Joguo -- Complete history of the character, 2001-2021

I just realized a month or so ago that it's been a whopping twenty years since I made up the character we now know as Joguo Gouen-Zu.  Though he's nowhere near as long-running as the characters associated with my old Supernum stories (who go back to 1994-1995 in many cases), or even the Bok's Expedition crew (who first showed up around 1996-1997), twenty years is still a pretty long time to keep drawing and writing stuff involving the same character.

So I figured I'd write a post on here about Joguo and the changes the character has gone through over the years before eventually settling on the current version.

Nine years worth of Joguo drawings.  The main change since 2008 seems to have been his hair. 😂

2001

Joguo's history starts in 2001, with a never-finished OHRRPGCE game project that I had titled Spuduf Splorchers.  The game's main character was a bug named... um, Bug... who found out that he had the power to  communicate with strange little spirit-thingies known as "Spuduf" (which made him a "Spuduf Splorcher" -- to "splorch" was to fuse together with a Spuduf and gain some of its powers) shortly after his forest home was burned down by the evil Emperor Zheewguu.  I'm pretty sure this was the only game idea I've ever had that involved the "hero's hometown gets burned down or otherwise destroyed" trope, funnily enough.

Anyway, as mentioned above, Spuduf Splorchers was never finished.  Joguo didn't actually appear in the parts of the game that I had finished, though he was planned to appear in a later part of the game and his graphics and stats were already programmed in.

The few surviving Spuduf Splorchers hero sprites

The image above is all that's left of the hero sprites from Spuduf Splorchers.  While nowhere near as good as the ones appearing in... well, any game I attempted to make from 2005ish onward... they were a massive step up from the garbage-quality graphics that I had rushed out for previous game attempts.  The humanoids are pretty shaky, but Bug actually looks semi-decent to me even now.

Joguo is the guy who appears enlarged on the right, of course.  This is the very first Joguo design, and it's... well, pretty generic-looking.  At a glance, you probably wouldn't guess he's the same guy as the blue-haired ninja from Alleghany Hell School.  The fact that his shirt says "SS" on it seems like a bit of an "oops" looking back, but I'm guessing it was intended to be short for "Spuduf Splorchers" -- the Nazi connotations of those initials were definitely not intentional.

In the game, Joguo was the leader of a group known as the "Goueng-Zu Splorchers" -- three other members of which are on the same row as Joguo's sprite.  There were a couple other members who apparently never got sprites, a guy with black hair and darker tanned skin and a robot for some reason, but I guess I either never finished their sprites or they were never intended to appear as playable characters in the game (I can't remember which for sure at this point, since I lost the game file ages ago.)  Joguo and the robot (whose name I can no longer remember) were the only ones among the Goueng-Zu Splorchers' ranks to not be based directly on anyone I knew in real life.

From what I remember of the plan I had for the game, Joguo was going to be playable temporarily in a part of the game where Emperor Zheewguu decided to attack the Goueng-Zu Splorchers directly, fighting the Emperor on his own to hold him off while the others escaped.  This early version of Joguo would end up dying after his first moment in the spotlight, sacrificing himself to keep Zheewguu from getting to the others.

So... yeah, originally "Goueng-Zu" was not Joguo's last name, but rather the name of a team of splorchers he belonged to, which seemed to be named after the small island where their base of operations was located.  He also was very much not a main character, only playable for a brief segment before dying.  He also wasn't officially a ninja at this point, though some of his abilities sort of had a vaguely ninja-like theme -- he had access to darkness magic and some martial-arts-like physical attacks, could summon Spuduf that sort of matched a ninja stealth/tools theme such as the Shadow, Bomb, and Net Spuduf, and so on.

I'm not entirely sure how I came up with the name "Joguo" originally.  I notice that it has the same sort of sound to it as some Nummorrian names, particularly those I came up with in this time period -- names like Tanduo and Teyguo, for example -- and I did tend to give a lot of characters I made up back then vaguely Khurbyish sounding names even if they were totally unconnected to Nummorro or the First Nherbi, so I figure it was similarly just made up off the top of my head.

"Goueng-Zu," on the other hand, I actually do remember a specific origin for.  I remember back around the time I was making this game, I was in the basement of a particular church in Clifton Forge at least once a week for Boy Scout meetings, and on one wall of this basement was a huge map that had a lot of locations in China clearly marked (it probably did the same for other countries, but China was right near a spot in the room I often ended up standing on sitting near for some reason.)  I'm pretty sure "Goueng-Zu" started out as a modified version of "Guangzhou," the name of a city that appeared prominently on that map.

2004

After Spuduf Splorchers, Joguo didn't show up again for a while.  He was not planned to appear in the 2003 Fnrrf Ygm Schnish game, and didn't show up at all in the Crappy World comics I was drawing around that time either.

Looking back, it's almost kind of odd that he wasn't reused, considering that Bob (the guy with the wide eyes and brown clothes in the image above), the other Goueng-Zu Splorchers (except for the robot), and the unnamed armored girl all made appearances in Crappy World at some point, in one form or another.  Of course, the Crappy World cast was pretty huge already, and didn't really focus that much on the "regular human" characters (revolving more around the Question Marks and Master Fartbean earlier on, and then shifting toward the Damuru-J/Damuru-F/Rupoo storyline), so even if he had appeared he likely wouldn't get to do a whole lot.

Three years passed, and in the summer of 2004 I started working on another game, this time using RPG Maker 2003.  This game ended up being titled Uggy Barfoo, after a nonsense phrase that my younger sibling Jules said while we were goofing off.  I've always been kinda terrible at coming up with titles for things, so I pretty much just threw those nonsense words on the title screen and then came up with a meaning for them much later.

An in-battle screenshot from Uggy Barfoo including Joguo.

Joguo was the second playable character in Uggy Barfoo, randomly joining Enduo (now known as Eddie -- 2004 was a time when I wasn't using the same first or last names of any characters based on real people, including myself!) in order to investigate a meteorite impact to the south of the town of Nifclont where they both live.  This was the first game where his last name was given as "Goueng-Zu" rather than not being mentioned one way or another.

Joguo in Uggy Barfoo was... pretty generic and vaguely defined, just like in Spuduf Splorchers.  In other words, he still wasn't a ninja yet (he didn't even get access to the Ninja class using the game's Orbs which served as a Final Fantasy 5-ish class-change system!), and basically had no particular role besides "random guy in town who joins you early on."  This game was the first to give him the dark blue hair that he's become known for, and also influenced his later designs -- though he's never looked exactly like the edited RPG Maker 2003 default thief sprite that he borrowed an outfit from here, he has kept pretty close to a green-and-blue (and sometimes a bit of white) color scheme in pretty much every appearance since.

Funnily enough, it does seem like his strong points stat-wise have stayed pretty consistent from this game onward -- he's tied with Enduo for the highest base Defense stat out of all the main characters, and he's the second-fastest character.  So I guess Uggy Barfoo's generic Joguo did have some lasting contributions after all.  Unfortunately, in every other area he's either tied for weakest or second-weakest.  On top of that, he had no special techniques in his normal state, only a few super moves that could be used with specific weapon types (just like everyone else in the game had)... so unlike some characters like Robert there was pretty much no reason to ever not change his class to something other than the default using his Blue Orb.

Joguo as a Swordfighter, Gunner, Warrior, and Wizard (the Trainer class didn't get a unique sprite.)

Speaking of his Orb, he had access to the classes Trainer (basically a low grade summoner, based on Pokémon Trainers), Swordmaster, Gunner, Warrior (the game's heavy-armor "fighter" type class), and Wizard (which gave him access to light, darkness, and water magic -- similar to his setup from Spuduf Splorchers but trading the wind magic he used there for water instead.)

There's not a whole lot else to say about the version of Joguo in Uggy Barfoo.  He kinda just fills up a space in the party, never really being the strongest in any particular area, and usually being the first to get swapped out for one of the optional characters once you start to gain access to them.  Even the one part of the game where he's supposed to be the main character ended up revolving more around someone else, the mysterious Anrijue.  Or at least, it would have if I had ever finished it.

