Stevie Lambert: (via JWB)

2026-05-10T12:41:16Z

(via JWB)

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{{Infobox:TwilightAgeGroup
|Type = Kin'toni clan
|Name = Ja Anarath Kin'toni Clan
|Other Names = Unknown
|Parent Groups = Unknown
|Descended Groups = Unknown
|Demonym = Unknown
|Languages = Unknown
|Religions = Unknown
|Government Type = Unknown
|Population = Unknown
|Areas Controlled = [[Itond Deadlands]]
|Allies = Unknown
|Rivals = Unknown
|Date Founded = 4E 452
|Date Disbanded = N/A
}}

==History==

The '''Ja Anarath kin'toni Clan''' are considered one of the most barbaric and feared of those that wander the wilds and cities of '''Taerel'''. Their beginning is one of the most mysterious and undocumented by history. Very little to nothing is known about their past, but much is whispered in scary stories to zu'aan children about what they do in present times. The Ja Anarath kin'toni live in wooded areas with large trees that block out the sun on the brightest of days. They have extensive homes and roadways throughout the treetops themselves. If a zu'aan stumbles into a Ja Anarath glen in the middle of the forest, they should abandon hope immediately.

The Ja Anarath have no qualms with the capture, mutilation, and feeding upon those they see as weaker than they are. Superior climbers, the Ja Anarath kin'toni take from the woods to survive. They do not have a spoken language because they ''cut out their own tongues'' upon initiation into the clan itself. Initiation includes being turned into a kin'toni, and then enduring torture for several days or even weeks until all sign or semblance of humanity is gone from them. Once an initiate appears to be completely lacking will, the Ja Anarath cut out their tongue, forcing them to swear a final vow of silence and ultimately devote themselves to the clan entirely.

Once this initiation is complete, most Ja Anarath kin'toni adapt to the new way of living surprisingly quickly. With no tongue, they are forced to be observant and learn the Ja Anarath adapted form of sign language that the Zu'Aan call '''Dorlee''', the old Zu'Aan term for ''sign''. Through movements with their hands and different gestures, the Ja Anarath are able to communicate not only personal messages but also commands and strategy during times of war. The lack of spoken words also creates a unique advantage for the Ja Anarath kin'toni Clan’s primary settlement.

Because no one is ever talking, a single sound of a voice reverberating through the trees is incredibly noticeable and is almost guaranteed to be a sign of either a lost zu'aan or a roaming kin'toni not part of their clan. When it comes to other kin'toni, the Ja Anarath Clan do not respect them. If they stumble across one or cross paths with another clan, they annihilate them and leave their bodies to rot in the wilderness. zu'aan scholars believe this is a representation of their disdain for others of their ilk. It seems that their sacrificial offering of their tongues is an ultimate sign of strength and devotion to their race and a sacrifice of their old and weaker heritage of being a zu'aan.

Any kin'toni that still holds their tongue is considered nothing. Perhaps even soulless. It is because of this interpretation of their actions and customs that many kin'toni Clans fear the Ja Anarath kin'toni just as much as the average zu'aan. '''The Ja Anarath are not only the boogeymen of a zu'aan’s nightmare but also that of a kin'toni that does not count themselves amongst their scarred and mutilated ranks.'''

==Biology==

The '''Ja Anarath kin'toni Clan''' have dark pink irises with white sclera and vertical slit pupils. They reach an average height of ''5' 9 - 6' 5"'' for males and ''5' 6" - 6' 6"'' for females. They have a total of 42 teeth. It includes 12 incisors, 4 canines, 16 premolars, and 10 molars. Their canines do not extend to form fangs. Their teeth also have more enamel than the average Kin'toni. Their nails are long, hard, pointed sharply at the tips and curved; they form claws. They are used for ripping out the delicate flesh of the Zu'Aan to feed on their blood.

They are also necessary and helpful when climbing trees to reach the tops and ultimately their homes and sprawling city. Their tongues are pale, and the tips of their tongues are sharp and pointed. Thanks to their barbaric customs, they initially cut their own tongues out before becoming initiates into the clan. They keep them in a jar of some strange, '''bloodroot''' solution and place them in their various homes to remind them of where they came from of what they have sacrificed for the clan. They have a heightened sense of vision, especially at night. They have a poor sense of smell, except when it comes to fresh Zu'Aan blood.

