Thrand Kin'toni Clan

History

The Thrand kin'toni Clan were a group of nomadic kin'toni who terrorized many zu'aan settlements all over Taerel. They were renowned for their mindless bloodthirst in the field of battle that turned them into feral creatures only intent on harming their prey. They led a very barbaric existence and were ruled by powerful chieftains. The clan had a number of these chieftains at any point of time and there was a constant struggle for power. This was until one of them subjugated the others or a truce was reached. The Thrand kin'toni history is filled with many of these brave chieftains who devastated many lands and ransacked hundreds of settlements.

But the Thrand were not able settlers or administrators and could not capitalize on their victories to build a strong empire.The first such chieftain who grew powerful enough to unite the entire clan was a warrior who went by the name Swiosard. He was known for his cruelty and brutality and ensured the loyalty of his tribe through harsh punishments that were meant to scare them into obedience. He ruthlessly killed many of his close advisors and friends for their mistakes and was even more brutal towards his competitors and enemies. Using deception and subterfuge, his small but loyal band of followers were able to defeat many of his rival chieftains.

He employed cunning methods such as assasination and blackmail to get rid or keep them under his thumb. One-by-one, his competitors would submit to his leadership until he was finally crowned as the leader of the Thrand kin'toni clan. Under Swiosard's leadership the Thrand kin'toni Clan would become one of the most ferocious and scare kin'toni groups. They adopted tactics to constantly subject their enemies to psychological stress and scare them into submission. These methods included their gruesome defiling of their dead enemies which they displayed on treetops.

They also tortured their captives through decapitations and amputations before sending them back to the enemies camp with a message for surrender. These methods became the norm for the clan and have been used by all leaders since. It was very effective against the civilian zu'aan populations and even some kin'toni tribes who they enslaved. Their methods made them very unpopular and earned them many enemies, both zu'aan and kin'toni. This abundance of enemies meant that the Thrand kin'toni Clan are always in a perpetual state of war. The Thrand's pattern of conquest would evolve throughout their history.

During their early phase they preyed on merchants and trading routes where they could find an abundance of unarmed or lightly armed zu'aan traders and their guards. Their numbers increased with each attack as a result of "turnin" their victims and the clan's exploits would grow even more daring. They besieged zu'aan settlements in ruthless night attacks and carried off entire populations to be "turned". This placed them in the crosshairs of all major zu'aan armies who regularly hunted them during the day to exploit their only physical limitation. By the end of this phase the Thrand were regularly engaging in warfare with all types of armies and cities without regard for diplomacy and peace.

Biology

The Thrand kin'toni clan have bodies that are tailor-made for war. Their incredible strength makes them more than a match for most kin'toni tribes and a nightmare for the zu'aan. Some of the tallest among their clan are over seven feet. Along with this advantage they are also blessed with good arm reach and physique. Their long arms reach down to their knees- a rare physical trait, which helps them with balance and allows them to generate more power in their swings. They are well built and their muscles are strategically concentrated to enhance the effective movement of their limbs while also protecting their vital organs.

They have more fat deposits than conventional kin'toni, giving them a bloatier appearance. However, their appearance can be deceiving since they boast tremendous agility and footspeed that allows them to close down distances very quickly in battle. Their legs are long and muscled in contrast and boasts long powerful strides. If all else fails, they are also accustomed to using their legs to attack their enemies. Their aggression and madness is associated with a rare secretion in their brain that has a stimulating effect on the mind and helps them ignore all sense of self-preservation.

Their heads appear slender and bony with a flatter cranium. If they have hair it is usually in untidy clumps with very thin and long strands. The majority of them however do not have any visible hair on their heads. The Thrand have dark blue irises with black sclerae and vertical beaded pupils. These eyes are adequate for seeing in light but may develop a slight irritation on constant exposure. At night, they have almost complete visibility and can pick out their prey from vast distances. Their vision is sharp and can detect very slight movements at absorb distances.

Their nose doesn't protrude out of their face and instead comprises of two nasal cavities existing flat on their face. They have a keen sense of smell and often use it in conjunction with their other senses when they hunt for prey. To the sides of their face, their ears extend in long pointed shapes reaching a little over the top of their heads. Their hearing is less developed than their other senses but their sensitive ear lobes can pick up distant vibrations. The lack of proper hearing may also play a part in the Thrand's lack of linguistic advancements.

When clamped, their hands form powerful rock like mallets that can withstand a lot of force. The bones in their hands are significantly harder than those on the other parts of their body and double as weapons in the battlefield. The Thrand boast a very strong immune system that can withstand a lot of diseases in the wild. Thus, death from diseases or illness is a rarity within the clan. Their digestive system is also among the more sturdier examples in the kin'toni world and allows them to digest almost all kinds of foods without facing any digestive complications.

