Ghardough Tribal Zu'aan

History

The history of the Ghardough tribe follows a series of miners which used underground settlements to keep themselves safe during the expansion of the kin'toni plague and attacks, those ground-dwelling people kept a relatively safe way of life, being able to averagely fend off different sorts of kin'toni attacks while still maintaining a healthy population, or so that was until the year 4E 182, when a huge cave-in kept that group of zu'aan trapped within a deep hole during an important escort mission which encompassed a huge majority of the tribe.

Weeks passed, those that didn't accompany the escorting mission were slowly picked off by kin'toni, dying one by one until the only members left of the mining group left alive were the ones within that cave-in; which was actually caused due to the intensification of the volcanic winter outside and its rising intensity. Though, light did eventually come in an unexpected manner, a girl which always sat next to a blocked exit noticed a small glimpse of freedom in the form of a critter.

That exit, while yes functional and existent, lead straight to the Kacot Deciduous Forest, an area extremely prone for kin'toni to live in due to their vast fruity trees, many different lakes, and just an overall beautiful landscape; but remember that glimpse of freedom the young girl found? That was the Bessle, a giant species of moth with massive powdery and toxic wings, which at first was just dismissed as another one of the toxic bugs that you can find anywhere, but upon further inspection paired with some childish curiosity, it gave the members of the Ghardough tribe quite the insight.

The young girl was able to observe how most kin'toni would attempt to eat just about any living thing they came across except for those moths, and when the girl finally saw a kin'toni eating a Bessle she noticed how it quickly died, starting with vomiting, which turned into a bloody vomit within minutes, until they collapsed on the floor and began tearing away at their own skin. This, instead of terrifying the girl, filled her with excitement, as she reported back to the rest of the Ghardough tribe that if they cover themselves in the toxic powders released by those moths.

They'd be able to freely leave the cave where they were stuck in for so long and begin a new life, though a risky one. And so it was, in the year 4E 185, after years and years of rationing food and attempting to engineer the powder of those moths into usable clothing, they were able to flee from the cave safely, avoiding most kin'toni, though, they quickly realized an issue, numbers of zu'aan were being slowly picked off by enraged kin'toni which chased them just for the thrill of the kill and starving kin'toni which would eat even due to how toxic the powder around the tribe members might be.

And so, the tribe went through their last registered great migration, this time, remaining in the same biome as they started to build their settlements within the canopies of the trees, never letting go of their bonds with the Bessles as they slowly began to develop the tribe as it's known today, one marked by fear, by moth mending, and by the beautiful and vast forests which they inhabited.

Psychology

When it comes to the psychological framework which is developed within the Ghardough tribe, they often begin by the description of their existential baseline and the importance, or the lack thereof, given to their existence. They see the very notion of life as something extremely fragile and negotiable, the act of keeping it together, to maintain it, or well, to survive, is seen as a fair procedure that goes on regardless of the world's lack of expression, a simply reactionary force that places itself indifferent towards zu'aan's existence.

It all is just seen as accidental; developing into a soft yet functional branch of nihilism. This is observed in how most of the individuals within the Ghardough tribe are able to translate much of their fears (birthed from collective trauma) into marks of self-expression which function away from panic, allowing the members of the tribe to turn most of the notions which could underdevelop the emotional stability of individuals to become tools which allow for the maintaining of composure regardless of the situation which may be imposed to a member of the Ghardough tribe.

And their interaction with the kin'toni infected world around them. Furthermore, their research focused notions also makes it so this fear, which as has just been said, many times hinder societies, turns into a formally studied and catalogued tool that has the objective of basing most emotional responses around the procedural research method; this structurally promoted indifference paired with calmness does lead to the development of another concept within the Ghardough's psychology.

The Objectification and/or instrumental views towards life as has been developed by the Ghardough is one of the most crucial fundamentals responsible for the tribe's psyche. This instrumentalization of biological life not only affects themselves, to the point where the very zu'aan which make part of the tribe become mere tools for scientific research, but the ideals and their overall treatment of nature, which is something so not moralized it becomes a no man's land in terms of regulation and treatment.

It is completely repurposed within the bounds of ecological cycles and scientific research. About nothing there is deeply concerned about or conservated, bodies, or organisms, just about anything within their ecosystem is seen as a mere vessel utilized for the functioning of their developed method, be it the self, be it complex living systems, or be it nature as a whole. Though, research not only serves as the main contributor to shaping objectives of the tribe as a whole, but it also allows for emotional survival in the faces of the challenges faced within a kin'toni occupied world.

