The xanmarai, whose name is pronounced ksayn-MAYR-ay and means "realms of nightmare," are perhaps the most disarming in appearance of all Elwenkind. Beautiful and apparently fragile, they are generally inoffensive enough to please even corame, and seemingly too small to be the hosts of such powerful magic. But they have deeper secrets than most think, and to cross a nightmare Elwen is still perilous.
Come among them, if you will- the nightmare Elwens, the Children of Jesmara.
PHYSICAL MAKEUP
Most xanmarai have clear white skin marked with curlicues in some shade of blue. Azure is the most common, though shades as deep as cobalt are not unknown. Xanmara skin is generally soft and clear, the envy of the corame, who value physical beauty, and warriors, who become scarred in battle. Occasionally, a nightmare Elwen will be born with deep blue skin marked with white curlicues, their version of albinism, but this is very rare, and generally happens when one parent is marked the same way.
Xanmarai have hair and eyes in almost any shade of blue or green, though white and gold and purple, and sometimes black for the eyes, show up as well. Nightmare Elwens are proud of their hair, and tend it well, though they rarely wear it longer than their shoulders. Men and women who are looking for the favor of whatever gods they worship tend to offer a lock of hair in sacrifice.
Xanmarai also have fangs, though these are rarely-used. The fangs, small and yellow and capable of being folded back against the roof of the mouth just as viaquia can fold theirs, allow the xanmara in question to eat dreams from the forehead of a sleeping victim. Unlike many other feeding races, though, including the zorkro and churni, xanmarai are adapted to live on other food. They rarely eat dreams unless they are desperate or there is no other food available, or sometimes, very rarely, as a punishment for an enemy or gift to a friend who has a particularly pleasant or horrible recurring dream.
Nightmare Elwens are the smallest of all Elwen races, with the exception of the elili or hummingbird Elwens. They average up to five feet in height, rarely surpassing it, and about a hundred pounds in weight, if that; generally, heights and weights are both smaller. They are not, however, dwarfs, being perfectly proportioned for their size, as graceful and flexible as felines. Xanmarai, partially because of their size, also generally walk silently, escaping detection by ears.
Xanmarai live ten thousand years unless brought down by accident, violence, or disease (much like their kin and allies the eriadi). Their blood is a bright, pale blue, though enemies rarely see it since it clots quickly.
EMOTIONAL MAKEUP
Xanmarai are marveled at for their inoffensiveness, cheerfulness, and willingness to adopt the culture of those around them in general. Among the "darkened races," they are unique in usually living in peace with their neighbors, if not actually among them and mixed in with them. Only the xanmarai in the Nymari keep apart in their own cities, and these are usually exiles, fugitives, or those persecuted for other reasons.
Nightmare Elwens do not, however, accept their neighbors' culture as deeply as it might appear. If a xanmara born in one place moves to another, he or she will accept the worship of new gods, the imposition of new laws, and whatnot as easily as he or she accepted the gods, laws, and so on of the first home. The heart of xanmara psychology seems to be the flexibility that enables them to survive, not any attachment to a particular set of doctrines or ideals. Unhappily for those who might count on nightmare Elwens "learning a lesson," they rarely appear to do so. They change and flow as needed for their survival.
This might make them appear contemptible, save for three things that their enemies do not often consider: it has kept them alive; it has preserved their freedom of mind and independence of spirit; and they do not live all of their lives in Arcadia. All xanmarai are born with a connection to Jesmara, the world of nightmares that surrounds, hides behind, and is intertwined with Arcadia. They regularly go there to experience intense things their neighbors would not understand, to run wild as they need to, to battle each other, and to conduct private ceremonies, including weddings.
The wedding ceremony is another thing common to most nightmare Elwens in most times and places. Xanmarai do not often make this high and strong commitment, sacred to the wills of both individuals rather than any particular god. Many live all their lives with those they love, without ever finding someone they truly wish to marry. Those who are married are tied in some way unknown to any other race in Arcadia, and when they die, only one spirit goes to the stars or wherever it chooses to go. That spirit, if it chooses rebirth on Arcadia, is reborn as one person, the two individuals forever joined in the most intimate way possible. Such release of one's individuality is something to be respected, but not chosen by everyone, and no nightmare Elwen can be forced to it. Marriages are never made for any other reason than love and choice.
Xanmarai also have the Dream Covenant, which binds them to their cousins the dream Elwens or eriadi. This insures that they will receive aid when they are threatened, and ride to the aid of the dream Elwens when their kin are threatened. They are the only known "darkened race" in Arcadia to have made such a treaty with those who could have become their deadliest enemies.
MAGICAL MAKEUP
Xanmarai wield powerful magic, usually enough to convince an enemy to back off, but they do not look it (see above). Often, if they live among neighbors who accept them, they may not use much of it their whole lives. However, it remains, ready to strike if they are threatened.
Common to all xanmarai are:
Opening portals into Jesmara. The nightmare Elwens' connection to the nightmare realm has been mentioned above. They can regularly open portals into this world, sometimes to enter it, sometimes for the purpose of summoning help in battle. Of course, they can also open portals from Jesmara back into Arcadia, so that after some travel in the nightmare realm they may return to Arcadia.