2006

After I had pretty much given up on finishing Uggy Barfoo after getting stuck in a rut partway through the game's second half (what was it with early-2000s-era me insisting on games having a "second half" introducing new enemies out of nowhere, anyway?), I ended up starting on another OHRRPGCE project for the first time in a while.  This was the second attempt at a game titled Fnrrf Ygm Schnish, following the 2003 one that never really went anywhere.

The 2006 Fnrrf Ygm Schnish did at least get to a point where the early parts of the game were... somewhat playable, albeit horribly incomplete since it was only the intro sequence that took place at Alleghany High School and even that wasn't finished -- mostly due to the school maps being very incomplete, with hardly any rooms accessible.  Since only the intro was even partially finished, this game ended up being just like Spuduf Splorchers for poor ol' Joguo -- his sprites and stats were programmed into the game, but he never actually appeared.

Joguo's battle sprites from the 2006 Fnrrf Ygm Schnish game.

Joguo's design in this game seems to be a blend of the previous two -- his hair is blue like the Uggy Barfoo version but with the super short style he had in Spuduf Splorchers, and his clothes have the white/green/blue color scheme of the Uggy Barfoo version but with the original's long blue pants.

In terms of his abilities, this Joguo is definitely closer to the Uggy Barfoo version.  He does finally have a few special moves, but they're nothing too flashy -- he can do various fairly ordinary things like dodge enemy attacks, steal items, trip enemies to stun them briefly, or counterattack.  Stat-wise, he still specializes in Defense and Speed, having the third-highest out of the game's oversized cast in both categories.  His other stats are a bit better this time around, though -- his Attack is fourth-highest out of the main cast, his HP is only third-lowest rather than being near the bottom, and even his lower stats aren't that far behind the other characters.

This game establishes knives as his weapon of choice, with some of his arsenal including familiar items like the Steak Knife, Chef's Knife, and Poison Knife.  His strongest weapons are the "Ninja Knife" (its sprite resembles a kunai) and the hilariously named Murderiffic Knife (which deals extra damage against humanoid enemies, in addition to just plain being stronger than his other weapons.)  None of his other equipment is really worth a mention, since pretty much every character had the same armor in this game rather than having their own specialized gear.

I honestly can't remember what Joguo's role would've been in this game or when he would've been introduced, so I'm guessing it would've been a similar situation to in Uggy Barfoo -- generic guy who happens to be around when something happens, so he joins the party "just because."

Sheesh.  Joguo was kind of boring in these old games! He's come a long way since then.

2008-2012

2008 was the year that I originally started working on Fnrrf Ygm Schnish: Alleghany Hell School, though due to several discouragements and distractions (two of the major distractions being spending a bunch of time working on other games like Okédoké and Puckamon) it wouldn't be until much later that I actually released a demo of that game to the public.

This was the game where Joguo finally started to get some actual character development, backstory, and connections to the world that the game takes place in -- rather than just being some random bystander who basically just gets roped into everything by virtue of being in the right place at the right time and just kind of inexplicably manages to keep up (sort of) with the other characters despite not having any superhuman abilities as far as anyone ever mentioned.  In Alleghany Hell School, Joguo being able to put up a fight actually makes sense -- he even mentions early on that he's had ninja training, and demonstrates the ability to jump down pits roughly 20-30 feet deep and land flat on his feet without being the slightest bit inconvenienced by the fall.  He's not just some random guy who picks up a knife and starts blindly stabbing at whatever giant bugs or monsters get too close, he's the heir to the leadership of the ancient Goueng-Zu Ninja Clan, trained in ninjutsu since he was a little kid... even if he has slacked off in his training a little bit during the high school years (and thus doesn't start out way ahead of some of the other characters.)

Joguo's FYS:AHS sprites -- 2008 original, 2010 upgrade, and final.

It was in this game that his design pretty much settled into its current form -- slightly scruffy blue hair, light blue-green shirt, dark blue pants, brown shoes (though they briefly turned into white tennis-shoes when I redid the sprites in 2010... oops!), and a green scarf that flutters in the wind behind him even when there... isn't any wind behind him.  Secret ninja technique, probably.

His abilities in this game were similar to the version from the 2006 Fnrrf Ygm Schnish, except now he was fully ninja-themed.  Rather than just having steal, dodge, and trip attacks he also performed flying jump-kicks, threw shuriken, and could use sealing ninjutsu to prevent certain enemies from using their special attacks.  His weapons include both knives and swords, and his lineup of protective equipment includes a variety of scarves on top of the standard jackets, bulletproof vests, and ninja suits you would expect.  The "Shiznit" stat (which basically functions like a Luck stat) introduced in this game lets him keep up with the other characters pretty well, giving him a randomized chance to get extra hits with most of his attacks -- so instead of just throwing one shuriken at an enemy, he might fling out two or even three in rapid succession.  After landing a jump-kick, he might bounce off and land a second one right away.  And so on.  Despite having relatively weak attacks (at least compared to some of the stuff characters like Bridget and Damuru-J become capable of later), the high chance of getting multiple hits makes him feel pretty effective throughout the game, especially if he can keep finding stronger weapons.

In terms of his game stats, he's basically just an upgraded version of what he's had in the previous two games.  He has the best Defense out of any playable character, this time by a pretty decent margin considering that he can also equip most of the best armor in the game.  He's still one of the faster characters, only falling short of Bridget and an optional character who hasn't appeared yet in the current demo version.  His Shiznit is also second-highest, once again behind Bridget -- but Joguo probably benefits more from it, since nearly all of his attacks can get additional hits as his Shiznit gets to a high enough level.  He only ranks last place in one stat this time around -- his Wisdom suffered a bit when he slacked off in his ninja training to pursue sports and girls during the earlier high school years, of course. 😅

2013 - 2021

Joguo's most recent appearance as of 2021 is still the (as of yet unfinished) Fnrrf Ygm Schnish: Alleghany Hell School... which I will hopefully be working on more at some point this year, now that my depression/anxiety issues have calmed down a bit and I might eventually be able to dredge up the motivation to work on some of my game projects again.  But even though he hasn't had a "new" game appearance, I've continued to develop his backstory and come up with more and more information revolving around his family and their history.

As of 2017, Joguo became the only character to have a family tree that's fleshed out enough that it covers three whole generations, then skipping back a few generations to focus on Joguo's great-great-great-great-great-grandparents.

Joguo's family tree going back to his great-great-great-great-great-grandparents, drawn in 2017.

During these years, I came up with the whole backstory of the Goueng-Zu clan, explaining why the heck there's a family of freaking ninjas living in middle-of-nowhere Virginia all the way over in the United States, far outside of what you'd usually think of as the ninja's natural habitat.  It all started with a guy named Gaitou Goeung-Zu...

...Who happens to be Joguo's great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.

Red scarf, not green. Is that relevant? ...Maybe someday.

In the year 1798, Gaitou married a young girl whose name has now been lost to history, perhaps only recorded in the personal archives of the Goueng-Zu family and not spoken of outside their walls.  One year later, the two of them had a child -- who would turn out to be their only son.  A year after that, Gaitou's wife stumbles upon an unusual stone while exploring some remote region of Japan... an unusual stone which turns out to be a powerful artifact known as the Uggy Barfoo.  She picks it up, planning to take it home to Gaitou as a present, as people tend to do when they find neat rocks out in the woods.

Though depleted of most of its power, the lingering traces within the Barfoo are still more than enough to lead to disaster.  Something within the stone clashed with an unknown power within the girl who found it, and this clash within her caused a horrible transformation.  She was rapidly driven to insanity, unleashing strange powers that had previously laid dormant within her and rampaging across the country.