This actually leads to quite a hierarchy in terms of individual needs, where curiosity overtakes hope's roles as the emotional independent from the zu'aan being (since it instead of belonging to the being, it belongs to life; it is the expression of life defending itself). Curiosity, as it overtakes this whole, shapes the very purpose of every zu'aan within the tribe to be or to further develop research, or to allow the research to take practical shaping by taking to engineering or architecture, per example; it is the new rule for emotional grounding, allowing for even death to become less threatening than ignorance.

Culture

When it comes to the central core that shapes the cultural expression of the Ghardough, it is necessary to dialogue about the fears which very much shape the tribe's beliefs and actions; one of the biggest fears which encompass the tribe is the one of enclosure. They are, to put it very simply, very claustrophobic, something which is not only related directly to their cultural visions, but also, as was already mentioned, to their psychology; this fear of enclosure also extends itself, oddly enough, to a huge fear of the ground.

Due to how they have a culture of believing the closer you are to the ground the more trapped you are and the less room there is to breathe. Now, it is necessary to observe their overall relationship with the bessles shows a very unique interaction between zu'aan and their respective region's fauna; we observe here that, instead of worshipping or training the moths, this tribe has developed a culture of utilizing the critter as a tool, comparable to a fair share of hammers and sickles.

This tribe also followed the steps of their quite young hero, observing and dividing moths into a semi-scientific system as a means to be able to observe and annotate their behaviours, as well as seeing their possible applicable functions for the tribe; this is seen in the memorization and study of wing toxicity, powder density, and responses to pheromones, as well as taxidermical practices. This tribe has one of the most well-developed written works of zu'aan biological studies, called The Nature of a Bessle.

Which has about every detail about those little critters, be it from their wingspan to their diet. Killing moths used to be a common practice due to the lack of experience, but after the necessary studies were done, it became highly condemnable due to its inefficiency and overall waste of labor power, not as much of a moral question. All of these notions are, clearly, quite conditioned into the many childhoods within the tribe, training what can be considered a legion of junior scientists by exposing students from a young age to toxin handling, scent mixing, and the assessment of the vast arrays of possible biological risks.

Curiosity is also another idea which is heavily put forward not only within the households of the Ghardough's families, but also in their schools, where children take classes with the purpose of ongoing research and documentation projects. It does, in turn, often make it so children are exposed to practices about the identification and differentiation between lethal and just plain irritating powders; though it is treated carefully, it has led to some historical casualties.

And of course, these countless practices of research wouldn't be done if they didn't generate vast value for the tribe, this being seen in their clothing, which has the ability to quite often absorb from the humid air so as to keep themselves feeling refreshed during hot days, or perhaps the changing of powder mixings into perfume; even things such as mapping are done by the observation of bessle migratory routes.

Government

The governmental ideology is profoundly related to said benefit of said research apparatus due to being established by said Ghardough tribe, contrary to said servitude regarding said people or, in other words, said elites; it shall be noted that regarding said high positioning related to said "intelligence" regarding said hierarchy of said knowledge, it is also related with regard to said laws being related to said hypotheses, said policies being related to said experiments.

We can also notice that sort of concept within the division of political power and their representatives, where instead of working under the different axes of societal functions, it has the role for forming the amalgamation born from the converging points of the different epistemic divisions, this can be observed in the different branches of the tribes, separating them from the classic concept of political and governmental functions, and having instead the role for continuing the modus operandi of the Ghardough.

The first would be the council of inquiry, essentially the driver for the creation of the knowledge, functioning in accordance with the assumption of frameworks, almost akin to the permanent research committee; in addition, the group would consist of 6 different people, one specialized in economics, one in medical know-how, one in infrastructure, one in the forces, and a diplomat, each with a term of 3 years after election through general consensus by the people in filtered applications which hold strictly high positions in the realm of academia, usually through their public service.

The second council is referred to as the directorate of advancement; this is similar to the executive body tasked with the translation of theory into policies and actions because it is made up of a team of philosophers, civilian advisers, economists, political scientist, and two of the most excelling students in the educational units of the tribe; this takes care of the contrast existing between abstract knowledge and society to face before the applicability of the decision of what could be done by the government because there is room for a more comprehensive outlook.

And finally, there is the ethics and oversight board, which serves as a functional brake system, existing and formed because of the establishment of a long term accountability by fighting as a means of securing a moral solidification of the law theorists and lawmakers; this board is made up of elders and philosophers who have the ability to offer memories and consequences and put these notions into a shape of abstract ethical thinking procedures all aimed at creating a space for the progress of all by regulating the preceding two entities' power of reflecting their thirsty for political power into government policies.

The consequences observed from this system extend themselves to each of the other sections of this article; we observe how behavior towards leaderships remains respectful while still not being a sacred thing, which allows for the formulation and permanence of more critical individuals able to not only criticize their leaders thoroughly but also stand up whenever accountability is improperly violated.

