her feet bear six toes, two of which (located about halfway up the bottommost leg segment) are greatly reduced and have no obvious function. The other four all face forward, though visually their arrangement bears some resemblance to the hand, with a larger gap between the two central toes than between either of the outer pairs.

In contrast, the male zheden is not very obvious, and is rarely assumed to be an organism unto himself. During most of the male's development, he resembles a mere extension of the female, and during stages that might be considered “free-living”, laymen often mistake him for dead. He is most commonly seen as a collection of tough, armor-like segments covering the female's body, not unlike the chitinous exoskeleton of an arthropod. He may be nearly any color, depending mostly on geographical distribution, and is usually colored so as to blend in with the local plant life. The degree to which he protects and conceals the female underneath depends on his age. A young male consists of only a few cells. However, toward the end of the female's life, she may be completely encased by the male's tissue. The growth of the male almost always begins around one of the three white plates on the female and spreads outward from there, forming joints that allow the female to retain her range of motion.

As the male matures, he slowly integrates his cells with the female, dissolving the boundary between their bodies and merging their nervous systems into a single functional unit. Thus, a pair of zhedens bonded in this way cannot be separated without injuring both parties.

When interacting with a zheden, “she” is typically used to refer to anything capable of speech. This includes young female zhedens and older male-female pairings. “He” is used to refer specifically to the male component of a pairing, or in a third case which will be addressed now.

Despite looking and acting like a single, unified organism, the male and female zheden do not necessarily die at the same time. Normally, the female will only survive until the male has grown to cover her completely. At this point, her mental faculties will begin to deteriorate, and she will seek out a suitable place to spend her final days. Ideally, she will have a community of other zhedens to return to, who will care for the male once she is gone. Her nervous system will eventually cease all activity and her tissues will be gradually consumed by the male, replaced by a rigid lattice designed to keep the male's structure intact. It is at this point that the male is sexually mature and capable of reproduction.

[Nazhen Zi]

Section Summary

Zhedens have several methods of reproduction, producing males sexually through the fusion of gametes and females asexually through the development of an unfertilized egg. A male zheden attached to a female is therefore her son (rather than her mate as is often assumed) and is sexually immature. Sexually mature males are sessile and their mothers have since died, though they retain the structure acquired by growing around her. Females with no armor are either sexually immature or have yet to reproduce for other reasons.

Though a female zheden can only produce gametes (analogous to eggs) males can produce both gametes (analogous to sperm) and spores. Zheden eggs and sperm are both haploid, which in this case means that they contain 3 chromosomes. Zheden spores are diploid, with 6 chromosomes.

The fusion of two gametes will always result in a male zheden. However, the species has several other ways to reproduce. Unfertilized gametes will always develop into females, and this process occurs similarly whether the gametes were produced by a male or female. That is to say, an unfertilized gamete will begin to divide and produce a female when in contact with water, producing a protective coating not unlike the jelly surrounding frog eggs. Additionally, spores produced by male zhedens will develop into other male zhedens, typically around the body of a female. Thus, males can produce other males asexually, and females can produce females asexually. Sexual reproduction, however, can never produce anything other than a male. This also means that adult female zhedens are haploid organisms, while adult males are diploid (like all adult humans).

Previously it has been mentioned that the development of a zheden is similar regardless of the source of its genetic material. This is true. However, there are some differences, both in the process of development itself and in the resulting adults.

By far the most common case is for a female zheden to be formed from a male's unfertilized gamete, and for a male zheden to be formed through the union of male and female gametes. The other two methods for producing a new zheden are less often used and, as such, can be thought of as a last resort or fallback when reproductive opportunities are slim.

As mentioned, it is possible for a female zheden to produce another female asexually. There is, however, a significant problem with this method. A female's control over the release of growth hormones is limited. During sexual reproduction, a male's sperm will naturally inhibit multiple eggs from being fertilized. However, females do not have this ability, and must produce tens or even hundreds of haploid offspring if they wish to produce one. This usually leads to a single egg being removed and beginning to mature, while others begin the maturation process still trapped under the mother's armor. This can lead to discomfort or pain and is often disturbing for the mother, forcing her to remove and thereby kill the extra offspring. Because all of her eggs must either be cared for or abandoned, this also limits the female's reproductive opportunities, rendering her temporarily infertile while the wasted eggs regenerate.

