[CHAR] Rising Winds and Shifting Sands

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Starting city of Renna is based off this picture.



Not my art. I believe this belongs to Rhynn on Devart.

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Curdle info


illustration copyright of Loic Zimmermann

Nickname: Curdle
Age: 134 approx. 60-65 human years
Species: Jinni
Appearance: -blue-brown eyes
-black hair, lighter beard
-heavy beard grown over his chest and up along his jaw to his ears and thin, flat hair that curls only at the tips
-big nose
-wide shoulders, 6’1”, wiry
-calloused hands
-wrinkles round his eyes and mouth, weathered skin, scars: slice across his right shoulder, knifed in his left side, stripes on his shoulders, cut on his left calf, horizontal crescent beneath his right eye along his cheek bone
-bit of a sideways stoop
-curled fingers on his left hand, slice through them
-gesticulates a lot
Difference: dark grey ram horns
Occupation: Personal servant of the Lady Fiira Gerun from her 10th birthday, previously a city guard until 71

[Alfbie]

(Picture coming soon) Name: Miria Sedina Age: 35 Species: Human Appearance: Mocha-colored skin, long dark hair down to mid-back, dark brown eyes, slender frame. She holds a modest but classy sense of style. Occupation: Traveling merchant.

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Notable NPCs

Lady Fiira Gerun(dead)
-Curdle's master
-born on the coast somewhere desert meets ocean, Sherahd city, Leres merchant family
-betrothed young
-married into the Gerun family(part of the Renna nobility)
-salt trade
-neighbourlady is Ynip

Raha
-a donkey

Tamal
-him
-Miria's family's jinni
-jackal ears
-white hair
-he sounds wicked... >.>

Deer Jinni
-awesome

Boy
-amusing

Mentioned city names
Renna -oasis city
Assryn -near Renna
Hudris
Sherahd -coastal trading hub

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Cities

Renna

-on an oasis
-pretty darn old
-has a catacomb system for their dead, from highest ranking to low: mausoleum, individual sealed rooms, hollow in wall, skull and long bones cleaned and set in piles, lowly slaves and beggars left outside the city wall in a nearby pit for scavengers to clean up before the bones are added to the catacombs(some favoured slaves might go directly into the catacombs)
-is part of the continental salt trade, it is a central hub within the desert, the link between the coast and its salt flats and the edge of the desert(which means it's probably a hub for other things that come in by sea and won't be ruined by extreme temperature shifts)
-all trade in either direction passes through it
-there's probably a city on the edge of the desert that plays a similar role

Sherahd

-coastal city
-major trading port, very rich, strong economy
-walled
-makes use of a nearby cliff and its many caves (and it being a migratory stop for a number of vultures) to be rid of the dead, least important are merely tossed into the waves, the higher their class, the higher the cave in which the dead are placed. Only the leading families are placed at the top.
-run unofficially by two families: Leres in name, but Gerun in power and influence
-the guard that keeps law and order in the city is considered elite, both in training and ability, generally has 1 jinni to every 3 humans (only in the guard)
-within its walls, it is vibrant and clean
-within the lower city and sectioned off from the main routes, poverty is rampant and the crime rate is rather high
-the guard maintains their reputation by clamping down severely on crime outside the slums as well as not hesitating to step into the slums where every citizen is warned against setting foot

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Other Notes

Desert Travel

-three roads nearer the edges, one along the coast, and two at the inland border
-camel caravans travel the farthest and do not often stop between cities at smaller towns
-jinn lead caravans that can take carts and more people between towns and cities on hardened sand, payment is required to continue after each settlement

Jinn vs. Slaves

The difference between jinn and slaves is, first, that slaves are human, while jinn are restrained beings of magic.
Second, jinn are only found in the desert. They do not do well beyond its borders.(there might be other mythological critters in similar positions elsewhere in the world, or that live under their own power even within the desert, dunno yet, do we :P)
Third, anyone can own a slave provided they have the money to buy one or the law on their side to keep an indebted under their power. Jinn are owned by the city government and act, generally, as civil servants, for the good of the many. Some are entrusted as life servants to individuals by way of a status symbol(just as often achieved through bribery of officials as it is genuinely meant, there does have to at least be a sort of good reason for it, even if bribery happens).
Fourth, slaves have a chance to escape slavery through hard work, running away(and not getting caught), or being favoured. Or, if they are indebted, managing to work off the debt. Jinn remain servants and outside the system of citizenship in every city they inhabit, with no chance of becoming something more.
Fifth, the standards for keeping slaves are generally better established and enforced than those for jinn. They are both required to be given the minimal neccessities of life: shelter, food and water, but a slave might also be given a slight wage. Jinn are rarely given currency. A slave being mistreated does have legal recourse and might even gain something by speaking with the right person. A jinn being mistreated is just going to have to live with it. A slave that misbehaves may be punished as their owner sees fit, provided the owner keeps within the limits set out by law. A jinn that misbehaves is usually out of luck.
Most small towns don't abuse their jinn. It's the larger cities where bad blood festers or individual contracts that are the worse danger.
Both jinn and slaves would be the first to suffer during economic stress or drought or food shortages.
Both occupy the bottom rung of society.
Some poorer people might choose to enter slavery voluntarily if it means better living conditions or the chance to join an established family.
Jinn have their own side society.

