Khajiit
Khajiit are cat-like people who come from Elsweyr, known for high intelligence and agility. These traits make them very good thieves and acrobats, but Khajiit are also fearsome warriors. However, they are rarely known to be mages. Khajiit mostly stay on land, but piracy and Skooma trade does draw some to work as sailors.
Personality + Traits:
- Highly intelligent
- Agile
- Fearsome warriors
- Many Khajiit disdain weapons in favor of their natural claws.
- Khajiit are rarely seen at sea, preferring instead to trade via land routes. If necessary they may take a boat for the purpose of the movement of skooma, however most hold little love for the ocean, viewing sailing as a grueling task.
- Khajiit anatomy differs greatly from both men and elves, not only because of their fur, tail, and sometimes toe-walking stance, but also their digestive system and metabolism.
- The moon is very important to the Khajiit, for the moon decides what body type they take on.
- Khajiit have a lifespan similar to that of humans.
- There are no well-documented cases of cross-breeding between Khajiit and other races, though there are rumors of such a thing.
- Khajiit have developed a natural proficiency in stealth, and have the added benefit of native night vision.
- Many Khajiit like to adorn themselves in piercings
- The oppressive climate of Elsweyr makes it impractical to wear heavy clothing and armor. The typical bipedal Khajiit dresses in an ample shawl of brightly-colored cloth, known as a budi, for defense against the harsh rays of the sun.
- Regardless of region, Khajiiti weapons are designed to be lightweight, and boots and gloves are designed to have claws uncovered. To the Khajiiti people, exposed claws are necessary for dexterous hand movements, and to ensure that they can never truly be disarmed.
- The primary source of income in Elsweyr is their export of moon sugar, which is used to make the highly addictive drug skooma.
- The fertile grounds near the southern rivers are also well suited for other crops, particularly saltrice, which makes up the bulk of the legal trade.
- The northern regions, still mostly dry grassland, have not progressed far from their tribal origins, and rarely consider themselves united in any meaningful way.
- Their tattoos often have a deep cultural and religious significance, as they signify their race, tribe, and the gods of their worship.
- The art of Claw-Dances refers to the Khajiiti martial arts, which plays a major yet ascetic part in the race's history and philosophy. While most see it as a form of combat, it is meant to be lyrical meditation, much different than the other races' forms of meditation, which are quiet and lack motion. The claw-dances comes from the nervous energy that was excreting from the monks at the time and their focus on raw physicality. Considering their predatorial instinct and the movement of their claws, it became a distinct form of martial art that led to claw-strikes and wide leaps.
- The Mane, while the unofficial head-of-state, is no more a "breed" of Khajiit than any other is; they are simply unique. Khajiit legend claims that it is only possible for one mane to live at a time, and his birth is triggered by the birth of a newborn Khajiit when the two moons have fully aligned in the sky.
- The government of the Khajiit consists primarily of the Clan Mothers of each clan of tribes. These wield power mostly due to their control of moon sugar harvests, but also maintain a hereditary position of power.
- A monomythic society, the Khajiit are educated in their beliefs by the figures within their communities known as "Clan Mothers", whose duty it is to disseminate the cultural myths among their kind, and who maintain autonomy from the Mane and the disparate tribal leaders.
- The Khajiiti pantheon encompasses myriad Aedric and Daedric gods, which are recognized as spirits. After the unification of Anequina and Pellitine into one kingdom (2E 309), and the event known as the Riddle'Thar Epiphany, the Riddle'Thar cult would rise and scrub many of these spirits from the Khajiit pantheon, and those that refused to follow the new edicts of the Ephiphany faced persecution.
- Prior to the Riddle'Thar replacing the ancient theology of the Khajiit, ancient texts were written by Amun-dro, the Silent Priest, who categorized the spirits as Sky, Worldly, Wandering, Dark, or Adversarial Spirits.
- Featured prominently in a Khajiit's spiritual journey is "the Path", a road they take during their journey through life, while avoiding temptations that would lead them astray so they could ultimately reach a sort of enlightenment.
- It is unsurprising that the most prominent among the spirits was Azurah, the Mother of All Khajiit. She bound the forms and unified the spirits of all Khajiit by tying them to the Lunar Lattice, and thus is the reason why they are not bound to fate, and may instead forge their own futures.
- Mafala watches over Eight of the Many Paths, and teaches to "Lust for nothing but Truth."
- Boethra is the patron of warriors and rebellious exiles.
- Hircine guides Khajiit back to the Path should they get lost.
- The barrier of going through the Path are the challenges posed by many hostile spirits, a sample which are Sheggorath and his Madness, Sangiin and his Lust without purpose,[9 and most notably Namiira, who is responsible for corrupting Khajiit souls.
Kahjiit and Other Races:
- The foreign appearance and behavior of Khajiit make them common targets of racial discrimination.
- They were oppressed and enslaved by rich families and primary industries in Morrowind, until King Helseth Hlaalu finally outlawed slavery.
- They also have a strong racial dislike for Argonians (one which is shared in return), which causes tension in the southern Cyrodilic cities of Leyawiin and Bravil, where Elsweyr and Black Marsh are both fairly close, and which have strong populations of both races.
Khajiit Statblock
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