Tam'hi

The tam'hi were two Malatran offshoots of the spirit folk of Kara-Tur. They were distinguished as being either jungle tam'hi or river tam'hi, similar in nature to the bamboo and river spirit folk respectively.

Description
All tam'hi had thin and supple bodies with narrow eyes and extremely thin eyebrows. The jungle tam'hi had bronzed skin with black eyes, while the river tam'hi had pale skin with almond colored eyes, but the skin of both had a tint of gold to it. Both genders of each type were incapable of growing facial hair. And both types of tam'hi had hair colors ranging from light brown, black, and blond. With blond being the most rare and considered by them to be sacred.

Simple dress was preferred by the tam'hi and only the necessities to survive away from one's clan were carried around.

Personality
The two types of tam'hi were quite intelligent and fierce defenders of their respective habitat. They also shared a deep fear of fire, typically fleeing when presented with it.

Abilities
Much like other spirit folk the tam'hi were highly attuned to nature and their surroundings, capable of drawing upon their nature spirit ancestry. Both types had infravision out to and were more susceptible to fire-based spells and abilities.

Jungle tam'hi were skilled at hiding in the shadows of the jungle and had some resistance to earth and wood-based spells and abilities. Once per day they could speak with animals and speak with plants. They could travel throughout the jungle without leaving a trace.

River tam'hi were adept at swimming and could breathe underwater. Once per day they could immerse themselves in a fresh water river or stream and be healed in a manner similar to cure serious wounds.

Combat
Tam'hi of both types were typically warriors, though one could also find rogues and wizards among them, the latter of whom had to travel to other tribes to find a teacher in magic.

Society
All tam'hi had a strong sense of family. They lived in clans that were composed of a collection of families related through several marriages. It was incredibly rare to find tam'hi living within non-tam'hi tribes.

Diet
The tam'hi were an omnivorous people, though they typically preferred to be vegetarians. They had no taste for fermented berries or other strong drinks, often falling ill from their consumption.

Relationships
Throughout their existence on the Malatra Plateau, the jungle and river tam'hi held excellent relations with one another, having never once went to war. They sometimes forged alliances with humans, who viewed them as attractive and mystical, to protect their habitat.

The jungle tam'hi and black leopard variety of katanga held a mutual hatred for one another and were sometimes being mistaken for the other.

History
The origins of the tam'hi were shrouded in mystery. According to the plantmen of the plateau, two human tribes witnessed the arrival of the ancients and foresaw the many changes they would bring to the land. In desperation, they made a pact with the spirits of the Malatran Plateau, with a hundred warriors of one tribe dedicating themselves to the jungle and a hundred warriors from the other dedicating themselves to lakes, rivers, and swamps. Giving themselves to the spirits, these people became the oldest of the stone statues that would be found throughout the plateau and the River of Laughing Idols. The rest of the tribesmen would be joined with the spirits of the forest and river, becoming the tam'hi.

Tam'hi would be witnesses to the destruction of the once verdant Yaku Plains by use of forbidden magic. In the years following, jungle tam'hi would never willingly enter the plains, considering them taboo. And those who had witnessed it would be reluctant to tell anyone what had happened.

When a member of the ancients began experimenting with old forbidden magic, the same magic that had created the Yaku Plains, plantmen and hundreds of tam'hi confronted the ancients' ruling council. Demanding they put a stop to that individual ancient's use of forbidden magic.