Etar Tribal Zu'aan

History

The Etar are a tribe of Zu'ann settled on Quaon Isle, known for their pale, almost translucient skin and dark eyes. While not originally exclusively of the island, the Etar tribe came to be during the height of the kin'toni plague due to the actions of its founder, Kotan Etar. Once a small outcrop of a larger civilisation, now extinct, the protection afforded by the water around the shores of Quaon and the natural defences afforded by its rocky coastline allowed the locals of the island to survive on an effective natural fortress, severing relations with the mainland and moving into isolation to outlast the plague. As word of the plague spread, commander of local forces, Kotan Etar declared the island under quarantine and turned back any ships that approached or sank any that refused his warnings, regardless of cargo until the ships stopped coming.

With their isolation established, Kotan Etar declared himself emergency governor of the island had his people move inwards, using the vast cavern networks that worm through the Quaon isle. These caverns run from the surface level down to the sea and Kotan wished to use them as a method to keep the island fed without risking sending fishing boats that may draw attention or bring in outsiders. 'We cannot outfight so we must outlast.' he is stated to have said. Small dwellings were hacked into the rockfaces, providing simple habitation that was at once solid and defensible. The previous habitation on the surface level was abandoned and the material scavenged in order the rebuild and reinforce the cave networks, leaving the surface plain and barren.

The entrances to the caves were blocked, save for small doorways which were constantly guarded to allow for patrols to venture out to the surface and keep watch on the situation above ground with hopes of venturing back up to the surface when the plague passed. Cave and aquatic vegetation was cultivated alongside a diet of marine life which kept the people fed, while springs allowed for fresh drinking water. Settled in their new surroundings, Kotan delivered the speech that would found his people. He declared that, 'Quaon is now a bubble, a precious bubble of sanity in a world gone mad. To preserve that bubble will require the efforts of every one of us as one island, one people, one family.

Today and until sanity returns we are all Quaon and we are all of the blood of Etar.'. Etar became the symbol of that unity and on his death, every islander took on the last name Etar in his honour. Jormar Etan took over in succession from his former commander and capitalised on this unity to militarise the society of the Etar tribe. His belief was that for his people to survive there could not be one weak link. He believed that weak links were the cause of the plague and that constant vigilance would be required to prevent an outbreak among his own. Those of able age and body were taught to fight and those of ability were taught to build and maintain their fortifications and dwellings or to work in smelteries and blacksmiths to slow the corrosion of their equipment from the moisture that filled the air.

Children from the age of seven were taken into training to play their part, while those younger were put to work assisting in crop collection and the preparing of seafood. Weaponry that couldn't be repaired was replaced, taking into account the abundance of iron inside the caverns and the close confines that made melee combat a priority. This consensus has formed the core of Etar society since it was laid down. The society functions as a unified whole and the members of the society are clear in their responsibilities, which had made them strong and resilient though lacking in merciful traits. Those who become injured or too old to work were initially expected to cast themselves into the sea as a civic duty to allow resources to go further.

But as the society has spent multiple centuries in the darkness it is reported that this practice began to be seen as wasteful and dangerous as the presence of dead bodies in the water could draw attention to the island. Burning was proposed as an alternative, but initial tests lead to several deaths from smoke inhalation in a confined space which devastated the tribe. The final solution was reached by the Etar deciding to embrace the roots of their culture in a deeper sense. The Etar themselves were the eternal wall against the dark, a resource to be used. In this sense, they embraced a policy they called 'Civic Recycling.' Those now deemed of no use in life were to be honoured.

This was by making an eternal commitment to the safety of the Etar by having their bodies mixed with the mortar that would be used to repair the walls, serving as a thickener and a message from the Etar to the outside world that even when dead the Etar would still hold the walls of civilisation against the outside. Posters declaring this were placed throughout the caverns and parades of honour were put in place for those who 'did their civic duty.' The lack of sunlight has lead to the Etar developing their characterising pale skin and the lack of light has lead to their increased pupil size which makes their eyes seem almost black. This lead to a running joke among the population that in fleeing and hiding from the kin'toni they had become much like them anyway.

