Stevie Lambert: (via JWB)

2026-05-08T09:15:03Z

(via JWB)

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{{Infobox:TwilightAgeGroup
|Type = Zu'aan city
|Name = Lona City Zu'Aan
|Parent Groups = N/A
|Descended Groups = Unknown
|Areas Controlled = [[Ycric Seasonal Forest]]
|Date Founded = 4E 232
|Date Disbanded = N/A
}}

==History==

The Lona city zu'aan were founded by Yashawa Lavrenkoo in the [[Ycric Seasonal Forest]]. He had an underprivileged upbringing where he was exposed to the criminal underbelly of the region from a very young age. These experiences would eventually influence him to enter a life of crime as an adolescent. He was joined several individuals his age who ran their criminal activities within the markets of the region. They engaged in petty crimes at the start, stealing trading crates and robbing establishments before earning some public notoriety after an accident.

Yashawa’s days as a small-time criminal would come to an end after a very publicized affair where he accidentally killed a merchant while trying to intimidate him. The incident would spark a mass upheaval from the zu'aan against his kind and led to a heavy crackdown with death sentences issued against each member of his group. Yashawa was forced to become a fugitive and would roam the forests of the region for many years with his band. He would encounter other people escaping the law during his time in the forests, adding to the members of his group.

The band would eventually become tired of their unknown existence in the forests and chose to rejoin civilization in one capacity or another. Thus, they would grow large beards, alter their appearances, and reentered civilization as mercenaries for money and supplies. Yashawa made a new rule to avoid any recurrence of their first banishment. Each member was sworn to operate only in secret and to never carry out their activities in the public eye. Their oath included a suicide pact, where the member had to take his own life if caught by the authorities.

The group would embark on a very successful season where they made their name in hidden tavern corners and dark alleyways. They were known for their ruthless efficiency, secrecy, and success rates of their contracts. The success would push Yashawa to go for more daring and higher-paying contracts which had more risks associated with them. Their successful streak would come to an end after a disastrous quest that led to the capture of three of their members and worse of all the revelation of all of their identities.

In a spell of rage, Yashawa ordered every member of the clan to put on blank masks and become completely faceless. This became a standard requirement for every new member and the group would gain more notoriety for it. They gave up every aspect of their individual identities and would altogether become known by his name, Yashawa. This would be the most successful phase of the group as they saw a sudden increase in membership and became a mini-army. capable of challenging most zu'aan clans on their own.

The group stopped operating in secret and began to operate as independent clans themselves. They took over many small settlements and farms which became their sources of profit and supplies to feed themselves. Yashawa's ambitions would soon begin to grow even larger until he eventually drew up a plan to attack and takeover Lona city, his first native home. He would recruit many zu'aan from the surrounding lands, promising them wealth and security. Those that could not be bought were put to the sword as an example for others who refused.

He would carry out a successful attack on the city of Lona with the help of his new army and would be crowned king of the city. He gave the citizens of the city a chance to join his new clan which he called the Lona city clan and promised them that they would rise to new heights under him. He would begin the complete overhaul of the city and its conversion into a fortress city that would remain undefeated throughout his entire time as king.

==Psychology==

There are two types of mind between the citizens that can be identified as conquerors and defeated. The conquerors are the raiders who took the power and control of the city. The raiders became rulers that give orders to the rest of the population they consider weaker and can judge the right to live of anybody if they want. Since raiders act in groups they are rarely confronted with, this gives them a sense of superiority. Conquerors feel invincible since there are no warriors in the region that can be a match for them, they win all their battles by a surprise attack and bigger numbers.

Many teenagers want to become raiders, this aspiration wish makes them easy to manipulate, they are used to raise numbers and are send first in every battle, survive is not a warrant they will be accepted as new raiders. Conquerors believe they have the right to everything and will loot and raid every time they have the chance, especially trade caravans no matter if there is any retaliation for that. The defeated are the citizens who survived to the city raid, they know they are alive just because they are still useful and can be killed any time.

