Traherneym Tribal Zu'Aan

History

The Traherneym were a zu'aan clan hailing from the Slaugm alpine-steppe region. They were founded by a female leader named Kopertski Phrodotle who was born into a native mining community in the region. Their clan was formed from among these miner communities after their revolt against the forces of the Xalen family who controlled the mines. The Xalen's were a family of capitalist oligarchs who manipulated and profited off the labor of the tribal and uneducated population in the region. Their mines were among the most dangerous working conditions in the region due their excessive desire for profits.

The revolt had been sparked off by a mining accident that involved the owner's negligence. To make matters worse, the Xalen would refuse to pay compensation to the families and blamed the tragedy on the dead victims. The incident would give rise to widespread feelings of unhappiness and talks of revolution and rebellion and Kopertski, who lost her father in the incident would take front a populist movement to topple the Xalen. She organized a secret coalition of disgruntled miners who would become the first members of the Traherneym zu'aan clan.

She started with nonviolent measures like protests and strikes which were quickly suppressed by the Xalen's forces. Soon, Kopertski and her small band were forced to resort to more violent activities to get the Xalen's attention. They began with the destruction of government properties and bombings leading to severe reprisals which earned them the support of the miners and common folk who began to see them as heroes. They would make a collective stand and begin to drive out agents of the Xalen from within their own communities.

They slowly established themselves in the area, using rocks from the mines to build tall walls all around their perimeter. Fighting from atop these fortifications, Kopertski's forces were able to hold off the government forces. Within the walls, Kopertski formed a new community that was free from the manipulation of the Xalen and their allies. They gave up their mining and began to build beautiful stone cities within the mines. They established small farms on the surface and slowly distanced themselves from the economy of the surface world.

They would formally call themselves the Traherneym zu'aan clan after defeating the Xalen and their armies. The young clan would instantly be faced with a new challenge in the form of the kin'toni who began to pour into the region. The Traherneym found themselves in more trouble as they observed the vast physical advantage that the kin'toni had over them. Their walls too, which had been very effective against the Xalen’s forces would be of limited use here. It was only due to shelter of their underground cities built underneath their mines.

Their ingenious methods at creating bright light sources during the nights are part of what ensured the clan's survival during this phase. The clan would lose their founder in this period of chaos but would emerge out of it with new ideas and effective training in handling the chaos that was all around them.

Psychology

The Traherneym were driven by their love for their community and their desire to prosper from their mining activities. They were known to possess very weak mental faculties and could not easily grasp and adapt to new technologies and ideas. This was one of the reasons why they stuck to the hard labor of the mines which they were more than capable of. It provided them with a sustainable income for a long time with the help of the Xalen family who owned these lands. They were very hardworking and active zu'aan and encouraged all of their members to be engaged in their mines.

They were seen as one of the most skilled and adept miners in the region and could work in conditions that would put any conventional zu'aan at a state of unease. They mind had been conditioned from centuries of work to accept the claustrophobic and dark environments which would have induced panic in the uninitiated. The Traherneyym would crawl through tight spaces and risk collapses all in the name of searching for the next vein. They had an almost addictive itch to find these rich veins and the release that they received on reaching these spots was equal to the euphoria experienced after using mushroom looking plants in the bog regions.

They were very hard zu'aan with rough attitudes and were generally unwelcoming of strangers and the more civilized cultures in the region. This attitude did not win them many contacts and friends around the Slaugm region. Their mentality could be easily described as cold and unaccommodating and they would usually engage in light hearted conversations denigrating other zu'aan of the continent. They were very prejudiced and did not want outsiders coming into their lands. This was one of the most common reason for disputes and fights in the region.

This hatred for all outsiders was balanced out by a deep love for members of their own clan. This closeness was a psychological connection that led them to become interdependent on each other. This led to their close mindedness within their own clans. They did not accept any deviation from the norm and molded every individual from their clan to follow after the same culture and work that the clan had been engaged in for centuries. They were very judgmental within their own clan and would regularly disown those members who did not prescribe to their views of life and duty.

They were very possessive of their property and lands and would turn very aggressive if the strangers continued to intrude in their lands. This aggressiveness could also be triggered when they had been wronged or treated in an unfair way. The most obvious example of this tendency was their revolt against the Xalen when the neglected conditions of their mines led to its collapse and death of many of their numbers. The event would lead to the most significant uprising in their history and the creation of their own zu’aan tribe, the Traherneym clan.

