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Unbeknownst
to most westlanders, the Atha’an Miere are not
the only people who live on the Sea Folk islands. When
the Sea Folk found their islands after the Breaking of
the World, they encountered a strange people calling themselves
the Amayar already living there. However, the Amayar
inhabit the deep interior of the islands, disliking the
water and sea travel as much as the Sea Folk dislike being
on land.
Followers
of the Water Way, a code of pacifism and nonviolence
similar to the Way of the Leaf, the Amayar welcomed
the newcomers. However, they considered the Sea
Folk’s fascination with sailing and the sea, and their sometimes
boisterous customs, unpleasant. Despite this distaste,
when the Amayar discerned that the Atha’an
Miere wished
to make the islands their territory, for reasons of
their own they indicated their willingness for the Sea
Folk to "rule" them. This arrangement has worked out
well for all concerned, since the Sea Folk don’t want to
visit the inland Amayar settlements and effectively leave
them to govern themselves most of the time. However, they
do trade for Amayar goods—including their exquisite, delicate
porcelain and glassware—much of which they
in turn trade to the mainland. They also grant the gift
of passage to any Amayar who asks it.
Physically,
the Amayar are short and stocky compared to
the Atha’an Miere—they have about the same average height
as the folk of Cairhien. Their skin is fair, their eyes typically
blue, green, or hazel, and their hair blond or light
brown (in short, they bear no physical resemblance to
the Sea Folk). Besides crafting porcelain and glass, they farm
and raise animals (sheep, goats, cattle, and oxen), though
their animals are smaller than typical mainland varieties.
A few become fishers, rowing out from the coast in
small boats, but that’s as much water travel as they desire. |
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