Asili

A male Asili

Asili are a humanoid Infra race native to the hot, jungle climates of Toheteca and the Low East. They work in a tribal system of tributary provinces allied under the rule of one conqueror. They are resistant to almost all human diseases.

## Toheteca

Toheteca is currently under provincial hold via Tiago and is the homeland of the Asili. The Asili have grown so in tune with the nature of the jungle that few survive outside of their natural habitat. The province is known for the gorgeous megafauna and flora that are generally accepted as wonders of the world. The thick underbrush of the jungle makes it a perilous journey for anyone who hasn’t grown up there.

## Physiology

Asili are born to the world as buds, similar to eggs. The birthing of a bud is extremely dangerous for non-asili as the bud grows from sprouts inside the mother’s womb. Each tribe has a mother tree that provides sap for the mother asili to remain strong through pregnancy, birth and after birth. The infants’ buds are then allowed to root in the base of the tree so that the sap can help them grow too. It has been said that Asili physically wilt if they are not given the sap of their mother tree when they are weak, though there have been cases of Asili being born without any connection to a mother tree.

Asili are also able to heal minor wounds from contact with sun and water and have a great ability to manipulate earth and water magic. Though it is possible to drown an Asili, many are able to survive underwater for hours at a time. Some may even be entirely aquatic, relying on swamp and tide pool lifestyles. One Asili House is known to survive dry, hot conditions due to their matron plant.

An individual’s magic relies entirely on its House matron plant. Children generally inherit their father’s matron influence. For example, a male might come from roses, his personal flower being the Damask Rose. His children will have other types such as: Dog-rose, Cabbage Rose, Sweet-Briar, Rosa Filipes, Burnet Rose, China Rose etc.

## Culture

The Asiili sprouted up in prehistory, seeming to follow in the footsteps of the Elain culture they shared land with. Their earliest history states that the Warrior-King Cocoxil heard the voice of Sichora calling to him in his youth. Following her voice, Cocoxil came to a weak sapling that could receive only shade on the jungle floor. He leaned down to remove the sapling so as to bring it to his mothers garden. As it slowly recuperated, the sapling whispered to him: "You must kill the Elain travelers who visit your village. Take their animal hearts and bury their hearts under the great desert sands of Hicoyote." Doing so, the desert island immediately flourished with the blood of the Elain travelers. Mother-plants and Mother-trees sprouted all over the island and several great families were born, all bowing to Cocoxil.

So started the tradition of sacrificing beating hearts over Mother-plants to ensure family health each Moon Cycle. Most often used today are prisoners of war and crime.

Because of their plant-based culture, the Asili are a peoples that prosper in agriculture. Each family specializes in their own plant/tree family and they trade out to the Elain. But, the Asili do not eat any plants besides decaying matter and fungi. Their main diet consists of decaying plants and animals. some Elain tribes are known to give their dead to the Asili.

One strange part of their culture is the act of self-slavery. Citizens who fall into gambling or are too old to be desired prostitutes resort to selling their work to citizens with money. They are housed and fed the bare minimum and work at whatever their master tasks of them. This is preferable to being marked a criminal.

Sports are held very high amongst the Asili and to lose any number of the sports games meant dishonor and even certain death among the higher ranks.

## Notable Asili

* Rose Pippin: the court mage to Lord Donovan LeBeau
* Rose Sulola Flores: a runaway slave from Tajun
* Germana Maria Ortega: a bounty hunter trained as a Tempest
* Celery Kerrith: the lost heir to the empire of Toheteca, enemy of Empress Oaxaca
* Ignacio Ortega: a rancher in Ewsel, father of the bounty hunters Germana and Ricardo Ortega