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The Amphin

Location

The Amphin are a nomadic people that live in the Dashao Rainforest, which is a primeval rainforest on the western continent. It is composed of very dense jungle and swampland with many unique kinds of flora and fauna that thrive in this environment. Insects are generally larger than average and there are hundreds of kinds of poisonous plants and fungi. The Amphin live on the continent of Osias with mountains to the west, called the Awtare Hul, meaning Thunder Mountains in their native language. To the east of their Rainforest is a sea, known as the Holosen Avta, meaning Salt Pass Sea. That sea is named so because of their ancient story about how their people migrated from far to the west and entered the Dashao Rainforest by passing through that sea.

Language

The language of the Amphin is called Damour; pronounced (da-MORE)

Appearance

Amphin skin comes in iridescent shades of greens, blues, turquoises, and all colors in between and is covered in dark blue, blueish green, to violet swirling, spotted, blotched and/or striped patterns that are unique to each Amphin. Certain patterns are hereditary but still unique, although the placement of patterns seems to be similar among siblings. The Amphin themselves will tell you that their patterns are messages from their deity, and can be used to divine one's future and future personality, although even the Amphin admit that these divinations are pretty vague and ones future can be changed and is ultimately their choice.

They have retractable fins on their forearms and lower legs and webbing on their feet that they retract when they are out of water. Their hands are also webbed and clawed, but these do not retract. They have a larger fin on top of their head that extends from the top of their forehead to halfway down the back of the head. They also have much larger ear fins than their eastern relatives, that give them greater hearing capabilities. In addition, they have six suction-cupless tentacles that are connected to the back of the head. They are all roughly the same length, all reaching to about a couple inches above the middle of their back. Amphin have a double eyelid, which they can open or close them to see clearly both on land and underwater (a necessary adaptation considering their amphibiousness) Their noses, which are in a low relief on their face, are almost just two slits, they do not have prominent noses and don't have a particularly keen sense of smell. Also, they have a sort of ridge on their face, starting from the ear and ending above the jaw which is more prominent in males than in females. The purpose of this is unknown, it may simply be an odd feature of their skull.

Characteristics

The Amphin have several adaptations that allow them to live both on land and in salt and freshwater as well as very silty, murky water. They can close their nostrils when under water and can close their gills, located on their necks, when on land to breathe in both conditions. Also, they are able to filter out salt, which in Amphin goes through the kidneys and out in urine. They have very efficient and powerful kidneys and liver that can not only filter salt, but also help filter out poisons (a necessary adaptation for their jungle which is home to countless poisonous substances). A side effect to this is that they have a very high alcohol, medicine, and drug tolerance and extremely foul smelling urine. However, this urine is excellent at warding off scavenging animals and insects from Amphin camps so Amphin generally relieve themselves on the borders of their camps to keep wild animals out.

Amphin ears have a small water holding compartment that stores some fluid. This is necessary for their eardrums to function; if the ear canal dries up, their hearing is affected and becomes very painful for them. Also, an Amphin's tentacles can move and can be used as additional limbs, but do not have a lot of strength, so can't be used to hold much. They can however be used to feel, quite a lot actually. An Amphin's head fins and tentacles are also sensory organs. They can detect temperature, pressure, humidity, movement underwater, and electromagnetic currents. The tentacles are very touch sensitive and so are useful for a variety of purposes, most notably for detecting movement in the water. Their tentacles act as sensory organs that can pick up waves, vibrations, and even slight alterations in currents to act as a sort of aquatic echolocation. Pulling or damaging the forehead fin, earfins, and tentacles is painful for Amphin, and injury to them is extremely serious. They have a life span of 110-130 years (if they aren't killed by something before then), and show few, if any, external signs of aging.

