Much about the physiology and culture of Shen's people has been alluded to in the background done to date, but in a few cases, I wanted to elaborate a bit in an out-of-character context.

I have been given no inspiration for a name for Shen's race or tribe. Within their own experience, they have had no need of one. It is generally unknown whether there are other tribes of his race within his shadow, perhaps spawned by those who've wandered from time to time over the many ages, although some seers and wanderers have claimed to have seen vague signs of evidence to support the idea at various points in history. There has been definite contact with other "intelligent" races within the shadow, but these have been few and far between over the long span of time Shen's people have been on the plains. In either case, not enough regular contact has ever been kept, nor harsh distinctions ever established, for long enough a time for a name for the people to develop. Whether or not other races in the shadow (or in other shadows) have names for Shen's folk remains to be seen.

For similar reasons, a clear name for Shen's shadow has not been set upon, per se. Shen's people do have a few words in their dialect, however, that might suit the purposes of referring to parts of their universe. The word "Ni" (pronounced "nee") refers to all that has ever been (or ever will be) created, and is closely associated with the idea of a pantheistic god. The Ni includes all places and things, seen and unseen, living and unliving, concrete and spiritual, and is considered, in sum, infinite. The Ni is blurrily divided into two parts. One part, called the Rheari (pronounced "ray-ARE-ee"), is the living sum of the seen world, and includes all of the lands, waters, skies and stars of the shadow in which Shen's people dwell. The other part of the Ni, unnamed as such, represents the unseen worlds: the worlds of imagination, dream, and spirit, the likes of which only seers and spirits wander. The world-wandering people of legend are sometimes believed to walk these worlds, as well as those that exist beyond the horizons and throughout the skies of the seen world.

The world in which Shen's people wander is a wide and diversely beautiful one, not unlike our own natural earth. It is relatively sparsely populated with "intelligent" peoples, and perhaps more closely resembles our earth a few tens of thousands of years ago. Shen's people regularly wander the rolling hills and bamboo forest of their expansive plains, but also know fairly well the mountains that border it on many sides. From those who have wandered the farthest and returned, and from the dreams and tales of seers and storytellers, they know of other types of land farther away: tall forests of many kinds, near-endless expanses of each of sand and water and rock, magnificent lands of canyons and strange caverns, mountains of cold white ice and snow, and many different plains somewhat like their own but often bogged with water or spotted with trees. They know of much of the wild variety of lands their world holds, but largely through vague images and tales, as most of their folk do not wander very far outside the plains or the mountains beyond within their lifetime.

Culturally, Shen's people see themselves as one of the many nations of their plain. The worlds and lives of the beasts with which they are familiar are considered equal to their own, and the absense of languange and technology in the senses with which Shen's people are familiar is considered due to a difference in culture and means of thought, not one of "advancement", per se. They respect these fellow nations, as they observe themselves respected by them for the most part, viewing the differences and interactions between all of them part of a natural order, and accepting that as their own race they are simply not always capable of understanding all of the culture and thought of the others.

Shen's people have a moderately rich history and folklore largely handed down by oral tradition. The history and legends that make these up play an interesting role, as it is balanced by the very peaceful and deep philosophy that exemplifies most of their culture.

Much of their history is blurred with legend, as they are not the precise scholars or recordkeepers that humans are. It is commonly held that their race, many centuries ago, were warriors and hunters, and wandered much of their world following the tides of game and various threats. When their ancient ancestors were ready to be shown more peaceful ways, the wind spririts guided them to the wide plains where they now live. Seeing the ways of the powerful but gentle black-and-white bears hidden deep in the bamboo forests there, they came to find similar ways of life alongside them. Since, they have devoted themselves to being mindful of the many forms of guidance that the wind spirits offer to them through the land and beasts around them. Those who've dreamed and travelled the farthest occasionally bring word of other peoples and beasts about the world, and these, like their history, have become a bit varied and blurred over time, giving rise to a somewhat diverse group of legends about them.