The unfortunate young wife, now only known as "the demon Arkusazzo" (presumably a name bestowed upon her by surviving villagers who managed to escape her rampage, or perhaps one she chose for herself after the clash with the Barfoo's power caused her to snap), was now barely recognizable as her former self.  She was almost entirely silent, her eyes went blank and glowed red, her nails grew to claw-like length, her hair moved on its own and sometimes was known to suddenly extend to unnatural lengths and strangle those unfortunate enough to get too close.  Three years pass before members of the Goueng-Zu Clan are finally able to track her down, and after a prolonged battle, it is Gaitou Goueng-Zu himself who stops her rampage -- by sealing her away within a tree using the Goueng-Zu Clan's most powerful sealing ninjutsu.

Despite being the ones responsible for stopping Arkusazzo's rampage, the Goueng-Zu Clan are the ones who are blamed for all the destruction.  It was, after all, one of their members (albeit one who joined the clan by marriage rather than by birth) who was responsible.  They are shunned, and several years later they end up leaving Japan, uprooting the Goueng-Zu Clan (along with literally uprooting the tree where Arkusazzo was sealed so they could take it with them) and eventually settling down far across the sea in a mountainous area which would eventually become the town of Clifton Forge, Virginia.  From this point onward, the Goueng-Zu Clan began a new life, secretly continuing their ninja training (because Arkusazzo would eventually break free of the seal placed upon her, there must always be a Goueng-Zu ninja capable of returning her to her prison within the tree) and mostly keeping to themselves.

Always watching the tree for any signs of the demon's escape, the Goueng-Zu Clan were responsible for putting a stop to her escape in 1862 -- making sure the Civil War was the most significant historical event of the 1860s rather than being a mere footnote in the "those years when an ancient Japanese demon laid waste to the country" chapters of the history books.  Each time, it seemed that she escaped a bit more quickly and caused a bit more damage -- in 1908, she nearly killed several members of the Goueng-Zu Clan but was stopped and sealed away just in time for all those involved to be saved.  In 1966, she killed Moriko Hosuda in a surprise attack and wore her husband Akinosuke to exhaustion in a prolonged battle afterward -- he would pass away as a result of his injuries not long after she was sealed.  The elderly Bairei Goueng-Zu was forced to step in to perform the sealing ninjutsu, as his son Ran was not yet ready, but the strain of the technique caused his life to give out in the process.  This led to the surviving children of the Hosuda branch of the family distancing themselves from the ways of the ninja, moving away from Clifton Forge and pursuing a "normal" life somewhere in the midwest instead.  Akinosuke's signature green scarf and collection of ninja tools were left with the clan in Clifton Forge, where they would eventually be passed down to Joguo.

Arkusazzo's most recent escape from her tree prison was in 1993.  Before she was sealed away again, she killed Joguo's older sister Kiyoko, who had attempted to confront and seal the demon on her own but was not yet fully prepared for such a task.

2021 and Onward

Around 2023, I decided to drop the second "G" from Joguo's surname -- you may have noticed that I've edited the opening paragraph to use the spelling "Gouen-Zu," despite using the old spelling throughout the rest of the post.  This was done to make the name sound closer to something that could be an actual Japanese name (since Joguo's ancestors are supposed to be a ninja clan who came from Japan); the "-ng" sound is something you see in several other Asian languages, but not in Japanese.

Speaking of making the name feel more like an actual Japanese name... I also poked around with figuring out how to write Joguo's name in Japanese, both in hiragana and kanji.

じょぐお (JIo-GU-O)
ごーえんず (GOu-E-N-ZU)

I wrote down multiple ways of writing both Joguo and Gouen-Zu in kanji, but I don't think I ever decided for sure how I was going to write Joguo's first name -- only the "Gouen-Zu" part.

砂椽鶴

The kanji used to make "gou-en-zu" here mean "sand," "porch," and "crane/stork."  Considering how surnames very often relate to something in the distant past of the family (like how a lot of English surnames are stuff like "Baker," "Smith," and "Cooper" which were the jobs done by one of their ancestors centuries ago when surnames first started developing in that language), the ancestral home of the Gouen-Zu clan would probably be someplace with sandy ground and near a river where large water birds like cranes or storks might be sighted, and the home of the first to have the name "Gouen-Zu" probably had a porch that stood out from the houses around it.  Or maybe there was a crane that would regularly land on or near their porch? Something like that.

I'm not sure when, or if, I'll have a chance to actually include all of the ninja clan backstory stuff in one of my games.  It's at least vaguely referred to here and there in Alleghany Hell School, but since the game takes place almost entirely inside the school and the plot doesn't revolve around the Gouen-Zu Clan's history at all, there's not a lot of room to fit this stuff in.

Maybe someday Joguo will get a game, or story, or something that focuses on him for once.  I don't know when or how at this point, but it's definitely possible, especially since I've already put so much thought into his family's history and everything that comes with that.  It's kinda crazy that Joguo now has more extra stuff revolving around him than most of the FYS:AHS cast, considering the bland, generic secondary character that he used to be back in the early 2000s!  At this point he's probably the one character who is most likely to get his own spinoff/sequel game in the future, considering that I already had the idea that after the end of the FYS:AHS story he'd start devoting more of his time to ninja training and end up traveling to the homeland of his ancestors back in Japan.  Lately I've had the thought that maybe he'd travel to various harsh environments as part of his training, with one of them being the Australian outback (hot, dry, remote wilderness, everything is poisonous) in a mirror of how Joguo's solo portion of Uggy Barfoo had him land on the Australia-equivalent "Kangaroo Island."

Khurbyish Lesson #5 -- Verbs!

This one's been a long time coming, especially considering that the whole "how verbs work" thing is a pretty vital part of making a language! Now you'll finally be able to actually use the various verbs listed on the Khurbyish Dictionary page, rather than just looking at them and saying "hey, these are neat, too bad I have no idea how to conjugate them." XD

Present Tenses
To conjugate a verb into the simple present tense in Khurbyish, just add the suffix "-mu" (M - OO) to the end of the root word.  For example, if you wanted to say "I agree" in Khurbyish, you would say "ij menuwumu" rather than just using the verb menuwu (meaning "to agree") on its own.

Something like the continuous present tense in English can be formed when the word yu comes before a Khurbyish verb in the present tense.  For example, if you wanted to say "I'm thinking," you would say "ij yu menomu" -- adding "-mu" to the end of meno (to think), and yu in front of it.

Past Tenses
Conjugating a verb into a simple past tense in Khurbyish is similar to the simple present -- just add the suffix "-ru" (R - OO) to the end of the root verb. For example, to say "I drank three beers," you would say "ij gluhru ka vergluhn," adding "-ru" to the end of gluh (to drink.)

A continuous past tense is also possible, and is formed just like the continuous present tense but with "-ru" rather than "-mu."  So to say "I was drinking three beers every day," you would say "ij yu gluhru ka vergluhn ko'ohr."

Khurbyish also has a different past tense for events that took place further in the past, especially when referring to things that were different in the past compared to the present.  If used for things that are relatively recent (for example, something that happened last week) it carries very strong implications that what you said is no longer the case in the present, whereas if it's used to describe something that happened decades or centuries ago the implication leans more toward just emphasizing how long ago it was.  To conjugate a verb into this form, you add "-roi" (R - OI) to the end of the word.  Adding yu before the verb has the same effect as with the standard past tense.  So if you wanted to tell someone that you used to drink three beers a day at some point in the past (or that you used to drink three beers a day until your doctor told you to cut back last week!), you would say "ij yu gluhroi ka vergluhn ko'ohr."

Future Tense
Much like the present and past, Khurbyish has a simple future tense formed by adding a suffix to the end of the root verb -- in this case "-zu" (Z - OO.)  So if, for example, you wanted to say "I'll fly away" in Khurbyish, you would say "ij fasuzu asor," adding "-zu" to the end of fasu meaning "to fly."

That's all for now, but check back in the future -- though the basic stuff that I knew I absolutely needed for the language to work is in place now, I'll probably expand upon Khurbyish verbs and conjugation more at some point, and when I do that information will find its way here.