Behavior

The Amphin are a very peace loving, pavifistic people. They love being happy and feeling safe and spreading happiness and security to everyone they meet. They believe greatly in the power of community and oneness with nature and, when not worrying about their survival, are very laid back and relaxed, because they trust each other and feel safe and secure with their kin. The Amphin believe very strongly in their religion, but are the least dogmatic or defensive about it. If you asked them where they came from, they would answer with the following: thousands of years ago the Amphin lived in the sea and fled some great, recurring "bad thing". They have never specified what this bad thing was, but some assume it was some ancient leviathan that would hibernate and then awaken and eat them, but the shamans won't confirm or deny any theories. They say their exodus was a long one and their goddess, the Worldsoul, or (rarely called) the Earth Mother, guided them to this rainforest and taught them how to walk on land and live in the jungle over the course of a thousand years. All of this is recorded in the oral tradition and in written documents; their shamans are taught the entire history of their people and the history of their specific tribes and every tribal band member's lineages.

The Amphin have incredible memories and an incredible curiosity and love of learning. They say that "knowledge is survival, and denying knowledge is death". They greatly value communication and community, always sharing information and gossip between other bands and even other tribes. If someone discovers something important it is a grave sin to not share it with everyone, since, in most cases, something new would be something that could help their survival in the dangerous environment they live in.

The Amphin are expert swimmers. They are able to out swim every aquatic predator in the jungle, and could easily out swim most kinds of ships. They can also reach great depths and navigate extremely murky water; relying on their extremely sensitive fins and tentacles to sense the flow of water and whatever may be in the water when their eyes are of no use. They are also very nimble and graceful on land. Once their fins on their feet have retracted they are surprisingly sure-footed. This is partly an adaptation against their natural tendency for clumsiness on land after being in the water for an extended period of time, and partly a response to the very difficult terrain of the rainforest. The floor of the rainforest is covered it raised roots, plants and fungi that are poisonous to the touch, and ensnaring vines and giant spider webs. They are also, surprisingly, quite good at climbing up the vines and branches of the forest. Their upper body strength is just as great as their lower body strength, and they are quite dexterous. They have been seen climbing 40ft up clinging vines in under a minute to escape beasts. They are also expert trap makers and weavers, their perpetually webbed hands are not much of an encumbrance to them.

Reproduction

They are in a sort of evolutionary intermediate stage where their method of reproduction is concerned. They do not give birth to live young, but keep their fertilized eggs inside them for most of the gestational period. This is merely an adaptation in which instead of laying forty eggs like their distant relatives across the world, they keep about half that many in a special pouch-like organ within the body, much like a uterus in mammals. Males fertilize these eggs in a similar fashion to mammals although their "equipment" is different, more like the cloacae of salamanders but with a small pseudophallus that is only visible when aroused and is otherwise tucked inside. Eggs are released about once a year during a 10-15 year fertile period starting at the age of 20. Any eggs which are unfertilized within a week or so of being released break down and absorbed back into the female's body. After fertilization about half of the eggs will still break down and be reabsorbed either by the mother or the other eggs. A few eggs will "miscarry" or break over the next month and then only about 4-5 will hatch and be born. Amphin offspring, called amphlings, are raised communally by the entire group. Amphin keep their eggs inside them for a month and a half to two months, and then have to lay them in the water. Unfortunately, this process must be begun manually, by pulling out the first egg or two, before the body releases the eggs on its own. Once released, eggs are protected by the band's healers or shaman and carried around with them for the next week or so before they hatch. Amphin eggs are a translucent silvery color and Amphin shamans keep track of offspring's traits and bloodlines.

Dress

Most Amphin prefer to not wear too much clothing. The jungle is quite humid and heavy clothing limits their mobility. They also like to show off their skin patterns, going so far as to make custom clothing that best displays their most unique designs. Amphin also don't like very free flowing clothing, as it is bothersome while swimming and can get snagged easily. As such, they only wear form fitting shorts and belts (all belts come with pouches for carrying supplies and shorts have pockets). Also, Amphin children don't wear any clothing until they have stopped growing, so new clothes don't have to be made often for them, only to be grown out of. Amphin children do, however, receive their first belt after they have returned from their first successful hunt. Generally, they just wear short pants and females may wear also wear cloths around their chests for support. During formal occasions on land Amphin shamans may wear more flowing clothing or headdresses, but this more for show than function and so isn't done very often.

The Amphin also always carry around some amount of rope with them. Due to the difficult environment of their homeland, they prefer to be as well prepared as possible. They tie fairly large amounts of rope around their waists like belts and around their clothes and supplies to keep them in place while swimming. They also always carry some weapons, small bottles of poisons, food rations, and also carry metal hooks with them. All of this is for being able to make makeshift weapons and tools if the need arises.

