Usknal Kin'toni Clan

History

The Usknal kin'toni Clan are not of the oldest clans, but they are considered as such based on their progress. The clan was founded in around 4E 90 when a zu'aan called Cuipris Veild, left one of the walled zu'aan cities for he had wronged leaders of the city and was in fear of his life. He was bitten by a hungry kin'toni that wanted his blood to drink. He killed it, but he was hurt in the fight and did not know he was bitten until it was too late. When Cuipris Veild became a kin'toni, after around three hundred years founded a clan that turned for zu'aan that fled their tribes or cities.

This clan grew in number slowly as such zu'aan are not often around. The clan did grow to around ten thousand in size by allowing exiles and traitors from other kin'toni clans and turning zu'aan who were cast out from their tribes and cities. It is known that the clan lost around 8,000 in the Shattering in the years 4E 100 to 4E 150, this was a dark time for kin'toni kind, This was a time of little and want, a time of war and death, but also a time of hope for zu'aan kind. They fled as exiles to the Miarma Prairie after the loss of half their clan. They have clearly defined their lives from sundown to sun up, which gives everyone the impression they have been around since the dawn of time.

With little written down in one place, here is the gist as taken from a lengthy monologue of the Thrush Gathering, noted down on an old book: "It is not as long as you lay ones think. For we came and settled here by the (not understandable text). This is which told us to stay here. The wind has confirmed that in the way we live and move. Nothing is more important to us than the wind, as it sweeps away the decayed and brings us new life with each breath. We, the Usknal kin'toni Clan. knew this was to be our home. We constructed basic homes that were square-edged like all others, but the wind knew better."

"Within a few months, those squared edges were rounded off by the workings of the wind. We soon discovered we need to go with the wind, and not against it. As you look around, you see nothing but rounded homes, connected by breezeways. This is the foundation of our culture: family and community. The wind shifted and caused the next part to be inaudible, but then we heard: "-like nothing we had ever seen." He moved with the wind like no one else, and the piled wheat in his hands never left his hold. It was like he knew where the wind was going to be and not be, so he just, well, danced to the wind's tune."

"Like nothing we had ever seen, he danced from the fields into the mill without dropping a single stalk. No one had ever done that, but I assure you, everyone wanted to see him do it again and the smart ones, watched him closely, for they wanted to do it too. And that is how Wind Dancing began and is carried on to this very day." Today the clan has around five hundred kin'toni in it and mostly lives in the Miarma Prairie. In the dark times to come, they think that their bonds will help them stand as one

Psychology

Usknal kin'toni is a headstrong and curious bunch, most content to sit and watch others go about their day. When forced into a social confrontation, a dehll will normally maintain a polite distance between himself and any others, answering curtly when spoken to and rarely explaining themselves. Perhaps because of this, the quiet dehll has gained a reputation as being arrogant. They rarely act without first weighing all alternatives and variables. Occasionally their innate curiosity will cripple them, as they ponder over and over which would be the best or most interesting course of action.

Once a course of action has been decided, however, changing a Usknal kin'toni's mind is a feat worthy of song. If you can make a friend of an Usknal, it will be for life. They are extremely loyal and very supportive of friends and family. While they may not move quickly, they will move decisively and as a group. Beware if you ever betray an Usknal…your quick and immediate death will be the fastest decision they ever act upon. In general, they are level headed, "down to earth" people. They are not fancy by their standards, nor are they haughty (even though they seem arrogant).

They will calmly face the storm or a sunny day with the same determination, most likely because they are rather arrogant and think they can not be beaten. When angered, provoked, or forced to take action, this group of kin'toni will sometimes come together and work as one to defeat their common or uncommon enemies, and as a result, their enemies, no matter how strong or formidable, will end up perishing by the Usknal clan's hands. Do not stand in their way. Another thing that you should know about this particular clan of kin'toni is that they are very religious.

