Doin Tribal Zu'aan

History

The history of the Doin tribal zu'aan dates back to the year of 4E 207, when, in the midst of the chaos ongoing in the fallen lands that were once claimed by the Xenea Empire, a group of 67 ex-criminals hid out in a dusty cave, most of them were given their sentences without trials or plain concrete reasons, jailed without a choice to defend themselves. As they hid in a cave, divided groups began to attempt to dig out of the cobblestone structures which kept them stuck, since most of them were afraid to even get out of the prison due to the risk of any kin'toni attack.

They found their only hope in a fluffy companion, a tiny carnivorous mammal, with a strong and flexible body, sharp teeth, and retractable claws in their paws, that also had a few abilities they didn't notice at first, such as enhanced night vision and a well-developed sense of smell; these animals that the group came to call podolapos were always a key to keep the zu'aan afloat, their behaviour was often playful, helping with sanity. They were also keen-hunters, which helped the zu'aan in dealing with rodents and other critters that might worsen living conditions.

By the year of 4E 208, as rations were running low and they were unsure they'd be able to survive, now with only 53 members, they turned back to their fluffy companions and observed a pack of them and how that same pack seemed to cycle into a very hidden cranny every now and again, once following them there, they found a way more developed way out, a tunnel which the members of the tribe took to using as a route out, this excavation went on for days on end until they were finally able to see some light.

In the year of 4E 210, the ex-prisoners and their group of podolapos made it out, but their journey wasn't made any easier, by now, another 4 zu'aan had passed away due to the horrid conditions they were subjected to, and the area they found their freedom in was the Emiay Dunes, a vast series of sandy and dry slopes which extended themselves for kilometers on end. As hope dwindled more and more, the group of prisoners decided to follow the ones who allowed them to escape in the first place, the group of podolapos.

And, as if a miracle had happened, that same group of adorable felines were the ones who let the group achieve a safe place to exist in, bringing them to an area with a very small, but clearly necessary lake, next to a couple of tall and lanky trees which not only gave a moderate amount of fruit, but also provided shade. The group slowly began to enjoy their isolation along with their tiny buddies, slowly allowing them to create systems for the safety of their self-sustaining, as well as huts and many tools that allowed them to slowly explore more.

Reaching more fruit, different small lakes, and create technology which, even if somewhat flawed, still allowed them to purify a majority of the water they encountered.

Psychology

The psychological framework of the Doin tribe is able to act as an extension of most of their developed societal notions as it combines the overall functioning of their tribe as well as their extensive and intensive relations with podolapos, this is first illustrated by their very sensory conditioning, which is heavily shaped by not only their evolved perception through sound that, via years of training, seems to receive a purpose to remain as a sort of "watcher" tribe, that holds onto a heightened auditory muscle memory.

This allows them many skills that many other tribes under different developments might lack, such as spatial mapping through noise and the measurement of threats based on noise; though, this comes not without its drawbacks, such as a high level of discomfort and anxiety that might be born from series of unpredictable and overall chaotic sounds. Their overall psyche is also deeply shaped by series of collective traumas, though they were traumas that allowed them to adapt rather than to break; this can be observed by how they used to be deeply afraid of ever facing any set number of kin'toni,

And now developed an intricate system that allowed them to at least hold a couple off, the same can be said about loud noises, that they adapted from being something only panic-related to something that can be utilized under controlled means to not only test resilience but to contribute to fending off kin'toni. Furthermore, it also allowed them to create stronger levels of emotional intelligence and discipline, which lets them deal with mental collapses and sensorial overloads responsibly and carefully.

This emotional regulation is also deeply shaped by how they observed the behaviour around the podolapos, seeing how the cute animals tend to focus on observing before pouncing on the challenges they face, on how they take to different sorts of playful leisure as a way to release stress instead of in explosive fight or flight responses, how they validate withdrawal after critical situations, and how they often seek comfort in proximity instead of plain speech; which translated for the members of the tribe as responsible ways to deal with their issues.

This is without turning those things into collectivized issues that may damage the overall well-being of the member's family or the very tribe as a whole, contributing to their before-mentioned high emotional intelligence. Though, even that developed maturity doesn't come with a select few drawbacks, since the mentality of a Podolapo is often one that carries a hefty amount of trust issues, and this translated to the zu'aan from the Doin tribe via their overall constant judgement to other people regarding their different set of behaviours, or perhaps their different set of reactions from sudden series of stimuli.

This oftentimes complements their notion of a certain distaste towards overreactions, that might be seen as panic-like or risky. Individuals that carry themselves with quiet confidence and who carry more mysterious tendencies tend to earn trust a lot faster than those which carry eloquent roles or achievements. The Doin also tend to detect lies and dishonest behaviour a lot faster due to how skeptical they might be towards other members regardless of proximity.

