Assadin

Traitors, Invaders, Rulers

The Assadin are the native inhabitants of the continent Atrana, which lies beyond the Amber Ocean far east of Ivendarea. Atrana is characterized by its internal conflicts and civil wars, with national borders changing and shifting constantly. Natural resources are scarcely and unevenly spread on Atrana and therefore pose one of the main points of conflict.
While in Atrana there are seven distinct ethnic groups of Assadin with common cultural heritage, it is much harder to distinguish them in Ivendarea. On Atrana the groups are much less mixed and intertwined, separated by generations of conflict. The Assadin who emigrated to Ivendarea though share a much tighter bond despite originally consisting of different ethnic groups, sharing a religion and homeland among other things in a land very foreign, dangerous, and different to their own. When speaking about the Assadin culture as a whole it is therefore necessary to distinguish between those living on Atrana, and those in Ivendarea, as both groups are culturally distinct of each other - and they are also not necessarily on friendly terms.
The two main groups of Assadin that came to Ivendarea all those years ago are the Kessem, with Zerenda having been a Kessem prince and their leader, and the Eesse, who at the time had a shaky alliance with Zerenda's homeland Astairus. Other groups of Assadin are present in much smaller numbers in Ivendarea as well, such as the Kunae who arrived in larger numbers in the decades following Zerenda's Conquest, but as mentioned all groups have meanwhile mixed enough to make distinctions between them harder and harder.

Basic Information

Anatomy

• Assadin have an average height of 175 centimeters
• Skin tones range from darkest browns to tan and olive colours, with light complexions being the rarest
• Most common eye colours are black, brown, gold, and sometimes dark green or red; grey or blue eyes are rare and are more likely to occur with lighter skintones
• The most common haircolours are on the brown to black spectrum, with, again, lighter colours more rare
• The Assadin have small, rounded ears and in comparison to the Nyr taller, broader bodies

Genetics and Reproduction

• On average, an Assadin family has 2-4 children
• Most Assadin groups differentiate between 2-4 distinctive genders with varying names
• Assadin are capable of reproducing with Nyr, Aapha, and Kitu, with likelihood of a pregnancy occurring ranging from rare with the Nyr and Aapha to more common with the Kitu; children of this mixed heritage usually bear similarities to both parents

Ecology and Habitats

The Assadin's home continent Atrana has a predominantly warm to moderate climate. Atrana's landscape ranges from deserts to jungles and dense forests, with a few southern islands were snow is a possibility but doesn't occur regularly.
In Ivendarea the Assadin population density is notably higher in Ivendarea's southern, moderate to subtropical half. In fact, one of Zerenda's main motivations to turn Saratheas into the new capital of the nation was the fact that northeastern Canwyl was not only very cut off of the rest of civilisation but in one of the most uninhabitable regions of the country by his standards.

Biological Cycle

• The typical age an assadin reaches is 80 years in Ivendarea, which is longer than on their war-torn and unstable home continent; many attribute the longer life also to Ivendarea's inherent magical energies often linked to rumors about the Nyr's seemingly unnaturally long lifespans
• Infancy lasts from 1-3 years, at which point children have usually learned to speak, walk, and are beginning to show their distinct personality
• Childhood is short for the Assadin, and children particularly from poorer families are asked to help with work from the ages of 10 onwards
• Most Assadin reach puberty at an age of 10-15, and are considered adults at an age of 20, while most don't start their own families until their late twenties and early thirties
• Fertility lasts a long while, only beginning to decrease at an age of 50 years
• Assadin begin to show first signs of age in their 30s, with single hairs beginning to turn white and wrinkles forming in the face
• Someone is considered old age from 60 years onward, and only in rare cases individuals reach ages of 90 and above

