Tenysia

A purely fantasy blend of David Edding's Nyssans softly wrapped with Egyptian, islander cultures and the Ji'Ken of Comraich Original.

Tenysia lies in the far southeastern corner of Essealas and is likely to be one of the main arrival ports for those escaping the invasion 1100 years ago. Due to dense jungle overgrowth, Tenysia appears significantly older than any of the other city-states. The architecture varies dramatically; pan-Asian elements blend harmoniously with older Egyptian-Mayan style structures and newer Mediterreanean-Desert builds. No matter how well built, structures in Tenysia do not long survive the invasive jungle of the Mvau Marshes.

Due to a wide selection of native spices, the Sythian diet is unusually spicy and exotic. The native diet runs high to all manner of fresh and saltwater fish, rice, and bamboo. The wealthy have access to their choice of unusual imported foods.

Personality

Sythians work as little as humanly possible so as to be free to indulge their many vices. Sythians can turn even the most wholesome of activities into a delectable art. Their complex governmental structure allows for all manner of corruption and bribery. There are almost no criminals in Tenysia, for very little is a crime - including murder. Only the disruption of city services, such as the waterways and roads, are considered serious crimes. Sythians make excellent friends especially if one is looking to have a good time doing all manner of disreputable, dangerous and exciting things.

Tenysia has few political friends as the Halsteins and Bantu people find the Sythian's to be utterly reprehensible. Sythians consider being sent to Arcovia the same as being exiled. Luckily, cultural similarities allowed them a reasonable alliance with Fendahl -- at least until Ji'Kalana sheds her next skin. Where it not for their highly coveted export of perfumes, poisons, medical-grade plants, and hallucinogens Tenysia might have never survived. Instead, no matter how many times some do-gooder has tried to "cut off the snake's head" it simply grows back and regains enough power to bring its neighbors to heel.

Appearance

Tenysia is a blended city that has become home to all the various people of Essealas. The native people, the Sythians, have had a long history of intermarrying with immigrants. While the native people tend to be brown-skinned with flat noses and slanted eyes they run high to an unusual albino-like gene which produces very pale or ashen-skinned people, white hair, and unusually pale eye color. Sythians admire the unusual, encourage the bizarre, and applaud the mysterious.

Consequently, it is easiest to tell a Sythian by how they dress rather than how they look physically. Sythian style is vain, flamboyant, and androgynous. Clothing choices are often selected to complement their pet snakes. They prefer lightweight loose colorful garments of cotton or silk, gold and bronze jewelry, and colorful glass beadwork. Garments are Egyptian styled with fantasy elements of Persia, India, and the southern Far-East.

Sythians can further be distinguished by permanent and temporary facial markings, ceremonial masks, chalk-white body paint, bald heads, or complex hair-locks. War masks and Persian armor are still a part of military dress.

Traditions

The Sythians worship a goddess by the name of Ji'Kalana who is a many facetted diety. Ji'Kalana has male, female, and androgynous facets as well as dark-skinned, pale-skinned, and grey-skinned aspects. These aspects of war, peace, harmony, fertility, and commerce change every few months impacting Sythian culture and politics. Read More

Tenysia is ruled by a queen who is considered to be the embodiment of Ji'Kalana herself. She does very little and is pampered and tended to by her handmaidens. At each new turn of her aspect, the queen is dressed up to match the aspect and trotted out for a lavish festival.

Sythians are embalmed and entombed in above-ground crypts which are visited regularly by their living kinsmen who have an active ancestor worship that exists alongside that of Ji'Kalana.