Lyeyere City Zu'aan

History

The Lyeyere zu'aan were a messed-up city. They wouldn’t take visitors, or allow just anyone to come to their borders, but they would, in fact, steal kin’toni from the surrounding areas. This was due to a mad scientist that wanted to see what made up the kin’toni, and to see what the virus had done to them. When he’d first brought up the idea, B'shah didn’t think anyone would allow him to experiment on the kin’toni, but he was met with more interest than disapproval. There were many zu'aan from the city that held the same curiosity as B'shah did, wanting to see how the virus made the kin’toni what they were.

In no time B'shah was setting traps within the forest, as well as asking other members of the city to act as bait to attract the kin’toni. He didn’t quite know what it was that he was going to do for his experiments when he first started, but the longer he spent trapping and containing kin’toni, the more ideas he got. He believed that while the kin’toni could talk and reason with him, that they weren't able to have true zu'aan emotion, because they weren't zu'aan. He believed that while they could talk, they didn’t feel fear, sadness, or grief, but that they were able to act as though they did so they could catch and kill their next victims.

For years, B'shah was able to capture kin’toni and perform his own experiments on them, setting forth a chain of weapons and other techniques that could be used against the kin’toni when attacks happened. He was able to sell a lot of his intelligence to other cities, allowing them to adapt the information as they wanted to, and use it as they pleased. It didn’t seem like there was anything to be done about how he was handling the research, but there wasn’t anyone that wanted to challenge the research. Over time, the experimentation on kin’toni became what the city was about.

Zu'aan from all around knew what lay in Lyeyere City. Because they knew of the proceedings that went on there, there were some zu'aan that would go out of their way to avoid the city, not wanting to be associated with the crazy zu'aan, but there were some that were curious and wanted to go and see the experiments, and to learn how different kin’toni were from them. Eventually, a museum of sorts was founded around the experiments. Zu'aan could come and have limited access to kin’toni in cages, or in various stages of experiments to see what they were made of.

It hadn’t been thought that this would be such an attraction, but as soon as B'shah realized the fame he was gaining from his museum, he started to fund more experiments, going mad with the power he had over the kin’toni. B'shah rose to power quickly, and no one stopped him, until a day came where he was too cocky for his own good, and a kin’toni broke free, killing B'shah and leaving his body on display for the rest of the city to see. This being done marked a time when the zu'aan from Lyeyere city had to wall off their city to keep the raging kin’toni from killing them and taking their things.

They’d thought of leaving, although they had no idea where they could go that would keep them safe from the kin’toni that wished to ruin their city and take their lives.

Psychology

Since B'shah founded the belief that the kin’toni were evil, the rest of the zu'aan from the city started to trust in his beliefs. There was more than enough evidence to show that B'shah’ experiments weren't unfounded, as the data coming off of them showed that the kin’toni were different. What no one seemed to account for was the fact that the data that showed the difference, also showed that the zu'aan were also different from each other. While the kin’toni needed to feast on zu'aan blood to survive, they were still living, breathing, and feeling beings that were being experimented on as though they were already dead, which was what B'shah believed.

The longer B'shah made the zu'aan from Lyeyere city believe that kin’toni were evil, the more fear would spread. They had erected walls around the city to keep them safe from the kin’toni, but having some in the city, even if they were locked in cells, made the zu'aan live more in fear than they ever had. B'shah would spend his time telling them that they were all fine, that there was nothing to worry about, but even he was scared, right up until the day he was killed by an angry kin’toni that managed to break out of its cell and get its hands on B'shah.

For many months after B'shah had been killed, the zu'aan from Lyeyere city were terrified of the chain of events his death had caused. There were kin’toni that frequently flooded the city, looking for their next meal, as well as zu'aan that had come from other cities looking to exact revenge on the city that had sold them false information. Even in death, B'shah had doomed his city, leading to many more of them being kidnapped or killed, as well as much of the city having fallen.

For the rest of their time, the city loved in a constant state of terror. With nowhere to go, they were stuck at Lyeyere city, since the resources and money they had gathered weren't enough to ensure a safe relocation for them. Everything they did, they did out of fear since they were terrified of what could happen to them. Even when less kin’toni came around to attack them, they would still check over their shoulders if they had to go outside to do anything, or they would lock themselves in their houses and trust no one. No one in the city believed they were safe for many years, and that caused their population to dwindle heavily.