And believe in the power of natural weather and precipitation, but when asked about their religion of choice by kin'toni of other clans that they are not familiar with they will simply respond by shaking their head horizontally and turning away to show that they don't want to discuss such a topic with them; however, they have been known to get along with kin'toni of foreign clans, particularly the Aw'drai and Bynysi clans, and will talk to them about many things. They have been known to make many foes over religion with how religious the Usknal kin'toni Clan is in their beliefs.

Biology

The Usknal are adapted to the humid, rainy, marshy and windy Miarma Prairie. They are of medium height, the torso being flexible and almost serpentine and wide flat feet. This build is adapted with an low low center of gravity for crawling quickly and silently and slipping though the dense undergrowth. The downside of this is due to having little muscle and flexible bones, they are more fragile and not as strong as other clans The skin is thin, smooth and colored in patches of pale green and brown. it is coated with an self-renewing, water-repellent biological wax to prevent saturation and mold growth in the high humidity.

The hair is thin, fine and growing along the skin and the backs of the limbs. This hair is also pale greens and browns in color. The eyes are narrow, almond sharped and moss green in color. These eyes have inner ocular shield of prion-modified stem cells. This acts as an powerful lens to cut through water vapor, heavy fog, and dense foliage. The downside of this is being blinded by bright light. The ears are pointed, broad and leaf-shaped. These ears are highly flexible, with multiple fine cartilage channels running through them.

These ears are adapted for directional sound focusing to find prey even in the long grass. The nose is flat and broad, with very wide shallow nostrils. These are lined with enhanced odor receptors that are for tracking complex, multi-layered ground scents and animal trails, even in decaying grass. The teeth are very thin, curved backwards and adapted to fit together in a tight, overlapping pattern. The teeth are adapted for taking out small plugs of flesh and quickly drawing blood, but lack the ability to crush bone or tear though tough flesh.

The claws are long, slender, needle-like and forever sharp. These claws are for piercing tough hides and puncturing organs during a rapid, stealthy ambush from close range. The claws are easy to break, such as when trying to climb or grip. The feet have modified pads that are hydro-sensitive using an adapted cellular structure. These feet can spread and flatten on muddy and soft ground to allow for silent movement. These pads are not adapted for abrasive or gravelly surfaces and on such surfaces, are prone to injury.

The bones are slightly hollowed and filled with a light, gas-permeable marrow, and in the limbs and torso, less dense. These aids in agility and lowing the chance of sinking in soft mud. The bones are more prone to micro-fractures from high-impact landings or blunt force trauma. The lighter bones also lead to an low tolerance for carrying heavy loads or supporting another creature's weight for long periods. The muscles are adapted for low-profile crawling and short, powerful leaps even from lying down.

This allows a large amount of surprise attack efficacy. The vascular system has an redundant network of small, resilient capillaries under the skin to allow for oxygen absorption even when underwater or buried in mud. They also have blood that is highly resistant to coagulation and thickening, allowing it to flow rapidly and efficiently.

Culture

What defines the Usknal can be mostly attributed to their location as it forced them to evolve around their environment. They are a tight community that holds family as paramount. It is not uncommon for entire families to live in one house or connected houses. They find their self worth in how well they hold their family values. Friends are not easily found or kept, but if you are turned into a family, nothing but death takes out of their care or attention. Hard workers have no time for creativity outside of solving problems for their families and community.

Music and art are all but absent for the Usknal. They do express themselves in monologues given at the rare community gatherings and wind dancing. These community gatherings are a time for families to exchange goods and ideas. While Usknal is not trusting of others, they are loyal to their community. The wind dancing happens regularly with the prairie ecosystem. Usknal kin'toni gracefully moves to the shifting and changing of the wind, which began out of the desire to prevent items from blowing away in the wind. While it appears to the outsider that there is no music.

The Usknal are very in tune with nature, especially the wind, moving their intricate braided hair a wonder to behold. Instruments are designed around the wind, but they also include percussion. The percussion instruments are used mostly for communication between the Usknal, while the wind instruments are used for communication to the gods. Some have wondered into sacred rituals of wind instruments, only to hear the percussion instruments beating out the coming of their death. Always be cautious around any Usknal with a possible instrument.