Amphin also wear some jewelry. Mostly close fitting necklaces with animal teeth, beads, and feathers which show their role in the band (chief, chieftain, healer, shaman, and master of a craft) as well as bone, rope or metal armbands or anklets, and ear piercings. The lower spine of their ear fins are not as sensitive as the rest, so some wear more earrings pierced around the lower spine of their ears. During special occasions some may also wear flowers or feathers and animal bones. Their jewelry is typically close fitting and simply designed.

Culture

The tribes have been completely isolated from the people outside the Dashao for most of their existence. They don't have very advanced technology but are inclined to trying to invent new things; they believe that one should try to fulfill their full potential and not waste the life they have been given. They care a lot about each other and are friendly toward other tribes and the other inhabitants of the jungle. They keep large cats around their villages instead of domesticated dogs and such and are a generally kind people.

The Amphin do have a writing system and the ability to make crude paper, but very few are completely literate, most people know enough to write their name and the most common symbols and common words (they have an alphabetic script of interconnected symbols) but only the shamans, chiefs, and a select few others are completely literate. They mostly pass on information orally, which would seem extremely flawed, but thanks to their unusually good memories it is not as bad. Most Amphin know that writing is useful for saving information in the long term, but they don't consider what they have to say on a day to day basis to be important enough to learn how to write and write it down (humility is a virtue to them, they are never boastful about themselves). They let the important people like the shamans have the knowledge of writing while they focus on other skills and on enjoying life in the moment. This attitude is very detrimental to increasing the literacy rate, but as time goes on more and more are starting to have a growing interest in writing.

Because they believe that all living things have souls and are part of the "Worldsoul", when they die, they have special rituals and have rituals for hunting and whenever they kill an animal. When they kill an animal in a hunt, they say prayers to their goddess and thank the deceased animal for its body; only then will they butcher it. They also make sure to use every part of the animal: meat for food, skin for leather, brushes, and other applications, and it's bones for steel, adornment, and other applications. The Amphin believe that it is insulting to their goddess, the creator and source of all life, to discard what was once a precious living thing. Because of this they are very good at finding uses for whatever they have and whatever they can't use, they wrap in cloth or leaves and bury or put a stream or river, and say quick prayers for.

Religion

The Amphin all believe in a nature goddess, called the “Worldsoul” who is the source and essence of all life in the world. They believe she is a benevolent mother like figure who will aid you if you really ask for her help, but otherwise is more like a force of nature (more specifically the force behind all nature). Their religion mostly asks practitioners to be respectful and thankful to life and to not take it for granted. Children and the elderly are to be cared for, war is considered disrespectful to the sanctity of life, and people are more inclined to help others. People are also generally focused on preserving their homeland and taking care of it. They believe that when someone dies their souls becomes part of the Worldsoul and they become part of the body of the earth. Some of their shamans also do what most would consider magic, but they just consider it “asking for the Worldsoul’s aid”. It is minor magic, limited to making the water move, make things rot faster, speeding up healing, calming animals, brief telepathy, hazy visions of the future, and making small vines and roots bend to one’s will, among other things.

Politics

The various tribes are loose collections of bands lead by chiefs, who are guided by a council of elders, and at least one shaman. The shaman is usually accompanied by a shaman-in-training; their successor, who doesn't have any political power themselves, but is still considered an important person. The chiefs are chosen by the former chiefs before they pass on or abdicate or are voted for by the band if no successor was chosen. The shamans are recruited as students by the former shamans if they seem to have an affinity for the supernatural, or some other indication of importance. The elders are simply the older members of the tribe and are respected and sought after for their wisdom. Conflict between the tribes is rare, they would rather compromise or just avoid each other all together; and many chiefs and members of the tribes are actually related to each other, since intertribal mating is not uncommon and is highly encouraged. The tribes have ambassadors in each of their fellow tribes, who are very important for intertribal relations and communication. All the tribes have an annual gathering at the Crystal Lake, Kerune El, their only permanent settlement, in midsummer where all the chiefs meet and a lot of trade is conducted. Many tribes have come and gone through history: from disease, famine, integrating into other tribes, and so on. There are currently two loose collections of cheiftainless tribes: the Temuk River tribe, and the Deepwood tribe, which are the oldest surviving tribes. There are also three major unified tribes: the Aljo tribe the Marë tribe, and the Grav tribe, which is the youngest tribe, only being about 45 years old. There are also too many smaller tribes to list; the only notable one is the Ruwan tribe.

