The Ennan

## Description

The Ennan are humans who are short in height, roughly 3 to 4 feet tall. They are hairless, from the lack of sunlight, with faces that appear to be dog-like with long muzzles and pointed ears. Both their skin and their eyes are pale, they are also very short-sighted in vision. However, while their sense of sight has waned, their other senses have grown. The Ennan has a superb sense of hearing. Due to their poor vision, the Ennan usually wear clothing with bright colors so that they may easily distinguish each other with vision.

It is important to note that sunlight can be fatal to the Ennan. While other methods of illumination are acceptable, contact with direct sunlight causes an Ennan’s body to burn as if it were actually on fire. An Ennan can only survive for approximately two to three minutes in direct sunlight before burning to death.

## Abilities

Acute Hearing - The Ennan have a superb sense of hearing, honing it to an extraordinary level. They can use it to identify friend and creature, measure distance of how close or far something is and detect anything out of place in an environment. Their sense of hearing has helped them predict danger and navigate their dark tunnels.

Song of Peace - The Ennan are only able to wield one specific spell: The Song of Peace, as they call it. The Song is a recited spell that dispels magic in an area. With the aid of musical instruments, the song can alternatively be played to have the effects spread over a much wider area.

## Personality

The Ennan despise all forms of magic aside from their own special spell. They are hostile to any magic user that would step foot in their caverns, even those who only use magic tools are considered to be enemies.

Other than that, the Ennan welcomes humans who happen to appear in their caves. Any other race would be considered animal and would be hunted for food. To other humans that they welcome,

## Lifecycle

Due to their lifestyle, an Ennan can only live for a maximum of 50 years. Some Ennan do venture and live in the world above, allowing some to live up to 65 years. They breed the same way as humans do, and their life periods are also similar (An Ennan is considered Elderly at the age of 40).

Mothers do not usually survive after giving birth to a child. If a mother does survive, they usually live out the rest of their life with a physical disability. This means that a female raised to become a mother, will usually have a much shorter lifespan.

## Diet

Anything that lives and breathes underground fits the Ennan diet. The Ennan also live close to underground rivers, giving them access to special types of fish not found in the above rivers or oceans.

The Ennan also are adept farmers, farming various vegetables and fruits that are strong enough to grow in the absence of sunlight. One very notable crop is the Ennan Peach. To outside humans it is known as a foreign delicacy that is sweeter than the common peach.

## Combat

The Ennan are not exceptionally strong, nor do they possess a wide variety of magical capabilities. They are not technologically advanced either; the Ennan fight with bows and arrows, short swords and small shields. They are, however, equipped with Veilcopper which is a unique material that is extremely blast resistant. Their Veilcopper shields and armor are a great enough defense against the explosives that invaders bring underground.

The Ennan are quite clever and have traps laid out all across their numerous cavers, ready to dispose of their invaders. Their weapons are specially made for combat within the small caves, giving them a fighting edge against melee fighters of varying styles.

The Song of Peace is a very notable combat weapon as well, protecting their underground home from magical sieges. Humans from the land above sometimes request the aid of the Ennan during times of war, to cripple the magical forces of their enemies. A talented Ennan musician is sometimes enough to greatly determine the fate of the battlefield.

## Societies

Structures of the Ennan are made of different colors of clay as well as stone. They do not have a set currency of their own, instead payments or trades are made by trading resources such as farmed creatures or food.

The Ennan are ruled by their Tribal Leader who selects the representative for different parts of the community, such as for Farming or Guarding. After the death of a Tribal Leader, a Selection Ceremony occurs. Any Ennan of Selection age, which is between 16 and 24, are allowed to participate. The Selection is a dangerous ceremony that tests the strength, wit and courage of the future Tribal Leader. Participants are fully cloaked and sent to the world above to hunt any creature or beast they wish. Whoever returns alive with the greatest prize becomes the next Tribal Leader.

The Ennan speak their native tongue: Enalo. Few of them study the languages of other humans to interact with them.

There are a few unique items that are only acquired by the Ennan. Their crops are unique in that they are grown with specific conditions that the Ennan meet perfectly. They grow the Dreanno Bean which is a rare ingredient used to increase the potency of various medicines. They grow the Ennan Peach which is known to be an extremely sweet and delicious fruit that far surpasses the common peach.

Another unique item that the Ennan possess is Veilcopper. Veilcopper is a rare material found deep within the earth and is mined in very small quantities. Very few tools are made with Veilcopper due to its rarity. It is often woven into the Ennan shields and armor to protect them from explosions brought by invaders.

The Ennan worship their God Zothos, whom they believe bestowed them with the Song of Peace. This religion, called Zothon, believes that one day the Ennan will be blessed and able to walk among other humans in the above world and be protected from the dangers of the sun. They also believe that Zothos will one day remove magic entirely from this world.

Lastly, the Ennan have a weekly festival during the season that the Ennan Peaches are in bloom. The festival is called The Season of Delight. During the festivals, an open portion of Ela is reserved for music, dance and feasting. Along with traditional Ennan cuisine, this is the only time when the Ennan craft Ela Dew. Which is a sweet alcoholic beverage made with the Ennan Peach and the Dreanno Bean.

## Homelands

The Ennan capital city/cavern is known as Ela. This is where the majority of the Ennan reside. Some of the Ennan stay in smaller camps in other caverns that are connected to Ela via tunnels.

Most of the Ennan live underground in their main city and various caverns. Some of the more daring members of the tribe fully cover themselves and live with other humans in the world above.

## Notable Members

Tribal Leader

General

## History

According to the Ennan religion, the Ennan were once a tribe of humans living in the world above. Unlike the other humans around them, they were incapable of mastering the magical arts. Other civilizations grew and rose in power from the mastery of magic, and the Ennan were berated, beaten and captured as slaves. That was until the God Zothos had pitied them. Zothos had gifted members of the tribe with the Song of Peace. However, this made the other human civilizations fear the Ennan. Some groups wanted the Ennan extinct, while others wanted them captured and enslaved to be tools for war. In an attempt to protect the Ennan, Zothos revealed an empty world underground just for the Ennan. There they live and wait for their God’s next action.

In reality, Zothos was a human who was incapable of using magic. He was jealous of other humans who could learn magic and one day he stumbled upon a spell he could craft for himself. Zothos required another human who could perform the spell for him, it also required a human sacrifice.

The clever Zothos then tricked a mage into performing the rite as well as sacrificing themselves. The rite enabled Zothos to craft a single spell for himself that could be passed on to his children. He created The Song of Peace, which he used to perform terrorist acts against magicians. With this unique ability, Zothos also created a cult following.

Zothos’ actions began to attract too much attention towards them, with groups of hired killers sent after him and his cult. In an attempt to survive, Zothos and his followers escape to an underground cavern. It was there that his followers worshipped him and began to form a tribe of their own.

## Trivia

This race was inspired by the Pirran Tribes in the Deltora series.