Yamachai (Yam-ah-Kii)

Natives of the Isles of the Yamachai, south of the Forbidden Isles, this reserved culture of peoples often keep to themselves at least most of the time, though as with other races, they should never be treated as a monolith. For example, the ‘Kingdom of Gold’ on Porpuda’s westernmost tip is also a nation of Yamachai, though these are a very different people to those of Yam in culture and religion. Similarly, a now extinct sub-race of Yamachai once existed in the sunken landmass now known only as ‘The Outer’, who bore white skin.
With long pointy ears and chins, hairless bodies and long lifespans, the Yamachai are quite unlike the other mortal races of the known world, and while they do not live as long as the Vrain can through their constant regeneration, their individual identities are kept and their history and scholarship is just as rich as any in Phurzia, though very different in format.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Possessing a tall, slender frame, Yamachai are an agile race capable of fast reflexes and with a top running speed half as fast again as the fastest humans, rivalling even centaurs and horses. The black claws on their four-fingered hands make them a dangerous race to go hand-to-hand with as well. Often their weapons merely consist of metal gloves to enhance their already deadly slashing capabilities, which along with bursts of strength make them the best hand to hand fighters by a good margin. This doesn’t stop them from using other weapons when available of course, mainly swords, clubs and ranged ones. Their smooth and hairless skin, large and powerful eyes and sideways pointed ears are some of the most immediate things to notice about them, but not the only things. The tops of their skulls are curved at the top and vary in roundness between ethnicities and individuals. The nose is small and flat, resembling some monkey from the northern Isles or even an @Umborri from the far west. Even their blood is silver in colour, unlike any other beings in the natural world, and has led to many a mythology claiming they are born of gods, or at least the Forefathers. The feet are digitigrade, as with centaurs, with four clawed toes, giving them long strides and a naturally high walking speed, though also meaning that a fall can be more dangerous for them than a human. In terms of strength, they can be formidable fighters, though they don’t necessarily have as much stamina as humans or centaurs do. As a result, they conserve their energy more than humans might. This, along with their extended lifespan, helps contribute to the stereotypes they have of humans as being arrogant and reckless.

Genetics and Reproduction

Pregnancies typically last between ten and eleven months. In the Isles, twins are seen as a blessing to the family or being a rare experience, but triplets can be taken as an omen for excessiveness, implying they will have too many mouths to feed in hard times.
In the Golden kingdom, two or more children being born at once is considered very exceptional, and the local priests or governors may shower the family with gifts for propagating their people. The insular and xenophobic nature of the ‘kingdom’ means they fear being outbred by centaurs of the surrounding lands, and hope to eventually return to the Isles of the rest of their race, in the backs of a great army no less.
Naturally, breeding with centaurs is impossible, though attempts have certainly been made from time to time. With humans, it is a more complicated affair, with the resulting Silverskins being strong and often very beautiful, but infertile.

Growth Rate & Stages

Due to their long lifespans and endurance based metabolisms, it takes about twenty-five years for this race to reach sexual maturity. After this, the main differences as they age are wrinkled and discoloured skin, floppier ears and worn down teeth. When old or poor enough, the teeth may wear down all together, making eating unassisted difficult if not impossible. So naturally, the exceptionally old members of this race exist only in well cared for environments.

Ecology and Habitats

With the cool and wet climate of most of their islands, they are used to foraging in waterlogged crops and hunting in mists. As a result, their farms consist of a variety of foods to sustain themselves for the harsh winters. As mountains are sacred spots in their religion for prayer and sacrifices, a nearby mountain is considered essential for their religious life, and a pilgrimage to the higher mountains of the Paw is considered an essential for every Yamachai.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Omnivorous, similar to humans, though their lanky build and faster metabolism makes them more likely to actively hunt prey when possible. Still possessing sharpened canines and claws allows them to more effectively use hand to hand and biting when grappling prey items. This proves dangerous in combat as well.

