The most numerous species on Amvat, the Bhalli (meaning "firstborn") are a hardy people. Composed mostly by poor nomadic herders, they travel from one Naaj-Kioo to another to sustain themselves and their animals. They are organized in numerous tribes and factions, far too many to enlist here, each with their own cultural traits. However, most Bhalli activities resemble those of early civilizations, being a combination of hunting-gathering, rearing cattle, and war. While many Bhalli are peaceful and even friendly, most tribes follow a philosophy based around the survival of the fittest, being more than willing to kill and enslave their fellow tribes if given the chance. There are even some cannibalistic Bhalli who subsist entirely on raiding and capturing other Amvatiaa for consumption.
Despite their barbaric habits and humble lifestyle, the Bhalli are the true protagonists of Amvat's history. They are, according to themselves, the first child-race of Amvat, and were there to presence the deeds of their gods. It is the Bhalli who carve the Daa-Xiek with their achievements and their beliefs. Theirs are the great legends and anecdotes of heroes and demigods. It is they who continue to be loyal to the ancient rites of religion and magic given to them by the Goddess. Truly, the Bhalli have every reason in the Multiverse to be proud of themselves as a people.
The Bhalli are strongly built, though most ethnic groups within the species are quite short. While there are many racial differences within their species, most of them have broad noses, reddish skin, and deep amber eyes. The males are completely bald, while the females have long, silky hair, which they tie in complicated knots and arrangements. Most tribes wear no clothes at all, and merely adorn themselves with rudimentary jewelry and tattoos, which have religious significance. At most, they use large cloaks to protect themselves from the suns' harshest rays during the day and to resist the cold at night.
Water is an essential element for the Bhalli. Being the source of life, the Bhalli follow a strict code regarding it, known as Juh-Lai, the Law of Water. This law stipulates the following three principles.
1. The sanctity of water. Water must be kept pure, free of contaminants that might make it undrinkable. To pollute water is the gravest blasphemy that could be committed. Whoever dares do such a thing is branded a vih-ku, a "forsaken sinner," and forced to wander the desert alone. It is a terrible fate, for these individuals are branded with a burning curse on their foreheads that makes them nearly immortal, but subject of an unquenchable thirst. They eventually go mad and become violent, bestial creatures, hostile to all life, including each other.
2. The Blessings must be shared. Water from a Naaj-Kioo cannot be refused to anyone. Except for the vih-ku, Bhalli who have claimed a spring cannot deny visitors access to water. It is a law of hospitality and goodwill that ensures that no one who reaches a Blessing will die of thirst and upholds the value of generosity espoused by the Goddess herself. Some Bhalli are more generous than others. For instance, some settlements allow their guests to fill vases and pots with water for them to take into the desert, while others give them just the exact quantity to keep them from perishing.
3. No blood must be shed near a Blessing. Blood pollutes water. It is as simple as that. To uphold the first rule, the Bhalli refrain from any kind of violence when visiting a spring. No matter what conflicts or grudges may exist between different Bhalli groups or individuals, blood must not be spilled. This is enforced with extreme prejudice by all settlements, and those that break the law inevitably become vih-ku, hated and spat on by all Amvatiaa.
In the majority of Bhalli societies, the males are warriors and tend to the animals, while the females are gifted in magic and divination, working as healers, priestesses, scribes and astronomers, guiding the tribe through its tribulations. Male Bhalli with magical abilities are an extremely rare occurrence, but whenever one is born, it is seen as a sign of good fortune for the tribe. Beyond this, gender roles in Bhalli societies are almost perfectly egalitarian, with both males and females caring for children and domestic tasks. The concept of marriage or monogamy is completely alien to the Bhalli. An individual may have as many sexual partners as they desire, and only holds the responsibility of rearing the children product of such unions.
The Bhalli have a large variety of rituals, songs and dances, and a very rich oral tradition. If there was ever any sign of culture and civilization on Amvat, I would not doubt to attribute it to the Bhalli. While they are still majorly nomadic, some of the greatest settlements on the planet's surface were created by the Bhalli, either alone, or in alliance with another species. In truth, they are a species worth the attention of any scholar or explorer.
The Yidh (literally "valuable [ones]" in their language) are a peculiar species. Their skin is the lightest shade of blue, with aquamarine and gold markings spread throughout their bodies. Their faces are narrow, mostly hairless, with flat noses and sharp features. Their lean forms are covered by beautiful, intricately sewn robes and headdresses. Although they are neither tall nor muscular, they are strong enough to survive the desert's harshness with much more ease than other races, for their bodies require only occasional hydration. They can even change colors, albeit temporarily and with much strain to their bodies, which enables them to camouflage with their surroundings. Their species possesses a secondary set of arms, much like my own people, but instead of employing them for writing, the Yidh use these arms for commercial purposes, such as carrying their merchandise or accounting.
If the Imperial Commerce Guild ever met the Yidh, they would recruit them into their organization without a second thought. The Yidh’s religion is trade. Their entire lifestyle is based on commerce, and they excel at it. Master negotiators and dealers, they travel the inclement desert in caravans, carrying their precious goods from settlement to settlement, often approaching other nomadic peoples to trade with them. Whenever a Yidh caravan approaches a tribe, it is a time of celebration, for they carry with them items key to surviving in the desert, for which any tribe will gladly pay, no matter how high the price.
