Echryni

The Echryni are an intelligent, humanoid race of creatures that reside within the Rayskel Cays of Ninth World Earth.



Appearance and Traits
Adult Echryni tend to be very amphibious in terms of form, with strong legs, webbed hands and feet, wing-like appendages, and an adaptable pair of lungs and gills to ensure great travel on either land or water. They are able to breathe either air or water, but only each one for 28 hours at a time, so as to clean out their gill passages. They spend much of their early life cycle within water, as larvae in a carefully crafter "birth bed". young echryni will have greyish, leathery bodies with wider fin-like wings, webbed feet, and tails that serve as rudders. various openings across there bodies serve either as food filters or even gills, and young echryni will mostly spend their time eating tiny underwater creatures inside shallow pools of warm water. Growing at a rate of a couple inches per day, their period of youth usually lasts between 2-4 months. Young echryni can move on land for only a few inches at a time due to the small amount their wings and webbed feet provide, however, if taken out of water for more than a few minutes, they'll quickly begin to suffocate.

Upon reaching adulthood, echryni metamorphose into their more recognizable form, though their genders are difficult to discern except by those closest to them. Many adult echryni tend to dress in simple clothing that's tailored to allow their reduced wings a good rage of movement as well as expose their gills along their side of their breasts to their current environment. While typically preferring handmade items of leather, they aren't averse to more ornate pieces or even "waterwear" in certain situations.

During maturity, echryni tend to have slightly longer longevity than human beings, so long as they don't give birth to any progeny, and hold hydrokinetic powers they call "Waterwielding". Through an enzyme secreted by their skin, the echryni are able to change both the shape and structure of water, though specifically saltwater, to create objects like clothing or equipment in a way that still remains in a semi-solid state. The clothing or Waterwear that they use this power to create gives off the impression of moving water, due to its liquid-esque appearance of its fabric, though it still provides the wearer protection against the elements as well as from ambient or weapon-based damage.

Society and Culture
Eventually, the largest and strongest of their kind are chosen to serve as future birth beds, with few refusing the position due to societal pressures and their sense of honor. Those that are chosen steady build water baskets along their chests, which are meant to collect an enzyme-soaked egg from every other enchryni with their community that choose to donate. A complex ceremony will then take place on a predetermined day, where the recipient will build an elaborate cocoon underwater to wrap themselves in. During this day-long process, the rest of the community join them beneath the surface, singing to them in wave speech. A month later, after everyone but the encased echryni has left, the larvae of the entombed echryni hatch and begin to cannibalize the deceased body until there are no more nutrients left for it to offer. By this point, they'll have entered their youth cycle and will be able to hunt and swim on their own.

Most echryni tend to be very gregarious in nature and usually get long well with other races that may seem more likely to distance themselves. While many have a great understanding of the Truth, the echryni do also speak their own short, staccato-esque language which most likely derived from the need to carry out messages across long distances underwater. As for their culture in general, it's mainly based around close-knit groups and families, making it very rare to see an echryni on their lonesome.

Miscellaneous
A common echryni expression that's used to describe both solidarity and sympathy translates out to, "the bone betrays its softness. The water hides its face." This phrase portrays their unique belief that everything must be both weak and strong in order to survive.

Much of the echryni population can still be found amid the Rayskel Kays, with their largest concentration residing along the westernmost shore of the island of Darnali.

The waterwear created by echryni is considered to be very rare and expensive. Convincing an echryni, that one isn't close to in some way, to craft a piece of waterwear equipment will be otherwise considered a level 8 task. Small pieces of clothing like bracelets or necklaces cost about 50 airels (the currency of the Rayskel Cays), while larger pieces such as shirt will cost 2-3 times as much.