Tribes exist as several bands of people who usually follow a chief of one band and elders and shamans of that band too. An average band is about 50-60 people including children. A Tribe usually has many bands who go do their own thing, but follow the chief, called a chieftain, of a major band in their region. Bands who take on the last name of a certain band's chief are officially declaring that their band is a follower of that band until they change their name again. (Amphin naming conventions are the following: given name, name of tribe they are a part of.) So a Tribe is just a group of smaller groups that follows one "main" group. If the chief of the main band wants to move north, he/she explains it to the heads of the other bands and they all follow him/her north. Amphin are a very close knit bunch, and like the company and support of others, but don't want to be in way too big of a group. For a tribe to be recognized by the Chief Shaman (the chief of the mages that live at Kerune El), and therefore be recognized as an official tribe, must have at least ten other bands swear alliegance to the chief of one band.

Capital

The tribes don't have set capitals, they are all nomadic, but there is one place that all the tribes consider sacred; the Crystal Lake/ Kerune El. This is where they conduct major gatherings, where their best shamans are trained, and is where violence is completely prohibited; when staying around the lake people are forbidden from hunting, killing, or intentionally harming others, one’s diet while here is strictly vegetarian. The punishment for breaking these laws is severe (severe for Amphin anyway. They are big lovable softies when it comes to other amphin). Kerune El is considered the most important place.

Technology

They are mostly nomadic hunter-gatherers with basic smithing and smelting technology. Their weapons are mostly spears, javelins, machetes, bows and arrows, darts, and traps; most of which are in some way poisoned. They also have the ability to make crude steel by combining the bones of animals (the carbon source) with iron. They used to believe, before they had contact with the outside world, that this metal was stronger and better because it had some of the soul of the animal infused into it, and so would add decals and iconography of the animal used in their steel weapons. They know this is not the case, but still include an image of the animal used for aesthetic and traditional purposes.

Economics

The amphin tribes mostly use a barter system, although trading IOUs or just giving things to each other is common. They trade food, furs, clothes, drugs, medicines, information, and whatever else they have to offer.

Amphin Upbringing

When an Amphin is born they are shown to the village’s shaman or shamans and they will divine the child’s future based on the markings the child is born with. These prophecies are usually vague and while the child may be raised with that future in mind, making these self-fulfilling prophecies, they aren't set in stone and may not come true in the expected way, but are always expected to come true in some way. Markings are also somewhat hereditary, so the features they are prophesied to have may just be also inherited from their parents, like strong swimmer or narcissism. Since all Amphin are born covered in markings of unique sizes and shapes all over their bodies, it was only natural that they would find significance in these markings. For example, if a child had markings on their fins or gills, they would probably be a really good swimmer, or if they had very intricate and ornate swirling and/or branching markings they would almost certainly grow up to be a good mage. However, if a child was born with large circles around their eyes, they would be expected to have to make a very important and pivotal decision someday, that would not only affect them, but also the whole tribe.