There weren't many children being born as many of the zu'aan believed that if they were to birth children, the scent would attract hungry kin’toni and they would be killed, so many remained either celibate, or single, in hopes that in doing so they would save what was left of their city.

Culture

While B'shah was still alive, the zu'aan of Lyeyere city believed that science was everything. There was such a strong belief in what he was accomplishing that many of the zu'aan didn’t celebrate birthdays of their own, although they did celebrate his birthday. With the facts and data he was bringing to light, there were many zu'aan that thought B'shah was their savour, and that nothing bad could possibly happen while he was alive. That was, until he died. With their self-proclaimed saviour having been killed by the very thing he was experimenting on, the rest of the city had no idea what they were going to do.

In many ways they were a broken city, especially without their leader, the man who made it all happen. While there were some that thought another zu'aan should take up the reigns and perform the experiments, once the news of how B'shah had been killed was leaked, the city entered into a state of terror. No one left their house if they didn’t need to, and no one had children, meaning that there was nothing that they could do as a city. A lot of them didn’t want to gather together for fear that they would be caught and killed in mass amounts if they were to do something like that, and others thought that leaving their house at all would mean a death sentence.

Everything was crumbling around them, and since that was how things were going, the zu'aan accepted their fate. It didn’t seem as though anyone wanted to change anything about what they were doing, so they decided they would live as though they were squatters in their own city. Many other cities knew that they were there, and some were nice enough to send them food and supplies to keep them going, but there was never anyone out to thank them for their contribution.

Usually, there was a bag of money or a trade of good waiting for the zu'aan that would help them out, but never any zu'aan waiting, since they weren't sure if the ones bringing the food and supplies would want to kill them. For a long time, there was no movement within Lyeyere city. Buildings were crumbling around them, but there were no moves being made to fix them. Occasionally, there would be some small families that would bring children into the world quietly, not wanting the rest of the city to know, and they would raise their children to be the next generation.

It was hoped that these children would being about change for the city, that they would be the ones to make it safe, although there wasn’t much belief in them from their parents, who were still scared of what could happen to them. As these children got older, they were taught what happened in the city, and while many of them grew up to garner the same amount of fear that their parents held, there were others that seemed not to care that they were stuck in their homes for most of their lives. They understood what happened but as they grew, they wanted to change the way the city worked, and so they did.

Government

Initially, Lyeyere city made their money by selling their research on kin’toni to other cities. They would do their experiments and announce new findings when they had them so that other zu'aan would be able to come and see the things that were being accomplished by Lyeyere city. it was a great way for them to gain both popularity and make money, so the zu'aan from the city were comfortable for the longest time. B'shah, as the main scientist, was the one that was named the leader of the city, and he appointed officials that would speak on his behalf to ensure that the best interests of the city were met.

It seemed like a good option, as he always wanted to be at the forefront of any experiments, and the city needed a leader that would make a good face for the city. Everything was going well, although there were some zu'aan from the city that believed B'shah was only acting in the best interest of himself and his experiments, instead of the best interest of the city. There was nothing that could be done, and because of this, no one wanted to rise to stop what B'shah was doing. Eventually, when B'shah passed, the government crumbled, along with the city in its entirety.

There was no one around to tell people what it was they needed to do, which meant there wasn’t any peace within Lyeyere city. There were some that tried elect themselves as the head of the government, but none of them seemed to last long, and eventually they would give up, leaving the city worse off than it had been. The only hope the city had was in children they weren't confident in bringing into the world. As some of them grew, they were able to take over the government and set up trades and resources, even if they weren't outside to receive them.

While there was still a good amount of fear in the community, they were slowly starting to branch out and accept that they would have to go back about their lives. Some of the members of the new government were able to hire other cities to build a more sturdy wall around the city, and because of that, the zu'aan started to venture out of their homes for the first time in years. There was still much fear, but there was also hope. The children that had grown up and taken the helm of the government were creating a better city, even if the older generations didn’t want to believe it yet.

They were making things safer, especially with the enactment of a proper military, so that the rest of the zu'aan would feel safe coming out of their homes and into the fresh air that had been taken from them so long ago. With change came better quality of life, and the government operated in a way that grew the city and helped older generations understand that change was okay, and that it was what they needed to go back to living in a healthier and safer way.

