Ash

The Ash are a less predominant race in Cheridith. Typically wandering scholars or healers, very rarely will one find an Ash warrior. As a whole the Ash adhere to a strict belief system which includes no marriage with any other race. The Ash are also expected never to kill another Ash. Typically valued for their knowledge, Ash find many uses in various places. There is a large disparity between males and females of this particular race, with the males typically being eight to nine feet in height, while the females are rarely taller than six feet. Their distinctive characteristics are relatively large eyes and pointed ears. They typically also have silvery blonde hair, though this can vary.

## Physical Characteristics

As a whole, Ash have fairly large eyes, most commonly a clear blue, though there have been accounts of golden eyes in some rare cases. They have four fingers on each hand, but each finger can be quite long. More often than not, Ash turn out to be left-handed. Their ears are pointed and quite large. With the sensitive tips of their ears they are able to detect slight changes in air current and electrical impulse in the air. Their front teeth are pointed, and their fingernails typically grow to about an inch in length. With hair so blonde its nearly white, they somehow avoid a washed-out appearance, and an interesting phenomenon occurs in the dark when their hair glows. By maturity at the age of twelve, most Ash will have grown a tail, though rarely, some will remain tail-less. All Ash are impermeable towards cold.

All Ash can manipulate arts from birth, but their ability to do so is quite limited at first. As they age though, their ability gradually increases, and at maturity, they meditate to learn more. One interesting thing about the Ash and arts, however, is the inability of Ash Druids to use their arts on themselves.

Between males and females of the race, there is a great difference. Males are typically giants, ranging from eight to nine feet in height, and can be quite muscular. Their nails tend to grow deeper than that of the females and will harden by maturity, allowing them to be used as claws. Their tails also tend to be shorter, and they move very rigidly. Female Ash are much shorter than their male counterparts, and more svelte. Their tails are typically longer, and they move with a cat-like silence and springiness that is quite different from the stiff motions of the males in their race.

## Homegrounds

The Homegrounds are where the Ash live, though no one knows its true location. Many hypothesize it to be in the Northern Colds since they are so resistant to the lower extremes of temperature, but no one truly knows. No Ash has ever revealed the location of the Homegrounds, even rogue Ash, for there is a devout underlying loyalty that they all share, and even the exiled remain adamant against revealing the location of the Homegrounds, despite never being allowed to return there themselves.

## Belief System

Every Ash is required to follow a strict belief system known as the *Chak-kar*. Within it are seven laws:

1. All Ash are bonded together as friends
2. Never bare your stomach to anyone but your spouse/parents
3. Never kill another Ash
4. Never marry anyone but an Ash
5. Once married, never separate
6. Do not steal; always share
7. Never reveal the location of the Homegrounds

If any of the laws are broken, the Ash is immediately exiled and considered a stranger.

## Ash Types

There are three Ash types, each famed for a powerful attribute.

### Ash Philosopher

Ash Philosophers are typically known for their knowledge and wisdom which they derive through constant study of Wisdom Arts. By far the most common kind of Ash, it has gotten to the point where their species name, *Philosopher*, has become a common term used to describe a scholar in search of knowledge, *philosopher*.

### Ash Druid

Ash Druids grow in Life Arts, and are commonly found as healers, though they can do a lot more than that. Commonly found as physicians, these sometimes sell potions in the black market to unscrupulous Humans who do not care about their race's animosity towards other races.

### Ash Battledoer

Ash Battledoers are the least common type of Ash, but they exist and are usually very powerful. Most often these control rudimentary arts which allow them to speed up healing and gain strength in battle, but their main asset is their lightning quick speed, and some can move so fast that to the unheeding eye, it can appear as if they teleported.

## Piercings

The Ash use a system of body piercings to indicate their type. Ash Philosophers gain a nose stud when they first reach maturity, and they later get a second piercing through the septum when they have reached mastery. Similarly, Ash Druids receive a piercing through the right earlobe when they reach maturity, and when they have achieved mastery they receive a second piercing through their left earlobe. Ash Battledoers follow a slightly different principle. All of them receive a tongue piercing at maturity, and then they get a ring passed through their lip for every decade that they survive. Because of the high mortality rate among Battledoers (who undergo so much combat that their hyper-speed cannot make up for it), it is rare to see a Battledoer with more than three lip piercings.

### Navel Piercing

When an Ash is exiled, he/she receives a navel piercing indicating his/her exile. To an Ash, this is the ultimate humiliation, since as a part of receiving this piercing, they are required to forever bare their stomach, and to the Ash, who have strict beliefs about the baring of their stomach, this is nigh unbearable. The process alone is enough to make an Ash reconsider breaking the belief system since the jewelry passed through – a curved metal fixture with a razor-sharp point on either end – is first heated up in a fire, and then used as both the piercing tool and the jewelry. This ensures that the flesh scars around the jewelry, making it unremovable save by surgery or arts, not that an Ash would consider removing it for an instant.

## Language

*See more on Sythh here*.

The Ash speak in the unique language known by the Common Tongue as Sythh. An elegantly simplistic language, it lacks any resemblance of nouns save names. Because of this, conversations in Sythh are often accompanied by hand gestures, and in that manner it is a very visual language.

## Ash Potions

The Ash are a naturally generous and kind race, and, being one of the few races remaining who are able to manipulate arts naturally, created potions which temporarily simulate the effects of various arts. They never share the formulae for these potions though. Any Ash can do this, though the kind of potion depends on the kind of Ash. It is reportedly from one of these potions (whose formula Styn Eien extracted from Kador) that Styn developed his mutagens.