Isskel Kin'toni Clan

History

In the year 4E 15, The Irinet clan was created. In these times, there was a dire food shortage, and many of the kin’toni were incredibly low on resources. The clan was fiercely and incredibly strong in might, however, they were incredibly weak in their minds. The shortage of food caused chaos among the clan and caused them to fight for food. The clan warred within itself, causing death and destruction throughout.

The clan was ruled by two brothers, Tor'kal Irinet and Dargus Irinet. They were bitten by the same kin’toni long ago and were swept away from their mothers. The brothers fought over what to do about the shortage, Tor'kal believed the little they had should be spread across the clan, while Dargus thought they should fight each other so that only the strong would be able to feed and carry on well-fed. Tor'kal and Dargus fought on this for months, until one day they decided to settle their dispute through combat.

Tor'kal and Dargus fought for twelve days, they were each given a ceremonial stone dagger, and nothing more. They were both stabbed and clawed, bitten and bruised. On the twelfth day, Tor'kal emerged from the battle victorious. His brother lying on the ground, blood seeping from his deep wounds. The Irinet clan starved for years, Tor'kal himself included. The clan shared everything they had, though it was hardly enough for any individual to survive.

In the years that passed, several of the people grew angry at Tor'kal, and felt that had they been able to earn what was rightfully theirs, they would be able to survive. An uproar arose through the clan, and some of the kin’toni began to needlessly murder their clan mates in the bright of day, whilst the others were sleeping. Tor'kal sought to destroy these kin’toni to cease the chaos, however on the day he set out to do this, he was greeted by Dargus, his brother he thought to be dead.

Dargus looked stronger than ever, and incredibly well fed. Dargus had invaded a neighboring zu'aan village by the name of Tatire. He brought back several zu'aan bodies for the uprisen kin’toni to feast upon. Dargus immediately believed the kin’toni that were fighting against Tor'kal's law were the strongest kin’toni of the clan, so he took them into Tatire city with him, where they would feed whenever they needed.

After Dargus and his followers left, they created a new clan, calling it the Ivoro clan. The remaining members of the Irinet clan saw this as a new beginning without chaos, and renamed themselves the Isskel clan. In the years to come, the Isskel clan became farmers, they captured approximately 100 zu'aan, and rather than killing them, they kept them locked inside of cages and forced them to reproduce. They were fed fruit and vegetables daily but were promised seared beef for each child they gave birth to.

Once a zu'aan in this cage reached the age of 30, they were harvested and rationed out until the next zu'aan became of age. The Isskel clan never had to travel past its walls, and for many years they lived in peace. In 4E 232, the zu'aan began to fight back. Many of the zu'aan were murdered, and five members of the Isskel tribe were beheaded. A few of the zu'aan escaped and brought themselves into Tatire city, where they lived the rest of their lives battling the Ivoro clan.

The Isskel tribe now worries about what happens once they run out of the bodies the zu'aan left behind on the day of the battle. The Isskel now move across the land, invading small zu'aan villages, hoping to draw blood from the fools who cross their paths.

Biology

Their eyes have yellow irises with black sclerae and horizontal slit pupils. The lack of nutrients reduced the colors their sight can perceive. Due to the years of malnourishment, the Isskel have shrunk in size, and are not as large as the other kin’toni. They stand a mere 6 feet tall at best. Their bodies are not rigid with muscle, however, due to the little weight their bodies have, they are able to move incredibly fast.

Their fangs have receded into their heads, and their ears have begun to shrink because of their lack of use. The Isskel tribe appears almost zu'aan aside from their eyes. This makes them a dangerous adversary for the zu'aan. Their skin is naturally pale in color, however, due to their years spent in the dirt, their skin has been stained an almost zu'aan color. Due to their reduced diets, the Isskel are incredibly susceptible to disease.

When they sight a zu'aan, there is a throbbing sensation in the front of their brains that causes them to feel extreme hunger. Only the most strong-minded Isskel can live among zu'aan undetected. The blood of the Isskel is pitch black because of the diseases that run rampant in their bodies.Their muscles are compact to fit with their small bodies, due to such morphology there are between the weakest kin'toni clans, with strength very close to the zu'aan.

