| Indica | |
|---|---|
| Region Number | 132 |
| Realm | Kingdom of the Silver Moon |
| Population | 89,000 |
| Resources | Dyes, Ambrosia |
| Imports | Skilled Labour |
| Religion | Unknown |
[Spoiler=People]
The avian people of Indica are a flightless race of birdmen. They tend towards bright, colorful plumage, with white or grey eyes. Their legs bend backwards at the knee, though their legs are covered feathers, excepting their feet. Their beaks vary with their plumage, often matching that of their feathers. The males possess a large head plume arcing back from the crown of their head.
The culture of the avian Indicans revolves around battle and positions of power derive from that, whether it be in the form of large scale warfare, or duels between warriors. Most warrior trainers will only take men as apprentices, and as such, while not technically exclusive to only men, all positions of power are currently held by men. Despite this, women dominate the household, and are honored and respected as the mothers of warriors.
In addition to the avians that inhabit the canopies and form the vast majority of the population of Indica, there is a second, much less prevalent race: the Épine. This is, of course, not the name that these people use to refer to themselves; it is the invention of the Bordeusi explorers who first encountered them. The first contact was between said explorers and a small sect of leaders of the Épine, offering ambrosia up for trade. When pressed for details, the avians above said they knew little of the Épine, any contact a distant memory. The only nugget of information obtained seemed to assert that they were in fact a part of the jungle; able to slip through and even merge with the jungle at will.
Physically, the Épine are covered in a hard, plantlike exterior, sporting numerous brambles small and large across their bodies. It is theorized this is a natural clothing and armor of sorts for them, ensuring protection from even the largest of jungle predators. This also seems to allow them to extract ambrosia from the plants that produce it.
[Spoiler=Terrain]
Almost all of Indica is made up of thick, nigh impenetrable jungle, with only a rocky beach at the coast breaking through. Above the canopies, however, the Indicans have set up a clever series of paths; to call them roads would be an overstatement. Mostly, they are bridges- often lacking railings or any safety features- over intertwining branches in the canopies of their great trees.
[Spoiler=Resources]
[B]Ambrosia[/B], a thick, golden liquid that is secreted by the flowers of one type of the carnivorous plants that exist on the jungle floor. Ambrosia is only ever extracted by the Épine, as the avians are unwilling to venture near such dangerous plants. With the coming of the Silver Moon, deliveries of ambrosia are left at the bases of avian villages monthly.
The [B]Dyes[/B] produced in Indica come from the many brightly hued flowers that exist among the canopy. Of course, while in most places generally a boon, Imperial court fashion in both Valterre and now spread to much of the rest of the empire revolves around silver or gray hues. Despite this and the pressures for conformity, Indican avians continue to sport bright clothing to match their feathers.
[Spoiler=Religion]
Indican avians worship the sky, and particularly, the Southern Star in the night sky. They believe that they were originally form among the stars, cast down for some long-forgotten sin and cursed to live without their wings. Their hope is, one day, to regain the favor of their kinsmen in the stars above and regain their wings once more.