Lifespan:	60-70 years (subject to change)
Height:	4-6.5 feet, older = taller
Homeland:	Bryleah
Progenitor:	Fluère

Bryleahns are a people born from the blood of Fluère, Mother of All Currents, who have spread along the shores of the sacred river Sanguama.

Appearance and Physiology

Bryleahns are lean and sinewy humanoids, perfectly adapted to life in the dense and humid jungles of Bryleah. In youth, they are short: by the time they reach adulthood at their tenth spring, they barely stand 4-4.5 feet tall. However, they never stop growing, and in old age, a Bryleahn may reach 6-6.5 feet.

Their faces resemble those of humans, but their large eyes are covered by a transparent third eyelid, their cheeks are sunken, and their small mouths are filled with sharp, needle-like teeth. Bryleahns have large, hairless heads with prominent fin-like ears and a short crest that begins at the middle of their high foreheads and runs to the back of their skulls.

Their blood is cold and azure, like the waters of Sanguama, which is why their ears and crests are riddled with blood vessels—this helps them regulate their body temperature. Their skin is thick, covered in small bumps, and has a pale yellow tint.

Bryleahns have broad, powerful shoulders, long arms and fingers, with small webbing between the first phalanges. Their spines protrude slightly above the skin, forming a subtle ridge, while their agile, elongated legs resemble something between those of a monkey and a frog.

Bryleahns are carnivores, eating meat and fish while using plants only as seasonings; they are entirely intolerant of milk. Bryleahn children are fed meat from birth, which is why Bryleahn women have no breasts or nipples. However, like all children of Fluère, they possess expanded, pronounced ribcages, allowing them to hold their breath for 15-20 minutes with ease.

Culture

The nature and temperament of Bryleahns resemble the currents spawned by Fluère: the young are like swift, meandering streams, twisting through the undergrowth and tumbling over small waterfalls, while the wise elders become like a slow, broad river that does not waver before any obstacle.

The vast majority of Bryleahns follow the Cult of Currents:

“Life is like the current of the great river Sanguama: it has a beginning and an end. By weaving the streams of our fate with the currents of other living beings, we flow through this river from its source to its mouth, where we will finally merge with the waters of the Mother.”

They naturally seek not to change the world but to live in harmony with it, preserving its primal nature. They are a people of philosophers and scholars, understanding the natural order through observation and contemplation.

Note: Of course, not all interpret the tenets of the Cult of Currents the same way. For example, Bryleahns living in the northern swamps of the Scar refuse to wear clothing or use tools, whereas the inhabitants of Azure Haven in the south have no qualms about cutting down trees for their homes and firing clay. Nonetheless, a general desire to maintain natural harmony is a trait common to all Bryleahns.

Material Culture

All Bryleahns are natural-born hunters. They move like silent shadows through the thick undergrowth along the banks of Sanguama, diving into its azure waters without a single ripple to ambush their prey.

As weapons, Bryleahns use reed blowpipes that fire toxic thorns with incredible force and barbed tridents—long-hafted spears with gleaming tips cast from lacrikael resin. The same resin, specially treated and reinforced, is used to craft their tools: knives and needles, fishing hooks, utensils, and more. Hunters also frequently employ sticky nets woven from jungle vines.

Bryleahns wear minimal clothing, covering only their loins, but they adorn themselves with amulets cast from lakrikael, bracelets woven from bark and vines, and wide braided belts with pouches and vials. Southern Bryleahns of Azure Haven, where gold is more abundant, also incorporate golden bracelets and ornaments into their attire.

The Hunting Mask

The most prized possession of any adult Bryleahn is their hunting mask. The people of Bryleah know that the Terror of the Forests, Moss-hide, is too cautious to attack prey face-to-face, so they had to give themselves eyes on the back of their heads. The mask is usually made from animal hides stretched over a frame of reinforced lakrikael vines, ritually painted, and adorned with two glowing azure gemstone eyes—fragments of lapis lazuli brought down from the headwaters of Sanguama. They are worn on the back of the head, and no Bryleahn in their right mind would leave a settlement without their mask.

Bryleahns are master alchemists, deeply skilled in herbal medicine and well-versed in the art of poisons.

Traditionally, Bryleahns build their settlements on tree trunks, skillfully weaving vines and branches together without harming the trees themselves. Meza, the Woven City, rising from an island in the middle of Sanguama, is one of the true wonders of Malkona—a sanctuary for philosophers, scholars, and poets. Southern Bryleahns, whose lands lack trees large enough for woven dwellings, build their homes atop high riverbank hills, constructing them almost in human fashion, from wood, straw, and clay.