Tanirt Kin'toni Clan

History

The Tanirt clan was founded when Myrrdi and Taton relinquished their claims of authority to Moragden and gave her control over their forces to help prevent their extinction at the hands of the clans that controlled the forest. Moragden led the combined forces into a clearing deep within the forest. There they discovered a series of tunnels that gave them the necessary advantage over their pursuers. The tunnels hid them from the eyes of the other clans and gave them the chance to grow. They built a labyrinth to hide the path to their underground village and began hunting zu'aan during the night.

This pleased Myrrdi and Taton, who thought that they could reclaim their power now that their people were safe. But Moragden had other ideas. She invited the two former rulers to meet with her at a large wooden table set up in the centre of the clearing. When they arrived they discovered that the table was full of delicious food and in several chairs around the table slept zu'aan adventurers. They watched as Moragden took hold of one of the sleepers, slit open a wrist with a dagger, and drained them. The freshly fed Kin’toni explained that using such tactics.

She could see them surviving and growing large enough to take over more than just the region. As she explained her reasoning she walked up to Taton and slit her throat before gutting Myrrdi. She then tossed their bodies into the forest and had the other sleepers taken into the tunnels to feed the clan. With no more challengers to her throne, Moragden began teaching the rest of the clan how to implement her strategy. With little trouble from the forest clans, the Tanirt continued to grow and thrive using the lure of a safe place to rest and eat.

The peace didn't last forever, and soon the other clans were hunting for the Tanirt once more. Instead of just hide or send her people out to face them, Moragden led the hunters into the labyrinth. The change in terrain and unfamiliarity with the paths in the tunnels caused the other clans to get lost and begin to panic. It was then that Moragden revealed the rest of her plan. She gave her people daggers with twisted stone blades that were coated in their sleeping poison. As the other clans wandered the labyrinth in confusion, the Tanirt slipped past and cut each one they could.

They then left the labyrinth and sealed all the paths except a single connection path that was now inaccessible to the other clans. One by one, the hunters fell to the poison and Moragden then went back into the labyrinth and slit their throats. She tossed the heads of the leaders back into the forest and waited for three nights to see if there was any reply. On the third night she wandered the forest to see what had happened to the other clans. To her amusement they had all disappeared without a trace. She returned to the clearing and waited for her next prey.

Biology

Their eyes have dark yellow irises with white sclerae and horizontal slit pupils and give them a heightened sense of sight, especially in the dead of night. A curious effect the Tanirt eyes have is that they appear to glow bright yellow in pitch darkness. While their senses of touch and smell are relatively average, their sense of hearing is impressive. Their ears are pointed and they can pick up a person’s breathing from a few leagues away. These two heightened senses aid them in their endeavours to stay hidden and sneak up on their prey at night.

The only downside is they are noticeable by the glow of their eyes. Tall and lithe, the Tanirt appear to have an almost ethereal beauty. This is due in part to their bone structure and the way moonlight can affect the contours of their silhouette, and also in part to how they prefer to dress. Their hair colour usually varies from beige to hazelnut and contrasts well with their pale skin. Despite their appearance, the Tanirt have slightly thicker skin that can withstand the shifting seasons and most blunt attacks. They have slightly longer arms and legs along with longer fingers.

Their feet are arched and they tend to walk on the front pads of their soles to give them the appearance of accentuated grace. The entire clan works hard to appear beautiful and strange to any prey who happens to see them or wakes up during a feeding. They have a row of short fangs except for four extended fangs in place of their canines. They do not eat anything but the blood of their victims and so they constantly are on the hunt for more zu'aan. Due to their long legs, they are fast and agile and are capable of evading most ranged attacks.

However, they are susceptible to blades and aren't as strong as many of the other clans. This makes them have to be careful when dealing with other Kin’toni, and is the cause of their more subversive tactics. They are also vulnerable to the effects of freezing temperatures on their skin. Icing can cause their skin to crack and blister at the point of contact and leads to their bones being easy to break. Many of them tend to choose a nocturnal existence in an effort to have better chances at sneaking up on their prey. They have a particular tendency to hum lullabies as they hunt.

They use the muscles in their throats to cause the sound to split into two separate notes. The effect is an eerily soothing sound that also makes it appear as if there is more than one of them. They use this to make sure no animals make any noise or run and cause their prey to startle. The songs also tell their fellow clan members where to find more likely victims to take. They also use this to keep their prey comfortable as the other clan members drain and turn their own victims.