Additional Information

Social Structure

One of the main distinctions that can be made between the Assadin in Atrana versus those in Ivendarea is how their social structure evolved since one group split off of the other after Zerenda's conquest.
In Atrana honouring the lands comes before all else. Atrana's grounds are holy, and disrespecting it has many times over been the cause of conflict and war. Political alliances are important, but in the end a means to an end, as are family ties and relationships. Siblings have betrayed each other and caused civil wars before, because either believed the other didn't have the best intentions for their lands and people. Rulers favouring the wrong child in splitting their heritage easily can bring civil war upon them. Nations that were mortal enemies 200 years ago might now become allies to overthrow a former friendly neighbor, because they refuse to trade their rare resources with them.
In the moment in which Zerenda decided to disobey his father, to not return to Atrana after conquering Ivendarea for his homeland, he committed the worst of crimes imaginable: he renounced his allegiance and connection to Atrana as a whole. Betraying his father was the least of his crimes, but he added insult to injury after even his siblings begged him to see reason and return home. He and everyone who followed him to Ivendarea were soon branded as traitors and their descendants are, until today, treated with much distrust.
In Ivendarea initially this mentality continued on. With people no longer fighting in honour of Atrana, they fought in honour of Zerenda, political alliances were often considered more important than family relations and other allegiances. This is also reflected in Zerenda's attempts to forge an alliance with Iovana Brestine, asking her to marry one of his sons to unite their people against outsiders, which Brestine refused.
Over time though, adapting more and more to Ivendarea and learning more about how the Nyr survived in this strange and foreign nation, the Assadin's perspective began to shift. With abundant resources but hostile surroundings communities and relationships built to last became much more valued than short-term allegiances. The Ivendarean Assadin have much stronger family ties, with children being valued more as precious gifts rather than the warriors of future conflicts. Government employees such as scholars, soldiers, and bureaucrats regularly receive time off to visit distant family members. The elders of the communities also have a higher standing in Ivendarea. In Atrana, elderly people rarely are in a position of power, and it is considered selfish of rulers or high-ranking officials to try to hold their position beyond the age of 50 years. Not rarely are they forcefully taken out of power if they refuse to make room for younger generations. In Ivendarea, where among the Nyr elders enjoy the utmost respect, elderly Assadin also more commonly are in positions of power or at the head of communities, where they act as moral guidance, priests, or teachers.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Considering the world's entire Assadin population, the Assadin of Ivendarea make up only about 10% of it, while in Ivendarea they make up about 35% of the population.

Average Intelligence

Assadin have a reputation of being great strategical thinkers and talented inventors. In their home nations, higher education is left only to the most privileged, which is why they aren't know to produce many traditional scholars. In Ivendarea though the Academy of Saratheas is attended by just as many Assadin as by other ethnic groups.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

• Allegiances are tremendously important for the Assadin, which can be showcased through naming conventions
• Every person has a given name, an inherited bloodline name which ties them to a specific family, as well as an allegiance name which positions them in a larger political faction
• people belonging to the same bloodline don't necessarily need to be related to each other by blood; most are, but it is possible, similar to joining a political allegiance, to join a family by completely renouncing any ties to one's original family for example because they betrayed an individuals personal ideals
• given names don't usually change throughout a person's life, bloodline names can under certain circumstances (marriage to a different family, renouncing one's own family), and allegiance names may change several times throughout a person's life depending on how much political turmoil they live through
• In Ivendarea allegiance names play almost no role in everyday life anymore, only in particularly old families that still have ties to Atrana
• Children are sometimes named after particularly honourable ancestors, but more commonly nowadays they are named after virtues or natural forces; in Ivendarea it is not unheard of that Assadin bear Ivendarean/typical Nyr names or names that are a mixture of both cultures