Young amphin are encouraged to try everything, hunting, healing, tool making, trying to use magic, etc. Young amphin are taught a little of everything the village has to offer; with hunters how to hunt, fish, and track, etc, with healers the properties of plants, how to treat basic injuries, etc, and so on. This education is mostly "out in the field" but also there is a fair amount of training in their camp and teaching through story-telling so they are prepared when they go out in the treacherous jungle. Everyone in the band helps raise and teach the band's children, though some help more than others and sort of become the band's teachers and caretakers. Everyone looks out for everyone's children and everyone likes to teach the children what they know. When they reach the age of ten, Amphin children are expected to go into an apprenticeship in a certain discipline, either choosing themselves, or being recruited by an adult if they show a particular talent. This one-on-one tutoring lasts several years, and while most Amphin still learn to do a little of everything around the camp, they also each get to be particularly knowledgeable a different part of Amphin life. This is so they can be well rounded and be able to help with whatever others need help with, but the band can also have experts and no one is just a "jack of all trades". Once one has completed an apprenticeship as well as other milestones, like their first hunt and producing offspring, they are considered an adult and their education is mostly complete. If one shows significant skill or does something particularly significant in their area of study, they are considered a master in their craft, and get the title of (whatever job)-master, like beastmaster or scoutmaster for example, and are considered the band's authority on the subject. All members of the group contribute to community activities, like hunting, tool making, and foraging, but certain tasks, like healing and shamanism require some training. Only one person can be the band's shaman, and the shaman's apprentice is always only recruited by the current shaman. It is considered the most prestigious apprenticeship, even more important than being recruited to be the chief's second (essentially chief-in-training and the person the chief wants to succeed them, though the band still ultimately decides who they have as their chief). The Shaman is in charge of many rites, reading the patterns on newborn Amphin, making sure the dead are given proper burials, keeping all of the band's records, and memorizing the band's entire history. The shamanic apprenticeship takes the longest and those with any magical gifts are always preferred, and the shamans are almost always female; they believe females are better at the job and that the Worldsoul, their deity, prefers female shamans.

Roles in Amphin Society

All amphin must help hunting, but some can dedicate all their time to being master hunters, known as drulun-hor. They lead hunts, scouting missions, and train hunting apprentices. Some hunters also become beast masters, rok-hor, and help raise and train any jaguar and panther cubs and and other animals the village keeps in addition to their other duties.

While most amphin are unable to use magic, every so often a child is born who can use magic in some capacity. Girls who show the most skill and potential are made the apprentices of the village’s head shaman, the mayj. Village shamans can only be female, but either gender can use magic and, if particularly skilled, can train at the sacred Crystal Lake and become a permanent shaman at the Dashao Rainforest’s most revered site. The shaman trains them in magic, and fulfilling the other duties of the shaman: funeral rites, keeping records, arbitrating, ect.

Other professions, such as smiths and healers are mostly part time, require much longer training than hunters and have very important roles to play. Smiths make and repair metal objects, gather iron ore, train apprentices, make apprentices gather metals and make primitive steel. Certain metals, like gold, can be found in the rivers and streams and caves of the western mountains. Steel is made with iron and whatever carbon can be found, mostly coal, charcoal, and animal bones. Weapons made with animal bones are said to be imbued with the power of the animal, and so are treated with respect and care and usually have an image of the animal incorporated into the hilt or scabbard if it's a blade. Besides weaponry smiths also make jewelry and other accessories. A master smith is called a khaluk-hor and has the responsibility of training apprentices.

Healers, also known as danjuk,or danjuk-hor if they are master healers, have many jobs. They heal the sick and wounded, help with births and pregnancies, make herbal medicines, and make village’s poisons. Healers are also herbalists, they are expected to know the uses of all the different kinds of plants in the rainforest.

The leader of a band or chief of a tribe is usually chosen by the former chief and approved by the elders of the group. One is chosen based on their merit and skill and once chosen is expected to help the current chief and elders with whatever they need. The chief is a servant of the people and has the trust of the people in their hands, and the chief is expected to act accordingly. This is very unusual, but the tribe dislikes their chief and wants a change they can hold a vote and then if the chief is voted out, he or she is peacefully replaced by the successor or a new chief is chosen by the elders and shaman. The leader or chief is known as the "surkhal" in formal contexts, or "ashon" in informal contexts.

Amphin Relationships

Amphin, almost all of whom are bisexual, will have multiple partners throughout their lives and don’t normally, if ever, mate with one person for life. Instead, they stay with one or two people for an extended period of time and then move on, while still staying close with former partners. It is one of the more daunting duties of the shamans to keep track of the lineages of the people in their tribe. Sometimes parentage can get a bit hazy, and the mother might not know who the father is since they would have many partners, but thankfully certain physical traits, such as markings and skin patterns, are partially hereditary, so the shamans use those to tell the parentage. If it still can't be figured out, they all just decide they're the parents and move on; children are raised together by the whole village anyway. When an Amphin wants to court a person they like, they'll ask the other if they want to be in a relationship and offer the other a few flowers of the silphium plant, most known for being a natural contraceptive, among other gifts. If the other declines the gift, it's a rejection, if the other accepts the gift, they accept the offer and the two will be in a relationship for however long they feel like being together. The Amphin are generally very casual when it comes to relationships.

