Shin'a'in
Encyclopedia
The Shin'a'in are a fiction
al ethnographic
group created by fantasy
author Mercedes Lackey
. They comprise roughly half of the descendants of an ancient race, the Kaled'a'in; the other half are the Tale'edras (Brothers of the Hawk). They are characterized by their chosen homeland, the Dhorisha Plains, an enormous grassland
in the bottom of a great crater
, and by their refusal to use magic
except as part of the shamanistic rituals. They resemble the Bedouin
s in lifestyle; they are nomad
ic, living in tent
s, and they are predominantly herders and horse-breeders.
The Shin'a'in are also traders, and have a semi-permanent settlement, Kata'shin'a'in, on the rim of the Plains. They are characterized by a certain racial type; black-haired, blue-eyed, with golden skin.
Shin'a'in worship their deity
in the form of a Goddess
, Kal'enel (Sword of the Stars, or The Star-Eyed) with four aspects; Maiden
, Warrior
, Mother
, Crone
. They also have a Male deity
who does not appear much in the books. Like the Goddess
, he has four aspects that correspond to the four aspects of the Goddess
: the Rover, Guardian, Hunter and Guide.
s, whom they often refer to as dester'edre (Wind-born Siblings), or ever-younger clanschildren(Jel'sutho'edrin).
The Shin'a'in horses are famous for their quality, especially the warsteeds. A warsteed off the Plains is always female: the Shin'a'in prefer the mares for their intelligence. No Shin'a'in warsteed is ever permitted to belong to a non-Shin'a'in, and they are never sold. Battlemares, as they are known, are distinguished as being ugly, as they are bred for their brains, agility and muscle rather than for looks. In appearance they are somewhat coarse, with large, broad foreheads, dusty gray coats and muscular quarters (the hindquarters often somewhat higher than the forequarters). They are trained to allow only their riders to handle or ride them, and will seriously injure or (more often) kill anybody unauthorized who comes close to them.
The studs never leave the plains, and the only Shin'a'in horses sold to outsiders are their saddle-beasts and their culls, which are of entirely different breeding stock to the warsteeds (though highly superior to non-Shin'a'in horses).
There was also a Kaled'a'in clan that had gated so far out from the others that they were considered the Lost Clan, the k'Leshya. The k'Leshya reunited with the others during the Mage Wars and Mage Storms near 2400 years later, per Mercedes Lackey's timelines found in the Valdemar novels.
The Shin'a'in clan has several pivotal members: the Clan Elders, Shaman and Healers, in addition to a Clanmother. Clan is so important to the Shin'a'in that a Shin'a'in Clanless is considered as having no reason to live. They live and die for their Clans.
Blood-feud is forbidden amongst the Shin'a'in. In order to pursue blood-feud or revenge, the oath of Kal'enedral must be sworn. This oath is in three parts: first, the Kal'enedral are Sworn to the Goddess of the South Wind and the New Moon (the Warrior), secondly they are Sworn to the service of the Shin'a'in Clans as a whole, and only then are they Sworn to their particular clan. This arrangement precludes inter-clan rivalry, and no Shin'a'in may take up arms against another.
Kalen'edral are celibate, entirely without sexual desire (the Goddess removes it to free them from distraction) and are frequently androgynous. Ordinary Kal'enedral dress only in dark brown or black: the black is only worn when on blood-feud or engaging in ritual combat.
Kal'enedral continue to serve their Goddess after death; they are leshy'a-Kal'enedral (spirit-Kal'enedral) and are distinguished by their black clothing, normally only worn when the Kal'enedral is on blood-feud, and veiled faces (giving them the nickname "the Veiled Ones"). It is the Veiled Ones who are entrusted with the training of the living Kal'enedral: on every night spent not within the confines of a building, the Veiled Ones will train the Kal'enedral in weapons-work. This makes a Kal'enedral one of the most feared and accomplished warriors in the world.
This oath involves each participant making a small, crescent shaped incision on their left hand and joining hands to mingle the blood. The bond of She'enedran renders the bondmates closer than siblings or lovers, and allows them to feel a little of what the other is feeling (and if one is in danger, the other will know it).