Culture

Living in the tunnels beyond a labyrinth they constructed to confuse and trap any other Kin’toni to attempt to follow them home, the Tanirt clan cover their carved out quarters with furs and fabrics and other soft things to make themselves as comfortable as possible. Each room in the tunnels have a small pit for a fire to heat them during cold winters and a skinny tunnel to the surface for the smoke to escape. these smoke tunnels also give each clan member a secondary exit and entrance if they are unable to use one of the main ones.

Moragden resides in a larger chamber that also acts as her throne room. This chamber also has wood furnishings that are the only hints of the life they had before the clan found the tunnels. In the heart of their subterranean village, there is a giant chamber with the floor lined with the thickest and softest furs they can find. This is the feeding chamber, where they bring their unconscious zu'aan victims to cut open and drain before turning them all. On a raised bench draped with black fur, Moragden feeds on the strongest and most beautiful of their captives.

At the edges of the room are wide yet short tunnel mouths connected to a severe drop. This is for any zu'aan who die during the feeding or turning processes. Above their tunnels, and where the main entrance connects with the surface, there lays the luscious and inviting clearing in the midst of a dense forest. Near the hidden main tunnel, entrance is an ornately carved giant wooden table that is often heavily laden with freshly made food and ale. The clan uses this as their main lure and trap while they hunt for zu'aan in the surrounding forest.

In an attempt to appear beautiful and strange to any who happen to see them in the night, the Tanirt wear silken gowns that catch the moonlight and shimmer with every move they make. They also paint the lids of their eyes and their cheeks so they appear almost gaunt and aquiline while defining their cheekbones. They keep their hair long and maintained with some portions braided to show their individuality. Every clan member holds a tattoo of the triple weave, the clan symbol as chosen by Moragden when she took power, on their necks right below their left ear.

They also give themselves a tattoo on the inside of their wrist in a design that signifies the name they chose after they turn. Those who chose to bond themselves together in deeper connection than just the clan will often design a symbol to both have tattooed on their sternam. This marks them as a unit. While such unions are rare, they are considered permenant. Below the main tunnels lay three vast chambers that are left bare. These are the burial chambers of any clan member who dies. The chambers are often filled with fresh flowers to combat the smell of decay.

Government

Before the clan was formed, they were three small warring bands led by Myrrdi, Taton, and Moragden. However when the bands were attacked by larger and stronger clans in the forest, the three combined to form the Tanirt clan under the control of Moragden. After she led them to safety and killed Myrrdi and Taton to prevent them from taking power, Moragden took the title of Queen of the Moon. She has absolute power and authority with the clan, and any who speak doubt about her rule are often never seen again. The exceptions are those she executes in front of the entire clan as a warning against any sedition.

She personally gives each member their clan symbols and uses her own blood as the ink in a show of ownership. In times of conflict with other clans, she takes personal responsibility for planning their strategy and giving each clan member their orders. On the night of the full moon, she opens her chambers for any clan member who has a request or concern. When there is a dispute between fellow clan members, Moragden will have them fight to the first cut in front of her. The loser then is tossed into the labyrinth while still unconscious from the poison their blades always carry.

In direct service to Moragden are the silent sisters known as Mabine and Meda. Their role is to act as her aids and her eyes and ears within the clan as well as the outside world. While not actually mute, Moragden is the only person who knows what they sound like. They are feircely loyal as Moragden turned them both and took care of them before there was anyone else following her. It is their job to scout out the surrounding regions and also to deal with any treacherous members of their own clan. They also act as Moragden’s bodyguards and executioners.

They are the only clan members allowed to wield weapons other than the usual poison soaked daggers. In an effort to gain power, Myrrdi had set up a small council of the eldest members of the clan. Moragden kept this council around after she killed Myrrdi and gives them the job of appeasing the rest of the clan on her behalf. They also must enforce her orders and convince the rest that it is in their best interest to follow her wishes. They are the ones to perform the burial rites for the dead. As well as the ones who tattoo the name and bond symbols on the clan members.

It is also their job to teach the new clan members and to provide the clothing and the chambers. They replace the flowers in the burial chambers and remove the rotting corpses of anyone killed in the feeding chamber or the labyrinth. In return Moragden meets with them once a week to hear what is needed for the clan as a whole and to give her instructions on how to acheive the desired benefits.

