On the distant world of Duin'Al there live many species. Some live in deserts and some in forests, but none other than the Iman live underwater. They are the sole inhabitants of the vast seas encircling the globe. This has left them with few allies other than themselves and with many fierce enemies, for the water of Duin'Al is home to savage creatures of the deep.The Iman are a race of humanoid people, with a skin consisting of scales and osteoderms encapsulating their upper torso and arms , making them formidable in hand to hand combat, paired with their incredible upper body strength. They are quite short at a mere 5' but this is mainly attributed to their stocky legs. Iman come in all colours, and can in some special cases actually change their colour on will, this being a talent only present in the most upperclass of Iman society. Some prey on the Iman, but because of their amazing technological advances they are relatively safe, yet sometimes not even technology can help you against a 50 ton predator. The Iman rarely hunt these leviathans, revering them for their grace and strength. The last recorded killing of a Xelox was when the elders decreed a feast for the entire city of Tanil. This was because the leading engineers finally created a ship that could leave the water behind and fly up towards the giant Island in the sky. It's name is Dracusur meaning "Dragon of Earth" because of the lava that occasionally drips off and lands in the water above the city. The Iman believe that Dracusur is the stony form of their creator, Uman, who even in sleep still helps them build and live by having pieces of him fall off so that the Iman may build with it and make discoveries. The day of the feast they sent their most advanced fighter ship and crew to seek out a Xelox and bring back it's carcass.
The hunting party was successful and soon they were dragging the huge beast behind them, sans a rather large part of its head. The city was in joyous celebration, feasting and dancing all through the day. Alas when the ship returned with word that there were other, inferior races living on Dracusur, defiling it with their very presence. The elders, shocked by this news immediately started to think of war, but one of the "youngest" (at the spritely age of 234) thought thoughts of patience and cunning. He reasoned that we should first make contact them, learn what we can from them, gauge their strength and see if they are truly unworthy. "The Xeka does not hunt by rushing into the preys mouth, nay, it fools the prey into thinking it is there to clean it's mouth, and then strikes at its weak points while the prey is unaware. We must do the same if we want to be successful in this we need to mimic the Xeka" he said, and as the last word died in his mouth the room erupted in unanimous agreement. The elder Council, swept up in this, decreed that in a week a ship full of gifts and an elected ambassador will travel to Dracusur to make peace and reveal our existence to them. Then they sent up trading parties so that they could acquire things that were useful and new to them.
For many years they lived in peace and harmony with the other races on Dracusur. The even discovered that near their city of Ardys, their lived a small community of hunter gatherers, isolated from the rest of their race by a vast desert. This community has been fishing in the same waters as the Iman for years now, which would explain the rapid decrease of fish.
Because of their advanced technology they have become revered as Gods by some of the lesser races . On the island of Dracusur the Iman have lived without much trouble and strife, but below on the ground the Iman have sent out trading parties to the humans in the desert. The humans were disrespectful and had pitiful things to trade, keeping their more valuable stock away from us. So because of their brash nature the Ambassador of the Iman turned to taking instead of trading. Soon after it became a custom to raid the city of the dragon whelps ( this is the nickname given to the humans by the Iman because of their name) whenever the nearby cities wanted extra food or a fight. It went on like this for many years, with the dragon whelps suffering through these times with nay a complaint. Their King became reclusive and because he couldn't call for allies, he pleaded for the life of his subjects with the ruler of the Iman. The ruler, the same Iman that decided not to immediately go to war, took pity on this king and decreed that the Iman shall reform their ways and shall from that day on act as teachers and protectors to the humans, too uplift them and to help them rebuild what has been lost in the raids. Some still hate the Iman for what they have done, and some worship them with even more conviction now. The only constant in this equation is peace, and a fragile one at that.
