View source for Issam City Zu'aan

{{Infobox:TwilightAgeGroup  
|Type = Zu'aan city 
|Name  = Issam City Zu'aan
|Parent Groups = N/A
|Descended Groups = N/A 
|Areas Controlled = [[Ril'ton Mesa Canyon]]
|Date Founded = 4E 228
|Date Disbanded = N/A
}}


==History==

The zu'aan from Issam city were strong. They were fit and lean because they would have to climb up and down the sides of the canyon to and from their homes.While the city was contained at the top of the canyon, their homes were smattered along the sides of it, accessed by stairs and tunnels within the canyon. Because they would have to climb the stairs and tunnels multiple times a day to get to and from work or to other places they wanted to go.  At first, they never liked that they had to climb the stairs, but as time passed, they got used to it. 

They had started to become bitter about the heat that radiated down the side of the canyon from the sun, since they didn’t have any shade to cover themselves with, but otherwise, they were a content city. When they built their city, they decided they would get into mining to make their money. They would dig into the sides of the canyon to find the ore they could sell to obtain other materials they needed. There were many types of valuable types of ore in the canyon that was easy to get to, and as it was mined out, the tunnels that were left were used to transport zu'aan from the city to their homes. 


It became a well-known travel route for many of them when they wouldn’t want to walk through the hot sun on the summer days.  As well, the passages provided the zu'aan safekeeping from the kin’toni when they would attack. Since the tunnels were vast and only known by the zu'aan from the city, when any kin’toni would attack, they would run to the tunnels and disappear down the tunnel that was closest. That was their insurance policy to make sure they would be able to get away from the kin’toni that wanted their blood. They were able to hide for long periods of time in the tunnels, often housing other zu'aan that were running from kin’toni as well. 

Their tunnels were both their livelihood and their safe haven, keeping them contained like ants. As time went on, there was less ore that was found in the canyon, but Issam city was rich. Each of the members of the city barely had to work, and they were able to find a way to build a lift that would take them up the side of the mountain. They liked that they didn’t have to walk as much, but they still remained as bitter as ever. They had anything they could ever want, but still there was nothing that could make them happy.  In an attempt to make themselves feel better, some of the zu'aan decided to renovate their homes so their homes were more updated. 


This led to others renovating as well so that they weren't the only ones with outdated homes. This would happen every couple years, as that was one of the only things the zu'aan from Issam city knew how to make themselves feel better about themselves.


==Psychology==

From the beginning of their city, the Issam zu'aan were a very bitter clan. There weren't many things they were able to do that would make them truly happy. Even though they were able to get rich from mining the ore in the canyon and selling it, the money wasn’t able to keep them happy. They were always looking for ways to spend their money in hopes that they would find a way to make themselves happier, but it was always ineffective. While they weren't happy, they weren't bitter to each other. For the most part, they would ignore each other unless there was a need for them to communicate. 

They didn’t like when they would have to talk to each other, as there was no need for it unless they were working on something together, or needed to tell someone else something they needed. It was a mutual understanding amongst the zu'aan from Issam city, that they would remain quiet unless there was a reason for them not to be. That was how they liked it, and in doing so, they were able to eliminate the number of complaints they got from each other. As well, they were able to minimize the amount of fighting that would happen in their city. while there were still instances of it, there weren't enough that it was a large problem within the community.


When there were issues, they were handled in a way that was unique to the surroundings they lived in, and so they would use that to their advantage to get the reaction they were looking for when they would have issues with each other. A lot of the time, when one member of the city would change something about their life, the rest of the zu'aan would start to become envious and they would change the same thing. They all liked to make sure they were in unison with each other, and that way they would be able to keep with the flow of the rest of the zu'aan. 

This was especially prevalent when there were fashion or housing changes that would be made. This meant that there would be a few zu'aan that would see other cities with different clothing or house styles, and they would change that for themselves once they got back to Issam city. The changes would happen quickly, and as soon as they did, there would be multiple zu'aan that would run out and change their wardrobe or their home so that they wouldn’t be the left out of the changes. 


For the most part, they would do this so they could feel some sort of happiness about their lives, but it wouldn’t last, and soon enough they would be back to being just as bitter as they were before. It was an endless cycle that they would put themselves through, chasing as much happiness as they could muster, but never truly being able to get any, and so they would find something else they thought would be able to make them happy.