Their mythological legend, however, is even richer than that based on their travels and history. The wind spirits, which Shen's people regard more spiritually than mythologically, are the bringers of not only guidance and information, but also of dreams, visions and imagination. Over the centuries they have gifted seers, wanderers, storytellers, children and, to some degree, everyone, with images and sounds telling of worlds as diverse as those imagined by humans, many of which have become tales and myths within the tribe. While much of these dreamscapes spans images we'd consider natural, supernatural or fantastic, there are some hints of more complex imagery in their fictions. Connected with these are the legends of the world-wanderer people, a basically human race who have the ability to wander through all the worlds and spaces of the Rheari, and likely even beyond, as easily as beasts wander the lands around them. Tales tell of occasional contact with individuals of this race over the centuries, and some speak of the wonders of the many worlds beyond the one on which Shen's people walk. Ideas like cities, machines, and even vehicles, as well as other aspects of "civilization", are not unknown to Shen's folk, although they are definitely relegated to the worlds of myth.

The context within which the myths and fiction of Shen's people reside varies. Generally, it's similar to our own relationship with myth, except that, given the limited direct experience Shen's people have of their world, much of what we accept as non-existant in our "universe" Shen's people consider still possible within the Rheari. Additionally, the philosophical nature of Shen's people incorporates many ideas regarding the existance of things unseen (spirits, other worlds, the Ni, etc.), which leads them to be able to think of mythological things as "real" in a kind of transcendent context. In general, this gives his people a rich and personal connection with their dreams and myths, but one that is kept well grounded by the earthy and passive pace and attitude of their culture.

A part of the spirituality and mythos of Shen's people that manifests itself in some very real ways is their divinatory magic, which is connected with their belief in the wind spirits. These spirits carry sensations and visions that range from arguably mundane to clearly supernatural to various people in the tribe. Virtually all of Shen's people experience this in some way, though the depth and frequency varies from individual to individual. At the least intense, this magic manifests as a sense of their surroundings when outdoors, particularly an awareness of immediate danger, impending weather changes, and unusual presences or situations. (Many of these cases are explained or augmented by an unmagical instinctual knowledge of the natural environment, such as animal responses and general sensations associated with various conditions.) During a deep parhen, however, the intensity can be a bit higher, and images of more distant conditions, or feelings giving vague ideas of things to come, can be not at all uncommon.

For some of Shen's race, such as the medicine men and women, the visions and images brought by the wind spirits can be more intense, allowing capabilities such as the divination of the location of food or water, or the perception of loved ones far away. For a rare few in every handful of generations, the wind spirits' gifts can reveal far more, such as the perception of places and beings far beyond the plains, or even outside the Rheari. How often these more involved gifts come, or whether or not they can be purposefully encouraged via rituals and/or herbalism, varies greatly with each individual. For a few seers of legend, clear images of future events or depictions of places far away were among many spiritual effects that could be summoned almost regularly via ritual. For most of Shen's people, however, such higher gifts are perhaps a few per lifetime, and/or the results of deep meditations or vision quests in times of need. In the end, the wind spirits truly guide what gifts are given, and how one grows or changes in their awareness and reception of them.

The physical attributes and lifestyle of Shen's people are somewhat connected, and are fairly different from those of typical humans in many ways. Although very likened in disposition to their fellow inhabitants of the bamboo forests, the pandas, they are arguably more catlike than bearlike, with their stripes and markings, lionlike tails, pronounced canines, and impressive physicality. Gentle growls or purrs are not terribly uncommon as emotional expressions, and when needing to be quick, athletic or stealthy, movements are also somewhat feline. Senses are also generally a bit sharper than human, with particularly sensitive night vision and perception of smell. While almost never exhibited, Shen's race also has the capacity to roar, much like lions can, with an earth-shaking sonority and volume; such an expression is released only in times of unspeakable physical pain, or in very deeply desperate emotional conditions, when the last of self-regulation is breaking down.

Along with the tough physical frames given to them by whatever harsh conditions might have guided their development, their sparsely populated world and long and relatively peaceful history have contributed to their very moderate pace of living and transcendently passive outlook. Within Amber standards, I imagine most of Shen's folk would probably have stength and endunace scores well above human levels (in the 10-30 range?), and psyche and magic attributes slightly above human levels (perhaps in the 2-10 range?). They are capable of exceedingly quick reflexes and high dexterity, although their pensive pace of life doesn't necessarily cultivate it in most individuals. Their resiliancy also tends to lead to long lifespans, upwards of 100 years at times, but with a generally slower pace of life than humans (longer periods of much lower fertility, strength holding up well into older age, etc.). While they are capable of highly conceptual levels of thought, as well as intricacy in their art and construction, their intelligence is somewhat disinclined from highly complex mechanical things with which modern humans would be more familiar.