Culture

When it comes to the cultural development of the Doin tribe, they undeniably draw a whole lot from their fluffy companions, the podolapos, especially when it comes to their overall behaviour around sound, which they tend to seem to have mastered to a certain degree. This notion is observed in their educational training, you see, the Doin are trained since early to be able to identify things through their respective sounds, be it materials when they're being dropped or messed with, but also the way that those materials are being moved, and sometimes, with very skilled and well-trained Doins.

Even the distance of certain individuals or materials, such as being able to tell how close they may be from series of trees during their travels. Other than that, they also really enjoy the presence of podolapos and this is expressed in many different ways, be it by art, where members of the tribes picture themselves living alongside the fluffy companions quite often, making it a core part of their livelihood, and that's not only seen, say, in paintings or drawings, but also in their architecture, where houses oftentimes have little places for the little animals to rest at.

As well as little bowls outside many windows that allow for the felines to enjoy a treat or drink some water in a hot day regardless of which roof they rest on; this reverence also extends to the overall process of domestication, though it does differ from the usual way it is performed as many members instead see it as an act of servitude for the podolapos instead of seeing them as properly said pets, though the dynamic does remain close to the latter. Furthermore, in combination with how the Doin draw a lot of their attention to the mastery of sound.

They tend to often build bells in their houses and in other tiny things, such as for little collars that are used to determine the ownership of podolapos to a certain individual or family. As for their houses, bells are used as a simple manner to signal when someone's at the door or perhaps a way to signal nighttime for children that may be playing outside, but as for larger establishments where bells are used, they tend to carry other purposes, such as signaling attacks or to incapacitate advancing kin'toni since they're so driven by sound as well.

Individuals of the tribe tend to create a few tools to protect themselves from when bells are played too loudly, the most common one being a head accessory that is made from leather and fur, shaped similarly to podolapos ears, which are then inserted into a zu'aan's ears to protect them from loud noises. This doesn't focus only on practicality but also on many leisure-related practices, such as in public rituals that go to intense levels of noise to play different complex sound patterns, which is not only done to create enjoyable tunes and to train endurance, but to also test levels of coordination, for example.

And even during these, those rituals are often controlled by the constant observation of surrounding podolapos as to not cause increased and unnecessary levels of stress, which does show a prioritized hierarchy in what's more important culturally, placing control higher than noise itself.

Government

The foundational philosophy which dictates the governing manner of the Doin tribe is one that frames the function of government as an agent which is responsible for the extension of survival above any ideological representation, seeing it as an undeniable priority in the face of the harsh conditions of the Emiay Dunes and the minuscule population of the Doin tribe, which leads to a widely popular rejection of loud authorities, spectacles or the accumulation of political power via charisma, most political campaigns are done quietly in a mouth-to-mouth manner or simply by pamphlets,.

Leading to a preference for restraint and long-term thinking instead of flashy performances in debates; showing how even in politics the love of the tribe for the nature of the podolapos remains alive. The structure of power follows a government body that is structured by, to put it in simple political science terms, a council, a group of small members that are chosen as a tool to avoid public and loud diffusions or responsibility, each of those members representing a different sector of the tribe's functioning, be it the interests for the defense of the tribe, of travel and exploration, of social well-being.

Or the management of resources; just overall a group of individuals which seek to create a dialogue to make proper decisions that account for each different part of the tribe, it is also quite libertarian, that being in the way that it focuses a lot more on processes instead of people. The selection for such array of individuals is done and legitimized via their demonstrated competence not only in each of their sectors, but in historical situations of stress, where long observation periods take place with the goal of observing emerging leaders that remain standing still.

This is regardless of situation until the point where they're appointed to a series of votes that seek to determine the representative of each sector of the society. An example would be a military leader that is not able to show himself as emotionally responsible during the training and maintenance of troops, but also performs greatly during a kin'toni invasion or during the escorting of materials throughout the Emiay Dunes. The process for formal removal happens via the simple loss of overall trust, decided by a vote.

That is often birthed from failure to maintain composure in times where others also can't stand up for themselves.Laws exist in very small numbers, there are few due to the slower and more long-term thinking nature of the political processes of the Doin tribe, those laws often focus on simple practicality tied to survival, well-being and cohesion; they emphasize social enforcement over violent punishment, often trying to combat the vectors of criminality instead of spending debating time over metrifying the damage done by specific actions or individuals.

Thus, the enforcement system overall has a bigger focus on restricting access to the criminal world instead of driving abstract nails into consequences. Thus, the tribe actually seems quite happy with the lack of an overwhelming amount of laws, making the current amount not only more digestible, but more practical as well.

Military

Considering the historical processes which led the Doin tribe to the state they are in now, their military philosophy becomes a live representation of deterrence; it exists as a formalized institution with very few objectives that aren't related to self-defense and survival, war itself is considered as an undeniable problem, be it physical due to the creation of casualties, be it psychological due to the grief generated from loss of life and/or infrastructure, or be it sensorial due to the overwhelming panic that might emerge during it.

