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- Faction description(src)
The Ihan-rii (Khalani for "Great Teachers") are a fanatical sect of protoss who split from their kindred millennia ago. They worship the xel'naga and believe they are their one true descendants.[1]
Overview[]
The Ihann-rii are fanatical protoss warriors who have existed on the fringes of the Koprulu Sector for thousands of years. They have observed the other protoss kindred and zerg for years, and emulate much of their technology. The Ihan-rii believe they are the one true descendants of the xel'naga and that if they fight with valor they too will reach godhood. The Ihan-rii carve runes into their ships and walkers, professing their devotion and loyalty to the xel'naga, and warding against heretics. Ihan-rii society is ruled by a group of council elders.
Ihan-rii utilize an animated semi-organic stone material in their ships and constructs. This material is light, durable, flexible, and chemically inert, making it ideal for deep-space ships. The secrets of this stone material and how it is created is kept in their templar archives along with their religious texts. Ihan-rii tech is supported by many repurposed xel'naga artifacts, including dynamos and relic named nebula wells. They operate off of void energies for many of their constructs. Some of their technology, such as their warp prisms and photon cannons, were modeled after wildlife from their homeworld.
Early in an Ihan-rii's life, they are bound to a void crystal that resonates with their psionic signature. When an Ihan-rii reaches maturity, that crystal is sharpened into a deadly spearpoint. Dead warriors are entombed in immortal-like sarcophagi, which carry their remains into battle. Many of the Ihan-rii remain in deep space, in stasis aboard their ships, awaiting a distress call to awaken them.[1]
History[]
Early History[]
Millennia ago, the Ihan-rii split from their protoss brethren and spread to the far corners of the Koprulu Sector. They sent out observers to watch the going-ons of their brothers. They populated the planet they named Arakyr, later known to the terrans Tyrador IX, which served as their capital. However, they later abandoned their world and went into deep stasis on the fringes of the Koprulu Sector.
Many years later, the Ihan-rii were awakened by a distress call from Zeratul. Many warriors needed time to get their bearings from their deep sleep. Try as they may, the Ihan-rii could not find the source of this distress signal, so instead they decided to return to Tyrador IX[1] to reclaim their ancient capital.[2]
Battle of Tyrador IX[]
When they arrived at their own homeworld, they found it under the rule of terrans, though the planet was besieged by zerg controlled by the Cerberus Program. The defenders of the planet, the Knights of Tyrador, noticed the fleet with one of their ravens, and sent a Behemoth-class battlecruiser to parlay with the protoss arrivals. The Ihan-rii sent a group of oracles to investigate.
As the city of New Canaan was falling, the Ihan-rii blindsided the zerg attackers with their ships. Initial ground landings were met with attacks from lurkers who slaughtered the first waves. The Cerberus mutalisks, who had initially overwhelmed the Knights of Tyrador, faced a tougher foe in the Ihan-rii's ships. The combined forces of the Knights and the Ihan-rii pushed back the Cerberus zerg.[1]
Tensions on Tyrador IX[]
In the aftermath of the battle, the Ihan-rii met with the powers of the Koprulu sector in Tyrador command centers, with many factions recruit them to their political agendas. It was decided the planet of Tyrador IX would be shared by the Terran Dominion and the Ihan-rii, and borders were drawn. The Ihan-rii agreed to let the terrans continue to mine the resources of the planet. They began to resettle the planet, setting up fleet beacons to call to any more remnants of their ancient civilization, and mining for the void crystals on the planet's southern pole. Their pylon network had a radiance visible from orbit.
However, the Ihan-rii resented the terran's treatment of their ancestral homeworld. Many species that had spiritual significance to the Ihan-rii had been hunted to extinction by the terrans, and their development caused the air quality to drop. Tensions continued to degrade between the terrans of Tyrador and the Ihan-rii, as the Ihan-rii wandered into the terran armories, claiming they thought they were museums. A terran delegate, visiting their settlement, was messily vaporized by their gateways. Meanwhile in a contested border, the Knights had their factories mysteriously explode in glowing green craters.
The Ihan-rii began to rapidly warp in robotic constructs and capital ships, though they insisted it was purely for ceremonial reasons. Meanwhile, they established a shield battery network, which they stated was for "defense against unruly wildlife." The Knights of Tyrador in response began to reinforce their missile turret network and accelerate production from their starports.[1]
Notes[]
- An Ihan-rii unit skinset was made available in the BlizzCon 2019 War Chest.[3] An Ihan-rii building skinset was made available in War Chest 6.[4]
- The symbol of the Ihan-rii is that of the xel'naga carvings in Ulnar, with the central face replaced with that of a protoss, symbolizing their belief that they are the descendants of the xel'naga.
- The symbol on the capes of the Ihan-rii high templar is the symbol found on the xel'naga doors in Ulaan.
- Their awakening by a distress beacon from Zeratul is likely a reference to the Zeratul commander in Co-op Missions, which utilizes protoss augmented with xel'naga tech that use a similar skinset to the Ihan-rii.
- While much of the Ihan-rii technology seems to have been obtained from their observation of the other protoss factions, some of their units, such as adepts, were described as having been in deep sleep for a long period of time, in spite of adepts having only been created at the close of the Second Great War.
References[]
- ā 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. Collections Tab: Skins. July 19, 2017.
- ā 2020-02-18. War Chest Skins 5. StarCraft Store. Accessed 2020-02-18.
- ā 2019-08-15, StarCraft II - War Chest Season 5 Preview. Battle.net, accessed on 2019-08-15.
- ā 2020-06-11, War Chest 6 is Now Live. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2022-12-16.