Culture

The Thrand kin'toni Clan's culture was tailored to suit their brutal style of warfare. They were very rude and rough when dealing with each other in their daily lives and kindness or sympathy were seen as signs of weakness. New initiates to the clan had to quickly learn to adapt to this ethos or face the bullying and constant harassment of their peers. The social stigma associated with these actions could prevent a person from successfully advancing within the clan. They would be considered as zu'aan sympathisers or even worse, soft cowards. This attitude was also reinforced by their constant training.

And drilling where they molded their aggression into a ferocious blind rage. Training never stopped in civil live as their culture had many open grounds where wrestling challenges were settled daily. The stakes could be as high as enslavement or as low as a few coins. The most important event in their culture were their fighting tournaments that allowed their best warriors or rival chieftains to face off against each other. Most of the clan's activities would come to a stop during this week as the people gathered to watch the spectacle and cheer on their favourites.

The only rule was that killing of another Thrand was forbidden. This rule was introduced to prevent the clan from losing their best warriors in these events. To make up for this, and to satisfy their bloodlust, they instead introduced slave fights where their captives were made to fight to the death. The Thrand are known for their sadistic actions and love to inflict pain and suffering on others. No where is this more apparent than in the treatment of their captives and prisoners. They torture their prisoners and hand out punishments in public where the people can witness and enjoy the sight.

Their culture celebrated chieftains and war heroes. They were accorded the status of demi-God's. The people would individually pick a chieftain and declare their allegiances to him. They would then follow him around and tend to him while also fighting alongside him in his battles. A single chieftain who has amassed a greater following would naturally have an advantage in battle and could faceoff against his rivals to become the singular leader of the clan. The Thrand kin'toni were intolerant towards art, literature and all mediums that they considered to be too refined.

They associated these with the zu'aan and forbid them inside their own camps.This was a major cause for the prevailing backwardness within their clan. The closest they came to such mediums of expression were war chants and victory songs. These prejudices hindered the development of the Thrand language. And as a result they lacked many words and syllables that could have enhanced their communication and allow better communication. It is no wonder that the Thrand were never able to come up with organized tactics and plans on the field since that would require a more complex vocabulary.

This limitation narrowed their view of the world and made them intolerant towards others cultures, both zu'aan and kin'toni

Government

The Thrand kin'toni Clan do not have any organized systems of governemnt because they despised any attempts to change their traditional way of doing things. They viewed the government systems of other clans as a weakness. The Thrand thrive in their naturally chaotic settings where their chieftains rose to the position of clan leader themselves on the basis of the strength of their support and after they defeated all their rivals and opponents.

This left no room for arguments or claims to contest his legitimacy. The principle of might-is-right found full acceptance within their clan.

No means were considered too nefarious or wicked, and chieftains often resorted to the most wicked schemes to kill of their rivals. The Leader also existed as long as he could maintain his superiority and successfully squash the challenges of his rivals. Once a chieftain was made the leader, he became the sole authority for the clan and could make any decision with regards to the military activities or the society. It was a common practice for the leader to maintain a group of people to serve as his close advisors. Normally these would be the leader's friends who had served alongside him in battle.

The position did not require Skill and knowledge as they were chosen on the basis of their closeness to the leader. Changes in leadeship were chaotic events in the Thrand kin'toni Clan. Every few year's a new chieftain would slowly begin to plot and gather enough support to threaten the leadership. This would result in chaos as the chieftains waged civil war and fought over the leadership of the clan resulting in deaths and casualties among their own numbers and necessitating new wars to replenish their numbers. Not much was needed to govern the Thrand in their civil life.

They carried on with their own chaotic natures and the leader kept them happy by organizing tournaments and daily fights. There were no police forces or authorities and rival chieftains were even encouraged to build up their own support in public to challenge the leaders. There were no laws in place in the Thrand kin'toni society. People were allowed, if not encouraged by the society to be as cruel and depraved as they pleased. They only responded to power and would follow a leader so long as he demonstrated a capacity to beat his rivals and muster a large following.

The absence of laws also meant that the leader was free to punish people based on his whims. Any sort of punishment was usually cruel and harsh and conducted in public. The people generally accepted these punishments as a right and privilege of their leader and its legitimacy was never brought into question. Some of the limiting factors in the Thrand's ability to build a government was their natural inclination towards chaos and their lack of a complete language that would allow them to express the full extent of their ideas. This made them suspicious of new ideas and made them stick to their primitive practices.

