Ashtel

[Bunhash]

Race: Ashtel

Lifespan: 300 - 500 years

Physical Descriptions: Ashtel range from 5'5" to 6'3" in height on average and are slim but strongly built. They have dark, ebony skin tones, entirely white eyes and don't grow hair on any part of their bodies. After the 'Rights of Age' all Ashtel earn blue glowing glyphs that signify family and social standing. A son will receive his father's marks and a daughter will receive her mother's. The gylphs seen on males are generally on the crown, face and upper bodies while the females wear theirs around their face, hips, and navel.

Social: The Ashtel are serious, stoic people with deep patience and immense magikal abilities. They are rarely racist or rude and have many imports and exports with other races over the mainlands. Their patience seems to come in handy regarding their close neighbors, the Mi'firel as the cat people have a habit coming to their lands uninvited and starting parties at the Ashtels' expense. They enjoy things of sober and intelligent nature such as reading, craftwork and study. Wand making is a true passion. Being one of the most magikally advanced races, they are sought out for their council by many others who would risk to venture over the sea to find them.

Long ago, the Ashtel people came to a point where their political views were so divided, the people risked civil war. Many of the Ashtel people were ambitious and forward, wishing to further themselves than to be halted and stuck in the stale never-changing state they had always been in. The other part of the people were happy to remain as they always had been with their traditions. It were these beliefs that brought about the split of the main city and election of the first leaders.

The split brought forward two parties with different views and were led by two men titled the Vihar and the Ovrasee. The two parties each had a council of eldars who made the political choices through voting and debate along with the ruling of their own leaders. It was agreed that either party could run his side of the city and any of his own followers as he felt without pushing his directions and laws on the members of the other party with the exception of a few issues. These were war, import/export, glyphs and classes and basic laws against crime.

It was agreed that each party would follow the same rules regarding murder, rape and theif and that each was punishable with no leniency but other offenses were confined to their cities and punishments were up to the leaders and their councils for committing any crime. It was agreed that the class system would be the same for both parties and the glyphs would remain the power of social standing. Import and export would be equal and agreed upon by both parties so no one side of the city would overwhelm or abuse the other through terms of money. And any war to be done would be discussed between the two leaders and their parties and one side could not go to war without the other nor could one pull back if a war was agreed upon.

Though hard as it may seem to believe that much trust and honor could be held between people, the Ashtel are not like humans. Humans would seek to find advantages in things such as this or become sour with those who believed unlike themselves. This is not true of the Ashtel. There is very little cruelty or selfishness amongst these people. The Ashtel people did not resent their classes or statuses and even though someone of noble standing was giving much more than someone of a lesser caste, most people did not complain. This split worked perfectly.

Every Ashtel, male or female, must go through the 'Rights of Age' ceremony when reaching sexual maturity. For the Ashtel people, sexual maturity does not only signify the ability to begin reproducing, which is noted by a female's menstruation and a male's potency, a boost in magikal strength. It's the latter that is tested in the Rights of Age, a ceremony that requires each newly matured Ashtel to perform an example of his or her magikal abilities to the leader of their city in front of twenty witnesses. When accepted into adulthood, the Ashtel is gifted with his/her family glyphs.

The glyphs are glowing blue marks over their bodies and are a mark of family and social standing. A father passes on his glyphs to his sons and a mother to her daughters. All family glyphs are recorded by a council of trusted. This is to ensure no one receives glyphs above their station. Because of this there are rarely any change in class. Most families remain in the same class over the course of many generations. The only exceptions are those few who earn merit for deeds they may have done and earned themselves more glyphs by one of the ruling leaders of the Ashtel people. New marks are also noted in the chambers and may be passed down to their children. In addition, because the marks carry down by blood and not marriage, a husband or wife may be in a lower class than the other and often times one gender in a family will be of higher class than the other constantly due to the passing of glyphs by gender.

The marks are also not counted by the number of them as much as the sets. A set may have up to six matching marks in a single place on the body, example, a male may have four long, matching stripes over the top of his head and this is counted as one set.

The lowest class one can have of the Ashtel people is called Mashe. The Mashe are people who have only a single set of glyphs on their bodies. These people are unable to attain positions of power, have a say in political affairs or purchase homes in the white or black city. In addition, they may not study wand making or scribing. They must live outside of the main city but are permitted to enter for business or social reasons. Many Mashe choose to farm and fish for a living.

The two teirs of middle class citizens are known as the Natro'de and Natro'den. The two classes are the people who become the majority of the soldiers in their society. Magik is expected of them but weapon training is more highly looked upon for those of the middle class caste. Either group may purchase the smaller homes inside the white or black city and are allowed to enter into politics on the lowest levels if they so choose but are not allowed to learn wand making or scribing either. The Natro'den are always able to attain the highest levels of military positions where the Natro'de cannot. The Natro'de is marked by two sets of glyph marks and the Natro'den have three.

