Neluskskel Kin'toni Clan

History

Some say the Neluskekel kin'toni were a grand experiment to make a kin'toni that could take to the night sky and that they are successful experiments. (kin'toni that can fly). Those people say that cousins, the Minemi kin'toni clan are the failures and that the Neluskekel clan manipulates this clan to be their soldiers on the ground while they fight in the skies. They say this makes them a very dangerous force to be reckoned with and that they are weak when compared to other clans.

Others say their origins come from something of an urban legend of sorts. They say, "In the year 4E 2997, Ildtorhin Che'tai experimented in his office with a dead phoenix-like animal known as a quaco. After pouring a chemical into it, something strange transpired. At first, nothing happened, but not too long later, just as Che'tai was about to leave his laboratory. The quaco got out and bit a zu'aan who within three months, transformed into the world's first Neluskskel kin'toni, ran out of the laboratory, knocking him over in the process, and soon flew away to find somewhere to hide.

During his recovery, several of his colleagues suggested that he try to revive more dead quacos using the same chemical he used to bring the first one he found back to life; when Che'tai came to and heard about this idea, he was reluctant to consider it as an idea at first. But after discovering that this could be the start of a huge break that he had been waiting for. He eventually made more of the newly-created Neluskskel kin'toni and raised his kin'toni in a remote village near the Mauatarala region.

One day, after spending many years raising these kin'toni as his own, he decided to go off on a business trip to show his fellow zu'aan scientists the results of his experiments with the newly-created Neluskskel clan. After returning home, he discovered that the Neluskskel clan had run away, leaving behind a note that insisted to Che'tai that they "can take care of ourselves now." It would be the last time he would ever see them, as they had relocated to Najra-Bal after an unsuccessful attempt to create their breed of kin'toni. Which are now known as the Minemi Kin'toni Clan."

No one knows, where the Neluskskel Kin'toni Clan came from or if either of the stories is true, but either way, they exist now. It is known, that in the Shattering, the Neluskskel kin'toni Clan allied itself with the Defenders of the Coldrock Range, along with the Diwarale Kin'toni Clan and the now wiped out Alisxa clan. They lost ten thousand of their twelve thousand kin'toni, though they were using the Minemi kin'toni Clan as body shields. They killed around five thousand kin'toni of the clans of the Clawed Fiends, but now the Neluskskel kin'toni Clan is a small clan with around one hundred and fifty kin'toni.

Rumours say, "If the Minemi clan decides to revolt, the Neluskskel kin'toni clan will be powerless to stop them."

Psychology

They gain grudges easily and make it their life work to despoil the lives of those they hate. Given the long lives of kin'toni, this is a very dangerous thing for their enemies. They are clever and devious, attacking from the sky, using terror as a form of manipulation to gain more territory and grow in numbers. They are arrogant in their belief that they are the 'superior' kin'toni solely based upon their ability to fly and coordinate sophisticated attacks upon their enemies. They are in fact scavengers and thieves who use terror as a weapon; they often resort to these tactics as a way of gaining the upper hand on their rivals.

But at the same time, they can advance, although they do not have the patience to learn. They would instead rather steal what they need than try to figure out how to make what they steal from other clans. When on their home turf in the Najra-Bal region, they occasionally make it a habit to study their environment. Sometimes they will look for cave worms above ground and use them as a means to quench their hunger or find something to wear, although most of the time when consuming cave worms they will slosh them around in their mouths before swallowing them whole. When they find cave worms and don't decide to eat them.

They will use the cave worm's skin to mesh together with the skin of other cave worms until they have enough cave worm skin to make cloth out of it. It is often rumoured that Neluskskel kin'toni often hold grudges on certain clans because of some kind of miscommunication that was carried out. Like, for example, when a Neluskskel kin'toni mistakes a compliment made by a kin'toni of another clan (or, in some cases, a fellow kin'toni from their clan) as a threat. It is because of this very reason that most Neluskskel kin'toni often lives reclusively. kin'toni of this clan have as traits:

Aggressiveness, a personality trait, the inclination to act with aggressive behaviour, a tendency towards sadism, the derivation of pleasure as a result of inflicting pain, or watching pain inflicted, on others. Machiavellianism, the term some social and personality psychologists use to describe a person's tendency to deceive and manipulate others for personal gain. Dishonesty, which may be defined as the act or to act without honesty; a lack of probity, to cheating, lying or being deliberately deceptive; lacking in integrity; to be knavish, perfidious, corrupt or treacherous; charlatanism or quackery.

