A'Shari

''“The markets of Assana typically smell of two things, neither pleasant: Ad'jenwa dung, and Kolchie, the ubiquitous demon herb that has made the Shar famous. While the Emperor has made the plant illegal in Astran lands, here the reeds can be found in large piles for sale, heaped like lumber, each hawker assuring in their sing-song voice that theirs is the purest, the best, grown only on the sacred lake. The heat bakes the canes, and thick tar drops from the reeds. Animals, scrawny and parched, lick the vile stuff from the ground.”    ''

Kolchie: An Astran Legacy of Ill

Appearance
a'Shari are the golden people of the east. With skin-tones that favor dark metallics (gold, copper, dark bronze), their hexagonal pupils, and an attitude that seemed distant to many early explorers, it is perhaps no wonder that some thought they were beings of metal, instead of flesh or blood. a'Shari are generally thinner than Utland peoples, though stockier than Kalín. A beard is almost always maintained, small and well trimmed.

Culture
a'Shari, or Shar (the latter is considered disrespectful) are an intensely private people and quick to anger. What dealings with them outsiders have is always with males, and usually merchants. It is said if you are invited into a Shar's house either he owes you his life, or you owe him yours. They venerate (they do not call it worship and consider it heresy to call it such) desert elemental spirits they call Zimini. Most households, including the royals, venerate water Zimini or Und'jin. Although fire (Friggi) and earth (Goa) Zimini are also spoken of, the holy city of Aziir, on the shores of Ca'taal, the sacred lake, focuses most a'Shari veneration on Und'jin.

Where the desert meets the sea or lake, especially in Aziir, is where a'Shari culture truly thrives. Great temples and tombs line the shores, and shallow bottomed ships made of woven reeds ply the seas, faster and more flexible than many wooden ships, if not as durable. Great markets sell produce and animals, especially kolchie, a reed burnt at the frenzied a'Shari public funerals. a'Shari craftsmen also produce glass-wares, amazing clockworks and fine if delicate metals, and are more advanced in the study of chemistry than many Utland cultures, which are obsessed with NewTech.

Zimini
Every a’Shari choses a Zimini, a form of elemental spirit that they can feel and communicate with, and trust as partners, to connect with. At their coming of age, in a ceremony known as an  a'Shanari or reckoning, an a’Shari chooses a spirit to bind with for life. It is often said the Zimini chosen by an a'Shari reflects the Shar's personality, with aggressive people choosing fire Zimini (Friggi) more sociable people choosing water, (Und'jin) and so on. A Shar who cannot bind a Zimini in partnership is considered only half a person, an outcast from society.

Making an a'Shari Character
When making an a’Shari character, choose a Zimini as well and use its stat block in addition to the a'Shari one.

a’Shari names: male a’shari tend to have soft and breathy sounding names, while females have more liquid sounding ones.

Male: Sahlya, Assam, Hariid, Ba’ab, Sahnar

Female: Alia, Talya, Kaima, D’jimar, M'aiqa, Neptali