Ackurnshy City Zu'aan

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History

The Ackurnshy zu'aan are a city of zu'aan that like to burn things. Before they were a true city, they earned their name from their uncontrollable urge to burn things that didn’t need to be burned. Because of this urge, the zu'aan needed to build their city out of materials that weren’t able to be burned so easily. This meant they needed to build with stone and cement instead of wood, so that they weren’t burning their houses down every chance they got. As well, they had to move to a place where there was more stone than there was trees and other foliage, as seeing the trees would cause them to want to burn, and that wasn’t something they could allow to happen uncontrolled.

The day their urge to burn was truly ignited was when a wooden cabin started on fire unexpectedly, and the rest of the zu'aan gathered around it to admire the spectacle. It was as though something clicked within them, like a switch went off that made them all want to make more fire and watch it burn too. There was just something about the lights and the scent that brought them a deep amount of joy, and it was then they knew they needed to chase it. It was their urge to burn that kept them safe during the Shattering, when the kin’toni spread across the earth in droves. It was hard for the kin’toni to take a victim when the zu'aan they were trying to go after would turn around and set them on fire, ending their existence right there.

Quarath, the zu'aan that would rise to become their leader, was the first member of their settlement that decided he would take matters into his own hands and go after the zu'aan, just as they were. With a deep urge to burn, Quarath managed to make his way into the heart of a kin’toni camp and set it alight, burning down the houses and huts along with all of the kin’toni inside of them. There was screaming, and the kin’toni did what they could to put the fire out, but it was no use. Quarath knew what he was doing, and he did it with the intent to kill as many of the kin’toni as he could. From that day, no one had been able to recreate the burning that Quarath was able to achieve, and because of it, he was then labelled the leader of the Ackurnshy zu'aan.

They looked up to him to see how they should burn things, as well as how to handle their lives. Quarath, however, had no idea how to run a city or a government, as it wasn’t his intention to become the leader of the Ackurnshy zu'aan. Instead, all he had wanted to do was kill the kin’toni that were threatening their existence. Because of that, he asked that any truly loyal members come forward, zu'aan that would do anything to keep the city safe, and he named them leaders alongside him. He didn’t want to be the only one, and so he made sure he wasn’t. From then on, Quarath and the rest of the Ackurnshy zu'aan were unstoppable with their burning. They travelled to a rocky plain where they decided they would build their city, and they lived happily, burning offerings and enjoying the heat that came with it.

They lived in peace knowing they would never truly have to worry about the kin’toni again.

Psychology

When the Ackurnshy zu'aan learned of their urge to burn, it became a part of their personality. There was just something about the way the fire looked and smelled that was addicting to them, and so they decided they were going to make it who they were. Branding themselves as pyromaniacs meant that there were other zu'aan that wanted nothing to do with them, and that included some of the zu'aan from their city. To some of them, burning just wasn’t as appealing and they wanted to leave. No one stopped them from leaving, allowing them to choose where they wanted to go to before the rest of the city moved to a less burnable biome. Once the zu'aan that didn’t want to burn were gone, it became apparent that there were also zu'aan that wanted to burn too much.

Some of them held such a frantic addiction to it that they had to be asked to leave for the safety of the city. Before asking them to leave, the leaders, as well as Quarath, asked the zu'aan if they were able to quell their urge and thus be allowed to stay. While there were some that were able to take measures, such as meditation or praying, there were others that weren’t able to do the same. For these zu'aan, the urge was like an addiction to drugs, they weren’t able to control just how much they needed it, which caused them to do anything they could to seek it out. There were some that would set up a pyre inside of their own home, burning as much as they could, as often as they could, because the urge was far too hard to ignore.

When the addicted zu'aan were found out, they were asked to pack up whatever things they had left and leave the city, since they were no longer safe to be around. Most of the zu'aan didn’t fight this because despite their addictions, they knew that burning everything wasn’t safe and that if they couldn't stop what they were doing, then they should leave. There were some that would fight having to leave, denying that they had a problem and that they had the wrong zu'aan, despite most of them being found to be burning something when it wasn’t time to be doing so. Quarath himself would be the one to take these zu'aan and walk them to the city limit so they could leave, with or without their things, since their fighting made it hard to ask them to gather their things.