They have considerable endurance, however, their skin and bones are not more resistant to weapons. They share with other kin'toni clans the weakness to sunlight exposition and piercing attacks, their regeneration capacity is considerably slower, blood loss weakens them faster. Their bones have a porous texture, they have holes inside due to the lack of calcium. The Isskel stomach is small, shrunk due to years of starvation, adapted to long time periods without food.

It can expand to receive big amounts of the matter however it is still small compared with other clan´s stomachs; their maximum capacity is 7lbs. Should a member of the Isskel tribe enter another kin’toni tribe, it is very likely that the members of this tribe would also become stricken with the disease. To mark their membership within the clan, they are branded by a hot iron sigil. This brand sits directly beneath their neck.

They receive the brand after reaching mental maturity, which is determined by the elders of the clan. The Isskel clan is very level in their thinking, they are always able to determine the best option for the entire group no matter what the situation. Through their immense weakness, they are able to camouflage themselves into their surroundings. Their stained skin morphs in color to match whatever color surrounds them. This mimicry skill doesn´t work instantly, it takes 3 to 4 seconds to camouflage completely with the environment, they can be spotted before.

Another limit is their skin can´t reproduce certain patterns, it´s easier to camouflage with a stone wall than a brick wall.

Culture

More worried about finding meat to fill their stomachs than think about the reason for their lives, Isskel is a barbarian clan, with poor customs and awkward lives. They are mainly farmers with no aspiration to become in an advanced civilization. There is not a writing system, they use draws of shapes in the ground to leave messages. They have the same numeric system as many kin'toni clans that they use to simply account for sizes and quantity.

The Isskel tribe's mind turns around food, more than the usual kin'toni hunger. They give more respect to anybody who offers a lavish meal than anybody who offers a gold piece. Food is too important, each time they eat nothing is wasted, even chew the remaining skin and bones and lick the smallest drops. Isskel tribe prefers to know new tastes instead of learning more about life aspects in other clans.

Isskel clan is located in a terrain with few animal activities and hard living conditions, they refuse to leave since it´s the only place they know, besides few, they know about other places to take the risk of migration. The rainy days are scarce, the land is dry and rocky with long patches of sterile soil. There are some crops that can grow well but Isskel is not interested in vegetables or cereals, even so, agriculture is practiced by the tribe because it is food for the zu'aan cattle.

Isskel tribe value skills as plant, tame, and cook, in their territory those skills are more productive than hunt since most of the animals are too small to have nutrition value besides to have obnoxious taste. It is possible to get more food by handling cattle brought from other lands, not as tasty as zu'aan meat farm animals still represent a good meal. Farm animals are traded or stolen from other tribes.

Art is not important for Isskel, they would value art pieces representing food, such pieces are rare to find and most tribe members lack the skill to make their own artworks. The most valued material pieces are pottery, they enjoy having dishes and bowls to consume food. Eating cutlery is not so important, many clan members prefer to eat with the hands although it is known that are bad manners.

Music is neither valued in Isskel tribe, they know about sing and playing instruments due to the celebrations they have witnessed from other clans, they are not interested in adopting or replicate it. If there is a sound they are particularly interested in percussion, but not the sound made by drums; they like to make percussion by clacking bones or the cutlery with the dishes and vases, they practice it while they are waiting for the food while it´s cooked.

Their percussions are disordered, with a rhythm that only they understand, random tones that can´t be learned to be replicated in the same order, with no other meaning than eagerness for the meal is ready.

Government

There have been different systems to rule in the Isskel tribe, most of them didn´t work, the past governors took advantage to keep the biggest amount of food for themselves and their subordinates, this made the clan get mad and remove those rulers by the force. The current government system is based on a council composed of 12 members, who discuss the size of the daily rations, the order of the cattle to be slaughtered, the trades with other kin'toni clans, and the direction to explore searching for zu'aan settlements.

The council members use to be the older, wiser habitants of the tribe, only replaced if one of them dies or if is spotted stealing food. Another function of the council is to apply the law, there is a law code with basic rules of not steal, not harm others, respect public spaces, don´t broke private property, don´t trespass on forbidden areas between others. When the guards' arrest an individual who is guilty the council decides the right punishment according to the level of crime.

