#flying men

Alright, so this took me a while mainly because my edition refers to the Island of Zanj instead of the Island of Zabaj, and that threw me off. It's only one dot that makes it a different word - زنج versus زبج, see. Zabaj seems to be correct though, Zanj is traditionally in Africa, but this is an island in the China Sea.

Anyway! Let's see what Al-Qazwini has to say about Zabaj. Punctuation added for my sanity, this is all one long unpunctuated sentence.

"Ibn al-Faqih says that there are inhabitants similar to men, but their nature is like that of wild beasts and they speak incomprehensibly. And there are trees from which the inhabitants leap from tree to tree. And there is a kind of cat that has wings like the wings of a bat extending from its ears to its tail."

[Pictured: winged cat. At first I thought that was what you were referring to! Perhaps it's a colugo? The wings from the ears to the tail sounds like a description of one.]

"And there are goats like mountain cattle that are red spotted with white in color, their tails are like the tails of antelopes and their flesh is sour. And there are civets which look like cats and civet is obtained from them. And there are musk rats.

And there is a mountain called the Nusban where there are enormous serpents, some of which can swallow a man and a cow and a buffalo, and some of which can swallow an elephant.

And there are white monkeys that look partly like buffaloes and partly like rams, and is another kind that has a white chest and a black back.

[...]

And there is a creature that looks like a man and speaks incomprehensibly, it eats like men do, they can be white or black or green, and they have wings which they use to fly."

[Pictured: the two types of monkey, the giant snake, and the flying man.]

「STAND NAME」Queen of Stratus「STAND MASTER」 Ninten

Destructive Power: E

Speed: C

Range: A

Durability: A

Precision: E

Potential: B

Remember how Vanilla Ice could use Cream to implode into a ball of nothing? Imagine that but like...500% more harmless. Queen of Stratus lets its user transform into a cloud and float through the air. Using Queen of Stratus, Ninten can cross large gaps, avoid attacks, squeeze through tight spaces, ect. However, the Stand has no combat applications, outside of potentially fogging up your opponents eyewear, should they be using any. On rare occasions the Stand’s physical form is seen, it takes the shape of pink clouds shaped vaguely into the form of a human woman *COUGH queen mary COUGH*.

「STAND NAME」Courageous Wings「STAND MASTER」 Ness

Destructive Power: C

Speed: A

Range: A

Durability: E

Precision: C

Potential: D

The Flying Men reemerge as a Stand! And now they’re VERY SMOL. These guys can be best compared to Guido Mista’s Stand Sex Pistols. 5 itty bitty bird men emerge to assist Ness any way they can. They’re not super tough, but they have amazing range and speed, making them tough targets to fight. Their main tactic is catching and throwing Ness’ Yo-yo, moving it in unpredictable arcs and helping it strike with more power than it normally would. Unfortunately, these guys are fragile, and keeping them out against a strong and precise opponent (say...Star Platinum, for instance) would be disadvantageous.

「STAND NAME」Summer Bloom「STAND MASTER」Lucas

Destructive Power: B

Speed: D

Range: E

Durability: A

Precision: B

Potential: C

Summer Bloom is a more traditional ‘appears behind you and punches things’ Stand. Not too different from Star Platinum / Crazy Diamond / The World / ect. Summer Bloom’s main ability is plant manipulation. Lucas can take ‘time’ from one plant and give it to another. Example: reverting a flowerbed full of weeds into seeds and using it to make a tree grow. Summer’s Bloom can only hold this energy for about 5 minutes, or else it pours out into whatever it around it, which could cause problems if Lucas is in the wrong spot. Summer’s Bloom also has outstanding durability; striking it will only push Lucas to fight harder. Summer’s Bloom is a humanoid silhouette made of vines and stems, and it’s adorned with sunflowers.

「STAND NAME」Draco Dark「STAND MASTER」Claus

Destructive Power: A

Speed: E

Range: A

Durability: B

Precision: D

Potential: E

Some would say making the Dark Dragon into a Stand would be a bad idea. It would probably end up Gold Experience Requiem or Made in Heaven levels of broken, but don’t worry, it won’t get that bad. Draco Dark’s main ability is weather manipulation within a localized area. Claus can turn a sunny day into a thunder storm, or a light breeze into a hurricane. There is a major drawback though. Draco Dark has an E in speed. This means that the rate at which the weather changes is only slightly faster than the natural process. It has tremendous potential to destroy, but only if Claus can be bothered to focus for 30 hours to make 1 tidal wave.To be of use in combat, Claus artificially accelerates the process by making incredibly small thunderclouds that can drop lightning bolts on his targets. Draco Dark takes the form of a large shadow in the shape of a Dragon, with eyes that glow different colors based on what weather is being summoned.

Notes: Claus can use Draco Dark to electrically charge Ninten’s Cloud form.