He didn’t like doing it, because he also liked to burn, but Quarath knew that keeping his city safe was his top priority as leader, and so he had to swallow his pride and ask the zu'aan to leave despite not wanting to. Duty and safety always came first, and he knew that.

Culture

As it has been previously stated, the Ackurnshy zu'aan liked to burn. Because of this, they made it who they were as a city, since there was no point in hiding who they were if they were able to make it work. One of the first things that Quarath decreed was that the zu'aan would have a ceremony every week where they would gather at their village fire pit and fill it with the most burnable things they could find to burn. Everyone was encouraged to participate, although it wasn’t mandatory, and once the pit was filled, they would light the fire and watch it burn until it was done. Usually, the only zu'aan that wouldn’t participate would be ones that were too sick, or ones that were too young to understand what it meant.

Once a zu'aan came of age, that age being sixteen years, there was a ceremony that took place on their birthday, in public, that started their journey with burning safely. They would be asked to go around and pick some things that they wanted to burn for the very first time, with next to nothing being off the table. This was because depending on what they chose, they were solidifying their place in the city. Depending on the size and burn time of the item or items that were chosen, the zu'aan were given a place in the city, signalling their power. Usually, the zu'aan were given a lower level of power, which meant they weren’t dangerous in any way with their burning, and then there were some that would choose to burn an animal or a kin’toni, if they could catch it, which meant they were given a place within the government or in the military.

It was rare that it would happen, but when it did, the zu'aan were celebrated and welcomed into their new role with open arms, allowing one of the older zu'aan to retire if need be. When one of the zu'aan passed away, there was a funeral pyre that was built for them to be burned. This way, they were able to burn in their next life if they so chose to do so. Usually, all of their things were added to the pyre with them so they could take them to the grave and use them after death, as well as adding fuel to their fire. Depending on how many things there were, the funeral pyre would burn for many days, always being watched by the family of the zu'aan to ensure it never went out and never got out of control.

If there were no family members able to watch the pyre, Quarath would volunteer to watch it himself, taking on the role as his own to ensure there were always eyes on the pyre until it was fully burned. If a family member wanted, they would be able to fill a container with the ashes once they were cooled so they could keep a memory of their family with them until they themselves passed away. It was typical that some would be taken, as it had become a tradition among many of the families to always have a piece of their family with them.

Government

Governmentally, the Ackurnshy leaders were comprised of those that were willing to do anything it took to keep their city safe. They were chosen for their positions in the government by Quarath after their birthday ceremony revealed that they were a good fit to be a part of the government in the first place. Usually, the zu'aan that were picked to be a part of the government were the ones that would choose something harder to burn or harder to catch. Usually, this included a swift animal or a kin’toni, as it meant that they were willing to kill and burn whatever it took to keep the city going. If they decided to kill the offering first, they were chosen for the government.

If they burned the offering alive, then they were chosen for the military, as it was proven that they were willing to take life in return for safety. Once a zu'aan was chosen to become a part of the government, they were given the choice of which part they would want to go to. There were the leaders that worked alongside Quarath, there were members that would check houses to ensure burning was only done when allowed, and then there were members that would keep track of the city schedule and make sure Quarath, and the other leaders were following it. Each of the positions held their own equal responsibilities, and all of them were highly regarded within the city, as it meant that the zu'aan were given a certain amount of control over what happened within the city.

It could be said that any of the zu'aan would have been able to overtake the government and change the things they wanted to be changed, but without the backing and support of the other zu'aan, their plans wouldn’t get far, and so a rebellion never took place. Every decision that was made had to be made by every member of the government as that way they could ensure the safety of the city and that they were always doing what was best, that was the only way they could ensure their survival. Safety, to them, was a top priority, followed by ensuring they were always able to act on their urge to burn. Usually, the two went hand in hand, with safety in their urge to burn being at the top of the list, followed by finding safe areas to act on the urge.

Before they had established the government they had now, the Ackurnshy zu'aan relied on the word of Quarath to tell them what needed to be done. They relied on his word and his word alone to tell them what it was they needed to do, and it stressed Quarath out. With all of the zu'aan asking him to do things all the time, he knew he needed to do something to change it. He needed to be able to get some rest when he needed it, instead of being run ragged by zu'aan that needed something done, no matter what it was, and so he changed it.

