The Ishanti

Long ago as Ashirion was formed from the primeval elements of the Universe, there were a number of races that developed alongside the other races of the world. Some of the older races were lost or presumed lost at the cataclysmic events known as 'The Sundering'

The Ishanti were one such race, and they were highly civilised and lived in a highly ordered society. Until their shard became disconnected from the world and thought lost to us. But now I can reveal information on this race of creatures as the first contact with them has occurred since that fateful day.

What are the: Ishanti

These are a race of intelligent and society driven academic anthromorphic Jackal headed humanoids. They live in a close-knit society that takes the best from the noble classes and leaves the worst of the lower classes to rot in a gutter. They have a highly developed speech and are capable of perfect elocution and sentence structure, forgoing their own guttural tongue to concentrate on a more fluid version of common.

What do the Ishanti look like?

As described above they are a race of humanoid-framed Jackal headed creatures that are on the thin/wiry frame. The Jackal head is often home to a pair of intelligent eyes and a scrutinising gaze that pierces the night with a fairly developed vision. They have sharp pointed teeth and a set of powerful jaws that are just as good for eating civilly with, than rending flesh from the bone. They often groom and style their headfur with braids and other such gimmicks, adornments are popular amongst the upper classes and not so amongst the lower classes.

Often their eye colours run through the range of gold, green, red, blue, pink and amber - but other colours are seen in the race. Usually they are smoky grey in colour or black furred, though again there are other colourations of fur that runs through the species. One important factor that must be discussed now is how they look without clothes, for the Ishanti is not a fully furred race.

They have fully furred heads, a mane that runs down from the top of their crown to the base of their spine, splitting into the tail fur that covers the tail. Their chests are bare and often their skin tone (they have slightly leathery skin) matches with their headfur and other fur, it is possible however to see reddish skinned Ishanti with black fur. They have fur upon their shoulders that vanishes at the midpoint of the elbow and begins again like a glove to flow down and cover the hand - again fingers are non-furred - ending in sharp non-retractable talons.

They have a covering of fur at their groin and males and females have a decidedly humanoid anatomy with none of their animal counterpart body structure. Apart from the tail of course which brings us to the lower part of their bodies, the fur begins once more at their knees and forms a kind of furred sock flowing down until it meets the ankle where it covers the top of the foot. Their legs are digit-grade and they have a claw that extends from the back of their ankle curving downwards.

Unlike many of the races of the broken sphere, the Ishanti weigh around 190-210 pounds and stand to a height that can vary from around 5'6" to 7'3".

What do the Ishanti wear?

Clothes my friends, lots of clothes and they adore costumes of all shapes, sizes and kinds. The Ishanti are a race that should have single-handedly been charged with the crime of inventing the Masquerade ball. They have a penchant for the following clothing styles however.

The males prefer to dress in long tunics that have tailcoats and have ruffled collars around their necks. Garments are to be suitably dressed up and everyone in Ishanti culture - barring those that eke a living as commoners wears some form of jewel or jewellery. Cloaks are another firm favourite of this culture and they adore the mystery of a sweeping voluminous cape as much as they love hiding their eyes behind an elaborate half mask. (For reference period costumes of the French Revolution era and the like)

The ears are the ultimate area for expression for both sexes and they wear elaborate earrings that can have small chains and gems attached to them. Other piercing areas are considered to be too common for the Ishanti and they consider such things in their own race utterly barbaric.

Some females and some males might also apply a dash of eye shadow or rouge to certain areas, but the dyeing of fur and body art is something that is reserved only for the common of their culture. Note: Headfur is acceptable and the wearing of headfur extensions is highly supported by the nobility of the race. (Imagine a huge wig of 1980's Glamrocker hair - see Annie Lennox - Must be an Angel - or early Def Leppard/Bon Jovi)

Since only the commoners of the culture are involved in wars and battles, they have pretty much similar styles and dress to the peasants of the other realms. The Ishanti really don't see why they should provide for their people when all they do is make more peasants and stink a great deal. Loose shirts, tunics and very basic clothes are the orders of the day with the lucky few actually having armour and arms. I will note here that if a commoner is part of the Ishanti noble's private guard then they will be outfitted in 'the best' because the Ishanti like to show off their collections of people and things.