Use of Jinn in Society

-servants
-labourers(sometimes as animals)
-guards
-caravan guides
-pretty much anything you might ask other people to do for you

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Jinn Stuff

-Probably about 1 jinni for every 100 humans, though their concentration varies depending on the region and city preferences

Religion

Five Winds

• only five main winds, there are plenty of other smaller winds
• winds come from their directional namesake
• personified without bodies, just representations of actions and emotions
• each wind is both a representation and an evocation of what they symbolise, so a jinni wanting revenge might request South Wind's favour, while some might say another is often ignored by the North Wind or blessed by the East Wind's optimism. West Wind might be invoked when someone is trying to find the truth.
  
  
  • South Wind
    • spiteful
    • vengeful
  • East Wind
    • hopeful
    • faithful
    • enduring
  • West Wind
    • cynicism
    • regrets
    • truths
  • North Wind
    • luck
  • Breath
    • life
    • magic

Magic

Identification

• Most jinn can tell magic from not-magic and can sense it in methods that vary between individuals, some might see auras, others hear ringing, some might smell it, or feel their hair rising (provided it belongs to one of the original five senses, any method is viable).
• Active magic and passive magic are distinguishable through the same instinctive sense, though active magic is usually the easiest to recognize or notice, even without being able to see its effects.
• Some magics leave lasting evidence that humans are able to see as well.
  
  • Physical representation is the most obvious, as anything magically shaped is often impossible or extremely difficult to achieve by hand. Landscaping tends to be more difficult to distinguish as jinn follow nature's laws when left to their own devices, but under direct orders, they can even make rocks float, soooooooo, yeah...
  • Signs of routine casting in one area are discoloured stains on nearby items, almost like soot or ash. The colour tends to be black, grey or rusty, all with a bluish tinge. It is difficult to remove, but not impossible. (Repeatedly purifying water, for instance, might leave the pool's edges looking sooty, or constant illusion to hide a door might stain the walls, or repairing a blanket or clothes might discolour them as well.)
  • A sign of strong magic having been used is finding glass formations within the sand around the area.
  • And, of course, seeing a creature with a strange deformity is also a good sign that it is a jinni.

Methods

• Magic can be cast in a variety of ways, usually involving breath and gesture and sometimes other mundane objects.
• Concentration is the main component, as well as a vivid idea of what is wanted.
• Desire and focus are the two aspects of casting that never change, while ten jinn might call the same amount of fire, for the same purpose, with ten different methods.
• Because of this range in methods, one can often identify what region a jinni comes from by how they cast their magic, as they learn magic from others, but there will always remain a good deal of variety.
• Technically, a jinni could cast magic without anything more than wishing if they have a strong enough mind and desire, but using motion and breath is the instinct, while casting in stillness must be trained and practised.
• As with anything, knowledge is power. A jinni might happen across an ability by accident, but the easiest way to learn how to use magic is through practise and being taught. Fewer accidents happen...
• Many magical actions also require knowledge of the material world to accomplish properly. For instance, repairing clothing requires knowledge of cloth and tailoring. If a jinni is a competent weaver, who understands every aspect of turning wool (or other stuff) into cloth, they will be much better at working with cloth and even weaving purely magical cloth, than a jinni who knows only the finished product.
• Too much magic running through a jinni's body at once can burn it out for a time. The length varies, as does the damage, though unless the magic also has to force its way through the first contract, it will never be permanent. Often, it is merely a lack of magic and some fatigue for a day or three, but it can also lead to unconsciousness and sometimes short comas.