Military

When B'shah lived, the military was one that spiteful and power hungry. B'shah himself had chosen strong men that had no issue with capturing and enslaving kin’toni so B'shah could perform his experiments on them. The members of the military believed that B'shah had made them invincible, even though they were doing the most dangerous job there was. While they thought they would be able to get away with anything, this cockiness was what lead to many deaths and even more accidents. They would get in over their heads with the things they thought they could accomplish, and because of that they would be killed by kin’toni, or changed when they weren't paying attention.

Sometimes, when a soldier was changed without knowledge to the others, they would go on a hungry rampage before eventually being caught and taken to be experimented on as well. While some believed that B'shah should be harder on the zu'aan that were careless enough to be changed, B'shah was happy about it. He wanted to compare kin’toni from other regions to the ones from his own city to see the differences that were caused by climate, temperature, and other factors. Sometimes, he would even send his soldiers to capture kin’toni from miles away, having them travel through the elements to get more mutated kin’toni for his experiments.

With the way B'shah would employ his soldiers, there were many cities that would scoff at them and turn up their noses when they would see the Lyeyere soldiers pass. Some would spit and say what they were doing was despicable, while others would say they were more monstrous than the kin’toni were. There were few cities where the soldiers were celebrated, especially when they were travelling with a trapped kin’toni, since they were ones that would buy the intel and use it for their own purposes. They were the ones that would throw flowers or other offerings to the soldiers as they passed by, wanting to show their support for B'shah through his soldiers.

While it seemed that Lyeyere city had a strong military from the outside, the soldiers worked to serve B'shah and what he wanted before they would keep the city safe. This meant that the moment B'shah was taken down, the city was put at risk and there was no one to save the villagers that ended up getting slaughtered. When the children of the next generation took over the government with the intention to save it, they enlisted men and women that were interested in saving the city and protecting it. There weren't many at first, but over time, more and more became old enough or more interested as they saw what was being accomplished.

The military became what the city needed to restore their confidence in going outside, especially after the wall was built. They wanted to see how nice it would be to go outside finally, after everything that happened to them. The new military was much of the reason that the city became safer, as they were given proper training, and were able to protect their people when small attacks would happen.

Religion

When B'shah ruled the city, there was no religion. There were many that didn’t think they needed a religion because science was explaining everything to them. In their minds, there was nothing that was missing for them, so they didn’t pursue religion in any way. This meant that they wouldn’t pray, set out offerings, or thank a god for what they had been given. They thanked B'shah as they believed that was good enough. When B'shah was killed, there was next to no hope in the city. Many of the zu'aan saw that they weren't safe there, that their leader and the one they praised had been so easily taken from them.

Which left them terrified and alone. With no one to thank, or to ask for help, they were lost, unsure of everything, and so they went into hiding. There were some that were so terrified by everything that happened that they sought out prayer to any god they thought would listen. They prayed that they wouldn’t turn out like any of the other zu'aan in the city, unwilling to become as arrogant as they were. With these prayers, the zu'aan believed they were being heard, but that there was nothing that could be done right away, and so they waited.

While the next generation was being born, there were older generations that were bringing about their own religion that they intended to set into place if there ever came a time when they were allowed out of their homes again. It was a brash religion, more so one that preached tranquillity and peace between them and nature. They wanted others to believe that so long as there was no reason to fight, that them and the kin’toni would be able to get along. This was something they were hopeful about, although it didn’t end up becoming something that worked.

Since many of the kin’toni that came around the city were either very hungry, or they were looking to avenge family members that had been taken and used for experiments. When the zu'aan from Lyeyere learned that they were finally able to leave their homes, that they were safe to live their lives. The religious zu'aan began to preach what they had learned when they were all stuck in their homes. Soon enough, they had all gotten together and talked over everything they wanted to change, what they wanted to keep, and what worked for everyone, to create a religion that was more widely accepted than they’d hoped.

With everything needing something to latch onto, the religion was accepted, and was even adapted in the government to ensure that it was something everyone knew existed. Soon enough, everyone was preaching happiness and tranquility with nature, in a way that ensured they were all safe and so was nature.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

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Lyeyere City Zu'aan

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