Editing Nightcats:Peoples (section)

=== Chaaya ===

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[[File:Chaaya 1.png|350px|right]]
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''“Where the river fattens, the Chaaya build—and where they build, power gathers.”''

The Chaaya (cha-AI-ya) are the great city-builders of Jhelum, masters of trade, law, and quiet intrigue. They form the majority of inhabitants of this vast land. Their cities rise along rivers and coasts, dense with temples, courts, and bazaars where fortunes change hands in a single afternoon.

They are a literate people, keepers of records and fragments of older worlds. In their archives lie dead languages, forgotten maps, and truths better left buried.

Yet refinement breeds ambition. Among the Chaaya, every courtesy may conceal intent—and every agreement may carry a hidden edge.

Chaaya dominate the great city-states of Jhelum. They are found as merchants, officials, priests, and power-brokers wherever wealth gathers. Many of the Sorcerer-Kings trace their origins to Chaaya courts and academies.

Outsiders say: ''“A Chaaya will sell you the rope—and charge extra to tie the knot.”''

==== What They Value ====  

Wealth • Influence • Knowledge • Advantage  

==== Reputation ====

Clever • Ambitious • Subtle • Decadent

==== Taboo ====
  
To be publicly proven a fool in negotiation is a lasting disgrace.

==== Appearance ====
Chaaya tend toward a refined, composed appearance. Their features are often fine and expressive, their bearing controlled. Skin tones range widely but are often described as smooth and even-toned, the result of sheltered, urban life.

Hair is typically dark and worn long or carefully styled. Eyes are sharp, observant, and rarely still.

Chaaya dress emphasizes status—layered fabrics, jewelry, and subtle markers of wealth or profession. Even a poor Chaaya often carries themselves with deliberate poise.

==== Chaaya Boons ====

A Chaaya character must select their first boon from among the following:

[[Nightcats:Boons#Silver Tongue|Silver Tongue]] • [[Nightcats:Boons#Reads the Lie|Reads the Lie]] • [[Nightcats:Boons#Learned|Learned]] • [[Nightcats:Boons#Commanding Presence|Commanding Presence]]
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====[[Nightcats:Name Generators#Chaaya Names|Chaaya Names]]====


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