Biological Cycle

Aging slower than humans, Yamachai are less urgent when it comes to reproduction, and may wait until substantially later to have children, unless in times of emergency or population decline. In the isles, traditions generally encourage a ritual in the rare occurrence that twins are born, but consider triplets or more a bad omen due to the harsher conditions of the islands and mouths to feed.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

Large eyes, small flat nose, thin sharp incisors, small canines and molars.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Found mainly in either the Isles of the Yamachai or the ‘Golden Kingdom’, though minor populations exist across the Forbidden Isles, the Silver Sun and even the odd trading colony in Umbor. The Isles of the Yamachai have the largest population by a great margin however, due to fertile, well defended mountainous land and administration, as the cultish Golden Kingdom tries to encourage high birth rates despite relatively poor lands to propagate their distinct people, and cull weak offspring to ensure purity and survival of the strongest.

Average Intelligence

Cognitive ability is innately similar to that of humans, though their memory is much more long term and more stable, meaning they have a greater recording of historical events, making them excellent scholars. As a result, their conversational skills are quite different in needs to most human cultures, and they may speak in a more drawn out manner or use courtesies in court that would be considered overdrawn in most human societies.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Capable of not only seeing in the dark, but in the ultraviolet light spectrum, Yamachai are competent hunters in even the darkest conditions. Additionally, they have one of the greatest ranges of hearing of any species, and certainly the greatest of the sapient races. They are said to experience prophetic dreams in the priesthood of their religion, and there are even whispers of priests who can perform arcane acts through piercing the Shield of the Realms through great acts, though these are clearly nothing more than rumours.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

In the Isles:

Masculine; Maiyuhi, Duyokowa, Kumina, Un, Homoyi, Yurondo, Tzuki, Noruskai, Iana, Hiniriyuu.
Feminine; Yiko, Sheio, Nama, Leio, Myuwin, Shiru, Yinika, Yuka, Yeke.

In the Golden Kingdom

Masculine; Nowpac Xīchoto, Chemunra Hotok, Korotãag, Yimacaq, Chachatuq.
Feminine; Nisha, Xonpux, Kaaganawaa, Hoshi-Hashi.

Major Organizations

Isles of the Yamachai The Golden Kingdom.

Beauty Ideals

Since Yamachai lack hair on any part of their bodies, it obviously does not factor into their standards of masculine or feminine beauty. Instead, they consider graceful movement and elegant frames to be standards to compare. Even more so than in humans, there is pressure to be athletic and flexible in order to be seen as beautiful. Clothing styles, piercings and makeup are additionally seen as elements to add or subtract beauty. Piercings are more common in Yamachai men, while makeup is more for their women, though exceptions on either side can exist. Individuals born male can live as women or vice versa through the blessing of a local priest, and such individuals are protected by the law of the faith.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

In the isles of the Yamachai themselves, under the domains of the High Priest, the Yamato tongue is dominant, though local dialects exist with distinct phrases and pronunciations that are more than mere accents. The nomadic mountain clans of the Scythe peninsula speak a variety of tongues, some of which are closer to that of Yamato than one another.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

With a capital more than a millennium old and with the longer lifespans of their species, Yamachai cultural practises go back many years, and while regional differences exist, the Isles of Yam share a rich history of traditions. The exile cultures of southern Tzunar and the Golden Kingdom are varying degrees of distinct of course, but even so, certain practises such as incense burning and the art of piercing are present in these as well.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Unlike human cultures in the Forbidden Isles to the north, the Yamachai perceive time not as the past being behind and the future forward, but in reverse. They believe this to be because the past is what we can already see, and the further we get from it, the more difficult it is to remember. Meanwhile the future is what we do not see, merely prepare and hope to look back on it once it has happened.
The priests of the Isles perform rituals in their monasteries in mountain sides, burning incense and performing sacrifices to bring themselves in harmony with the Source and the lesser gods that the Source created. The hope is that enough sacrifices will one day culminate in the peaceful return of magic into the world as it once was, as a true manifestation of the Source. However, a certain more militant wing of this religion exists which believes that the collection of the conduits between the worlds, sometimes linked with the Great Crystals of the Olmese mythology, will directly restore the state of magic to the world under their order.
The mummified remains of animals, captured human and centaur slaves and even child volunteers are found throughout mountain caverns, signs of centuries, if not millennia of voluntary and involuntary sacrifices made by the priests to restore harmony to creation, allowing the deceased spirits to avoid reincarnation cycles and become one with the Source, something normally limited to only the most pious of priests.

