Xabei (ZAH-bay-ee)

Appearance

Strong bodied with the ears and tails of a lion, the people of the kingdom of Xa under the Confederation of Meibabwi, the Xabei, are a proud and strong people, dark of skin and often with beads and locks in their thick hair. For the Xa, nearly every aspect of their appearance has some bearing on their role in society, from color, to fineries, to marks upon their bodies. Warriors proudly display their scars, inking them to promote their skill and survivorship in battle, as well as honor the dead. Town criers paint their lips a purple hue, reflecting their role as promoting the news across their town and region. Shamanesses bind painted fur from the manes of dead lions to their beads, signifying their speaking for the natural and spiritual world. Tradeswomen sew coins into their headscarves to signify their role in the issuance of trade, as well as to flaunt the profits they have gained from their craft. All these signs, the sigils of clan and family, and the interconnectedness expresses the beauty of a society which has been ordered by rites and rituals, signs and signfiers.

Common Personality

As the final stop of the grand trading process between the confederate nations of Maibabwi, the Xa are the most exposed to international trade. As such, they are the least insular and most open to interactions with other nations and peoples, especially if there are ways of mutual benefit. However, they tend to be extreme sticklers for their cultural rules and regulations, with those who do not adhere to such societal structures often frowned upon, especially in those born within the society. This results in a variety of views on societal structure: Strict Adherents, Compliants, and Adjustment Advocates. In recent years, the nature of society and the voices of those who wish to adjust it to better suit the changing environments has won their hard won fight, resulting in the further loosening of these strict rites and structures. Nevertheless, the outward expressions of those structures yet still remain.

History Summary

Descended from the ancient Winged Island warrior Ga'ile Xahusa, the original Xabei were possessed of a power which infused their blood and their body with elemental power of their choosing, enhancing their physical prowess with elemental might. They were the first to establish their kingdom south of the mountains in the continent of Galena, with the Mecci following soon afterwards on the opposite side. Having extended across the fertile lands to meet each other, the two nations formed a pact agreement that lasted half a century before the introduction of a third nation, the Sha, came to fruition. Their introduction, and the struggles over the fertile lands of the north, broke the pact between the nations, resulting in a great war that was only ended through supernatural means. Since then, a great monument to the bond of the three nations, the Table of Kings, was established in a fertile land to the north, from which the waters of the Meiba (the great rivers that flowed through the land) glowed with the power of Lux. This changed not only the powers of those who remained in the land, but also how they traded with each other, and with the outside world, through the creation of the Meibai Water-Battery, which became Meibabwi's main export.

Society and Common Environment

For the Xabei, rites are everything. They determine your passage into adulthood, your role in society, and more. It begins with the division of gender at a young age, and as with every role, there is a path and a destiny.   In Xabei society, Men are the wielders of Knowledge and Warfare, and can take on any of the following three overarching roles in society: Fighter, Scholar or Craftsman. Fighters are focused on the arts of War and Knowledge, and are subdivided further by the rites Warrior (Focused on the art of coordinated fighting), Sage (Focused on developing or improving the Aspectral Arts), or Living Weapon (Focused on developing or improving better martial arts). Scholars are focused on the wielding of knowledge, and are further divided into four more rites: Advisor (Assists those in prominent positions with additional information), Scribe (Keeps records or documents of information for posterity), Keeper (Manages the dissemination of knowledge to all parties) and Orator (Communicates information and knowledge to the masses). Scribes can be more than one of these roles at once, and often are trained heavily in two of their choice. Craftsmen meld the arts of War and Knowledge, and are divided into the roles by the rites of Metal (Metal working), Stone (Stonecarving), Wood (WoodWorking), Clay (Clay working), and Dust (Farming or soil working) Women by contrast are the Walkers of the path of Peace, and the Godspath. Under the auspices of these two paths, Women can take the role of Imager, Binder, Spiritist, or Trader. Imagers are the central designers of art, focused on melding the divine and the mundanity of peace. They are subdivided into the rites of Touch (Designs carved into physical material), Vision (Designs painted on surfaces) and Pattern (Designs woven or shaped into the object or material themselves). Binders oversee the application of the rule of law in society, melding and then separating the divisions of the divine and the peacefully mundane. They are subdivided into the Rite of Wards (Those tasked with peacekeeping and solving issues and crimes in the community), and the Rite of Grasping (Holding those who are accused or criminals to account). Spiritists are the true walkers of the Godspath, devoted to the judging of the spirits, be they from the living or the dead. They are subdivided by the Rite of the Sacred (Who seeks out the will of the spiritual world as it pertains to the material), the Rite of Day and Night (Who oversee the judgement of mankind), and the Rite of Dispelling (Focused on righting the wrongs done by the incursion of the spiritual realm on the physical and vice versa). Traders are the walkers of the path of Peace, devoted to the exchange of goods. They are sub-divided into the Rite of rtock-keeping (Storage and preservation of goods), the Rite of Exchange (exchanging of goods for money or bartering), and the Rite of the Balance (Keeping track of and maintaining a fair exchange in the transaction of goods)
This of course does not include the nobility and royal family, but the prestige of those familities is associated with titles, and does not preclude them from these roles, rather it encourages them to partake in an understanding of a smattering of different roles in order to better lead others in these same roles.

