Cliegh Tribal Zu'aan

History

The Cleigh tribal zu’aan follows an origin history which dates back to the year of 4E 276, when this tribe was already very well established on the valleys of Tondves. Life was peaceful and the tribe followed a decently structured republic which held enough power to suffer fewer losses to kin’toni in comparison to most tribes around the Shattering age, but all of what they built came to a halt due to the effects of the volcanic winter over their environment. A heavy and dense cloud of poisonous air started settling along the tribe's establishments, at first treated as a simple fog.

But as it slowly made the zu'aan of the tribe more sluggish, weak, and forgetful, it started to be seen as a threat amongst most of the common people. However, in the year of 4E 277, the first casualty was related to this dense and toxic air, which alarmed the Cleigh's leadership to the point where, by the other day, every remaining member of the tribe was told to flee to the mountains where they'd be able to hide from this killer cloud. By the time those orders were given out, however, the cloud had already spread far and wide, and with most members disoriented, a glimpse of hope emerged from the clean clouds which roamed the sky above the toxic, wasteful ones.

A species of bird named the Ranyth came from above and dove into the heavy air which plagued the escape of the Cleigh tribe. This bird of prey was not only beautiful as it flashed its sharp talons, but it also had a wingspan which spread wide enough to cover one's view of the sun, and it used this to guide the Cleigh's members in flocks on their path to the mountain. By the year of 4E 278, the vast majority of the tribe had already arrived at the Tondves Mountains. Many stayed near the floor as to not only set up shop but to also mourn those which came to pass in their travels, be it from the heavy toxic fog itself, be it from raiding kin'toni, or be it from other sorts of illnesses and other issues.

However, another select few which came to bond themselves more with different Ranyths decided to continue their journey, climbing higher and higher up the mountains as to explore what other wonders the Tondves region held. The higher they climbed, the more assistance they needed from those birds, which became closer and closer companions to the Cleigh, until the year of 4E 285, where the first blood bond was settled between a Ranyth and their self-declared trainer. This same duo was able to find themselves at the mountains' highest peak, where the zu'aan of the duo noted that his mind felt clearer.

As if they and their Ranyth could become one with the sky; once stories of this achievement reached reports down below and inside the mountains where other Cleigh settled their new tribe, the tale of the duo became legendary, and it forever shaped how the Cleigh tribe was structured and organized from that point forward.

Psychology

The psychological outline of the Cleigh tribal zu'aan draws clear lines from the very history which allowed for the tribe's existence. This is illustrated perfectly in how they associate height with clarity and safety, as well as with moral superiority, which is drawn pretty clearly from the original story of a Ranyth trainer and their fleeing from the toxic fog into the mountains' peak; which makes it so elevation is translated into a symbolic element that serves as an element in a vast set of existential truths that try to display that higher places, elevation.

And all the synonyms that represent distance from the ground are fundamental steps into also elevating one's body and mind. In contrast, this dynamic makes it so people which are "locked" to the ground are seen as more suspicious, often associated with lower moralities and decaying threats. Another normalized feature of the Cleigh tribe is their interdependency relationship with the Ranyths, something that is far from being frowned upon even when presenting how the zu'aan depend on a species of bird to keep their society running; it is, instead, compared to a needed measure to secure mutual survival.

Even if it does hinder the overall notion of autonomy within the average member of the Cleigh tribal zu'aan, it is still placed very far from any idea of weakness; it is the intertwining between function and worth into a feathered buddy that is often treated as an extension of the trainer’s body, many even naming them as third arms or second brains due to how close trainer to Ranyth relations often get. Another contrasting feature birthed from how they observe distance from the ground as a superior notion for individual achievements and for general existence.

Any sort of social or literal action which is seen as descension is very much feared, even dreaded upon by many members of the tribe. Be it when you're forced to go down a series of stairs, be it by falling after an injury, or even by the slumping of your spine as you age, it is all compared to not only existential failure, but even to things such as cognitive decline and perpetuating ideals of misery; this fear in turn drives many of the members of the Cleigh tribe to be radical risk-takers, doing about anything they deem necessary to deny their own possible weakness.

When it comes to their perception of outsiders, it is mixed due to how the Cleigh often view themselves as friendly, offering hospitality and refuge for any outsiders that happen to pass by the Tondves Mountains, but at the same time, they observe about anyone that comes from lower grounds as individuals which are mentally clouded, regardless of their cultural development, military strength, or interesting history. They are all treated as slow thinkers, and while this notion doesn't serve a direct objective of mistreatment and prejudice.

It often translates itself in conversation as condescension, since the outsiders are naturally perceived as individuals which cannot perceive the world properly.

