Stevie Lambert: (via JWB)

2026-05-10T12:40:43Z

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{{Infobox:TwilightAgeGroup
|Type = Kin'toni clan
|Name = Vlaia Kin'toni Clan
|Parent Groups = Unknown
|Descended Groups = Unknown
|Areas Controlled = [[Thrayld Flood-Meadow]]
|Date Founded = 4E 144
|Date Disbanded = N/A
}}

==History==

The Vlaia kin'toni clan is the ruling clan of the Zelan nation, although it's not a typical kingdom, it does follow the monarchy model in the administration of the region. The Vlaia are the second clan to rule over the nation of Zelan after they displaced the clan that ruled the region prior to them. The Vlaia are well liked by the people of the Zelan nation, for during their rule they have lifted the nation out from under the shadow of their gargantuan neighbour, the Nara Kingdom.

The kingdom of Nara was centuries ahead of the Zelan nation, and this was mostly because of the impeccable nature of their ruling clan, the Taelti clan, who were fierce warriors that had practically al on their own destroyed the zu'aan nations that were found on the landmass of Canlai, sweeping back the forces of the zu'aan as a large predator swats a fly out of the sky. The Zelan nation of the time was ruled by a thoroughly corrupt clan that cared little for the people of Zelan and the fate of its future, they were only concerned with filling themselves with the most expensive blood stock.

In the process depleting the huge reserves of gold that the nation had accumulated. The ruling clan at the time of shattering even went so far as to completely destroy their relationship with the administration of the Itkali Kingdom, which even at the time was a martial powerhouse and a worthy ally. The Vlaia at the time were a simple clan that had not yet begun to specialise in any one particular field, they were clever, more so than most clans in the nation of Zelan, and patriotic.

They saw the destruction of their homeland at the hands of careless leaders that cared nothing for the future of its people, and at the same time they saw the sharp gaze of the kin'toni in the North, the kin'toni of the Nara Kingdom. It was not impossible or too difficult for that matter to consider where the Nara kin'toni would attack next, now that the threat of the zu'aan had been dealt with, the Nara kingdom would surely turn their attention to the south to try take over the Zelan lands and include the nation of Zelan as just one other province of their kingdom.

This was a genuine concern, for the Zelan people had always had land disputes with their neighbours to the north, but they had yet to commit any large any martial reserves to the battles with the Zelan at the ends of their kingdom. The Vlaia spent the years after the defeat of the zu'aan becoming better kin'toni, they travelled the lands and became familiar with the problems of the people and to try and understand how the kin'toni of the nation could be best utilised the imminent storm of the Nara warriors, and prepared even though the ruler clan did not, luckily the attack never came.

==Psychology==

They are extremely autonomous individuals, who even when they had access to no power, chose to take the initiative to try and prepare a counter offensive to an attack of Nara Kingdom, that never materialised. This preparation that they undertook however, changed the kin'toni, for they were able to see themselves in a new light and realise that they were able to effect change without the help of the ruling clan, and began to administer regions of the kingdom where no one seemed to be incharge.

They had a penchant for ruling, and although not all regions were very receptive to their self assigned rule, there were others that took readily to their orders and leadership. This was the true beginning of the kin'toni as they were able to bring forth the best in their charges, and did the most difficult tasks without asking for reward or recognition, and they were seemingly motivated only by the love for their people and their nation. Then the shattering came, the whole world was turned on its head, the Nara Kingdom to the north exploded with violence, as a fierce civil war began in the heartland of their nation.

The engagements that the kin'toni of the Nara had been involved in with the Zelan, were no longer a priority, as the warriors from the borders were rushed into the kingdom to try and stop the disastrous kingdom. The Zelan nation was also affected, for one of the volcanoes in the region had erupted, and although the eruption itself had not been that disastrous, it unleashed a plague on the lands. A tenth of the whole population of the bloodstock was killed in the plague that spread through the land, the kin'toni that drank of the corrupted animals were also found dead at the time.

The ruling clan at this time had finally come awake and took action, trying to organise a people that had never truly learned to listen to the central authority. The decisions the kin'toni took in order to stymie the flow of disaster in the kingdom were also ill thought out. The actions of the ruling clan failed to bring any order to the nation, and they went a step further and destroyed the potential for help by irreversibly damaging the kingdom’s reaction with the kin'toni of the Itkali kingdom. This was too much for the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan to take, and they instead chose then to take action against the kin'toni of the ruling clan.

