Stevie Lambert: (via JWB)

2026-05-08T09:14:27Z

(via JWB)

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{{Infobox:TwilightAgeGroup
|Type = Zu'aan city
|City Name = Andiayu City Zu'aan
|Parent Groups = N/A
|Descended Groups = Unknown
|Areas Controlled = [[Bnaik-nar Wasteland Spikes]]
|Date Founded = 4E 279
|Date Disbanded = N/A
}}

==History==

These zu'aan were categorized as insane by other clans as they would go out of their way to find kin’toni so they could take them back to their city and sacrifice them in a volcano. To them, it was as simple as wanting to cleanse the world of the infection, one kin’toni at a time.
It was a long road for the Andiayu zu'aan to get to throwing kin’toni into a volcano. They didn’t start out wanting to sacrifice kin’toni, but the idea came to them when there was a fight at the top of the mountain one night, a fight that resulted in a kin’toni being tossed into the volcano, stopping it from erupting. From then on it was believed that the sacrifice of kin’toni would result in some god being more favourable to them.

From that point, the Andiayu zu'aan decided that they were going to seek out “worthy’ kin’toni to be sacrificed. To them, worthy meant it was kin’toni that weren’t parents, that weren’t going to be missed if they were to be kidnapped and taken as a sacrifice. It was something they considered “ethical” and “humane” to do, although they knew there were other zu'aan that didn’t agree with their methods. Despite their desire to cleanse the world of the kin’toni plague, the Andiayu Zu'aan were not ones to back down from living their lives. They liked to live their lives as indulgently as possible, which meant they would party, drink, dance, and otherwise have a good time as much as possible, but it had a twist.

When it came to their parties and other festivities, they would use the ash from the volcano. Be it for painting their skin or bathing in completely, the Andiayu zu'aan would go to any length to incorporate the ash into their parties. There were other cities that would reach out to make connections with the Andiayu zu'aan, and all would go well, until they found out that the city liked to sacrifice kin’toni in their volcano. It wasn’t something that many of the other cities liked, which meant they lost out when it came to partnerships and trade offerings. Eventually, word got out that they were kin’toni sacrificers, and it led to a long road of other cities gossiping about them and slandering their name since it was easier to do than to accept who they were as a city.

The slander didn’t bother them, but it led to the Andiayu zu'aan not allowing any other zu'aan to come to them when they needed help. Since they were looked down on by other cities, they would only mingle and trade with those that supported their beliefs and trusted them.
Eventually, with so many other cities that didn’t trust or accept them, the Andiayu zu'aan decided that they were going to forge their own path and live their own lives away from the influence of the other zu'aan, instead moving their attention back to kidnapping and sacrificing kin’toni they would find in various places around their city.

==Psychology==

The Andiayu zu'aan believed heavily that they were single-handedly ridding the world of the kin’toni plague. Since they would hunt them out and sacrifice them to appease their god, they believed that they were doing something right and that they should receive praise for it. The problem with this was that none of the other cities praised them, instead, they thought that the Andiayu zu'aan were weird and that they shouldn’t be meddling in the lives of the kin’toni, regardless of their beliefs. Before they started to sacrifice the kin’toni, the Andiayu zu'aan were lost for things they were able to do. It was felt throughout the city that there was something missing.

While they would go through their usual routines, they would feel as though there was something they should be doing, and so they sought to change that. When the first kin’toni fell into the volcano and the eruption stopped, it didn’t change anything in the city. Initially, the Andiayu zu'aan were confused by the volcano calming down when the kin’toni fell into it, and they decided that they would rather ignore the instance, rather than to recreate it. They were terrified of the occurrence and many of them vowed that they never wanted to see it again.
This changed when the Andiayu zu'aan saw the opportunity to fill the void they were feeling. They had the opportunity to fill their lives with something meaningful, but it was going to be a chore to change the minds of the other zu'aan in the city.

Over time, the elder zu'aan of the city were able to convince the majority of the zu'aan that there were great benefits to sacrificing kin’toni, such as how it was able to stop the volcano from erupting so therefore it meant there was a god that was smiling down on them and telling them that they were doing something right. Once the zu'aan were convinced, it wasn’t hard to keep them under the belief that they were doing something right. They were happy that they had something they could do, and something that was helping the world, as much as they didn’t want to believe it in the first place. The longer they sacrificed the kin’toni, the happier they got with their routine.

They would send out ready and willing zu'aan that wanted to appease their god and they would bring back at least one kin’toni, keeping it chained or in a cage so they could make sure it was healthy before it was sacrificed. They didn’t believe that they should sacrifice a kin’toni that was too sick, even though they were going to die anyways. Instead, they would nurse it back to health or sacrifice it in another area, instead choosing to keep the volcano “clean” for the sacrifices there. Sometimes, new mothers would bring their children to the volcano to bathe in the ash, especially when it was fresh from a sacrifice. In doing this, they believed that their children would receive a blessing from their god since they were doing what they could to “please” the god for a favourable outcome.

