The Fenwyn

"Now, the fenwyn? The fenwyn are one of my most cherished memories. Their cities are truly the defintion of beauty! Leaves in their hair and skin, running through vast trees or wading through gentle calm waters. People who are not defined by such a thing called a anatomy - they are as tall, as broad, as stretched as they so please." - Matija Saša Lučić, a spiritologist from Cathqouile university, answering questions on his memoir Hidden Corners.

The fenweyn are the tribe associated with Fenlina, often nicknamed the spirit of petals and roots. Characterised after flowering plants, the fenweyn are in the southwest reaches of Yulca - stretching between the island's "tail" and the Yulca Gulf. Fenweyn are not shape changers the same way ry are, but their powers still lay in the malleability of their forms.
Usually taking after one plant - often a decision that comes down to growing conditions - the fenwyn's abilities will depend heavily on the fenweyn in question. Fenwyn's growth is far more rapid than plants normally are, and restricted only by their humanoid body structure, fenweyn have almost total control over what parts of their plant biology they show moment to moment. Some fenweyn chose to lean heavily, wearing thin clothing in favour of maximum leaf coverage, while others may look indistinguishable from an ihan ae until they step into the sunlight. Fenweyn's militaristic power is famed for this ability as well: components changing their skin to bark or thorns in the heat of battle. This freedom is limited by biological functions, however. While a fenweyn can keep up appearances and drink like you or I, they are far more comfortable putting out roots into soil or water - or covering their heads in leaves and photosynthesising. A fenweyn in a dark, stone room is a very unhappy one indeed.
Fenweyn settlements tend to function more like independent cities – although this is centralised in a capital. Fenweyn settlements will depend on the environment the settlement is based in. This close relationship is both cultural and physical. Fenweyn can read the chemical signals sent off by plants, and cultivating plants within the cities takes precedent to almost everything else because of the services those plants subsequently provide. Take Vernole: a city semi-submerged inland in a bog. The fenweyn here take after sedges, rushes, water lilies and pond weed. Fenweyn after grasses turn their hand into grass strands, while water lily fenweyn stay half-submerged, wading through the city and their damp homes. Zolognara on the other hand is a woodland based city, the fenweyn here taking after woodland climbers and trees. This is all centralised under Penlasei, the name given to the majority of fenweyn territory. Some it, however, falls under the neighbouring country Magoya - the home of the Valimeana, in a conflict that has been ongoing for hundreds of years.
Fenlina is old, first taking hold 336 years ago. The territory had been in dispute by two other spirits: Leoipteryx in the south, and Hyphaeligi in the west. Hyphaeligi was the previous occupant, getting lost in the Flowered Grounds, or the Cloaking. An event where flowering plants started to smother the ground. The Hyphaeligi was attached by the Hypni tribe: a tribe of fungi and slime moulds.
Fenlina is subjected to storms. Predominately, there's the Darking in the east: something that mainly affected the Fenlina and Valimeana. Where the spirits intersect, the area goes completely dark. There's also hypin - a disease that is thought to have roots in a storm caused by Hyphaeligi that cause spots to appear on fenweyn's leaves. Without medical attention it can prove fatal, but there are ways to treat it that have minimised the impact hypin has.

Basic Information

Anatomy

"I will admit... Fenwyn require specalist care. When a patient comes in, it will often come to our fenwyn physician first and foremost. Like can care for like, and in my experience? The technicalities of chlorophyll are... Beyond my training." - Iris Elke, a ry doctor at the Balawey Medical Center

Fenwyn are defined by the same anatomical structure as flowering plants. Because of this, they enjoy a lot more freedom in their body forms then the other tribes. Some  - especially those that take after trees - enjoy heights of up to 5m. Others have learnt to tolerate partial or total submersion, and do not have to worry around respiration as frequently. It's this flexibility that has given fenwyn fighters a somewhat alarming reputation, being able to change their forms to match plants natural defences. Thorns, poisons, spikes, and bark are all on the table: and those intent on being a force to be reckoned with may learn to devolp those skills.
The only limitation to fenwyn are 3 factors that will inevitable affect their body forms. Water, nutrients, and photosythesis. Many remain green skinned from this limitation, and fenwyn architecture is designed with these limitations in mind. For the travelling fenwyn, many have learnt to deal with this pragmatically as well. In a ry tavern it would not be unusal to see a fenwyn drinking from their cup through a hand that had been changed to roots dipped into the cup.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Fenweyn have much the same needs as plant. Nutrients, water, and sunlight. Some seek this exactly as a plant do: sitting in the sun and rooted, accessing the water table and nutrients in the soil. Others - typically those in the capital or traveling outside of Penlasi - will access this through more convential means. By drinking and eating food. Sunlight remains a core component, to the point that "Fen lamps" are fairly common across both Penlasi, Magoya, and accompanying those travelling. This small lights sit as a necklace, ensuring at this some of the body can continue photosythesising, and are typically made by fenweyn, valia, or ihan ae technitions working with the valiamaenia spirit.

"The first time we had a fenwyn in, I was about... 8? And I remember when I served their drink, placed it on the table, and they thanked me. And then placed their hand into the cup. And their hand split apart into several white tendrils occupying the glass. Spread around the cup's edges and then the water simply... Vanished. This was the Ice Flats! I dropped my tray!" - Njála Steingrímur, owner of the most northernly inn known - The Frozen Skua, the last inn at the edge of the Ice Flats.

Biological Cycle

Fenweyn follow a rather unusual biological cycle. Like plants, fenweyn come from seeds. This can be carried by a person no matter the gender, and for the first few years of a fenweyn's life the child is entirely sessile, staying in one place. Roughly the same age children will learn to walk is when fenweyn will detatch themselves from their home soil and walk.
Depending on the plant, some get sleepy in the winter. The Spring will usually hold a grand celebration for those who wake up, as some do chose to return to this home soil and hibernate.

Cultural Pulls:

The Fenlina borrow from Italian & Greek phonology

Origin/Ancestry

[I'll name this soon I promise]

Lifespan

70-80yrs

Average Height

1.5m-5m

Average Weight

20kg - 180kg

Other Links:

Zolognara

Zolognara is a city based around a bog. Many of it's residents take after bog plants — water lilies, sedges, rushes, cotton plants and grasses are common to find in it's depths. Much of the city is semi submerged, Zolognara seeing a clear distinction made towards the visitor's portion and the fenwyn's. If you wish to leave the trading hub at the center — supported high on wooden planks above the water — you will have to wade in the knee deep bog these Fenwyn call home.

Vernole

Vernole is a city where trees intermingle with the buildings. The growth partially controlled by specialist Fenwyn architects, this is a city where the great roots and twisted branches of trees have become home. Tree based fenwyn are expected — but relatively rare. Woodland floor plants like bluebells, wood sorrels, herbs, nettles, and wood anemones are common to find. Creeper plants also, ivies, mistletoes, and other vines maybe found in it's treetops.

Penlasi

Stretching wide, Penlasi is a city that sits beyond the mountains. It's the most... City like of the fenwyn cities, small clay huts dotted throughout the extensive grass planes. Grass fenwyn will be your most common find, but wildflower species are not uncommon either.