View source for Elm'ess Kin'toni Clan

{{Infobox:TwilightAgeGroup 
|Type = Kin'toni clan
|Name = Elm'ess Kin'toni Clan
|Parent Groups = Unknown
|Descended Groups = Unknown
|Areas Controlled = [[Zarel Snowy Forest]]
|Rivals =  Unknown
|Date Founded = 4E 387 
|Date Disbanded = Unknown
}}


==History==

The Elm’ess clan was one of the very few clans who didn’t join Medgar’s Eawa kin’toni clan from the very first. Most of the kin’toni joined Magdar kin’toni’s clan but the Elm’ess clan was one of the few who wanted to make their own clan and live individually. 

Magdar laughed at them and told them that they wouldn’t be able to survive without his help. But there was nothing that could deter the determined kin’toni and they went their separate ways. Later, this did prove beneficial as they were saved from the tyrannizing rule of Magdar himself. The Elm’ess clan decided to head to the north, among the ice and cold. They went to the [[Zarel Snowy Forest]], a place which has gushing water falls, mountains coated with snow and white fluffy clouds which roam the skies. 


With its sky-reflecting lakes, snowy forests and ice-coated rivers, it has easily managed to capture the hearts of these kin’toni. There were ruins present from the zu’aan that had lived there before but had to evacuate. Remains of their houses and shops were few but present. The remains of a glorious empire which stubbornly refused to be forgotten. The kin’toni had no sense of identity and why they were so different from the zu’aan who fled whenever they saw a kin’toni coming near. 

The kin’toni were only aware that they had an aversion to sunlight and that they had to drink blood. By some wild instinct they hunted and plunged their fangs in their victim’s throat and drank its blood gleefully. The ones who decided to explain the phenomenon were crowned as the king and queen. They explained that the species of kin’toni were made to rule the world. That whatever was present here was theirs, be it animal, plant or zu’aan. That since no other species drank blood and they did, it made them superior. 


They also tested a few kin’toni by making them go into the sunlight and when they saw its effect, they declared it unholy and toxic. They told their kin’toni to build there homes and to worship none but their king and queen and to obey them as they had helped them all find the way of life. Thus, the kin’toni decided to build their homes here. They cleared the rubble of the zu’aan buildings and reconstructed their own places using copper pickaxes and chisels, granite hammers and other hard stone tools. 

They constructed their homes out of stone so that it could withstand the harsh winds coming from far above the mountains. Together, they discovered their strengths and weaknesses. These kin’toni built their rulers a perfectly constructed palace. It was decorated with gold and emeralds which they obtained from this valley. The thrones of the king and queen were built high up on the dais, adorned with gems of all kinds. The rulers also wore jewelry of all kinds and had their crowns fashioned with rubies.  


The valley was rich with these gems and its silk was considered the best. Presently, these kin’toni grew richer as they traded with others. Their furs and coats are also widely sold and appreciated. Thus, the whole clan was able to grow both in numbers, by turning the zu’aan, and in popularity.

==Biology==

The Elm'ess Kin'toni Clan are adapted to the Zarel Snowy Forest. They are tall and lanky with long limbs. The limbs are adapted for walking over snow and between dense trees. Their skin is snow-white and is covered by thick white fur. This soft, thick fur has air pockets inside each hollow hair. It has a thick undercoat and a layer of guard hairs. This fur is shed in the summer and regrown in the winter. The fur makes them prone to overheating in warmer environments until they can shed it. The feet are large and flat with thick furry undersides. 

These feet act as biological snowshoes. Their hands and feed have long claws adapted to digging into ice and trees. The hands and feet are adapted to a strong grip in order to climb trees and slippery rocks. The undersides of their hands have rough gripping pads. Their eyes are a bright blue due to an unusual protective protein in the eyes that acts as natural sunglasses. Their eyes have a transparent extra eyelid. The clan is able to see well in brighter light and in snow-glared places, but lacks the night vision of other kin'toni clans. 


The clan's ears are small, pointed and tufted. Their hearing is sensitive able to hear prey in the snow but it can be overloaded. Their noises are wide and flat. The nose contains extra cells that aid their sense of smell. The sense of small is great, able to track prey over long distances. The trade off is that their sense of smell can be overwhelmed. Their teeth are pointed and adapted to tearing meat and fat alongside drinking blood. They have long canines and they process two pairs of teeth for shearing meat.