It was in this way that Tarma shena Tale'sedrin and her She'enedra, the sorceress Kethryveris (Kethry) repopulated the core clan of Tale'sedrin, for by swearing the oath Kethry became Shin'a'in by adoption. Tale'sedrin was repopulated by the children of Kethry and her husband Jadrek, in addition to receiving adoptees from other Clans. From then on, the Tale'sedrin were renowned as being the only Shin'a'in Clan to have blond-haired and/or green-eyed members.
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al ethnographic
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
group created by fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
author Mercedes Lackey
Mercedes Lackey
Mercedes "Misty" Lackey is a best-selling American author of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar...
. They comprise roughly half of the descendants of an ancient race, the Kaled'a'in; the other half are the Tale'edras (Brothers of the Hawk). They are characterized by their chosen homeland, the Dhorisha Plains, an enormous grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
in the bottom of a great crater
Impact crater
In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...
, and by their refusal to use magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
except as part of the shamanistic rituals. They resemble the Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
s in lifestyle; they are nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
ic, living in tent
Tent
A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or attached to a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using guy ropes tied to stakes or tent pegs...
s, and they are predominantly herders and horse-breeders.
The Shin'a'in are also traders, and have a semi-permanent settlement, Kata'shin'a'in, on the rim of the Plains. They are characterized by a certain racial type; black-haired, blue-eyed, with golden skin.
Shin'a'in worship their deity
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
in the form of a Goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
, Kal'enel (Sword of the Stars, or The Star-Eyed) with four aspects; Maiden
Maiden
Maiden or Maidens may refer to:* A female virgin; see virginity* Maiden name, the family name carried by a woman before marriage; see married and maiden names* Maiden, the first of the three aspects of the Triple Goddess...
, Warrior
Warrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
, Mother
Mother
A mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...
, Crone
Crone
The crone is a stock character in folklore and fairy tale, an old woman who is usually disagreeable, malicious, or sinister in manner, often with magical or supernatural associations that can make her either helpful or obstructing. She is marginalized by her exclusion from the reproductive cycle,...
. They also have a Male deity
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
who does not appear much in the books. Like the Goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
, he has four aspects that correspond to the four aspects of the Goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
: the Rover, Guardian, Hunter and Guide.
Horses
The Shin'a'in are famous for their relationship to their horseHorse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s, whom they often refer to as dester'edre (Wind-born Siblings), or ever-younger clanschildren(Jel'sutho'edrin).
The Shin'a'in horses are famous for their quality, especially the warsteeds. A warsteed off the Plains is always female: the Shin'a'in prefer the mares for their intelligence. No Shin'a'in warsteed is ever permitted to belong to a non-Shin'a'in, and they are never sold. Battlemares, as they are known, are distinguished as being ugly, as they are bred for their brains, agility and muscle rather than for looks. In appearance they are somewhat coarse, with large, broad foreheads, dusty gray coats and muscular quarters (the hindquarters often somewhat higher than the forequarters). They are trained to allow only their riders to handle or ride them, and will seriously injure or (more often) kill anybody unauthorized who comes close to them.
The studs never leave the plains, and the only Shin'a'in horses sold to outsiders are their saddle-beasts and their culls, which are of entirely different breeding stock to the warsteeds (though highly superior to non-Shin'a'in horses).