Military

The Thrand kin'toni Clan were known for their fearsome military. They were fearless in combat and commited atrocious war crimes and atrocities that would become associated with their militrary tradition. Their barbaric exitence prepared them for the conditions of the battlefield and no task was too gruesome for the common Thrand footsoldier. They regularly hosted and took part in wrestling matches when they were out of combat. These events were a test of strength and character as well as an arena where they could asser their dominance and unleash their cruelty.

All members of the clan were encouraged to participate in these fights and it soon became an avenue to accrue prestige and honor outside of battle. The Thrand kin'toni did not maintain a standing, professional army as all clan members were expected to join the fight. There was no payment for service and the most they could get out of fighting was glory and honor. The clan leader was free to impose any punishment he deemed fittting on the people who did not wish to join his army. This punishment was usually torture followed by a slow death. The Thrand kin'toni Clan lacked the tactical awareness and strategic brilliance of many other armies.

There were no discussions in these matters. It was all left in the leader's hands. The clan were over-reliant on their ferocity to scare and unnerve the enemy into fleeing the field. This did not bode well for them against more professional armies who could counter their blind, suicidal charges with traps and ambushes. The lack of tactical nous was the result of their lack of linguistic development which impeded their ability to discuss complicated task and plans. The Thrand kin'toni were also very limited in their use of weapons. They were incapable of producing their own and scavenged most of their armor and weapons from their dead enemies.

They were terrible at maintaining these items and as a result their quality was questionable at best. Often. they preferred to use their talons and brute strength instead of relying on their lower quality weapons. In peace the Thrand were very divided amongst themselves. This was due to their loyalty to different chieftains. The leader was simply the strongest chieftain with the largest number of supporters. This opened them up for lots of civil wars. In these periods the clan's armies would fight one another to grab power on behalf of their chieftain.

This had a terrible effect on their numbers due to losses and casualties and prevented the clan from becoming a truly powerful force in the world. Their military campaigns were carried out with the aim of increasing their numbers since the clan endured deaths and casualties all year round, even during peace time. Even with these limitations, the Thrand armies were feared all over . Enclaves would immediately hole up inside their walls and pray for them to go away. Even the most battle hardened soldiers would cringe at the sight of their depraved killing and torture of captives.

Religion

The Thrand were very devout followers of their two Gods Vorran and Rotharo. They were very superstitious as a clan and worked to earn their Gods favor at every opportunity. Worship was as a necessary part of their social life and all the clan's activities were dedicated to the Gods. This included their ceremonies, festivals and their fight tournaments. They believed their Gods to be cruel, like them and delighted in sacrificing victims to appease them. These ceremonies were elaborate and attended by the entire clan. It could last for hours, during which the sacrificial victims were tortured before finally being sacrificed.

The clan maintained temple tents that they carried around with them whereever they went. These special tents were accompanied by an army of priests who were trained to protect it with their life as well as lead the clan in worship and perform the ritual sacrifices. Their duties were instrumental during war times when they had to pray for the God's blessings and make predictions on date and timings of battles based on their visions. Their God Vorran was the lord of war. It was to him that most of their prayers were directed before the clan headed into battle.

They crafted clay idols of him based on a kin'toni like appearance while clothed in leather armor and a wooden maze. Like the Thrand themselves, the God was believed to be a cruel and merciless being who derived pleasure from the persecution of his enemies. They believed that he communicated with the clan through his priests who would inform them about vital dates and locations for their battles. Their other God Rotharo was the God of nature. They considered it as an omnipresent being that existed everywhere. It was the creator of their universe and all who lived in it.

They believed that the world and elements such as rain, wind and the sun along with natural calamities like earthquakes and storms were the physical manifestations of its anger. There was no way to please Rotharo as he was way beyond the comprehension of kin'toni and the zu'aan. One could only hope that it was in a merciful mood and would not shower the lands with his wrath. Religion played a great part in the makeup of the Thrand kin'toni Clan's psychology. They loved war and violence like their God Vorran and performed cruel atrocities in his names. Their were no morals prescribed in their religion.

Thus, nothing was ever right or wrong in their world. Their only obligation was to earn the favor of their Gods so that they could advance their own cause. This lack of morality was behind their adoption of cruelty and sadistic practices. Their chieftains did their best to represent Vorran in their daily conduct and habits. They were merciless wuthout end and were willing to pursue their enemies to the ends of the earth. The people would see the resemblance and honor them as the true representative of their God.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

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Thrand Kin'toni Clan

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