It didn’t always work, but it was a huge belief system in the city that children bathed in the ash of the volcano would receive some sort of blessing from the gods that would allow their children to continue the legacy of the sacrifices.

==Culture==

Within the Andiayu city, there was a strict culture that believed in ridding the world of the kin’toni plague. They had made it everything they were and everything they would become, believing that the more they did, the more they would be rewarded. As with the mothers that would bathe their newborn children, there were other zu'aan that would wait for the ash from the volcano to cool before they would go and bathe in it as well, soaking up anything they could get from the ash. As well, they believed that they would be favoured in the eyes of the god, and so it became a ritual for many of them. When it came to the ash from the volcano, it was not just used for bathing in.

There were many uses for it within the city, and the zu'aan were always finding and making new uses for it so they could incorporate it into every aspect of their lives. They would use the ash for everything from their baths to warpaint on the assassins that would go out to hunt the kin’toni. There was a part of them that loved knowing they had the cremated remains of other kin’toni on their skin while they were raiding other settlements for more kin’toni to sacrifice. it was a boost to their confidence, and so they added dyes to the ash and turned it into paintings as well. There was nothing they wouldn’t use it for when they had the opportunity to, since it showed everyone just how devoted they were to their cause.

Other than the ash, there wasn’t much they would do that was out of the ordinary for other zu'aan cities. They liked to make sure they were a part of their community, always interacting with each other when they had the chance to. They would interact with each other when there were births and deaths, as well as parties and weddings. No matter the occasion, they always made time for each other as none of them wanted to be alone in their own homes. It was a rare sight to see an Andiayu zu'aan alone, as they were a very social city. If there was one alone, it was likely because they were working on a task that only took one of them, they were grieving, or they were sick and needed the time alone.

Other than these occasions, it was incredibly rare to see a zu'aan from Andiayu city alone.
Since there was such devotion to sacrificing kin’toni, the zu'aan from Andiayu city had to be forced to marry and birth more children so they wouldn’t lose too many members of their city.
When it came to marriages, oftentimes they would have to be arranged between eligible members of the city, as it would mean stronger and smarter born zu'aan. With this, there were many zu'aan that would object to it, especially the women, as they didn’t want to be burdened with raising a child when they could be going out and capturing kin’toni. There were some men and women that needed to be paid to be influenced to have children, since there was nothing else they could be offered to have children on their own.

They would sign a contract stating that they would receive a sum of money upon the birth of their child or children, and then they would be able to go back to raiding once they were able to again.

==Government==

Governmentally, there were elders that “ruled” over the other zu'aan in the city. They didn’t have complete and total control of everything in the city, but most things would have to be brought to them so they could vote on what it was they wanted done. Other zu'aan were always allowed to oppose decisions, especially if they thought a decision was wrong.
One of the main things that the elders did was ensure there weren’t too many sacrifices happening. While they fully supported the sacrifices and appeasing the god that was seemingly watching over them, the elders from Andiayu city wanted to make sure they weren’t becoming a bloodthirsty city whose only purpose was to kidnap and sacrifice kin’toni.

It was hard for them to make sure, as the zu'aan wanted nothing more than to go out multiple times a day to hunt more kin’toni, but they did what they had to do. The first law they put into place was that any and all zu'aan that were leaving the city had to sign out and let the elders know where they were going and why. This allowed the elders to approve their leave or deny it depending on the reason for their leave. This didn’t stop many of the zu'aan from trying to lie about where they were going so they could kidnap more kin’toni, and even if they did manage to lie and get to leave, they would have to sign back in and wouldn’t be able to do so with a kin’toni if they weren’t allowed to leave to get one.

Of course, there were always exceptions to the rules and laws set in place by the elders, but they did their best to ensure everyone was treated fairly and that they gave reasonable notice before they changed anything. It wasn’t in their interest to change anything without letting the zu'aan from the clan know, and so they always made sure to announce changes with ample timing.
This first came into effect when the first kin’toni fell into the volcano. The elders convened and talked about their decision to allow sacrifices, but they wanted to make sure the zu'aan of the city felt heard. Because of this, they allowed any and all zu'aan to come to them to tell them their reasoning as to why they should or should not continue to sacrifice kin’toni.

If their reasons were valid, they were listened to and often thanked for their contribution to the decision that was made in the end. As well as regulating the zu'aan who wanted to kidnap more kin’toni, the elders from Andiayu city also chose to enact assassins that would go to capture the kin’toni. They were trained to trap and not harm the kin’toni, as they didn’t want the sacrifice to go wrong in any way. There were many zu'aan that didn’t like the assassins, until they realized that the only requirement to be one was that they would follow the rules of the elders when they went out on their missions. Just as well, there would always have to be some that would stay back so they could protect the city, should there be a need to do so.