They are morally broken and obey any order no matter how humiliating it is since they are still afraid too much of death, they have no will to fight or defend themselves. The defeated teach their sons to be obedient and serve silently and fast any order of their boss, who are the raiders. They have no other reason to exist than work in hard labor as plant, harvest, tailor, smith, haul, and clean. There is no other aspiration for the defeated than be still alive and keep their family safe.

Between the defeated there is hidden hate against the raiders, also they feel hate for the past governor because they believe he could not protect the city, the defeated hate to remind the past and want to erase any memory of the previous government, they neither want to keep any memory of the past religion since it could be dangerous, they could be punished by pray to any other god than the ones the raiders bring. Their hate don´t let them accept fully the new religion that came when the city was conquered.

Some slaves have different thoughts than the defeated, they are resigned to their living conditions, they have no memories of a better lifestyle, and more of them have no hope or wishes to change their social class or life. Slaves are barely different from cattle, simply they can talk and receive further instructions.

==Culture==

In Lona city there are three types of citizens: raiders, that use to take everything by strength, use to threaten and attack in-group against the minor resistance; slaves, involuntary workers that are forced to do unpleasant activities in order to continue alive; and workers, which life is barely different to slaves, badly paid by their jobs and with few privileges. Raiders have always a blank mask in public, that´s a way to identify each other, they only took off the masks when they eat to don´t stain them since it is considered disrespectful to stain the mask in a moment other than during a battle.

Sometimes teenagers make false masks to pretend to be raiders, anybody who is spotted wearing a blank mask with no right will be executed in public. Only riders can give a white mask, they choose who will join them. Workers make any activity that requires bigger skill than slave labor and is not related to combat. They have the right to go whenever they want, to have their own house, to have some material possessions, and keep their family living with them. Workers keep the farms and shops running but they are not owners of the places or the resources they produce.

They can possess work tools, they can´t have any weapon unless a raider orders to fix it. Slaves are the lowest class, they make bulk work that not requires any skill, they make simple work in the farms, haul objects, make every cleaning, mining, and building. The slaves can´t walk around the city as workers, they must be in the cells where they live when they are not working, they neither have the right to socialize with workers. There are no traders, all of them were looted; traders are the main prey of the raiders.

Citizens can have possessions according to their class, raiders can have all they want, even if it´s property of another raider they can fight for it; workers can have a limited amount of objects besides their work tools, however, they must give to the raiders anything they demand, then many workers use to hide valuable objects like jewels, luxury goods, and fine foods; slaves can have what they are wearing only, they have no rights and they can be used to trade between raiders.

Since trade is not possible as the usual raiders order their chefs to cook simple food and distribute it to the workers and slaves, the ingredients are the remains of the lavish food cooked for the raiders. Workers can trade labors between them, a tailor can make a jacket in exchange for a razor blade with a smith. Slaves can´t trade in any way, however, if they have any valuable skill they can become workers and the labor tools will be provided by a raider.

There is no other school than work, raiders train their children into combat and workers teach their children the labor. The art pieces are kept by the raiders, but there are no more artists that paint or sculpt in the city. Music is made by orders of their boss but playing music is not the main activity of the musicians, they are workers with music skill that have other activities the rest of the time.

==Government==

The government system used to be represented by a governor, his assistants, senators, a court of judges a general, captains, and soldiers that used to work as a police department. Since the city changed of ruler the past government system was replaced by orders of Yashawa, many members disappeared, no more politicians, judges, or cops. Yashawa became the new king, however, he didn´t want to deal with political issues or any other subject he considered boring so he left to their gang the control of any other aspect of the city.

The king decides business like diplomatic relations, turf limits, loot distribution, the claim of properties, and ceremonies. Yashawa spent more time practicing with the sword than signing papers. The accountant system is based on the idea of the raiders about the rights of the citizens to have wealth. There is not any tax system, however, the raiders take the riches to the king´s vault and keep pieces for their personal wish. Resources like minerals, materials, and food are not owned by specific individuals, they are used to produce armors, weapons, and meals for the raiders, then workers and slaves can have low-quality resources and remaining food.

