The Amari are a gypsy-like people who travel between the major cities of Waerlogas in large caravans. The Amari make their living as traders, entertainers, tinkers, rumormongers and (allegedly) petty thieves and as such have earned a reputation of moral flexibility. These reports are not entirely consistent, however; some stories paint them as an incredibly charitable folk, martyrs and champions of the dispossessed. It is generally agreed that the Amari are a suspicious lot whom trouble seems to chase. |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
Essil
A creole culture (and language), Essil draws its
origins from the northern barbarians, Nuada Hlao, small villages along the Glissern, the Amari, refugees from the God Cities, and the strange precepts of the Ghjanoor.
Sena'kaneo'o Often referred to as the Northern Barbarians, the primitive tribes of the forested steppes have one of the oldest cultures around. They are known for their shapechanging ability and affinity with certain of the animals. Here is the myth passed on that tells why:
The seventeen totem spirits were confused when the first men came to their forest from the house of the sun and moon. How, they wondered, could such weak, furless, toothless creatures survive, especially since they did not even have a totem spirit in the spirit circle? They saw a man with a stone knife and decided that men must be clever, like Matseskome, and so they gave men a place in the circle between clever Matseskome and fierce Ma'hahko'e. The strong, flesh-eating spirits hunted men, and the meek, plant-eating spirits hid from them. Time passed, and the fire flower blossomed in the stone circle. The spirits had to look again to the place of men, for fierce Ma'hahko'e hunted at night and would not go to the dens of men when the fire flower grew among the stones. Great Nahkohe was angry that men would abandon their seat in the spirit circle, and rumbled that he should move among them to kill rather than hunt. But clever Matseskome had learned to fill it's pouches with the seeds men scattered on the hillsides, and counseled instead that the seat of man should only be moved to lie between fierce Ma'hahko'e and patient Ho'nehe Mahpe. The totem spirits knew Matseskome to be clever, so they agreed and man's seat in the circle was moved. Time passed, and the spirits were roused again to a terrible roaring from great Nahkohe, who suffered a burning pain in his ponderous backside. "Matseskome!" thundered the spirit, awful in his rage, "Look where your wisdom has led us! The men have learned to sting like tiny Hahnoma!" Furious, he pulled the feathered wooden shaft of an arrow from his rump. "Now I will move among the men to kill and not to hunt, because you will say that they should move to my right in the circle and it will not be so." Many voices spoke to move the place of men between great Nahkohe and Okohke the Gore Eater. Whining Oeskeso had become like a servant to men and did not want to survive without their scraps and safe walls. Feathered Ve'keso begged that men be saved, for she loved to eat the hard fruits of their fields. But Great Nahkohe would not be swayed and none were strong enough to oppose him, so with fanged Peho'xa at his side he swept furiously from the forest and into the village of men. Nahkohe and Peho'xa moved among men to kill instead of hunt for an entire dance of the moon. So many died that the moon wept bloody tears at the fate of her children, and the sun grew pale and barely burned to greet them with the new day. But while his brothers and sisters died, Dreaming Red Dreams and all the shamans of all the tribes lay buried deep in their lodges, guarded by the strongest warriors as they wove a great dream net. When the moon had completed her first dance since the time of killing, the shamans floated up from their lodges and cast their dream net down on Nahkohe and Peho'xa, binding them fast. Dreaming Red Dreams knew that the net would not hold great Nahkohe and fanged Peho'xa for long, but he was clever. He took the net in one hand and placed the other behind his back, then went to stand before the spirit circle. He said,"Men are the children of the sun and moon, and do not belong in the spirit circle. Instead, you will make children with the shamans of the seventeen tribes, and then you will be our totem spirits. If you do not, I will stab Peho'xa and Nahkohe with my dream knife, and then catch you in my net and stab you until man is the only one in the circle. But if you do, our children will not hurt you, because your blood will flow in their hearts." The spirits were afraid, because Dreaming Red Dreams and his net were terrible to behold, and they remembered the stone knives of men. So they agreed and cast the bargain in blood and saliva, and made children with the shamans — children with purple irises. That is why the folk only move among the beasts to hunt, and never kill, and why we have the gifts of the totem spirits. Looks Average height is 5'10" for men, 5'9" for women. Olive to yellow complexion, straight dark hair, eyelids with an epicanthic fold, eyes ranging from gray to purple. Language and naming Their language is based on the Native American speech of the Cheyenne. Here are some ideas for how names are structured. Here is some more vocabulary, just in cae you want it. Zsidok
Looks Dytikos
Looks Once the Boiling Ocean to the far west was called by another name, the name of its god: Keba. Ghjanoor ![]()
Green, bug-eyed, toad-like humanoids. Grug ![]()
Five-foot tall, long-armed, apelike humanoids.
Pardos ![]()
Tawny-coated, man-sized great cats.
|