Common Taboos

Due to the myths of the Yamachai’s origins, the riding of horse, donkey or camel is considered sacrilege among their people, and anyone who uses these is exiled from the Isles as a traitor, little better than the wild Apostates that dwell in the forests. This results in a diaspora of Yamachai communities and exiles who engage in this in protest.
In the golden kingdom, no such taboo exists and a cavalry of camels and herbivorous scythebeasts exists in their community, forming an elite core of their army.

History

The oldest accounts of the Yamachai are shrouded in myth and legend, and for us outsiders, should be taken with a grain of salt. The legends of the Yamachai claim they were once bred as a mixing of the two races of Forefather and human, inheriting the power and mysticism of one race and the creativity and mortality of the other, though other more foul legends claim that this same process was done through trickery. Furthermore, the claims go that less fortunate human women were forced upon by the crueler Forefathers, and in their anguish, bore other races of the Yamachai Isles, the ferocious apostates and the misunderstood giants. This latter race were tall beings, more than five metres tall, and with claws as long as a sword blade. None had a single hair in their bodies, as with the Yamachai, but were wrinkled, with long spindly arms and thick hips and pillar like legs. Though vegetarian, they were mistaken by early Yamachai and even visiting humans to be baby-eaters, starting a centuries-long crusade against them. This saw the end of the giants from Yamato and southern Tzunar, though the apostates remain the greatest danger in those southern isles to this day.
When the Forefathers and N’Krai warred against each other in the earliest days of the world, the Yamachai were fiercely loyal to their fathers, more so than the humans who came to doubt them more and more. When the N’Krai won a great victory over the Forefathers, the legends say humans and centaurs alike rode off from the battle, leaving many Yamachai to be massacred. From this time onward, the general culture of the Isles has a taboo against riding horse or centaur. Thus the Yamachai of their titular isles are famed exclusively for their infantry, with those who do wish to ride onto battle forming exile communities or serving as mercenaries. This taboo is not present in the eastern kingdom for unknown reasons.
The divergence between silver and golden Yamachai is a mysterious one, but is believed to have occurred at least three or four thousand years ago, perhaps more. This explains their different skin and eye tones and strikingly different cultures. Their religions are also significantly different, yet the elements between them suggest they are indeed derived from some distant past event, with elements of truth and elements of fiction in each.

One particularly mysterious aspect of the Yamachai is the population on the easternmost island of Chumpana. Those living there have lighter, almost white skin and follow their gods not as servants and avatars of the Source, but as their own beings as men. It has been strongly theorised that these people are kin to the legendary civilisation once living in the small rocky island known as the Outer. Supposedly once a larger island, this civilisation of Yamachai as white as snow was said to be the greatest of all before it sank into the ocean. When this happened, if it ever did, is a subject of debate. The legends claim that the city fell into the ocean five thousand years ago, long before any other group was even known to be active in the Isles. Others claim that they collapsed much more recently around the time of the Fires. However, the lack of interaction with contemporary people in southern Porpuda or elsewhere spells doubts on this recent theory.

Common Myths and Legends

Yamachai of the Isles and Tzunar believe that the Source is in and beyond all things, being the origin of everything in existence, functionally being a form of panentheism. Even so called gods and spirits are merely manifestations of the divided consciousness that encompasses reality. Not believing in gods as the peoples of the Forbidden Isles do, they acknowledge the Forefathers or Ancient Ones as beings directly stemming from the Source, being the first self aware beings to arise. The belief is that the Ancient Ones took over and guided ancient humans, breeding with them to create the Yamachai, giants and apostates, hence the commonality of their unique skin and blood colours compared to other races.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Forefathers
• Human

Origin/Ancestry

According to the Yamato legends, the Yamachai are the children of the lesser gods who derived from the source, though other human religions see them as the result of breeding between the Forefathers and humans, with the implications of this being disputed

Lifespan

At least one hundred and fifty years, though old individuals can last as long as three hundred or even longer in the right conditions.

Average Height

Males: 2.1m Females: 2m

Average Weight

75-90kg.

Average Physique

Taller but slimmer on average than humans, with almost spindly limbs.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Most Yamachai, particularly those of the home Isles, have silver skin and golden eyes. Those of the Golden kingdom have the reverse traits. Those of the easternmost island of Chumpana, and likely the extinct ‘Outer’ people have white skin and also lighter eyes compared to their western kin, often yellow or cream.

Geographic Distribution

• Grandston
• Yamato

Related Organizations

• Zcaroth