The Shin'a'in (translation: People of the Plains) are a fictional 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 shamanic rituals. They resemble the Bedouins in lifestyle; they are nomadic, living in tents, 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. Horses The Shin'a'in are famous for their relationship to their horses, 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,