Uttering such statements was deemed anti social and those uttering it were put to death. In recent years, however, high command have found it increasingly difficult to maintain pure isolation. Falling temperatures, while being less of a problem inside the caverns have begun depleting the food supplies in the water and so it has fallen upon the grey men to venture across the water to the mainland to find more food. The meat they bring back helps sustain the tribe presently, but those in charge are aware that the problems will increase. Some junior officers have already begun making pleas to take men out to to bring back larger harvests, though this has been consistently refused for fear of drawing in the enemy.

Old documents have been reviewed for means of improving farming inside the caverns to make better use of the local flora, but even this has had its criticism from those who would prefer traditional methods to be adhered to indefinitely. It remains to be seen how long the Etar can maintain their isolation. With such a militarised society and a growing population with a worldview of their own righteousness, how much longer it will take before the society advances out into contact with the wider tribes around them cannot be guessed, nor how they will fare when they finally come face to face with the kin'toni and their legions.

Psychology

Centuries of isolation have lead to the Etar developing a very insular worldview. In their mind, civilisation begins and ends with them and by their hiding they preserve it to one day return to the world above. This is a responsibility the Etar take very seriously and is the responsibility of every citizen, no matter their age or sex. Etar society sees no room for weakness, laziness or any kind of dissent. When learning skills, the Etar treat every piece of their knowledge as vital because they see it as the only surviving records of the world that was and they are the custodians of that knowledge to one day return to the surface. To forget any of it is seen as tantamount to a loss of their very identity and to modify it is seen as a fundamental crack that will lead to their extinction.

Due to the size of their community, 2594 as of their last census, female Etar are encouraged to mother children with multiple partners to keep the community strong and the genepool diverse enough to prevent significant mutation. This has lead to a strong competitive sense among male Etar, as female Etar are encouraged to prioritise the strongest, the healthiest and the best in order to produce the healthiest children. This has been a boon to their society in that its members strive for perfection in their disciplines even further, though it has been known to lead to violence among those who cannot reproduce who can find their opportunities limited to exclusive trades work and find their social standing reduced due to their perceived 'lack of civic responsibility.

The Etar learn little of the outside world as it is, but learn a romanticised version of the world as it was. This forms the basis of the world as they intend to rebuild it. They look down on any zu'aan they believe may have survived outside their bubble as little more than thoughtless savages who will need their guidance.

Culture

Etar culture is underpinned an attempt by the isolated tribe to hold onto the way society was before the plague. In this sense they are constantly guarded against threats to themselves from within and without. Dissenting opinions are met with suspicion at best and sheer hostility at worst. Individuality is forgotten, with the tribe acting more like individual parts of a greater whole than as actors in their own lives. Survival, preservation and purity are the core of their identity with a reverence of the military underpinning any form of social advancement. Despite this though, there are aspects of the culture that remain of their old ways.

There is not distinction between male and female in terms of career or authority, even accounting for the encouraged breeding of female Etar as they are given full choice over whom they produce children with for the reasons they select for themselves. Etar society has seen both male and female leaders and both have continued the extended emergency practices established by their founders until such a time as they can rise up and re establish the civilisation they have so patiently guarded.The Etar stand out in the regard they have for maintaining old knowledge, which is why they still maintain the ability to smith iron to its peak and still have a healthy knowledge of the times before.

Old, broken technology, while long dismantled, was painstakingly recorded in the hope of one day being rebuilt alongside the old world and maps of old cities are maintained, drawn and redrawn as they fade or are damaged. The Etar keep this up with solemnity. What the Etar plan for the other Zu'ann should they achieve their goal of ultimate reclamation is unclear. While some may hope to shepherd their fellows back to the golden age with their collected knowledge, there is concern that the zu'aan have made no attempt to contact any of them to organise any sort of effort to do so. Some note has been made of surrounding tribes however, which has been noted as possible means for recontact, but it has remained unanswered as to if the Etar mean this as reunification or as targets of conquest or acquisition.

Government

The Etar are a solely military lead government. The average Etar has no right to vote and no concept of individual rights or liberty. The head of the Etar tribe is always the commander of the Etar forces, with the next most senior officer becoming the second. Should the current leader become incapable of fulfilling their role for any reason, they are replaced immediately by their successor. Junior officers are appointed supplementary roles alongside their military responsibilities in order to ensure the efficient running of the tribe. These men and women are responsible for the carving out of new homes, the layout of living areas, food production and storage and every other aspect of tribal living.

This is taught to the tribe as an extension of the emergency government put in place by the first founders and that it will be reconsidered once society returns to how it once was, with praise passed onto citizens who comply with this for the good of the tribe.

