Power armor? Well uh, funny story about that...
The Azi'ani, also called The Azi Are a cosmopolitan nomadic group that travels through space in large ships built from ice. They are master flesh-crafters and are incredibly knowledgeable in matters of medicine.
* * *
The history of the Azi'ani begins during the ethnostate wars. At this time they were an ethnic group that was being eradicated by the fascist governments of the age, as the age of ethnostates came to an end and the queen in marble was chased into the realms of magic the Azi had begun an uncoordinated migration from the world they had been confined on, some Azi ended up in other populations while other Azi stayed as a group. From there they formed several colonies and made attempts at rebuilding the communities that the prior human ethnarchies had attempted to eradicate before transitioning to a more nomadic lifestyle. Of all the groups in the setting the Azi have perhaps the best historic records for the events they were present for, only lacking records during a period of self-imposed exile. These records are steeped in myth though and while the Azi are seemingly very able to discern the myth from the fact, non-Azi have difficulty parsing their texts.
At an unknown time in the past, presumably during REDACTED or possibly slightly before, (like many things from this time it is unclear if records have been lost to time in the natural way or if they were REDACTED) the Azi's god was born of a union of the Human sun god Frith and the Human god of the moon, The Black Rabbit of Inle.
Mataliva Ta Azi'ani, also called the Star-Mother or the Mother-Prince, lived and was prosperous, watching over the people Frith had made for her. She was warm and wise and in this time the crops and forests were blessed by the Star-Mother's light. Such was the abundance of her blessings that the Azi were among the most prosperous peoples after the death of war.
As they expanded Mataliva began feeling deep maternal longing. Frith and the Black Rabbit were gods proper, they were caring and had great love for mankind but they weren't human in the way she was and though they were her parents they could never be her family.
And in this time of longing the terrible devil REUN fell upon the verse and wicked men began to learn from REUN the ways of things that should not be learned. A great fight broke out in the verse and in heaven and in the oceans beyond and everything was soaked with rage. Mataliva sought the wicked men and found them studying in their warrens in the shade of REUN and she slew them. Such was her destruction that trees of their orchards were torn from the ground, the very earth under them was torn asunder, the sky above them was turned foul, and everything was choked with their silver blood.
After an age the anger of the world subsided and REUN was turned away, back to his throne at the end of all, and those who were still living in the verse and in heaven and in the oceans beyond started living again. Mataliva was older and there had come to be a bitter wisdom in her bones but the light of her love for her people had never wavered and the longing she felt was not diminished. And so she begat nine children to protect and guide the lands in Frith's light and to share the delights of the world that she had come to know. She knew family then and raised her children among the stars.
During this time the Azi, like all humans, had become scattered. Their home was gone and their knowledge of it as well. They felt the warmth of their Star-Mother still and they knew that so long as they had that, not all was lost. But they were so far apart and their numbers were diminished. Their neighbors, kobolds who were just then driving their masters out, offered the Azi hospitality and the Azi in return shared with them the blessings of Mataliva and a great friendship was fostered. The kobolds had suffered greatly and there was much for them to rebuild and the fortune of good crops and plentiful timber was invaluable to them. After many centuries the two peoples had sworn to be as siblings and to never be apart, such was the love they had for each other. It is during this time that the Azi first began to refer to themselves as the Azi'ani.
But not all was well in Mataliva's household. Her children, called the Ninil'rah or nine lords, had grown and had begun to go out on their own in order to guide the Azi together into one place again so that they would not be scattered any longer. Some of the Ninil'rah were upset at the kobolds that had come too but the men were firm that they were brothers, Azi as true as any child of Frith. Their mother agreed, the crops of the Azi's fields and the trees and animals of their forests were not human but they still received the love and blessings of Mataliva and so to, she declared, would these new children receive her blessings. Her children all accepted this, but some resented it and silver pits began to grow in their hearts.
Her few bitter children convinced the others that the Azi should live apart from the rest of the verse, at least for a time, as they suspected more war was quickly coming and they did not want to teach the Azi of war and did not want to see the Azi die. And they did all go, their great star engines taking their worlds away and into the dark of the void far beyond the banks of the rainbow canal.
Once they were far away Ilim'ha'irah, the prince with a thousand enemies and oldest of the nine and Hazivah, the wanderer-king and strongest of those bitter few began to argue once more about the Azi of old and the Azi'ani that were there now. The other 7 children got involved in the argument, some wanting the bickering to stop and others wanting to finally reach an agreement. And they all were there in those days, loud like thunder across the stars and in their rumbling they frightened the Star Mother's Azi
The Azi wept for Mataliva to come and stop them, to see what her children were doing. But they feared she had left for some reason and could not hear them. And there was great commotion in this time, terrible beyond even the days of REUN. And when the fighting had stopped all knew what had happened but none would ever say it. Voninil'wo, the last child, cried for a hundred years and the Azi cried with her and her silver tears soaked them and drowned them and sustained them. And when there were no tears left anymore the last child took their mother with her and left for some other place where sorrow might be dull. The Azi were alone for the first time.
They read their old books and created new tools and wines and armor to pass the time while they wandered. They left their worlds in their great ships, not wanting to stay amongst the memories. Some of the silver soaked books from the Mother-Prince's library were at last opened and her final blessings to them were gifted. Like stones in the sun they would radiate her warmth even after she had gone and her light was not on them anymore.
In time they made their way back to the banks of the rainbow canals and found that much had changed while they were gone. They learned the ways of the engines and quickly forsook them, they learned the ways of the forge and forsook that as well. They spoke to the ocean dwellers and to the elves and to the dwarves who they had never known before they left but they did not find friendship or family with them. They tried, in their way, to help those who were hurting and their ships could always be found where there were wars attempting to help the sick and wounded and to help people flee to safer lands.
In places where engines had awoken there began to be found a new sort of folk living there that had never been seen before by anyone. Short and fresh and unclouded by gods or cities. And the Azi extended brotherhood to them when other men were hunting them for sport. They taught them how to draw water and make ink and of the fine herbs of the forest. They fought against their hunters and made the other men understand as the Azi understood. Most of these early goblins thanked the Azi but stayed where they were. Some asked to come with the Azi, and have joined them as children of the Star Mother.
* * *
The Azi are very unusual among the factions of Wheelbreaker. They alone are aware of the proper workings of genetics and they leverage this knowledge to create highly sophisticated works of fleshcraft. They wear living suits of chitinous armor and much of their food is made from