The Eshuma

The Eshuma are an elite regiment of undead warriors that help protect the Noa-Aina-Koroa from a permanent curse of hauntings, flung upon the archipelago by the Colonial Gods in their death throes. They are Estrié, a Duskscape species that is normally a predator to humanoids, sustaining themselves on their unconsciousness. They are monsters who hunt monsters.

The Eshuma are the progeny of The Hunger, a Valkyrie of Rom and ultimately answer to Onu-Ahwaré itself, the Koroans' name for the God of Death. They also bear a striking resemblance, in form and function, to Repentants of The Skull Knight, though connections there, if any, are obscure. The Eshuma live cloistered lives in holy temples on the outskirts of Koroan society, only rising from the sacred catacombs to defend their people from their fellow monsters, Umbral or otherwise.

Pound-for-pound, the Eshuma are among the most frightfully powerful monster hunters on the plane, rivaling other elite groups like the Dragon Knights of Tallarax and the Dreadnoughts of V'Shaat.

Description

Eshuma resemble normal Koroan Meranthic humans, save for their strikingly red eyes. Their gazes are said to be able to mesmerize even powerful demons. They are also exceptionally strong and fast.

A strictly religious group, the Eshuma tend to don the vestments, prayer beads and skull-like facial markings of typical worshippers of the Death God Onu-Ahwaré.

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History

Though the Noa-Aina-Koroa are defectors from and bitter historical enemies of the New Rozsan Empire in the First Age of Man, the two cultures bear some striking similarities, most prominently a strong emphasis on death (and undeath). Anthropologists disagree on why: some believe this is a sign of shared ancestry, others believe the Firstsong Islanders were forced to borrow methods from Lichlords to balance the scales during the long-lasting Rozsa-Koroan Wars.