Shimteak, Warriors of Nikina
Shimteak are, for want of a better term, creatures of Nikina. When Garukavar created a wide array of monsters to terrorise mortals, Nikina saw fit to counter this by creating his own creatures; Shimteak, Liogons, and Behemoth. Though Shimteak are considered the weakest, they are far stronger than any human as a single unit. Some refer to them as guardian angels, and others as supernatural warriors, and the rest either call them spirits or don't know of their existence. In a way, all of these are true. Descriptions of encounters with Great Shimteak are hazy at best.
Right: An old sketch of a High Shimteak in ebony and steel.
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According to the Dualkedorian Order, shimteak reside in the same place Nikina resides. This is supposedly a fortress or palace of some description hidden on Riiga. Most members of the order will say it is hidden somewhere in the Sideways Mountains, in eastern Huirnon, near Velena. This is mostly due to the alleged shimteak sightings at the temple there, and the fact that it is considered an unreachable area. Others will say that it is underground or someplace very bizarre and impractical. Somehow, it has become fact that shimteak spend most of their days in this fortress, maintaining their otherwordly strength through combat and meditative techniques.
Name
Like many other names of divine creatures, shimteak is believed to be a Manamor name and was originally used by the human Hireos. 'Shimteak' was originally written chimteakh (such as in the Dutri) or chemteakh. It is believed to have a meaning, but the most plausible guesses hold no ground, such as: "ghost warrior", "divine warrior", "divine ghost", and similar. They are blind guesses at best, and can't really be proven or disproven given the mysteriousness of the Manamor language.
Appearance
A Shimteak appears as a tall man covered head-to-toe armour (sometimes with a tattered cape), and as the Dutri states, they are clad in "gold, steel, and ebony". However, it is believed that they do not actually wear ebony or steel and it's doubtful that their gold-coloured armour is gold, as none of these materials are suitable for armour. Then again, others argue it's completely plausible as Nikina's armour is enchanted gold. All sightings of Shimteak state that they wear black, gold, or white, and it is thought that their steel can easily be a pale metal in low light. The colour combinations that have been recorded suggest that there is a ranking system within them.
Common
The most common sighting is of a Shimteak in steel armour with ebony trimming. These are assumed to be the bulk of the Shimteak and often do very little to aid humans besides attack creatures of Garukavar. Witnesses have seen a common Shimteak tackle a Chimakor on its own and win, suggesting that Shimteak are very powerful creatures. This would explain why Garukavar has so many monsters whereas Nikina only has three.
High
The next ones up (ebony armour, steel trimming) are rarer and have been reported to help people more directly. One witness claims that a Shimteak helped him out of a dangerous cave by walking ahead of him, using its peculiar aura tolight the way. A common Shimteak would have not done this, according to information gathered; they only appear when the danger is immediate and in the form of a monster. High Shimteak are more personal.
Great
A Great Shimteak (steel armour, gold trimming) is only seen leading a group of lesser Shimteak and commanding them through body language, though their voices have never been heard. They have only appeared in times of high turmoil, such as when monsters break through Carson's Wall in North Ideitess and try to ravage the land there. They rarely draw weapons but have been seen casting magic against their enemies.
Supreme
A Supreme Shimteak (gold armour, steel trimming) has only been spotted twice. The first was when Carson claimed to have been visited by one in 4990BD in a dream, which was accompanied by three Great Shimteak. Though they did not speak, Carson said he felt they were telling him to build a wall, and they pointed on a map to where it should be built. Due to Carson's great reputation, very few argued against his request to have the wall built (Now called Carson's Wall) and two days after it was completed, a large army marched up from the south but was eventually beaten by the humans manning the wall. If the wall had not been built, the army would have gone through the land beyond and killed many more people. However, within a week of the army being defeated, Sage Carson died of unknown causes.
The other sighting was in Velena, at around 4070BH. One of the last groups of people to have returned from Velena (a band of merchants from Varoicca, to be precise) claimed to have seen the head priest speaking with a figure whose description sounded remarkably like a Supreme Shimteak. It is especially strange that the temple was blocked off from civilisation less than ten years later due to an avalanche, as people had begun to investigate.
