Chaja

Overview
STR	24
INT	16
WIS	15
DEX	21
CON	24
CHR	16
Resists	-
Vulnerable	illusion, mental
Special	Giant size, dark vision, iron stomach

The chaja are a stoic and sturdy race, considered by most to be subterranean and known most widely for their countless generations of enslavement by the shuddeni. Many remain under the thumb of the shuddeni, but the population of free chaja continues to grow, in both urban centres and their mountain enclaves.

Appearance

Chaja are very tall humanoids, similar in build to the alatharya, though they often possess less obvious muscular definition, though they are almost equally as strong. The chaja lack most obvious sexual dimorphism, both sexes possessing thick body hair and often facial hair as well. This hair is naturally oily, suspected by anthropologists to aid in protecting from the cold damp of their traditional living spaces, and ranges from white to black in colour. Their skin is almost universally pale in youth, and typically darkens with age, while possessing warm undertones.

Chaja that mature underground tend to have colourless, milky eyes, while the chaja who grow up with regular exposure to sunlight usually develop muted, dark irises. The hair and skin of chaja always darkens with age, and they frequently dye their hair. Many chaja groups possess regional styles and rituals surrounding their hair and beards.

Culture

Perseverance is a principal virtue of the chaja, and stoicism in the face of adversity is viewed as the greatest strength. This creed depends to take on different tones however depending on a chaja’s origin.

History

The War of Fire marked the beginning of chaja isolationism, as they retreated into underground sanctums to avoid the devastation of the fiery warlords ravaging the surface. Some strongholds, retreating yet further under the earth, found themselves confronted with the shuddeni, who utilised their new psionics and power over demons of void to enslave these enclaves.

Several millenia later, the chaja gained infamy amongst the surface races as the front line of the shuddeni assault in the War of Night. In the centuries afterwards, many chaja fleeing enslavement or emerging from their mountain strongholds began integrating into the surface cultures. Unfortunately, their role in the War of Night found many of them marginalised and discriminated against.

Free Chaja

The chaja were the first to settle the Brintor Mountains following the Sundering, emerging from the heart of the mountains and spreading across the ranges. In the time between the Sundering and the War of Fire, the chaja built many towering structures across the ranges, which would later be repurposed by the aelin of Daphoa in their retreat from the warlords of Fire. The surface chaja that remained were obliterated by the War of Fire, and while some efforts were made afterwards, the shuddeni offensive of the War of Night and the further expansion of Yithoul influence ruined these attempts.

In modern times, the chaja strongholds of the Brintors maintain a state of extreme secrecy and isolationism, while the free chaja of the lowlands find themselves struggling against ancient prejudice and comparison to the alatharya.

Chaja under Shuddeni

Some enclaves, fleeing further from the War of Fire, encountered the shuddeni of the Yithoul clan, who at this time were engaged in a brutal war of extinction with the Ilthina clan. The burgeoning psionicists of the Yithoul discovered that the chaja were vulnerable to mental domination and executed a swift campaign of domination against the enclaves, turning the might of the chaja against their enemies and securing the hegemony of Yithoul.

The shuddeni have continued this practice into modern times, utilising their psionic prowess to ruin the minds of young chaja and instilling in them a fear of defiance and an instinct to obey authority. Although this process is imperfect, no slaveborn chaja escapes without damage, and most never even contemplate escape, contributing to the perception of enslaved chaja as complicit or even willing participants in their own enslavement.