Even if it is said everything belongs to the king the system is similar to communal property. There is no police, although there is no crime either since raiders don´t consider their power abuse a crime. Raiders represent the order, there is no more law than their word, they use to patrol the city to get sure everything is right and get sure workers are not idle. Raiders decide the construction of new buildings as barns, roads, cells, and barracks, they move the slaves in mass to the construction site and watch them until the project is finished, it can take weeks however the projects are fast since the raiders don´t care to exploit the slaves work hours.

When there is a conflict between workers or slaves a raider solves the problem by strength, sometimes one of the parts is killed. When there is a conflict between raiders they solve it in a duel that not necessarily is fair, the loser not always die. Raiders have access to every place unless it is the house of another raider, they have permission to inspect the properties of workers and take any object they want to balance the population wealth. Some raiders are judges that value art pieces, tools, apparel, food, and any other goods, then they decide if certain material possession is enough for the workers or if it is too much luxury for them.

Usually, there is no interest in work tools unless a raider wants to get them for another worker. Citizens and slaves live with relative peace, their work hours are decided by the raiders. Sometimes the king is planning a large-scale assault and everybody must work forced hours to have everything ready on time, the weapons, the armor, the rations, and the apparel for the raiders.

==Military==

Before the city was taken by Yashawa there was an army of 200 armored soldiers, the front line was armed with a long shield and spear, the rest was armed with a small shield and sword. The day Lona city was conquered the raiders surpassed the soldiers 5 to 1, they were defeated by guerrilla strategies and over numbered fight. With Yashawa as the new king, the military forces changed. The forces have no uniform, they use different kinds of armor, weapons, and helmets, and the only common characteristic is the raider blank mask. The entire army is formed by raiders, who are distributed in the next order.

In the front line, there go teenagers barely trained, aspirants to become raiders after a hard effort. They are armed with knives, stone hammers, or labor tools. They only have the right to wield weapons with the worse conditions than the raiders, old, rusty, and broken weapons. Most of them use to die in battle, their purpose is more as bait and human shield than warriors. Young raiders are full of energy, they wield short-range weapons like swords, daggers, hatchets, and hammers. Teenagers can´t keep any weapon they find on the battlefield, they can´t take any loot or war trophy.

Neither can they wear armors or helmets, unless it´s light and tattered, weak enough to barely give any protection? Behind the front line goes young raiders, ready to cover attack after the front line teenagers, who take advantage of their position to receive less damage. They use weapons with more range, like spears, war hammers, long swords, and halberd axes. After the young raiders, there go the experienced raiders, who are more skilled in long-range weapons. They almost don´t receive damage.

In the last place there go medical workers, who don’t involve in the fight. They attend to the hurt raiders and heal simple wounds, medics carry ropes, knives, binds, torches, and heal ointments. Medics must attend to the raiders first, then to the teenager warriors, and last to any other, although the army doesn´t use to take prisoners, they have no value as trade or slaves. The army takes advantage of the numbers to win battles. They always make surprise attacks, if they were spotted they use to pretend they are fleeing to ambush the enemies who are chasing them.

The army prefers close combat weapons since long-range weapons like arrows, throwing knives, or throwing spears don´t fit with their fight style because they prefer surprise attacks. If a long-range attack fails due to a poor aim they could be spotted before be close enough to have an advantage. They don´t take any long-range weapon from the defeated enemies unless the weapons are made of any valuable material, then it will be cast to make short-range weapons.

Army used to patrol roads looking for trade caravans or travelers to assault, they rarely have to defend the city. When there is a battle dated against another army, usually by turf conflict with other Zu´aan settlements, they will try to surround the enemy forcing the close combat.

==Religion==

Like many other things before Yashawa conquered the city, the past religion was razed completely. The churches were looted, the statues of the gods were destroyed and the priests were slain. Once Yashawa became king he brought with him a new religion too, there came priests that joined him while his forces were a band hidden in the forest. These priests used to live as nomads, praying to savage deities between the trees and improvised altars of bone and stone. The new priests wear dark robes, have long hair, and long thick beards.