The development of Nummorrian religion

...as in "how I came up with it," not as in "how it developed on Nummorro over thousands/millions of years' time."  That would be an entirely different post, and not one that I've come up with enough history to actually write at this particular moment. XD

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Now on to the actual thing I wanted to write some stuff about... I had an odd realization while I was driving home from work tonight.  I remembered that way back in the elementary school days when I was first coming up with the planet Nummorro and the various species that populate it, I never actually came up with any Nummorrian religions -- even the "evil cult" style religions, like Rupoo cultists and such, were completely absent back then (even though I'd actually made up the Rupoo itself already, as of 5th grade... though originally it only existed as a placeholder for Queen Bridget due to the "ban" on Burijeoo -- still known as "Bridgetoids" at the time -- that was in place among some of my teachers during those later elementary school years. XD)  When asked about what religion the Numnums followed by one of the older kids in Boy Scouts (one of the not-awful older kids, to be specific), I basically just said that I didn't think they had one, and for a loooong time that was pretty much the beginning and end of my thoughts on the subject.

The realization? The reason why I never came up with Nummorrian religions back then was basically this: Back then, I was still a Christian.

...No, don't worry, this isn't going to turn into some post bashing on Christians, keep reading!  Anyway -- because I still believed there was one "true" religion (and all others must be false to some extent) back then, I had two options with Nummorro's religious beliefs.  Option #1 was making the Numnums and K'hyurbhis and Blurbys and so forth Christians too, and Option #2 was giving them their own "other" beliefs that would be, in my 10-year-old mind, incorrect.

Option #2 was out right away; I liked the Numnums and such too much to basically just send them all to Hell without so much as a second chance (because yeah, I actually believed in Hell back then, though since I hadn't really met many non-Christian people at the time I never really thought much about how messed-up it would be for people to end up punished eternally for just... not following a certain religion, not even actually doing anything legitimately bad.)

And even as a 10-year-old (and a Christian who had never even really questioned the beliefs he'd grown up with), some part of me realized that it would be really, really silly for a whole planet full of aliens with little-to-no connection to Earth to believe in an Earth religion.  Or more specifically, a human religion.  Remember that this was back in the day when Nummorro was populated by flying butts, Yuckow Foods were actually animated piles of cafeteria food, and Numnums had no legs -- but even to 10-year-old me, the idea of Nummorrian species following a human religion that they, logically, should have never heard of was sillier than all of those combined!  So that, of course, meant that both of my previously-mentioned options were crossed off the list.

So, as has become a recurring pattern for me, I went with an option that wasn't initially on the "list" at all: Option #3, not giving them a religion/belief system at all.  That avoided the silliness of the "Christian Numnums" option while also avoiding the awfulness of the "they have their own non-Christian beliefs and thus go to Hell" option.  By not following a "wrong" path (simply by virtue of not choosing any "path" at all, as far as religion goes), they would be spared from Hell.

...yeah, you can probably tell by now that I hadn't really thought about religion much at all when I was in elementary school (when I started thinking about it, of course, I rapidly started drifting away from first Christianity and shortly afterward the whole idea of organized religion), but really... who did think about that kind of thing much in elementary school? And I mean really think about it, not just asking one random question every now and then ("why aren't there dinosaurs in the Bible?") but unquestioningly accepting the answer your [insert religious leader's rank here] gave no matter how flimsy it was.

But yeah... that's most likely why Nummorro never had any religions during my elementary school years.  Things started to change beginning in high school, though.  In my crappy old RPG Maker 2000 game, The Story of Supernum, the Umpupu K'hyurbhi tribe made an appearance -- and rather than just the black-cloak-wearing, vaguely creepy guys they were originally, they had been converted into cultists who worshiped Dark Blubber.  Dark Blubber, by the way, was this awful character I came up with in the mid/late elementary school years whose whole point was basically to be the most absurdly overpowered recurring villain possible (I compared him to Dragonball Z characters during the high school years... putting him at a power level of one hundred billion during a time when I believed that nobody in all of DBZ ever got above one billion.)  Later on, when I finally ditched Dark Blubber, I switched them over to being Rupoo cultists instead.  But still, they were the first religious group to appear in any of my Nummorro-based things.

Various other "Cthulhu Cult style" groups followed the Umpupu, and eventually in the late 2000s I finally came up with the first few "good guy" religious groups.  Interestingly enough, this probably started during the time when I was at my most hostile toward real-life organized religion (2006-2007 or so.)  This was the time when I first began to come up with the starting ideas for the Blurby religion, which has continued to grow from there -- I could probably write a whole post on here about just that, and I probably will at some point.  I took the earlier (elementary school era) idea of Blurbys following a set of rules known as "the Tahttu" -- I think I may have spelled it "Tattu" early on and only later added the H? -- and expanded on that, adding a system of borderline ancestor-worship where they would build temples devoted to "Great Blurbys" who had accomplished something significant during their lifetime.  A little later still, I added the figure of Zaj Tanduo, the greatest of the Great Blurbys who had an even higher title (that being the "Zaj" in his name, which is of course not actually part of his name but just a title -- kinda like the "Christ" part when people say "Jesus Christ.")  By the time I started working on The K'hyurbhi Lands in late 2010 or early 2011, I had begun to expand even further and even came up with random details like what the inside of a Blurby temple was like (not heavily decorated at all unlike most human religions' temples or equivalent -- simple stone walls, dirt floors, just open holes with no windowpanes, some tables and a kitchen for feeding hungry travelers, maybe a few relevant items to the Great Blurby it's honoring hung on the walls, a single statue and usually just a small one.)

Around the same time, I began to sloooowly come up with details of an ancient K'hyurbhi religion, no longer believed in by the vast majority of the K'hyurbhis but still sort of influencing the Khurbyish language and other such things.  Kinda like how the Greek and Roman gods are to English -- we have days, months, and other words named after them, and some of their stories are still pretty well known, but few people actually believe they exist anymore or follow the religion that was built up around them back in the day.  After a while I even came up with the idea of one group that still does follow the old K'hyurbhi religion... sort of -- the Hamhu, being racist as all hell and believing K'hyurbhis are some sort of "superior beings," have twisted things around to support their view of things.  I've gradually built up more and more details on the K'hyurbhis' old religion (both original and Hamhu versions), but not quite enough to fill a "this is actually complete" post on here for it just yet I don't think.  Still, I'm getting there.  The most recent development was that some Numnums probably followed the old K'hyurbhi religion in the past -- probably not many Blurbys as they have their own religion that probably goes back at least as far as the K'hyurbhis' one (if not longer.)  But then again, considering the way the Blurby religion is as far as the God/gods question goes (it doesn't claim to have the answer to that question but leaves the possibility open), it's entirely possible that some oddball Blurby might follow the Blurbian religion but also believe in the K'hyurbhi gods (or some of them, at least) at the same time.

The Realm of Heck

This is one I've been planning on writing up for a while now, as the ideas have been bouncing around in my head ever since... probably around the time I was writing my Señor Death comic (spring of 2013!) and have been developing more and more as time has passed since then.  So without further ado...

Welcome to Heck!

Yep -- that does indeed say Heck.  The Realm of Heck is one of many "sub-nherbis" connected to one or more of the 40 Nherbis; whereas a full nherbi is roughly in the same size range as what humans would call a "universe" (in fact, "the universe" as humans know it is actually the 40th Nherbi), a sub-nherbi can be many, many times smaller.  Heck is quite large for a sub-nherbi, being at least as vast as a decent-sized planet, and for good reason: the Realm of Heck is the place where those assigned to keep track of the afterlife's records dwell, and those records are not limited to a single planet, solar system, galaxy, or even a single nherbi.  The "accountants of the afterlife" who live and work in Heck are responsible for keeping track of the living and dead across all of existence, a job which requires billions of workers focusing on their tasks day by day.