Amphin Death Rituals

When an Amphin dies the entire band mourns their passing for at least a week. No one hunts or fishes or eats any meat during the first week, and all the members of that person’s band attend a funeral ceremony held by the local shaman. The body is wrapped in a cloth and buried in the ground with a sapling planted on top, or under a tree, so they can “give back to the earth and continue to provide for the people”. These saplings are said to contain the spirits of the deceased and cutting down these trees is a grave offense, comparable to murder. To not get these trees confused with others, a metal ring is put around the tree and replaced when the tree outgrows it. It is one of the duties of the chiefs to maintain and take care of these trees when they encounter them.

Amphin Magic

For the Amphin, magical ability is the byproduct of gene-gene interaction, specifically the interactions between a select few genes of an amphin's own DNA and the genes of mitochondrial DNA. The ability to influence and regulate the expressions of each other determines whether magical ability is granted, and only a certain few "combinations" allow for magical ability. You can say that certain epigenetic factors lead to the over or under expression of these specific genes. Epigenetic factors are compounds that attach to, or "mark" DNA. These factors interact with genetic material, but do not change the underlying DNA sequence. Instead, they act as chemical tags, indicating what, where, and when genes should be "turned on" or expressed. These epigenetic factors are on both DNA and mDNA that aid in magic ability in Amphin. These epigenetic factors are not determined by DNA or the genes you have, hence, why they are not subject to as much natural selection. As much as some Amphin would like, just because one has magical ability it doesn't mean their offspring, or even grand-offspring, will have magical ability. If epigenetics were manipulated, one could theoretically produce more magical amphin, but the default or normal epigenetic inheritance favors the unregulation of the genes. The Amphin know a lot about Mendelian genetics, but nothing about epigenetics.

Cytoplasmic inheritance is the transmission of genes that occur outside the nucleus. It is found in most eukaryotes and is commonly known to occur in cytoplasmic organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts. These genes can be passed on in the mitochondria of females and cytoplasma of males of amphin. The ability to sense the lines of energy, or leylines, (their source of their magical ability) is in proportion to the number of certain genes that are expressed in the mitochondria in an Amphin's zygote. At this point epigenetic factors, like the Amphin's main DNA determine if the genes on those mitochondria are methylated (shut down) or promoted. Amphin who have higher percents of promoted mitochondria (70+ %) can "see" the leylines (more clearly the more they have), but only (90+ %) have the power to manipulate the leylines. Because of all of this, very few Amphin are born annually with magical ability.

The character, Anaka Aljo has 80% of this gene turned on, and her sisters also have high percentages and so have very similar complex patterning, but only one sister, Azra, is a magic user, since she has 91% of this gene turned on, due to epigenetic factors like more exposure to the other broken eggs compared to her twin sisters. The character, Vesk Aljo has 97% of this gene activated. It should also be noted that only those with very high activation percentages, like the head shaman, Avna Norn, who has 100% activation, can use the most complicated magic disciplines of animal control (95+%) and future sight (must be 100%).

One significant epigenetic factor is the number of eggs that break around the surviving, growing eggs. Amphin females keep their eggs inside a pseudouterus type organ in their bodies (just a mutated cloaca) for more than half of the gestational period, but Amphin eggs are not adapted to that environment. In fact they are extremely fragile, so many break during this period and this material is either reabsorbed by the mother or absorbed by the other surviving eggs. Because Amphin eggs can be awash in different amounts of the epigenetic factors from other Amphin eggs at different stages in development, this can impact the amount of expressed magical mitochondrial genes during development. Amphin are in a sort of evolutionary intermediate stage, where they don't just lay their eggs, but don't just keep their eggs inside the entire time. Laying the eggs out in the open when they are at their most vulnerable (at the earliest stages) is almost guaranteed to destroy all the eggs, both due to predators, the fact that they are a nomadic people and eggs would be jostled and damaged during travel.

