Aerch Kin'toni Clan

History

The Aerch are one of the most unique clans found in the world, and for the longest time were seen figments of myth that the warrior clans spread in order to strike fear in the hearts of their enemies. In the recent past however, the Aerch kin'toni clan, which has commonly been associated with the title of the Bloody Phantoms, has come out of the shadows and the infamy that surrounded them to become a crucial clan of the quintet of the warrior clans that are allied to form the Warrior nation of Adon.

The Adon Kingdom is young but has quickly risen to become a worthy opponent of the much older and established nations found in the Landmass of Erea. The most prominent of these nations are the Nation of Ashat ruled by the Pioneer Clan’s council and the Kingdom of Itkal, led by the monarch of the Valsok Kin'toni Clan, the Adon Kingdom have fought and defeated both nations in the field of battle and have won several accolades, they are being touted as the answer to the continued existence of the zu'aan nations.

The Aerch are an essential part of the Adon Kingdom, and are counted among the first clans to join the cause, right before the Oola Kin'toni Clan themselves allied with Adon. The Aerch monarch contrary to the expectations of many kin'toni saw the most peaceful time in the history of the Adon kingdom, for everyone had thought that the kin'toni that leads the Bloody Phantoms would commit to attacking and occupying a lot of land, however the Aerch Monarch activated no new battle fronts and even made efforts to conclude the active war frontiers.

This may not be in line with what is commonly believed to be the nature of the Aerch, but in that manner it is exactly what one should have expected, for one of the maxims that warrior kin'toni live by is that of deception. According to them the enemy must never be allowed to believe that they are able to predict what move their opponent is likely to make, they live by it, and it is common for them to appear as if attacking when in fact they are retreating.

As the Aerch come fully into the light of the world, a lot of their achievements are also brought forth, and although they haven’t yet disclosed any crucial practices of their clan they have begun to accept responsibility for some of the events that they had once been linked with. The Aerch have spent the last few centuries living in secret in the Yaenit Clearwater River, that can be found beyond the Mal Jade Cliffs and to the south of the Ashat nation, however given the terrain, it is nearly impossible to access the region through the Ashat nation.

In order to reach their homeland one must cross the forests of the Mal Jade Cliffs. The Aerch settled in the region after spending nearly a century of their time wandering the land mass of Erea after they were forced to abandon their land due to the influence of the warring Ashat and Itkali armies.

Psychology

The Aerch are incredibly independent warriors, they do not function in large bodies of army units like the other kin'toni warrior clans, and are very reluctant to place trust in members outside of their clan. It was very surprising for the establishments of the other nations to find out that the Aerch had allied with the Adon Kingdom, since these nations had never thought it possible for the members of the clan to trust another. However, those that are familiar with the affairs of the Aerch would disagree with the view of these nations.

Since the relationship that the Aerch have shared with the kin'toni warrior clans has never been one that they have had with the kin'toni nations. The warrior clans like the Fa'aka Kin'toni Clan have always maintained contact with the Aerch even during their weakest phase, and in fact the contact with the warrior clans is what has allowed the Aerch clan to survive the many years of hiding and not having an active land that they could all all home. The typical Aerch warrior is a jack of all trades.

And is perhaps best defined by their ability to blend in to the kin'toni population that they are infiltrating. Since their work or method of fighting can broadly be categorised into two sections, one is that of being a spy and the other is that of being a Saboteur. These tasks require the kin'toni to not only be remarkably confident in their own abilities but to be able to function independently without losing sight of the loyalty that they share with their clan.

The kin'toni of the Aerch clan are very perceptive as well, they are able to study kin'toni very closely without detection and not only adopt mannerisms of the body but also that of the body. After observing a subject for a short while, an Aerch can gain the ability to immerse themselves into the identity of subject, and behave remarkably similar to them despite the clear difference in appearance. They are very athletic and are able to adapt their abilities to adopt new skills with the air of someone who has been carrying out the task for the longest time.

Besides these qualities, the Aerch are also plagued with a deep insecurity and a reluctance to trust, finding themselves only truly comfortable when they are among their own clan members, as such it is a condition in the Aerch clan that a member must spend just as much time at home among their loved ones as they would in the field as a spy. The work of the spy is the most dangerous and is not quite as popular, while the role of a saboteur is something that most Aerch seem to enjoy since they are able to undertake the work within a team of their own clan.

In the recent times, since the alliance with the Adon Kingdom, the spy work has continued to become less important while that of the Saboteur becomes ever more prominent in the course of Adon battles.

Biology

The Aerch are unimposing figures in the kin'toni’ spectrum of biology, over the years that they have spent crossing the vast expanses of the landmass of Erea. They do not have any particular feature in their appearance that would set them apart from kin'toni of other regions. In addition to their nondescript appearance, the kin'toni have also spent centuries in honing their ability to look like other clans of kin'toni, they are able to do this through the use of cosmetics primarily but also by force of will.