History
The Shin'a'in and Tale'edras became two separate peoples at the Sundering of the Clans, an event remembered with some sorrow. A great war between Urtho, a wise and good mage, and Ma'ar, an evil one, resulted in the death of both and the destruction of their citadels. Ma'ar's fortress became a crater that filled with water and was later named Lake Evendim. Urtho's tower become a slightly smaller crater covered in black glass. The Goddess appeared to the Kaled'a'in and gave them two tasks: The Clans who were given the first task were to use magic to restore the damage done to the land through magic; these people became the Tale'edras. The Clans who shunned the use of any magic except for that of the Shaman were to live in the crater and guard the weapons still sealed in Urtho's tower. The clans who accepted the second task became the Shin'a'in, and the Goddess covered the ruined land with grass so that they could live there. This re-populating of the Plains came at a great cost: the lives of the Elders of the four Clans who were the first of the Shin'a'in (Hawk, Wolf, Grass-Cat, and Deer). This gave the Plains their name - the Dhorisha Shin'a, the Plains of Sacrifice.There was also a Kaled'a'in clan that had gated so far out from the others that they were considered the Lost Clan, the k'Leshya. The k'Leshya reunited with the others during the Mage Wars and Mage Storms near 2400 years later, per Mercedes Lackey's timelines found in the Valdemar novels.
Roles and social organization
The Shin'a'in are organized in Clans named for a totemic animal (Clan of the Cat, Clan of the Hawk, etc. Eg: Liha'irden as Clan of the Racing Deer, or Tale'sedrin as Children of the Hawk.) They have a clan elder and a shaman (or several shamans) who rule the Clan. The shamans are the only magic users; children born to the Clan who have the ability to use magic must join the shamans or leave the Plains to join Tayledras for training. If they wish to do neither, then the Shaman will call upon the Goddess to seal away the touch of magic and the child will continue to live life in the Clan.The Shin'a'in clan has several pivotal members: the Clan Elders, Shaman and Healers, in addition to a Clanmother. Clan is so important to the Shin'a'in that a Shin'a'in Clanless is considered as having no reason to live. They live and die for their Clans.
Kal'enedral
A sub-group of Shin'a'in is a class of warriors known as the Kal'enedral (literally Her Sword Brothers, or Sword Sworn). Such persons swear an oath to the Goddess for various reasons; one famous Kal'enedral was Tarma shena Tale'sedrin, who took the oath to avenge her Clan after every member but herself was murdered by bandits.Blood-feud is forbidden amongst the Shin'a'in. In order to pursue blood-feud or revenge, the oath of Kal'enedral must be sworn. This oath is in three parts: first, the Kal'enedral are Sworn to the Goddess of the South Wind and the New Moon (the Warrior), secondly they are Sworn to the service of the Shin'a'in Clans as a whole, and only then are they Sworn to their particular clan. This arrangement precludes inter-clan rivalry, and no Shin'a'in may take up arms against another.
Kalen'edral are celibate, entirely without sexual desire (the Goddess removes it to free them from distraction) and are frequently androgynous. Ordinary Kal'enedral dress only in dark brown or black: the black is only worn when on blood-feud or engaging in ritual combat.
Kal'enedral continue to serve their Goddess after death; they are leshy'a-Kal'enedral (spirit-Kal'enedral) and are distinguished by their black clothing, normally only worn when the Kal'enedral is on blood-feud, and veiled faces (giving them the nickname "the Veiled Ones"). It is the Veiled Ones who are entrusted with the training of the living Kal'enedral: on every night spent not within the confines of a building, the Veiled Ones will train the Kal'enedral in weapons-work. This makes a Kal'enedral one of the most feared and accomplished warriors in the world.
Blood-Oath
The Shin'a'in are notoriously clan-conscious, and do not normally have a great deal of contact with outsiders. Occasionally, however, one will swear the oath of She'enedran (Blood Brother/Sister) with an outlander.This oath involves each participant making a small, crescent shaped incision on their left hand and joining hands to mingle the blood. The bond of She'enedran renders the bondmates closer than siblings or lovers, and allows them to feel a little of what the other is feeling (and if one is in danger, the other will know it).
It was in this way that Tarma shena Tale'sedrin and her She'enedra, the sorceress Kethryveris (Kethry) repopulated the core clan of Tale'sedrin, for by swearing the oath Kethry became Shin'a'in by adoption. Tale'sedrin was repopulated by the children of Kethry and her husband Jadrek, in addition to receiving adoptees from other Clans. From then on, the Tale'sedrin were renowned as being the only Shin'a'in Clan to have blond-haired and/or green-eyed members.