Chayatiem
The Chayatiem, enigmatic anthropomorphs of six distinct lineages : Sefalinnen, Aenilhiem, Behemuthar, Tanathiem, Leoharix, and Nausilythe.
Origins
The Chayatiem trace their origins to the primal forces of Bellyem herself, revered as the nexus of creation’s raw and untamed essence. Among themselves, they claim divine lineage, declaring their forms to be reflections of Bellyiem's creative vigor and fertility.
However, to humanity, they are aberrations. "Malformed chimerae" the humans once spat, "their flesh is the corrupted progeny of impurity." Such scornful perceptions shaped an era of bitter conflict. In the Fleeting Times, the Chayatiem walked as sovereigns across both land and sea, their presence ubiquitous and their cultures thriving.
The advent of the Scarlet Skies, a harrowing epoch of celestial upheaval, shattered their dominion. Wars erupted with unyielding ferocity, forcing many Chayatiem to retreat southward and eastward into exile. Others, captured in the tumult, were bound in chains, enslaved, and stripped of their ancestral pride. Those who endured carried with them the scars of a fractured age, their legacy overshadowed yet indelibly carved into the annals of Bellyiem’s history. Even now, their fate haunts the lands they once ruled, their resilience a whispered defiance against oblivion.
The folk of Klaes speak in hushed tones of a possible migration of the Chayatiem to the northern reaches of the Forest of Hiatus, a shadowed expanse that looms on the edges of mortal maps. For the humans of the region, the forest is a place of dread, whispered to house ancient spirits and remnants of the Fleeting Times. Yet to the Chayatiem, with their resilience and affinity for wild domains, it offers a sanctuary untouched by human conquest.
History
The Nausilythe, part-human, part-bird beings, soared beyond the reaches of mortal chains under the guidance of Nausicaa, their revered matriarch. Beyond the lands of Tyrinthius, they sought sanctuary, forging a borderless domain where freedom would be the sovereign law. Their wings became symbols of liberation, and their songs echoed across the skies as testaments to a kingdom unbound by earthly fetters. Nausicaa’s vision promised refuge for the oppressed, a haven where no chain would ever find its mark. The lands of Nausicaus are named after her to honor her will.
In contrast, the Leoharix, creatures bearing the ferocity of feline forms interwoven with human cunning, turned their predatory instincts toward conquest. Exploiting human captives as labor, they built intricate fleets and towering edifices, the precision of enslaved hands serving their imperial designs. These innovations fueled relentless assaults on the bastions of human civilization, feeding their insatiable demand for fresh captives.
At the apex of the Leoharix hierarchy stands the Clan of Lions on the Lands of Leonidas, led by Titus descendant of Leonis, the first Lion King, a one-eyed elder whose age belies the savagery of his reign. Beneath his rule, the Leoharix embrace the ethos of domination, their roars echoing through the lands as harbingers of dread. Both the Nausilytheand the Leoharix, in their opposing paths, etch indelible scars across the age of strife, their destinies interwoven in the ever-turning tapestry of Bellyiem’s tumultuous history.
The Behemuthar, part-human, part-beast, embody strength and servitude. With sturdy limbs and towering forms, they are beasts of burden in human dominions, their endurance exploited for the construction of monumental edifices, the tilling of vast fields, and the drawing of carriages laden with wealth. Yet, in times of famine, their loyalty offers no shield; they are the first to be slaughtered, their flesh sustaining the desperate in bleak harvests. The Behemuthar, though indispensable, exist in a liminal space between reverence and abject exploitation.
The Sefalinnen, nimble and rodent-like, delve into the dark veins of the mounatins of Nuinerim at Ynopherys, extracting the lifeblood of the earth: precious minerals and gemstones. Their deft claws and keen senses make them unparalleled miners, laboring tirelessly in the choking dust. Small in stature but immense in number, they are often overlooked by the lords of men, who see only the glitter of their labor, not the beings bent beneath the weight of stone and toil.
The Tanathiem, creatures of serpentine grace and cunning, dwell predominantly in the shadowed expanses of Tyrinthius. Their forked tongues and scaled forms mark them as enigmatic advisors and manipulators. During the reign of Ninyos, Ophaenar the Serpent rose to prominence as a trusted counselor to the Clan of Lions. His whispered schemes shaped the course of empires, weaving a tapestry of treachery and wisdom. The Tanathiem, though largely insular, wield subtle influence in the courts of the powerful, their insights both feared and coveted.
The Aenilhiem, elusive marine beings, now teeter on the edge of extinction. Their flesh, a prized delicacy among nobility, has driven them into hiding in the deepest ocean trenches of Aenigma. Yet, their mystery endures.
Prince Enoa Hyluram of Sympruosia, notorious for his grotesque passions, is rumored to display taxidermied Aenilhiem in his private collection. Whispers speak of a living specimen, trapped in a vast glass tank in his grand salon, a haunting reminder of their fading legacy. Their decline mirrors humanity’s unchecked greed, leaving the seas scarred by their loss.
Together, these beings, each shaped by their form and fate, weave a complex tapestry in the world of Bellyem. Exploited, revered, or reviled, they are living echoes of a world forged in strife and ambition, their stories etched into the stones they mine, the lands they plow, and the courts they serve.
Appearance
The Chayatiem are bipedal beings whose forms deviate significantly from the likeness of humanity. They lack human facial features, yet possess the uncanny ability to speak, their voices carrying a spectral resonance that unsettles as much as it captivates. The diversity within their kind is vast but not infinite; they draw their essence from a select spectrum of the animal kingdom, though many of their kin have faded into oblivion.
Once, the Chayatiem encompassed tribes of wolves, whose howls echoed across the twilight realms, and the luminous Nausilythe Peacocks, whose radiant plumage rivaled the heavens themselves. Nausicaa, the storied liberator, was among the last of these magnificent beings. Their extinction, whether through war, enslavement, or the slow decay of time, serves as a grim reminder of the precarious balance between creation and annihilation in the world of Bellyiem. The Chayatiem who remain carry the weight of their lost brethren, their existence a fragile thread in the tapestry of life.
Beliefs
The Chayatiem harbor a mosaic of beliefs that echo the primal forces of creation. Central to many tribes is the veneration of the Earth Mother Bellyem, seen as the wellspring of all life, and her enigmatic daughter, Aenigma, a figure shrouded in myth who governs the deep waters and the hidden truths of the cosmos. Together, they embody the duality of foundation and mystery, the seen and the unseen.
Others among the Chayatiem adhere to the Cult of The Spider of the Cosmic Web, an esoteric faith centered on a vast, otherworldly web. The Spider is said to weave the strands of existence itself, its eight legs spinning the fates of stars, mortals, and gods alike. It is both creator and destroyer, embodying the entanglement of light and shadow.
The Tanathiem, particularly the serpentine scholars, delve into ancient glyphs from the Fleeting Times. These glyphs are relics of a pre-Genesis world, their meanings tantalizingly out of reach. Central to their studies is the legend of an Antediluvian Egg, said to have existed thousand of years before Adam’s Divine Quest. Tribal lore speaks of the Egg as a vessel of untold potential: one myth claims it birthed the Sun, the first Light that banished the primordial darkness. Another tells of a great rupture, when the Egg’s twin shattered, giving rise to the Shadow, an eternal adversary to the Light.
For the Chayatiem, the Egg is both symbol and enigma, a promise of rebirth and a reminder of the cosmic balance between radiance and obscurity. These stories, told around flickering fires and whispered in the depths of catacombs, bind the Chayatiem to a shared legacy, even as they remain divided by fate and the scars of history.
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