si. Anyelos1 fem. Anyela	The Anyeli are a militaristic race of avians torn apart by a civil war that has lasted more than 8,000 years. Their Empire? encompasses a forked mountain range riddled with fortresses and garrison towns, and their every skill comes from a desire for victory. Military service throughout much of their adult lives is mandatory. Anyeli have grey wings until they join a faction, whereupon they permanently dye their feathers white or black. This once religious choice is now purely political.
	Appearance	Culture	Proficiencies
	Lifespan: 900 years Height: 5'6" – 5'11" Build: Lean and light Colouring: Fair to dark Skin: Pale to medium	Government: Stratocracy Population: ~1,585,820 Language: Anyeli Currency: Xanthai2 Calendar: XA?3	Light? or Shadow Manipulation? Flight? Combat? Healing? Light Shield? or Shadow Cloak?

Physical Characteristics

The Anyeli originated in the Mediterranean region of Earth? so dark hair and olive complexions are prevalent. While blue eyes and blonde hair are also common thanks to interracial breeding, red hair and green eyes are not.

The Anyeli are small and lean, ranging in height from 5'6" to 5'11". Their most notable physical feature is their feathered wings which reach a maximum wingspan of 12 feet (3 metres) in adults. They are naturally grey but are permanently dyed either black or white upon joining a faction.

Life Cycle & Reproduction

Anyeli are a long-lived species easily reaching 900 and in some rarer cases a full millennium. They mature at a much slower pace than the shorter-lived races, mentally as well as physically, and never look more than 40 years old even in their elder years.

Marriage contracts, intended to repopulate the ranks, stipulate that a couple must stay together until at least one child has been produced. However, love is still a big part of the equation and people are not forced to marry, only refused the right to divorce until there are off-spring⁴. Once a child is in the works, married parties may petition their superiors for a divorce⁵ or stay married.

The gestational period for Anyeli is a whopping 44 weeks leading to a live birth. Because females are built more for war than for childbirth, multiple simultaneous births are extremely rare. Anyeli couples rarely have more than two children in general throughout a marriage, though children outside of marriage is not uncommon.

Politics

The Anyeli Empire? is a democratic stratocracy⁶ with a very formal hierarchy. Military service is exchanged for citizenship, which is required for political office and promotion past Wing Commander? or its equivalent.

The main body of the Anyeli government is located in the Cloud Palace? on Griffin's Peak?, but there are hundreds of outposts, forts and garrison towns scattered throughout the Empire, many of which act almost independently under the rule of a Station Commander?.

Allies & Enemies

The Empire has no formal alliances with outside forces. Diplomats have tried on occasion to form and fix relations with various city-states and organisations but are often interrupted and distracted by another outbreak of war.

Relations with the Zanaryans have always been poor, but they have never officially declared war.

Predators & Prey

Anyeli are omnivores who share the mountain tops with various predators large and small. Settlements in the foothills cultivate and forage for vegetables and fruits, but most garrisons and outposts in the higher mountains rely heavily on hunting or imports for their food.

Fledglings and children are vulnerable to attack from both aerial and ground-based predators so they are not encouraged to leave the protection of their fortified towns without some form of defense or guard.

Habitat

The Anyeli Empire? covers the entirety of the Dusky? and Apolli Mountains?. They also have outposts on the Dardanian? volcanoes, though many of these are now buried under tons of ash and lava.

Not all Anyeli live within the Empire itself as some leave in search of a more peaceful and settled lifestyle as soon as their obligatory military service is over.

Population

Anyeli make up a massive 31% of the Elysian? population and there are approximately 1,585,820 of them living primarily in the mountains. They cannot live on Earth? because their wings are too noticable, but a few have attempted to migrate to places like the White City? in Nirim?.

Culture

The Anyeli are a regimented people. Eight thousand years of civil war has coloured every aspect of their culture, enough that almost everything has something to do with the military or with fighting. Apali and Skotadi can barely stand to be in the same room as each other, even during peace times, and spend much of their time trying to outdo the other in anything from battlefield victory to sports and games.

Languages & Names

Anyeli dialects differ slightly across the Empire but they all follow a regimented structure. Words sound sharper with few syllables and their writing is square and boxy. Children are taught from an early age to write with precise spacing and shapes, so Anyeli scripts have a uniform and almost grid-like pattern.

Names

Anyeli have a first name given to them at birth and inherit their family name from their father. Orphans who do not remember their given names are assigned common ones instead.

Names are very important in Anyeli culture since military service is recorded in great detail. For this reason, and so the dead can be recognised and claimed, soldiers have their name, rank and unit engraved onto a personal item (such as a pendant, bracelet or a favoured weapon) which they wear at all times. Higher-ranking officers have this same information tattooed onto their body to safeguard against impersonation.

Religion & Philosophy

Early Anyeli saw Earth's sun, named "Hel" in the Anyeli tongue, as the personification of the Creator and the source of all life. When they migrated to Elysia?, the belief–and the sun's name–was carried with them.

The Helenic Religion? claimed that the sun was Xanth's tool for creating life on Earth and, later, Elysia. Without the sun, there would be no Day and the Anyeli (who originally were only able to manipulate Light) would have no powers.

Over time, some began to see Night and Shadow with different eyes. Rather than rejecting the darkness, they embraced it and discovered a whole new side to their abilities in the process. A new sect, the Skotadi, grew out of the old religion (eventually forcing the Helenites to become known as the Apali) and the two factions immediately began to squabble.

Those squabbles led to the Anyeli Civil War, which has lasted for eight thousand years with only intermittent and short-lived peace treaties to ease the violence. Each faction eventually forgot how to manipulate the other's element, but by then the war had taken on political connotations that continued to fuel faction rivalries.