Another problem with this method is the genetic stagnation it leads to. While both sexes of zheden can reproduce asexually, in the female's case it simply results in a clone of the parent. In the short term, this is not noticeable and may be sustainable, however, due to the long-term effects of repeated cloning, over time the females of the species have evolved to instinctively perceive asexual reproduction as inferior. Besides being less pleasurable for the individual, it is usually accompanied by an emotional response similar to guilt, attributed to the loss of reproductive opportunities. This serves to discourage asexual reproduction and motivate the exchange of genetic information.

The production of a male zheden through the dispersal of spores is somewhat more common, and is the main method through which the species colonizes new environments. Because male zhedens can produce both male and female offspring, a single male can produce an entire colony. However, like the female equivalent, this is only done as a last resort, typically when resources are running low due to population growth or overuse. In such cases one or more males will being producing spores in the hopes that the wind will carry at least one to a new environment. Spores will start to grow upon contact with any freshwater source. Unlike the female equivalent, this method carries no inherent physiological risks and seems to have evolved as a strategy to access new resources and continue a male's genetic lineage.

Offspring produced in these alternate ways are different from their more commonly seen counterparts. In the case of a male, its structure will be vastly different from most, having been forced to grow around available food sources instead of around a female body. Because of this, asexually produced males more often resemble plants or fungal growths than empty shells of a female. Their biochemistry is also slightly different, failing to include a key hormone found in most males which controls their growth patterns. They will still form characteristic sheets of armor connected by softer joints, however they do not restrict their growth to the surface they are attached to (normally a female's body). They will instead form branchlike extensions in search of nutrients, supporting these extensions with a lattice similar in structure to that found in sexually mature males.

Abnormally produced females are much more visually similar to their normal counterparts. Their development after being separated from the female's body is largely unchanged. However, differences start to become apparent around the age of sexual maturity. While normal females only produce fleshy growths in a consistent pattern on their heads, females with a mother instead of a father produce them on their arms as well, and both the arm and head growths form at a higher density and with a more erratic distribution. In some cases the entire body may be covered, though outside of the aforementioned regions the growths are small and unobtrusive. Additionally, the growths of these individuals are more sensitive to touch and can often be moved at the individual's will, though not to any useful effect. Finally, females produced in this fashion lack the ability to manufacture a specific pheromone involved in mate signaling; as such, their reproductive success is somewhat lower than average.

[Nazhen Zi]

Section Summary

All zheden language is bipartite, including both words and pheromones. Tone is always a grammatical or lexical feature and is never used to express emotion. Lehak, the language spoken by the species' only interstellar nation, is the most well-known to foreigners and has a comparatively extensive phonology, utilizing tone only minimally. Its lexicon is also vast, borrowing many terms from other languages.

There are a vast number of different cultures across the zheden species, and just as many languages. However, only one of these cultures is spacefaring; it is the language of this particular culture (known as Lehak) which will be described below.

All zheden tongues have both a verbal component and an olfactory component, consisting of pheromones emitted to aid in communication. The verbal component is arbitrary and subject to linguistic and cultural evolution. In other words, there are many different verbal languages spoken by the zheden species. The olfactory component, in contrast, is shared across all cultures. It is often compared to body language in that it is instinctual and largely universal, with even newborn infants understanding its meaning. However, even the part of language encoded in pheromones may differ subtly between cultures, usually in degree. For example, a pheromone that signals happiness in one society may be taken merely as a sign of contentment in another.

The pheromonal component of zheden languages also contains paralinguistic information such as emphasis and emotional context, a role which in human languages is filled by tone. A human who wishes to convey sarcasm does so by varying the pitch of its voice; a zheden accomplishes the same thing by varying the composition of the pheromones that it emits while speaking. This has important implications for those wishing to converse with a zheden. It means that much of the context of anything a zheden says will be lost on a human, as the human cannot perceive the chemical signals that the zheden provides. The reverse is also true: a zheden has difficulty recognizing body language and does not infer the correct meaning from variations in tone.

