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Sarkaz
- This article is about the race. For the enemy type, see Sarkaz (enemy type).
The Sarkaz (singular and plural) are a race in the world of Arknights.
Overview[edit]
The term "Sarkaz" actually refers to a broad category of humanoid races distinct from both Ancients and Elders, being the original natives of Terra and among the first intelligent beings to walk the planet's surface.[2][3] Once known as the Teekaz, their era ended with the arrival of the Predecessors, who colonized the planet and inadvertently introduced Originium, along with the Ancients and the Elders.[4] What followed were millennia of conflict between two biologically distinct races, eventually leading to the collapse of Teekaz civilization and the scattering of its people across Terra in a vast diaspora. This dissolution gave rise to four races that share common ancestry with the Sarkaz: the Sankta, Anasa, Oni, and Durins. The Sarkaz harbor deep resentment toward the Sankta in particular; they are considered traitors who betrayed the Teekaz and sullied a once-glorious legacy.
The Sarkaz exhibit a wide range of physical traits depending on their tribe of origin. Horns are the most common Sarkaz identifier, varying in shape and size, alongside long, pointed ears and a variety of tails. However, there are some Sarkaz tribes lacking any of the aforementioned traits. While horns are a common features among Sarkaz, horn-removal is sometimes practiced in order to conceal their identities; this is often seen as a humiliating act of betrayal.[5] Many Sarkaz have physical traits resembling Caprinae, resulting in infiltrations of Caprinae spies and refugees into their community.[6] Nevertheless, the Sarkaz have numerous unique racial traits unseen in any other Terran race.
- Oripathy Vulnerability: The Sarkaz were the first Terran race to come into contact with the oldest form of Originium, giving rise to their ancient racial curse—a heightened vulnerability to Oripathy. As a result, the Sarkaz bear a significantly higher infection rate compared to other races.[7]
- Sarkaz Witchcraft: The inherent Sarkaz vulnerability to Oripathy is often seen as a double-edged blessing that allows them to enhance Originium Arts at the cost of their lifeforce. Their long history with the most complex forms of Arts gave rise to Sarkaz Witchcraft, a derogatory term that refers to these purest and most ancient forms of Arts sustained by bloodlines.[8] However, the consequences of wide-scale witchcraft are often far worse than the benefits. The Sarkaz Arts are often associated with death and vengeance, channeling the memories of the the deceased within their racial memory while exacting a heavy price upon the caster, leading to another moniker: Cannibalism.[9]
- Elongated Lifespans: The Sarkaz are known for having far longer lifespans than the average Terran, up to centuries or even millennia. This is seen to greater effect amongst pure-blooded individuals—mainly those of the Sarkaz Royal Court. Many such Sarkaz have their lives cut short as Oripathy eats away at them.
- Collective Racial Memory: Unlike the empathic communication shared by the Sankta, the Sarkaz possess the capability to read the racial memories residing in their genes, particularly those of the deceased. They can easily sense the deaths of other Sarkaz, and the death of a notable individual sends a resonant echo through the entire race.
- Esoteric Traditions: Due to the constant burden of Oripathy and social discrimination, the Sarkaz possess strong religious beliefs regarding death, firmly believing it to be the only release from their curse. Their mystic esoterism is well-known across Terra and holds significant influence in many circles, with the Foldartals of the Samifjod being a prime example—taught by the Cyclopes tribes that call Sami home.
