Múza'ni

The Múza'ni, or "The learned people of the Mú" are the "priests" of the Devayani and the priestly/spiritual caste of the Za'ahene Empire, though not all Múza'ni are working in that profession. As the Múza'ni can marry and have children, the children automatically inherit their caste status, though not necessarily their trade. Múza'ni who do not have the right to perform healing or rituals are referred to as Mú'zi, or the "people of the Mú".
==Functions in society==
The Múza'ni are primarily doctors, healers and spiritual advisors for ordinary people. In village communities, they are responsible for delivering babies, performing medical services and selling potions. They also perform in rituals aimed to appease angry or mischievous Mú spirits, or in celebrations of the good and wise rule of the Devayani. Most Múza's in villages are moderately more affluent than ordinary villages, live in wooden houses which are coloured red and having the glyph of the Mú burnt into the door. The wooden beams of the house are decorated with incantations aimed at binding spirits and preventing them from corrupting the interior of the house.
There is a Múza'ni hierarchy, which supposedly is crowned by the Devayani themselves, with sixty-nine different grades. Those who reach higher grades are prohibited to speak of their knowledge to the lower grades.
The Múza'tah is the lowest administrative division of the Empire, and consists of the area which a local village Múza is responsible for. Some Múza'tah's can be very large, but mostly are desolate wastelands and archaic villages, while others can be very small and just consist of an urban neighbourhood. In Za'ah alone, there are more than 1000 Múza'tah's.
In village Múza'tah's, the local Múza'ni are also performing a role as judges and arbiters.
The Ar'yah are a caste of Múza'ni, but perform no religious functions.
==Education==
While being a caste, the Múza'ni are reminiscent of Zy'za Zérch'ni (Syannic sársha) by having to go through formal education. Firstly, every múza must be literate, in Rûkh and Devan'shari, as well as the arcane Mú glyphs. Secondly, they must learn about the theological foundations of Za'aheen cosmology. Thirdly, they should study medicine and healing, and perform autopsies, exams and an own research project to be allowed to become a legitimated Múza.
Múza'ni are only allowed to marry with Múza'ni or Mú'zi, and only a child with such parents can apply for
==Appearance==
Ordinary Múza'ni village priests can be of both genders, though 2 out of 3 Múza'ni are females. They garb themselves in black robes which are tied around the waist by a rope, and paint finger-nails, lips and eyelids black. In some regions of the empire, the Múza'ni are shaving their heads and tattooing their foreheads with glyphs or with the Devayani symbol, in other regions they shave all hair except a small strip on the right temple above the left ear, allows that to grow out and combs it over the head. Other variations include a shaved head and a pigtail down the neck.
In Ra'shay, some Múza'ni are wearing red robes with yellow bands around their waist, and colouring their skin white and their lips green. These Múza'ni are from the town of Az Azthar north-west of Ra'shay.
==Wing Children==
The Wing children are emissaries of the Múza'ni. They are slave children who have their hands mutilated, removing the skin and muscle tissue of the hands, making the fingers unusable and extremely long. They are naked and painted in colourful patterns all over their bodies. Male wing children are having their genitalia removed.
This practice was widely used during the archaic age, but is since that unusual, though Múza'ni above grade 44 are allowed to hold a harem of wing children.
==Potions and talismans==
Though all Múza'ni are either receiving a state pension or food from the local village to sustain themselves, many of them have a low income and double as chemists, selling medicines, potions and talismans. The potions can be for curing impotence, gaining luck in business, delaying aging, curing childlessness, curses, and pure poisons.
The talismans finally, are kept in a place in the shop secluded by red curtains. They are made out of obsidian, sometimes with engravements. They depict glyphs, and supposedly bind Mú spirits to them. If a talisman is destroyed, the spirit escapes and will take revenge on its owner. The talismans are worn to avoid bad luck, or to gain good luck, or to increase stamina, sexual capacity, intelligence and strength of the owner.
People wear the talismans in necklaces around the neck, but must take them off during sexual intercourse, since sex wearing a talisman automatically would become a ritual to open a gateway. There is a belief that a child conceived while both parents wear the talisman would become a Múza'ni spirit inhabiting a human body, a Mú'shi. Za'aheen people believe that mental illnesses are caused by the possession of the Mú of a human body.
Category:Za'ahene people
Category:Religions
Category:Culture
Category:Za'ah
Category:Mú