They are extremely good at hearing. It is said that a Ja Anarath Kin'toni can hear the fall of a pin from '''5 miles''' away. Hence, in crowded places, they often tend to get overwhelmed. In fact, their eardrums may rupture if exposed to too much noise. They are ''very'' vulnerable to cold weather and are not prepared for the encroaching ice. Their foreheads are smooth, and round and their eyebrows are thick and bushy. They have 200 bones as there are only 8 pairs of ribs in their body. The bones are solid with no medullary cavity as there is no bone marrow making blood cells. Their hair can be of any color. The most common colors include brown, black or auburn. Their ear lobes are square and free, and their skin is pale with a hint of green. Sometimes their skin becomes covered in sores and scars.

Usually, it is a sign that they endured a rather harrowing initiation into the clan. The hair on their skin is coarse in texture and dark in color. There are three horizontal, red strips, extending from side to side, on their chest. Males have broader strips than the females. The exact function of these strips is not known. Some believe that they are a type or form of scar. Their hearts have 3 chambers instead of 4: two atria and a single ventricle. And their hearts are significantly smaller than the average Zu'Aan heart. Their livers are brown or black, and dry and firm in consistency. And their spleens are atrophied and nonfunctional.

Their blood vessels have ''"dried up"''. Except for a few major arteries and veins, very few smaller vessels remain in their bodies. And capillaries have completely disappeared in them. Since they have no capillaries, their lung alveoli are degenerated. As a result, their lungs are significantly smaller, harder, and darker.
Their feet have arches. The speed of their running is comparable to that of an average Zu'Aan. Exposure to sunlight for long periods of time leads to a Ja Anarath Kin'toni's '''slow and painful demise'''. Initially, there are burning rashes on the skin.

The rashes then deteriorate into painful blisters. If further exposure is allowed, their skin starts to fall off their body. At this point, it is impossible for a Ja Anarath Kin'toni to survive. Fresh Zu'Aan blood forms their only diet. An average Ja Anarath Kin'toni can go ''80-90 days'' without fresh Zu'Aan blood after their last full meal. There is no substitute for fresh Zu'Aann blood for the Ja Anarath Kin'toni.

==Culture==

The '''Ja Anarath kin'toni Clan''' have created a rather intricate and unique sense of culture despite their obvious barbarism and horrifying acts of torture upon innocents, including their own initiates. In their only city and home, the treetop tribe the zu'aan call '''Gil’grove''' (or ''“dead sky”'' in the old zu'aan tongue), the Ja Anarath kin'toni celebrate religion, culture, and history. They take from the forest and its many denizens to survive. They build their homes amongst the treetops of Gil’grove and have filled it with various paths and roadways. The discarded wood, leaves, and branches of the trees make up their building materials.

It is taboo for any Ja Anarath to use live plant life for their own advantages. Any Ja Anarath kin'toni of the clan that is caught or suspected of doing so are then mutilated and banished. Before that, however, their greatest punishment is endured. The opening and destruction of their ''sacred tongue jar'', or '''Ailmar''' (or ''“reliquary”'' in the old zu'aan tongue), and then the resewing of their tongue to the inside of their throat. The first zu'aan encounter that was recorded in recent history was with one of these banished kin'toni.

Their tongue, having been extremely far into its later stages of decomposition, had infected the wandering kin'toni with bacteria and disease. So much so that its natural regenerative qualities could not counteract it. Not even the offering of fresh zu'aan blood could coax the kin'toni to fight for its life. Some scholars believe it is because of the bacteria that had infected the banished kin'toni’s mind from the resewing of its tongue that ultimately led to its unwillingness to live and eventual demise. But others believe it was simply their history and intricate indoctrination performed by the witches of their past clan.

They were so tethered to their old clan and its beliefs, that they gave up on surviving once banished – knowing that they were not worthy of life anymore. The Ja Anarath kin'toni Clan’s ''witches'' or '''Ulafiel''' (as the zu'aan call them in their old tongue as a term for ''“witch”''), make up their governing body as well as their religious leaders. Ulafiel can either be male or female and both are well represented in the ranks of witches. Neither sex is more important than the other and the only thing that is forbidden amongst the Ja Anarath kin'toni are children or those younger than 20 in zu'aan years.

The Ulafiel have taught through time that interaction or feeding upon a young zu'aan is a ''bad omen'' and threatens their very existence. In a more scientific sense, this is true considering that their kin'toni numbers would slowly decline without the indoctrination of newly adult zu'aan initiates. zu'aan scholars have seen much scientific logic in the teaching and practices of the barbaric Ja Anarath kin'toni peoples. It is because of this that many have hypothesized that their beginnings could have been thanks to a planned experiment or perhaps initiated by a higher thinking kin'toni.

Because of the Ja Anarath kin'toni Clan’s lack of language, curious zu'aan scholars will never know for sure. They have not managed to decipher their '''Dorlee''' (or the old zu'aan term for ''“sign”'').