Culture

The cultural framework of the Cleigh tribal zu'aan is embedded deep within their societal development and how it is often shaped around the bird friends that became the tribe's trademark. Ranyths serve as way more than just companions, evolving themselves into a fundamental cultural axis of the Cleigh; they are not only treated as sacred animals, but as plain participants which partake in every cultural practice that might be seen in the Cleigh tribe. The vast majority of the cultural legitimacy for the tribe is given via the approval of the bird-trainer bonds.

Be it in their fair expression along songs and rites, or be it in the extensive development of garments and marks that are structured to accommodate wings and flight patterns, prioritizing the comfort of the Ranyths. This also extends itself to the architecture and how it was developed within the bounds of the mountain; the Cleigh architecture not only follows all of the climbing culture that is perpetuated within the tribe (clearly illustrated by climbable structures placed all around the tribe, even built as a priority to housing units), but it also shapes itself with the plain objective of allowing proper mobility for Ranyths and their trainers.

We see this expressed in homes, halls, and gathering spaces, which are quite spacious and carved into the cliffs which the tribe inhabits. Those carvings are massive and quite spacious, often times woven even across chasms, which makes it tougher to get from place to place while walking, but not for those which can fly. Festivals are also quite a common practice with the Cleigh tribe; they are loud, physical, and often times dangerous for those with little training. The biggest example of it is the one made to commemorate the anniversary of the first Ranyth duo which was able to climb to the mountain's peak.

Where the top trainers of the entire tribe are put to the test in a series of challenges that include their own adaptability to challenges and their respective Ranyth's agility, going as far as having to jump through suspended rings that are lit ablaze, allowing for insanely turbulent public displays of coordination between zu'aan and Ranyth. This act of training a Ranyth is also treated as a strong factor of cultural literacy, being able to learn its behaviours, limits, and its very biology is an equivalent to learning a fair share of technical inquiries.

Such as law or engineering; though, it all does lay behind a couple of limitations. Cultural expression and access to this festivity is often limited to the height of a zu'aan within the tribe. Those which live in the higher infrastructure, in terms of class division, have higher access to all of this cultural expression and to the fruits of the efforts made by any which commit themselves to labor within the tribe, while those that live closer to the ground are often mistreated into having less access to much of the tribe's development.

This inequality is often justified by the origin history that related being higher to being clearer of mind and instinct, which even leads those down below to fight amongst each other and justify their own mistreatment due to this common notion.

Government

The core principles which shaped the governance style of the Cleigh tribal zu'aan justify themselves in the cultural and historical roots of the tribe, which always seek to find what is elevated to be superior in every metric that can be established, which makes it so political authority is directly tied to physical height, and thus, to geographical differentiation; this is justified by the relation between height and proof of clarity and moral reliability, which made it so that the part of the tribe which lived higher up in the mountains is seen as the one more fit to hold the political power necessary for the control of the tribe's organization.

This differentiation in verticality isn't only seen in their physical discrepancies, but also in their rigid caste-like system, where the leaders which occupy the physically higher places in the Cleigh tribal zu'aan are the ones that are able to access higher parts of the development done by the tribe, having higher access to culture, education, food, and even better conditions for Ranyth training, since the bird is way better at dealing with the lower temperatures encountered at the top of the mountains.

This, in contrast, makes it so the groups of the tribe that live closer to the ground exist within a realm that is more comparable to other tribes which have fallen due to misery in comparison to those which live at the top; they have less access to tools, knowledge, and even housing, many simply thrown together with rocks. The real saddening part is how those members in the lower parts of society tend to justify their own suffering by seeing it as morally justifiable due to how the ones that live in higher castes are more experienced Ranyth trainers and more clear of mind.

Furthermore, the decision-making of the tribe is often done by a simple voting done around the adult members of the tribe; the only core difference to that of a classical ancient democracy is how the members that live higher up have proportional strength in votes as in comparison to those which live lower, making the differentiation in thought not only exist within a symbolic and cultural level, but also translate itself in practical expressions of the perpetuation of political control and the legitimization of a small group having more decision power.

The relationship between this government and the people that occupy the tribe is one that also contributes to the reshaping of the mentality of all the members of the tribe, just like is done culturally and is shown psychologically. The name given to the state which is responsible for the political governance of the Cleigh tribal zu'aan is the "Stone Dome", already giving signals and symbolic weight around the idea of protective stewardship, which makes it so all the matters done by the government for its maintenance of an unequal system are culturally justified as a means to guarantee safety for the zu'aan and the Ranyths which live in the tribe instead of hegemonic practices of exclusion.