This obstacle is by no means insurmountable. Phrasing one's sentences in such a way as to leave no possible ambiguity does a great deal to prevent misunderstandings. However, the nature of zheden language can inhibit interspecies communication and is important to be aware of.

Because tone carries no contextual information, zheden languages almost invariably use tone lexically or grammatically, to distinguish similar sounding words or convey some other meaning. Though many human languages do this as well, it is far more common and extensive among zheden ones, with some languages having more tones than phonemes. However, in Lehak, the role of tone is greatly reduced, only being used to distinguish particles rather than verbs or nouns. Instead, Lehak relies on a comparatively extensive list of phonemes to convey information concisely. The number of phonemes the language includes depends on the dialect in question, but is most often placed at 11, compared to 44 in British English and an average close to 5 for all languages spoken by zhedenkind. These phonemes are listed below, with the usual transliteration first, then the closest possible human phoneme described in words. It should be noted that perfect pronunciation is impossible for anyone but a zheden, due to differences in mouth and throat structure between species.

a – open front
e – mid front
i – close front
u – close back

n – [no equivalent]
l – lateral approximant
k – velar stop
h – glottal fricative
d – alveolar stop
z – alveolar fricative
zh – postalveolar fricative

Some readers might notice that this list does not distinguish between voiced and voiceless consonants, or between rounded and unrounded vowels. This is because, in Lehak, there is no meaningful difference between the two – [k] and [g] are considered the same sound and compose a single phoneme, as are and [y]. In the case of consonants, this lack of distinction is simply an arbitrary characteristic of Lehak and is not necessarily the case for all zheden languages. However, in the case of vowels, the meaninglessness of the difference between rounded and unrounded is a result of the physical inability to articulate it. That is to say, zhedens' mouths cannot move in such a way as to produce a rounded vowel, so none of their languages contain them.

As for the phoneme [n], the human mouth cannot produce any sound close to it, or at least not close enough for a zheden to identify it as such. It is transliterated (and pronounced by humans) as [n], however this is merely a convention to allow humans to speak in Lehak when necessary, and zhedens unfamiliar with said convention are unlikely to perceive the human substitute as representing the actual phoneme.

Lehak also contains three tones, applied only to vowels and only in a handful of words referred to as particles. The tones are usually called “rising”, “falling”, and “flat”, with flat vowels being pronounced identically to vowels in other, non-particle words. They are transliterated into English as accent marks above their respective vowels in the following way.

á – rising tone
à – falling tone
ā – flat tone

[i]Note: the line above a flat toned vowel is often omitted, as it is not necessary to convey meaning and does not change pronunciation.

Lehak's tone system, as can be inferred, is contour as opposed to register, which is to say that the actual pitch of one's voice when speaking is irrelevant; only the changes in pitch that occur when uttering a vowel carry meaning.

Though it is usually not necessary for a human to say anything in Lehak, much less write in it, the language's alphabet is provided below for recognition purposes, as well as for anyone wishing to learn or study the language for other reasons.



Note: aside from “space” characters, the language is not written with any punctuation. Pauses are left up to the imagination of the reader rather than marked by commas, which, along with quotation marks, apostrophes, and so on, are rendered unnecessary by the language's grammar. The end of a sentence is marked by a double space.

Tones are marked with dots, either to the right of, the left of, or on both sides of the baseline of the letter, as shown below.



Finally, the language is written from top to bottom, as can be seen in the following sample text. In longer works, rows of vertical text are arranged from left to right.



Grammatically speaking, Lehak is extremely isolating. The only modifications made to any word are made to the particles, in which the tone of the vowel may change. Otherwise, one word in Lehak consists of just one morpheme. For example, in English the morpheme “question” can become “questions”, “questioner”, “questioning”, and so forth, while remaining a single word. However, “nuain”, a verb with a similar meaning in Lehak, is only ever found in that form. Its meaning only changes depending on its location within the sentence and how many / which particles follow it.