They use to clap stones while they are praying, they don´t like to be inside buildings so they preach in the streets. Although priests are under the protection and care of Yashawa they only eat raw food despite the raiders offer them lavish meals and only drink water or animal fresh blood. The priests live in austerity with low resources, they build altars with stone, wood, and bones in the streets. Raiders respect the priests in exchange for their blessing, it is believed the priests are the link with ancient deities that protect the raiders during assaults and grant them good luck.

Citizens use to pray in the altars built in the streets, nobody else has the right to build altars or statues because it is considered blasphemous, only the priests can do it. Their gods have no individual name, they are not represented with shapes either. The gods they pray represent a kind of natural order about the victory of the stronger against the weak prey, then if the stronger take anything desired it means justice. The religion spread by the priests doesn´t talk about mercy, altruism, diplomacy, equality, or generosity.

Each time a warrior is worth becoming a raider and receives a blank mask this is granted during a ceremony made by the priests, they bless the mask before the ascended warrior wears it. Blank masks use to be carved by a priest, also they can be made for another person but the maker must ask permission from the priests. The mask represents a spiritual link between the warrior and the gods, it only must be stained during the battle, and otherwise, any stain is considered disrespectful to the gods.

There is no punish for stain the mask in a moment different than the battle, however, it is believed gods will not protect the warrior anymore from being hurt. Many workers don´t like the religion that came with Yashawa priests, they afraid to be punished for pray to the past gods, workers pray to their ancestors, usually while they are working, then raiders can´t notice. They believe their ancestor's spirits will help them to stand and resist anything, however, they can´t risk drawing or carve any effigy, priests don´t care but raiders use to punish with violence any manifestation of a different religion.

==Miscellany==

Many statues and monuments were destroyed when Yashawa became the new king. All the pieces were moved to a place that citizens use to call the statue cemetery. Many times stone chunks are taken from the statue cemetery to make new buildings. Raiders can make public executions as their own will, for a minor reason. It was very common at first, public executions were reduced to almost zero when raiders noticed some workers have skill levels hard to replace. There is no possibility to change the class, workers can´t become raiders and slaves can´t be treated as workers.

Unless they risk leaving the city they will die in the same class they were born. Raiders use to celebrate tournaments where they fight without weapons, the king decides the prizes. The winner can reclaim another thing different from the prize but there is no warrant the king granted it. The king palace is full of ornaments as sculptures, paintings, relics, and luxury furniture, however, most of the pieces were broken or damaged, since Yashawa and their gang don´t respect ornaments.

The priests use to practice private rituals, when they do it they walk in groups to the deep forest, they don´t want any raider or worker go with them and by order of the king, their privacy is respected. Raiders pick any women they want, however, once they have children they can´t take any other woman than the mother, not even pleasure slaves. Most of the existing roads were destroyed or remodeled to make easier ambush trade caravans and travelers. Once a year the raiders use to plan an assault against other Zu´aan cities, they attack, loot, and run with their bags full.

Nobody stays to fight since they don´t pretend to conquer other cities. Raiders have no weddings, funerals, or graduations; workers celebrate them in secret, those parties used to be small, it´s safer when the raiders are out assaulting. Since raiders don´t celebrate funerals they don´t care what happens with the bodies of the dead. When a raider dies his closer friends take their armor, weapons, and possessions are claimed by the king. The bodies are abandoned on the battlefield. In the case somebody dies in the city the priests dispose of the body in the forest.

A worker can reclaim the work tools of a dead worker if he proves to have the skill to use them, however raiders keep any other thing, the dead worker´s family can keep the house in case there are no raiders interested, and otherwise, the family can move to another workers house. Children from workers can play with others, no with raider children. If work children and raider children fight, parents don´t care and let them solve it by themselves. Special skills in the slaves have not any value, no matter if the slaves are talented to sing or play music. They only have a higher value if they are younger.

Blank masks of the raiders must be always white, no matter which material it´s made. Raiders prefer their masks are made of light and resistant material like wood or leather, few wear masks made of steel or any other metal.

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

{{CrossSiteAttribution
| User = [https://www.deviantart.com/espectre espectre]
| Holder = espectre
}}

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

Lona City Zu'Aan - Revision history

Stevie Lambert: (via JWB)