A'Mar

"Welcome to Lamus. I am Jord of the A'Mar. We are pleased to have you here, to share our world with us."

- Jord

The A'Mar were the Human settlers of the Outer Rim moon Lamus. The initial settlers on the moon encountered an astronomical oddity on their third night on the planet; while camping near the Wellspring&mdash;the source of all surface water on the moon&mdash;the settlers observed an eclipse that lasted the whole day. Having initially refrained from drinking from the Wellspring, towards the end of the eclipse, they gave in. These events&mdash;the eclipse and the fast before drinking the waters&mdash;became a powerful ritual for the A'Mar which they repeated every 30 years at the next eclipse. It came to be known as "The Vigil" and took on spiritual significance.

Over ten generations, the A'Mar lived on the moon, building small agrarian settlements in harmony with the forests. They received some offworlds, who on occasion chose to permanetly join the A'Mar on the moon. However, at one observance of the Vigil, only one A'Mar, a six year old girl, was eligible to fulfil the ritual. Jord, the A'Mar leader of the time, asked a group of offworlders to protect the girl in exchange for parts needed to repair their starhip.

Biology and appearance
The A'Mar were the Human settlers of the moon Lamus. This name was well established by the tenth generation of settlers on the moon and meant "People of the Emerald Sky" in an ancient dialect. Individual members of the A'Mar had white, blond or black hair, and some members had green eyes.

Society and culture
"The Vigil begins in the morning. You are welcome in our homes tonight, or you may stay in your ship. We ask only that you do not drink from the Wellspring before the Vigil is complete."

- Jord

Located on the moon Lumas was a wellspring from which all water on the moon flowed from. The A'Mar developed a particular custom relating to the wellspring over the ten generations they were present on the moon. This ritual, known as "The Vigil," coincided with an eclipse of the sun caused by by of the planets in the star system, and it involved members of the A'Mar standing vigil over the wellspring during the night and drinking from its waters. The vigil could only be carried out by A'Mar that had never before drunk from the Wellspring.

The Vigil originated with the first settlers on the moon, who camped near the Wellspring. During the night of the eclipse the settlers were extremely afraid. With the advent of morning, they realized the nature of the eclipse; however, they maintained the tradition throughout their time on the moon. It became important for how they viewed civilization, and the initial affection for the site turned into a spiritual connection with the Wellspring.

A second ritual tied with the Vigil is the "Beastlord's Hunt." This is a coming-of-age for the young men and women among the A'Mar in which they hunt the quasimythical Beastlord, said to be the "the mightiest of gundarks." The hunters in volved were not allowed to ask for any help from other A'Mar for the duration of the hunt which lasted for the whole eclipse.

Having settled on Lumas, the A'Mar were content to remain on the planet; consequently, they dismantled their original starships, storing the parts in caves. Over the ten generations, they did not significantly develop the moon; what development did occur was performed in harmony with the land itself. The A'Mar were an extremely happy people and were always welcoming to offworld visitors, offering bunches or orange and red flowers.

Initial settlement
The A'Mar were Human settlers who colonized Lumas, a moon of an Outer Rim Territories planet. After only two days on the moon, the settlers discovered the Wellspring. It was the sole place on the moon where water came to the surface; the water that emerged was warm and frothy, having passed through the moon's core. The settlers camped overnight by the Wellspring, but did not drink from it, suspicious as to whether it was safe. However, the following morning, the sun did not rise. Instead, all that was visible was a halo of fire that marked the edge of an intervening planet whose orbit exactly matched that of the sun's path. The settlers became progressively nervous during the day and finally drank from the Wellspring. They found the water surprisingly refreshing and when the sun rose the following morning, they realized what had occured with the eclipse.

The eclipse reoccured every 30 years and it slowly became a tradition among the A'Mar to reenact the day and night without water before drinking from the spring during the eclipse. In addition to this, a seer among the A'Mar foretold that the Vigil must be kept only by those that have not previously drunk from the Wellspring and that if the ritual was not kept, the A'Mar connection to its waters would be severed. The A'Mar also developed another ritual relating the Vigil, in which young members of the tribe went on a coming-of-age hunt.