Sentences in Lehak follow an OVS word order, which is to say that the object of the sentence comes first, followed by the verb, then finally the subject. Any modifiers such as adjectives and adverbs are placed after the word they modify. Both of these rules are adhered to much more strictly than in English, wherein the order of words within a sentence is only sometimes important. For example, “he kicked her” and “her he kicked” both make sense and have identical meaning in English, even if the latter is somewhat awkward. This is because “he” is always the subject and “her” is always the object; the words carry certain grammatical information along with them. Lehak, however, has no such words due to its isolating nature, which means that the difference between “she” and “her” is nonexistent. The distinction is established through word order instead.

Lehak is a split-intransitive language, meaning that it is neither nominative-accusative nor ergative-absolutive. Both of these alignments mark the agent of an intransitive verb in a consistent way. In nominative languages, these agents are always treated as subjects, while in ergative languages they always behave like objects. However, in split-intransitive languages, agents of intransitive verbs may be marked as either subject or object depending on circumstance. Lehak is unusual among languages of this type in that the alignment chosen by the speaker is completely arbitrary. For example, in many such tongues, saying something like “I lay” would mean that they had done it on purpose, while saying “lay me” would signify a lack of control or volition on the speaker's part (perhaps someone had pushed them to the ground). In Lehak these two options do not meaningfully differ. Many common sayings are formed using the ergative alignment, while many others are constructed as if the language were nominative. In everyday speech it is common to hear both as well.

There is, however, one consistency as to which alignment is chosen, recently introduced to zheden society. Due to the species' multiple interactions with humans, the vast majority of whom speak a variant of English, using the nominative alignment has become associated with sophistication and prestige. This is because doing so makes one's speech easier to translate into English, and implies that the speaker is important enough for this to be one of their concerns.

Lexically, the language is similar to English in that it has a comparatively extensive vocabulary, capable of expressing a wide variety of concepts with extreme precision. Also like English, it has accomplished this largely by borrowing words from other languages. The idea of a concept that can only properly be expressed in one language is foreign and even ridiculous to speakers of Lehak, who will happily adopt or create words wherever their tongue is lacking. The language has been further enriched through the technological unification of its many dialects. The name for an organism that only inhabits a remote corner of the globe may nevertheless be common knowledge due to the interconnected nature of Lehak-speaking culture.

[Nazhen Zi]

Section Summary

“Zheden society” usually refers to the society of Nazhen Zi, one of many nations populated by the species, and the only one to extend beyond their homeworld. It is divided into classes consisting of the Nazhen monarch the All-Mother, a group of powerful nobles, the servants and soldiers of the nobility, and the general public. All social classes must adhere to a long list of rituals when conversing, the most famous of which is the coin flip previously discussed.

As with humanity, the zheden species is far from unified, and is divided into a large number of different nations, each with their own set of laws and accompanying cultures. Estimates for how many such nations currently exist are complicated by wars and disputes over territory and governance. Counting every nation that claims independence yields a figure of 55. However, each zheden government has its own criteria for recognizing others as legitimate. The two most powerful and influential nations both agree on 46 as the “rightful” number.

These two nations, known to speakers of Lehak as Nazhen Zi (meaning oasis) and Kelen Zi (meaning desert), together control over 50% of their planet's landmass and over 70% of its wealth. Their power is great enough that both cultures have had a profound influence on every other zheden nation in existence. Ironically, direct communication between them is limited, and has been for many years. Each nation considers the other (both officially and in the attitudes of their citizens) to be its enemy, leading to fear and suspicion between their respective populations and a lack of trade and diplomacy on an official level. Nevertheless, the two are not officially at war, and each has laws in place that forbid initiating an attack on the other. The relationship between Nazhen Zi and Kelen Zi is often compared to the Cold War that took place on Earth in the twentieth century.

