Asherian

Customs

Customary Greeting

The common greeting is to cross your arms, tapping your fingers on your shoulders while slightly nodding your head. It is a greeting done with many people except the Golden.

Golden Greeting

When you are in the presence of those who have been blessed with the title "Golden," it is customary to avert your eyes or stare at the ground while greeting them. You are to give the customary greeting of the Asherian, but include a bow while keeping your eyes fixed on the ground.

They are to be addressed as “My Golden One”, “High Lord”, “Blessed or Gifted One” or any other praiseworthy name. Failure to do this is considered a great insult and can cause a public thrashing.

Economy

Through energetic means, the Ashera Empire harvests the highest quality of wood. Like everything they do, they pride themselves on producing the highest quality material. They have the largest production of Runic Items and are the biggest distributor of Recharge Crystals. Granted Runic Items market is extremely small yet profitable.

Fashion

Asherian are more conservative but also believe exposed skin allows for more energy connection. Their fashion includes sleeveless clothing, but nothing that touches the ground. They do wear decorative shoes, but they do not go above the ankle. Headwear is permitted, but it must not cover any part beyond the top of the head. They can use extended pieces for shade.

The exception to keeping skin exposed is the large collars that often connect to headdresses and other garments worn on the head. These collars restricted jaw movement, encouraging silence. The collars have developed into fashion trends used by young nobles to display their wealth and ability to stay calm year-round. They often decorated the collars with jewels, gold, chains, and other forms of jewelry and treasures. The noble is presumed to have a higher status if they wear a taller and more vibrantly decorated collar.

Food & Drink

Asherian specializes in transmuted foods. They take the base ingredients and use transmutation to create the completed dishes, cooked and all. There are famous magic chefs known to create amazing fests right in front of your eyes.

Geography

The Asherian do not have a specific kingdom or location they call home. The only special location they have is their holy ground, known as the [Runic spelling of Energy]. However, only the priests of the Asherian temple live on the holy grounds.

Ashren

The capital city of the Ashera Empire is known as the City of Energy because of its extreme use of energetics throughout the city. They used every type of energy in some manner to improve the lives of the citizens. From force powered lifts to lightning crystal streetlamps, the city constantly flows with energy.

Energy Shrine

Epoyugobi Zorepo (Energy Shrine) is the Runic name for the holy grounds of the Asherian culture. It is the place they believe has the strongest connection to all energy within the world. The Silent Guards heavily protected this area, and the Washian Protective.

Essenergerium

Not to be confused with the Ashera Energerium, which rules over the Ashera Empire, the Essenergerium is the most elite energetic school in the world. So much so that it has its own form of ruling power and organization. See Guildite Mage Guild for more information.

Laws & Regulations

During the Silent Energy Ceremony, it is punishable by death to make noise that is louder than that made from simple movements.

Failure to greet a Golden properly can cause public thrashing.

Traditions

Coming of Age

When those of the Asherian culture grow into adulthood, they are given a personal conduit infused with one elementary spell of their choosing. Besides selecting their own spell, they also choose what their conduit will be. Choosing their own conduit and spell is a crucial decision for the adults as they will be expected to keep it permanently.

Once the conduit and spells are chosen, they perform a ritual to the god of time. The conduits have their spells permanently infused into them in the ritual. They then connect the conduits permanently to the new adults to ensure that the new adults always know where their conduits are and that they are the only ones who can command them.

Religion

The Asherian believe the gods have blessed them. They believe those who have golden glittering skin and light-colored eyes show proof that they have a special connection with energy. Because of this belief, they created the Asherian temple in order to set up strict guidelines and regulations for connecting with their gods. Whether you believe in energy as gods or simply as a great power that fills the world, the Asherian temple welcomes all who have the connection. However, if they see you do not have the connection, they will reject you to the point of disbelieving your very existence.

The Asherian temple welcomes all those who can connect with energy. Their special connection with energy makes them feel they are superior to all others. The Asherian temple will assist those who have essence, and they will turn away those who are not connected to energy.

Some priests have learned to detect essence within others simply by being near them. These sensory priests are commonly used to weed out the tainted to prevent them from entering a holy place.

Silent Energy Ceremony

A yearly ceremony at the Asherian’s most holy location, the Energy Shrine is a massive stone circle with each stone representing an energy type. The silent energy ceremony is the most important and expected event of the year. It is a time when Asherian and those who worship energy gather in silence to become one with energy.