==Culture==

Since they were so busy with walking up and down the sides of the canyon and through the tunnels to get to where they needed to go, there wasn’t much time for them to spend doing other things. They would all dine together in their families when their workdays were done, and they would spend time with each other, as much as they could, but they were a quiet culture.  When they were at their jobs, there wasn’t a lot of communication that would go on that would go on. While there always communication about the work that was getting done, there wasn’t much other communication that would happen.

This meant that there would be questions answered, but as soon as the issue or question was resolved or answered, they would fall back into silence until they needed to speak again, or their workday would be over. It was uncommon to see many zu'aan that were talking and walking around that weren't younger. If the zu'aan was an adult, there was a good chance they wouldn’t be talking to anyone unless they had to be. Many stores, shops, and businesses would serve their customers in silence, using bills, cheques, or the smallest amount of talking to tell the customer their total to pay before they would leave. 


There weren't any parades, celebrations, or ceremonies that would happen among the zu'aan from Issam city, as they didn’t like to have the attention drawn to them.This meant birthdays were usually celebrated in the peace of ones own home, weddings would take place in a church, as they were considered a highly religious event, but the only talking done would be the prayers, and when funerals happened, they were often whispered amongst the family of the deceased. There was no need to host lavish celebrations that could draw attention to them or their way of life. That was how they liked to be. 

If it was found that a zu'aan was being unnecessarily loud or attempting to draw attention to the city, they were asked to stop as it wasn’t safe to continue to do so. This is usually the only thing they would have to do, as the zu'aan understood the ramifications of their volume being too loud.
While there weren't many kin’toni that would come to their city to attack them, they were still more than safe because they believed the one time that they were loud, they would be invaded and would lose lives to the kin’toni. It was something that would happen out of coincidence, but it wasn’t something they were willing to take a risk on. 


As some of the zu'aan got older, they would be expected to find a partner and settle down with them relativity quickly. They weren't a big city, which is why they were expected to find someone to start their own family with. In doing so, they would be able to give birth to the next generation, and so they would have more zu'aan for their army, or their government.

==Government==

Since they were a quiet and collected clan, there weren't many things they would punish each other for. The government was always interested in making sure that the zu'aan there were remaining quiet enough not to draw attention to themselves. If they did, they were given a warning. Since that would usually work, there weren’t many times when they would have to do anything else. However, there were times when further action would have to be taken. These things would include taking the offending zu'aan over to a government building where they would keep them. 

It was similar to a jail, but wouldn’t hold as many zu'aan, and the rooms were made for non-violent offenders.  When there were more violent offences that would happen, there were other actions that would be taken to punish the offender.  There were several punishments that could be chosen from, depending on what the offender did. If the offense was something that was violent against another zu'aan, the first offence would be punished with community service for the zu'aan they wronged, the second would be punished with jail time, and finally, if they were to continue the offences they were committing, they would be executed.


Execution was something that was always done differently for the zu'aan of Issam city. Since they lived on the side of a canyon, they would use that to their advantage. While other cities would turn to using weapons to execute their offenders, the zu'aan from Issam city would use their canyon for executions.  When there was an execution that would have to take place, they would all march to the tallest part of the canyon and would make the offending zu'aan walk along a skinny plank until they fell off the end and to their death. 

They would make sure the offender was blindfolded so they weren't able to see how many steps it would take them until they fell, although there were still some that would use their feet to feel for when they got to the end so they didn’t have to worry about falling. When this happened, the zu'aan at the other end, usually a member of the military would shake the board so that the zu'aan would slip off and fall. The zu'aan from Issam city believed that there were no second chances once they got to the point where they would be stuck on the plank and forced to walk to the end of it. 


If they could make the choice to commit crimes, then they were going to be punished. That meant that they wouldn’t get to talk or plead about coming off the plank as they were the only ones that put themselves there.  The government from Issam city always believed in being fair to the zu'aan from the city, always making sure they were punishing the right zu'aan so that justice was always properly served.