If unsure if it is an instrument, approach with caution anyway. Usknal is a proud people and holds their ancestors with great importance. They sing of the past exploits of their families and will use their history in current financial deals. It is not uncommon for land to be traded at unfair amounts when one family's history outweighs the other. Over exaggerating is not only frowned on but could get you excommunicated by your own family. There will be no glory made from infamy. Truth and only truth are remembered in history. The amazing braids in their hair are designed to show family colours within the clan.

But, it is more complicated, as their hair is designed to catch the win properly, so that the clan colours show first, followed by their family colours, and then by any other of their choice. The younger in the clan are taught this early on, and while they can all do it, most hold to just keeping their hair unkempt (even the highest ruler of them all).

Government

Since their beginning, The Usknal kin'toni have given power to the landowners. It is written that the largest holder of Usknal land is ruler over their clan. The second in command is the second-largest landowner. The two can choose their immediate assistants. Originally, they were brothers, so this was a good fit. However, the years have moved land sizes and ownerships around. No one family has the land for both positions, so there is continued unrest in who is the ruler of the clan and who is second in command. The Usknal kin'toni clan leaders have only to maintain the family heads, as each family is tightly loyal.

They provide the basics of rule, while the families keep order themselves. Occasionally, there are disputes, so the ruler handles the monetary ones, while the second in command handles the civil or social disputes. This leads to tension between the leaders, as the "rule" over two different areas and when they overlap, conflict always abounds. The rulers have a 5-year term, which is revisited by land size and census each term. You can hold office as long as you hold the most land, which creates a complicated transfer of land holdings to handle business transactions. Money is used, but the land is the real currency.

Land can be handed down from one generation to the next, but nothing is automatic. There are very particular rituals of law that must be followed at the death of a Usknal head of a family. The passage of land could determine the next ruler of the Usknal, so they take it very seriously. One cannot simply give land away, nor just "will" it to someone else. All land must be traded and with numerous people to witness it. A third party will usually sit in as a formality, but the current ruler cannot be that third party due to a conflict of interest. Usknal kin'toni supports a small government.

They see no need in having many people ruling them or helping to rule them. All Usknal kin'toni must be productive, so serving someone who is a servant of those around them seems pointless. Therefore, they will have a ruler with a few administrators of that ruler, and a second-in-command with the same. Some Usknal kin'toni would argue only one is needed, but they have not changed this, as the saying goes: "if it works, let it work." Two of the clans laws are: The penalty for a soldier killing a member of a higher class is long imprisonment and the penalty for a servant impersonating a priest in exile.

Military

The Usknal clan doesn't necessarily believe in the military because they consider militias to be flawed and full of double standards; however, they do learn how to work together in battle, especially as many groups of families fight together against the common enemy, sending both male and female into combat. They, for the most part, choose not to wear any armour, unless they need to and more often than not carry minimal weapons, but their hand to hand is unmatched. The weapons they do carry are short swords and daggers of stone and bone. Like the wind, they are quick and fluid.

For what it's said to be worth most Usknal kin'toni have a unique training regimen when it comes to fighting enemies in battle: first, they go to the temple and meet accordingly to exercise in such a way that relieves enough stress to where they can focus on their task at hand; after that, they exit the temple and begin a rather intense, distant sprint that tests all sorts of mind, body, soul, stamina, strength, and willpower; and finally, when finally given the chance to display their brute strength in battle, they let it all loose and come at the enemy with everything they have.

Every couple of days many families of the Usknal clan will convene and gather in their masses to perform a series of ancient rituals that are believed to be the rituals of the gods of their religion, and these rituals often require an abundance of stamina, a complex articulation of agility and strength, and a combined knowledge of physical, spiritual and emotional well being; however, it takes many years of superfluous practice for an Usknal to officially master these rituals, and it also takes a lot of willpower, zest, patience, determination, and persistence.