Although this is not a common ability among the kin'toni of the clan, with enough blood and opportunity to concentrate for a given period, some of the kin'toni of the clan are able to slightly modify certain features of the their appearance. They aren’t of course able to modify a great deal of it, but just enough so that with the help of a little cosmetics they become nearly unrecognisable from other kin'toni clans. This ability is commonly found in the kin'toni that spend a lot of time in the field as a Spy,

Aalthough some have argued that the ability is developed because an individual has spent time in the field rather than the other way around. The kin'toni differ in their eating habits as well, the Aerch don’t seem to rely as heavily on blood as the other kin'toni clans, in fact they are able to live off the land and can gain nutrition from other sources as well. However they perform the best when they have access to plenty of blood, this too has been thought of as an adaptation that was likely developed when the kin'toni were trying to cross the lands of other kin'toni nations.

They were most likely not able to rely on a constant supply of blood and instead began to experiment with other sources of nutrition that could be more easily accessed. However, now that they have a sufficient supply of blood stock and prey the kin'toni rarely have anything besides blood of animals, but for those that are posted into enemy territory for the purpose of harrying their forces, in that instance this adaptation is still quite useful and has many a times kept the squad of warriors of Aerch from the gates of starvation and assisted them in fulfilling the goals that they had been assigned to fulfil.

One distinguishing feature that kin'toni have in their biology besides the kin'toni that come from other kin'toni is their inability to sweat. The Aerch kin'toni no matter how much they exert themselves, they are unable to sweat. This has both positive as well as negative connotations, for in this inability to sweat, they are not able to properly regulate their body temperatures. However, the Aerch have overcome this part of their biology by relying on the use of water, the common Aerch kin'toni drinks water a lot more than the typical kin'toni.

On the other hand their inability to sweat also means that they are nearly impossible to sense by smell alone. They have a dark red irises with white sclerae and vertical slit pupils. They have light purple skin.

Culture

The Aerch are an extremely closely knit kin'toni clan, their time spent running from one region to another has meant that they ascribe value to very few things, and land is certainly not one of them. For the Aerch the thing that is most important is the survival of their people, they love all their clan members very deeply and trust them explicitly. This has been a painful lesson for many of the enemies of the Aerch, since they have been discovered by the other kin'toni nations of the world, there have been attempts of infiltration.

This in itself isn’t really surprising but rather a very ill thought out method of action, firstly, the Aerch kin'toni have made it their lifestyle to perfect the art of spying and subterfuge, and so there are bound to be fewer than a handful of kin'toni that would skilled enough to employ tactics that Aerch themselves were not familiar with. Secondly, those that have attempted to infiltrate the ranks of the Aerch kin'toni are very clearly unaware of what the Aerch stand for, in their clan everyone knows everyone, it would be impossible for a kin'toni to come in and not immediately stand out.

However, the Aerch are aware that there may be kin'toni out in the other parts of the world that would be as skilled as they are and maybe able to come up with workarounds the cultural barriers. Keeping the above in mind, the insecure and ever suspicious clan of spies have developed a highly complex and intricate set of rituals and practices that further make the act of infiltrating their ranks nearly impossible. The most widely accepted practice is that of keywords and passwords.

That the kin'toni use with their family members and this creates multiple layers of verification for all the Aerch kin'toni. Besides the practice of passwords and phrases, there are a lot of rituals that involve the kin'toni that return from active duty in the field, since the Aerch recognise that this is one of the most vulnerable aspects of their practice and society. kin'toni that have been assigned to spy in the field commonly come back to the clearwater forests looking slightly different from how they left, and given the length of their practice in the field, their appearance may have shifted significantly.

It is not uncommon for a kin'toni to be posted in a particular mission for several years extending upto half a century, but that is generally the upper limit unless an exception is made by the clan leader. Thus when the kin'toni returns to fold he is expected to go through a long and arduous process of de-briefing, in which the kin'toni entire history is questioned and the assignment objectives are examined. It can take close to a year for the whole process to be completed and even the process has been concluded.

The kin'toni is till kept under surveillance for an extended period of time, and once all suspicions have been lifted, a festival of reunion is held in which the kin'toni is showered with the unrestricted love of the clan.

Government

The Aerch are led by a kin'toni that is chosen at the close of each century, the choosing of the kin'toni is a highly religious process and involves the whole clan, it examines not only the character of the kin'toni that seeks leadership but also the ability to lead. In general, the kin'toni that would be competing for the position of the leader are chose nearly two decades before the close of the century, there is generally no upper limit at this stage, all those that wish to challenge for the position of the leader are welcome to do so.

