Engsight Kin'toni Clan

History

Biology

The Engsight kin'toni have created an unusual mix of their dueling heritages. Their pity and resentment of past acts have left them a strange combination of kin'toni and zu'aan in their Biology, Culture, & Religion. Biologically, they are still noticeably infected humanoids. Because they are mostly a group of purposely infected individuals sought and stolen from the road between Alswania and Pivlarken – their hair color, skin color, etc. are all different hues and heritages. The only unifying characteristic between them is something undoubtedly passed from the original kin'toni that infected friends and founders, Engsight Hethorn and Et'woro Ginsadab.

This particular strain of the kin'toni disease causes any kin'toni that is infected by it to have mutated eyes. Their eyes appear as dark orange irises with black sclerae and horizontal rectangular pupils. To some, it is almost demonic in nature. Despite their hellish appearance, their biology is quite natural compared to that of the average kin'toni. When stood next to an uninfected zu'aan there are not many characteristics that would separate the two. But upon closer inspection, secrets of the Engsight kin'toni Clan’s mutations can be revealed.

Another telling feature of an Engsight kin'toni are their webbed fingers and feet. This natural evolution happened over time as the clan members continuously spent free nights exploring and hunting along the rivers and waterways of their caves and encampments. They are incredible swimmers and have been known to hold their breath for days at a time. In some of the older kin'toni, such as Engsight Hethorn and Et’woro Ginsadab themselves, they are said to be forming gills on the skin of their breasts, just above where their lungs would be.

This newfound mutation is both horrifying and grotesque in appearance but has made Engsight and Et’woro legends amongst their individual branches of the original clan. With these malformations, they have both become the strongest swimmers, and lead their clan in infiltration and attack routines when the Engsight kin'toni are out hunting.

It is common for zu'aan families and bards to tell stories of river demons that grab hold of and drown any zu'aan that stands too close to the water’s edge. Future mutations are hypothesized by Engsight kin'toni and zu'aan scholars alike.

The more time that the Engsight kin'toni Clan chooses to spend in the watery riverways of their hunting grounds, the more akin to its natural inhabitants they will become. They have even created a way to farm and harvest a moss-like form of bloodroot unheard of in other parts of Taerel and among other clans of mutated kin'toni. ,Many of the Engsight Clan’s growing cultural and religious habits have begun adopting the ideal of forced amphibious mutation. It seems that the Engsight kin'toni Clan desires to transform into humanoid fish.

Perhaps it is a purposeful act to make them better hunters in their habitat – but many scholars outside of the clan believe it revolves around a water entity that they worship or have found in depths that the common zu'aan could not hope to discover.

Culture

The Engsight kin'toni Clan have a culture revolving around self-punishment and resentment of past misdeeds. It is perhaps through this self-reflection of their own immoral acts that they justify future crimes against innocent zu'aan travelers. Because of their regret of what they must do to survive, most of their hunts of zu'aan and pursuit of more victims is in the hopes of adding them to their ranks. They are not against feeding on zu'aan blood entirely but choose not to engorge themselves as a common kin'toni would. Instead, their choice entrée is the bloodroot they have cultivated to grow and sustain life in the riverways where they make camp and create their own form of survival.

There are whispers amongst the Engsight kin'toni inductees and brave zu'aan travelers that this unique form of bloodroot was not created by the clan itself. It is said that this form of bloodroot and knowledge of its cultivation was given to them by some sort of water entity that the Engsight kin'toni Clan founders, Engsight Hethorn and Et'woro Ginsadab, discovered in their flight from their past. The Engsight kin'toni have a cultural event once a year wherein they self-reflect and fast. The Engsight kin'toni Clan’s form of fasting involves not partaking in the feeding on live zu'aan victims for a thirty-day period of time.

For most kin'toni, this is almost torturous. Especially when one considers the Engsight kin'toni Clan’s close proximity to two large zu'aan cities, Alswania and Pivlarken. During this fasting period, the members of both branches of the Engsight kin'toni Clan celebrate and pass around different dishes and recipes made from the moss-like bloodroot their clan is famous for cultivating and growing near riverways. While they pass around this celebratory symbol, Engsight kin'toni leaders, Engsight Hethorn and Et’woro Ginsadab, revel in their oldest memories of the day the world went dark and when the kin'toni disease originally ravaged the land and zu'aan peoples of Taerel.

It is a day of reverence and deep insight into the mistakes of zu'aan and kin'toni alike. Marriage is not necessarily nonexistent, but simply mutated in a new and unusual form that is more beneficial to the Engsight kin'toni peoples. Each leader of the two sections of the Engsight kin'toni Clan, Engsight Hethorn and Et’woro Ginsadab, are responsible for the pairing of Engsight kin'toni mates. They are matched in physical, emotional, and hunting prowess. They watch each other’s backs on the battlefield, during infiltration, and other various aspects of Engsight kin'toni Clan life.

When zu'aan are chosen to become newborns in the Engsight kin'toni ranks, they are matched with an existing set of mates. These mates turn the zu'aan as one – their mutations and strands of the disease mixing in the infectedzu'aan’s bloodstream. In this way, Engsight Hethorn and Et’woro Ginsadab attempt to keep one aspect of their zu'aan heritage and culture; an act of procreation performed between two people matched for life. These mates then become the “parents” of the newborn kin'toni and function as such until the newborn can be matched in battle and love themselves.

Government

The Engsight kin'toni Clan’s form of government is a type of democracy, within which all decisions are ultimately made and approved by each section of the clan’s direct leader (Engsight Hethorn and/or Et'woro Ginsadab). Through time and progressive strengthening of the clan’s democracy, Engsight and Et’woro have earned their titles of Patron Hethorn and Patron Ginsadab. Patron being a term of endearment or respect meaning special guardian, or protector. Below the Patrons are heads of households. Each household consists of two mates and a varying number of newborns depending on how many have been assigned to them previously by the clan’s Patrons.