The blood of these kin'toni contains an natural antifreeze as to avoid them freezing to death in sub-zero temperatures. The digestive system is adapted to eat meat and fat alongside bone and other animal products as to get the calories they need in the cold weather. This clan have the interesting adaptation of being warm blooded, in order to survive the cold weather. It comes with the trade off of higher caloric needs. They have a larger heart alongside blood pumps to aid with circling warm blood to avoid frostbite. 


The blood, like that of many high altitude clans contains more hemoglobin to retain oxygen better. This leads to a bright red color fin the blood. The bones are less dense to aid climbing, but are more brittle. The bones are hollow in the middle with the marrow produced in a later around this hollow middle. Their vocal cords are adapted to making low, resonant howls that travel far in the forest. They downside to this is they are unable to speak the common kin'toni languages and often rely on sign language. 

The clan is able to go into deep hibernation in times of food scarcity. Their heart rates and breathing rates drop down to bare minimum levels. This allows them to survive long times without blood but makes them vulnerable to attack.


==Culture==

The Elm’ess clan’s kin’toni loves their valley and its range of colors which expresses itself differently in every season. They love to wear colorful clothing which adds color to the already vibrant meadow. They grow their own herbs and spices too, which when displayed in the market stalls, enhances the vibrancy of the valley. The Elm’ess kin’toni clan celebrates “Orla ka juw’a” or “The day of the chosen”. This festival is the most anticipated festival for the Elm’ess as it comes every 2 years. 

It celebrates their originality and their pride at being kin’toni. They wear beautiful and ornate clothing, displaying a plethora of colors. According to tradition, they attack and brutally murder zu’aan; drinking their blood while the victim shrieks, their family and friends watching from the distance. Unable to help or fend for themselves. The kin’toni entertain themselves with this scene of utter butchery and when it ends, their best dancers perform for them while they all clap and drink ruby-red blood from shimmering goblets.


The Yaina Dopra’s palace is used for this occasion. However, it must also be noted that the turned kin’toni aren’t even invited. The ones who do attend are present for the business of serving goblets or attending to others. This clan treats turned kin’toni as slaves and to serve the military. Apart from festivals, the Elm’ess kin’toni clan loves all things art. Their focus is on ‘expressing oneself’. The beauty of their valley urged some to try to keep it frozen in time, by painting it. 

They made paint using their own natural ingredients; multi-colored flowers, tree-barks etc. They were also the first to try and stretch a piece of fabric over a wooden frame to paint on it. The paintings they created were of exquisite beauty. Each painting displayed the smallest of details; from the strokes of a blade of grass to the tallest mountains covered in snow. One particular painter painted a turned kin’toni who was drowning in black blood. 


This was the painter’s way to symbolize the injustice being done to turned kin’toni. The kin’toni from other clans grew interested and started to buy these paintings. For a valley dipped in jewels, this was an even greater benefit as this brought additional profits. The Yaina Dopra used these profits wisely. They invested in making weaponry, digging more mines, constructing better homes. As the clan’s kin’toni can’t feel the cold as they have adapted according to it, they don’t need to insulate their houses or to wear warm clothing. 

Though the fur of their cattle has been highly appreciated by other kin’toni, they started to make warm clothing for others.  The meat of this cattle is also delicious and the blood more flavorful. Kin’toni from far and wide come to this land to taste this meat and to experience their culture.Although, the other clans treat turned kin’toni as they do themselves, this clan doesn’t. They are simply stubborn on their belief that turned kin’toni are impure and unreliable.

==Government==

The Elm’ess clan is ruled by its monarchs. The ruling King of Elm’ess is called Laowa Utaha and the ruling Queen of Elm’ess is called Laowa Yaraha. The King is a broad muscular kin’toni who sits adorned in gems up on his throne of black stone. The Queen sits beside him, a picture of grace and beauty, head dipped in jewels and each finger decorated with it. Together these potentates are called Yaina Dopra. They are also considered as Gods here. They are the lone rulers of the land of Yaragha. 

The Yaina Dopra have a long number of advisors who are ever-present. These advisors are responsible for updating the Yaina Dopra on the conditions of the kin’toni and the valley and advising them on important matters. These advisors are only limited to advisory and the best they can do is hope their suggestion is accepted. In the first years of this clan, the Yaina Dopra took great interest in expanding their rule and completely dominating the valley. 


They turned all the scattered zu’aan who had escaped, into kin’toni of their clan. To make these new kin’toni fight and work for them. The Yaina Dopra then appointed other kin’toni to work on building tools so that they could start the work of constructing their palace and other important structures. The Yaina Dopra also started exploring ways this valley could be useful and set some turned kin’toni on the job of mining to see if they could obtain something from it. 