==Military==

As in the section above, the elders of Andiayu city enacted a military of assassins that were tasking with seeking out and kidnapping “eligible” kin’toni for their sacrifices. There wasn’t a lot that went into eligibility aside from a kin’toni not being too sick, not having a large family, and not being “disfigured” in any way. While it seemed like it was going to be a difficult task, the assassins were able to find many kin’toni that they could bring back and sacrifice when the time was right, always ensuring they never harmed the kin’toni as they were bringing it back with them. If ever there were kin’toni brought back that were deemed unfit by the elders, it was the job of the military to take that kin’toni and dispose of them in another area of the city.

They would never allow them to return to their settlements as to them it would mean the kin’toni would warn their settlements or plan and launch an attack on Andiayu city. That was something they never wanted to happen so they would always make sure to dispose of the kin’toni in a way that wasn’t a sacrifice. Of course, there was always a group of assassins that would have to stay back and guard the city to make sure there were no kin’toni that would attack them while the military was out on their missions. There were times when attacks happened, especially when the assassins were followed back by other kin’toni that wanted to free their own kind, but they were often captured as well and disposed of before a bigger issue could be caused.

In one instance, there was a large army of kin’toni that decided they were going to attack Andiayu city for the sacrifices of kin’toni, wanting to retaliate against them for taking their friends and family, but it was them that lost. Most of the kin’toni were captured, and none of them had been able to escape, so they were kept in cells and used for months of sacrifices, appeasing the Andiayu zu'aan more than they could ever know. When the assassins went out on their missions, they would wear garments that would camouflage them into the environment they were going to, allowing them to remain unseen unless they wanted to be. This mean that they were able to sneak up on their target, stifling any cries or raising any alarms.

It hadn’t always been this way, as there were many zu'aan that had been less cautious about their dress and their movements, which led to many hunts ending with no captures. Once the issues were dealt with, the assassins resumed their hunts, resulting in much better outcomes. As it was said, any zu'aan from the city was allowed to join so long as they were ready and able to follow the rules of the military. They would have to train, stay with the group, and listen to the leaders of the group when they went out to hunt. If there were any zu'aan that refused to listen to these rules, then they would be stripped of their status and forced to live in the city without being allowed to patriciate in the hunts for more kin’toni.

This angered many of them, but once they saw the damage they had been causing with their lack of caution, they accepted their fate and found something else to do within the city.

==Religion==

By now it has been established that the zu'aan of Andiayu city believed that there was a god watching over them that accepted kin’toni being sacrificed in a volcano in return for favour.
This came about when there was a fight between a kin’toni and a zu'aan from the city at the top of a volcano that was getting ready to erupt. The fight ended with the kin’toni falling to its death in the volcano and stopping the eruption, all at the same time. Now, their religion didn’t start as soon as this happened, but it was safe to say that they made it their religion once they understood what it meant. From there, they made it everything they were, deciding that they needed to continue to appease this god so they could continue to have favourable crop and live long, healthy lives.

There was nothing finite that was able to prove their beliefs, but that didn’t stop any of them from believing it. When the Andiayu zu'aan started to believe in their god, they decided they would tell other zu'aan cities near them about it, wanting to share in the bounty they were receiving. They thought there would be more zu'aan that would believe them, and so they spread the word to as many other cities as they could, hoping that it would cause more zu'aan to join them in their sacrifices. Sadly, this was not the case, and many of the other cities laughed at the Andiayu zu'aan, telling them that they were crazy for believing what they did. They didn’t want to associate themselves with a city of “make-believers” and so they cut all ties with the Andiayu zu'aan.

Normally, this could cause a city of zu'aan to revolt and attack other cities, but the Andiayu zu'aan weren’t like that. They decided that if no other zu'aan wanted to join them, then they were going to keep their god to themselves and enjoy the riches and favour they received from their sacrifices. When they would perform the sacrifices that gained their gods favour, they would choose a kin’toni that looked as though they were “fit” enough to appease the god. They would take them to the top of the volcano, usually with a large group of zu'aan in tow, and they would be pushed off the edge and into the volcano by the elders. There wasn’t any prayer they would do, but they would wait by the edge of the volcano until the kin’toni was completely burned by the volcano.

Then, they would dance in the ash that rose, thanking their god for allowing them to continue living the way they were. New parents would bring their children to the ash to bathe them and praise their god, asking for a blessing for their child, and other zu'aan would join in, using the ash to “cleanse” themselves.

==Miscellany==

{{NearbyGroups
| Centre = Unknown
| 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]]

Andiayu City Zu'aan - Revision history

Stevie Lambert: (via JWB)