Boelmos Kin'toni Clan

History

The Boelmos clan is a young clan, founded in 4E 453. The founder of the group was Actaleon, an artist skilled in painting. The clan formed as an artists collective. This group was similar to the Umzarg'yn and the Artists of the Ancient Bog. The clan recruited artists and creatives from all over the world; this was aided by their nomadic lifestyle. The clan did not choose a stronghold until five years after their founding, in 4E 458.

The clan chose the Yeleria Seasonal Forest as their stronghold. The forest was chosen as it is a thick woodland that gives some protection from the sunlight in the daytime. The clan allied with the Wyvorhin Kin'toni Clan to take down the Jash'eta clan. The Jash'eta were encroaching on the lands of the Wyvorhin and the Jash'eta far outnumbered them. The Wyvorhin allied with the Boelmos in order to drive off this threat.

The two clans attacked the Jash'eta in the morning, just before sunup. By burning toxic plants, the clans made poisonous gas clouds. These gas clouds poisoned and suffocated the tired Jash'eta. The few who staggered out into the sunlight, burned. Once the last of the Jash'eta were dead, the clans parted ways as allies. The bodies of the Jash'eta were left to rot in their caves.

The Et'woro Kin'toni Clan allied with the Boelmos to trade. The Sh'halot River flows from the Fibod Tropical Mountains and then through the End'ete Crag Gardens to the east. The Et'woro had large amounts of iron from the Fibod Tropical Mountains. The alliance was fragile as the wood that the Boelmos traded for the iron was slow growing. Due to this, the amount of wood traded had to be rationed.

The alliance with the Kalvor Kin'toni Clan was another fragile trade alliance. The Kalvor traded the glowing crystals of the End'ete Crag Gardens for the wood and fruit of the Yeleria Seasonal Forest. Both parties rationed their trades as both were slow renewing resources. The Kalvor wanted the crystals to crush into a spice for their blood. Some crystals were kept intact and used as a source of light.

Their pact with the Polia Kin'toni Clan was a bloody one. The Polia had found the zu'aan city of Dsyi. This walled city had stood for over three hundred years. The Boelmos allied with the Polia to take down this formidable city. The city's walls had started to crumble from age and this had led to weak parts in the wall. The clans tunneled into these weak parts and into the city.

When the clans got into the city, they overwhelmed the zu'aan defenders. The city was turned into a bloodbath. All zu'aan that did not flee were taken prisoners to be turned. The alliance with the Stastwar Kin'toni Clan was for the simple reason of the Stastwar having a supply of blood-rich fish due to the Sh'halot River passing through the Echest Withered Forest. The Boelmos traded the glowing spice for the Stastwar's fish.

As of 4E 500, the clan has fallen into savagery. The attack on Dsyi awakened their bloodthirsty nature. The clan took up such dark habits as collecting eyeballs from people they killed. The last remnants of their past were their like for turning artists who made good enough work. The clan was not aware of the incoming Ice Age. The fact the winters were getting longer slipped their minds. The Yeleria Seasonal Forest was getting colder year by year.

Biology

Boelmos kin'toni are instantly recognizable as they are the largest of the kin'toni Clans that make their homes in the wild. Although there height is average, their muscle mass has been increased ten-fold, allowing them to pull zu'aan apart as easily as a zu'aan could pull apart the petals of a flower. Most of their muscle mass resides in their arms and chest aiding them in their constant attacks, although their legs are not far behind in this particular feature. It is said that the increased muscle mass of the Boelmos kin'toni is due to the constant flow of rage that possesses them.

The eyes of the Boelmos kin'toni carry the trade-mark vertical pupils that some kin'toni possess, however, unlike the majority of the clans, the irises of the Belmose kin'toni have remained as whatever color they were before turning. This odd feature creates an unnerving contradiction to the pure black of the sclera and the pupil. It is said that to look into the blackness of the sclera is to look into the blackness of the Boelmos kin'toni unbeating heart and if one has looked into that blackness and been left alive and unturned, madness will follow.