Soon, citrine was discovered. A beautiful gem which was a brilliant orange color, just like their own eyes. All Elm’ess kin’toni were greatly impressed by it and began digging in many other areas. They discovered rubies and emeralds too. These were all used to decorate the palace and both the royal’s clothing and their crowns. Some of these were exported to other lands of kin’toni who adorned their own thrones and Gods with it. The Yaina Dopra used their forces and these turned kin’toni for the valley’s benefits, but mostly for their own.


Though the Yaina Dopra still rule the valley as they have for centuries, the turned kin’toni have been always treated as inferior by them. They have taught their subjects to look down upon them as impure and to be only used. That they aren’t true kin’toni and never will be.
The monarchs have their own circle, in which all the richest kin’toni of the clan reside. These kin’toni are treated with special respect. It is from their workers the furs to be sold are made and they thus, gain a lot of profit from it. They are all originals.

The turned kin’toni are the poorest of them all. Though they are the largest in number, they are treated with little more than scraps of kindness. Their homes are poorly built, they get the least pieces of hunt and the smallest portions of blood. They are also worked through the night in mines where the mining conditions are horrible. Many are in the military but are only soldiers. All of these turned are never given chances to improve their lively hoods, they can’t turn to the Yaina Dopra as they aren’t even allowed near them. 


These kin’toni also always scheming to bring down the cities of the zu’aan, so that their Gods could rule the whole world.

==Military==

The Elm’ess clan is probably the only one with so much division among themselves. They have always looked down upon the turned kin’toni and stated they did so because they weren’t pure blooded kin’toni. The other clans don’t exactly play fair with the turned kin’toni but atleast the turned have some rights and a place in those societies.  The military of the Elm’ess is a living proof of their division. A stark difference can be easily seen among the ranks of the kin’toni. 

The military is divided into two sectors; the Yuh (or the first) and the Yjh (or the second). They both are the complete opposites of each other. The Yuh sector is of the commanding generals and officers. All of them originals. This makes up atleast 150 kin’toni. The Yjh sector is made up of only soldiers. All of which are turned kin’toni. These make up to be 300 of soldiers in total. The Yjh sector is responsible for doing everything from guard duties to becoming the front line in a battle. They have been trained tirelessly, day and night.
 

The soldiers of the Yjh sector are just trapped. They can’t move up among the ranks, no matter how much they try to work hard or please their betters. The Yuh sector enjoys all the benefits, they command and use the turned kin’toni as basically fodder. They enjoy festivals and parties and get to be close to the Yaina Dopra. They put the turned kin’toni on the first lines of battle, a battle which has little chance of success. They send these turned kin’toni on the worst of missions, with the least chances of them coming back. 

They are kept on day guard-duties even, with only a bit of portable shelter (made of tree barks and leaves) to provide shade from the harmful sun. It is the turned kin’toni which are kept on guarding the secret passages, the city sectors and even the palace. For all these contributions they receive nothing but a packet of cold, dead meat and a pouch of blood for each meal. The turned have been told to be grateful for even that.


The weapons used by this military are swords and spears. They mostly make these themselves by polishing stone to the point that it gleamed wickedly. They melt iron too and shape it into swords. These weapons aren’t much durable as the ones of the weapon making clan, Kelwoir’s are. The Generals of this clan are always working on their schemes to bring their enemies down. It was they who climbed up on the mountains and drew maps of their area accordingly. They designed ways to get across the rivers, outside the valley etc. 

They also mapped the routes to and from the secret passages and figured out ways to work accordingly. The maps of this valley have also been kept a secret from the commoners and are hidden deep inside the palace. Though the turned are forced to do these things, they are never able to do them with dedication and commitment. They keep remembering their lives as zu’aan and even though they have become one of the better species, they still wonder if being a poor, lost and lonely zu’aan was better than this endless existence of slavery and torture.


==Religion==

The Elm’ess Clan firmly believes in worshipping their rulers. The king and queen of this clan are worshipped as Gods here.
When these kin’toni first came to this land, they had no sense of identity or purpose. They were lost. They couldn’t understand why they were created, even if it was an accident. They also couldn’t grasp their natural attraction and hunger towards blood. They couldn’t understand why they couldn’t withstand sunlight. Even the mesmerizing beauty of their valley couldn’t help.
 
Two kin’toni were able to come forward with the preposition that the species of the kin’toni were like this because they were meant to rule over all. That they were different because of this very reason. They drunk blood when no other species did because they were superior than them. That they were meant to rule over everything be it plants, animals or zu’aan. The kin’toni liked these prepositions and decided to crown the two who had come up with it. They also began to worship these two. 


