Sydhi
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The soul of the land is our own.
Contents |
Physicality
Many humans say that sydhi have an alien-like appearance. They are smaller and slimmer than humans, with narrow shoulders and small waists. Their limbs appear stretched, partly because of how thin they are, and partly because their digits actually are longer; Sydhi have four joints in their fingers, as opposed to three. They have broad heads, with sharp angles for noses and chins. Their hair is silky, and can be any color under the sun. Most remarkably perhaps, are their eyes; a sydha's eyes are almond-shaped, with vertical pupils, like a cat's.
Personality
Strangers who encounter a sydha for the first time often speak of their cool, almost arrogant demeanor. They are often described as being aloof to non-Sydhi. This is because, firstly, they don't trust most races (especially humans), and secondly, because of their long lives. Sydhi are immortal (or, as close to immortal as one can be, without being divine), and the way they view things is completely alien to how the mortal races do. They are patient in ways that humans cannot conceive, and their opinions are those of one who has spent centuries pondering on a subject.
Culture
Language
The sydhi language is unique amongst the reasoning cultures of the world, in that it has no written form. They believe (and have always believed) that the only true way to appreciate and respect a subject -whether it is art, music, history, or anything else of the like - is to pass this subject down completely orally, and never write it down. The sydhi believe that the act of writing down music, stories, mythologies, or history causes the writer and reader to then take for granted that the information will always be available, and thus they lose respect for the subject. Every sydhi child, from the day they are born, is taught by his or her parents of the long, tragic history of the sydhi, and is sung all the songs the parent knows. As far as anyone knows, the sydhi have no written histories anywhere on the planet.
Verbally, the sydhi language is very alien to hear. It is a very melodic language, where different pitches of the same word can mean different things. The tones and sounds of the language often bring to mind the wind of a storm rustling through the trees of a forest, with a brook tinkling in the background. Because the sydhi use different parts of their mouths, throats, and vocal chords than most other languages, it is extremely hard for non-sydhi to speak the language.
Sydhi believe very strongly in the individuals' rights to be heard, and never interrupt another person speaking, and always give their full, undivided attention to whomever is speaking at the time.
Art, Music, and Dance
The sydhi, being forest folk, and living very often out of doors, don’t do a lot of art that would involve the ruination brought upon by a summer storm, or wood-and-paper eating bugs. Sydhi visual art is done on silk and other cloth. Sydhi will take portions of silk cloth, and using special dyes from various plants they know of, will make broad strokes of colors on their cloth tapestries, and when done, will hang these tapestries in the trees. The dyes immediately bond with the silk, creating something of permanence that the inevitable thunder storm or blizzard won’t damage. And since silk is not the common diet of most bugs, the art has a longevity to it that is very similar to the sydhi themselves.
Much like the sydhi beliefs in uninterrupted speech, their music takes on a similar form. Listeners always give their full, undivided attention to performers, and thus no two performers perform at the same time. Because there is no such thing as a sydhi ensemble - there are only solo performers - the sydhi use a very intricate string instrument called a tayo tu, which translates roughly to "song of the trees," that creates melodies, harmonies, and accompaniments all at once. The tayo tu is a large wooden instrument with stretched strings that lay parallel with the ground. The sydha sits behind the instrument and plays the strings with both hands, often singing as well. Master performers of the tayo tu will play in glades and clearings, harmonizing all at once with the tinkling of the creek, the singing of the birds, and the whistling of wind through the trees. There are of course other instruments the sydhi use, but this is by far the one most commonly attributed to the enigmatic people.
Sydhi dance and dramatic art can take on many forms, but the most common is dancing, mock-combat art called stris bu, or "the trees’ strike." It involves two sydhi, often in the role of opponents to each other, whirling around and mock-fighting in a non-choreographed routine. The sydhi will "fight" with long, flexible staves, and with lots of spins, twirls, and fantastic leaps - sometimes accompanied by a tayo tu, will perform for either hundreds of people, or just for exercise.
History
In the distant, ancient past, there was a race of beings called the Aedryn, who for the most part ruled the world until their undoing. Being the most powerful beings on the planet, they held dominion over other beings. In fact, they kept slaves of the myari and the sydhi. They were cruel masters, and never allowed for any race other than themselves to come into a position of power or respect on the planet. After their untimely demise, the other races were free to begin lives anew, and to fulfill their own goals and ambitions. However, part of the darkness of the Aedryn had seeped into the sydhi. One clan of the sydhi rose above the others, and through strength of arms and magic, forced the rest of the sydhi into their servitude.
Thousands of years passed in this manner, until a great cataclysm destroyed the sydhi homeland, and they were forced to find a new continent. They traveled east across the great ocean in magical ships which had been built from the bones of the earth, and eventually found a continent in which to rule. During the voyages across the sea, an inner struggle broke out amongst the sydhi, and those who were masters were split into two new groups, which would become the urshael and the sydhi we know today. Of the third and largest group of ancient sydhi, who at this time were the slaves and servants of the more powerful, many were slain during the battles. Upon landing, the battles increased, until finally, a truce was made between the urshael and the sydhi. The urshael would take all the lands above the Tarsus Gamo, or “Great Spine (the large mountains in the north that are labeled as the Frosthorns on the maps of humans),” and the sydhi would take all the lands below those mountains. The third group, now the smallest and weakest, simply wanted to sail away in the great ships, and never be near their cousins again, but during the battles, the sydhi set fire to the ships, forever locking them onto this continent. That third group of sydhi, today simply known as Husayi, or “the Lost,” disappeared into the mountains to the east.
More to come...
