Zethko
Many thousands of years ago, a warlord name Onyx of the Snowy Mountain fought against the demigod Ghavi and the Lunar Goddess Jade Atharzen. He died, but he fought with courage. For his bravery and honor in battle, Halcyon resurrected him and created the title of Zethko - literally, in old Calazan "the heir to Onyx" - to pass to his descendants.
The Zethko is a magical mantle that changes one's body and one's fate. When a person becomes Zethko, their physical abilities instantly become superhuman in certain situations. A well trained Zethko can achieve downright miraculous acts of strength, throwing boulders with ease or punching through thick stone walls like a cannon ball. Even the most amateur Zethko can go up against veteran fighters and win. The Zethko is not invulnerable by any means, nor can they typically perform godlike feats (such as flying by jumping or punching through a mountain), but they easily go above the realm of humanoid ability. There is also a contextual limit here: if a Zethko fights or commits violence outside of a code of honor or self defense, their strength fails them and they become a mere mortal once more. This would be honor as the original Onyx perceived it: no ambushing a worthy foe, no poison, no fighting someone who will not or cannot fight back, fights must be clearly started, a truly worthy foe should be treated with respect and fought without outside intervention.
There is a cost to this. A Zethko's luck is not their own. The world will bend in small ways to make certain things happen to them. They will find themselves re-enacting history again and again, facing off against descendants of Ghavi and Jade. The nature of this conflict can be defined by cultural expectations, and the Zethko can choose how they respond - the current Zethkos largely define "rivalry" as "competition", while the Zethkos of the ancient past tended to enter into perpetual cycles of bloody vengeance.
The current Zethko is Luida Tusuba, sister to the Queen of the Kingdom of Sonisha and most dutiful of knights.
Requirements
The passing of Zethkos is semi-arbitrary. Once it was a clear line of succession, but the family tree is so gnarled and complicated at this point as to confuse the magic itself. The title still prefers to pass along hereditary lines, though not always to the oldest child.
There is a major cultural component to succession here, as there always is to inheritance. The title prefers "true successors to Onyx" one could say - people who share his sense of honor, his connection to the mountain of Tusuan, and a sense of authority. If a person is of the blood, fulfills the requirements, and politically controls the mountain of Tusuan, there is a pretty good chance that the title will pass along to them.
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