One well-known and important difference is that of the two, only Nazhen Zi has any official interest in space exploration, travel, or colonization. Though Kelen Zi possesses a collection of satellites, they have otherwise made no attempt to expand beyond their terrestrial territory. In contrast, Nazhen Zi has established colonies on multiple worlds and has a vast sphere of influence, owing to the many probes, fleets, and worldships they have scattered across local space. As a result, their culture is far more widespread and far better understood.

Like most societies, Nazhen Zi is stratified and has social classes that differ in the amount of resources they have access to. It is only remarkable in the degree to which this is the case, which is to say, extremely so. The lowest social class includes virtually everyone, with only a small handful of individuals inhabiting the upper levels. By the same token, the wealth is distributed so unevenly that these handful of individuals possess virtually all of it.

At the top (or, as a zheden would say, at the innermost level) of the social structure are a pair of individuals known as the All-Mother and the All-Father. They are sometimes referred to as the king and queen, though more commonly by foreigners than Nazhen citizens themselves. The All-Mother is unique in being the only female zheden to survive her son's sexual maturation, while the All-Father is unique in being the most recent common ancestor of the zheden species, or in other words, the father to the entire race. They are both biologically immortal, though the question of how has no agreed-upon answer, since they were alive long before any of the anti-aging technology their descendants currently possess.

As such, they are afforded great respect by Nazhen citizens and zhedens in general. Even those hailing from nations where the two hold no political authority invariably treat them with honor. Because no zheden in existence is willing to hurt or even disobey them, they are arguably the most powerful zhedens alive today, and there is good reason to believe they have always held this status.

Despite this, the All-Mother has no qualms interacting with even the lowest of her subjects and follows the rules and rituals of her society like any other zheden. Though her influence within her own race is nearly unlimited, she is not the richest member thereof. This is due to the vast philanthropic undertakings she is continually engaged in. She maintains enough capital to generate interest sufficient to fund these, but because she does not hoard her money, other, less powerful zhedens have surpassed her in monetary wealth.

The two of them live together in a vast temple, or, more accurately, the All-Mother lives in a temple composed primarily of the All-Father's tissue. As the oldest male alive he has grown to cover a substantial area, to the point where it is possible to take shelter in the spires and catacombs of his body. Indeed, the All-Mother is not the only zheden to do so; the temple is open to the public indefinitely, and though the bulk of the population at any given time consists of visitors, it is neither illegal nor uncommon to reside permanently within.

The next layer of society consists of the nobility. Nazhen nobles are rarely observed by the public and seldom interact directly with any of the other classes. This is because, with few exceptions, they spend the majority of their time immersed in vast virtual worlds of their own design. Occasionally, they will emerge to survey their surroundings or experience important events in person, but for the most part they are heard rather than seen.

Despite having only a tenuous connection to the real world, nobles impose their will on all classes beneath them through the use of edicts: restrictions and obligations that can apply to anyone within a particular noble's sphere of influence. The content of these edicts varies wildly, but generally speaking they are intended to force others into behaving in a way consistent with the noble's idea of a utopia. Thus, they are frequently moralistic, sometimes contradictory, and only occasionally based in logic.

Though they write their edicts, nobles do not enforce them. That duty falls with their vassals, the next lowest class. Still, a noble who has emerged from stasis is a force to be reckoned with. Unlike the All-Mother, whose power originates from the admiration of her people, a noble's power comes from technology that only she has access to, and the threat of pain or death to anyone who opposes her. As a general rule, if you are a member of a lower class, you can't kill or otherwise coerce a noble under any circumstances, and you can't avoid the noble killing or otherwise coercing you.

Though a noble's strength is plentiful, their time is not, and so they enlist other individuals to carry out their bidding for them. This class of zhedens, known as vassals, constitutes what many other cultures would consider the “upper class”. Vassals may command armies, manage corporations, or invent new technologies. The fact that Nazhen Zi has any presence outside its homeworld's atmosphere can be attributed almost entirely to the work of vassals.