International/Multi-ethnic relations

The Xa are the major trading kingdom of the Meibabwi Confederacy, and as such have a great deal of contact with others across the universe, but especially on the world of Thetryune. They therefore have no issues with international relations, especially in the form of trade. However, the strict and complex structure of their society for hundreds of years made it difficult for outsiders to fully integrate into their society, making multi-ethnic relations within their community uncommon. By contrast, the structures of the other nations they interact with draw upon those who fit less in Xabei society, leading to a phenomena of several within each generation traveling afar, sometimes as representatives of their people, and sometimes simply seeking a life for themselves without the structures that they feel hold them back.

Religious Tendencies

There are three religious factions among the Xabei. The first, and most prominent, is the worship of the White Lion, the being who blanched the sacred lands and bound the three former nations into one. They listen quietly for his voice, which they describe as "near and afar off, all at once", and see community connection as paramount, as it was the conflicts of the blood war that brought the Lion to intervene. This was later folded into a faction of the Truthseeker religious sect. The second faction is a number of those who worship the God-King, and see their ruler as touched by the divine. For them, their nation is blessed or cused due to the nature of the king and his level of divinity, making them a small faction that must constantly be monitored for their potental threat to the throne.   The third faction worships the Meiba, or the rivers of light themselves. It is this ancient but influential faction that began the practice of drinking the waters as part of one's coming of age, and which fortunately resulted in the development of Sight (the ability to visually see energy through the eyes), rather than having the lethal effects it has on most other people. This practice then became ubiquitous to all parts of Xabei society.

Ethnic and Racial Traits

• Racial Groups: Lacrimaphran - As the native population of the Xabei are descended from a union of 1/2 lacrimaphra, all of them are considered Lacrimaphra, with the most animalistic features being their Lion tails and possessing a power (Aspect of Force Ink) that extends their Celestial Tapestry outward.
• Languages: Xabeiani, with subdialects of Xawazi, Xutemi, and Xotresh. Those raised among the Xabei also tend to be knowledgeable about the Sha (Pakoto) and the Mecci (Matoutee) main languages, as well as the world trade language of Thetryune, Uvirim.
• The Sight: It is commonplace, especially since the evolution of their powers, that the Xabeni partake of a rite wherein they drink a cup of brewed tea water from the Meiba as part of their rite of adulthood. This rite blinds them for up to 4 weeks, then granting them the ability to see all energy, and be able to parse through the process. They can activate this whenever they activate SageSight. There is also a 10% chance of possessing All-Sight (where this effect cannot turn off) and a 1% chance of Ever-Sight (Being Blinded by a sensitivity to Time and Space, which allows for accurate predictions of the near future, as well as seeing over far distances, but unable to see around them in the present time)
• Unique Xabei Weapons: Sacred Starknife, Serpent Bands, Circle Sword, Long handled Sabre

Aspects

Nearly all Xabei possess the Aspect of Force Ink 

Unique Martial Traditions

• Xan-bey - Hand to hand martial arts. The basics of fighting, taught to all people for self-defense.
• Sragotie - Martial arts focused on weilding a Sacred Starknife. Difficult martial arts requiring impressive dexterity and agility.
• Serpent Bands - Martial arts involving chains connected to a band on the wielder's upper arm, called the Serpent Band. Players must master the weapon before and after binding it to themselves, allowing them to wield it in any circumstance.
• Circle Sword - Martial arts involveing a special type of sword called the Circle Sword. The wielder can use the ring at the far end of the weapon to attack at range at any time.
• Long handled sabre - Martial arts focused on wielding a long handled sabre. This weapon can pierce enemies in more than location due to the weapon's stick location being separate from the blade.

Associated Nation: Meibabwi Confederacy (Xa)
Associated Languages: Xabeiani