Aj'Va

The aj'va are similar to the aj'va, with a humanoid shape but a serpentine tail instead of legs. However, unlike the more attractive aj'ra, the aj'va have a serpentine head and face, and have changed very little from the original forms of the aji.

Aj'Va reproduce through intercourse, whereafter the female will eventually develop and lay 1-3 eggs after a gestation period of ten months. These eggs hatch after six weeks, and develop beside their mother.

The aj'va regularly have to shed their skins once a year as children and twice a year as adults. This process typically takes about a day, though there is considerable build-up as old scales flake off and new ones come on.

The aj'va have a strong communal structure based around an extended family unit known as the kish. Each kish is organized into groups of related families, usually 15-20, and are lead by a kishrak, or head man. Important members of each kish is the shik'iz, female shamans and priests. The aj'va believe that bad luck, ill health, and death are caused by sorcery and offended spirits, and so consult the the shik'iz. Specifically, they generally talk to the iss'got, a subsect of shik'iz. An iss'got is a female hear that undergoes intensive and lengthy training as an apprentice, and wear distinctive beadwork on their heads. An iss'yan, in contrast, are called upon to make medicines and healing potions from plant and animal products.

Northern Sothakar. particularly the region of Ra'vaq, their ancestral homeland.

They are able to smell and taste the air, seeing the infrared heat emitted by living creatures. These sense are even greater than their aj'ra cousins, though they have weaker hearing capabilites.

The aj'va have few wide racial organizations, with their tribal society. However, greater forced unity against the imperial dynasties of the aj'ra has created the Council of the Aged, a wide assortment of all the elders of every tribe within Ra'vaq.    Besides this, there are several political-like factions, namely the Falcons, a minority group who seek more peaceful existence and trade alliances with other races, the Tigers, the majority who are willing to use war and favor combat and resistance against the aj'ra and the Great Union, and finally the fanatic Boas, a small but growing group that seeks the active invasion of other lands to ensure total security, and are whispered to serve dark powers.

The aj'va are technologically backwards, relying upon the same tools and methods as their ancestors. They mainly use carved wooden or stone tools, and have only a little experience with metals and iron. However, they are masters of the different uses for herbs and different plants, their poisons and healing capabilities, and the antidotes to poisons. In addition, they are equally knowledgeable in the uses of native animals, and are said to have near miraculous abilities in treating illnesses and sickness, and do have some skills in magic, albeit more natural based and similar to druidism. Figure 2. An example of a rare true aj'va mage, called the vskkan by their brethren. Many such mages are aloof or alone, with some even traveling further south in search of opportunities.

The aj'va speak a language that stems from the same language family as other races. The aj'va themselves specifically speak Ksshic or "Mother's Tongue" noted for being very difficult for none aj'va to speak. There innumerable dialects, which makes learning the language even more challenging.

Due to their lifestyle, one of simple harmonic existence and protection of nature, the aj'va have relatively simple traditions and customs. Birth, for instance, is celebrated first by the initial family, then presented to the tribe and the tribal elders. Those who are have died are buried underneath the jungle floor and a small tree planted over their body, thus returning them to the soil and ground.

Aj'va, due to their complicated history with imperialist aj'ra, are weary of more "civilized" cultures and societies. They see little point in permanent stone structures or trying to dominate the landscape, as well as the other petty points of civilized nations. Only the simple world of the jungle and their kin next to them is enough.

When the ancient Guardians wiped out any remaining Oldspawn through the aid of the race of the raqui, they blessed different portions of that race, forming several new races. Ishra, the Life-Giver and Mistress of the Green, blessed the peaceful and naturalistic Aji'n, and those who followed him, who would become the aji. They were tasked with the maintenance and nurturing of jungle.   Some aji would leave and migrate south, becoming the aj'ra. Those who stayed behind called themselves the aj'va, or "children of aji" for they considered themselves the true inheritors and custodians of Aji'n's charge.   The aj'va would spread out among the deep canopies and jungles of Sothakar. Several major families and tribes would spread out, establishing their own villages and territories in the deep jungles of northern Sothakar. For thousands of years, they would live a simple life, the same as their ancestors. The aj'va tribes would protect and expand the jungle, and live peaceful lives.   During the Great Darkness, the aj'va suffered, as did all races. At this time they had covered a vast territory of deep jungle, a region comprising most of modern Sothakar and land now submerged under the Sacred Sea. These vast territories was home to unnumbered tribes, who all fell under attack from the demon hordes and void monsters. There homes were destroyed, their forests consumed in felfire, and their people slaughtered. But there arose a champion, Vssshan Vssjarass the Golden Scaled. A legendary warrior, he aroused his people and assembled the tribes of the aj'va, and with the help of the First Alliance defeated the legions of monsters and demons. Though most of their lands sank below the seas, the aj'va persisted, and would return to their old ways following the Great Darkness. Figure 3. Vssshan Vssjarass the Golden Scaled, so named for the unusual color of his scales.   However, the rising expanse of the aj'ra and their imperial powers would eventually lead to conflict. The aj'ra, who long forget their ancestry with the aj'va, looked upon them as savages and barbarians. The aj'ra would expand into the jungles of the aj'va, and thus begin a serious rivalry. The aj'va tribes, while simple, were numerous and knew the jungles well, and if banded together could bring ruin upon weakened empires of Sothakar. However, over centuries and millennia, the aj'va jungles would shrink, and they would be pushed further and further north. In recent years, the Third Ajaran Empire conquered them all, but in 3715 AD, after a long period of weakening aj'ra rule, the tribes finally pushed remaining imperial power out and have remained free. To ensure their freedom against the Ajaran Empire, they have formed the Scaled Covenant, an alliance among all tribes of the aj'va and the oroc'mac.

Every tribe has its own unique history and legends, but all aj'va share several common myths and stories. They speak of ancient times, when the Titans tamed the land, when darkness fell upon the world, when the world was still young. They also have several stories about their own race, namely the origin and charge given to their species.    One of the most enduring legends are the numerous tales of the demigod-like hero Ss'kan. Every tribe claims he came from their people, and each has a variation on his tales and deeds. He is considered the ideal for every aj'va, a hero who performed mighty deeds like returning life to the jungle, opening up rivers and creating lakes, calming the sun pulling the second moon out of existence.

The aj'va have had the most interaction with the oroc'mac and the aj'ra, until relatively recently as new races and peoples have been revealed to them. On the whole, they are suspicions, but true and loyal allies to those who help them, and ferocious enemies to those who threaten their way of life.    For the aj'ra, so much bad history exists between the two that the aj'va are always suspicious if not outright hostile towards them. However, they have developed strong ties with the oroc'mac, who have joined in their Scaled Covenant against the aj'ra.   Concerning the teryn races, generally the aj'va dislike, but often respect them. However, as allies of the aj'ra, lithryns, sekryns, and raleryns are all considered enemies of aj'va kind.    Finally, there are the strange races of the mam'ael. Some olliogga, during their heights, expanded and came into conflict with the aj'va, and that has never been forgot. They especially remember the ferocious fervor the olliogga cut down and destroyed their forests and jungles. The chippa are seen as nearly strange furred creatures, while the dreor are view as mysterious, but similar, beings, one with a message and life not dissimilar to the aj'va's own.