Kolvishil
The Kolvishil are a nomadic desert people with various tribes in the Moraki Desert. They are known for their camouflage and stealth abilities, as well as their odd appearances.
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Characteristics
The standard Kolvishil looks a lot like a human, with dark skin, usually a bronzed or somewhat caramel colour due to the nature of their existence. Kolvishil have irises that have the natural colours of humans, brown, blue, green, and amber, but they also have unnatural colours like orange, various shades of pink and red, and other colours not usually found in humanoids. Another strange oddity of Kolvishil is their triangle pupils which are always white. These pupils give them a better night vision oddly enough, allowing them to see easier in the dark. It doesn’t not give them total dark vision, but the rods and cones in the eyes react quicker and act faster, giving them better low light absorption. Their ears are exaggerated; they’re long and curve above their heads facing forward, like strange horns. Their ears help them in staying cool by releasing heat, as well as hearing, having membranes that can pick up sounds easier than most humanoids. Males are often found to be around 6’0 tall, with the tallest being 6’8. Women on the other hand are found to be 5’10 to 6’1. Usually both genders have medium builds to them, though scouts are often slim and athletic, while warriors have more muscular builds. The Kolvishil often dress lightly for the desert climate, though quite enjoy accessorising with leather, steel, and gold. While it doesn’t hold any status in the Kolvishil, it does give them certain amount of sway and charm among their people.
Homeland
The Kolvishil are native to the Moraki desert, and live in scattered semi-nomadic tribes. They find themselves in any place they can, whether it’s living near an oasis, or finding underground caves. Because of the nature of Essyrn, the Kolvishil ensure that they only trade with the city, and stay far enough away from it.
Special abilities and distinguishing features
Most of the Kolvishil tribes have learned a special magical technique. They can create bubbles around themselves with magic that either silences anything inside the bubble, making them incredibly stealthy. The other ability is a camouflage ability. Bending light around the bubble, the Kolvishil can become invisible. Standing still, they’re almost completely unnoticeable, but when moving, it’s rather obvious with a distorting effect as the bubble moves with the Kolvishil.
As mentioned, they also have the ability to see better at night, as well as hear better. Some are naturally able to hear better, while others must practise a sort of meditation in order to focus their thoughts on their ears.
Some Kolvishil are born with the ability to communicate with animals, they are usually trained by shamans as apprentices to become replacement shamans.
Life cycle
The average life of a Kolvishil is about 350 years. A Kolvishil starts to mature at around 13 years of age, gaining the ability to reproduce at age 16. A Kolvishil’s menstrual cycle for the female happens on average every forty two days. They stop growing at around 28 years of age when they have their last growth spurt. A Kolvishil can have children just like humans, from one, to even octuplets, though the occurrence of that is very rare. Usually they have one or two children per pregnancy, and can have children until they’re 275 years old, in which their body enters a state of advanced maturity. Pregnancies often last for a whole year, though the babies can be delivered safely at 10 months.
Cultural description
The Kolvishil culture is tribal, and most tribes are similar in their ways. Elders are usually respected as council and leaders, they are the ones who are able to order around the younger people. Usually there are around ten Elders who rule over any given tribe. For Kolvishil, their ears are a sort of sacred part of their body. Because of the nature of their sensitivity, all Kolvishil pierce their ears to show strength. Kolvishil tribes all have their own languages to some degree, each language however can be mostly understood by the other.
Some tribes often impose strict traditions, some where one cannot mate until they perform a marriage ritual, or some cannot speak until they perform a difficult task, and even some that do not recognize the transition of boy to man until they pierce their ears. Most tribes find that stroking the ears of another Kolvishil as a sign of intense affection and desire, some as a marriage proposal even! Others view the touching of another ear as disgusting and rude. In all Kolvishil tribes, genders are treated as equals; everyone pulls their weight in a tribe. They are not usually a xenophobic people, enjoying trade with both other tribes or with the people of Essyrn and other nations.
Most tribes prefer to live where they can around a small oasis, or in any safe place that they can find. Some prefer to be nomadic , living off the land where they walk. Their weapon technology isn’t particularly grand, they often trade for swords and bows. A lot of Kolvishil cultures have a yearly purification ritual that takes place at the end of winter (having no real calendar system to their name) that involves imbibing a sort of hallucinogenic for a ‘spiritual cleansing.’
The Kolvishil tribes are usually family orientated, referring to their parents as ‘Spirit Givers.’ Two Kolvishil in love will often share a tent together, depending on the tribe such tents can be made from anything, but most nomadic tribes make them out of hides and furs. Most tribes have an “Eternal Bonding” ritual that mates two Kolvishil for life. Most of the time, the children live with the parents until the child gets married, in which they create a tent together and move in, starting their own family. Last names of course are completely irrelevant, each Kolvishil take the last name of the tribe. Kolvishil never name their children after a member of their own tribe, to limit confusion, though there will often be children of different tribes with the same name.
Medicines with Kolvishil tribes are often acquired through trades, though they do know how to use a lot of desert animals and desert plants to help heal or relieve pain.
Kolvishil names usually have either a soft quality to their names, like Capric, Gemin, Tuaris, Libar, Pises, or they can be very harsh consonants like Vikkar, Sekarik, Altik, Pekak, or Bikarick. These are true for both male and females name.
Religion
Kolvishil are shamanistic in nature, they believe that there are spirits in every living thing. They believe in good and evil spirits, as well as possession by evil spirits. They believe in being able to see the future, both scrying it through use of throwing bones or runes, or even through an intense psychoactive drug vision. Most Kolvishil believe in purification of the body and mind from evil spirits, as well as vision quests. A firm belief in the Kolvishil tribe is to only tell their dreams to the people they are about, or if there are no familiar faces, to the Shaman of the tribe if it troubles them. They understand the power of the Sleeping Mind, the subconscious mind basically. Most shamans have the ability to communicate with animals, those who are born with it almost automatically become a shaman’s apprentice.
Tribes of the Kolvishil
Vin ‘El Havunkeleshim
The Vin 'El Tribe is one of the original Kolvishil tribes from long ago. The Vin 'El are a practical sort of people, who accept the new ways of the world and accommodate the old ways of the world. While they know of diseases and maladies of a natural nature, they still believe that people can be cursed and plagued by spirits for supernatural maladies. They are a merchant and hunting tribe by nature, acquiring goods through trading with whomever desires it. Vin 'El still preform rituals and observe shamanistic practises, such as consuming potions for surreal visions, or respecting the Earth by not desecrating and performing cleansing rituals. The Vin 'El are ruled by the elders of the tribe who form a small council. The council will make decisions for the entire tribe, delegate tasks and ensure that everyone is doing their job. The Vin 'El never tell outsiders the full name of their Tribe, to tell someone who is not a member of the tribe can earn eternal banishment, which strips them of their tribe name and sends them into the desert to find their way somewhere else. They still believe in exile, as well as Forgiveness Quests. Vin 'El prefer flavourful foods and spiced drinks, often trading for these delicacies as much as possible. Most Vin 'El prefer to use daggers and bows, but there are those who would fight with larger weapons if given the chance. The Vin 'El often trade only for food, but occasionally a weapon or two will be asked for, then passed down through the generations.