Classification
Every Jinni can do the same magic as every other Jinni, although some may be barred by their contract or are unaware of the possibilities. It merely depends on knowledge, practise and affinity how well they manage each of these classifications.

• Shaping and Shifting
  
  • Shaping is changing the shape of an object without changing its physical properties. Ex. making a rock round and smooth or turning it into a statue, giving someone a bigger nose
  • Shifting is changing the thing itself. Ex. turning sand into glass, or a person into a frog
  • Many actions involve a combination of the two.
  • Human bodies are not compatible with shifting magic, but are somewhat susceptible to minor reshaping, though it does not often last. Children are more susceptible than adults.
• Elemental
  
  • They can both create and control the elements.
  • Jinn are weakest in controlling water. They can't do a lot with it. And cannot summon it.
  • Their strongest element is fire, though they cannot create a fire that burns living things. They can, however, control naturally made fire that will.
  • Most Jinn have some instinctive affinity for fire and air. This is usually the first magic a jinni child will manifest.
• Animation
  
  • Animating an inanimate object.
  • Can either control it themselves, or give it an autonomous control much like a golem. These creations are relatively simple, often able to complete only singular, straightforward tasks. Such as carrying messages from one location to another, or following someone to carry their things.
  • The strongest jinn can make golems larger than themselves, but most are capable of one large dog sized golem or two cat sized golems.
  • They require daily maintenance and are generally more bother than they're worth.
  • Can be used to communicate across a city if they remain connected to the jinni who created them, but cannot be used between cities as the distances are too great.
• Spatial and Temporal
  
  • Jinn naturally slow time around them, though in a very, very small area, which is how they live as long as they do. Were their magic not contained through contract, they'd live even longer.
  • They can also travel vast distances through a sort of teleportation. They require a familiar anchor at their destination and must travel the same distance with their mind first. (as Curdle wandered to look for Miria) It is not easy to do.
  • Very few, if any, Jinn realise either of these magics are possible, or could manage them, due to the amount of magic necessary to accomplish spatial relocation.
• Illusions and Reality Shifting
  
  • Any magic a jinni does can be manifested as an illusion, making no concrete changes or actions beyond major or minor deceptions, or as a concrete action reshaping the world.
  • Anyone who is aware of the illusion won't be fooled, and might even be able to see through it.
  • Reality shifting is basically making illusions real.
• Contracts
  
  • Two contracts: first one nullifies magic in a passive, sort of overlay manner, that gradually diminishes in strength
    second one is for maintaining control of the jinni in their active participation within society
  • The second one can be between the jinni and an individual or an entire city and can be adjusted depending on the role they are being given.
  • It acts as a further barrier to prevent the jinn from using their magic without consent or allows those who act as guards to use it against humans when directed.
  • In most instances, spells are done at the behest of a human or when practising. Rarely otherwise, though it is not general practice to bar jinn from using magic on their own, it's merely frowned upon. So, different jinn may make more independent use of the small spells than others, depending on what city they grew up in or where they live now.
  • The more a jinni uses powerful magic, the more powerful they will become. As such, the strongest jinn are generally those that lead caravans or otherwise have their magic constantly in demand. This is not a matter of building up magic like building muscle, but of breaking down the first contract (likely without realising it) and gaining better control. In their physical flesh, there will always be a limit to how much magic any jinni can use at a given time.

Jinn Naming Conventions

No family names. Siblings share a syllable of sound, and exchange that syllable with their significant other, adding it to the end of their original name.
Ex. Curdle's brother is IshBara, and Curdle's wife is Duneskaya. So, he is IshCaredal Esk. And she is Duneskaya Ish. Or Duneskayish...
As the firstborn, IshBara may have been named Bara, and upon Curdle's birth, was renamed IshBara. Or he might have been IshBara all along.
The syllable does not necessarily have to be in the same place in the name, but it is usually in front or in the middle, very rarely at the end.
Sometimes siblings are given the same name, but with the one syllable changing position.
Ex. Duneskaya or Dunayeska

A jinni with only two syllables in their name is most likely an only child, or may have cut all ties with their family, or lost contact before any sibling was born. As two syllable names don't have a sibling syllable, if these jinn find a significant other, their SO is free to pick any sound from their name they like.

Not all siblings sharing a syllable intentionally (there are probably a lot of Jinn out there with the syllable Ish in their name whom Curdle doesn't know), are related. They might have been adopted into a family when separated from their own. The lack of a family name comes from the general uncertainty of whether children will even remain with their parents long enough to remember them.

Jinn Funeral Rites

things and stuff