During this all-day ceremony, complete silence is required by law. Only the natural sound of movement is allowed. However, the law restricts movement to a slow walk when on the holy grounds. The belief is that to make a noise on the holy ground is to disrupt the flow of energy and break any chance for yourself and those around you to connect with it. Therefore, making a noise that is not permitted is punishable by immediate execution.

Silent Guard

The Asherian temple runs the Silent Energy Ceremony and trains guards known as Silent Guards to protect it. These guards patrol the grounds and are the only ones blessed by the temple to be allowed to spill blood and make a noise on the holy grounds. Anyone who makes noise that is not permitted, the guards have the right to quietly yet quickly execute them. They have been trained in stealth and silent takedowns to ensure the ceremony remains undisturbed. While they have the divine right to make noise, they can still be held accountable based on how much noise they make. It is an honor for the Silent Guard to remain as quiet as possible.

While the Silent Guards may execute anyone, they think is causing too much noise. Most of the time, they will use a paralysis or sleep poison. Once applied, they will leave their target where they are and let nature take its course. The poisons used are potent enough to cause the effects to last for the full duration of the ceremony, if not longer.

Society

Asherian believe that anyone not connected to energy is inferior. Asherians think those with strong energy connections are superior.

Asherian’s golden skin is how they determine your rank in society. The more golden your skin is the higher ranked you are. Having extremely golden skin automatically places you as an aristocrat, earning you riches, power, and the title of Golden. However, a Golden can freely challenge another Golden to a Golden Duel. The duel is a show of energetics and the winner is the one who can put on the best show. It is not a duel of combat, but a duel of energetics. Losing the duel or harming your opponent automatically removes your status as a Golden. People take these duels seriously, and only challenge for serious insults.

If you are not an Asherian but live within the culture, you are automatically one of the lowest standing citizens. Even after showing your connection, you are never truly accepted and only slightly respected more than other foreigners.

Ashera Energerium

The Energerium, which is made of 12 council members and the emperor, leads the Ashera Empire. The emperor and leader of the council is always the Chrono Master Channeler, but also has the strongest connection to all other energy types.

Each Master Channeler is not just a channeler of their seat’s energy but it is their strongest connected energy. To be seated at the energetic council, one must show they have mastered their energy and must be a Golden or Kami. If a Golden and Kami are equally matched in their connection to energy the Kami is treated as favored due to their direct connection. It is a disgrace to not only yourself but your family to go against this law.

Essence Tax

Aside from a standard currency tax paid by citizens, they also have a mandatory essence tax. Every week the Energerium sends out its crystal collectors who exchange special crystals used to store essence. Every morning, each member of a household must touch the crystal to have a small portion of their essence stored. The crystal collector comes by to exchange the charged crystal with an empty one.

If a household cannot pay their essence tax, they can be penalized, which results in isolation and exclusion from society. They sent notices out to established businesses for anyone who has not paid their tax. Those who don't pay may find prices too high to purchase. The essence is used at the Essenergerium for research and development of runic items and technology.

Former Asherian Empire

The Asherian Empire is about one hundred years old, as the original Asherian region was the Kaigan Region, also known as the Empire of Ba, before it fell. The scholars of the Asherian Empire documented the events that caused their empire's downfall. However, most of the world doesn’t believe their documents are accurate, as other empires’ reports say different.

Washian Subculture

Within the Asherian culture lies the subculture of the Washian people. The Washian culture surrounds itself around the Asherian culture as they are the creators and without the Ashera, they would not exist. See the Washian sub-species for their history.

Washian Protective

Genetically and energetically created by the Asherians, the Washian are winged elves. They trained those born in the Asherian culture from birth as energetic warriors to protect the way of the Asherian people.

Their ability to fly gives them an advantage when chasing criminals and stop crime. They work with the Silent Guards to keep the peace in the territories of the Asherian culture. They use a combination of physical weapons and energetics to protect and serve the Asherian people.

They treat Washians the same way as other Asherians, allowing them to become Golden and maintain high social status. Most Washian Protective are Washians who were born with four wings, while more citizen Washians tend to only have two wings. See the Washian sub-species in the species chapter for more information about the Washians.

Washian Upbringing

A Washian family does not exist in the traditional sense of having a mother and father. After the incubation period, the newborn is given to the Maternity Ward for raising and educating based on its wing count. Washians are taught all Washians are family and Golden Ashera are the creator's descendants.