Nothing is off-hands for the Yidh. There is nothing that cannot be appropriated, weighed and traded. Water, food, cattle, beasts of burden, clothing, medicine, slaves, weapons, magic… the Yidh possess all this, and more. The collective wealth of the entire Yidh tribes most likely exceeds any riches held by even the most powerful city-state on the planet. They have even helped build some of said cities, for the Yidh's most valuable merchandise is technology, which they scavenge from any marooned spacecraft and crash site they find. It is with this technology that marvels such as the Blessed Triad have built their power and influence. Were it not for their individual greed, which prevents cooperation, the Yidh would undoubtedly be the dominant species on Amvat.
The Yidh have only one permanent outpost, called Naerebat's Citadel. Named after its founder, the Yidh merchant-hero Naerebat, the Citadel is located on a colossal bridge that crosses the gaping abyss known as Jighare-Knaq. At the bottom of this crevice lies a flowing river from which the citizens of Naerebat's Citadel obtain their precious water.
The Citadel is notorious for being the most important trading hub on Amvat, besides the Wandering City. Aside from a few living quarters, the whole of the Citadel is a sprawling marketplace that rivals Troll Market and Tibsom in size and Neik-Tav and Utterly Bazaar in stock. Virtually anything on Amvat can be found there, from ancient tomes of magic and slaves to advanced technology and weapons. In truth, the Citadel is the hub of the Yidh's power, and even the Blessed Triad are careful not to provoke its wrath.
Every culture has a pantheon of their own. The gods and heroes of a culture protect it, guide its evolution and, eventually, set them on the path of independence and freedom. The Korrh are another story. According to myth, the Korrh are not born of the Goddess' will and benevolence. Instead, the Korrh are the product of rape and violence, the incestuous offspring of the Goddess, born when she was defiled by her brother, the Desert.
Korrh means, in the Bhalli common tongue, "accursed," and it is not an exaggeration. Their bodies, while strong when compared to the Bhalli, are extraordinarily deformed. Their bones, twisted and sharp, protrude from their flesh. Their skin is like old parchment, yellowish and dry, with pus-filled sores that never close and wounds that expose their organs and muscle tissue. They truly look like undead beings, rotting and twisting in perpetual agony. Because of their deformities, the Korrh are each uniquely shaped, besides superficial similarities. In this respect, they are like demons, and feared as such by most of the planet's inhabitants.
The Korrh have a culture based on pain and suffering. They are violent savages that practice the darkest magics and seek to inflict upon others the same pain they themselves suffer. While there are numerous Bhalli groups that have similarly violent practices, they are all for the sake of survival in their harsh environment. The Korrh, on the other hand, practice violence for the sake of violence. They travel in packs of five, actively hunting other beings to eat or to bring to their mating rituals. Said rituals are true monuments to horror, full of the foulest actions in the Multiverse. They are massive orgies where rape, murder, torture, mutilation, incest, cannibalism and miscellaneous debauchery are all present and welcome.
The Korrh's reproduction cycle is horrendous of its own merit. After violent intercourse, the females spend little more than a day gestating their offspring, which then gnaw their way out of the womb. The newborn Kohrr are as deformed and repulsive as their progenitors, and equally violent and sadistic. Their parents, assuming they did not perish during intercourse or childbirth, will attempt to defile and devour the weakest of the lot, and only teach their dark magic and violent ways to those that survive.
Being physically strong and proficient in dark magic, the Korrh are amongst the most dangerous beings on Amvat. They are the monsters that plague children's nightmares, and the subject of many a horror story to tell around the fire at night. They are so feared that even the most bloodthirsty of the Bhalli seek to appease them by leaving behind live captives for them to prey upon. Truly, there is no one in Amvat that desires an encounter with the Korrh.
The only advantage the Bhalli and other species have over the Korrh, is that, despite their freakish abilities and quick reproduction cycle, the Korrh are too violent to effectively cooperate. They often kill each other for the pettiest reasons, and it is not uncommon for Korrh individuals to present mutilations caused by their fellows. Given enough time, even the most efficient Korrh hunting pack turns against itself and suffers casualties severe enough to make them easy prey to a well-armed Bhalli tribe.
The Khae-Mok ("hallowed ones" ) are a species of priests, sorcerers and scientists who dedicate themselves entirely to the discovery and exploration of Amvat's magical properties. Though they are gifted in combat magic, which makes them formidable opponents, they view an overemphasis on this branch of magic as a path to darkness and evil. For this reason, the Khae-Mok prefer to focus on more peaceful areas, such as healing, astronomy, plant manipulation and alchemy, on all of which they are experts. The Khae-Mok claim not to be from Amvat, but rather from another realm that was destroyed in a cataclysmic war, which explains their pacifist tendencies.