Physics of Amphin Magic

Amphin mages have the ability to "see" the "lines" of energy (think string theory) in the world around them and manipulate them. These are really just the inherent energy within matter, although certain energies, like electrical energy are the most easy to see. An Amphin who has trained to focus and use this magical "sixth sense" or "muscle" (or whatever metaphor) can see the lines of energy and those with a high percentage of the necessary epigenetic factors, can mentally manipulate this energy. One who can see the lines could say see an organism's entire neural network, or the growing electricity in the air before a thunderstorm. They do this by expending and putting out their own energy to connect to what they want to manipulate, and then mentally manipulate it. There are six total disciplines: three Earth disciplines: healing, animal control, and biomancy, and three water disciples: future sight, telepathy, and hydromancy. Most disciplines are simply putting out energy and connecting and manipulating the energy in other things, but future sight is different.

Future sight, the hardest of all, involves connecting to and sifting through the fabric of space/time. Because this requires a different mental state and is so taxing on the body that they have to be lying down already before they do it, most do it most effectively while they sleep. One typically will meditate for hours on end, getting into the right mind set right before sleeping. Then, once they go to sleep they enter a much more relaxed and open state and their mind naturally goes through the neural pathways they had been practicing before bed as they begin to dream (some propose that dreaming is simply the brains way of going through and rehearsing the events and thoughts of the day) so in this state they can actually transcend into an altered state of consciousness. They are trained to see time, not as a separate entity, but as the other side of the coin of matter/space, or as simply another aspect of space/time, the two aren't different, but are instead are one and the same thing. Their ability to manipulate energy in matter plays a major role in their just being able to be conscious of this at all. They can focus their efforts on certain things, such as major events and very emotional moments, especially things that they themselves will witness because there is already a connection between them and it. These "vision dreams" while actual, accurate visions of the future, are vague and brief, startling out as blurry as they get into it, getting clearer, and then quickly getting blurry again until one can't see it anymore. This is because they started mentally reacting to the vision and changed the route of their neural activity.

They think this energy is the spirit or soul of things, so they think every rock, and tree, and creature, has a soul and there is a soul permeating throughout the entire world. This overarching "Soul" is what they call the WorldSoul. It is their deity who they believe "gives" them the ability to manipulate the strings and/or will manipulate strings for them. Because amphin patterning is linked to magical ability as well as a lot of other traits, they believe that all the variations in ones patterning are a symbolic code from the WorldSoul that tells the individual what they are capable of and what their future holds. Very intricate and complex patterning is usually linked to magical sight and certain aberrant patterning of is linked to certain heritable diseases, so it makes sense in a way.

Most who can use magic just try to master one type of magic, but magically inclined shamans and powerful mages are expected to be proficient in more types of magic. Future Sight, also known as Divination, is the recieving and interpreting hazy visions of the future. Telepathy is the ability to send memories or visions to others, these visions can only be sent over a short distance and are very brief, this is also the most difficult magic to learn. Hydromancy is the ability to move water, it is not very strong, mostly just making the water ripple, splash, part about half a cubic foot, and briefly jet out. Healing is mostly just speeding up the natural healing process by about 6%, stabilizing the critically injured, and slightly strengthening people for a duration of about half an hour. Animal control is the ability calm down wild animals and make predators back off, not through fear or force, but through peaceful coercion with a little bit of mind control; needless to say it's taboo to use on a sentient being. Finally, biomancy is is the ability to move small vines and roots. It is not very strong and is limited mostly to moving medium and small roots a few inches from where they were and having vines reach out about a foot or so from where they were. Amphin magic is not very strong and those who use it must be very clever in how they use it to make the most out of it.

To “cast” the spell, a user will pray or somehow invoke their deity, the Worldsoul/ Earth Mother and think very hard about what they want to do. It requires intense focus and will leave the user tired if used too much too frequently. This is really unnecessary, as all they really need to do is focus and get into the right state of mind, however this ritualization of the practice is effective so they always do it. The Amphin have also added four new disciplines to their repertoir: putremancy and strength magic in the earth category, and electromancy and stealth magic to the water category.