Military

While they were once three separate military forces, once Moragden took control of the clan they no longer had a standing army. Every member of the clan hunts at night. And every member is prepared to fight if necessary. However, it is on the orders of Moragden alone that they come together to fight as an army. She prefers to use subtler tactics than direct warfare. Thus she taught her people to use a dagger to kill as well as deliver a strong sleeping poison derived from plants found in the surrounding forest. Using speed, agility, and stealth.

The Tanirt can land a scratch on most of their foes before they can react. They also are not afraid to slit a throat or stab their enemy in the heart from behind. If against a small hunting party they will hide until the party has placed themselves in a position where they are surrounded and then the Tanirt strike quickly and without mercy. Another tactic they use with any kin’toni they can is to lead them into the labyrinth that hides the path to their home. Once inside they use the turns and dead ends to disorient their pursuers.

And then knock them out with the poison on their daggers before returning to slit their throats while they sleep. The only ones to ever take more direct action against another Kin’toni of a different clan are Moragden, Mabine, and Meda. Moragden will often lure her enemies into a false sense of security while she talks and then in quick movements, she'll strike in an unexpectedly brutal way. She will also take the entire head off her adversary and present it to those she thinks will attempt to challenge her next. Often this is enough to give anyone else pause or even scare them off completely.

Mabine prefers to rely on her speed to confuse her enemies as she delivers multiple attacks from different directions. She will often uses longer knives then the daggers used by the regular clan members, and likes to use a stimulant inducing poison to increase the sensation of pain in those she attacks. Her twin sister Meda uses a short tipped spear to jab and skewer her unsuspecting opponents before they can get closer. She likes to use stealth to get within range before attacking quickly and effectively. If she isn't sure she can easily get a kill, she'll rely on the knockout poison to subdue her enemy.

The other tactic that they use every night when they hunt is the lure of a giant table covered with freshly made food laced with sleeping poison. The table invites zu'aan with the promise of a safe meal instead of having to cook something for themselves at a campfire. And shortly after they taste the food, they fall into a deep sleep. The Tanirt will then take the sleeping zu'aan into the nearby tunnel entrance and bring them into the comfortable feeding chamber where the zu'aan are drained and turned or killed and disposed of.

Religion

Though they don't practise a formal religion, the Tanirt believe in the idea that a person’s actions will affect the future of others. They point to the methods of Moragden and how they no longer have to worry about the forest clans that originally pursued them. They also believe that it is fate that Moragden took control and taught them to be cunning while Myrrdi and Taton were more directly aggressive in their tactics. They believe that the clearing and the tunnels were a reward for trusting the right person to lead them through the dangers of the forest.

They believe that turning more zu'aan will lead to a future where they will have peace and power over all other clans. Some believe that Moragden is an incarnation of death and has been sent to bring the world to an end. These clan members desire to cause as much death as possible and are the most likely to kill the zu'aan they feed on or during the turning. Others believe that Moragden only killed Myrrdi and Taton to set them free from fear. There are some who believe that zu'aan blood gives them more speed or makes them smarter than before.

Moragden believes that she is the only one who can rule and protect the clan because she was the one to come up with the tactics that led to seemingly easy victories. In her eyes the clan mark she tattoos on every clan member are a way to give them protection with her very blood. She sacrifices a small portion of her on blood every day at the entrance to the tunnels. She also believes that the bodies of the dead must be preserved in the burial chambers in order to prevent other clans from finding them. She believes the twins are the arbiters of fate and they will one day kill her and take control of the clan.

Because of this, she makes sure they are aware of every aspect of how she runs the clan. She believes that Myrrdi and Taton were intentionally trying to kill the entire clan as a way to appease their gods. It is this reason that she refused to enforce a former religion on the clan. Instead she believes in letting her people believe in what they want. The twins both believe in the power of their own abilities and the cunning of Moragden. To them every order from Moragden is going to lead to the protection of the clan as a whole. They also believe that they are the only ones who are worthy of carrying out Moragden’s orders.

Mabine believes that Moragden is actually the turned form of their mother from when they were zu'aan. It is because of this that she devoted herself to following Moragden without question. She also believes that the moon chose the three of them to bring peace and order to the world through leading the clan to becoming the ruling force and through turning all zu'aan.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

Unknown

Tanirt Kin'toni Clan

Unknown