Aso Kyen
I was...I was so sad, and then, she was just there. She just came up to me, like she was my friend, and she crawled all over me, tickling me like my mawpaw used to when I was little...tickling me until I couldn't be sad anymore. Now she comes all the time, not just when I'm sad, and she tells me things, things I need to know. My little red fox, she's my bestest friend ever!
Symptoms
It begins as a slowly dawning awareness that there is more to the world than originally thought, a noticing of more color or a faint song or a lingering smell, perhaps a companion animal gradually makes itself known or a new sensory experience begins to occur. However this may manifest, it begins to happen more and more frequently, and as it does so a connection is built, a familiarity that leads to trust. Once trust is established, the connection is complete and the Chye are alerted to the existence of a new Guardian.
Affected Groups
For unknown reasons, only those who identify as female and/or non-gendered are able to develop aso kyen. This has nothing to do with biological sex, but seems to be directly correlated with the gender identity of the individual - whether or not the individual themselves have consciously acknowledged what that identity is. For many young Ata, part of the journey toward becoming a fully ordained Chye is the discovery and acceptance of their gender identity. Because of this, gender plays no role in the life of an Ata - young biological males are treated no differently than young biological females. All were chosen to develop aso kyen, therefore they are where they are meant to be.
Aso Kyen develops in about 1% of the population of the Island, fairly evenly distributed between the different cultural areas. Awareness generally begins around the ages of 5-7 and it takes about 3 months for a strong enough connection to be established that the Chye are alerted to the new Ata.
Type
Divine
Rarity
Extremely Rare
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