Vahazayi FAQs
What are Vahazayi?
In their most basic incarnation,
Vahazayi are Phoenixes. However, these are not your everyday garden-type
variety
Alas, most kids growing up today assume that Ms. Rowling is the leading authority on mythological creatures. Vahazayi do not fall into this line of thought. But for their immortality and ability to resurrect, they are Phoenixes in name only.
General description: Vahazayi stand vertical, rising off two powerful legs. They possess eight crest feathers in a secretary-bird arrangement, shortest to longest to the back of the head. A long neck joins the head to the body, capable of snakelike motions despite its apparent thickness. On each wing joint there is a dexterous claw which they use as demi-hands. Feathers grow three-fourths down the legs, ending in black scales and silver claws. Completing the form is a long plume of a tail.
However, this is not what make the Vahazayi “special.” That lies within their eyes: twin diamond-shaped opticals in various shades of grey. Due to this, they are sometimes referred to as the diamond-eyed race.
Vahazayi? How do you pronounce that?
vah-ha-ZIGH-ee
What do they do?
The first Vahazayi, Solarius, was created by the Almighty to patrol the Universe and dispel justice. After billennia, more Vahazayi were spontaneously born to combat the rise in evil. Their primary duty, once summoned, is to destroy the source of the evil—this may take days, it may take years. Because of this, the Vahazayi are elite warriors with no equal—their betters have yet to enter the world.
Vahazayi pursue various
lifestyles: there are mages, telekinetics, scouts, reconnaissance, soldiers,
historians, craftsmen, clan leaders, governors, stock tenders, farmers,
civilians and more. This is a far cry from the lamenting
You just described science-fiction.
You call it sci-fi, I call it fantasy. Although I do integrate a galactic environment, for the most part this is fantasy.
How many Vahazayi are there?
I decided a long time ago to make the number around 300,000. Vahazayi reproduce so slowly—or not at all in most cases—and males outnumber females (3/4th of the population is male), the number is pretty much constant. The Tarazayi are different, for they are mortal and number around 1 million—but that is a tale for another time.
While on the topic of reproduction, there are two ways for a Vahazayi to come into the world: spontaneous birth and natural birth. Both involve fire. The majority of Vahazayi were spontaneously-born, ie., out of a conical of fire an egg appears and after a while, it bursts into flame again and the baby is revealed. Natural birth is when a Vahazaya lays an egg and when it is time to hatch, it too, bursts into flame.
Tell me about their sexuality.
I’m not a voyeur, so no, not at this time. There are so many “bits and parts” to work out biologically that I’m not even touching this. Let’s just say Vahazayans have a penis that is tucked up in their body and Vahazayas have a vagina. Remember, they are only birdlike in appearance.
To note: at the time of this writing, there are no “homosexual” Vahazayi … although Ver’raft comes pretty close, as he is effeminate.
How else are they involved with fire?
Vahazayi breathe fire. There is an organ under the chin, tucked in front of the esophagus called the serl; this produces a chemical that, upon contact with air, explodes into a flame that is able to burn through anything—including other Vahazayi. Regular fire does not harm them.
Vahazayi can become fire. This is a process by which the body turns feathers, skin and ivory blood into living flame. In this way, a Vahazayi can traverse space for a limited time and at great speeds. Living flame is the most energy-consuming innate ability they have and those who overextend themselves run the risk of complications in rebirth, such as wounds not healing properly. Resources are able to be brought back to full after millennia.
Vahazayi immolate themselves.
Each
They sound invincible.
No. Vahazayi can and do die.
Questions
from friends and other sources
Well... first of all, are the Vahazayi the only "type" of
I bounce back and forth with this one. My general frame of mind is that there are other species of Phoenixes out there, but the Vahazayi are the elite. Since most people tend to depict their versions of Phoenixes as small and lithe, mine certainly stand out with their height!
Distinguishing feature? Two words: diamond eyes.
Is there a difference between typical male and female Vahazayi?