==Government==

The '''Ulafiel''' (or the ancient zu'aan term for ''“witch or witches”'') are the primary religious and governing body of the '''Ja Anarath kin'toni Clan'''. They are made up of both male and female members but do not include any recently initiated or even those that have been members of the clan for less than 10 zu'aan years. The Ulafiel exist almost as one with the trees themselves. In fact, they never move or leave their seats inside the naturally hollow concaves of a circle of the oldest trees within the forest and within their treetop city of '''Gil’grove''' (or the ''“dead sky”'' in the old zu'aan tongue).

The Ulafiel are considered too valuable to risk in menial tasks such as farming or warfare. They remain protected in the thick, strong trunks of the Gil’grove’s oldest trees. Also known as '''Olos’Atra''' (or “''iron wood”'' in ancient zu'aan). The Olos’Atra are not only a shell of protection for the Ulafiel, but also a representation of the heart of the forest itself. The Ulafiel believe that through meditation and endless time within the trees’ trunks they will become apart of the forest and the Olos’Atra themselves. There are 10 Olos’Atra that are naturally situated in a circle.

This circle sits at the center of Gil’grove and the city itself was thus built around the sacred trees. Many of the older Ulafiel have already begun to be interwoven and absorbed into the Olos’Atra themselves. Their branches have encircled them, and their bodies are morphing into the bark and leaves that surround them. Despite this natural absorption by nature, the Ulafiel still have needs to survive including the imbibement of fresh blood. '''Bloodroot''' is sufficient in times of drought – but the preferred sacrifice to any Ulafiel is that of fresh blood. Many Ja Anarath kin'toni pay their respects and seek guidance with a jug of recently slayed blood in hand.

Normally to approach with anything else is seen as an affront to the Ulafiel or perhaps even a poor omen against the pleading kin'toni themselves. The Ulafiel spend most of their time asleep, but when awoken a single Ulafiel can make major decisions without the rest of the clan being awake. It is because of their absorption into the Olos’Atra and how it has connected them all spiritually, mentally, and physically through the roots of the ''sacred trees''. Even in sleep, the other Ulafiel can communicate with an ''“awakened one”'' to have discussions and make decisions on war strategies, petty arguments between clan members, punishments, etc.

The only time that all Ulafiel are awakened are during especially dire times – particularly those that consist of risk to the woods and Gil’grove itself. The 10 Ulafiel have different traits, worshippers, and celebrated names. They include, '''Rhothomir''' (the ''Ulafiel of Justice''), '''Wir’enth''' (the ''Ulafiel of Love''), '''Liazana''' (the ''Ulafiel of the Hunt''), '''Zin’Warin''' (the ''Ulafiel of War''), '''Qildor''' (the ''Ulafiel of Craft''), '''Theodemar''' (the ''Ulafiel of Wisdom''), '''Aired''' (the ''Ulafiel of Death''), '''Ivar’An''' (the ''Ulafiel of Farming''), '''Shalana''' (the ''Ulafiel of Witchcraft'') and '''Wyn’tris''' (the ''Ulafiel of Blood'').

==Military==

The '''Ja Anarath Kin'toni Clan''' hase a strange form of military that is mostly managed by the '''Ulafiel''' (or ''“witch or witches”'' in the old zu'aan tongue) from the hidden and protected shells of their '''Olos’Atra''' (or ''“iron wood”'' in old zu'aan). Their guidance and plans are first discussed and communicated to their physical warriors, the '''Aesys''' (or ''“guardian”'' in the old zu'aan tongue). Each Ulafiel has their own direct and chosen Aesys. The position of Aesys is only transferrable in banishment or death.

The sex of each Aesys has no relation to the sex of their Ulafiel – the Aesys is simply chosen through dedication and loyalty on the part of the possible Aesys towards their chosen Ulafiel within the Olos’Atra. The Aesys discusses strategy and contingency plans directly with their Ulafiel. The Ulafiel mentally and simultaneously discusses and invents these strategies with the other Ulafiel through the Olos’Atra’s immense network of hidden roots and branches. These orders are then carried out and proclaimed to all by the separate Aesys and their factions of followers who swear loyalty and devotion to their individual Ulafiel amongst the Olos’Atra.

They do so through their given sign language, '''Dorlee''' (or the ancient zu'aan term for ''“sign”''). During warfare, all kin'toni who follow '''Rhotomir''' (the ''Ulafiel of Justice''), '''Liazana''' (the ''Ulafiel of the Hunt''), '''Zin’Warin''' (the ''Ulafiel of War''), '''Aired''' (the ''Ulafiel of Death''), and '''Wyn’tris''' (the ''Ulafiel of Blood'') join arms and shields on the battlefield. They act in their separate factions under separate orders dictated by their given Ulafiel and signed through their direct commanding Aesys.