History

Old Atranaean legends and religious myths tell the tale of how a comet crashed in Atrana, splintering into seven pieces, long before there was life on the continent. At the time Atrana was a lifeless wasteland consisting mainly of desert, covered by ice in the south and sand and earth in the north. The comet's pieces spread across the entire continent, taking root in all corners of Atrana, and the comet's inherent magic breathed life into the dead earth. Plants, animals, and the first Assadin rose from the ground - Assadin meaning nothing but "children of the comet" in their native language Azash.
The seven splinters of the comet created therefore seven distinct tribes of Assadin, all with their personal strengths, weaknesses, and characteristics, adapted to the region they originate from, but also dependent of the other tribe's resources. Much like how each splinter of the comet was all but that, a splinter, the tribes were able to survive on their own only just, but they couldn't prosper in their daily fight for survival. Alliances were forged, but never lasted. The figurative comet is splintered and broken, and putting it back together to last seems a sheer impossible challenge.
The original seven people of Atrana are the Eesse, Hemphrat, Kessem , Kunae , Khesan, Vago, and Yasum. The nations they have founded and that fell apart over the course of the centuries had many names, often inspired by Atrana's landscape or named after particularly strong rulers and bloodlines. Astairus for example was named after the way the first rays of sunlight appeared over the mountain ranges marking its borders, announcing a new, glorious day.
Atrana's landscape is divided by three massive rivers, and close to its midpoint the outstanding crater once left by the comet crashing down here. A large radius around the crater's centre is a wild wasteland, according to legends still in the state of how it used to be before the impact. This wasteland is the continents only neutral political territory, as it is completely void of life or resources.
Notably, slavery is still legal on Atrana until this day. The Kunae for example, a southern tribe predominantly known to be farmers and miners, suffered particularly under this circumstance. Enslaved several times throughout history by both the Khesan and Yasum they first gained their independence shortly before Zerenda's uprising - only to be then dragged into the civil war led by his siblings that led to the fall of Astairus. Their homeland exploited by centuries of slavery and them becoming pawns in a war that wasn't theirs not few Kunae followed Zerenda to Ivendarea to escape their seemingly endless dread.
In Ivendarea, with the most dominantly featured ethnicities being the Kessem, Eesse, and Kunae, a different treatment of the three is still notable. While they are not openly discriminated against, the Kunae often have greater difficulties finding acceptance and well-paying, prestigious positions in work and society, Kessem or Eesse being favoured. The upper class surrounding the royal family consists mostly of Kessem in one way or another descendants of Zerenda and his original government and close allies. In the lower social classes the population is more mixed, not only between the different groups of Assadin, but mixed relationships between Assadin, Nyr, Aapha, and Kitu are more common.

Historical Figures

Zerenda - first assadin king of Ivendarea
Ulden - father of king Alund and king Leoros; his violent death at the hands of the Omrai Omvalis caused the The Revolution War
Alund - the king who fought the Revolution War, predecessor of his brother Leoros
Leoros - the current king of Ivendarea

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

The Assadin and the Nyr

Tensions between the Assadin and Nyr are many and varied in their intensity. Having lived on the continent for 500 years one would think that the groups have gotten used to each other, but many Nyr who saw the horrors of the Invasion War with their own eyes are still alive today, holding on to their resentments despite attempts from the side of the Assadin to reconcile. The vastly different lifespans of Nyr and Assadin also keep being a cause of conflict, the many fast-paced little changes in Assadin culture, politics, and day-to-day-life, consistently causing misunderstandings.
Lastly, while there are thankfully no open conflicts between the groups at the moment and the The Revolution War lying a good 70 years in the past, rumors of secretive rebel organizations planning to overthrow the government cause further tensions and insecurity between the groups.

The Assadin and the Aapha

The Aapha of Darthonis weren't pleased by the Assadin's invasion, as it majorly disturbed their trade with the Nyr and endangered their borders. Relations between the people were cold for a long time, until a few decades ago it was suggested to form a political union that the Nyr had previously always declined: a marriage. With king Leoros and Darthonian noble Therstina entering an arranged relationship to fortify the nations' until then shaken partnership again, tensions began to brew between Nyr and Darthonian communities.

The Assadin and the Kitu

There are some noticeable tensions between the Assadin and the Kitu, as the Kitu have been in Ivendarea since many centuries before the Assadin, well-adapted and accepted by the Nyr. Their natural inclination for magic is also an advantage they have over the Assadin, whose mages are powerful, but very rare. Mainly due to the fact that the Kitu are only a small population group without much political influence and also outsiders in this nation, they are mostly tolerated by the Assadin. The Kunae in particular actually feel very close to the Kitu, who also had to flee their homeland out of fear of slavery and oppression.

Lifespan

70-90 years

Average Height

175 centimeters

Average Weight

80 kg

Average Physique

Atrana is a vibrant continent in terms of its landscapes and geographical features. As mentioned before, its scarce resources are also fiercely fought for, hence why the image of a "strong warrior and protector" is very present in all-day life there. In a different way this also applies to the Ivendarean Assadin, who for the most part don't have to fear famine or even the most harshest of winters, as the nation's supplies in natural resources are abundant. In contrary to Atrana's nature though, Ivendarea's wilderness is particularly deadly to those who don't know it well and aren't adapted to the many different poisons found in flora and fauna, or to the sudden changes of weather. So very much like in Atrana Assadin in Ivendarea also train physical strength and endurance.

Related Ethnicities

• Eesse
• Hemphrat
• Kessem
• Khesan
• Kunae
• Vago
• Yasum