So, for the Doin tribal zu'aan victory becomes a notion defined by trying to minimize just about everything that's birthed from war, such as losses, advancements and the destruction of social cohesion; these ideas overall lead to a popular rejection of any attempts of creating individualistic heroic ideas during a battlefield, which is a zone that should never be treated such as a spectacle. The chain of command which structures their military forces is one that follows the direct orders commanded by the council, where there exists no such thing as commanders or sergeants that hold onto political protagonism.

The only agent that sort of represents something like that would be the individual responsible for representing the military forces inside the council, and he has no more power of decision-making than any other member of the council. Units are, therefore, divided and organized according to their function instead of their hierarchical position, be those ambushing and scouting units, support and evacuation units, soldiers meant for direct ground confrontation, or those that operate offensive bells.

Speaking of bells, they serve a huge undeniable role in their defense matters against kin'toni, since those are often directed by sound, the loud sound of ringing bells is oftentimes used to cause disorientation amongst the invading forces, as for the Doin themselves, who are not big fans of loud chaotic noises, they utilized, as was briefly mentioned in the culture section, head accessories that are shaped such as podolapos' ears to muddle down any sensorial noisy interactions.

When it comes to recruitment and training, it follows their emotional responsible notions of always tending and caring for other members of their tribes regardless of their individual challenges, not only that, but recruitment itself often seeks to recruit members that are more emotionally stable and perceptive instead of fully on strong and aggressive. Now, when it comes to training, it focuses a lot on some specific characteristics that shape the living style of the Doin tribe, such as the ability to develop more enhanced sound identification and spatial awareness.

As well as different ways to regulate stress under tough situations, something that comes up a lot when combating kin'toni. Furthermore, in direct confrontation, if you can call it that, the Doin draw once again from their feline buddies, though this time in their observant, thoughtful pounces, since the tribe's troops often prefer to fight with a plethora of ideals that tend to avoid direct face-to-face confrontation, especially considering how most of their skirmishes are with a biologically tougher opponent, the kin'toni race.

Their strategies rely way more on ambushes that utilize the terrain for advantage, as a means to avoid prolonged engagements, which is something made to try and avoid unnecessary casualties instead of an expression of cowardice.

Religion

The religion of the Doin tribe follows the very being they have come to cherish to such a high degree thus far, the podolapos, thus creating the religion of podolaposism, a religion which the nature of its deity is an incountable amount of living Gods, living Gods that aren't all-powerful, all-good, or all-knowing, they are the incarnate representation of deities that is translated into how they've become such small and soft animals despite the brutal world zu'aan are currently forced to live in.

It is proof, divine proof, that survival doesn't require aggressiveness, dominance, or anything that justifies violence, which shaped how the Doin believe the podolapos are the purest forms possible to represent the right way to live, they are sacred because of their gentle endurance, while still being flawed creatures. What makes the podolapos divine by nature, and clearly representations of deities for the Doin, is how they "clearly embody the divine qualities that the Doin have historically sought to accomplish themselves: having a higher level of perception, always being thoughtful before aggressive actions.

Emotionally responsible, and of course, having that mastery over one's own hearing. This set of behaviours is seen by the Doin as clearly intentional divine lessons, it's every intricate detail about how the podolapos function, every strike of their paws, every moment of listening, every combative purr, it's all clearly perfect for the Doin.Worship is expressed in many different sorts of rituals, such as acts of service that go from small donations or the act of caressing the fur of any Podolapo you see on the street, to the very shaping of the tribe's infrastructure.

That often times is seen more Podolapo-friendly than zu'aan-friendly, with a vast array of scratching poles and alimentation bowls that are constantly refilled just about everywhere. It's all about feeding, observing, and protecting podolapos, it's the sacred duty left to the Doin by the Gods as a favor that they must pay for having the very right to even experience podolapos' existence first-hand. This translates into rituals which involve silence, quietness and just overall the treatment of the felines such as teachers.

Whose every act is a lesson to how to behave better as a tribe, which explains how they're always being quietly observed and cherished. The death of a Podolapo is seen as as close of a crisis as the very destruction of a housing unit in the tribe, it's often seen as a warning or a sign of collective failure that the tribe must put all their efforts into repenting for, it often translates into not only quite a hefty amount of post-death rituals such as a very respectable burial, but also the reinforcing of the infrastructure that serves to keep podolapos safe.

As to keep the divine beings well to the best of the Doin tribe's efforts; furthermore, the Doin don't believe in the reincarnation of podolapos, defending that each and every single one is irreplaceable, be it by spots on their fur or the beans on their paws, every Podolapo is extremely unique to the other, and every single one should be cherished regardless of their characteristics, given their own name, and given the appropriate amount of love.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

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