Culture

The Traherneym culture was known for its dedication to hard work and its reverence for the mines in which they worked. Their culture prescribed work for all their members and discouraged any laziness or neglect in duties and responsibility. This culture was nourished by exposing their members to their work from a very young age. Children as young as five would be taken into the mines under the supervision of their elders where they could witness the nature of the clan's work and get themselves acclimatized to the surroundings where they would be spending much of their adult life.

They would slowly be assigned smaller responsibilities by the time they were ten when they would handle the less hazardous jobs on the surface or on the higher sections of the mines. These little tasks would help them build up their physical strength and get to the level that was necessary to handle tougher tasks when they were older. As teenagers, the Traherneym would assign each young member with his own personal pickaxe and shovel that would become part of their personal equipment that they carried around with them at all times.

At this age, the members would be expected to start working their way into the mines and would eventually start working within the rich lower levels once they gained enough exposure and showed an aptitude for the task. In the mining culture of the Traherneym the most reputable and influential people were the best miners who were judged, based on the weight of rocks they could mine on a single day. The strongest miners among the Tragerneym would rise on to become the elders and decision makers within their clan.

The Traherneym culture was based around the unity and love within the clan and actively discouraged any attempts to modernize or change the priorities of the clan. The culture was very close minded and hadn't changed much over the course of the centuries. They rejected repeated attempts by many members who tried to advance their methods. It was expected of everyone to follow in the mining traditions of the land and those who did not prescribe to it were subjected to social ostracization and ridicule.

These backward habits made them easily exploitable by wily businessmen such as the Xalen. The Traherneym celebrated many festivals and celebrations usually associated with their life within the mines. They would hold large feasts when a new vein was discovered or at the birth and initiation of a child. These feasts would last for many days where the Traherneym would drink themselves into a hazy daze and indulge in all sorts of celebration. The birth of a child or the initiation of a teenager into a regular worker were more moderated affairs that were accompanied by religious ceremonies that were meant to bless the child and prep him for the work ahead of him.

The culture would outgrow its deep associations with the mines after their victory against the Xalen. They would start to focus on military and cultivation on the surface, in an effort to become a fully independent clan.

Government

The first effective government structure of the tribe was created by the Tragerneym's first leader, Kopertski Phrodotle. The origins of this leadership structure were in the populist movements fronted by Kopertski in her efforts to receive justice for the deaths of many of the clan's miners due to the neglect of the mine owners, the Xalen. It started out as a clandestine organization as the Xalen authorities clamped down heavily on anyone encouraging these activities.

She distinguished herself as a leader in this role because of her prominent role in the formation of the organization as well as her forceful and domineering attitude which was able to unite the clan towards a single purpose. The group would continue to follow her lead when the revolution turned violent and the affair turned into an armed rebellion against the Xalen. She would act as a military leader once the violence began, and commenced the building of defensive structures all around the mines in the form of stone walls and towers from the resources that they mined regularly.

She was a successful orator and was able to garner the clan's support in many of her activities. She would use this influence to organize them into a clan that she called the Traherneym and actively began to fight for their own independence from the exploitative measures of the Xalen. She was a singular leader with a group of advisors and elders beneath her, who would help her make the best decision for the clan while also helping to garner the clan's support for her ideas.

Being a very traditionalist and primitive bunch, the clan had no idea of complicated forms of government or ideas such as democracy. Their new clan was still very tribal in nature and relied on many old tribal loyalties to sustain itself. Kopertski was careful to not change too much of the clan's previous systems since they were not very receptive to change. Thus, the clan would still maintain its close affinity to the mines of the region and actively began to construct their settlement within large excavated portions of these underground mines.

She would also sponsor and encourage the construction of many surface farms in order to make the can truly independent of their neighbors. The government was also responsible for organizing many of the clan's festivities and celebrations which were vital in order to maintain the morale and ensure their loyalty. As a hardworking clan, they could become restless and uneasy during long periods of idleness. Thus, Kopertski would start many construction projects both within the mines and on the surface as a means to alleviate the clan's boredom while also helping with the defense of the region.

She would assume the role of a judge in the clan's internal affairs and would be guided by a few of the most trusted elders of the clan in this regard. Her decision as a judge was considered to be final and was widely accepted by all their members. Their government was quite tolerant to most minor crimes but was very harsh on clan members who did not prescribe to the norm and were more interested in carrying out their own independent and individualistic pursuits. These individuals were labelled as a danger to their community and would be driven out of their clan at the first sign.