Origin myth[edit]
Being the earliest race dwelling upon Terra, the first Sarkaz/Teekaz were originally animal-like beings wandering around the world millennia ago. While they practiced a hunter-gatherer custom that is now perceived as grotesque to many non-Teekaz Terrans such as hunting upon others which is seen as "cannibalism" in modern eyes, their ancestors viewed it normally as mere survival instincts. But during a year of famine, a Teekaz decided to stop hunting his fellow men out of mercy but only to be banished to the dangerous "Silver Mountains" beneath the ground, but after 3,000 days when the underground Silver Mountains were brightened, that Teekaz turned into a human being after contacting the first Originium while wielding the "Black Crown," earning his respect from his tribesmen as the Farchaser, the first King of Sarkaz in their history.[10]
After spreading his new knowledge and molding his tribesmen into the image of man, the Farchaser led his tribe to conquer the Silver Mountains and pacify its rampaging souls, which in turn established their first civilization called "Kazdel," "Where home is." They begin to refer to themselves as "Teekaz," "one who owns a home" in their tongue.[10]
For the remaining centuries, the Teekaz civilizations prospered until the "Descending War" in 9,000 BCE between them and the alien Ancient and Elders. As many Teekaz civilizations fell to the aliens, the Farchaser desperately used the Amnannam, one of the First Originium, to summon the first Catastrophe in Terran history that brought upon the advent of Oripathy, which unfortunately cursed them with their vulnerability to Originium. The fleeing Teekaz refugees had become the rootless "Sarkaz," ushering in their centuries of exoduses and diaspora.[11]
Religion[edit]
Sarkaz has a rich culture centering on their religious belief born from their understanding regarding death and their esoteric approach to their ways of lives. To a Sarkaz, there are two literal existing spiritual beings: the Revenants and the myriad souls of the deceased. Only through the power of the King of Sarkaz, or the Lord of Fiends, that the lamentation of these souls can be pacified.
Revenant[edit]
- Main article: Revenant
Myriad Souls[edit]
The myriad souls are a collective consciousness of deceased Sarkaz from which their shared memory comes from. They are the "spirits" of the deceased that appear to be close to the concepts of Ruakh in Judaism and Ruh in Islam. Because of their acceptance of the first Originium and the summoning of the Amnannam, these spirits are forever trapped by the psychic bondage of Originium in the Assimilated Universe as cryptic information stored within which is best described as "an amber encasing lives and consciousness." Oftentimes, they are perceived by others as either figures of worship in ancestral veneration, cultural symbols among Sarkaz, or just simply another name for the Revenants, but many Sarkaz treat these spirits as a separate entity.[12]
The Sarkaz believe that every living being on Terra is just temporarily separated from the myriads of souls. Before being born, a young soul is part of that chaotic myriad of older souls, and giving birth is just temporarily separated from them. Only by death will they be reunited once again in the spiritual world.[12]
The dead souls are the source of the Sarkaz's vengeful nature and their bitterness against non-Teekaz Terrans. Even before being born, an innocent young Sarkaz already emerges with such a flow of emotion which slowly influences their mindset. As a result, freeing the myriads of souls from the bondage of Originium has been Theresa's long-term goal in order to free the Sarkaz from their eternal bitterness and have these innocent spirits to finally rest in peace. By doing so, future generations will no longer need to face the literal pressure from the deceased, and the memories of the dead spirits will only be preserved in religion and folklore.[12]
King of Sarkaz[edit]
- Main article: King of Sarkaz
Discrimination[edit]
Since the fall of their civilizations that forcefully displaced them as the sole inhabitants of Terra, the Sarkaz are banished to the lowest class of Terran society in which they are treated as "sub-humans" by the Ancient and Elders. Such conflict resulted in centuries of dehumanization and discrimination against the Sarkaz. As a consequence, many quickly call them "demons" or "devils" as racial slurs against them. They are falsely pictured as harbingers of Oripathy and calamities as well as bloodthirsty, cannibalistic warmongers who often ignite wars even though many of these are the consequences of the Sarkaz' homelessness. Social discrimination and oppression against them are prevalent across Terra from exemption from social welfare, apartheid policies, exploitations upon them by using them as mercenary pawns in battlefields, to even inhumane experimentation upon them.
To many Sarkaz, such discrimination is seen as inevitable due to their sin as the first Infected, eventually surrendering themselves to reality. Nonetheless, they embrace their stereotypes as a rallying cry for unity. Their endless suffering has left them deeply embittered and vengeful despite attempts by some to convince the Sarkaz to move on from the past, leading to the Victorian Crisis instigated by the ultra-nationalist Military Commission of Kazdel.
Tribes[edit]
As mentioned above, the Sarkaz are made up of various "tribes" of the Teekaz who are actually distinct races, which is evident from their differences in physical appearances and Arts capabilities.[3] As such, it would be incorrect to treat the tribes as subgroups of the Sarkaz; they are best defined as "sibling races".