Military

The Etar Military is virtually synonymous with Etar society. From the inception of the tribe under Kotan Etar to their later rulers, the society of the island grew ever more militarised to fuel their own survival. As part of their devotion to 'Civic Duty' every member of the society is given some formal level of training in both armed and unarmed combat and regulation requires that even non active soldiers must maintain a sword, a dagger, a helmet and some form of chest protection should they be required to 'uphold the peace of Etar.' The formal standing army, sized at 500, is organised in the same way as it had been when the tribe was founded. The commander of the army and the head of the tribe are dual positions with one occupier.

It is organised into ten man individual units which operate as part of one of ten 50 man larger blocks, each assigned to a single cavern. They are armoured head to toe in iron plate, maintained at the heights of the caverns to draw smoke away from the living areas. The smiths who forge the armour have short lives due to this smoke inhalation, but are buried as honoured heroes in military crypts. They patrol with large, tower-like shields and spears which allow a group of ten to block off an entire section of cavern should the need arise.Spare sets of this equipment are maintained to outfit the entire adult population should the caverns come under immediate attack, but due to their isolation these are maintained more often than they are worn.

The military, while drilled to an exacting standard, spends much of its time merely patrolling and keeping the peace. The latter is often considered wasteful however as Etar culture alone often keeps people in line, working hard to maintain the society to survive, without the need of further threats of force. Supplementing the army are the grey men, named for the blank stone left behind after their names have been chipped away from the hall of the honoured. What few dissenters exist in Etar society are cast out from the caverns to patrol the island above and pass reports below. Their lives are considered worse than death by the majority of Etar, who consider them to be not only traitors to civilisation but the worst of failures.

Equipped with little more than a bow and what weaponry they have maintained from their previous time in the caverns, the grey men live in the wilds above, hunting the wildlife and killing outsiders who land on the island, deliberately or otherwise. The actions of the Grey Men have prevented outside discovery of Etar society for decades. though they are condemned to remain outside it for the rest of their lives.

Religion

Etar religion has become a reverence for their founder, Kotan Etar. Statues and carvings of the man are present throughout their caverns and his dictates of 'Civic Duty' and being the last bubble of civilisation lay the core of the Etar worldview. This religion teaches them to think less of outsiders, to cast out those seen as lazy or underproductive and to place to continuation and prosperity of the community above all others. The religion does not function as a traditional one, lacking priests or formal religious structures, instead forming around an embedded and repeated message that is reinforced in the population from birth to death. The safety of the culture begins and ends with each and every one of the Etar in their own worldview and this directs their every choice and every action.

Miscellany

Etar Art remains surprisingly advanced for such a militarised society. Aside from the multitude of statuary concerning their founder, the Etar have a strong painting tradition among their scholars, who use the medium as a further method of recording history, especially their own due to a limited supply of paper or papyrus in the caverns. The paint is made from a variety of dyes extracted from marine life and flora prior to its consumption and so a surprisingly vast array of colours can be found in their arsenal. The abundance of this paint suggests that in their earliest days, this paint was used to adorn the stone houses of the population in order to add some cheer to their surroundings, but this practice has long since stopped, the paint remaining entirely for academic purposes now.

All that remains of the early approach is a full piece painted near to the entrance of the first cavern which depicts a vast portrait of the night sky, featuring stars and other celestial bodies. For many Etar, this is the only version of the sky they have seen and many Grey Men when cast out spend their first night entranced by the real thing. Poetry also maintains a big role in Etar society. With a loss of the ability to easily write, oral tradition allows for the stories of the Etar to be carried on from generation to generation. The structure of these poems can be seen as simple and a touch crude by many scholars, but their simplicity is to the Etar's favour.

They are simple to remember, to teach and even to put to music, though little of the latter remains in Etari society, with instruments themselves seen largely frivolous and passed over in favour of tooling and weaponry. Much of the poetry concerns the founders of the tribe, while others tell the deeds of particularly accomplished builders and smiths. A well known and often recited poem however tell the exploits of the civic mother, an Etar female who, purportedly, mothered a child every year of her life from ages twenty to fourty two. This poem is intended as a celebration of a true Etar woman, though the popularity of this piece may have something to do with the current commander of the Tribe claiming to be one of those children.

Nearby Groups

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