Military

The details which regard the military doctrine of the Cleigh tribal zu'aan focus on many of the already common metrics that shape the society's functioning as has been written about so far, those being Ranyths, and the verticalized divisions of attention which isn't structurally worse for those lower settlements; this may sound interesting so, starting with how the vertical dominance shapes the military strategy of the Cleigh, we often see how altitude is, already naturally, a primary defensive asset.

It is way more difficult for kin'toni to scale up the mountain and attack in nearly freezing conditions, especially when they can satiate their hunger in those lower settlements, which makes it so the military isn't divided equally by region. This may make it sound like the military is more heavily concentrated within the bottom as to protect the more vulnerable regions of the tribe, but it is actually quite the opposite, which follows the logic of deeming those living at the top as more valuable and clear, therefore they should be more protected systematically.

This difference in defensive policy is expressed clearly on how the upper tiers and castes of the tribe receive way more protection in comparison to those down under that, when they do have troops assigned to that region, they often are used as tools for vigilance instead of actual defense, which results in cyclical wipings done in the lower regions of that tribe, where the kin'toni come in, most troops either are killed or desert, and those members are basically used as cannon-fodder, being mauled and eaten by hordes of kin'toni while the resources of the tribe are used to protect the ones up above.

This cycle of wipes is actually quite expected by the Cleigh government and is quite normalized, seen as resetting phases that are deemed as necessary for the maintenance of the order of the tribe; after each wipe, the individuals at the upper regions of the mountains that are deemed less clear-headed and less efficient trainers are often forcefully migrated towards the lower settlements as to reoccupy not only the infrastructure that was once built, but to also serve as the next set of free meat given to kin'toni to keep the upper society running well.

Away from the political inequality done within the tribe and its defensive policies, the Cleigh also excel in the use of Ranyths in warfare, be it via the usage of aerial scouting and rapid-responsive interceptions, or the usage of all that trained-up coordination between fighters and their birds, and even tactics of vertical flanking, all allowing the Ranyth to be translated into a proper combat unit just like the troops of the tribe. Furthermore, they're also great in weaponizing the mountain for their own defense, creating a vast array of choke points and collapsible paths that impede the kin'toni from climbing up the mountain and attacking those members that live up above.

This may seem like an issue for the transportation of members from the upper regions to the ones closer to the floor, but this is rarely done unless it is after a wipe, so it's not treated as a necessary thing.

Religion

The core theological formulation of the Cleigh tribal zu'aan follows a religious doctrine which is shaped around the correlation of spiritual clarity to the physical elevation that individuals are able to do by climbing the mountain, the very metric of height is something that is a direct existential purification, something justified by the notion that the tribe defends that the higher you go the clearer your mind and your soul will be; this sacred function is expressed in the world of the mortals by the Ranyths.

Which are seen as divine mediators which exist between the salvation and eternal blessing that is the infinite height provided by the sky and the mind of those damned to forever live within the bounds of the mountain, they are directly seen not as Gods, but as necessary agents that exist to guide individuals towards transcendence; these birds are, to sum it up, living witnesses that exist to show the sky's sacred will, and this witnessing is put to practice by their common participation in any sort of rituals or even political decision-making.

The original story follows the historically accurate tale of the first zu'aan which was able to create a blood bond with a Ranyth, that individual which was never able to accurately be named, was able to transcend the blindness provided by the infectious and heavy cloud which destroyed the tribe's previous settlements, in many accounts this is often exaggerated, showing how this messiah was fully blinded and weakened by the air's poison and still persevered through the plague, which is often used as a narrative to tell people at the bottom of the mountain's structure that they're there by their own fault.

The miracle of the sky is often given by the idea that the dense and poisonous cloud never ceased and, to this day, still plagues the minds of any of the individuals which live by the bottom or medium placements within the mountain to this day, keeping them symbolically inferior, both in terms of their morals and the clarity of their minds; though this has been disproven by the fact that shows the air has dissipated long ago, around the year of 4E 42, but many, especially those in the bottom of the mountain.

Still thoroughly believe the cloud is still out there plaguing their minds, which makes them inferior groups of zu'aan to this day. In terms of rituals, we often observe attempts of connecting Ranyths to zu'aan more spiritually directly, such as bonding rites that follow a series of tests for those higher up in society, allowing them to put what they learned in terms of Ranyth trainerhood to practice in expensive obstacle courses; ceremonies are also held with the idea of seeing the individuals which are more superior by putting them into climbing competitions publicly.

This is one of the few opportunities that allow for the individuals at the bottom of the tribe's structure to give their best shot at elevating themselves socially, though this has less than ten examples of being done effectively in the tribe's entire history.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

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