Answer: yes. Male Vahazayi are normally bicolored: ie., their body is one color, crest and tail of another color. Females are usually of one color with various shades worked therein. Their crests are also shorter in length. Physically, they are smaller than the males of their head-type.
However, with any species, there are variants. There are some tricolored males, some solid-colored males, etc. Very few females are bicolored or tricolored.
No two Vahazayi are of the same color.
About how many Vahazayi are there? And, if none are the same color, are some nearly the same? Are there any Vahazayi twin-types?
There are approx 300,000 Vahazayi.
There can be those with similar colors, but none are the same shade. There's a low enough number so that colors don't repeat.
As for twins ... never thought about that. Since they hatch from eggs, that possibility would be severely low. I'll have to consider that idea. ^^
We all know that the Vahazayi are upholders of law and order, but what about dissention within the ranks? How can an immortal hold another immortal responsible for some misdeed? And in that respect, how important is a name in their society?
As you know, Vahazayi are a prideful lot. Because of their strong connection to each other and to their duty, there is no word more vile, more slanderous, in their lexicon than "traitor". They are not perfect and we as readers don't expect them to be, but anyone who goes against the grain, so to speak, is considered out of line. Take Sular for instance: he was needed for a campaign, but he had resigned a long time ago ... the papers were misplaced and Larath, thinking irrationally, called for him to be brought back under label of traitor, or khairachas.
Of course, there are TRUE traitors, such as Swalecain. He was corrupted by something, I haven't figured it out yet, but he decided to vie for leadership. He was beaten in combat once, cowed, then tried again and ultimately died.
So, it's rare, but possible. As for holding them responsible, I ask, what does being immortal have to do with it? They are fallible as anyone else. If you do something wrong, you are punished, usually with duties no one else wants if it's a misdemeanor. Crime isn't really a part of their society, but it would be with the Tarazayi.
Now, for names. They don't mean that much, but there are certain designations that command respect. Spontaneously-birthed Vahazayi are allowed to choose their own names; naturally-birthed ones are given names by their parents. If you are part of a clan, you carry the clan leader's name, as "Crystal Shekeira" -- of clan Shekeira, clan leader Shekeira Eagle-Head. Most Vahazayi carry their type as their last name. Others, as a sign of intense respect and honor are given names by the Phoenix Lord, such as Vagan Vershandi'fay—Honored One. These always end in -'fay and the first part has something to do with a part of their character that was found to be extraordinary.
Going back to Sular, yes ... such things can be bad as well. The clan Ventrishika suffers to this day because of Larath's conduct, even though Sular was cleared.
Serving a "life" sentence would be rather awkward for one who will not die of natural means. Would holding a Vahazayi in a prison type environment for a crime really be rehabilitated after two years, or even two hundred? And general justice questions like that.
I suppose they could serve a "life" sentence, since they live according to cycles. Once they reach the end of their cycle, they would be prevented from accessing fire—perhaps through mental repression or something like that. Eventually, without this rebirthing, they would perish like anyone else.
As for rehabilitation, I guess there's always someone going into their mind and trying to "fix" whatever is the matter. Otherwise, they usually settle high crimes with trial-by-combat. If they die, they are not brought back.
It's hard for me to put a human justice system to their methods.
We already know that the Vahazayi race has their own
language, right? But do they have their
own letters? I mean, we write Vahazayi
and Am'nelii Berinshah and the like, but that is in traditional script and
letters. So do the phoenixes have their
own lettering system, akin to... Greek,
or Russian say?
When I was younger, I pilfered
Greek and had them use that. As for a true writing system, I've yet to create
one, and I don't think I will, because that's far too much work for me to do!
Let's just say, yes, they have an alphabet.
© 1996-present Melissa A. Hartman
Have a burning—no pun intended—question about the Vahazayi or my
campaign against stereotyping Phoenixes in general? I’d love to hear from you!
Just throw me a line at Crystal_Shekeira(at)yahoo(dot)com. Replace the things
in parentheses as per usual. And if you send me a question, I’ll put it here
for all to see … and to learn from. ^^
