As it stands, the Zyrians are one of the oldest races in the known universe.
In fact, they are the ancient ancestors of the Zentraedi. The same ancestors Exedore mentions as a matter of fact. Only, he doesn't know the real story behind the ancestors and the cultural downfall. But what other excuse would the Robotech Masters have, other than to say the Zyrians refused to serve as their army and declared war, only to destroy most of the flowers of life, leaving the Masters on a limited supply of protoculture.
Lord Zoal, the leader of the Zyrian clan, was the one behind the great revolt along with his high priest Bhor and the commander of the female armada, Arzel. At the time, the Zyrians were still adapting to newer technology and learning how to use it. During that revolt, they only had their swords and physical strength to rely on. Threats were made, but Zoal decided it would be better if they left. He knew that on a limited supply, the Robotech Masters and their Zentraedi wouldn't last long.
Zoal had also refused to worship the masters, as he and his people had already been religiously involved with their own god called "Hauruta". And Zoal claimed that it was Hauruta's wish that he and his people desert the Masters.
There was very little to no interaction between the Zyrians and the Zentraedi. or as they were called "tjatey" in the Zyrianic language (Egyptian)
However, Lord Zoal did have some connection with Khyron during the first Robotech war. At the time, Zoal and his people were on their journey for the Zergyx, Zoal wanted to watch the Robotech Master's fail and so during that war, the Zyrians made a quick return, and that is when Zoal realized that Khyron was much like himself, and tried to convince the Zentraedi warlord to destroy the SDF-1 and join him in his quest, to return to his roots.
Needless to say that plan backfired and he witnessed Khyron's suicide bomb attack on the battle fortress.
After that, he and his people disappeared once again, continuing on their quest for the highly destructive weapon system, the Zergyx.
At the time, Zoal witnessed its great power was also the exact moment that Zor had launched the SDF-1 into space.
Zoal saw how powerful the Zergyx was, and what it was capable of and became instantly obsessed with obtaining that power for himself.
The Zyrians had always set out to conquer other worlds, and steal from other races, but Zoal knew if they had this kind of power in their hands, all others would fear them, and they would have absolute control of the universe itself.
Long before the discovery of the Zergyx or the first encounter with the Robotech Masters, the Zyrians came to Earth and were worshiped by the ancient Egyptians. They were viewed as "gods" because they came to them in a "chariot of fire" (referring to their space ship as it's black with red lights) Zoal and his people were not used to this kind of behavior and so they accepted the praise and even introduced their culture to the Egyptians, especially their language which is what became the Egyptian language itself.
Zoal had also had a brother, his name was Krotez. Unlike Zoal, his brother seemed more humane and even revolted against the idea of enslaving the humans. Krotez had even fallen in love with an Egyptian princess named Nefertiti and abandoned his people to marry the woman and become a pharaoh, (the first alien king) of Egypt.
Jealous of his brothers power, while feeling betrayed, Zoal turned against him, and declared war on the humans. The battle between the Zyrians and humans lasted a few years, when Zoal and his people had been defeated, Krotez banished them from his land. At the time Zoal and his people had discovered they became immortal due to ingesting an alien herb from the past, and realized Krotez had not. Zoal told him he was a fool, and that he would die as a mortal on that planet, but even so he left, without ever looking back or feeling regret.
Zoal's high priest Bhor had also been a scientist, and discovered the herb they ingested had completely destroyed all the growth cells in their bodies, meaning they would never age or die, but this also meant their wounds would never heal, Bhor would have to do it manually (acting as a medicine man) The female commander, Arzel discovered the worst when her long luxurious hair wouldn't grow back. She had distracted herself during one of the battles, and that was when Zoal took his sword and chopped it off, leaving her on the ground, mourning her locks. In their culture, a warrior (especially a female) is looked down upon for having short hair. Short hair on a female is a symbol of betrayal.
After losing her hair, Arzel was quite furious and swore she would never let go of her grudge against Zoal. At one point she even vowed she would have her revenge, but Zoal knew she was powerless to do so, and that they were nothing but empty threats.
