Sehashi

Definition

The word sehashi means 'shining light' in the language of the place where all light comes from, the Heart of the Galaxy.

Origin

Within each living being is a spark of light. Some races of people call this spark different things. Essence. Soul. Spirit. Psyche. Energy. Anima. Ego. Pith. Pneuma. Whatever the word it was called by, it was the same thing. Without this light, no life could exist. Opinions differ on where this spark of light comes from. Some say it was a gift from their gods. Some claim it evolved spontaneously.
All of those in possession of this light are free to do with it as they choose. Like any light, it can dim and grow dark over time or its shine can grow brighter. It is ultimately up to them. Some are born with purer light than others, others are born with a dimmer light. Not many of these people are aware of the purity of this light within them and go about their lives never realizing that it is there, without knowledge of the potential they possess. As a result, their light dims over time. Others, rather than dimming, grow corrupt, their light becoming darkness.
There are those who discover that this pure light lives within them and learn how to use it. These people become sehashi, defenders of their worlds.

Sehashi and Myths

Not all figures from ancient mythology were sehashi. Some were real people and many of those so-called gods were called by different names in different countries. Some had as many as four or five names for one person. It tended to get confusing. Earth wasn’t alone in that, but it was often used as the example. Trayos VI was nearly as bad, as was Phrya Prime, a world not far from where Laira was born. When belief in gods faded, some worlds came to think of sehashi as demons or witches and some even ceased to believe in them altogether. Witch hunts on Earth and a few other worlds managed to kill a large number of sehashi before they ended. Earth hasn’t believed in the sehashi in hundreds of years. Some are glad for that but others… Well, some came to resent that.

Governing Body

Not all sehashi were good people. They may have all started out that way but power has this tendency to corrupt and sehashi have the potential to become very powerful indeed. It wasn’t often that things went badly, but it happened. There was at one point a governing force of sehashi, a Grand Council. They had their headquarters on a planet called Rihyad in orbit around the star that the people of Earth call Kochab, located in the Ursa Minor constellation.
It didn’t often do much, leaving most worlds to govern themselves, but when a crisis came up involving more than one world they became useful. When a sehashi went bad, or more than one—as has happened from time to time—they rallied the sehashi to bring those rogues down. In this way, peace was maintained.

Members of the Grand Council come and go but there are always at least three and a maximum of thirteen. Members of the council are required to have achieved at least a bronze or Hero level uniform. Guardians are rarely seen on the council as they’re far too valuable in their home systems to leave. A Sentinel would be more commonly seen as would a Celestial. Every species in the galaxy is eligible to sit on the council provided that they’re aware of the galaxy at large. Less advanced species, such as humans, have never had a council member. This policy isn’t meant to be exclusionary, but is instead meant to both protect the less advanced worlds from knowledge they shouldn’t yet have and to prevent the council from having members who aren’t familiar with how things are done away from their home worlds.
The general rule of thumb is that a species has to have been advanced enough for interspecies relations for at least fifty years to even be considered.

Council members temporarily relocate to Rihyad to serve out their decade long term. If they aren’t killed in office, they select a successor from among the available candidates. Hero-level sehashi aren’t common enough that there are many to choose from. It’s not unheard of for a seat to go vacant while a suitable replacement is found.
The current Grand Council only has three members.

• Nainqroiks, a scirqeox from Walafon IV.
• Veesaell, a qondreon from Tirizar.
• Megell, a chihur from Sheromi.

History

The First Rebellion

Before the Ssu-Ling, there was a group called the Andulai from a world called Yenus Prime that was almost as bad. It was said to have been a paradise before the Andulai became corrupt. It’s a harsh place now.

The Great War

What is now referred to as the Great War happened when a large group of sehashi all over the known universe went bad. No one noticed what was happening until it was too late. They’d learned from the mistakes all the past rogues made and concealed themselves until they were ready to make their move. Continue Reading

Artefacts

The Talismans

The Talismans represent five noble virtues: strength, truth, wisdom, courage, and hope. These were present strongly in those responsible for sealing away the Ssu-Ling so long ago. Keep reading
Related Article: The Great War

Objects of Power

There are objects aside from the keys that hold great power. Like the keys, these are often handed down in sehashi lines, but will from time to time be transferred to another sehashi that the original holder finds worthy and trusts with the object. There are several still in existence. Known ones include the Mirror of Telaia, Hermes’s Anklet, Shanharra's Earring, and Araid's Staff. It is unknown whether or not the mythical Abraxas’s Heart, said to have belonged to the supposed First Sehashi, still exists.

Objects of power started off their existence as ordinary things that were used a great deal by a sehashi and, over time, some of that power transferred into the object. All sehashi have the ability to create one of these objects, though it’s most often accidental and most of these objects can only ever be used by the one who created them or their descendants, but the ones created by the more powerful sehashi can be used by others. These ones are heavily guarded as they can be dangerous in the wrong hands.

Uniform Colours

Navy is the basic colour. The title of Warrior is associated with it. These are the most common sehashi. It's common for their uniforms to change in design, but will always retain the basic navy colour, signifying the level of their power.

Cerulean is the second level of power with the title of Champion going along with it. The Champion's uniform is always different from anything they had as a Warrior, though their primary and secondary colours will remain consistent, regardless of their power level.

Bronze is the third level. These sehashi have the title of Hero. It's very common for the uniforms displayed in this level to be somewhat more elaborate than the previous two levels of power. It's not common for a sehashi to progress this far. Most don't make it past Champion.

An off white uniform signifies a Sentinel. These sehashi are not quite as powerful as the Guardians, but are often treated as the same thing. At this stage, they often choose a Guardian name for themselves, though they don't use it. If this stage is achieved, they will always make it to the next level. Very few Heroes make it this far.

A pristine white uniform is the mark of a Guardian. This is generally seen as being the most powerful level possible. Only their primary colour is displayed alongside the white of their level.

A multi coloured uniform is as uncommon as the white Guardian one and those who wear it are known as Celestial sehashi. These are sehashi that have nearly god-like powers and at some point in their planet's history, they were mistaken for such. These sehashi are often so powerful that they skip several of the early stages.

Black uniforms are the rarest and only worn by the most powerful. At present, only three are known to exist. These sehashi are effectively immortal. The one depicted above is so old her name has been lost to all but her. Spirit Guardians are aware of her name as well, though they don't speak it out loud. There is no title associated with this uniform colour. In ancient times it was felt that there was no word strong enough to accurately describe their powers. These are the only sehashi that can outmatch a Celestial.