Etiainen
Though their origin is only known by a few remaining individuals, the etiainen are not actually a species but are individuals of multiple species, converted to their current state by a powerful ritual, millennia ago on a faraway plane. Though they can be killed by normal means (and indeed, only a few hundred remain of an originally unknown number, possibly in the tens of thousands), they are functionally immortal. Some consider them undead, but the truth is even more bizarre: etiainen are not affected by either positive nor negative energy.
Barring any reason to congregate, there is usually less than ten etiainen on Waking Materia or the Near Umbra at a given time.
Due to their inability to heal from magical means, etiainen are often skilled in conventional medicine, or at minimum first aid.Appearance
See also: Etiainen Image Gallery (External)Etiainen are of human, elven, aselu and catfolk ancestry only, as they were the three peoples that participated in the ritual on Tassalit. Skin colour ranges from medium grey-blue to dark navy blue, eye colour is always some shade of red, and hair only occurs as whites or silvers (including the pelts of the cat- and jackal-folk).
Though they do not age, remaining etiainen are thousands of years old, and as such often have more scars, missing digits, tattoos, unrushed demeanours, distant gazes or other signs of their long journeys.Notable Etiainen
Aside from the Material Gods and surviving Lichlords, the longest-surviving resident of Materia is a catfolk-etiainen whose current name is Ababakar Octoflea. He is a barbarian of immense power and influence, currently poised to wrest control of the city-state of Typha in his conquest to punish the entire Sultanate of Khayyam for the persecution of his adopted people.Origin
The name 'Etiainen' is a mutation of the original Tassalin word ibn-Tainen, or "Doomgreeters". They are the product of an ancient ritual, conducted on the plane of Tassalit. The rite grants immunity to positive and negative energy, allowing them to act as "field agents" within a region poisoned by a long-forgotten, arcane catastrophe, which manifests in part as deadly whirlwinds of both life- and unlife-stripping energies.
The etiainen would eventually realize immortality drives one mad, and therefore a large portion of the group organized around a second major ritual, one that causes them to lose their memory every few hundred years. Some etiainen do retain small shards of memory each time, leaving them with a wealth of otherwordly knowledge that often leads them to be labeled as oracles or madmen. It seems that some even become so innately familiar with the patterns of the universe that they become mildly precognitive.Notable Connections
The ritual that "made" the etiainen was Sphinxian, developed in desperation by the sphinx Sovereigns of Tassalit to address the spread of the horrific, existence-shredding storms. As such, Tallari-Anaviri-Irallat has some insight into them and takes some responsibility for their safety. Two of the veteranmost Dragon Knights of Tallarax are etiainen (Ababakar Octoflea was groomed for a position among the knight-sages but refused). That said it's unknown what connection Tallari has with the Tassalin Sovereigns.
Some scholars theorize Olcadan of Dhund may have been etiainen, as his longevity and multiple personalities (echoes of past selves) bear similarities to other members. However he is not known to have ever mentioned the phenomenon and did not have the standard grey-blue skin colour (though this would not have been a problem to hide for someone of his ability).
As V'Shaat is also Tassalin she likely knows about the etiainen and their origin story, however her church knows no text or proclamations on the matter. Though their creation seems to have been a necessity, the fire goddess's fierce dislike of undead might cloud her morality on the matter.
Most have since spread out through the planes and don't remember their Tassalin origin.
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