Military

There was no true military within the Ackurnshy city, but there was always a group of zu'aan that would light fires around the edges of the city to make any kin’toni thinking about attack them leave. It was easier for them to light the fires on a routine, as soon as the sun went down, that it became something that they would do out of habit. Because of this, they became the watch that would keep an eye out for anything that could be coming to attack them, and they had come to be recognised even by Quarath. He was always thanking them for making sure everything was safe and ensuring that there was always fire going while the rest of the zu'aan were asleep in their beds.

There were other zu'aan cities that thought the Ackurnshy zu'aan were weak because they didn’t have a military, but once it was brought up that they would often burn the kin’toni that tried to break into their city, the idea of them being weak was put to rest. There was no reason to think the Ackurnshy zu'aan were weak after the stories of how Quarath was able to burn an entire kin’toni camp to the ground after they had begun attacking their city. Along with that, the stories of their burning habits spread as well, although not all nice stories, since outcasts would talk about how crazy they were. It all seemed to be coming to head that the Ackurnshy zu'aan were crazy and that they would burn anyone that would try to come against them, so they never needed to set a military into stone.

While there were zu'aan that would take the rumors as a bad thing, Quarath embraced them and used them to the advantage of the city. Since the surrounding cities believed that they were crazy and that they would burn anyone and anything that got in their way, he let them continue thinking it because it meant there was less work that had to be done. Instead of building up a reputation with a massive army of men and women that were willing to die for their city, all Quarath had to do now was allow certain zu'aan to leave and spread rumors about how vile the Ackurnshy city was and how crazy their leader was. Eventually, Quarath began to receive reports back about the things that were being and how many of the other cities were believing it, and he knew his plan was working.

He didn’t have to lift a finger when the other cities were doing all of the work for him, making his job easier and easier and keeping the city safe without even realizing they were doing it.

Religion

Religiously, since the Ackurnshy zu'aan loved to burn so much, eventually there was a rumour going around that the sun was a deity and that it was watching them, night and day. The sun was indeed a burning ball of fire, and the longer the zu'aan pondered it, the more they believed that it was a god. There was no proof, but there were more than enough coincidences that caused their belief to bloom and lead to the entire city believing in it. Eventually, it was deemed that the sun was watching them, and when the sky grew cloudy and hid the sun, it was a sign that the zu'aan had done something wrong and they were being punished by their deity. Usually, this would lead to a zu'aan coming forward and admitting to a wrongdoing, all which would further the belief that the sun was a god and that it was watching them.

On days when it would rain, the zu'aan would light fires inside their homes in an attempt to make the sun happier so that it would come back out. Coincidentally, there were times when it seemed that this worked and their offerings had been successful to them. Other times, it was believed that they weren’t trying hard enough and that they would have to work harder to make the sun happy again. Over time, even Quarath began to believe that their god had given them the urge to burn because they needed to praise the sun for giving them life and the best way to thank it was to give it offerings. Quarath decreed that in burning something as an offering, they were sending its soul to the sun and giving it as a gift, which meant that no matter what they burnt, live or inanimate, they were pleasing their god.

From there, it was decided they would have a weekly ritual where they would offer things to their god in the sun, allowing it to decide if they had chosen good offerings or not. If there was sun the next day, they had done well, but if it was gloomy or rainy, they hadn’t chosen the right things and they would need to try harder on the following weeks. Of course, there were zu'aan that didn’t believe that this deity was anything more than a coincidence, and they would waste no time making it known that that was how they felt about it. They would go around disproving everything that was said by Quarath or any of the other zu'aan, talking about how they just needed something to believe in and that there was no such thing as a god in the sun.

Eventually, if they were talking too much about how there wasn’t any such thing as a god, Quarath would have them sent out of the city. He didn’t want to allow anyone who didn’t believe to make a fool of the ones who did, and so they were asked to leave the city and never come back. Most of them did without fuss, saying they would rather find other cities to go to that didn’t have a fake god that lived in the sun. The more the nonbelievers left, the stronger the belief got, since there was no one there to oppose them anymore. They believed their religion was good and so therefore, there was no reason to believe anything but what they already did.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

Unknown

Ackurnshy City Zu'aan

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