This has never been proven, as no zu'aan has ever been left alive or unturned when they have been close enough to look into the eyes of a Boelmos kin'toni. The ears of this particular clan have changed and adapted over time to allow a nearly 360 degree hearing range. The cup of the ear has flattened, leaving sound to enter the ear canal from any direction without the need to turn the head. A double set of ear drums within the ear canal allows the Boelmos kin'toni to hear ranges of sound that are above and below the normal hearing range.

This allows them to hunt in either open fields or heavy forests when there is no supply of fresh zu'aan for them to hunt. Some say the shape of their ear even allows them to hear supersonic noises which many of the winged creatures of the forests use to echo-locate. Due to their fairly consistent diet of zu'aan, the teeth of the Boelmos kin'toni have remained sharp and several additional teeth have grown due to the virus's ability to morph kin'toni in ways that aid in their survival.

While typically only the teeth used to puncture arteries stay sharpened in the kin'toni, the Boelmos kin'toni have sharpened teeth throughout their mouth. In order to create room for the additional teeth that have grown, their tongue has decreased in size while the bone structure of the jaws have edged outward, providing more space within the mouth. While this feature does aid in abilities to drain zu'aan of their lifeblood, it gives them an almost square jaw line. This, plus the smaller tongue, creates a highly inhibited ability to communicate verbally.

This does not detract from their ability to hunt as a group nor their ability to communicate through various sounds rather than words.

Culture

Because hunting has remained the mainstay of the Boelmos kin'toni's survival, there has been very little progress towards other aspects of civilization. Where many of the other kin'toni clans have integrated agricultural endeavors into their lives, the Boelmos kin'toni have done no such thing. As such, the have remained a somewhat nomadic tribe, constantly on the move. If they come across any tribes of zu'aan that are caught outside of the walls of a city, they eradicate the entire tribe, either by feeding off of them or turning them.

As their numbers continue to grow, however, there has been less turning and more feeding. When they come across a city, the defenses are tested and if found to be deficient, they will stay in the area long enough to destroy as much of the city as possible, desiccating the numbers of zu'aan that live within the walls . Once this has been achieved, they move on, looking for the next city. If the defenses are found to be efficient enough to endanger too many of the clan, they will move without attacking.

But the city will be marked and there is an unspoken agreement that it will be revisited if and when their numbers are strong enough to penetrate the defenses. The written language was once known among the Boelmos kin'toni, but through decades of disuse, it is a forgotten art. They have no desire to leave a lasting mark on anything. Occasionally, a freshly turned zu'aan will try and bring written language back to the Clan, but it has, so far, been a lost cause and eventually, the ability passes out of the new kin'toni's mind.

This has caused unfavorable consequences the few times they have ran across warnings left by other kin'toni clans and those times resulted in the loss of many in their rank. Because of their nomadic lifestyle, many of the the Boelmos kin'toni Clan have not known the creature comforts of a shelter they could call home. Those that have been turned in more recent years still remember life with that security, although, in reality, even a home offers little security in the chaos of the post-virus world.

It takes very little time for those memories to fade to nothing and any desire to live that way extinguished. There is only the hunt, and the rewards from the hunt. There is no age limit when it comes to the Boelmos kin'toni turning zu'aan and as such, some of their numbers are quite young. When a young one is turned, a clan member will be assigned a certain guardianship of them, teaching them all they need to know about the hunt and about how the zu'aan are responsible for the devastating virus and ultimate destruction of what was once a modern society.

The rage that burns among the Boelmos kin'toni will begin to burn within the younger ones, consuming them as it consumed everyone in the clan. This rage allows no loyalty between members of the clan and infighting is a near constant issue no matter the age.

Government

The Boelmos kin'toni have a very loose governmental function due simply to the size of the Clan. It is headed by Actaleon who is aided by ten of those he has deemed most trustworthy. This group makes all of the decisions for the Clan, including when to move on and when to stay. Despite the infighting the Clan experiences due to the constant presence of rage and bloodlust, this group, calling themselves the Tek'tan, or enforcers, rule harshly and uncompromisingly. Through the ages, many of the Boelmos kin'toni have found themselves on the wrong side of the Tek'tan and death has been swift.