The household head is chosen between the two mates by the mates themselves. Their direct title in the democracy then becomes Consul followed by their household’s name. These Consuls form the main body of the democracy. They create new ideas and ventures that the clan as a whole might integrate into their daily lives. These ideas and ventures are then put to a vote within and amongst the Consuls. If the vote passes, it is then set before the Patrons who must both agree that the change will be to the benefit of all before the idea is put into action. Examples of these ideas and ventures are newly created celebrations and fasts regarding their religious and cultural practices.

They may also include new ways to cultivate and cure their famous moss-like bloodroot that they grow and harvest along the riverways near their encampments. But most often, these gatherings (or Rallies, as they are more commonly known) are meant to make battle and/or infiltration strategy decisions regarding raids or acts of war. Most ventures that pass a Rally of Consuls will usually find approval through the two Patrons. It is exceedingly rare that a venture is not approved, or that the Consuls will pass something they think might not be approved at all.

Each Patron has their own representation of Consuls that share alike ideals and motivations. These Consuls span across both clans so that the Patron has eyes and ears everywhere. This form of government has been successful and fortuitous since its creation in the early days of the disease’s outbreak. Members of the Engsight kin'toni Clan are usually very levelheaded in their discussion of all matters and when someone becomes outspoken or hotheaded, they can usually be convinced to feel otherwise, or their own words may convince their clan or Patrons to change their minds.

Because of this democracy, crime amongst the clan is almost nonexistent. From the outside looking in, it may seem that the Engsight kin'toni Clan’s underwater activities, self-flagellation, and fasting are barbaric in nature. But once a zu'aan or kin'toni of another clan opens their mind to the Engsight Clan’s practices and ideals, they will see that this method of control is not necessarily control at all. But a way of peace that ensures that each member of the clan remembers and pays homage to their ancestry while appreciating their good fortune and health in current times.

Military

Military as a term amongst the Engsight kin'toni Clan usually refers to their raiding and infiltration tactics. Normally they do not wage war against zu'aan or other kin'toni. Their normal antics include the taking, kidnapping, and capturing of wandering zu'aan along the roads and riverways between the two major zu'aan cities, Alswania and Pivlarken. There is not a necessity for a form of militarized government. The two Patrons of either clan, Patron Engsight Hethorn and Patron Et'woro Ginsadab, lead their separate bands of adult and mated kin'toni in the hunt for more zu'aan to either join their ranks as newborns or become vessels of feeding to be detained and slowly engorged upon.

Each Patron of each clan does have their chosen Second Consul. This second is usually amongst the already chosen Consuls that make up the Rally of Consuls in the Engsight kin'toni Clan’s ruling government body. The Second Consul, or head of a mated household, functions as their Patron’s right hand in decision making and general leading of their clan’s militarized hunting parties. In the event that a Patron ever falls, their Second Consul would taken their place as Patron of their associated section of the clan. This, of course, has never happened in the Engsight kin'toni Clan’s history.

Below the Second Consuls are all other Consul members in that particular clan that makes up the grand Rally of Consuls. They each run and guide their separate households under the direction of the Second Consul who acts under the direction of their Patron. Household sizes are usually exceptionally large. Newly mated Engsight kin'toni Clan members are a rarity, especially in recent times. Unfortunately, the clan has had difficulty in keeping alive their most recent newborn recruits. The health and survival of the clan is prominent, however.

Even considering the self-flagellation and self-resentment that seems rampant amongst both sides of the Engsight kin'toni Clan. It is hypothesized that newborns are suffering and growing weaker, especially those created during times of fast. Possibly their ability to adapt to the massive intake of the Engsight Clan’s moss-like bloodroot is proving increasingly difficult. This has become a constant area of debate amongst the Rally of Consuls. They have yet to agree on plan of action that will prevent the further loss of newborns. Thus, the militarized units of Consuls continue to raid and steal away as many promising new recruits as possible.

Simultaneously, this creates even more room for regret and sadness over mistakes being made and innocent lives being altered permanently. In secret, this has led to the Patrons’, Patron Engsight Hethorn and Patron Et'woro Ginsadab, continue consultation amongst themselves. Some say, they have even been see stealing away in the night to the depths of the nearby river and its many cave systems. It is possible that they are seeking solace while they discuss the growing concerns of poisonous bloodroot and weaker newborns in peace. But most believe that they are consulting with the entity they encountered so long ago in the hopes that it will see them through these trying times once again.

Religion

The Engsight kin'toni Clan’s religion revolves around their resentment of past misdeeds and creation of their famous moss-like form of bloodroot. Much of their time spent during religious activities are spent in deep self-reflection and acts of self-flagellations and fasting. These events, one of which is called the Great Fast, usually include solemn retellings of history by the clans’ Patrons, Patron Engsight Hethorn and Patron Et'woro Ginsada. These retellings usually involve the mistakes and misdeeds of their zu'aan and kin'toni ancestors that brought about the end times and the kin'toni disease itself.

While the clan members gather around to share in these tales, they pass from hand-to-hand different versions and presentations of their coveted river bloodroot. In their self-created form of fasting, they do not take a live zu'aan to feast upon for thirty days. Instead, the cured and prepared river bloodroot is meant to sate their appetite long enough to honor the sacrifices and deaths of those they feed upon. A smaller form of religion is practiced between the Patrons, Patron Engsight Hethorn and Patron Et'woro Ginsada, themselves.

Nearby Groups

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Engsight Kin'toni Clan

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