Jesmaran speaking. All xanmarai are born with either an incredible ability to pick up the language of fearhunters, which most creatures from Jesmara understand, or an actual instinctive knowledge of it. This happens while they are still children, so it is difficult to be certain which it is.
Nightmare-sensing. Xanmarai can tell simply by glancing at a sleeper whether he or she is having a nightmare, and the Child of Jesmara may choose to remove it or not, as he or she wishes.
Nightmare-causing. Xanmarai can cause nightmares as well as remove them. Often, someone who has tormented a xanmara in the past is not directly slaughtered. The terror in his nightmares simply grows more and more acute, until he either dies from lack of sleep or from sheer fear.
Shapeshifting. In moments of extreme stress, xanmarai can shapeshift into the form of a Jesmaran creature. The most common choices are runners, creatures like two-legged goats with skin as hard as stone, and large insects with the ability to make their victims run slowly. Only rarely does the nightmare Elwen have enough power or hatred to change into a fearhunter, a cat that can shift its size and color and is immune to both steel and magic.
Xanmara's luck. All nightmare Elwens possess this deadly ability. The luck can make a great event happen- such as causing the death of all of a hated enemy's family, or calling down a curse on someone- or reverse a great event- such as bringing the dead back to life. However, at some unknown point that is different with each individual, the luck reverses, and the opposite result of what the xanmara intended takes place. Any attempt to use the luck after that means that the nightmare Elwen dies.
Common to some xanmarai are:
Healing talent. Perhaps due to their empathy with other races, xanmarai possess some natural healing talent- almost instinctive knowledge of herbs, and occasional ability to cure the most debilitating disease by a mere laying on of hands. Their healers are rare, and in great demand among other races. Children of Jesmara usually go as healers to the eriadi at any time, without cost.
Runesong. This is the ability to translate, by means of the voice, any written document at all, even if it is in a different language or alphabet, or protected by wards. Runesingers often serve as spies, able to translate the ciphered messages that couriers carry.
ORIGINS AND MODERN SETTLEMENTS
Alone of all the Elwen races, the xanmarai have the legend that they were not born in Arcadia, though they were created by the stars. They awakened in Jesmara, and their first gates took them to Arcadia. The stars' reasons for doing this are many and various, depending on the nightmare Elwen one is talking to. Protection, desire to populate Jesmara with Elwens, a means of linking the nightmare realm firmly to Arcadia, and simple sheer delight in the idea are some of the more common theories.
Xanmarai have spread widely since then, such that it is largely a mistake to speak of nightmare Elwen cities. They live among other races, particularly corame and eriadi, in many places, and there are numerous small villages that are xanmara alone in the northern Frigid Waste and northern Fhevu, where the other races do not care to trouble them. The only large cities are in the Nymari:
Vernain and Xala. These are large cities in the southern Ny Wasteland, near the land Elwen settlement of Nyesain or the Oasis. They are made up largely of outcast or war-like xanmarai who have vowed to stop any land Elwen attempt to exterminate their people. Supposedly, they have sent people to keep a watch on Rowan too, but this cannot be substantiated.
Nyuthaduin. North of the other two cities, but still in the Ny Wasteland, this city concerns itself mostly with the calolai. Nymari Elwens trade with the city and at times lend it protection, though the alliance is uneasy much of the time, the nightmare Elwens' adaptability actually encouraging mistrust here.
Jesna. This city, in the central valley of the Nymari, is the only city where portals to Jesmara are opened in plain sight and nightmare Elwens might be said to have a culture of their own. It is sometimes said to be the first place portals were opened from the nightmare realm into Arcadia, permitting the first xanmarai to emerge.
Marax and Jesartnepi. These two cities, in the extreme north of Nymari, in the valley also called Zarabarak, spend a lot of time fending off songweaving dragons and Ras alike. No one is quite sure if they see their duty as to defend themselves or all of the southern Nymari.
LANGUAGES
It should come as no surprise that many xanmarai speak the languages of those they dwell among or near. However, there are extant languages spoken mostly by nightmare Elwens, though no one is sure what to call the family. The three languages alive today, though clearly related, all have different names:
Dazax. This language is spoken in the northern Nymari, and to some extent in Jesna; Jesna is more or less the midpoint of a dialect chain that starts in Dazax and ends up in Yendar. It seems to be in the middle of a shift from little inflection to more; verbs are still conjugated with pronouns for the most part, but nouns are acquiring more and more declension.
Loalon. This language is spoken among the nightmare Elwens of the northern Frigid Waste, in places that do not speak Rirran or one of the land Elwen or snow Elwen languages. Though clearly related to Dazax and Yendar in its simpler words- such as words for numbers and members of the family- it has taken an opposite course from them, becoming something more akin to Drakma. It constructs word-sentences in which the placement of the elements changes or modifies meaning.
Yendar. This is the language of the southern Nymari, also spoken in Jesna and by nightmare Elwens who live in scattered villages between the central and southern parts. It is still an isolating language for the most part, with little inflection, though some of the same process that has overtaken Dazax can be seen in it.
More to come.
