The Haeel are a sedentary group who occupy, along with the rest of the majority of
Myrrdins the territory of
Castallen Owtla. Having lost their empire long ago, they have learned to coexist with the
Tarans who happily share their towns and territory with them. As such, the Myrrdin folk have no territory to claim as their own, but the Haeel on majority cohabitate their Taran neighbors. For the past few centuries, the Haeel have contributed their eccentricities and their command over magical forces to this territory, gaining not only cultural renown but substantial political power.
Appearance
Most Myrrdins are fairly tall, slender and graceful folk, though the Haeel tend to be average in this station and more athletically refined. This is theorized to be due to their lived before the cataclysm, as desert dwelling folk.
In
High Kulnic, the name of the Haeel people refers to the sun god of the Myrrdin Pantheon, with the name meaning "Children of the Stained Glass Sun", and their appearance reflects this; they have luminescent ivory to golden skin tones, with radiant eyes and richly saturated hair colors.
Nothing about a Haeel's features are muted, and it is nearly impossible for a Haeel to go unnoticed. Thus, most don't even try, and even more flaunt.
A Haeel is as likely to take up the center of a room as they are to be the center of attention. The way they carry themselves, how they move--it grabs attention by sheer force of personality alone. Behavior like this, then is encouraged and gives this ethnicity the air of eccentricity.
Regional Differences
Most Haeel have fairly light skin, especially those that live in either colder climates or maintain a sedentary lifestyle within civilization. This is the case for the majority of Haeel that live within Castallen Owtla's territory as these are usually the pervading living conditions for these Haeel.
For those who maintain a more nomadic lifestyle or live in a lower social class, their skin is likely to be more golden due to their exposure to the sun. These particular Haeel also tend to have iridescent quality to their hair, well earning their titles as the Jewel of the Myrrdin, and other like names.
Culture
A Haeel values the eccentricities associated with passion and action. Someone willing to take risks would be valued more by the Haeel than someone who preferred to act cautiously. As such, there are many Haeel than run
naked into the unknown (but usually into danger; it's simply more poetic to put it the other way).
Ideological Conflicts
Haeel naturally come into conflict with their
Leyad brothers and sisters. As their philosophies diverge from one another almost perfectly, they made an enemy they love to hate.
As well, the Haeel don't make good stoics. For those that value passivity and quiet, they may as well take on the company of a Leyad instead. A Haeel is an uproar, a tidal force against all odds, even immovable objects; this grates on other races who value a little more strategy than simply, "I rush in!"
Racial Relations
A Haeel is unique in that they are often the representative of their race to others.
Castallen Owtla
As the political situation currently stands, Myrrdins rule in majority over
Castallen Owtla, while Tarans the serve as political advisors, representatives, and figureheads with little power. This arrangement is agreeable for both parties as the Myrrdin people can benefit from the political flexibility and approachability of the diplomatic Tarans, while the Tarans can enjoy the fruits of the Myrrdin's arcane labors (namely, magical wards against would-be conquerors).
The Haeel here, then, rule alongside their
Seren sisters and brothers in approximately equal measure, maintaining political dominance within the territories theocracy.
Gender Roles
Gender roles are both a social and theological concept for the Myrrdin people. Ones gender is thought to be chosen by the gods, and is therefore a reflection of ones moral responsibilities in society; a Haeel, who represents the sun, is thought to need to uphold the ideals of action, passion, and progress without undermining the other ethnicity's given duties.
She
A woman's actions, in the Haeel mind, center around movement. For this reason, it is usual for a Haeel woman to be allotted social tasks that involve moving, coming and going--while this has traditionally included errands, this also includes warfare, trade, positions of leadership.
By abstracting the idea of movement, we can note that the Haeel woman focuses on matters external to their ethnicity. This is in contract to the man who focuses internally.
He
A man's actions focuses on inclusiveness or bringing people into areas, ideas, etc. While a fairly abstract concept, this applies itself in all kinds of nuanced ways: A Haeel man would be the one to welcome someone into their house, maybe even if it wasn't their house; a Haeel teaches others concepts as a professor, bringing them into new spheres of learning; a Haeel as well could encourage emotional centeredness and vulnerability in others, as they are expected to propagate this into themselves.
Ae
Pronounced like the letter "A", ae is refers to anyone who is identifies as one, multiple, or other genders; as a side note, Aemale is the term used to describe one sexuality that falls outside of the binary. This gender is widely accepted and not discouraged as within
Myrrdin culture, there is a belief in the duality of the sun and moon within the aspect of the star--represented by Seren (the deity in this case).
A maen's duty then is to bring others together. While this is not always done with diplomacy, it is done in terms of leadership and healing. In this way, the external and internal focus of the other two here here joined by unity, or the idea of harmony between these two binary genders.
Warfare
The Myrrdins are not a warfaring people by nature, as their first solution to resource competition is often diplomacy, realocation of other resources, and trade; if all else fails, most Myrrdins once could simply manifest resources with their arcane prowess; with much of this being limited bow, they favor the former three options.
With this in mind, the Myrrdin have still had bloody wars, with
The Crown City, and with amongst their own people, with the Haeel having the highest participation in these conflicts when compared to the other two ethnicities.
For the Glory of the Fiery Sun
The phrase "No one outlasts a Haeel" is a sexual innuendo of the longer and more historically phrase: "Abandon all Hope, for no one outlasts a Haeel siege."
The Haeel were innovative and resourceful when it came to their sieges, and were known for their use of the fire and sun in their strategy. For one, the Haeel invented a mirror shield; while not very useful in way of defense, it functioned as a long distance means of communication between units and to blind archers. As well, the Haeel were famous for their use of fire; they would light oil aflame before launching it at their foes, use sulfuric bombs, or would even heat up sand to a red-hot near flame before launching it down on others. This has earned this tactic the name Haeelfire, often confused for "Hellfire".
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