Military

The Traherneym's precursors were not associated with any form of combat or any military campaigns. They mainly concentrated on their mining and rarely bothered with many other activities. This tradition would only be broken by their revolt against the Xalen when their designated leader, Kopertski Phrodotle resorted to violence in order to catch the Xalen's attention and force them to take notice of the issues at hand. She and her clandestine group would be involved in many violent activities against the government and led to violent repercussions.

This was when the community would realize the importance of self-defense and the capability to stand up for themselves. They would join her en masse and would engage in military activities as part of their new clan named the Traherneym. The entire clan would take up arms and fight back against the Xalen with their mining equipment and basic military weapons. Their success was in large part only due to their construction of many defensive structures such as walls and towers that allowed them to engage safely from a distance and avoid the particularly disadvantageous close ranged battles where the better trained Xalen military would have all the advantage.

This would lead to the Traherneym's first military success as they succeeded in defending themselves against their militarily superior adversaries. Kopertski would start the militarization of the clan soon after the clan won their battle against the Xalen. It became mandatory for all of their clan members to learn the proper use of weapons. She created regular training regiments and drills to keep the clan in shape and to keep them prepared for any military activities in the future.

Their military was not the best trained nor the best equipped but they made up for it with their passion and their deep love for thier own independence. They aggressively opposed any group that threatened their way of life or challenged their authority in their lands. Their military, like much of the clan's other activities was very strict and regulated and was very opposed to changing methods and techniques. They did not welcome major changes in their organization or methods and utilized obsolete weaponry from their old armories.

The clan's military would be faced with a new challenge in the form of the kin'toni who began to pour into the region. The Traherneym found themselves in more trouble as they observed the vast physical advantage that the kin'toni had over them. Their walls too, which had been very effective against the Xalen’s forces would be of limited use here. This forced the very traditionalist clan to adapt to new methods of defense and led to a more accepting outlook towards new ideas within their military.

It was only due to shelter of their underground cities underneath their mines and their ingenious use of bright light sources to keep away the kin'toni hordes- that ensured the clan's survival during this phase. The Traherneym would continue to maintain their army along with their new methods to combat the kin’toni, who continued to linger on in the region in smaller numbers for years to come.

Religion

The Traherneym were a very primitive clan who held their own religious beliefs and were staunchly against anything opposed to their religion. This was most apparent in their disregard for progress and their contempt against any of their clan members who tried to pursue new ways of life that were different from their own- as miners. They considered these individuals as divisive forces who would lead to their downfall if they were allowed to continue with their activities.

Thus, their clan prescribed strict punishments against such individual actors in the form of expulsion or ostracization from the clan. The Traherneym believed in a god that they called the Innakh that lived within the land. They believed that their mining activities took them closer to him and would one day lead to a meeting of their two worlds. It was their aim as worshippers of this god to try and free him from his imprisonment within the ground and bring him to the surface world.

This was the reason why the clan took their mining activities very seriously. For them, it was more of a religious duty that they were performing. It was considered the obligation of every healthy and capable individual within their clan to take part in this effort and a reason why they were trained from birth. The profit that they could earn with their employers such as the Xalen was considered as a secondary benefit to their primary purpose of coming into contact with their god.

Innakh was himself portrayed as a zu'aan like creature of inhuman size, that would tower over thirty meters off the ground when he awoke. Their portrayals showed him lying in a cocooned shape with his arms straddling his legs tightly as a way to protect himself from the enormous weight that pushed down against him each day. They expected him to be clothed in their traditional miners clothing of rough sack clothing with as assortment of fur and plants that grew from all over his body due to his natural affinity with the environment and nature.

They attributed many natural phenomena to their god, including earthquakes which they saw as a sign of him turning in his sleep. They prayed to Innakh each day asking for his favor and blessings in their daily endeavors. These prayers would take the form of their elaborate festivals where the clan members would be drunk on various hallucinogens and in a meditative state where they would venture into the mines and seek solace so that they could communicate with their god.

They were led in all these activities by their elders who memorized long verses of prayers and chanted them together with their entire clans. They seek his blessings before any major venture including battles or their daily mining activities and any mishap was attributed to his displeasure.

Miscellany

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