Heck's entire expanse takes the form of a vast, rocky underground cavern, lit mostly by mysterious orbs of colored light placed in the populated areas.  These orbs are likely magical in nature, perhaps created by the Heckspawn of centuries upon centuries ago in order to make the place easier to traverse -- though Heckspawn do tend to have good night-vision, not all of them are equally gifted in this area and some probably would have difficulty getting around if not for these lights.  In areas outside of population centers, light sources include bioluminescent fungi growing on various surfaces and the occasional eruptions of the energy known as "Heckfire," which looks much like normal fire but tends to have skull-shaped patterns flickering about within its flames and has a tendency to ignore the laws of physics from time to time, sometimes being capable of burning underwater or in the absence of any obvious fuel source.  Heck has no native plantlife, but plenty of fungal lifeforms have taken root here, most notably the enormous spiky purple structures that grow up from the ground as Heck's equivalent to trees (seen in the background of the picture above.)

Populated areas in Heck consist of massive rock formations that have been hollowed out to form Heck's equivalent of high-rise apartment buildings and offices.  These buildings are remarkably similar to human society's equivalents, though they are generally cleaner and less prone to falling apart (though this may be at least partially the result of how much magic is being used in and around them, reinforcing the structures as well as cleaning and repairing them.)  Almost everything in Heck is carved out of the stone that makes up much of its landscape, sometimes even all the way up to the furniture in a building -- there's no worry of tables or cabinets being knocked over or moved out of place, as they're literally growing up out of the floor or permanently fused to the wall!  Some other materials (such as various metals and glass) are sometimes used, though wood is incredibly rare, partly due to the absence of trees of any sort in Heck and partly due to the occasional flares of Heckfire that would be likely to destroy wooden furniture.  Oddly enough, paper is abundant despite the lack of trees (or any other plantlife) with which to make it; it's possible that Heck's "paper" is in fact made from one of the various fungus species growing there, or even created magically in some way from other materials.

Heckspawn

The native population of Heck, commonly known as "Heckspawn," are an unusual sort of beings who can take many forms.  It's unclear whether they are ordinary living beings or something else, hovering in an odd border region between spirit and mortal, or between living and dead (or that which was never technically "alive" in the first place.)  By human standards they live extremely long lives, though the exact lifespan of a Heckspawn is unknown.  Though their exact appearance will vary wildly from one region of Heck to another, Heckspawn can generally be categorized as one of three basic "types"...

...as shown in the picture above, which shows a small group of Heckspawn headed off to (or from) an ordinary day at work.  The three types are as follows:

Skeleton-type Heckspawn:  Probably the most widely known among those few humans who are aware of their existence at all, skeleton-type Heckspawn resemble the skeletons of various living beings, though they were born as skeleton-type Heckspawn -- rather than having any actual connection to the living creature whose skeleton they resemble -- regardless of how they may appear.  Males and females are almost identical, and it's possible that there is in fact no physical difference between them at all.  In regions of Heck tasked with monitoring planets where humanoid species live, these Heckspawn usually resemble humanoid skeletons (fairly short ones, in most cases, with few ever reaching heights of more than 5'08"); in areas watching over a very different world with little or no humanoid life, they will take a different form.  Some say that tales of the god Gatadz in ancient K'hyurbhi mythology were actually inspired by the sight of a Heckspawn -- perhaps even a Grim Reaper -- who looked like a skeletal Numnum.  Quite a few Grim Reapers from around the world have been skeleton-types, a fact which has given rise to the popular image of the Grim Reaper in human culture as a scythe-wielding skeleton wearing a hooded cloak.

Devil-type Heckspawn: This variety of Heckspawn is fairly consistent from one region of Heck to the next, taking on forms that are (usually) short and squat with red skin, horns, and often wings and pointed ears and tails.  In some regions, hooved feet are common; in others they may have different sorts of feet instead, or more than just two feet (and legs), or even no feet at all -- a Heckspawn with a snake-like lower body or even just a wisp of semi-solid energy (similar to the "tail" of a genie) in place of feet has been reported from time to time.  Unlike the other two varieties of Heckspawn, devil-types have fairly distinct visual differences between their males and females, including facial features, body shapes (particularly the presence or absence of breasts), and the size of their wings -- males usually, but not always, tend to have tiny vestigial wings that can only be used for brief fluttering without the aid of magic, while females often have a full-sized pair of wings that is fully capable of propelling them off the ground if needed.  Devil-type Heckspawn seem to enjoy management positions more than day-to-day research or accounting, and as a result few of them ever venture outside of Heck and even fewer end up becoming Grim Reapers -- going out into the field every day and actually doing work (and maybe even having to fight, on rare occasions!) would seem exhausting to most of their kind.

Shadow-type Heckspawn: The most mysterious of the three varieties of Heckspawn, shadow-types have entirely black bodies which are not entirely physically "there" at all times, allowing them to do a variety of strange things that other Heckspawn cannot -- flattening themselves down into a shadow on the floor and "oozing" under doors, for example.  The only constants in their appearance are their glowing eyes and clawed hands (and perhaps feet, if they even have feet), with their body shape varying wildly from one region of Heck to another.  They most often wear hooded cloaks as seen above, at least when they take a humanoid (or even remotely close) form, though it's not unheard of to see them wearing something else or even nothing at all.  As with skeleton-type Heckspawn, it is virtually impossible to tell males and females apart and it's possible that they do not even have two separate sexes the way that humans would understand them.  Though not as commonly as with skeleton-types, the shadow-types do produce a steady supply of Grim Reapers from among their ranks.

Heckspawn of all three types are naturally inclined toward magic use and have developed their own style of magic that has similarities to both that of the Burijeoo (focusing on elemental-manipulation spells) and the magic used by human wizards (focusing on utility spells that can come in handy in various situations.)  The Heckspawn style seems to take most of the strengths of both of the two styles while leaving the weaknesses behind -- unlike human magic the use of "magic words" or long, drawn-out rituals is all but unheard of, and unlike Burijeoo magic there is no need to focus one's attention on just one or two elemental categories in order to avoid spreading one's power too thin.  On average, shadow-types are the most magically-inclined of the three types while devil-types are the weakest; in terms of physical strength this hierarchy is reversed, with shadow-types having very little and devil-types having the most despite their shorter stature.  None of the three types is especially notable when it comes to strength, however, with even most of the tougher devil-types falling far short of the level that creatures like the Numnums or Blurbys are on.

 Grim Reapers

The most notable Heckspawn are the Grim Reapers, who are responsible for venturing out into the 40 Nherbis and taking records of the living and the dead firsthand rather than serving the rather unglamorous (but also less dangerous) duties of "the accountants of the afterlife" back home in Heck.  It is the Grim Reapers who provide Heck with its data on the outside world(s), sensing the presences of living and dead beings and sending back reports on the current status of each individual as each day goes by.  Each Grim Reaper covers a certain area, sometimes as tiny as a single small country and sometimes as vast as an entire planet, or even an entire solar system.  On Earth most Grim Reapers cover one or several countries (depending on land area and population), while rumor has it that Nummorro has been watched over by a single Grim Reaper at most points in history due to the longer lifespans, little or no overpopulation, and less frequent warfare of its inhabitants.  It's likely that Earth, with its dozens of Grim Reapers, is the exception rather than the rule -- most planets populated by intelligent lifeforms do not suffer from such rampant overpopulation and clashes between (and among) its species, after all.

The process of becoming a Grim Reaper is a long one, and one that includes an extensive period of training both in the use of magic and in learning the ways that life and death are supposed to operate when nothing is skewing the balance to one side or the other.  Though Heckspawn do have a bit of a head start in this training, not all Grim Reapers are Heckspawn -- over the years some members of other species (such as humans) have occasionally managed to find their way into a Grim Reaper position one way or another as well.  While most of a Grim Reaper's duties include relatively peaceful tasks such as keeping records of the living and the dead (and reporting those records back to Heck) and giving the souls of the deceased advice on how to properly move on if they happen to find themselves "stuck" in the world of the living after death, from time to time a Grim Reaper may have to take a more active role in making sure the cycle continues without delay or interruption.  One situation that calls for drastic measures is the case of souls being bound to the living realm by some outside force (as opposed to being held back by the weight of their own past deeds and distorted mindsets that they have not yet repented for); this was the reason that Señor Death, the Grim Reaper of Mexico, ventured far north of his usual region in 2008.  Another situation where a Grim Reaper is authorized to become personally involved is the case of an individual extending their lifespan through unnatural means, such as by siphoning the life out of other beings and transferring it to themselves or by having power and extended life granted to them by various evil beings such as Lords of Moronism or even the Rupoo.  In these cases a Grim Reaper is authorized to end their target's life by force, though this option will only be taken if it becomes clear that the target cannot be reasoned with.  Some individuals from history and legend who ended up living unusually long lives may in fact have been magic-users who had managed to make an especially convincing case to the Grim Reaper assigned to limit their lives to a reasonable length, particularly in cases where their method caused little or no harm to others in the process.