Satisfied with their choice of planet, the A'Mar carefully dismantled the starships that brought them there, storing the components in caves. They established a number of settlements on Lamus, the largest being Vidge-Ribu, a low-tech, yet thriving agrarian settlement numbering 1,500 inhabitants. On occasion, they received offworld visitors, offering what hospitality they could. Some of these visitors even chose to remain on the world and avoid the politics and worries of the galaxy.

Vigil observance
"Nobody's s'pose to drink out of this today. Not until the real sun's up. He can't."

- Olianna

For ten generations, the A'Mar observed the Vigil without incidence. However, a problem arose during the year when the Vigil was due to occur for the eleventh generation. One group of youth got killed while out hunting in the woods, and another group got lost and drunk from the Wellspring to keep themselves alive. This left only one child in that generation, Olianna, who had not drunk from the Wellspring and so was eligible to carry out the Vigil. Close to the time of the Vigil, a group of offworlders arrived on Lamus, with a broken ship. The leader of the A'Mar, Jord, welcomed them, and offered them parts to repair their ship. In addition, however, she also asked if they would accompany the six year old Olianna during the Vigil.

That same Vigil, a group of eight A'Mar youths undertook the "Beastlord's Hunt." While the hunters had never before encountered the Beastlord, on this occasion, the group was attacked by a Brachian Beastlord, a ferocious sub-species of gundark. It struck from the shadows, almost killing one of the hunters by the name of Jeg, before being wounded itself. The hunters were forbidden from asking any help from other A'Mar during the Vigil, but knowing that offworlders were guarding the Wellspring, they hoped to persuade them to allow Jeg to drink from the water and be healed.

Having been led to the Wellspring by Jord, the offworlders were then left there with Olianna. Around mid-afternoon, their sentries detected the approach of the hunting group. They were then faced with an ethical dilemma; to break the age old tradition of the Vigil and allow the boy to drink, or to refuse him the water and try and heal him through other means. The hunters promised not to tell Jorg and the other A'Mar of any violation, but Olianna argued against breaking the tradition.

The situation was further complicated when the wounded Beastlord approached the Wellspring, wanting to drink its waters to aid in its own healing. Emerging from the forrest it tried to cross the 30 meters to the bubbling waters, fighting any who tried to stop it. The offworlders successfully managed to prevent the beast drinking from the waters, as well as keeping Jeg alive without his drinking the water. As a reward, the party was themselves allowed to drink from the waters, in addition to receiving the starship parts they needed to repair their ship.

Behind the scenes
"This could spark some interesting roleplaying. Will the heroes forbid Jeg from drinking, effectively condemning him to a painful death? If so, will they do it to uphold the beliefs of the moon's inhabitants or simply to make sure they get the parts needed to fix their ship?"

- Morrie Mullins

The A'Mar were created by Morrie Mullins for the roleplaying adventure The Wellspring. It was released on the Wizards of the Coast website on December 18, 2003 as a stand-alone adventure, complatible with any era of play. Consequently, it did not specify when in the timeline the adventure occurred, nor did it give a placement for Lamus. This was so the gamemaster could place the moon in any system that suited his larger campaign. In 2009, The Essential Atlas gave Lamus an entry in its Appendix, placing it in the Outer Rim Territories.

In the adventure, Mullins indicates that "ultimately, the heroes were supposed to stand the Vigil and prevent any person or creature from drinking from the Wellspring until the sun rose." However, there are a number of ways in which the players may fail in this goal. They may refuse to undertake the Vigil, allow Jeg to drink, or allow the beast to drink. If any of these occurs, Jord detects the failure through a tremor in the Force, and doubts that the beneficial effect of the Wellspring will continue. If the heroes tried their best but still failed, she will give them the parts they need and thank them. If, however, they acted badly, she will respond angrily, although still giving them the parts.

If the players are successful in their task, they roll a 1d20 die to determine the effects of drinking from the Wellspring. This can include a vision of the future, or either permanent or temporary adjustments to their statistics.