Questioning the decisions of the Tek'tan is often times a fatal mistake and for those few who outright oppose a decision, a swift death would be mercy compared to what they receive. And while opposition, direct or indirect, of the Tek'tan is dealt with harshly, opposition among the other members of the clan is frequent. The threat coming to them from the great ice sheets slowly overtaking the land is not lost to Actaleon and so despite their nomadic lifestyle, the Tek'tan are constantly on the lookout for kin'toni clans that may prove to be useful allies during the coming crisis.

There have been many summits between Actaleon and the heads of other clans. Some of these summits have resulted in truces and allies. Some have resulted in mortal enemies and bloodshed between the clans. Twice, the bloodshed led to a merging of clans when Acaleon or other members of the Tek'tan killed the head of the opposing clan. To date, the Boelmos kin'toni Clan has made allies with five other clans. The Wyvorhin Kin'toni Clan located to the East, in the Furatha Forest, were the first allies to join with the Boelmos.

Although now quite distant from the Furatha Forest, the alliance remains and has resulted in the destruction of at least one clan that openly opposed the Wyvorthin. The Et'woro Kin'toni Clan and the Kalvor Kin'toni Clan, which are both located along the shores of the Sh'halot River became allies, although their culture and governmental hierarchies differ vastly from the Boelmos. This is due mostly to their location and distance from the coming ice sheets. The alliance is delicate, but their numbers are great enough that Actaleon knows it would be a poor decision to try and overtake them.

The Polia Kin'toni Clan is another nomadic clan that the Boelmos Clan have came in contact with several times throughout the ages. Having a very similar structure and like-minded ambitions, the Tek'tan were able to quickly form an alliance and on a few occasions joined forces with them to destroy cities with more advanced defenses. The final clan with which their current alliance resides are the Stastwar Kin'toni Clan. Much the same as the alliance with the Et'woroa nd the Kalvor, this one is delicate and based solely on the resources available to the Stastwar and the size of the clan.

Military

The Boelmos kin'toni Clan do not have a formal military due to the fact that the entire Clan is made of warriors. When attacking against zu'aan there is no well thought out strategies, nor military formations. Battle with the Boelmos Kin'tani consists of melee fighting. Because of their large muscle mass, most Boelmos simply use their hands to fight against their enemies, however, many have fashioned crude weapons from available resources. Some have taken more sophisticated weapons from the remains of the cities they have destroyed along the way.

The Tek'tan have collected most of these more advanced weapons for themselves. These weapons consist of swords and knives tempered from the metals available by zu'aan who have studied and kept the art alive despite the devastation wrought by the virus. Some of these zu'aan have been turned by the the Boelmos and brought their knowledge into the hands of the Tek'tan. However, their nomadic lifestyle prohibits them from being able to lay their hands on the proper resources to continue the trade.

Through their alliance with the Polia kin'toni, there has been a stronger drive toward more military-like conquests. The Polia kin'toni, headed by an ex-military general, disgraced and forced into the experiment that first turned the zu'aan into the kin'toni, relies heavily on military strategy and formation. Upon observing the very successful outcomes of these precision attacks, Actaleon realized the potential they could have if the Boelmos followed some of these strategies and formations.

But due to the evolution of the rage and bloodlust, implementing any of the training required to develop the skills required has been mostly a lost cause. Over the course of many years, Actaleon and the rest of the Tek'tan have managed to train only a relative handful of their Clansmen. Whenever they spend an extended time in one location, they continue to work on the training and as recently as the last year or so, have actually noticed some success in their endeavors.

Religion

The Boelmos kin'toni have no spirituality. The creator of the Clan, Ra'katon, lost his soul to the deep rage brought on by his circumstance. The virus nurtured the rage, causing it to devour his soul. As a result, all who were turned by him during the Great Escape lost their souls as well. The worship no entity throughout the heavens or across the world. They pray to no one and respect no one, with the exception of Ra'katon. Seen as the father of the clan, Ra'katon is held in the highest regard possible. His name is spoken frequently and many of the attacks are said to be in honor of him.

