Alchayati

When Heylim refugees from Samet-Hada’s empire in Wiiramyl first arrived on Kai-Hu, the islands were dominated by violent, warring Huyyati nations and tribes. These Heylim were able to carve out several nations of their own, but were always under pressure from their Huyyati neighbors. Eventually, this lead to the War of All Hu (‘Hu’ was the Huyyati name for the islands) which resulted in the Huyyati being forced to flee and roam the seas until they eventually found Tel-Riele. By the time of the War of All Hu, the Heylim in Kai-Hu had largely been supplanted by their taller, tailless descendants, the Alchayati.

Alchayati look very much like their distant relatives, Humans. However, there are some differences. They typically have tan to bronze or dusty brown skin and large, lobeless ears. They are considered to be faster and more agile than most Humans, and and are taller on average. They have a notably higher metabolism, meaning that the average adult Alchayati requires about three hours per day less sleep than their Human counterpart. Alchayati must consume more food than Humans in order to maintain functionality, and sweat a lot more on average. Their distinctly large ears are an adaptation to shed excess metabolic heat.

One of the features of the Alchayati race is that they are, in modern times, almost 80% female. This is because of the final curse of the Huyyati, as they were driven from Kai-Hu by their enemies. It destroyed the capability of producing the ‘Y’ chromosome (though the scientific principle behind the process was unknown). This should have rendered the Alchayati completely extinct, but a small group of them were outside the area of effect. However, the damage was done, and during the next few generations the Alchayati population decreased drastically, rendering them critically endangered. They did eventually recover, and are now the second most populous race on Kai-Hu (the first being Humans, and they were the most populous before Humans arrived). Interbreeding with Alchayati has resulted in Kai-Huic Humans obtaining the genes for purple eyes.