The position of Grim Reaper comes with great power, most notably much more powerful magic than that of an ordinary Heckspawn -- though most of this power is the result of intense training and study (and experience in the field over the decades or centuries they have held their job) rather than simply being granted to the individual upon reaching the position.  Powers that are granted to a Grim Reaper as part of their job description include being able to sense the presence and status of people native to their assigned region, being able to peer into the memories of those they watch over in order to better explain to them what past mistakes might be holding them back from the afterlife now, and even near-instantaneous teleportation between any two points within their region.  This teleportation technique comes with a shadowy aura and a fwuum sound, causing the user to sink into a pool of shadowy energy on the ground and reappear from a similar shadow elsewhere.  Shadow-type Heckspawn have been known to use a lesser variation of this as a normal magic spell, but only Grim Reapers are capable of transporting themselves hundreds or even thousands of miles this way.

Along with enhanced magic and various powers related to the job, all Grim Reapers are provided with at least one weapon known as a "Reaper Scythe," though these weapons are not necessarily scythes.  These weapons are generally infused with magic that makes them cause more damage to living beings, with the intent being to make the process of the Reaper claiming the lives of any who disrupt the cycle of life and death as quick and painless as possible.  The Reaper Scythes of each individual Grim Reaper have their own individual characteristics, and while some are passed down from one Reaper to the next over the centuries, others are shattered when a former Reaper retires or passes on and magically recreated by the incoming Reaper each time so that they will always take a form more fitting to their current owner.

The one disadvantage of the Grim Reaper is that, in order to encourage them attending to their duties and not wandering off and busying themselves with other things, they will begin to grow weaker and weaker every moment they spend outside of their assigned region.   For Reapers assigned to a very large area this is not a major problem, but Reapers on Earth could quite easily find themselves with depleted powers just for venturing a few dozen miles too far in one direction or another.  This limitation is not absolute, though with enough time even the mightiest and strongest-willed Reapers will begin to suffer from its effects -- when Señor Death traveled as far north as Alaska in order to free the captured Mexican souls held there to power a giant robot, for example, he was required to push himself beyond his usual limits just to keep up with the level of power displayed by his allies El Garbanzo, Señor Rialgo, and Schnee McBoobs.  At the beginning of their trip, when he left Mexico along with El Garbanzo and Señor Rialgo, he had been holding back a significant amount of his true power just to allow them to keep up with him.  As all Grim Reapers must return to Heck from time to time, this restriction does not apply to them within that realm -- only when they wander to other countries (or planets, or galaxies, or nherbis...) beyond their assigned jurisdiction within the mortal universe.  There is even an annual Grim Reaper convention held in Heck where all Grim Reapers who aren't currently too busy with their jobs are encouraged to return home and interact with their comrades; Señor Death was known to attend one such convention following the events of the year 2008, as did the Grim Reapers of southeast Asia and various other regions of Earth.

The Ancient K'hyurbhi Art of Kihlah

Here's another in the series of "FYS wiki posts, in blog form" -- except I'm pretty sure I'll probably end up going into even more detail here than I did on the old dead wiki's page on Kihlah!  Anyway, I randomly had the idea to write something like this recently after stumbling across a situation where I had to explain what Kihlah was to some friends; wasn't too hard to put into words, but it did make me think that maybe I should put all the details down somewhere.. like on here.  So here goes...

What is Kihlah, Anyway?

Kihlah is a word in the Khurbyish language that is used to describe both a form of energy innate to some species (I usually specify "Kihlah energy" when I'm talking about it in this sense, though just saying "Kihlah" also works) as well as the system of martial-arts-like techniques used for drawing out that power and making use of it in various ways.  Species with high levels of Kihlah energy seem to be most common in the First Nherbi, though some can occasionally be found in other nherbis as well; the K'hyurbhis of the planet Nummorro are perhaps the best-known Kihlah users, and K'hyurbhi-style Kihlah techniques are widely known across the rest of the First Nherbi and beyond due to their travels across space and establishment of small colonies on various other planets ages ago.

In species with a high level of natural Kihlah, it's sometimes possible for some of that energy to unconsciously surface in moments of anger or desperation even without any training; these uncontrolled bursts of Kihlah usually come in the form of temporarily enhanced strength or speed or (more rarely) chaotic blasts of energy.  Though these bursts of Kihlah energy may be powerful in their own right, they are almost always inferior to actual Kihlah techniques and have a tendency to wear out those who accidentally unleash them, due to the strain of channeling Kihlah energy through the body without actually knowing how.  Some non-intelligent lifeforms with abnormally high levels of Kihlah exist, and these creatures use Kihlah in much the same way -- lacking the intelligence to focus their massive stores of Kihlah into actual techniques, they lash out with bursts of destructive energy when threatened.  The gugudiun ("Googoo Eyes"), a small blobby invertebrate native to the K'hyurbhi Desert region of Nummorro, is one example of a species with this sort of uncontrolled Kihlah power.

The god of Kihlah in the ancient K'hyurbhi religion.

According to the ancient K'hyurbhi religion (which has fallen out of favor with most K'hyurbhis, with only the Hamhu tribe still practicing a modified form of it), Kihlah was created by a being named Zhingaru, described as essentially being the god of Kihlah and given an appearance resembling a Zertseo.  As the Zertseos are capable of using Kihlah and are a species that has existed for a very long time, it's possible that Zhingaru was based on an actual individual -- rather than the creator of Kihlah energy itself, he could have simply been an ancient Kihlah user who introduced some of his techniques to early K'hyurbhis who had not yet mastered them, with stories of him becoming more exaggerated with each generation until he eventually was considered a deity.  In the older versions of K'hyurbhi mythology, Zhingaru was said to have shared his power with many species; the more recent Hamhu version, of course, changes things around a bit to make things more K'hyurbhi-centric.  Hamhu tales claim that Zhingaru only gave the gift of Kihlah to the K'hyurbhis and that anyone else using Kihlah must have somehow stolen the power from a K'hyurbhi, or otherwise they must be using some sort of "false Kihlah" rather than the real thing.

Kihlah Techniques

Learning to control one's Kihlah power involves a great deal of concentration and (especially in the case of stronger techniques) a lot of endurance, as weaker beings are easily exhausted by the process of channeling Kihlah through the body.  Even among species with high natural levels of Kihlah like the K'hyurbhis, not every individual will immediately "get it" on their first try or even on their hundredth try; while some unusual individuals immediately take to Kihlah and become able to use various techniques in a matter of weeks or months, many K'hyurbhis train for years just to master the most basic degrees of Kihlah control.