Biology

The Neluskskel are adapted to the windy, high altitud, and open Badarval Canyon. They are short and very thin of build, with an nearly hollow skeletal structure. The sternum is reinforced and the vertebrae are fused to anchor immense pectorals. This allows them flight power and resilience against high-G forces. The downside of this is being very susceptible to bone fractures, and lacking in body strength compared to other kin'toni. Their beige skin is thin and durable, tight on bones and on their large, membranous wings.

On their heads, wings and tails, they have small, hairlike feathers that acts as fine sensors for detecting micro-changes in air pressure and turbulence. The feathers on their skin also detect minute shifts in atmospheric electric fields to allow them to sense impending weather changes. In thunder storms, they are prone to disorientation. The wings have fine, protein-based stiffeners inside to prevent tearing or deformation during powerful updrafts. This allows the wings to survive the forces of flight, even in high winds.

The wings also have controlled skin flaps along the leading edge of their wings to allow them to automatically adjust in order to maintain laminar flow. This aids their control in the air. The wings also have an modified vascular network in their wings that allows them to "breathe" trace oxygen from the air. This allows them to have sustained activity at high altitudes where air is thin. The tail is broad, feathered and controlled by highly efficient musculature. This allows for adjustments to allow for unparalleled maneuverability and aerial braking.

Damage to the tail or wings stops them from being able to fly and if it is damaged in flight, can be fatal. Their brown eyes are optimized for extreme distance and rapid movement compensation. This allows them very good long range vision but they are very short sighted. The ears are short and pointed. The inner ear is adapted to filter out the deafening sounds of high-speed air passing over their head. This means they can maintain communication and spatial awareness at terminal velocity.

The downside of this is being unable to low-frequency sounds. The nose has an complex valve system that closes automatically during dives. This protects the nose from wind damage, but also hinders their sense of smell. The teeth are long, thin and curved backwards to allow them to find on airborne prey while in flight. These teeth are fragile often break on the thicker hides of ground bound prey. The clan's claws are long, sharp talons with exceptional strength, for snatching prey from the floor. These claws also make fine motor skills and walking awkward.

The ligaments and tendons are highly elastic. This allows them to store kinetic energy from wing beats to aid sudden take offs and evasive movement. The bone marrow is mostly replaced by inert, ultra-light gas-filled matrix to lower the body mass from flight. It also means they have less ability to generate red blood cells. The blood has specialized antifreeze protein to stop cell damage while flying in sub-zero temperatures at high altitude, but also makes them prone to overheating in warmer environments.

Culture

This clan doesn't have a very significant culture as most of the kin'toni in this clan have been known to keep to themselves a lot of the time while above ground. Often when they go out to scavenge or look for things to steal they will try to give themselves plenty of room to let their wings spread and flap. Once they gain enough traction and speed when they run their wings will flap fast enough for them to jump off the ground and begin their short flight. For some of the kin'toni in this clan, it is often hard to make a set of wings, as they never grew wings during their turning or only grew half-formed and useless wings, for those wingless or deformed kin'toni, when they do they must first look for the surprisingly durable feathers of a large winged bird known as the wovoc.

When the wovoc takes flight and flies it is often suggested by a legend that these winged creatures will begin to shed many feathers as new ones grow and take their place. After that is done they must find a way to join a few dozen of these feathers together to create their own set of wings, which they attach to their backs or the half-formed stubs of wings they may have. In some cases kin'toni made wing come second nature to those who live in this clan. Finding them is often easy, and once found they can often join these wings together in such a way that makes them durable, wearable, and easy to use for the next several years.

But most sets of wings that come from the wovoc's feathers shedding often become worn out after just a few years of use, so it is imperative for kin'toni in this clan to make a new set of wings for themselves every five years or so. Sometimes when they head for shady shelters to keep their bodies away from sunlight exposure during the day, they enter caves at the bottom of the nearest mountains to sleep in until nightfall. By sleeping in these caves they are better able to sleep because they are hardly any animals inside most of the time. And to make matters better, they rarely wake up in the middle of the day as a result of a sound made by an animal in the cave should an animal be in the cave at the time.