The coup of the Vlaia clan has been discussed as one of the most brilliant political moves in the history of the kin'toni clans, not only was the coupd’etat a brilliantly executed manoeuvre that completely unseated the ruing clan but also allowed the Vlaia take control of the nation without the spilling of massive amounts of blood. In the course of one night, the kin'toni of the Vlaia penetrated the rulers’ estate and executed each one of the members of the clan.

==Biology==

It is assumed that the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan are in possession of superior intelligence in comparison to the other kin'toni clans, this assumption is made about the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan because they are among the handful of kin'toni clans that were able to take one a whole kingdom over the course of a single night, and what is more, they were able to do so without causing any violent revolutions that interrupted the administration of law and order in the kingdom.

In addition to their take over of the Zelan machinery, the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan are also credited with the founding of the textiles that have converted the seemingly small kingdom into an industrial powerhouse that has taken the whole world by storm. The kin'toni of the Vlaia clan were able to take over the kingdom in the space of one night as the kin'toni of the ruling clan at the time were completely addled out of their minds, having spent another night in the debauchery of gluttonous feeding and drinking imported wines in a time when the kin'toni of the kingdom were unable to find even a small morsel of food.

The kin'toni of the Vlaia clan were brutal in their take down of the ruling clan, cutting off their heads, and placing them on pikes in the front of the palace. The whole ruling clan was killed and messages sent out from the palace to the garrisons of the army of Zelan, that the ruling clan had changed and now the Vlaia were in charge. It would be reasonable to assume that there was probably a lot of fighting and an insurrection against the violent takeover from the older ruling clan, however there was none of that, or at least very little of it.

Kin'toni from the clans that were aided by the ruling clans were the only ones that ever raised any problems about the change in regime, and they too were dealt with pretty quickly and brought to order. The switch of the ruling clans was a relief for the kin'toni of Zelan, as the ruling clan of kin'toni before the Vlaia were clearly unsuited to the task, although they had not always been as careless and unsympathetic with the people of their kingdom, they became like they did due to the luxuries of their office.

Undoubtedly the kin'toni of the clan of ruling were disliked, but it still was considerably skilful and difficult for the kin'toni of the Vlaia to attempt such a blatant coup, and to not only attempt but rather executing it seamlessly is also further evidence that the kin'toni are gifted with faculties beyond the typical kin'toni. There have been attempts to measure the intelligence of the kin'toni of the clan by the scholars of the Zelan nation, but the Vlaia members have without fail always refused such tests and cited that the intelligence of their clan members is not something that needs to be advertised.

They have light blue irises with black sclerae and vertical slit pupils

==Culture==

The kin'toni of the Vlaia clan do not have a particularly distinct culture from the other kin'toni of the Zelan nation, however, since for so long they functioned and worked throughout the territory of the Zelan nation without having a specific niche, they worked in all kinds of fields and occupations. This wider spectrum of experience that they have drawn from, has allowed the kin'toni of the clan to develop a unique culture of their own, that isn’t quite as distinct from other cultures of Zelan as to stand alone, but it has elements of the different regions of Zelan and the different practices of the different sections of the kin'toni.

The culture of the clan of Vlaia can therefore be thought of as being a representative culture of the whole of the Zelan nation, and since Zelan is a nation that is a marriage of the agricultural world and the mercantile world, this is reflected in the culture of the Vlaia as well. However if one were to choose a particular section of society that the culture of the Vlaia draws most strongly from, it would be the agricultural community of the Zelan nation, rather than mercantile inspired section of society.

Like all the agricultural clans of the Zelan nation, the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan have a deep relationship with the land, and the process of agriculture is not merely an industrial process for them which is the means to an economic goal, but rather almost a sacred thing. The kin'toni of the Vlaia clan, hold guests in high regard, and extend the benefit of visitation to only a few kin'toni of distinct clan, this is the perfect example of the marriage of the two culture of the Zelan nation in the Vlaia clan.

For the agricultural clan are very receptive to guests, and treat them as if they were a facet of god, going so far as to give up their own personal luxuries in order to ensure that their guests did not forgo any comfort. However, the kin'toni of the agricultural culture of Zelan would never even dream of ever refusing a guest from visiting them, on the other hand, refusing a potential guest in such a community would be a grave mistake, and would be accompanied by a bad fortune like a bad harvest.

The Vlaia are like the agricultural communities in how they treat the kin'toni that they take on as guests, those that have had the privilege of staying with the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan always rave about the inexpressible hospitality that they were offered by the ruling clan. In the same breath though, the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan observe their own culture, by combining this aspect of guests from the agricultural communities to the same concept from the merchant clans. The merchant clans believe visitation should only occur at the convenience of the host, and as such a kin'toni must duly inform the host before visiting, the Vlaia too follow this practice.