The first thing that a would-be Kihlah user learns is awareness of their own Kihlah energy.  As Kihlah is usually buried deep within and does not surface easily, it's possible for someone to go through their entire life without ever being consciously aware that they even have the capacity for that kind of power.  Once one is aware of their capacity for Kihlah, drawing it out consciously becomes possible.  Once a Kihlah user becomes aware of their Kihlah to a point where they can focus in on its presence within them and begin to draw it toward the surface, techniques enhancing strength, speed, or durability become possible; layered on top of the K'hyurbhi species' natural toughness, these techniques make Kihlah users incredibly dangerous in combat even without the use of any of their flashier techniques -- what appears to be a mere punch may be charged with Kihlah, sometimes only adding to the force of the blow and other times causing a small explosion of Kihlah energy on impact (one of the few named techniques of this type, known as "Boosh.")  With enough practice, it's even possible for a Kihlah user to propel themselves through the air using small, directed bursts of Kihlah -- which makes it possible for Kihlah users to jump incredibly far, jump multiple times in midair without any solid object to kick off of, and even fly.  Some Kihlah users focus on these sorts of Kihlah-infusing techniques, going beyond just strengthening their own body by temporarily infusing Kihlah energy into their weapons as well.  This generally causes the weapon to glow with a white or yellowish (or sometimes red) light, and increases not only the weapon's effectiveness (making a sword or spear cut through things it might normally glance off of, for example) but its durability as well.  Some Kihlah-using weaponsmiths have even been known to infuse high levels of Kihlah into their weapons while they are being forged, a process which results in a weapon that is permanently charged with Kihlah energy, commonly known as a "Kihlah blade" regardless of whether the weapon itself is a sword, a knife, a spear, or something more unusual like a shicker.  Some of the most powerful weapons known on Nummorro are Kihlah blades, such as the Numkiller swords (infused with the attributes of a Kihlah technique that was specially designed for combat against Numnums) which are crafted by Kihlah Masters and given to certain high-ranking members of the Hoi K'hyurbhi tribe's army.  As the enhancements provided by Kihlah infusion are most effective with cutting or piercing weapons, it's very rare for something like a hammer to undergo this process.  Kihlah-infused armor is rare (if not entirely nonexistent) due to the difficulty of manipulating Kihlah in a way that can be used defensively once the Kihlah energy leaves the body, though some unorthodox Kihlah Masters in the past have been known to create shields which unleash blasts of Kihlah at attackers when struck.

From a 2014 painting --  Kherber drawing upon his Kihlah energy.
Also pictured, Kherber's name written in Khurbyish and a slashed Hoi banner.

The awareness of one's own Kihlah energy within them often leads to a similar awareness of the Kihlah energy in other beings.  With practice, this allows a Kihlah user to sense the presence of other Kihlah users and lingering Kihlah energy in the air where Kihlah users have been active recently, detect whether or not an object or creature has been infused with Kihlah energy, and even sense the presence of other powers besides Kihlah.  A skilled enough Kihlah user will even become able to sense the presence of ordinary individuals without any unusual powers at long distances, making it incredibly difficult to sneak up on them.

Once a Kihlah user is able to focus on their Kihlah energy within them and begin to draw it to the surface, it also becomes possible to project that energy outward.  By focusing Kihlah energy to one part of the body or another, sometimes even moving the energy around several times during the charging process, the form it takes when projected outward can be changed.  The most basic Kihlah technique, known as "Hihu," involves focusing one's Kihlah energy into one hand (the point of a K'hyurbhi's flipper-like hand; in other species, Hihu is sometimes used by focusing the energy into a single finger, while others use their whole hand) and then releasing it forward, which produces a beam of yellowish energy which can disintegrate materials which aren't strong enough to resist it, potentially punching holes in walls or weak opponents.  Hihu is such a basic technique that it is considered "universal" to all styles of Kihlah, rather than being specific to the K'hyurbhi style or to that of any other Kihlah-using species.  Hihu has also become the "base" that many new techniques are developed from -- from the basic "Zzzter" (which alters the form of one's Kihlah energy so that it resembles a bolt of electricity before launching it) to the Kukaru-style variation "Kukarhu" (basically just a vastly stronger Hihu that takes on a greenish-yellow color rather than pure yellow) to the signature technique of the Hamhu K'hyurbhi tribe (which combines a large Hihu-like beam of energy with a second electrical beam much like a strong version of the Zzzter technique, then has the electrical beam circle the other as it launches at its target.)  There is even a "Ham Hihu," invented by the young would-be Kihlah Master named Kurb, which starts out as a very large Hihu beam and then splits itself into multiple smaller beams that go launching off in all different directions in order to strike multiple opponents at once.

Old TKL screenshot.  Kherber fires a Hihu at a centipede.

Using Kihlah techniques over and over will rapidly deplete the Kihlah energy that one can pull to the surface, causing exhaustion and strain to the body if they attempt to push further into their reserves and continue using more Kihlah.  In order to counteract this, most Kihlah users also learn how to absorb lingering Kihlah energy from their surroundings, drawing their own Kihlah (or perhaps someone else's!) back into themselves to replenish their supplies after unleashing powerful Kihlah techniques.  Energy cannot be created or destroyed, and this applies to Kihlah energy as well -- so when a powerful Kihlah technique explodes and the energy seems to dissipate away, much of it has simply spread out into the surrounding area.  It is this lingering energy which can be absorbed by a skilled Kihlah user, making it possible for them to keep on using Kihlah even once they hit their limit by taking a quick break to recapture as much of their lost energy as possible.  This is especially effective in battles involving more than one Kihlah user, as many techniques being used in rapid succession will result into huge amounts of lingering energy around the battlefield.

As mentioned in the description of the Zzzter technique above, another technique used in Kihlah is altering the form of one's Kihlah energy to produce lightning-like energy.  This is not limited to just electricity, however; other techniques (such as the Blubberwukk tribe's signature move and the "Roaster Ball" and "Super Roast" used most commonly by the Roastisoo) shift the Kihlah's form into that of extreme heat or flames, and the signature move of Herbhi-tribe Kihlah users even shifts the form of its user's Kihlah energy into a beam which rapidly saps the heat from anything in its path, usually freezing whatever it touches.  These more advanced techniques require the user to manipulate the flow of Kihlah through their body in order to change its form -- while just focusing it into one hand and then releasing it with no other steps in between will always produce a beam similar to Hihu, making the Kihlah move to various other positions throughout one's body before projecting it outward can produce very different effects.  In the case of Zzzter (and other electricity-based Kihlah techniques), the Kihlah energy is rapidly bounced between one's left and right hands before being projected outward from one or the other.  Changing one's Kihlah energy so that it is projected in the form of fire involves focusing the Kihlah energy into one's hand and then causing it to rapidly swirl around before unleashing it -- which is done by whipping the Kihlah-charged hand forward in a "throwing" motion in the case of Roaster Ball.  Other Kihlah techniques have even more complicated ways of changing the form of their energy, and still others require the Kihlah energy used to be kept in as pure a state as possible -- the yellow energy beam generated by Hihu is not actually Kihlah in its purest form, and a great deal of concentration is required to unleash Kihlah techniques which do not alter the Kihlah energy from its true form at all.  The best-known of these techniques is simply called "Kihlah," as it does nothing more than unleash an enormous blast of pure Kihlah energy (which is reddish, glowing, and almost flame-like in appearance) with incredible destructive power, and also a tendency to rapidly wear out all but the sturdiest Kihlah Masters.  Legends say that an even stronger technique than this, the "Ultimate Kihlah," is also possible -- but only a single Kihlah Master in the past 100,000 years has been rumored to have actually learned how to unleash such a technique, and even he was unable to master it.

From a 2013 comic I drew -- Kurb unleashes a blast of pure Kihlah.

