Ssanyu'sizwe

Of a once proud and colorful heritage, the Ssanyu'sizwe (Sanyu) tread now upon the possibility of extinction. Hailing from the tropical northern region of Toscano, their islands were washed away by the tsunamis in wake of the Sundering, their way of life devastated so adversely that the effects are still felt 300 hundred years later.

=History=

As a people well-suited to warm climates, the Sanyu once made their home on the scattered islands of Toscano, living among the wild and untamed jungle and building their homes on the beautiful beaches to watch each morning as the tides swept in.

Their way of life has changed drastically since the Sundering. Using the only means of travel they have, the Sanyu fled in wake of the tsunamis which consumed large parts of the land, including swallowing their island homes. Once a people of the jungle, the Sanyu have adapted to living life on their ships, the largest and fastest vessels ever built, and rarely do they step onto land except to barter their silk and spices.

Appearance & Personality
The first thing noticed upon looking at a Sanyu is their dark olive-toned skin, varying from a honey-brown to nearly black. Most often they are tall, lithe and lean of limb, with the men towering well over six feet, whilst the women are but a few inches shorter at a standard 5'8. Accustomed to life on a boat, they generally walk with a rolling gait that is considered to be graceful by Etruscan standards, and the women are reknown for their exotic beauty.

Generally, their angled eyes are dark brown or black, with little variation. High cheek bones, prominent noses (among the men), and full lips among both sexes are their trade-mark features. Their hair colour is similar as their skin, ranging from brown to black, and -- sometimes -- a brown/blonde or red.

Often a Sanyu decorates their body in tattoos and piercings as a trial to their reaching the age of maturity; sixteen for women, eighteen for men. And although both sexes are considered equal in their society, women are most often the leaders by bullying methods, possessing a loud and dominant personality. Men, by comparison, are more quiet and given to a more relaxed personality, laid back and often happy to take life as it comes.

Clothes
Women and men both possess an equal fondness for silk and linen; the former most often worn by the women, who prefer baggy trousers, skirts, sashes, sarongs, scarves and loose blouses dyed in any and every colour available. Men most often prefer to go bare-chested, weather allowing, to display their tattoos, with baggy trousers and sashes aplenty around the hips and chest. Both sexes typically wear sandals, though often they prefer to be bare-foot whilst on the deck of a ship, and there are a few who have given over to wearing proper boots of leather.

Jewellery is worn among both men and women, ranging from necklaces to earrings, bracelets to anklets, of silver and gold and copper. The more gold jewellery one wears, the more wealthy they typically are -- and thus, the more powerful they be among their society.

Food
There is but one flavour for the Sanyu pallette:

A little spicy. Very spicy. And diabolically spicy.

As a people who live on the water, their meat is consistently anything fished from the sea -- fish, clams, oysters, prawns, crab, lobster. What few vegetables they eat are often fried, stewed, or pickled. With lots and lots of spice, harvested from their own crops on Asaea.

=Way of Life= Although deprived of their homeland, the Sanyu sailed the waters in the aftermath of the Sundering and established a new home, which is named Asaea -- a multitude of small islands in a location which is kept secret to outsiders. This Asaea is fabled for the origin of Sanyu porcelain, spices and silk. Both commodities are used for trade, as that is how the Sanyu make a living now, trading their highly desired and valuable spices, porcelain, and silk.