Aiya (Eye-yah)
Gnomes who never left the primal wilds of Usoram, the ayia are bitter at their cousins for leaving them, and have turned to necromancy and painful poisons to vent their pain onto others. Lacking the wide range of colors of other gnomes, the ayia have a dark blue-grey skin tones, and have large, expressive eyes.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Ayia gnomes often speak Alka instead of Orcish.
Average technological level
The ayia eschew new technology, viewing it as a blasphemy against the primal beauty that was the ancient world. They instead rely on magic and ancient rites, with the only exception being the crafting of newer and deadly poisons.
Common Dress code
The ayia wear dull grey clothes, often stained with poison drips and blood from necromantic rituals. They often wear long pointed and sinister caps.
Art & Architecture
Ayia build primitive hovels hidden away in the Neinor Hills, often with multiple entrances and exits. An ayia never leaves its family unless banished, and thus these hovels grow overtime into a massive network of extended family homes.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
Ayia mothers hold their young for a full 24 hours after their birth, any mother who can't hold their young for that long are viewed as weaklings who deserve to be abandoned by their children.
Coming of Age Rites
Ayias must undergo exposure to their families signature poison when coming of age, as a show of strength and commitment to the Great Mother.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Ayia are often buried in shallow graves underneath the ayias family hovels, so that their body can be easily exhumed to use in necromantic rituals, or raised in the defense of the house.
Common Taboos
The ayia are cruel creatures, often lacking the empathy and kindness of their cousins in other realms. Thus, what is taboo to most gnomes is the norm for ayia, as they often enjoy inflicting pain on others. Family ties is one of the most important thing to the ayia, and those who break family ties often inflicted with powerful curses.
Common Myths and Legends
A majority of the ayia worship Axiush, known to them as the Great Mother, the gnomish goddess of Curses and Poison, who is believed to have ascended to godhood solely on her rage of being left behind by her family.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
The ayia find beauty in the primal energies of Usoram, and anything not of Usoram is hideous and inferior. They view the strange and colorful skin tones of other gnomes as aberrations, tainted by the impurities of the other realms.
Gender Ideals
Ayias are a matriarchal society, with all beholden to the Great Mother. Men are viewed as untrustworthy, and always much be watched and guided away from the sinful outside world.
Courtship Ideals
Unlike other gnomes, the ayia are strictly monogamous, with marriages often being planned by the matriarchs of two houses. Ayia husbands are expected to be completely subserviently to their wives, with those who resist often doused with a painful but non-lethal poison.
Relationship Ideals
The ayia are extremely protective of their family, with young ayias often forbidding from interacting with anyone outside of their family. Thus, the ayia have close familial bonds, and will often fight to the death to protect their family members.
Major organizations
The ayia are often consulted and hired by the Sika Empire as alchemists and poisoners.
Random Aiya Homelands
| % Rolled | Homeland | Trait Gained |
|---|---|---|
| 01-30 | Hills or Mountain | Anatomist |
| 31-53 | Cave | Vermin Wrangler |
| 54-74 | Primal Forest | Unnatural Revenge |
| 75-90 | Village or City | Gnomish Alchemist |
| 91-00 | Unusual Homeland | (Roll on Unusual Homeland table) |
Encompassed species
Related Locations
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