Anya

Description

Sleek and gifted with prophetic vision, these majestic pets are perhaps the most beautiful and unique of Mistica's denizens. They are affiliated with the sun and they pay tribute to her in her form as the goddess Rae, who they visit at a spectacular temple in the heart of Ravi-Sorin. Some serve as priests or priestesses in the Sun Goddess' temple, but others work as precious metal dealers. Almost all of these lithe creatures have mismatched eyes, which allow them to see into the future (after burning incense to Rae) with startling and frightening accuracy. Anyai also have an insatiable passion for shiny objects, especially golden ones. They all wear golden collars studded with gems in a gesture of eternal servitude to their goddess.

Species Facts

As many Misticans have learned from dealing with a certain Anya down at Lighthouse Nicknacks, Anyai are notorious con men. They will do anything and everything as long as it benefits themselves, and, considering their ability to see into the future, their endeavors rarely fail.

Anyai have a highly developed sense of smell. While they do employ it while hunting prey and eluding predators, Anyai most frequently use it to search the desert for herbs. These herbs are used for healing and (more often) quack medicines to sell to tourists.

The only "trustworthy" Anyai are the priests and other religious figures. Rather ironically, it is their strict moral code that causes most Anyai to resort to less-than-respectable lives; many Anya feel that it is a way to break free from and rebel against the strict culture.

Priests and Priestesses lead very structured lives. Their mornings begin at sunrise, when every Anya follows in procession to the sacred temple at Ravi-Sorin. There they light incense, meditate, and pray until the Sun is at its highest point in the sky.

Then it is time for the day's meal. Priests and Priestesses are only allowed to eat once when the Sun is in the sky, in accordance with the ancient teachings of Rae. They enjoy a simple repast of raw Riotee, sun-dried Desert Mouse, and bread.

The rest of the daylight hours are spent cleaning and maintaining the various temples scattered around the Scarab Desert.

The priests and priestesses only believe that Rae watches over them during the day from her palace in the sky (e.g. the Sun). At night they believe that the God of Darkness and Evil, Seht, plots the demise of the followers of Rae.

In an effort to appease Seht and avoid their potential demise, the Anyai set out into the darkness, to a special temple reserved only for these nighttime outings. It is here that the felines partake in darker activities, so as the keep the god of night content. On the nights of the new and full moons, the Anyai choose to sacrifice a select few Anyai to Seht. During their sacrifices, they chant a prayer asking for his tolerance.

These Anyai are chosen for their fatal destiny at birth. They are taken from their littermates and families and forced to live a sheltered life together within another hidden temple. The rest of the Anyai believe that Seht can only be appeased by the most innocent and pure Anyai. Therefore, they carefully monitor these Anyais' lives, ensuring that they are kept separate from the rest of the population.

The Anyai chosen for this lifestyle are not the only ones who often have a destiny chosen from birth. Almost all of the Anyai who become religious figures are chosen from birth, often by a vision that one of the elder Anyai has foretelling their role in the society. It is almost unheard of for a normal Anya to become a priest or priestess, if only for the fact that it is not Rae's wish.

While Anyai are rather social creatures, they prefer to remain secretive about their religious practices. As such, if an outsider inquires about such practices, they will simply recieve a lie or an extremely general answer in return (e.g. Oh, we do some pretty interesting stuff.)

From what researchers have been able to get out of a few talkative Anyai, we are able to discern that any religious figure who decides to stray from their strict rules is subject to severe punishment. It is unknown what exactly this punishment is, only that rule-breakers are never heard from again.

Anya live extraordinarily long lives. As such, Anya families, or "Chowders," often consist of multiple generations. The average nuclear family is made up of eight great-grandparents, four grandparents, two parents, and one child. The only time when an Anya Chowder will have multiple children is in the case of twins or triplets.

Anyai society is matriarchal; females are the heads of households as well as religious and political leaders. This is because the Anyai believe that female Anyai are the "life-givers" who hold within them a piece of the great goddess Rae, whose divine light gives life to all things.

Trivia

• Anyai are based off of cats and have a strong Egyptian theme to them.
• The shopkeeper NPCs Makoto and Arielle are both Anyai.