Most Usknal clan kin'toni believe that the only way in which to survive in any kind of weather — which they as a clan are known to be capable of to a degree — is to become the weather, to follow the direction of the wind and air and bask in the glory of the sunshine. There is a very specific reason as to why they think like this, but despite many studies conducted by other clans, it is still, to this very day, not clear as to why they believe this to be the way to long-term livelihood. They are famous for their terrifying armour and for fighting while intoxicated.

Religion

The Usknal worship the weather. On sunny days, the god of Light is happy and they go about their day today. On rainy days, they meet in the temple and pray for the god's anger to stop. On cloudy days, the god of Light is said to be unhappy, so they behave very calmly, hoping for no anger from him. The god of Night is female, requiring all manner of sacrifice and lovemaking to appease her. Clear nights involve nothing from them, but rain or clouds will require much more. For safety reasons, rain or clouds at night will force the Usknal to both kill and make love, but not always in that order.

Primal is not proper to describe as far as their religion of choice is concerned, for in all seriousness they are very methodical and meticulous, often trying to keep themselves composed in terms of keeping their emotions in check. The wind is often assumed by Vampyrian religious of this or other certain clans, in particular, to be the sign of happiness by both gods, so the Usknal treasure the wind the most. It is the god's favour on them. It is not known if the gods and goddesses are real, but the clan think they are.

Religiously speaking in terms of literature, there was a book of scriptures that was believed to be written several thousand years ago by the descendants of Cuipris Veilddra and is often regarded by most of the Usknalians as their Holy Bible; this book, simply called, "Azmewa Saedza," or, as translated from the Usknal's native language to English, "The Elemental Tome," is a book that chronicles the entire life span of the gods of the weather, which are referred to in this series of scriptures as the Elementals. According to this ancient book, the Gods of Light and Night were supposedly the first kin'toni.

To ever exist, having been conceived long ago by a zu'aan and a mythological fanged beast known as a Cyrzon. The book is said to contain the very births of those two figures in great detail, from how they raised themselves in unity and togetherness to how they decided to prove their love for one another by mating one evening in the dead of night; however, it is why that is that the book leaves up to its readers to provide a logical answer for. One holiday is called, Scouno, a joyful religious holiday celebrated on the winter solstice. It is associated with a certain animal, doubt and wisdom.

Miscellany

An Usknal kin'toni's eyes are a straight-up mix between lavender and ruby, although most would suggest that they are pink; so, in other words, their eye is a very light ruby pink. What is also odd about their facial appearance is that very few Usknal kin'toni grow facial hair, if any at all; this is often assumed to be a result of their inexperience at shaving. What is also uncommon about this clan's facial appearance is their uneven eye structure, which has a nose that is often slightly smaller than the average or standard for a kin'toni.

Very few of the Usknal kin'toni in this particular clan is known to be Renaissance men, displaying a unique combination of a wide variety of respective talents. This slim minority in this particular clan is often referred to as the Tauyans or the savants. The reason why they bear this name is a direct result of them being able to learn just about every trick of the trade at a young age; however, they don't master their respective crafts until they reach their early adult years (kin'toni are thought of as adults in this clan at one hundred and fifty years old)

By then, they have had more than enough experience in their respective trades. Another misconstrued and misinterpreted fact about this otherwise complex clan of kin'toni is that they have a unique psychological pattern on some nights that cause them to act in a very odd way; however, despite their odd behaviours on those particular nights, they are still just as religious and dedicated to their ability to function as they have otherwise proven to other clans that they are different in their ideologies but also similar in behavioural activity.

Most who studied this clan in the past have been shown this. But the most interesting and perplexing thing about the Usknal kin'toni is that they used to be able to reproduce or repopulate at an alarmingly fast rate before the death of their clan founder, Cuipris Veilddra, yet in this particular time, the present, they cannot repopulate nearly as effectively as they did when they were at their supposed "peak" as a clan, for after the death of Veilddra many kin'toni began to die unexpectedly of uncontrollable illnesses.

Many kin'toni think it was a result of the side effects that they suffered after the end of the Shattering.

Nearby Groups

Unknown

Usknal Kin'toni Clan

Unknown