Deciding which faction to join in the modern era has little to do with religion and much more to do with those politics, yet much of the old symbolism is still intrinsic in the rituals used to this day, including the moon and sun emblems and the dying of wings.

Education

The Anyeli have two systems for education: One is for skills they gain through joining a caste or faction and the other is for general subjects.

General Education

Small settlements have no formal education so children rely on their parents and mentors for general subjects like simple mathematics or history. In the largest forts and garrison towns, the Pedaea (Education & Orphan Care) have small academies where structured classes are led by trained teachers⁸.

Outside of these general subjects, Anyeli are also trained in a craft or trade through apprenticeships. Unlike most apprenticeships in Elysia, however, this craft or trade is not inherited from a parent. Instead, adolescents are given a choice of placements according to which occupations most need filling in their town or unit.

Faction & Caste Education

Once Anyeli have joined their faction and caste, toward the end of their fledglinghood, their education focuses on learning the related abilities. They are assigned to a squadron of cadets for each skill they wish to learn, and then put through their paces as a unit rather than as individuals.

Competition during their training can be fierce, and the training itself can be dangerous. Some squadron leaders take great delight in throwing their cadets in at the deep end while others emphasise team work and co-operation. How well a cadet does with each skill ultimately decides which branch of the military they will join, and to which unit they are assigned.

Half-Breeds

Anyeli hybrids are common. However, the majority of the Empire's towns and forts are high in the mountains so half-Anyeli without wings will struggle to keep up with daily life. Even so, they will be expected to "buy" citizenship in the same manner as a pureblood Anyeli. For this reason, the majority of Anyeli hybrids live outside of the Empire instead.

History

  500 XA   7500 BC   Anyeli are created.
  926 XA   7074 BC   Anyeli calendar begins.
 1300 XA   6700 BC   Anyeli Empire forms.
 1873 XA   6127 BC   Skotadi faction forms.
 2000 XA   6000 BC   Anyeli Civil War begins.
                     Various cease-fires follow.
 2500 XA   5500 BC   Construction begins on Cloud Palace.
 6300 XA   1700 BC   Elysia created. Second Migration. 
                     Cloud Palace relocated.
 8509 XA    509 AD   Scourge War begins. Lasts 80 years.
 8589 XA    589 AD   Scourge War ends.
 9787 XA   1787 AD   War of the Dragon begins. Lasts 4 years.
 9791 XA   1791 AD   War of the Dragon ends.
                     Currently AT WAR.

When Xanth mixed her own DNA with human and bird in 500 XA? (7500 BC), she created the first Anyeli. He was quick to spread his unique genes, further diluting Xanth's blood by breeding with humans, and they lived in scattered tribes and city-states across what is now Europe. In 1,300 XA (6700 BC), these states became a united empire that prospered until the Skotadi factions split away in 1,873 XA (6217 BC), triggering the civil war.

Over the next 6,000 years, the two factions were to sign numerous peace treaties and cease-fires. Few lasted more than 50 years, with most notable exceptions caused by external forces (such as the Scourge Wars, which demanded the attention of every able-bodied warrior in Elysia, and the construction of the Cloud Palace).

Skills & Paths

The Anyeli are focused on war and on proving themselves the stronger faction. Even Peacekeeper skills are intended to assist with these goals, though in a non-combative manner. The military hierarchy carries through into all walks of life.

Soldier
Weaponsmith
Miner
Healer

Spy
Guard
Judge
Scout

Ranger
Fisherman
Herbalist
Entertainer

Pirate
Wildcrafter
Anka Pilot
Florist

Fledglings join a faction early on, and then a caste only a few years later. Many Anyeli grow up in faction-specific towns and are raised with a specific caste in mind, making individual choice difficult but not impossible.

Footnotes

1. Formally speaking, Anyeli are "Citizens of the Anyeli Empire?", but the full term is now only used in official ceremonies.
2. In smaller towns and more remote regions, Anyeli will often barter for goods and services instead of using minted coins. In fact, Anyeli coins are actually worth less than xanthai found in eastern Elysia because they reserve their best metals for weapons and use the poorer quality ores for minting. This can become an issue when currency is judged on its material value rather than what the number on its face says it is worth, but coins have a standard value across the Empire itself.
3. The Elysian calendar (XA) is based on the Anyeli calendar. There are some linguistic differences but they are easily translatable and the numbers are the same.
4. Homosexual couples may sign a marriage contract but are not expected to produce off-spring. Instead, they serve the Empire in some other fashion, such as adopting war orphans.
5. Only Captains and above may grant divorce and it is actually quite rare. The Anyeli are so long-lived that couples can separate (due to differing assignments or a need for time apart) and reconcile frequently over the course of a centuries-long relationship.
6. A stratocracy is a form of government headed by military chiefs. In the case of the Anyeli Empire?, government and military departments and branches are headed by high-ranking military officers, like the Lochoi?, who take seats on the Council of Representatives?, and the entirety is overseen by the Archon?.
7. The vast majority of Anyeli battles take place in the air, unless weather conditions force them to the ground. The Dimachi (cavalry) is mounted on pegasi even if the battlefield is at ground level because they can fly in conditions that the Peltachi (infantry) cannot. Cavalry units are uncommon these days and pegasi now are actually more ceremonial than battle-trained, but Dimachi feature in a lot of old legends as glory-stealing heroes.
8. Pupils attending the Cloud Academy? on Griffin's Peak are usually war orphans who are being steered toward lifelong service in the military (as opposed to the mandatory short-term service expected of other citizens) or other occupations that need to be filled, and their education is structured with that in mind. Consequently, their subjects are severely limited to those with practical uses.

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