Severe crimes can be punished with execution, which would provide to the council, guards, and others affected with fresh food since Isskel tribe are agree with cannibalism. There are guards that follow direct orders from the council, the guards watch the farmers get sure they don´t eat the cattle before the time to harvest, neither steal specimens from the barns and cells. The guards are also watching during the dinner, so the chefs don´t give unbalanced servings and avoid fights for food between the tribe.

The guards eat first and receive large portions, they eat before the chefs and the council members. To become on guard the council must give a closer inspection to the candidates, interview them, and test their loyalty. The candidates to guards must be strong, respect the law, be loyal to the council and have a high etic. Candidates that are susceptible to be bribed or to take things abusing their authority are discarded.

With the council the chefs are important officials, they prepare the food for the clan and the zu'aan cattle, they decide the better ways to cook in order to make meals enough for all with the ingredients they have at that moment, skilled chefs can combine vegetables with the meat to be eaten by kin'toni without complaint. Chefs are experienced kin'toni with vast knowledge and practice about ingredients and preparing food, most of them learned by try and error.

After the chefs the cattle managers are officials too, they handle the specimens, care for their health, feed them and take them to give rides to keep them in good health. Like the chefs, cattle managers learned the activity by experience, were judged by the council, and approved by them. Some cattle managers used to be farmers in other kin'toni tribes, they got lost and were accepted by Isskel.

Military

The Isskel army is composed of professional guards and voluntary warriors. The clan haven´t fought many battles, their territory is poor and has no value by materials, resources, animals to hunt, or to build routes so they have not the need to form a large army. Isskel uses to fight with speed as their biggest power, they don´t wear full-body armors and neither carry heavy weapons. Their battle style has a preference for small weapons as daggers, short swords, small axes, and knives.

Their weapons are mainly taken from the dead zu'aan, they rarely feel the need to buy articles from other clans more than food and cattle. When they find large weapons from the battle spoils they prefer to sell them to other clans than use them. However, not all soldiers have weapons. More the half of the members of the army use agriculture tools as weapons, since they are farmers they have more experience using tools like sickles, shovels, scythes, rakes, stakes, and canes.

Isskel doesn´t have the technology of smith or forge, they make weapons recycling junk, sharping branches, and cutting wooden pieces. Most of the stones are not useful as flint stones or to hit since they broke easily, not useful even to be thrown. However Isskel is a master of pottery, they sometimes burn pottery to break the pieces and use them as knives and arrowheads. Weapons made from pottery are light and easy to handle, even so, fragile, and can´t endure many uses, they are disposable weapons mainly used to throw or when there are more warriors than arsenal.

The battle formation is always the same, a large crowd that attacks directly. If there is a difference with other clans is how the battle formation moves. There are guards who direct the battle formation hitting bowls with the sword, the metal percussion guides the soldiers on how to move. If the guards hit repeatedly the bowls they are encouraging the warriors to straight attack; when the bowl is hit in a slow, cut rhythm the soldiers must keep their distance and focus on throwing attacks.

Hitting bowls together means the battle is beyond their control and they must retreat. There are other variant moves triggered by percussion sequences that are hard to identify for foreigners. Isskel use to eat the bodies of the defeated enemies, they are cannibals, which means more food, they don´t care to fight against another clan if they know they can win. Battles are feared as same time waited, Isskel tribe has not any advantage unless they are over number their enemies.

Rarely small groups trespass their territory, maybe explorers, patrols, or bandits. Trespassing Isskel territory without permission is reason enough to attack for them. Explorers can be considered part of the army. There are explorers who wander alone through nearby territories, moving stealthily, using their camouflage skin to hide completely to the sight. Explorers must be warriors that run fast and have mastered control of their camouflage skill.

Their mission is to look for small trade caravans, travelers, and zu'aan small villages. If they find a target they must return fast to the tribe and be guides of the army.

Religion

Isskel tribe gods are related to the food, the cook, the death, the farm, and the cattle handle. They pray to them during certain moments of the day to get their blessing. They pray to food and cook gods before lunchtime and after eating to thank for the meal; they pray to the death god to give them many corpses before starting a battle, they thank the dead bodies offering a blood bowl on an altar; each day they pray to the farm and cattle gods to make the harvests grow faster.