One of their distinct cultural attributes is that once they have killed someone on the field of battle, whether it be a zu'aan or kin'toni victim, '''they cut out their tongues''' ''(thereby stealing their souls)'' and attach it to their clothing. The greatest Ja Anarath kin'toni Clan warriors boast dozens of tongues across their bodies. Several of them in different stages of decomposition. The Aesys of Zin’Warin (the Ulafiel of War) has the greatest number of tongues adorning him known in Ja Anarath kin'toni history. It is even said that the clothing he wears is sewn together from tongues he has collected that have reached the latest stages of decomposition.

If a Ja Anarath kin'toni is killed during battle or a hunt, their tongue is taken from their home and offered to their chosen Ulafiel that they worship in a ceremony of mourning. If the Ja Anarath kin'toni died in a way that honored him within the clan, their Ulafiel will ''consume their tongue'' thereby rejoining their soul with the trees or the Olos’Atra. If they were not worthy, their tongue will be refused and burned – never to rejoin their brethren within the sacred trees. Despite the immediate appearance of their barbarism, self-mutilation, and the mutilation of their dead, the Ja Anarath kin'toni Clan’s militant, religious, and cultural traditions are more spiritual than anything else.

And many zu'aan scholars admire their worship of nature and their connection to it that no one else seems to have achieved.

==Religion==

Much like their culture, military, and all other aspects of their lives – the '''Ja Anathar kin'toni Clan’s''' religion is completely centered around the '''Ulafiel''' (or ''“witch or witches”'' in the ancient zu'aan tongue) and the '''Olos’Atra''' that they live within (or ''“iron wood”'' in ancient zu'aan). The Ulafiel preach that sustaining and living as one with nature and the woods itself is the kin'toni’s ultimate purpose on the face of '''Taerel'''. They believe and indoctrinate their initiates to believe that nature is the true mother of the kin'toni disease that infects them all.

Because of this, they must return to nature when they die and even as they live. It is for this reason that the first Ulafiel built their great city in the treetops around the sacred trees and called it '''Gil’grove''' (or ''“dead sky”'' in the ancient zu'aan tongue). No one knows for sure why self-mutilation or the cutting out of their own tongues became such a specific part of their culture and religious practices. All that is known is that true loyalty and induction into the clan cannot be achieved until these things are done.

Some zu'aan scholars hypothesize that speech is the singular representation of free thought and therefore a soul amongst the Ja Anathar kin'toni. The taking away of their source of “speech” also means the protection and safe keeping of their souls within their ''sacred tongue jars'' or '''Ailmar''' (or ''“reliquary”'' in the old zu'aan language). Ailmar are a respected and prized possession amongst the Ja Anathar kin'toni. Instead of praying to a chosen ''God'', or in their case a Ulafiel, before laying down for a day’s rest – members of this seemingly barbaric clan pay homage to their own Ailmar and pray for whatever it is their heart desires.

Whether its protection over their clan, their family, or even themselves; by praying to their Ailmar the Ja Anathar kin'toni are simply ''pleading with their own souls''. This already barbaric religious practice is implemented in more than just their induction and form of worship. It is also used in warfare to expose who is the greatest warrior amongst the clan’s ranks through whoever is the collector of the most ''“souls”''. It is also used in ceremonies honoring the deceased by offering the dead kin'toni’s Ailmar to their chosen Ulafiel that they worship.

If the kin'toni lived a good and honorable life the Ulafiel will ''consume their Ailmar'' thereby rejoining their soul with the souls of others of their clan through the absorption of the Olos’Atra or their sacred trees. If a clan member has not led an honorable life, their AIlmar will be rejected; the jar itself destroyed and the tongue burned, never rejoining the kin'toni’s soul with the souls of their brethren. These practices have never been questioned by any Ja Anathar kin'toni Clan inductee in their decades of existence.

Many zu'aan scholars believe it is because of their harsh induction and torture that the zu'aan or previous kin'toni ultimately gives up everything else they ever knew and gives into the welcoming ideals and practices that make up what is known as the boogeymen of Taerel, or the Ja Anathar kin'toni Clan.

{{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/knleffel Knleffel]
| Holder = Knleffel
}}

[[Category:5th-century Twilight Age kin'toni clans]]
[[Category:Knleffel's contributions]]

Ja Anarath Kin'toni Clan - Revision history

Stevie Lambert: (via JWB)