==Military==
As it was stated, the military were usually responsible for making sure that the offenders to be executed were executed properly. Since the military were the ones that had training to make sure they were in their best shape, they were also expected to be the ones that would uphold the laws. They were treated as though they were police as well as army, and that was something that wasn’t negotiable. As soon as they became a part of the military, they would be handed a long list of the duties they would have to perform. 
Many of the army were excited that they would have many things to do as it would give them something to do. 

They would be able to focus more on what they needed to do, instead of having to find ways for them to become happier. They would complete their tasks through the day and then go back to their homes where they would sleep shortly after eating. Because of how distracted they were with their work, they were considered some of the happiest zu'aan in the city, since they didn’t have the need to consistently search for happiness. Some of the things the members of the military needed to do were protect their city, especially during attacks from kin’toni, they would have to routinely check the tunnels to make sure they were safe.


They would have to attend each and every government meeting, they would have to keep the peace in the city, and they would have to go out to battle if the need arose, and finally, they were to always attend executions and funerals no matter what. With each of these things, the army was kept busy making sure they were completing their tasks. Since there was always something for them to do, they wouldn’t have time to play around or get into trouble themselves. 

Even though the city was smaller than usual, there were many zu'aan that would want to join the military that would get turned away because if they all joined, there would be no one left in the city to keep up the shops and make sure things were looked after. Because of this, there was a law that was put into place that made sure that new zu'aan would have their chance to become part of the military. Sometimes that was as simple as putting them into a program that would give them similar jobs to the army, but they wouldn’t be officially part of it. 


Or, there would be times when a ceremony would take place where older zu'aan would be removed from the military, and younger zu'aan would replace them so the youngest and strongest zu'aan would make up the military.  The older zu'aan would be put back into the city to work regular jobs so they didn’t have to worry about hurting themselves, especially if any battles happened. The government only wanted the fastest, biggest, and strongest zu'aan in the military.

==Religion==

The zu'aan from Issam city were incredibly religious at one point in their lives. They were so into their religion that they would pray through the day and would add it into everything they did. This was the case for many years and through many generations as it was believed that believing in a god would be able to make them happy. They did this for many long years, as it was the only way they knew how to make themselves happy. Their religion was something that they were able to dive into headfirst, spending all of their time on it as it was something that was interesting for them to do. 

However, when they started talking less, they stopped praying as much, and slowly their religion lost its appeal. There weren't many zu'aan that were okay with suddenly praying amongst themselves when they used to pray in large groups and shout their prayers to their god. It was widely missed among the zu'aan of Issam city, and because of that, they had become more depressed and would therefore have to look for more or other ways to gain back their happiness. It had easily become an endless cycle of repressing and missing their religion and searching for other ways for them to be happier. 


Since there were many zu'aan that didn’t want to totally lose their religion, they went to the leaders of the government and asked if they would be able to implement laws that would protect their religious beliefs. The officials agreed and the laws that protected their religion were implemented. Some of these laws were ones that made sure marriages had to follow religion, as well as funerals and births. Each of these celebrations/ceremonies would need to be attended by a priest as that way they could make sure religious practices were being followed. 

If there were any zu'aan that didn’t believe in religion as the others did, or if they didn’t follow it in the slightest, they would be excommunicated from the rest of the believers. They weren't allowed to be kicked out of the city as that went against their own religion, but they weren't allowed to talk to the zu'aan that did believe in the religion. This was because the religious zu'aan believed that the non-religious zu'aan would do anything they could to corrupt the religious zu'aan and that wasn’t something that they wanted. 



It wasn’t something that happened, because the non-religious zu'aan didn’t care to turn the others against their religion, but they let them believe what they wanted as that was easier than explaining to them that they had no intention of making them stray from their religion. The differences between the religious and non-religious had always been the biggest source of conflict within the city as it was usually caused by the religious zu'aan that would make a fuss when there was even one non-religious zu'aan anywhere near them. 

That was the problem the city had the most with noise, and many of their religious members would end up offending enough that they would end up being executed.

==Miscellany==

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

{{CrossSiteAttribution
| User = [https://www.fiverr.com/debraspencley Debra Spencley]
| Holder = Debra Spencley
}}

[[Category:3rd-century Twilight Age zu'aan cities]]
[[category:Debra Spencley's contributions]]