Not all vassals answer to a noble. Some answer to other, more powerful vassals, and a few take their orders from the All-Mother herself. The status of a member of this class depends on their place within an internal hierarchy nearly as complicated as the relationships between all other classes combined. Because of this, many vassals do not actually agree with the edicts they enforce, or even know that their work goes toward enforcing them at all. Still, if a noble wants something done, rest assured that it will be made so, dissent among the ranks notwithstanding.

The penultimate social class in Nazhen Zi is composed of individuals known as arrivistes. They are sometimes referred to as squires due to unfamiliarity with their formal title.

Like a vassal, the role of an arriviste is to carry out the will of a noble. The difference between these two classes is not as sharply defined as between the others, and is best thought of as a gradient. Someone frequently referred to as a vassal is famous, well-armed, or both, and uses these advantages to further their noble's agenda. If a zheden is more often called an arriviste, they are probably neither, and aid their noble primarily by gathering intelligence or disseminating propaganda.

Though arrivistes usually have little that their inferiors don't, they can increase their access to luxuries, weapons, and status over time through prolonged or exceptional service. In this way, an arriviste can eventually become a vassal, and those close to the border may be referred to by either term.

Finally, the least powerful class, which includes the vast majority of the population, has no formal title. Members of this class may be called citizens or commoners, though most of the time they are simply referred to as people, since belonging to another social class is a rare exception.

Unlike the lowest class in many social structures, commoners actually perform the least amount of work by far. Productive labor is not necessary to survive or even live in comfort, due to the extensive social welfare programs Nazhen Zi boasts. A citizen of the nation can do nothing all day and still be provided with food, drink, shelter, clothing, and entertainment, all courtesy of the state. Indeed, if the class has any one defining feature, it is their lack of ambition to acquire the power offered by a higher status. Such a desire automatically classifies a zheden as an arriviste.

Note: due to their inability to perform any societal function beyond procreation, male zhedens are sometimes considered a class of their own. More often, however, they are left out of the class system entirely.

Despite the vast differences between the classes, they share a common etiquette and must all follow the same rules when interacting. Even if a noble could kill their subject with a wave of the hand, if that subject gets force in the coin flip, the noble is expected to behave accordingly, and nearly always will.

While the coin flip is the most famous method for governing social behavior, Nazhen society actually has an extensive list of guidelines and procedures to follow during a conversation. However, the results of the first ritual influence all others. For example, if both zhedens flip “force” and either party wishes for the conversation to continue regardless, they may “plead” for the other zheden to ignore the omen and stay. If this occurs and the plea is accepted, the two zhedens enter into a sort of contract, wherein the next misfortune suffered by the zheden acknowledging the plea must be rectified by the zheden who made the plea. What counts as a misfortune is at the discretion of the acceptor. Having made this agreement, the two zhedens will proceed as if they had both flipped “yield”. Another example of such a rule is that a zheden assigned the role of inferior as a result of flipping “yield” can “challenge” any demand made by their superior as unreasonable, and suggest a “cost” (in the form of another task) that the superior must perform in order for the demand to be satisfied. Though the cost may incidentally benefit the inferior, its primary purpose is to prove that the superior would be willing to fulfill a demand of similar magnitude, if it were the inferior instead. The superior may choose to pay the cost, at which point the demand must be satisfied as usual, or they may counter by providing evidence that they have paid a similar cost at least once before. Should this occur, the superior may insist that the inferior pay the chosen cost instead, in addition to whatever the original demand was.

There are several purposes rituals like the coin flip are intended to fill. One is to lessen the gulf between social classes, and give even the lowliest peasant a fair chance to boss around someone of higher standing. Another is to provide structure and predictability to conversation, in order to ease the process of starting and holding a dialogue with a stranger. A third is to promote the development of desirable personality traits like humility, by preventing anyone from getting too used to power.

Of course, there are some situations in which the rituals do not apply. A vassal or arriviste who finds evidence that an edict has been broken may ignore any and all social conventions while conversing with the suspect(s). Additionally, the “force” and “yield” dynamic never applies when dealing with the All-Mother, who is assumed to be in a permanent state of “yield” that extends to anyone she talks to.

