An amphibian race of odd yet dexterious perfectionists.
APPEARANCE
CLUMSY VERSATILITY
AMPHIBIAN BODY
Mianids are an amphibious race with smooth, waxy skin that glistens with a perpetual dampness. Their colouring ranges from deep yellow to the greys and reds of stagnant water. It reflects both habitat and age; murky and dull in the old, vivid and fresh in the young. Large, bulbous eyes dominate their round faces, giving them a look of both perpetual vigilance and constant panic — wide, unblinking, disconcertingly direct. Slender, slightly webbed limbs lend them a natural grace in water, though on land they move with an odd sort of slug and slog.
DEXTEROUS HANDS
Their general clumsiness does not extend to their hands. Their long, multi-jointed fingers are exquisitely dexterous, moving with the precision of an instrument fine-tuned for dissection. Mianids are slight things, smaller and frailer than every other land-dwelling peoples, yet their delicate touch makes them indispensable where precision is paramount.
POISON
Mianids secrete some of the most potent poisons known to alchemists.
LIFE AND CULTURE
INTEGRATION AND TRADE
EMPLOYMENT
Due to the dexterity of their hands, mianids found their place in trades that require meticulous artistry and an unwavering hand. They gutt fish and animals with surgical ease, their movements as fluid as the creatures they carve open. They turn stone into statues and shape wood into unique pieces of furniture, each detail impossibly fine. They paint cutlery with delicate patterns, thread silk through impossibly small needles and weave tapestries more intricate than anything you will ever see. Their hands piece together the smallest fragments of fine jewellery, setting gems so precisely they seem to grow from the metal itself.
HUMBLE SUBMISSIVENESS
"They were a race of quiet perfectionists. And yet, for all their artistry, they did not seem to recognise their own value. As far as Yu knew, mianid culture revolved around simplicity and stewardship. They prided themselves on restraint and preservation, on taking no more than needed and leaving no waste. Tria had employed several mianids at her estate, though their servile demeanour had done little to endear them to Yu. He got to know quite a few, amongst them Lib and Url, who did their fair share in raising him. They were soft-spoken, spineless sycophants, slinking from one task to the next with quiet servility. In other words; they were straight-out ass-kissers, eager to please and desperate to avoid notice." [B1.C15]
This is what Yu experienced when engaging with the mianids employed in Undertellems. This does not mean, however, that all mianids across the continent share this servatile attitude. The best known exception is Bubs.
INDIVIDUAL MIANIDS
A glossary of characters that have been mentioned or appeared.
Bubs
Origin: Unknown
Abilities: Cooking. Basic alchemy. Advanced medical skills.
Age: Presumably still young.
First appearance: [B1.C15] Albweiss Mountain Guild guard.
Bubs is one of the residentual guards and the chef at the Albweiss Mountain Guild.
APPEARANCE
"Oh, he looked friendly, all right. His yellow-and-orange hues glowed warmly beneath the dim common-room light, his slick skin reflecting the flickering illumination in a way that made him appear almost soft. Deceptively so. He was young, too, his colours still bright. Younger than Lib and Url, certainly. Perhaps even younger than Yu. It was hard to tell. His size and that wobbly way of walking did not help. He was the only guard not towering over Yu, the only one that did not look like an absolute menace of a berserker. Compared to the others, he was small and weak, with almost childlike proportions. (...)
Where Tirran’s eyes had been erratic, darting everywhere, Bubs’ massive, bulbous gaze swept the room with slow, deliberate weight. He did not blink." [B1.C15]
CHARACTER
Bubs is the guild chef, but he speaks without mincing words. He is straighforward and demanding.
"There was nothing meek about him. Bubs carried himself with an authority that neither fit his absurdly light-hearted name nor his colourful, diminutive frame. He had served them food, but he was no servant. There was something in the way he approached them, in the way he distributed mugs and bowls, and in the way he watched them eat — calm, unwavering, measuring." [B1.C15]
GUILD CHEF
"Absolutely all matters related to food fell under his jurisdiction: ordering, growing, managing supplies, preparing, cooking. And he made sure everyone knew it." [B1.C15]
Bubs follows a fixed meal time schedule and has the last (and only) word on portion sizes.
GUILD MEDIC
As shown in [B1.C18], Bubs took over the lead in tending to injured travellers. He creates and administers potions, such as the Purging Draught. He also performs complex surgeries such as the restoration of Abar's leg in [B1.C19], where he creates a construction of substitute bones, a stabilising exosceleton and a metal cage to still any twisting of the limb. As Yu observed, "His thin fingers moved with the exactness of a watchmaker or a silkweaver; hands made for fine mechanisms now dissecting flesh." [B1.C19]
AT ODDS WITH YU
"Bubs’ way of speaking reminded him far too much of Tria. It was the same sort of rude, narcissistic authority." [B1.C15]
Yu feels that Bubs has it out for him. The strict working conditions and high expectations on his first day of work seem like deliberate harassment to Yu.
Lib
Origin: Unknown
Born: 629
First mentioned: [B1.C15] Noted to be one of Tria's employees.
Lib and Url are two of the mianids employed by Tria who were predominantly tasked with raising Yu at her estate in Undertellems.
"They were soft-spoken, spineless sycophants, slinking from one task to the next with quiet servility. In other words; they were straight-out ass-kissers, eager to please and desperate to avoid notice. There were no words for how much Yu missed them now." [B1.C15]
Url
Origin: Unknown
Born: 620
First mentioned: [B1.C15] Noted to be one of Tria's employees.
Url and Lib are two of the mianids employed by Tria who were predominantly tasked with raising Yu at her estate in Undertellems.
"They were soft-spoken, spineless sycophants, slinking from one task to the next with quiet servility. In other words; they were straight-out ass-kissers, eager to please and desperate to avoid notice. There were no words for how much Yu missed them now." [B1.C15]