The Shin

Of the Six Species, the Shin are the most mystically inclined. They have the utmost reverence for mastery of the mind and its meditative states. Because of their ability to harness the mind’s power, the Shin have become the object of superstition and fear among the other species.

The Sword of Elemental Forces

The Shin can trace their history to more than eight thousand years ago, long before their admission to the Ascon Universe. The central icon of their culture -- the Sword of Elemental Forces -- reflects their reverence for the mind and its power to influence -- even “pierce” -- the physical world. The Sword represents the physical expression of a trained mind. The reason is this: each Shin individual possesses the ability to enter a special state of consciousness. This state is in some ways similar to sleep but differs in that it allows the Shin practitioner to affect the physical Universe with his consciousness.

Power or the dreams

Current science assigns five stages to sleep. The stages represent different levels of activity in the body and in the brain. During the fifth stage of sleep, known as rapid eye movement (or REM), respiration becomes irregular, the eyes begin to move rapidly, and the muscles become temporarily paralyzed. Most dreams occur during REM stage sleep. Shin practitioners can consciously – by means of meditation – generate a sixth phase of sleep-like consciousness that exhibits similarities to sleep states and wakefulness. The motor muscles become paralyzed, but the brain remains extremely active with wave patterns that show similarities to REM stage sleep (dreaming, essentially). More importantly, the Shin practitioner engaged in this meditative state maintains conscious thought and the ability to direct the energies invoked in the trance. It is the nature of this energy manipulation that is the crux of Shin psychic discipline.

…An elite Mentalmage master can achieve astonishing levels of destructive force...

For millennia, the Shin Mentalmage sect has studied and perfected the channeling of energies invoked during the trance state. The agents of the Mentalmage sect continuously search for the most talented and mentally disciplined individuals in the species. Candidates are trained using secret methods and learn to perfect this channeling of energies in astounding ways. An elite Mentalmage master can achieve astonishing levels of destructive force. Documented acts of Mentalmage warfare have included spontaneous internal hemorrhaging caused in large groups of enemy soldiers, spontaneous combustion, enemy bodies being turned virtually inside out, and even enemy brains boiling in their skulls. Such accounts perhaps explain the levels of superstitious fear the Shin engender among the other species.

Kill with pleasure

The social structure of the Shin is strictly delineated by caste. Leadership roles are treated with great honor. Restraint and decorum inform their behavior on a daily basis, and deviance from the expected code of conduct is punished cruelly. Behavior not befitting a given class may lead to violent punitive action including capital punishment. Such instances that show lack of self-restraint are rare in day-to-day life. In warfare, however, all such restraint is absent. The Shin fight with cruelty and kill with pleasure.

… Advances in Shin nanotechnology allow them to cloak their ships, making them nearly undetectable…

The Mentalmages are incapable of physical defense and are therefore extremely vulnerable in battle. Physical and technical support of the Mentalmages is ensured by the developed of a combat-ready space fleet, armed units, and professionally trained fighters. The Shin also maintain a rigorous regimen of research and development. They currently possess two primary technologies that form the foundation of their defensive strength. Advances in Shin nanotechnology allow them to cloak their ships, making them nearly undetectable. Additionally, advances in quantum mechanics have begun to influence the Mentalmage psychic disciplines, allowing the most elite of masters to be in more than one place at a time. In short, the Shin are a fearsome opponent for any species.