[Nazhen Zi]

Section Summary

Nazhen technology is unusually well-developed for their level of space colonization. Despite only having control over a small territory and a single system, their fleets are often difficult to fight due to the many formidable and poorly understood technologies they implement during combat. These devices are used on the Nazhen homeworld as well, most often to further the will of the noble who owns them.

Visitors to Nazhen Zi are often surprised by the level of technological advancement they find there. Most expect a nation that only truly controls a single planet (and even then, not the whole thing) to be accordingly primitive. While it is not unreasonable to correlate the size of a nation with its power, Nazhen Zi is definitely an exception to the rule, with technological capabilities not shared by many interstellar empires. The reason for this disconnect is simple: Nazhen Zi's goal when it comes to space exploration is primarily the acquisition of new knowledge rather than new territory.

The fact that Nazhen Zi neither publicizes nor explains any of its discoveries helps perpetuate the idea that the nation is populated by ignorant savages. However, the lack of detailed information about the results of their ongoing research is due not to an absence of said results, but to a number of edicts forbidding the dissemination of scientific knowledge to foreigners. This definition includes all members of alien races.

As such, due to the poor understanding humans currently have of many Nazhen devices, they will be explained primarily in terms of their purpose / effect. Any discussion on the workings of these devices is mere speculation.

Despite lacking self-sufficient offworld colonies, Nazhen Zi possesses an efficient form of faster-than-light travel (hereafter referred to as FTL). All artificial constructs of Nazhen origin found outside their solar system are equipped with some version of it, as are many found on their home planet.

A Nazhen ship (or anything similarly equipped) always includes two main components, colloquially referred to as the “scout” and the “anchor”. These parts are usually physically separate and have their own propulsion systems, though neither is capable of reliable FTL without the other.

Which part the pilot or passengers (if the ship accommodates any) reside in depends on the model of the ship. Civilian transports, cargo ships, and the like often hold their valuables in the scout, while military models house their pilots and weaponry in the anchor. This is because the scout, as its name implies, arrives at the destination ahead of the anchor, while the anchor's function is to hold back and repair the situation if the jump somehow goes wrong. While both civilian and military ships are capable of “reversing” the use of their FTL drives, the former's concern lies primarily with the quick and convenient transit of its cargo, while the latter is more worried that classified technology will end up in enemy hands. As a result, civilian craft only fall back on their anchors if necessary and otherwise make the jump “blind” (this being the faster method), while warships feel out the situation with comparatively expendable scouts beforehand.

The role of the anchor is better understood than the role of the scout. Its job is to record information about the ship and its surroundings, and return them to a previous state if damaged. How it does this is unknown, but whatever the method, it proves extremely difficult to thwart. A ship equipped with a working anchor can be restored to pristine condition at any time, regardless of alterations made to the ship after anchoring. As such, a Nazhen warship can only be forced to return to the point at which it most recently anchored, not permanently damaged or destroyed. Additionally, activating the anchor will revert the space around the current instance of the ship as well, to whatever it was when the ship last anchored at any point. This removes all traces of the craft and ensures that a damaged component is not able to be captured and studied by whoever damaged it.

The scout's function seems to be enabling the ship to “jump” in the first place. A ship consisting solely of an anchor retains its ability to revert to a previous state, but cannot move except by any primitive thrusters it may possess. Like the anchor, it is known to store information about the ship beforehand. However, while an anchor is necessarily equipped with a huge amount of memory and records the state of everything within a certain distance of itself, a scout appears to only retain information about the ship itself (and if applicable, its passengers). This can be deduced from the behavior of a Nazhen ship. If something goes wrong and the anchor is activated, the ship as well as its surroundings will be restored. However, a successful jump will only transport the ship and its cargo, not anything else in the ship's environment. This distinction is largely unnoticeable in a vacuum but can be observed in ships attempting to jump from a planet's surface.