Fashions in this clan feature soft cinched deep brown and bright blue garments. Tops are typically long with high necklines. Kilts and sandals are also customary. Anklets and pins are popular accessories. Pockets and pouches are staples of the style. Gold, pale orange, and yellow-orange are also common colours. Free citizens and non-citizens wear very different clothing. A holiday is called Orof, a holiday celebrated just before the fall equinox. It commemorates a change in plans. It is associated with treachery, rebellion and success. Traditions include public and private releasing from oaths and acts of daring.

Government

The Neluskskel clan has a tribal leadership of seven elders who had taken other the clan in the Shattering. They claim they are the original 'successful' experiments, but this is not true. They say they have an intelligence higher than any member of their clan as they are all changed beings who they trained and educated below their level to maintain control of their leadership positions. These seven elders have around two hundred and fifty years of experience in fighting, strategic planning, and terror tactics backing them up. They are the oldest kin'toni yet discovered. The one goal of the government is to dominate their part of the world through terror and manipulation.

This panel of elders are evil and twisted individuals who will do anything, kill anyone to remain in power and live forever. The only factor that jeopardizes the elders' grip of control is the two religious factors within their clan. This has caused them to remove religion from their leadership roles. They claim complete loss of faith due to their ordeal with the original creators and do not allow the two fractions to influence their decisions. This has become a double-edged sword. Even though the elders make themselves seen as an unbiased government, they are also seen as soulless, cold, and cruel just like their original creators.

Since they are allies of the Falyir and Eladlye clans, who are too interested in dominating their part of the world, through terror and manipulation if needed. The seven Neluskskel elders in charge of their clan's government occasionally mean with leaders of the Falyir and Eladlye clans to discuss their plans for kin'toni'ati domination. Once every several years these three clans will meet to discuss topics such as financial and economical enforcement, as well as new law propositions. They are the enemies of the Diwarale clan and the Qetia clan. The Diwarale clan and the Qetia clan have made war with them in times past.

The political structure is an autocracy and a strong influence is guilds and syndicates. A popular issue is a military and the government's stability is rapidly disintegrating. In this clan personal freedoms: extremely bad and scandals are very frequent. Foreign Relations are somewhat bad and falling and the main export is slave labourers. The main import is trained animals and the main resource is mining gems. In trade, there is a slight deficit and the economy's strength is stable and improving. In this clan most wealth is government-controlled and most of the clan is very poor. The seven elders have made themselves rich.

Military

The Neluskskel kin'toni clan has an organized army but it is weak by normal standards. They are clumsy on the ground and do not have any weapons of their own that can overpower the more advanced clans. This is why they had infiltrated and taken over the Minemi clan. They serve as the Neluskskel ground forces while they attack from the air. They have as weapons, wood and stone spears and bows and arrows. They rely on their ability to attack from a distance (via the sky) to claim more territory. They do not often claim much territory, but when they do, it is to keep it. kin'toni of this clan prefer raiding.

If they were to be forced into hand to hand combat, they would certainly fail. kin'toni of this clan are sly creatures but do not possess the advanced ability to make their iron swords or shields. They instead try and steal them from more advanced clans, but the weapons that they get, they cannot keep long, for they do not care for what they take. This clan plans their attacks very carefully. They survey the lands they target and map them out on parchment made of thin tree bark using a spot of ink like sap from a plant and a quill to draw with. The maps they draw are surprisingly detailed and show every possible route of escape in case the mission fails.

They then relay their plans to the infiltrated 'leader' of the Minemi clan who rallies the ground troops for the attack. This all hinges on whether or not the religious leader does not intervene. The religious leader does not intervene much unless the clan is at great risk. Most attacks upon neighbouring clans are to raid for food, supplies, or unchanged inhabitants. These attacks are swift, merciless, and precise, leaving the targeted clan stunned and rattled. These attacks are coming more often now, but in each one, the Neluskskel kin'toni Clan loses some of their few kin'toni.