Actaleon, currently the only survivor of that first night of chaos, is held in higher regard, but unlike the spirit of Ra'katon, Actaleon is feared more than respected. Actaleon, himself, can sense the power of the evil that was released with the virus during the Great Escape. Before the virus, there was a balance in the universe, a light that kept the darkness at bay. Since the outbreak and the Great Escape, the light has faded and the darkness has grown. Evil has settled into the hearts of many and there is very little to be joyous about. Actaleon can see this in every zu'aan they destroy. Though there are many hearts that are light, there are not enough to ward off what is to come.

The hearts of the Boelmos kin'toni are as black as the night and Actaleon understands that it is because of their founder this characteristic has continued to perpetuate and drive them to lay waste to any and all zu'aan that cross their path. And so he encourages their praises to Ra'katon, and he encourages their rage and their bloodlust. He encourages the spread evil. He has introduced a few rituals designed to drive the bloodlust, rituals he knows mean nothing but which encourage the Boelmos Clan to perform even darker things on those that they hunt. One of these rituals include ceremonially staking the heads of various zu'aan that they have fed on. Another includes the offering of blood to the spirit of Ra'katon. This ritual in particular tends to feed the bloodlust of the Boelmos kin'toni, oftentimes driving them into a frenzy before an attack.

Aware that the coming of the great ice sheets poses a deep threat to the survival of all kin'toni, Actaleon's desire is to feed the evil and perhaps win its favor. He understands on a deeper level that the evil set loose upon the land is much stronger at the moment than the light that had held it at bay. He hopes that by being a servant of the darkness, he, as well as the Boelmos kin'tonio Clan will be spared as the ice approaches and the land is consumed.

Miscellany

The rage that has been imbued into the Boelmos kin'toni and intensified throughout the decades by the morphing virus has created a black aura around the clansmen that manifests itself in a number of ways, the most notable being that living things ultimately wither and perish when in their presence for too long. While this decay only occurs in a rather close area around them, its evidence has been noted and used by the clan a number of times to aid in the destruction of the cities they lay siege to.

Being in close proximity to crops will cause them to wither within days and die shortly after. When the circumstances fall just right, the Boelmos kin'toni will send clansmen into cities under the cover of darkness to find a place to hide near crops. This is not always possible as their cover must be protected from the rays of the sun, but is very effective when the opportunity presents itself. This side-effect of the virus will also affect creatures of all types, though it takes longer for things made of flesh and blood to ultimately die.

The only thing that seems unaffected by this aura is zu'aan. While overexposure will cause them to feel ill, it does not ultimately kill them as it does everything else. The majority of the Boelmos kin'toni Clan were criminals before being turned. While many of the newer kin'toni were typical zu'aan just trying to survive in the aftermath of the outbreak, many of the older clansmen had a history of violence and bloodshed before being turned. Legend has it that this is the reason the rage passed on from Ra'katon intensified so quickly as the virus was spread and disseminated throughout the land.

Whether by chance or design, many of the zu'aan that were turned were convicted murderers or convicted of attempting murder. Many more were convicted of, or guilty of violent crimes against other zu'aan. Once turned, the virus fed on their predilections and intensified them creating a clan of dangerous kin'toni that reveled in inflicting as much pain and agony on their victims as they possibly could before finishing their business. This trait has only intensified and this, more than anything else, has led to the legend of the Boelmos kin'toni. While it is well known in the world that clans of kin'toni continue to survive and multiply, the Boelmos kin'toni are one of the few clans that are known throughout the land although perhaps not by name. The legend is perpetuated by the shredded remains found in the aftermath of their attacks and by any that managed to survive a city-wide attack.

In more recent years, the Boelmos kin'toni have taken to collecting the eyes of those they destroy. The eyes are kept in leather pouches fashioned from the hides of various creatures found running the land. These pouches are hung around their necks with leftover pieces of the leather used to fashion them. There is fierce competition to be the Boelmos kin'toni with the greatest number of eyes.

Nearby Groups

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Boelmos Kin'toni Clan

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