Despite the anchoring mechanic providing Nazhen ships with a reliable and formidable defense, it is not their only means of avoiding harm. Many warships possess a third component, known as a pixie, which demonstrates the ability to manipulate probability in order to improve the ship's odds of victory. This can be used to affect the outcome of all events, though its effects become more pronounced as the scale of the event decreases. It can cause enemy projectiles to miss and its own projectiles to hit, along with disrupting the functionality of a wide number of devices, including shields, targeting systems, and the enemy's FTL. Enemies who rely on quantum processes for their power, computational or otherwise, can be largely incapacitated by a single working pixie. While a ship in possession of an anchor cannot reliably be destroyed, a ship in possession of a pixie cannot even be reliably forced to use its anchor.

The construction of these ships also serves to aid their survivability. Though they initially appear to be constructed of some metal alloy, the properties of a Nazhen ship's hull rarely correspond with a known substance. Said properties are not only unusual, but often inconsistent. A large craft may weigh less than its pilot, yet have a density far exceeding what would normally be possible without collapsing into a black hole. It may change its physical properties, including chemical reactivity, opacity, or electrical conductivity, at will. Most troubling, all substances used in the construction of Nazhen warships are capable of observing gravity to a degree of their choosing, an ability believed to be related to the inconsistency between their mass and density. This property makes gravitic weapons all but useless against a Nazhen fleet, as they cannot significantly harm it and do not disrupt its method of travel.

A common misconception is that Nazhen Zi uses more than one form of FTL in order to increase their versatility in combat, or decrease the enemy's ability to exploit their chosen method. In reality, Nazhen FTL drives all function identically (or at least quite similarly), and merely look different. All ships have a scout and an anchor, and all ships go through the same sequence of events when jumping to a new location. However, this process is usually accompanied by a visual effect that varies widely between models. This addition is purely cosmetic; a jump can be made with no visible effect on the environment except the change in location of the ship itself, if desired. Common themes include explosions, flashes of light, plumes of fire, bursts of lightning, and distortions in local spacetime.

It should be stated that while the nature of their FTL combined with their ability to manipulate the laws of physics and probability makes them formidable opponents, Nazhen fleets do not tend to seek out violence and have yet to invade another civilization. If you find yourself in combat with them, it may be wiser to attempt communication than retaliation. Most conflicts with zhedens stem from misunderstanding rather than malice.

Both anchors and scouts are prevalent on the zhedens' homeworld as well, where they appear in a wide variety of forms, usually in possession of a noble or her servants. The function of the anchors are fairly consistent, which is to say that they anchor the owner's body or possessions and prevent them from dying or being stolen. The wealth of the owner corresponds roughly with how frequently the anchors can be “refreshed”. The most extreme case would be someone rich enough to update their own anchor continually, restoring them to a point mere moments before any misfortune.

Though it is commonly believed that reverting to a previous anchor erases all memory accumulated after the anchor was formed, this is not the case. In fact the subject will appear at the anchor point with many of the experiences obtained from their brush with death. How this is accomplished is unknown, since no mechanism for recording the subject's thoughts is necessary. Interestingly, though the subject remembers much of what led to their demise, they may do so incorrectly. That is to say, the details are often slightly different in the subject's memory, a phenomenon that is consistent across all levels of society and has no known psychological basis.

The use of scouts on the surface world is much more varied. Though their most common use is in FTL drives, they have many other applications for which awakened nobles are famous. One of these is the simulation of telekinetic powers afforded to anyone in possession of a scout designed for the purpose. Normally manifesting as stylized armor around the wrists, such devices permit the manipulation of physical laws to be extended to the wearer's local environment. This grants the appearance of telekinesis by changing gravitational constants in specific areas around the user, allowing objects to be picked up, flung, fired, crushed, or otherwise manipulated at a distance. Other models allow for a similar form of instant transport (of the user or other objects) as their counterparts found in starcraft.

The combined abilities of instant resurrection, telekinesis, and teleportation make anyone in possession thereof nearly invincible, capable of avoiding all permanent harm while punishing dissent with a flick of the wrist. The addition of automated systems capable of preventing physical incursion into the anchor's area of effect makes fighting a Nazhen noble close to impossible for anyone below them in the social hierarchy.