==Government==

The kin'toni of the Vlaia clan run the government of the Zelan kingdom, prior to their taking over of the nation, Zelan had been a completely straight forward monarchy, with a royal clan and a singular king that was the founder of the ruling clan. And when the Vlaia took over the kingdom, it was assumed that they too would be adopting the same model of governance as the kin'toni clans that had preceded them, however the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan thought differently.

Since the administration actually begin the process of overseeing the kingdom, they have on several occasions discussed the various reasons why the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan chose to pursue a different model and what the limitations were with the olden king and royal clan arrangement of rule. At present the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan are effectively the oligarchs of the kingdom of Zelan, and by oligarchs it is meant that in effect they, all of the kin'toni in the clan, share the burden of being a king, and distribute the responsibilities of a monarch among themselves.

Different kin'toni are responsible for controlling different aspects of the kingdom, this arrangement can seem haphazard if explained to someone at first, but their several protocols in place that allow the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan to work effectively together, and the results should speak for themselves. Since the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan have been in charge, the nation of Zelan has seen a complete transformation because of which it is no longer seen as merely another kin'toni nation but rather thought of as a nation that can affect the global position of the kin'toni.

In order to ensure that the governance of the whole kingdom is done with a singular vision, the ruling clan has a lot of meetings with the other members of the clan, although not all of the clan members are involved in all of the meetings, the important decisions made in the meetings are communicated promptly to the other kin'toni of the clan, and these messages undoubtedly include the details of the decisions taken at the meeting, but the messages further explain why the decisions were taken in the manner described.

The reasoning for the decisions that are taken by a kin'toni of the Vlaia clan is examined closely by all the peers of the kin'toni, however, this process is not essentially one of confirmation, but rather of courtesy. It is certainly the effectiveness of this communication mechanism that the clan members of Vlaia have developed that none of the decisions taken by any of the kin'toni from the clan have been revoked by the other members of the clan. Furthermore, in order to ensure that the kin'toni of the clan are guided by the right motivations.

They all have essentially the same goals in mind when they are making decisions for the administration of the kingdom, there are 3 big councils held with all members of the Vlaia clan.

==Military==

The Vlaia kin'toni clan members have a thorough foundation in the essentials of combat, and they have also been deployed for a very long time on the frontlines of the Zelan nation with the Nara Kingdom. Not only were the kin'toni of the clan excellent soldiers, but they were also very skilled commanders as well. They were able to administer complex supply chains and establish advanced protocols of patrol along the borders that are followed even till the present day.

It is important to remember that the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan were able to accomplish all this and more without the support of the ruling administration, in fact they did all these very complex tasks that were not only highly dangerous but very stressful, without the expectation of rewards. The kin'toni were not hired by the administration to carry out the role, and as such they still had to amen their own arrangements for their own supplies, later during the height of the campaign, the soldiers of the army had begun to pool their own limited resources which were supplied by the state, and sharing them with the members of the Vlaia clan.

In fact, there is a painting that has been made of the first time the soldiers offered their supplies to the kin'toni of the Vlaia clan. In the painting, which was made by one of the leading painters of the kingdom of Zelan with the help of the soldiers that were present at the time of the offering. The painting is work of true wonder, and it is hung in the palace of the Vlaia clan in the capital, within the entrance hall, it is truly enchanting to study the massive canvas and to understand the complexity of the role that the Vlaia had fulfilled prior to their rise as the rulers of the land.

In the painting, there are several kin'toni of the soldier clans that are in various states of exhaustion, some of them even lying down with their eyes closed, seemingly unconscious with fatigue, however all of the soldier’s faces are masks of determination and reverence, as they bow on their knees and offer up a vial of a candescent red blood. Many of the soldiers are seen to be touching the vial with their fingertips, even as they are barley able to move, all of the soldiers are covered in grime and dirt indicating the passing of a fierce battle.

The soldiers are offering a vial of blood to three kin'toni, who are clothed in a haphazardly made armour, with different pieces from different armour sets, despite the obvious poverty of the Vlaia clan members in the painting, their stance is proud and unbending, holding onto unsheathed bloodied swords in their hands, they are a vision of warriors. The most remarkable feature of the painting are the facial feature of the Vlaia clan members which are gaunt with hunger, and the eyes lit with desire and tears as they stare longingly at the blood.