Then there is the high class, which is one step below noble status yet a position to covet. This class is called Rhal'laae. The Rhal'laae is permitted to do anything they wish except to study under the masters of magik who are reserved for the noble class only. They may buy homes in the large cities, study any trade of magik they can learn and are often the political powers of the nation. Also, this class is allowed to enter the craft of wand making and scribing, the position of historians and writers for the great libraries. Rhal'laae are marked by four glyph sets.

The noble class are the elite of the nation and are known as the Vise Toren. While they have more opportunities and rights than any other caste, they are also shackled to the controls of the political wants. Noble class people may never choose their own spouse and may never marry into a class below themselves. Their spouse is always chosen for them, not by their parents, but by the magikal eldars and the Vihar or Ovrasee. Each person of the Vise Toren is sent to study under the masters of magik from the time of infancy until they reach the point of entering the Rights of Age ceremony. The Vise Toren have 5 or more sets of glyphs.

As mentioned toward the beginning, all Ashtel are generally content with their class and status and treat the other classes with respect no matter their position. This is true in all cases except one, which is, the non-class or classless called Dunt. The Dunt class is a class of punishment. People in this class are those who have been stripped of their glyphs and had their families taken from them. These people are not allowed within the Black or White City and are look upon as outcasts from society. Often times this comes from committing dire sins against others or against the nation. If they manage to have children after their original family is removed from them, their children are also left in the Dunt class and therefore no better than criminals themselves. Many of the Dunt choose to leave Sereiende, their home and live on the mainland and away from the hate of their people.

Currently, the Black City, which is run by the Ovrasee, is under the command of Lucier, an ambitious and harsh natured man. The White City, run by the Vihar, is named Fathradreal and is a well-mannered, selfless individual.

There is also a correspondence between the De'Mira and the Ashtel, one of the only races to do so. The Ashtel's way of acting kindly toward the cursed race has brought a friendship of understanding between the two. The advantages of the alliance are the occasional werebeast bones given as gifts to the Ashtel. These bones are especially suited for bone wands and make some of the most powerful tools known to Terrastra. It's said the only place to find a bone wand of greatness is from the Ashtel and they guard their secret fiercely; none of the other races know of their kinship with the De'Mira.

Estimated Population: 96,000 individuals.

Standing Army: Yes. Renowned for its ability to quite literally heal itself from within. All who are within the army are not only skilled spell casters and masters of the destructive arts but they are skilled healers. Able to mend their own wounds and then rejoin the fight.

Their cavalry is a special air unit. One that utilizes a species closely related to dragons as companions as opposed to beast. The trainers and their animals develop close bonds and as such work in perfect harmony. They rain down death upon their enemies in ways that even the Eldars mounted units are often times struck with awe.

The infantry is nothing specialize, not without its own good traits given they heal themselves, but the ranged division is quite deadly. They conjure enormous catapults they create back home and use them to hurl objects so large and massive that even very skilled battlemages will likely not be able to stop them with magiks.

The catch is that the army itself is split into two, much like the city itself, and each half serves one side.

Size: Medium-Large. In total the army is roughly 15,500 thick but in times of need almost the entire population of healthy people will join in bringing it to around 50,000 total.

Brief list of Names: Infantry is known as the, "Balance March". Cavalry/air units are called by most the, "Darkness".

Breeding/Relationships: Arranged marriages are very common for the Ashtel. Often times the male's parents pick a bride for him and neither bride nor groom gets a say in the matter. Because of this and due to their nature, love is not an important role between partners though loyalty is paramount.

Sexual relations are confined to the marriage bed. It is looked down upon to have sex before marriage and can most times ruin an Ashtel's chances of marriage. Also, no Ashtel is permitted to bed another after wedlock if that person is not his/her spouse. This act of adultery can cause the person to be striped of any glyphs, their marriage annulled, and their children taken from them.

Females carry children for 9 months before giving birth. Couples usually have one child in a relationship. Families are very loyal to each other, giving respects to their parents and deceased often.

Magic: Very High
Speed: Below Average
Strength: Moderate
Skill: Moderate

Special Abilities: High natural magikal ability

Export/Craft: The Ashtel are the best wand makers in all of Terrastra, bar-none.

Territory: Sereinde

Leader: Fathradreal, Vihar of the White City (NPC), Lucier, Ovrasee of the Black City (NPC)

Alignment: Good, Evil

Creator: Aboshan

Rp Notes: If you choose to be an Ashtel, remember that they are not ever hot-tempered assholes. Lol.