The first was one which has been in the works for an untold amount of time, but was always considered an extension of the healing discipline. This is the *Strength* discipline. One who practices this discipline is simply using their magic to make their muscles stronger, lower the strength limiter in their mind, and make their skin slightly harder to pierce or bruise. One who is using it would focus, chant an invocation to help them focus, cast the spell on themselves, and be usually strong until the spell wears off in about an hour after they lose focus. As soon as they stop focusing on the spell, it will start to weaken, and so a mage applying the strength discipline would only be at his strongest immediately after they do the spell and while they are chanting and focusing on it. It wouldn't be noticeable unless one already knew that the user was not normally that strong.

The next is known as *Putremancy*, or decay magic. By researching the diseases that took the people of the Divine Order, and the most basic knowledge about germ theory. The Amphin were able to learn that microorganisms that they cannot see, even with the mage's magical sight, can cause decay, rot, and disease. What putremancy does, is it energizes the bacteria already present and causes it to grow and multiply at an extremely fast rate, increases the rate of chemical reactions within the substance, and weakens the structural integrity of the organic material. Amphin of course don't exactly know the nitty gritty of this, they just know to apply energy to accelerate these natural processes. It does not make things instantly rot, but it does make them rot significantly faster than normal. If one were to watch a piece of fruit that had this magic cast upon it, they wouldn't be able to tell. However, if they left and came back in ten minutes, it would start to be noticeable.

The next, and first of the water disciplines (which include mental magics) is *Stealth* magic. What this discipline is, is the practice of slightly altering the perceptions of a person (or is one is skilled in it) multiple people to not notice the user at all. The user focuses on the people they want to affect and make the people not perceive that they are there. It is essentially like how you may be looking for your keys, and they are sitting right in plain sight, but you don't notice them. The affected persons won't notice sounds, smells, touch, or (most importantly) their presence. It is sneaking around in plain sight, and only works on those the user focuses on and only for however long they can focus on the user. Anyone else can see and perceive the user normally, and if the user were to suddenly lose focus, they could be perceived as normal. It was learned by studying the different applications of telepathy and possibly by Amphin mages brief encounters with fleeing fenrush. The Amphin almost exclusively use this on avoiding large predators in Dashao.

The final new discipline is *Electromancy*. By studying electric eels and, most notably, the Neen who visited Dashao recently. Electromancy is the most raw and simplistic of the disciplines. Rather than putting out energy to manipulate ones surroundings, electromancy is just putting out energy to excite the surrounding energy and generate electricity. There is not much to it, and the Amphin don't have many applications for it so rarely use it for anything other than teaching younger mages *how* to exert energy. No electrical technology survives in Dashao, and the Amphin have a very strict taboo against arming other living things with magic. They do not know how to use it to bend lightning or other electricity, although some have been going to the Necropolis Lake to try. So far none have survived the attempts. Perhaps if some went east to try it out on small electrical objects? Most Amphin are too scared to leave Dashao, so this is fairly unlikely.

Notable Amphin

Vesk Ruwan

An Amphin man exiled from his tribe for several offenses, mostly including breaking the sacred fasts during intertribal meetings, failing to uphold his responsibilities as a beast tamer, etc. what got him banished was when he broke a particular taboo; but he did it in self defense so they were lenient with him. He is currently a member of the Corisian Explorer's Society and is traveling the world, working on creating a bestiary of all the notable creatures around Aeras.

Anaka Aljo

An Amphin ambassador to the Neen, but also to wherever they need to send a representative on short notice. She is pretty young, but has learned a lot and is a very energetic and eager person in politics.

Other Amphin Articles

https://www.reddit.com/r/createthisworld/comments/5qp0kw/hypothetical_flag_of_dashao/

https://www.reddit.com/r/createthisworld/comments/5n28p4/an_outsiders_first_look_at_kerune_el/

https://www.reddit.com/r/createthisworld/comments/5mn4zn/recreational_drugs_from_dashao_pt1/

https://www.reddit.com/r/createthisworld/comments/5m7onw/why_amphin_keep_lineage_records/

https://www.reddit.com/r/createthisworld/comments/5ixbq9/welcome_to_the_jungle/

https://www.reddit.com/r/createthisworld/comments/5abhtg/short_story_kill/

https://www.reddit.com/r/createthisworld/comments/5uivax/catching_up_with_tatiana/