The Khae-Mok are even taller than my own people, and must seem as giants to the Bhalli. Their skin is very dark yet reflects light as if it were metallic. It almost appears to be made of obsidian, like the Daa-Xiek. Their faces look like they have been sculpted, chiseled into a perfectly symmetrical form. They are very lean, though strong, with robust arms and long, thin digits. Their species is extremely long lived, with a thousand uniuw being considered a short lifespan.
The Khae-Mok are hermaphrodites, being able to change their sex under certain circumstances, such as a lack of partners of the opposite sex. Despite this and their long lifespans, the Khae-Mok are extremely few, with their numbers being in the lower hundreds. They are a species plagued by infertility, and their extinction once seemed imminent. This changed when the Khae-Mok discovered that, for reasons unknown, interbreeding with the Bhalli produced pure Khae-Mok offspring.
With this discovery, the Khae-Mok formed a symbiotic relationship with certain Bhalli tribes, who call them fahjil. The Bhalli offer them suitable partners for reproduction and in exchange, the Khae-Mok teach them magic and science, helping the tribes to gain advantage and domain over the elements. In this manner, the Khae-Mok have been as instrumental as the Yidh merchants and the Bhalli laborers and architects in establishing the few permanent settlements found on the planet.
If there was ever a race worthy of study by scientists and magicians alike, it would be the Silvarii. Hailing from the hidden village of Viss-Mai, the Silvarii are close evolutionary relatives of the Bhalli. However, there are several morphological differences between both species. For instance, the Silvarii are as lean as the Yidh, which contrast with the rather robust Bhalli. They are taller than their sister species, and much less resistant to Amvat's harshness. Their skin is soft, possessing a rather greenish-blue hue and is much more sensitive than that of the Bhalli. Their limbs have five digits instead of six, ending in slightly sharpened fingernails. Lastly, the Silvarii have a symbiotic relationship with a most unexpected ally: plant-life.
Viss-Mai, meaning "Hidden Blessing" in Silvarii tongue, is a village located within a massive fissure in the surface of Amvat called Naajhe-Loc. Here, hidden from the rest of Amvat by a series of sharp, deformed rock formations, lies one of the planet's largest Naaj-Kioo. It flows from one of the fissure's walls in the form of a waterfall, creating a large lake at the bottom of it. Its moisture impregnates the walls and allows the growth of colossal plants, which would be nearly impossible anywhere else. The Silvarii have built their homes on these magnificent specimens, and their village spreads throughout the entire fissure. Viss-Mai is an intricate maze of homes of various sizes, founded directly on the trunks and branches of humongous trees, connected by wooden bridges. It is a lively place, filled with laughter and music.
The Silvarii do not farm or otherwise practice standard sedentary activities. Instead, they live directly from the earth, feeding on the fruits and vegetables provided to them by their environment. They also hunt for insects, which are an important part of their diet. Curiously, the Silvarii are one of the two peoples in Amvat who have access to fish and mollusks, which are considered a delicacy in their culture. To hunt these creatures, the Silvarii have become expert swimmers, divers and fishers, and move through water as if it were a second home to them.
Viss-Mai is, unlike any other settlement on Amvat, completely protected from the violent, dusty winds of the desert. The rocky ridges surrounding the fissure form a barrier against most of the elements and even the extreme climatological changes seem to subside within the village. Granted, the denizens of Viss-Mai technically cheat, for their magic greatly enhances the fissure's defenses against the planet's wrath.
This takes me to an important subject. The Silvarii cannot live without the plants found in Naajhe-Loc. These organisms are the source of the mana the Silvarii employ to hide and protect their village both against the elements and other Amvatiaa. Without them, the Silvarii are almost comically weak in terms of sorcery. Outside their home, they are virtually powerless against a cruel, inclement world. As such, the Silvarii rely entirely on the plants, and have formed a symbiotic relationship with them. In exchange for living space, nurture and mana, the Silvarii combat insect plagues and cut down any parasitic lifeforms that may infest the trees. They also worship the Daa-Iv, the Green Spirits, which are the tutelar deities of Naajhe-Loc, and make sacrifices to them.
Being a paradise, Viss-Mai is regarded as something of a myth by the rest of the Amvatiaa. Those few who stumble upon it are always welcome warmly by the Silvarii, as long as they come in peace. Most people choose to stay there and join the Silvarii, for obvious reasons. In fact, the few records of the village's existence come from those that attempted to conquer it and managed to escape alive. Emphasis must be made on "escaping," because any would-be-conqueror will be lucky to leave the village in one piece.
The Silvarii, despite not possessing advanced combat magic, are virtually invincible in their home. Their magic allows them to manipulate plant-life to a devastating effect. With a few spells and rituals, they can turn their method of subsistence into a deathtrap. On top of that, the Silvarii are expert healers, which means they also know the opposite science: poisons. Silvarii arrowheads and melee weapons are coated in a wide variety of toxins, both magic and mundane, whose effects go from instant necrosis to the slow, painful growth of carnivorous plant-life within the victim's body.
The Silvarii are, thus, both the warmest hosts and the fiercest enemies one could find on Amvat. Their village and way of life, hidden away from prying eyes, will probably continue to be a mythical paradise to the rest of Amvat, the stuff of legend and awe amongst even the most skeptic Amvatiaa.