The palace of these two was built with great enthusiasm by all others. It was built high up on a hill with a view overlooking the valley. It was built and decorated with precious gems. The dais of them was also at the top with emeralds decorating it and luxurious silk draped over it. The Elm’ess kin’toni clan has been worshipping these two for centuries, ever since the outbreak of the kin’toni plaque. They are known as ‘Yaina dopra’ or the ‘two worthies’. The rulers of this clan are treated with the utmost respect and are offered the best of the whole clan first.
 
To increase the population of the tribe, the Yaina dopra allowed the clan to turn the zu’aan who lived nearby. They trained these new kin’toni to worship them and made them a part of their clan. The Yaina dopra do consider these turned kin’toni as impure and the turned kintoni aren’t allowed to be near them. Because of this the turned kin'toni are looked down upon by everyone. The Yaina dopra have been known to famously say; ''‘we are your betters. It was we that provided you with help when you were lost.'' 


''It was we that gave you a way, who taught you to fear the sunlight, to nourish yourselves with blood. Who are you to worship if not us?’'' And in another; ''‘Go! Live your lives! Be peaceful and bless yourselves with blood. Rid the whole Taerel of this disease known as the zu’aan! For yours is the world to conquer and rule. The cold is unable to make us bow to it; we do not hide behind furs. If that isn’t superior then what is!?’''  

The Elm’ess kin’toni clan takes pride in their homeland and most of all their rulers/Gods who they worship with great dedication.

==Miscellany==

The Elm’ess kin’toni clan lives in Yaragha, a valley which is located high above the sea level and is close to the mountains. A river runs across the valley too which attracts animals and thus provides hunt for the kin’toni. The valley is surrounded by mountains and hills, which makes invasion on these lands nearly impossible. Their geography enables them to be protected from all sides but that also gives them the disadvantage to be trapped in it too, should an army surround it. 

The Elm’ess kin’toni are also curious. They wanted to climb the mountains to see what wonders were present there. They used pickaxes and specially built shoes to climb up. Since they had no weight of being held down by furs, the kin’toni climbed easily without the worry of being frozen to death. The only problem was vision. The blizzards at the near top would create problems of vision for even a kin’toni. One wrong step and they could tumble down the mountain and die and as a result waste their immortality. 


Thus, the kin’toni had to find caves to stay until the blizzard died down and then they continued climbing. They had no need to build fires either, since they wouldn’t die from the cold. The kin’toni were able to scan the perimeter from high above the mountains and discovered their own secret passages that could be used to get out of the valley unseen. These passageways lead to the other side of the valley and directly connect to the roads that would lead to the rest of the kin’toni clans. 

It wouldn’t take much; a spy, a simple whisper even to get whole armies here. The kin’toni don’t trust each other, their bonding is only within their clan. They are always fighting for land and a valley as precious as this was worth protecting. Many whished to secure these lands for themselves, the Elm’ess had to take precautions against that.They discovered many other plants, like vines, that gave the illusion that there was nothing behind them while their whole valley would be there. 


To prevent others from discovering their way here, they situated some guards from their own military. These stayed quiet as mice while keeping watch, behind these vines. They also built traps, to trap anyone if they managed to get past the guards. Many from their own clan are not informed about these passages and the Yaina Dopra like to keep it that way. The Yaina Dopra took special interest in these activities. They wanted to do all they could to protect their lands -and their thrones. 

They organized groups and sometimes lead the expeditions themselves. Their kin’toni however, objected to that. They said that their Gods shouldn’t work and should be subjected to only the life of comfort and joy. It would not do to let them work alongside common kin’toni. Thus, their Gods now rarely come out of their palace and rule their valley from high above their throne. Their orders are set in stone and the one who does object, would have to pay for it.

{{NearbyGroups
 | Centre    = {{PAGENAME}} 
 | North     = Unknown
 | Northeast = Unknown
 | East      = Unknown
 | Southeast = Unknown
 | South     = Unknown
 | Southwest = Unknown
 | West      = Unknown
 | Northwest = Unknown
}}

{{CrossSiteAttribution
| User = [https://www.freelancer.co.uk/u/SamihaQadri Syeda Samiha Qadri], Stevie Lambert (biology)
| Holder = Syeda Samiha Qadri, Stevie Lambert 
}}

[[Category:4th-century Twilight Age kin'toni clans]] 
[[Category:Syeda Samiha Qadri's contributions]]