Anzorii



Of the Anzor race, which I am proud to be a member, I will say the following:

We are a proud race first and foremost. Hailing from the Anzorii Islands: Islands belonging to the Anzor for the human readers. There are seven islands, each one created by a different God as a home for the Ansor. The isles themselves are located where the Stormy Seas of the north meet with the Azure Seas in the south.

We the Anzor are a tall race. Standing around six feet in average height. The humans say we are a cross between a man and a jackal. The Anzor have long snouts which grants us a better sense of smell than other races, our long pointed ears which grant us superior hearing. We also have a greater eyesight making us superior to other races in most aspects.

Female Anzor reach the age of maturity after fifteen cycles of the sun: again for human readers the term that you use is a Year. The main mating season when most Anzor litters are conceived is during the storm season late in the sun cycle or human year. This is because early in the Anzor times they were afraid of the harsh storms than swept across the islands from the stormy seas. These harsh storms scared the young Anzor race and the Goddess Nezh granted high conception to ease their worries.

They are monogamous living in family units that consist of a breeding pair and the most recent litter or some few offspring of previous litters but generally upon reaching maturity at the age of fifteen Anzor pups will head off to establish their own breeding pairs.

The link between birth and storms is really down to biology, the divine aspect is the Anzor explanation. The birthing season runs from early spring all the way to mid summer usually. Most litters are conceived in the autumn storm season because the early Anzor were fearful of the storms and mating to continue the race was their natural reaction.

Gestation periods for the Anzor litters vary greatly depending on the size of the litter. It can range from four lunar cycles, or human months up to ten lunar cycles. The size of the litter is what determines the gestation period and the larger the litter the longer the gestation period. Litter sizes can range from a few such as three or four all the way up to large litters of ten or eleven. Smaller litters are the ones that tend to be more family oriented of the Anzor as the pups can receive more attention from the parents. Parents of larger litters tend to focus more on the stronger, healthier pups leaving the runts lesser or even no attention.

Anzor pups are born around the size of a human hand and they are furless and must be protected by their mother as their pink wrinkled skin can easily become infected. After the first few lunar cycles of feeding on their mothers milk they quickly grow a brown downy fur which will protect their bodies from infections and insects that seek to burrow into the skin until they reach maturity. Anzor pups are expected to stay with their parent families until they reach the age of maturity.



The likely fate of a runt in a large litter is usually death, they may live for one or two years but eventually they will die. There are rare occasions where runts will run away from their birth family and try and insinuate themselves in another family, sometimes it is accepted sometimes the runt is killed. Both these are treated as social norms. A mother with six children is likely to take in a seventh child, even if it isn't hers because of the faith in the number seven where as larger litters are likely to kill a runt because they see it as competition to their own children.

However a runt from a litter of seven is given as much attention as the stronger children, this is because losing the runt and the litter no longer being of seven children would be seen as great misfortune to that family. They would lose their respected place in society and be treated almost as outcasts.

Upon reaching maturity fifteen sun cycles the strongest males and females from the litters that reach maturity that year are tested and if they pass this test they are drafted into the Anzorii Legions for a minimum service of seven years. It is the reason that so many Anzor Legionnaires are spotted with brown downy fur because they are in the process of shedding it and replacing it with the short grey fur of adulthood. After military service the Anzor are given a choice to continue service for another seven sun cycles or they can integrate back into citizenship.

Seven is an important number to us Anzor. It stems from the seven islands created by our seven gods. Seven is a magical number to us and it permeates through our lives. Litters with seven pups are said to be blessed by the Gods and that family is afford a higher status in society. In all aspects of life Anzor strive to achieve the magical number seven in one form or another, believing that it will bring good fortune of the Gods.

Even the military put sway in this magical number seven. Our total forces serving in the military is 823,543 which is seven multiplied by seven, seven times. We have 49 Legions: seven multiplied by seven and each Legion is made up of 16,807 soldiers: seven multiplied by seven five times. Each Legion is made up of 49 cohorts and each cohort is made up of 343 soldiers which is seven multiplied by seven, three times.

The army size hasn't been that big since inception but they always try to keep the figure as a power of seven because of the magical properties they believe it bestows upon them. To maintain the value at such a precise figure they retest those that fail the test yearly and if they pass they are drafted in or if the figure is already perfect then they will put those that pass the test on "hold" meaning that they will be drafted at a future date.

<p style="margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;">The litter birth is the reason they can have vast legions and they use horde/swarm tactics against the enemies in attempts to quickly overpower the enemy forces and force them into a retreat. Against professionally trained armies wearing proper armour this tactic is devastating to the Anzorii Legions, as they found out when trying to fight the Seven Grand Dukes (a story for another time).

<p style="margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;">The power of seven, at least in the case of the military, has a proven record. Divine Conquests led by one of the seven great generals, one from each of the seven islands, lead seven legions in order to expand the Anzorii domain in the great Imperial Quest to establish Seven Provinces all over the world.

<p style="margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;">The Anzor are great shipbuilders, its required for them to survive as race as they need land and resources. They have shallow barges that they use for transporting goods between the different islands. They have 'Great Ships' which are used for transporting troops across seas to different provinces. These ships are essentially a deck with a huge space underneath for housing the troops both on the bottom of the ship and on 'shelves' along the side. Located near the top of the cargo space there is a series of trap doors set into the side of the ship. These doors allow the troops to quickly disembark literally pouring out of the hold. These types of ships can be fitted too carry cargo and the top shelves near can be fitted to support ballista and later in the timeline cannons. On the seas they fair ok, they primarily build their ships to be able to deconstruct them upon arrival in a new province to set up structures. This means that the vulnerable when storms and dangerous seas approach and the ships are more likely that ships built properly (that is as ships and not intended to be deconstructed later) to wreck apart.

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<p style="margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;">Death is viewed as a weakness. If someone is to die of old age then they will be perceived to have been strong at one time and lost their strength and power. If they die of disease they are perceived to have been weak because they cannot fend off a disease. If they die in battle then they are been perceived not to have been strong enough to defeat their enemy.

<p style="margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;">The opportunism of them has been tuned into seeking advantages first and foremost over other races either in the political arena or in business. For the most part the ruling family has tried to stamp out the opportunism of Anzor against Anzor in order to progress the race but it still exists mostly between pups who try to gain every advantage over their litter mates.

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<p style="margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;">I will end this topic on the Anzor with one final comment. In Anzorii text the double i often seen at the end of words denotes ownership. Such as Anzorii Islands or Majii Province meaning Islands of or belonging to the Anzor and Province of or belonging to Maj respectively. In this case the use of the words 'of' and 'belonging to' are interchangeable.