Females of the race are often adored in ostentatious ball gowns and great flowing dresses, the tail is considered to be a vulgar thing for ladies to show in public so they usually keep it out of sight and mind beneath the folds of such. Corsets are always highly prized by female Ishanti and the thinner the waist the better, they often exert too much pressure on the garment that can cause them to faint at inopportune times. And some female Ishanti often have their claws painted different colours to the original colour, some even have them engraved with flowing almost 'water' like images. Again the women love to wear outlandish pendants and masks, often they will go to great lengths to make the most shocking entry into a party by having the most breathtaking gown and mask they can find.

Ishanti Society and Mindset

At the head of the whole race sits the Imperator who is roughly the equivalent of a King. The current Imperator of the Ishanti race is Imperator Luen D'Amnonos who rules with a decadent and iron set of talons. He is the sixteenth Imperator to sit on the Ivory throne and no doubt he will not be the last.

Beneath the Imperator are the Ishanti nobles, and they are rife in this society - they view themselves as the sons and daughters of the Imperator and often they are referred to as 'of Luen's blood' - I must note here right now that the Imperator's name is not Luen, but because the Imperator is a legend and meant to be immortal - they change anyone's name who sits on the Ivory throne to Luen.

Thus the fallacy of immortal leaders is maintained amongst the commoners, who really wouldn't know one end of an Ishanti to another. While the nobles are the best educated and treated - some commoners are lucky if they can speak a coherent sentence or write a word. Most of them end up being used as cheap labour or as target practice, footstools or living chess pieces in the Imperator's favourite past time of War Chess - when the losing piece must die.

Next come the Guards who are well respected and treated by the nobles, even those guards who are gleaned from the commoners (those with enough of a backing or a reason to join) are polished and taught to be something more than they were. They in a way are living collections to these people, so they must keep their toys in pristine condition - after all it would do no good if Lord Julien had guards who were better than Lady Kastine's fine retinue.

Finally one comes to the Commoners of the Ishanti and here we find a sad, sad group of souls who have been downtrodden and browbeaten until they bred a race of simpletons - the rare spark of intelligence that shines is often seized and taken by the greed nobles to add to their collection. Ironically they are treated so much better than their peers and many do return to beat their families to death for bringing them into such a low born societal position.

I never said Ishanti life made much sense to anyone but the nobles and their ilk.

Ishanti society revolves around the pursuit of wealth and subtle digs at their fellows couched in the polite talk of society functions. They are a snide and arrogant race yes, but they are especially good at hiding a barb inside a compliment - for instance you might hear them say the following when interacting with others of their kind at a Masquerade.

"Isn't lady Madeline's dress charming, such lines but the curves are so much more of interest to the young bucks of the state are they not?"

Or perhaps this.

"I see Sir has the skill with a blade but is that not a recourse of the morelower ranked, if you cannot take a jest in good humour my Lord, perhaps you stop dressing like a harlequin."

From this you can see the Ishanti are the masters of the polite but cutting social commentary that has made their race in the past, many, many enemies. Yet they were tolerated when they strode Ashirion and it is because they keep their own attitude firmly at home, the Ishanti are social mimics and they do not impose their views or cultural differences on any outside of their lands. They live by the motto:

Live life at home and don't bring it to work.

Usually Ishanti found outside of their lands are diplomats or explorers seeking out new information or furthering the race's desire to acquire allies and position in other lands. To briefly describe one of their kind is all that I can do, I cannot go into the complex mind that lurks inside their skulls because it is a layered and varied beast.

Decadent nobility is the best way to describe this race and it comes through in everything they do, as mentioned before they love to attend and throw parties - the bigger the better, they also love to be seen with the 'in' crowd and will do anything to get close to higher ranked nobles of their own culture and of other lands, if you have a friend who is a monarch of another shard you are considered to be the crme of the elite in Ishanti culture and will have more invitations to the Imperator's Palace than you know what to do with.

Everyone who has a menial trade is a commoner, but those who have skilled trades are actually minor or lesser nobility. While the commoners work in mines, it is not impossible to see one of the lesser Ishanti doing long hours in a cartographers shop, in general if the task is art, mind or in any way considered to be the fad of the moment - everyone wants to do it.

Outside of Ishanti noble culture but a part of it are the mages, who are looked upon with some awe and a little bit of worship. Anyone who can cast magic is of interest to the Ishanti - whether as one of their own or one of another race - if you can move the weave prepare to be headhunted for their next attraction, personal army or just a friend. And they are good to their friends - high ranked nobles can often change someone's life drastically if they decide to take a shine to them.