Most Kihlah techniques work by either infusing their energy into the user or their weapon or by projecting energy outward, but there are also some unusual techniques that do not fall neatly into either of these categories.  The Dondu K'hyurbhi tribe has developed a method of healing the sick and wounded by way of Kihlah, infusing their bodies with the energy in order to destroy anything that might be contaminating them and accelerate their natural healing.  The Wudimok tribe is known for its technique of infusing Kihlah energy into plants and then controls them by means of controlling the Kihlah within them, causing vines to rapidly grow and spring forward to entangle anyone who gets too close.  Kihlah infusions can also temporarily provide others with the same sort of enhanced strength that any Kihlah user is capable of; this works even for species with no innate Kihlah of their own, though the boost will fade away more rapidly if there is no internal source of Kihlah to sustain it.  The Hoi tribe's current leader and some of his top scientists have experimented quite a bit with these sorts of Kihlah infusions, and in some cases have even been able to provide some degree of unconscious Kihlah use to creatures which would not normally be capable of using Kihlah at all... though this method has been known to leave the subject of the experiment in an unstable mental state, likely to lash out at anyone or anything nearby with its Kihlah-enhanced strength.  One incredibly useful technique which blurs the lines between the "infusion" and "projection" types of Kihlah is the ability to open Num Warps (portals directly linking two points anywhere in the 40 Nherbis and allowing near-instantaneous travel between them, much like the common concept of a "wormhole") by infusing so much Kihlah into the fabric of space itself that it becomes twisted and a hole is torn.  The nature of Kihlah makes it much easier for Kihlah users to open Num Warps this way when compared to users of various other unusual powers; for example, only the absolute strongest magic-users have the power to open a Num Warp at will, with lesser wizards requiring elaborate and complicated spells to travel in this way (if they're capable of doing so at all), while any Kihlah Master worth their title can force open a portal in a matter of seconds.  Technological methods of opening Num Warps also require a great deal of preparation time and require a very efficient power supply to work reliably; it is for this reason that many K'hyurbhi spacecraft do not have built-in Num Warp generators at all, instead simply bringing along one or more Kihlah users with enough skill to open a portal large enough for the entire ship to pass through.  Of all the power sources available in the 40 Nherbis, only Num Power seems to have as easy a time as Kihlah when it comes to opening portals like this.

Kihlah Users and Styles

As mentioned above, the K'hyurbhi style of Kihlah (which focuses primarily on energy-projection techniques, though some K'hyurbhi tribes and their Kihlah Masters have been known to branch out from that type of technique more than others) is well known across the 40 Nherbis -- but it is certainly not the only type of Kihlah in use.  The Roastisoo (who are native to Roastiso Island on Nummorro) prefer Kihlah techniques which shift their Kihlah's form to that of fire, and have invented a variety of techniques making use of this form of Kihlah.  As they are naturally resistant to extreme heat and live on a volcanic island in houses made from a metal known as kirbium which is virtually impossible to melt with naturally-occurring heat sources, it's likely that their heat-themed Kihlah techniques were developed as a way to minimize the damage done to themselves and their homes during training while still having techniques which would be useful in combat against other species if they might attempt an invasion of the island in order to access its rich kirbium deposits.  The Kukaru of the planet Parupoo have developed a style of Kihlah that focuses on infusing energy into swords and even projecting energy through the blades of their weapons -- their Kukarhu technique can be fired from the hands if necessary, but it is most effective when channeled through a sword instead.  On Gumakia, the largest moon of Brijetoo, a species of intelligent mushrooms have developed ways of using Kihlah without hands -- and their Kihlah Masters, Fungus Capp and his father Shroomi, have invented techniques so effective that even some of the greatest Kihlah users among the K'hyurbhis have sought them out.  The Guraoo, natives of a distant planet that the K'hyurbhis visited long ago, were unaware of Kihlah before they learned the basics from a visiting Kihlah Master but have since developed an unusual style which revolves around infusing their Kihlah energy into the moisture in the air around them in order to control water.  Thunotsu, the first known Zunajin Kihlah Master, primarily uses the K'hyurbhi style but has also developed a few of his own electricity-based techniques, including the defensive "Zzzter Shield" and his strongest attack "Zzzter Orb."  Perhaps these techniques will eventually form the beginnings of a full-blown Zunajin style, though as of yet most of Thunotsu's kind look down on his Kihlah use and very few have chosen to train under him.

Symbols of the eight K'hyurbhi tribes, each of which has their own unique Kihlah.

Anyone who has learned how to use the most basic techniques of Kihlah (awareness of their own Kihlah, drawing it to the surface in some way, and absorbing Kihlah from their surroundings) is considered to be a "Kihlah user."  Those who specialize in infusing their fists, feet, or weapons with Kihlah in order to fight rather than focusing on outwardly-projected Kihlah techniques are sometimes referred to as "Kihlah fighters," though there is no special term for those who fight primarily using projected Kihlah rather than infused Kihlah.  The highest honor for a Kihlah user is the be considered a Kihlah Master; to rise to that rank, one must achieve a level of Kihlah understanding and use far beyond the level of any ordinary Kihlah user, and official recognition of Kihlah mastery generally requires approval by several established masters, usually those which the would-be master has trained under (or alongside) in the past.  Kihlah Masters are expected to become so familiar with a variety of lower-level Kihlah techniques that they are capable of charging and unleashing them at a moment's notice, rather than taking time to prepare them like a beginner might need to; with enough practice, even some higher-powered techniques can be used in this way.  Most Kihlah Masters also do not merely use the techniques they've been taught by others -- instead, they experiment with methods of changing their Kihlah into other forms, different movements, infusing their Kihlah in different ways, and so on in order to create their own unique Kihlah techniques.  One does not become a Kihlah Master by simply copying what they have been taught as-is, no matter how skilled one may be at copying those techniques; a degree of creativity and a willingness to change the way things have traditionally been done are required.  The signature Kihlah techniques of each K'hyurbhi tribe were invented by that tribe's Kihlah Masters, and in some tribes multiple tribal techniques invented by different masters have been passed down over the years -- the Dondu know both their well-known healing technique and one which generates strong winds by controlling the movements of Kihlah-infused air, for example.

The process of becoming a Kihlah Master usually takes well over a century of training both under various other masters and alone.  It is for this reason that the relatively short-lived Zwoobans (humans who escaped Earth during the reign of Lord of Moronism Ma-Du Veyaddhu roughly 10,000 years ago, ending up on the Kihlah-saturated planet Zwoobah where they eventually absorbed so much of the world's ambient Kihlah energy that they became capable of using Kihlah themselves) produce very few Kihlah Masters -- as they almost never live beyond the 150-year mark, only a rare few are capable of achieving any degree of true Kihlah mastery before growing frail with age.  This is another advantage the K'hyurbhis have, on top of their naturally high level of innate Kihlah energy and culture which prizes Kihlah use -- as the average natural lifespan of a K'hyurbhi is in the range of 1000 Earth years (about 608 Nummorrian years, due to that planet's year being 600 days long rather than only 365), even a relatively slow-paced Kihlah user may eventually rise to Kihlah Mastery if they are devoted enough to keep at it for centuries on end.

Khurbyish Lesson #4 -- Family and relationship terms

Here's some words I came up with a couple years ago (though a few of them -- like the words for father, mother, and child -- are a whole lot older, and a couple are newer, too.)  This time around it's another basic set that lends itself to the "chart" format -- a family tree!

And yeah, it's a bit big, so it was shrunk down a bit by this site... you may want to click it to get a better look.

Anyway... most of this should be fairly self-explanatory due to the "family tree" format which should look pretty familiar, but in case it's not, I'll go over the words introduced here.  Terms in red are female-specific, while terms in blue are male-specific; most of the Khurbyish family terms (shown in white) are gender-neutral.

YIYAKU: Family.  This word refers to an entire family; adding the plural N to make "yiyakun" would mean you're talking about more than one family, useful in cases of feuds and marriages and that sort of thing.  Using the adjective-form R and possessive-form Z, you can pretty much replicate any use of the word "family" in English with this one.

HAMYALU: Grandmother.

HAMYIKI: Grandfather.

YIKI: Father.

YALU: Mother.

YIKIZTISO: Aunt or uncle on the father's side.  Literally translates to "father's brother" or "father's sister."  As with most Khurbyish words, there are no gender-specific variations; paternal aunts and uncles alike would both be referred to as "yikiztiso."

YALUZTISO: Aunt or uncle on the mother's side.  Literally translates to "mother's brother" or "mother's sister."

EPA: Cousin.

KU: Child.  Khurbyish does not have specific words for "daughter" or "son," or at least not any that are in common usage; most of the time, only this general term for kids of all sorts is used.

TISO: Brother or sister.  As with most of these words, it's not specific as to the gender of the relative in question.

CHOKI: Niece or nephew.

KUZKU: Grandchild.  Literally translates to "child's child."

As with the other posts in this series, I will most likely come back and add even more to this at a later date.  Specifically, I'll most likely be adding terms for other relationships beyond family -- for example, how to say "friend" in Khurbyish, or how to describe a caretaker who isn't actually your parent.