Military

Beginning with the military philosophy which coordinates the Ghardough's armed forces, we observe quite a sensible take and outlook towards the purpose of war and violence, where it distances itself thoroughly from any romanticization of killing and from any ideals of hyper-militaristic ideologies; conflict is instead treated, as many of the notions from their society, by the means of their method, basically being utilized as a field trial where they are able to try out their scientific creations made for warfare,.

Every kin'toni encounter is logged and analyzed to further refine their future means of defense, every agent in those warring times being treated as operators of an ongoing experiment. Within their military ranks, a very important role and entire division is given to the fluff friends of the Ghardough, the Bessles. Named “The Bessle Corps”, we observe the creation and manufacturing process of biological warfare units based around the giant moth species “Bessle”, where units are trained within specialized factions by the utilization and development of the chemistry and biological engineering of the substances that species produce.

We observe them filling roles such as that of swarm makers, where clouds of Bessles are released in mass with the objective of obscuring kin'toni vision and allowing for the mass poisoning of areas; we also observe the plain use of them as distractions or as a series of tackles which can halt kin'toni advance and allow for the zu'aan counter-attack. And, not only utilizing that critter as a tool, the Ghardough also began to utilize their very biome and terrain as a means for self-defense.

Their landscape is weaponized as another crucial part of their defensive lines; we see the canopies of the large Kacot trees being only usable to those zu'aan which are experienced in the built routes within the forest, giving them a height advantage over any species of advancing kin'toni which not only are not very aware of those routes, but are also in danger of the Bessle’s pheromones which constantly roam those areas of trees. Furthermore, we observe things such as silk bridges that can be dissolved at the Ghardough's will.

Or localized death zones which are created and saturated with a series of deadly toxins activated, once again, within the Ghardough's will; really illustrating how this tribe does not rely on troop-to-troop fighting, instead utilizing their heavy research for their own advantage. When it comes to the recruiting and training of soldiers, as has been detailed in the previous paragraphs, they focus more on their developed skills around the necessary requirements needed to operate, not only the weaponization of the Kacot Deciduous Forest, but also the management of the resources needed to utilize their Bessle units.

Which makes it so soldiers are made by recruiting trained chemists and biologists that have to pass through a series of physical capability tests that range from the usual work outs and speed drills, to being able mixing combat pheromones during stressful situations and navigating the canopies within a time limit and while being completely blindfolded.

Religion

The theology as it was developed within the Ghardough tribe utilizes quite a unique conception of what defines a divine and absolute deity. The very center of their religion is entirely around the Sun which their planet makes the translation process around; this comes to its overwhelmingly natural supreme position, not only for occupying a section of the sky for most of the day (moments safer to go out due to the region's kin'toni being more active at night), and also comes from how it is seen as a pure engine of process from which all the cyclical natural energy comes from.

The Sun is regarded as the first reaction, as an immovable force which exists and burns regardless of intention; it exists indifferent to the reactions which might come from the universe around it, yet it makes all life possible at the same time. It lives in constant absurd; it is no guardian, it cares for none, it simply provides, it follows the need of providing transformation and existence in uninterrupted manners. The founding myth utilized for their religion is one which establishes the Sun as an eternal and blind furnace.

It exists indifferent to its own will, serving a purpose it never chose, and a purpose which serves for it nothing, and for the zu'aan nothing, considering how in the eventual future, the only undeniable future is that their god (the Sun) will eventually fade, and all that will be left is the cosmic dust once created by it. This extends to their notions and explanations around the emergence of life, which is deeply analysed within the Ghardough's scientific method, where ignorance of a topic not yet breached does not justify placing the Sun as a reason.

This belief, while still holding its ground around nihilism, still allows for the fortification of a moral structure, though one not usually comparable to the ones from other beliefs. The notions of good and/or evil are seen as widely abstract, there being no clearly determining factor or objective metric which allows for any affirmations around it, established also due to the fact of how little it really matters by the end. The only structure which is seen being fortified is that of the Ghardough's developed method.

That serves as a continuation of the order which has been established amongst the tribe, that being of research, adapting, and motion. Though there exists, due to this belief system's dominance in terms of numbers of followers within the tribe, a fair share of internal tensions which are created due to its nearly hegemonical position, it is rare to see manifestations of such conflict outside of the realm of public debating and ideas. Such as less nihilistic notions, talking about how the Sun might not necessarily be blind.

Or that by believing a religion you negate the overall affirmation around the meaninglessness of it all, and such contradiction might falter the religious framework of the tribe, but again, it remains as a question that is still up in the air.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

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