However immortality seemed like a good thing, but during the long journey in deep space, some of the Zyrians began to grow tired of searching for the Zergyx. They were starved for destruction and war. Not even the treasures in their sacred temple of Hauruta could satisfy their desires, so some of them took their own lives.
When it was getting out of control, Bhor had even tried to convince their leader to give up on his quest. He demanded that they return to their home planet and rest, and then return to space, searching for more worlds to conquer. Zoal refused and even argued back with his high priest, accusing him of slandering their god. It was then, when Bhor gave up but came up with the idea of swordplay. In order to fulfill the desire to do battle, the Zyrian warriors would engage in a fencing like sport using their swords to challenge others. As Bhor planned, this put an end to the everlasting boredom, but he still believed their journey for the ancient weapon system was a waste of time.
The Zyrians were known throughout the universe as space pirates. A race of barbaric beings, hellbent on conquering and stealing from other worlds. They would travel to each new planet, destroy as much of it as they could, leaving little to no survivors. They stole items they deemed valuable such as various minerals mainly gold, silver and bronze. They stole jewelry, rations and even technology.
Out of all of these, gold was by far the most valuable and they wore it in the form of earrings, neck attire and even hair accessories. Gold was so precious to them, that it became a symbol of honor and loyalty, and so they wore it with pride. Silver was also important and it was worn as neck attire or belts, it was viewed as a symbol of their immortality.
Their swords had been constructed out of a metal alloy that originated from their own planet. This same metal was once used to build some of their battle armor, but over time it was replaced with bronze and silver.
The Zyrianic language as I explained earlier, is ancient Egyptian, but they also speak some English, and they learned it from the Robotech Masters. The language the Zentraedi spoke was actually another dialect of Zyrianic, but over time it died and they too spoke English instead.
Here's some of the terms and their meanings.
Admiral or Captain - sekhrey
Army - mesha
City - niwet
Dog (used as an insult) - iew
Enemy - kheftey
Fleet - a'ha'ew
God - netjer
God's Servant - hem-netjer
High Priest - hem-netjer-tepey
King - nesew
Lord(Master) - neb
Loyal - maa'
Ship - depet
Soldier - wa'ew
Temple - hewet-netjer
Victory - nekhtew
Zentraedi - tjatey
They also referred to the Robotech Masters as kem gereh
and protoculture as inhemen
The Zyrian uniform
The Zyrians attire consists of a dark gray uniform with red trim, and a darker (almost black) full body suit underneath. A large silver chrome belt, and black boots trimmed with the same silver as the belt on the top and the bottom, and dark gray gloves.
Depending upon the rank, the leaders wear a long dark cape along with a large gold or silver necklace.
The Zyrian emblem is always located on the left shoulder sleeve of the uniform, and the lower class soldiers, both male and female have silver markings on the shoulder pads of the uniform.
The black under armor, gloves, and boots are made from a thick leather like material, only it's unknown where they got it from, though it could be that it was the skin hide of a beast they killed, since there is a massive reptilian skull on the wall of their mother ship's temple.
Their weapons of choice vary, from primitive to highly advanced. However, their main and preferred weapon of choice is a special ancient sword. The long blade is razor edged and the handle is also constructed out of the same fine leather. Although sometimes, and depending upon the rank. The handles will have special markings or symbols. Usually the highest ranking warriors will have a scarab symbol or even their name. The swords themselves are highly valued and believed to symbolize their culture and their loyalty to their god, Hauruta.
The Zyrians, as they were depicted in the ancient Egyptian culture.
"They came to us from above the sky, in a chariot of fire;
our gods"
The so called "chariot of fire" refers to their mother ship and the red lights around it. While the ship is in motion, the lights give off a very bright glow, which to the ancient Egyptians resemble fire as they had no other way of describing it.
Also in this particular depiction, Arzel is the only one in a kneeling position because she is female and the Egyptians wanted to reflect the sexist culture of these alien gods. She is also shown as though she is worshiping Zoal, but in reality she did no such thing, and this part of the reason why she now harbors such hatred for the humans.
In the center is the ultimate symbol of the Zyrians; the golden scarab.
The exact one is located in their temple