==Religion==

The kin'toni of the Vlaia clan follow the religion of Mud-made, a religion rooted in the agricultural communities of the Zelan nations, it is not one of the major religion groups in the kingdom, in fact most of the kin'toni that practice the mud-made religion do so in secret. The religion has continued to exist through the centuries of Empire existence, but well before the reign of the kin'toni began. The Mud-made religion existed and was practiced even during the time of the Old empire from the time of zu'aan, in fact the landmass of Canlai was said to be its point of origin.

At the time, there weren’t a lot of zu'aan that believed in the ideology of the religion except for the very same agricultural communities that existed at the time. In fact the religion has almost exclusively been practiced by people of the farming communities of the world due to its guiding ideology and the rituals that are involved in it. The kin'toni at the Ashatan university in Erea have made a study of the topics, and several of their teachers spent several decades in the region, studying the religion and those that have practiced it.

This has been yet another point of collaboration for the kin'toni of the two nations, as they have had several other projects in which they have jointly worked to achieve amazing results. From the study by the scholars of the Ashatan university, it was agreed that the religion of the Mud-made is one of the few religions in the world that has transitioned very easily from the zu'aan race to the race of the kin'toni, however unlike the religion of the Eyeless god from the Erean landmass, the transition from man to kin'toni has had limited impact on the guiding ideology behind the religion.

The religion of the Mud-made is one that believes the creation of life from earth, while most religions turn to the sky when considering the rewards of the Afterlife, as did the zu'aan of old, however the devotees of the Mud-made religion believe that all the negative things come from the sky, such as the cold and the storms that destroy their crops, on the other hand, it is always safe and warm within the earth. Thus in the religion of the Mud-made, those individuals that have led lives of kindness and generosity find that after life has left their bodies.

Their bodies are taken within the earth where they are kept warm for all the rest of time, and it gives them the opportunity to reunite with their loved ones who may have passed before them or will pass into the earth after them. While the other kin'toni, those that have sinned and lived lives of vice, find themselves transported to the sky, where nothing but the cold and wet await them. In hell they are forever cold, wet and without warmth as well as separated from their loved ones.

==Miscellany==

The religion of the Mud-made is unique in many ways, and not only how it has transitions from the zu'aan species to the kin'toni people. The religion of the mud-made is very private, its practice is generally not disclosed to the other members of society, and there is no concept of a community among those that practice the religion of the Mud-made, in fact, in according to the scholars of the Ashtan university, the Vlaia may be the first kin'toni to disclose their religion to outsiders since the religion first began practice.

There are no temples of the Mud-made, instead the people of agricultural communities make tiny shrines in their fields to the gods of the Mud-made, although the shrines are mostly made by those that follow the religion, there are several members of the agricultural communities that although not belonging to the religion still build the shrine in order to invite good fortune and a healthy harvest. At the times of the zu'aan, especially during the Xerea Empire, the zu'aan that were found to be practicing the religion of the Mud-made were severely prosecuted against by the administration.

And there was a view in the government that those that practiced the religion were unsavoury characters that did not have the very best of intentions. This was mostly a misunderstanding that has been perpetuated even to the present times, and is rooted in the deep past of the Canlai landmass, essentially in the time prior to the Xerea Empire, the religion of the Mud-made was associated with the occult. In those ancient times, when society of the zu'aan was much less technologically advanced, and the people were much more believing of the supernatural.

There was a large sect of zu'aan that was found to be conducting sacrifices in order to bring misfortune upon their neighbours. The sights discovered at the time were pretty gruesome, and there had been coincidentally a few deaths in the vicinity of those that were said to be carrying out the practice, and it was thus assumed that the zu'aan had actually been able to summon evil forces to do their biding by sacrificing zu'aan lives. He community within which this occurred was a rural community that had strong linkages to the agricultural practice.

And there were some members of the cult that had also been practicing the religions of the Mud-made. Thus when the crudely made clay idols were discovered in the homes of the members of the cult members, the practice of the Occult became linked with the religion of the mud-made, and that reputation continues to haunt the kin'toni of the religion that practice it even till today. In the rural communities, the mention of the religion of the Mud-made has sparked many dangerous situations

The most recent of which involved the lynching of the kin'toni that had been suspected of cursing the harvest of their neighbour, whose crop had ended up being completely washed away in a freak flash flood.

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

{{CrossSiteAttribution
| User = [https://www.freelancer.in/u/anmoldkaushal Anmold Kaushal]
| Holder = Anmold Kaushal
}}

[[Category:2nd-century Twilight Age kin'toni clans]]
[[Category:Anmold Kaushal's contributions]]

Vlaia Kin'toni Clan - Revision history

Stevie Lambert: (via JWB)