The clan has little heavy armour as this would make them too heavy to fly. Because of that, they are weak to ranged attacks. They do not carry much in the way heavy weapons for the same reason. In their territory, the Neluskskel clan resides within stone structures built upon high canyon ledges where they can easily defend their territory against attacks. For they are one of the few clans, yet discovered, that can fly. Still, they are not untouchable as the canyon walls are easily climbable and have access to the cave systems to their neighbouring clan. Not many know the way around the caves.

Religion

Only those who fight gain entrance to what they see as Heaven. Those who cringe at the sight of blood join the failures and maybe redeem themselves or are found out and killed. This clan has several religions, making them torn spiritually speaking. One fraction has come to worship the giant birds that fly in the night sky. This fraction believes that they are their guardians, their protectors from evil thoughts and actions. They do not believe taking from other clans is evil; just a necessity of survival. The colour of that fraction is a shade of green and they do not like the followers of the cave worms.

The second fraction has come to worship the cave worms along with the Minemi clan. This fraction believes they were rejected by their kind. They also believe that they too could have easily been seen as a 'failed experiment' by their original creators. They turn to the cave worms because they have been known to offer nourishment in times of famine. Give shelter from the sun with their bodies and physically protect them from other clans. The colour of this fraction is a shade of blue. The follows of the giant birds are far more than the followers of the cave worms.

These two fractions are in a constant state of friction. There have been some skirmishes between the two factions and a civil war over religion is almost unavoidable. It is only their tribal government that can manage and keep the peace as it is somehow able to keep them from ripping the clan into two smaller sects which could easily be wiped out by rival clans. The tribal government is finding it harder each year to stop the entire clan from ripping itself apart. How long will the clan last before it tears itself apart and becomes a target for other clans is unknown, but not long?

There is a very small minority in this clan that worships more than one religion, but not any of the aforementioned, for they would be killed by both fractions. They are getting rarer each year they are killed off. They are the small minority that often finds themselves as Vyrists, meaning they worship their ancestors and consider their ancestors as the spirit in their body guiding them towards the right path. kin'toni in one other minority also believe in and worship the birds (and, in some cases, cave worms as well) as they serve as a symbolic representation of their existence. This is not a very common belief and is dying out fast.

Miscellany

some nights when kin'toni in this clan look for things to steal those in this clan will often look for weaponry such as a battle-axe or a flammable liquid glass bottle. Once they can find these things without their rival kin'toni' knowledge of it they make a run for it, carrying whatever they found with them as they glide to other places within certain regions. This may explain their terroristic behaviour. When they gather now and then — usually it's once every month — they will often reside in caves to spend a sleepless day praising the birds and singing ancient songs about them in a Baathian tongue.

It is often a momentous occasion when songs of praise to the birds are sung, as they can often involve the use of dance and music for extra accompaniment. Once they are done they head into the night and begin their nightly activities. In some cases when Neluskskel kin'toni come out at night to look for stuff or scavenge, they will come across a zu'aan. Some of those in the Neluskskel clan stare at it for a moment, then walk away; others, however, pursue or chase the zu'aan and turn it into a kin'toni. Most can turn the zu'aan into one of them without a problem; some, however, aren't as lucky, as their bite marks sometimes cause the zu'aan to bleed to death as a result of a penetrated spinal cord.

The problem with some of the kin'toni in this clan is that either they're too smart for their good or they don't have the patience or motivation to learn new things. As a result, most of those in this clan resort to stealing and thievery as a necessity of their every-night lifestyle, which may also explain how they can manage to get away with stealing without their victims' knowledge. An important constellation to the clan is called Jyat, These ten bright stars form the shape of three women. The constellation represents the remnants of a myth from a lost culture. It is most significant during summer when it appears set towards the Southwestern horizon.

The clan's written language has characters that are formed with lines and sharp angles in a fairly simple style. They represent sounds. The clan's flag is a rectangle with a solid silver background and a rectangle of deep green in the upper left-hand corner. There is no emblem. The clan's literacy rate is ten per cent, the gender ratio is eighty per cent male and twenty per cent female. In this clan, the life expectancy is fifty years. A ritual of this clan is that anyone seeking to be blessed with talent can offer a gift of music beneath a tree under a full moon. A superstition is: if you draw a weapon in a courtyard in the morning you might cause an argument if you don't have a lucky charm.