Monkey Lashuns

Native Name
Hou Lashuns, or monkey lashuns in the common tongue. [Hou Lashun Language is based on Chinese]

Appearance
The Hou, before they were freed from their curse, were locked to their Great Ape forms. In this form, the Hou look very much like massive gorillas, but with long tails and faces, sharp teeth and wild appearance. Their fur color varies between brown, black, red, and the very rare silver.

After they were free from their curse however, the Hou changed, becoming able to shift back into their human forms. As humanoids, the Hou are an extremely large and physically impressive race. They are generally able to become muscular with very minimal effort, and are naturally already quite large. Their features resemble that of the Valerians as, like them, they come from the now destroyed western continent.

History
The Hou Lashun are an ancient people with thousands of years worth of history, although most of their texts and tomes were lost in their dark age. The Hou Lashuns used to be a proud warrior race, residents of the northwestern province of Old Valeria. The Hou Lashuns have always been famous for being extremely powerful, the best of them could stand toe to toe with even the old Kensei.

However, with the destruction of the continent by both the old Kensei and Asura, the Hou Lashun were forced to flee alongside with all other living creatures. Once they did, they arrived on the northern part of the Entherian continent, and easily took a large portion of land from the Yifferhim with their never before seen fighting techniques.

With their destructive power they pushed the Yifferhim back and settled a newfound Hou Lashun kingdom. In the brief time that they ruled this part of the jungle, the Hou built majestic stone structures. Towers, temples, cities… Their structures possessed a unique, imposing beauty to it. Their downfall however, came when they built their magnum opus, the centerpiece of their nation, and one of the biggest structures of the known world.

Using their powers, the Hou hollowed out the largest mountain of the jungle, and proceeded to build an enormous stone temple inside the hollowed mountain. However, the mountain was the home of an Imperial Dragon, Seiryu, who was awakened from his slumber by the Hou. The dragon was angered by this defilement of his home, and cast a curse over the Hou Lashun, trapping them in their shifted forms, and locking away their magic forever.

With this change, the Hou lost much of their power, and because of this the Yifferhim were able to mostly reconquer all of their lands, driving the remaining Hou into a corner. Eventually the wood elves stopped the persecution of the cursed Lashuns, and for a thousand years the Lashun were mostly forgotten, exiled to a dark corner of the world as Great Apes.

Recently however, the rise of a particular Yifferhim warlord, Pocahontas, has forced the Great Apes into a desperate situation. The Great Apes fought to keep Pocahontas from their lands, as the Sachem’s expansionism grew worse at each day. They became desperate, and in a desperate final assault, the Great Apes put all their hopes in the back of their Prince, who spearheaded an attack in an attempt to kill Pocahontas once and for all.

Unfortunately this attack failed miserably. The Prince was wounded by Pocahontas and his forces scattered. Three of his closest commanders however tried to take him back to their lands, but the Prince died midway, leaving the three with his last wishes. Son Goku, Li Hua and Wukong, the first Great Apes to finally break the curse.

The three, commanded by Son, reached out to the dragon that cursed them long ago. They knelt to him and begged for his forgiveness, forsaking the most defining trait of their people, the Hou Lashun pride. It was for this very pride that cursed them in the first place, so when Goku knelt before him, the dragon decided to forgive them.

After this revelation, Goku persuaded others to join him, breaking the curse that afflicted his people, and allowing him to guide them in their fight against Pocahontas. With the help of a few heroes that came from the south, and one particular figure Hou who rose above the rest with a sacred relic in hand, Pocahontas was defeated, and they were once again free.

Homeland
The Hou Lashun claim a rather small part of the northern jungle, bordering Valerian territory and home to the densest part of the vegetation. The area is littered with old stone temples built by the ancient Hou, which are now inhabited by the new population.

Religion
The Hou lashun believe only in two things, their own pride, and the Dragon who broke their curse. They worship no other gods, and usually scoff at the worship of unknown deities, claiming that their god saved them, yet other gods remain silent to the pleas of their followers.

Society
The Hou Lashun are a warrior society, with a clear hierarchy between themselves. There are those who do not fight, and simply provide resources to their people, the low class warriors who obey the noble warriors, who obey the king. It is a simple order to it, but an effective one.