Dhuna
Practitioners of an ancient form of witchcraft. The women are said to be able to steal a man’s heart with a single kiss.
Personality: Dhuna are strange and mysterious by nature, exhibiting a considerable distrust of outsiders. They are deeply in turn with Nature and continually seek to uncover its mysteries.
The personality of any individual Dhuna depends a great deal on which Coven he or she belongs to.
Ardan (purple) is the Coven of passion and love. Ardan Dhuna tend to be highly emotional and prone to great dramatic acts and gestures. They make excellent storytellers.
Drome (amber) is the Coven of peace and prosperity. These Dhuna are the guardians and protectors of the Dhuna, always concerned with the comfort and security of their people above all else. They tend to be excellent guards.
Jhang (red) is the Coven of hunting and war. These are the warriors, charged with dealing with any menace that threatens the Dhuna. They do double-duty as hunters, both for food and to drive off the more vicious predators.
Laeolis (blue) is the Coven of healing. They are the healers and diplomats of the Dhuna.
Phandir (green) is the Coven of divination and mystery. These are the Dhuna with the best relations with the Gnorls, and ones most likely to leave home in search of knowledge.
Talisandre (silver) is the Coven of fortune and luck. These Dhuna have the best relations with the Sarista. They tend to be daredevils and thrillseekers.
Zar (black) is the Coven of death and darkness. This coven is most likely responsible for the allegations of demon worship that the Aamanians place on the Dhuna. They are charged with the darker aspects of the cycle of life and tend to be more gloomy and introspective than their brethren.
Physical Description: Dhuna stand 5 to 6 feet in height and weigh 125 to 220 pounds. They have olive skin, black hair, and entrancing features. Dhuna males are clean shaven with their hair pulled back tightly to form a braided queue at the base of the skull. Vests, capes, and breeches of black leather are also quite popular. Shirts are white linen with cuffs, collars, and waist-sashes embroidered with stylized leaves and animals. Women wear their dark hair long and loose, accented by a flower, feather, or wooden comb. They dress in gauzy gowns of mothsilk with trailing sleeves. Both men and women wear a colored sash around their waist, dyed the color of their coven’s moon.
Relations: Dhuna tend to keep to themselves. They have been persecuted by the Aamanians for centuries (who view them as dealing with evil spirits) and bear a great hatred for them in return. They have excellent relations with their neighbors the Gnorls and their cousins the Sarista. They also get along very well with the Ariane.
Alignment: Dhuna tend towards Neutral Good, with some of the wilder ones leaning towards Chaotic Good.
Dhuna Lands: Dhuna make their home in the eastern portion of Werewood.
Religion: The focus of Dhuna life is the coven. There are seven, each aligned with one of the seven moons. The coven a Dhuna belongs to reflects that witch’s personality and temperment. The coming of age ceremony where the young Dhuna chose the coven they will be a part of for the rest of their life is one of the most sacred moments in Dhuna life. While there is some inter-coven conflicts (just as the moons are opposed in their spheres, so is this reflected in the covens), older witches do their best to minimize these conflicts.
While the Dhuna draw their power from Nature, they do not worship it as such.
Language: Dhuna use the Elder tongue amongst themselves and Low Talislan when dealing with others.
Adventurers: Dhuna can be found wandering almost anywhere they think lost knowledge or secrets can be found. They tend to avoid anywhere Aamanians are found and are often found in the company of Sarista.
Roleplaying Notes: your coven is your life and your soul, and the spirits of the moons are the influences you see everywhere in your life. You practice your magic with great dedication, always remember that Nature is the source of all true power. You recognize, however, that while you may contact, question, and even work with the nature spirits, you are never to worship them.
Forbidden knowledge attracts you. Your ancestors learned the secrets of the moons through the runecircles that others through cursed. As such, you are always willing to inquire into mysteries which others might leave alone. However, yours is a cautious investigation into the strange, not the hasty blundering of the merely curious.
Except for your Sarista cousins, foreigners make you nervous. They have no sense of the deep powers which dwell invisibly around everyone, and innocently cause great offense to the spirits of Nature. You especially distrust mages, knowing that they do not understand the real source of what abilities they have.
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