Ishanti culture has one particular legend of the great mage who came from common blood - but it is considered to be just that - a legend.

Ishanti Architecture, Music and Art

Style, form and substance are all watchwords for this race's desires in their Art, Music and other such things. Their buildings are usually tall, commanding and full of graceful curves and arches. Pillars once more play a common role in their architecture and the Capital City of AeRone was one of the most impressive next to our own Ruatha for style, grandeur and sheer panache.

Ishanti Art is expressive and usually very bright, they love garish and fantastic displays of pictorial elegance with supernatural and dazzling subject matters. Creatures of myth, fable and legend are often daubed onto canvas and then enhanced with magic - some of these pictures are made to move and enact certain things - some of these things can be best described as adult orientated and left at that.

Ishanti Music is soft and multi-layered, they adore the harp and a lot of their pieces are string based.

They also love drama, plays and theatre where talented players perform parodies of certain Ishanti nobles. It is not uncommon however for the slighted noble to commission an even more vulgar and entertaining piece against the one who began the slander, thus the war of words continues.

As always, fought by others and only very rarely directly said to another Ishanti noble - unless at a Masquerade ball - where all bets are off. Ishanti nobles will openly insult each other there since they are behind a mask of anonymity and perfectly safe, even if they have guessed who is under the mask - by the laws of the Masque as long as words are not exchanged to naked faces, no insult can be taken.

For example: Lady Rochen and Lord Renard cannot stand each other but they have wound up dancing on the floor, Renard has a clue as to who is under the good lady's mask so he decides to be cutting.

"Good lady, you are light of foot this eveningbetter than that Lady Rochen, did you hear that she once broke the marble dance floor at Lerain's ball?"

Rochen is insulted but recognises the whine of Lord Renard's voice under his mask, the gloves are off as she laughs openly at the joke.

"At least she has the girth of a true woman M'Lord, not the simpering of a commoner's son in her voice. I hear that Lord Renard has that blood in his veins, it is what you get when you have parents that consort with such ill flowing dirt."

Despite the venom, neither can do anything about it so they quickly find other dance partners.

Closing notes on the Culture

The Ishanti are wine drinkers and utterly despise anything that is a commoner's drink (ale and beer) they prefer spirits and will refuse to drink anything other than the finest offered to them. Even if it means insulting a host, since offering them anything such as this inside Ishanti lands is a grave and serious insult - you might as well say.

"Here you go love, drink with the pigs."

They also live the same lifespan as the other human races - they age at the same rate and have a similar birth/mortality rate amongst the nobles. But the commoners have a high birth and mortality rate that disgusts the rest of the Ishanti nobles and people. The class of living for nobles, guards, mages is excellent but the life that the commoners lead are little better than most animals, workhorses and slaves to the arrogant Ishanti - but they know no better and so far none have sparked a revolution.

It is also very rare in this culture for those of noble blood to spawn more than one child per birth, there are very rare occasions when someone gives birth to twins and they are always cared for with one twin being the lesser favoured and picked on, while the other grows to full strength - the apple of their respective parents eye even if they are rotten to the core.

The lesser twin may find that they will be (if they are as thick as a commoner) thrown into the uncaring streets beyond to fight or beg for food and a place in life. If not then they are places into the respective position where they can do the best job according to their parents.

Ishanti marriages are based around a human culture and they have no organised religion, they follow no god save their Imperator who to them is also a legendary Incarnation. Mages are the priests and they tend to the sick and dying just the same as a cleric might in another culture, the race sets no being and not even the Great Wolf above their Imperator which can lead to a clash of interests when they encounter the Shakari or other people strongly tied to Ashirion's creator force.

To them the Great Wolf is an illusion and his creation of Ashirion is simply a tale told to gain worshippers in the many temples, while one might sway an Ishanti with enough proof - in their own lands they will deny they saw the stars if asked by another - those who believe in the Great Wolf and other gods above the Imperator are considers enemies of the state and often executed or stripped of rank - forced to become a commoner.

Outsiders who come preaching the word of other gods are treated with a generous display of trite acceptance to their faces, and behind their backs scorned as though they were the very devils of creation.

And this is all I will reveal for now on the Ishanti of Ashirion, the rest will come to light at a later time, perhaps told by one of their kind to you out there in the wild blue world of the broken sphere.