In ancient times, there were more than a hundred different Teekaz tribes, but most of which went extinct throughout the course of history.[13] Pure-blooded Sarkaz like those in the Sarkaz Royal Court are extremely rare in present days because there is mixing of bloodlines among the Sarkaz tribes. In adition, there's a rather small number of non-Royal Court tribes, some of which include the adjacent Oni and Anasa.[13]
Other tribes[edit]
- Goliath:[14] One of the few tribes that are not related to the Royal Court,[13] the Goliaths are characterized by their muscular stature (similar to the Biblical Goliath, hence the name) and (usually) ram-like horns. The majority of Sarkaz enemies are Goliaths, with Meteorite likely to be one due to her traits.
- "Ice Gargoyle": Said to be descendants of the "Rotproofers", characterized by their excellency on ice-based Arts and cool temperament, which complemented the Diablos' traits. However, after being deceived by Kalnawdika, they went deep underground to "stop the Black Flow", never to be seen again.[15]
- Slugkaz: A supposed distant cousin of the modern Sarkaz tribes. They have an insectoid appearance and small height, and can be see crawling amisdt the pipes and Originium waste of Kazdel's Soul Furnace. In reality, the Slugkaz aren't actually a Sarkaz offshoot, but rather the twisted creations of a Lich scholar named Bertha, who was obsessed with learning about other Sarkaz kinds, and as such she forced a witchcraft contract onto a test animal to unlock its intelligence.[16][17]
- Electrokaz[18]
- Clotheskaz: A Sarkaz branch that resemble clothing pieces—likely a sort of mimicry similar to the Damazti. Their community thrives through the duels between the creatures that "wear" them.[19]
A Slugkaz, as seen in the namesake encounter's artwork
Notable[edit]
| Operator |                               |
|---|---|
| NPC |                               |
- Ifrit is not actually a true Sarkaz; she was a Savra who was forcibly embedded with Diablo shards.[20]
- The Tin Man is a cyborg possessed by a Sarkaz Revenant.
- Hyman was originally a Sarkaz before becoming a Seaborn.
- Both Nightingale and Qalid'čoa are "artificial" Sarkaz created by the Confessarii
- The First Saint is originally a Teekaz (Sarkaz) who became an ancestor to the Sankta race after being transformed by the Law.
Other notable[edit]
- Dijkstra
- Qui'lon
- Colbert (Episode 12)
- Ian (Cecelia and the Sauin Pilgrimage)
- Grimm (Cecelia and the Sauin Pilgrimage)
- Milton (Canoes off the Riverside)
Enemies[edit]
- Main article: Sarkaz (enemy type)
Trivia[edit]
- The Sarkaz race has a heavily religious theming in which they take elements from the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), but they are primarily based on the Jewish people. Some of these elements are:
- The Sarkaz' first contact with the first Originium and their vulnerability to Oripathy could be a parallel to the original sin in Christianity. In some ways, the first Originium can be seen as a parallel to the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden.
- The conflicts between the Sarkaz and the non-Teekaz Terrans are depicted in a similar fashion with the stories of the Watchers and the Nephilim in the apocryphal Books of Enoch.
- The hatred, discrimination, and even demonization of the Sarkaz parallels to Antisemitism.
- The racial origin between the Sankta and the Sarkaz and their ultimate split probably alludes to the divergence between Judaism and Christianity in our world.
- Kazdelian Sarkaz are known for doing unpleasant mercenary work, which is akin to the Cherethites and Pelethites during the reign of King David.
- The association of Sarkaz and their brand of Arts dubbed "witchcraft" as well as their religious and esoteric theming allude to the pre-Abrahamic paganism such as the worship of Baal that was once practiced across the Levant.
- Sarkaz has a concept of souls and spirits with separate natures in a similar fashion with those in the Abrahamic religions, and the liberation of souls from eternal bondage can be treated as ascension to heaven, though there are some parts of that ideology that does not fit well with the Abrahamic religions but more inclining towards paganism similar with the religions of pre-Abrahamic Near East.
- According to GigaBombCat, the game developer of Arknights, in Arknights Official Artworks Vol.2, Sarkaz enemies were initially portrayed as ruthless, but skilled and experienced warriors. In order to differentiate them from Reunion's forces, they were given a darker skin tone and larger body complexity, as well as having weapons with more pagan appearance to show their exotic feel in contrast.[21]
References[edit]
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