There are altars erected to the gods according to the activities, an altar is made of a flat stone as a table with a stone or sculpture, a work tool, and pottery over the altar. The stone represents the Isskel tribe, the work tool represents the god and the pottery is forgiven offers to the gods, the most valuable offering is blood, cattle, or corpse fresh blood, the Isskel blood is considered a complaint to the gods.

The chefs are considered priests, it´s believed a chef received wisdom and skill granted by the cooking god to prepare meals and learn recipes. Chefs are very spiritual and pray many times, when they pick ingredients when they cook, when they are serving the dishes and when they are cleaning the pottery. Kitchens are sacred places that the rest of the tribe has no right to trespass, only chefs and guards can stay in the kitchen.

Most kin'toni clans prefer fresh meat without any preparation, not even salt or pepper, Isskel tribe needs kitchens to prepare meals with the intention to get more food from few meat pieces combined with other ingredients as vegetables, cereals, spices, and broth. Isskel tribe believes the cooking god gifted the clan with chefs to save them from starvation. There are religious rules set by the religion, break these rules is considered a sin.

Their rules are related to the food, they consider sin things like drop food, let a dish with a meal inside fall, and spoil pieces of food. Other sins are leave corpses on the battlefield, kill cattle and zu'aan before the right moment and forget the blood offerings to the gods. These sins are punished by the chefs with days of no food for the sinner, it can be just one day or seven days, according to the sin.

Isskel clan are cannibals, eating the corpses of their own kind while it´s still fresh. Most of the casualties are during battles, the closer relatives eat raw the corpses, the spoils are taken by the chefs to prepare food, even the bones are used, the chefs grind the bones with stones until turning them in dust that is given to the cattle. Isskel meat has an obnoxious taste to other meats, they eat the relative’s corpses more by commitment than hunger, and the tribe believes bury the dead means spoiling potential sources of food.

Miscellany

Isskel tribe is so small that there are zu'aan settlements where their inhabitants are taller than Isskel. They use to break armors into small pieces to make knee pads and bangles, which let them move faster. The main trade with other clans is pieces of pottery, the tribe has mastered the production more than other kin'toni settlements. In emergency times of low food, Isskel eats small buns made of clay, it has no taste and helps to resist starvation. This practice has saved lives.

The bravest warriors are honored after dying by carving their bones to turn them on cutlery like spoons, forks, and kitchen knives, the long bones are good to mix the meal while it´s cooked. Chefs keep hidden the list of ingredients, they need the tribe to believe the meal has more meat than it really has. While the Isskel pray to wait for the food, they use to clap cutlery at the same rhythm as a kind of ritual music. They don´t make sound with cutlery any other moment.

Farmers that are good friends use to trade work tools, thinking that way they will share their skills with each other. The stealth camouflage skill of the Isskel is easier to use when they are calmed, explorers must have high resistance to the stress, then they can use their skin camouflage any moment. Isskel women have patches of long hair, while more of the men are bald. Another reason to cook the meal is since the tribe is vulnerable to diseases cooking the food reduces dramatically the rate of food sickness.

There are no many sculpture representations of the gods, even so, Isskel believe their gods have kin'toni shape, dressed according to their representative activity, then battle god would look like a guard and cook god would look like a chef. Fill the pottery in the religious altars with Isskel blood is considered blasphemy due to the black color and disgusting smell, tribe members that are mad with the gods use to cut themselves to pour their own blood in vases or bowls.

If the blasphemous is spotted the chefs will punish him with twelve days with no food. Isskel tribe don´t have a smithy, their iron cutlery and bowls were bought by trading with other kin'toni clans or stolen. When an explorer finds a zu'aan village and the road is hard to remember, the explorer cuts himself to leave traces of blood and find easily the path to return. Cutlery is considered ceremonial objects, a wedding the relatives of the couple exchange pieces of cutlery or pottery.

The animals present in the tribe territory are small and not enough to represent a constant source of food. The best hunter is remembered by hunt 4 rats and 7 frogs. It´s forbidden to give names to the cattle, neither to the zu'aan, to avoid the cattle managers get fond of them. In place-names they use numbers. Isskel tribe use to play kinetic games, they prefer them to skill games.

During the inspection to become an explorer there is a stealth camouflage tournament, the candidates that change of color skin faster to get covered between the bushes will become explorers. The discarded candidates can try next time there were explorers wanted.

Nearby Groups

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Isskel Kin'toni Clan

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