However throughout the history of the clan there have never been more than ten kin'toni that have chosen to compete for the position, as none of the clan members are unaware of the gravity of the position, and neither wish to trivialise the process by standing up for the position without truly believing themselves to be capable of the process. Furthermore, the process isn’t very kind to those kin'toni that stand up for the position but are unprepared for it, one feature of the selection of the leader that deters the non serious kin'toni is that of the annual exams.

In order to qualify for the election that is to be held at the end of the century for the election of the leader, those that stand up for the challenge of the position of the leader are required to study and appear for an annual exam that is administered by the current leader alone. In order to qualify for the challenge of the last year, the kin'toni must not only pass the exam each year but score within the top three position when the total sum is calculated.

For those kin'toni that are not able to pass the exam even once, they are immediately removed from the process, and banished from challenging for the leadership role for the whole of the coming millennia. At the end of the 19th year from whence the exams were begun, three kin'toni are chose who have scored the highest scores throughout the exam process. These kin'toni are then required to Aerch kin'toni clan why they are fit over the others in leading the clan.

This process involves several debates that are held almost daily night in the clan as the three kin'toni engage with the community and discuss the challenges that face the clan and how they should be tackled. In this process it is important to note that the kin'toni of the Aerch clan are perhaps even more democratic that the Turenth Lush River or the Kingdom of Nara found in the landmass of Canali. Finally at the end of the year when the century is to turn a vote is held.

And the whole clan chooses one of the kin'toni, the other two kin'toni that loose are also praised and encouraged to try again in the coming century for the leadership and many of the kin'toni that reach this juncture do try again, but others often given up due to how arduous the process is.

Military

The Aerch are essentially divided into two types of units but their training is generally the same, and although the kin'toni are not particularly skilled at the conventional modes of warfare, their combat ability is just as high as most of the troops of the kin'toni nations like that of Ashat and Itkal. In fact, although they have never in the recent centuries relied on the use of any model of traditional warfare, the members of their armies are required to participate in the drills that are required to learn the ever present military shield blocks of the pikemen.

This type of formation was indeed one that kin'toni had relied upon their old lives, when the lived in the old region and before the wars of Itkal and Ashat forced them to flee. The shield blocks continue to be used in their training as the kin'toni can be expected to one day infiltrate the armies of the nations that use the tactic, and in order to maintain a connection with their past. Although the kin'toni are not particularly emotional about their past, this feature of their history counties to remain in their daily life.

The kin'toni of the Aerch are taught the practice of all weapons that are known to kin'toni kind and are expected to be able to effectively use all of them in combat. This is an important part of their training but it is by no means the most crucial, in fact it is possible that an Aerch kin'toni completes the whole weapons course that is taught over the period of several decades while in the meanwhile completing assignments that are handed to the squads within which they are sorted within the first year of recruitment.

The other trainings that the kin'toni must completed before being deployed in the field is the course of the poisons and that of the cosmetics. These two skills are essential to the practice of the kin'toni of the Aerch clan, for they are truly the means by which the kin'toni are able to carry out the roles they are so famed for. The poisons training is not only important in the course of quick battles that Aerch kin'toni squads are expected to fulfil when they are sent for harrying the enemy forces.

In their daily combat, the kin'toni rely on the poisons that they grow and coat almost all their weapons with them. Additionally, sometimes the kin'toni have been tasked with the assassination of important kin'toni, most of the times these requests have come for the kin'toni clan of the Tharis pirate nation and that of the Daera Kin'toni Clan. The Fa’aka are also not reluctant in their use of the Aerch kin'toni in nudging the motions of the kin'toni nation politics in the right direction.

The Oola and Kaiue Kin'toni Clan are two of the kin'toni clans that have never requested the assassination services of the Aerch but instead only ever relied on the clan as a source of information against their enemy clans.

Religion

The Aerch kin'toni are the clan of the shadows, even among the kin'toni who themselves own the night, the Aerch have a special relationship with the Darkness. The Aerch pray and give homage to the Blackness, a genderless entity that shrouds the Aerch in the conduction of their operations. The Aerch are said to have found the Blackness, when the whole world had failed them, their allies had taken away the helping hands, and the god that they had so reverently worshipped had turned their back on them.

The Aerch have a deeply hurtful history, during which many of their number suffered and dies of starvation. The ran from pillar to post in search of a means of survival and it is said that during the most perilous time in their lives the kin'toni found the embrace of the Darkness. It came gradually to them, as the Aerch kin'toni lost their old identity and embraced the misfortune of being cast out of their homes, the Darkness begin to embrace them. Slowly, the kin'toni became able to feel the guidance of their new god, as it helped them slip away from their foes and become one with the darkest periods of the night.

Soon the kin'toni were completely allied with the Darkness and were soon able to hide themselves so well even in plain sight that even the keenest of the kin'toni were unable to detect their presence. The religion of the Darkness was not one that developed over night but one that the Aerch kin'toni slowly and methodically built around the first feeling of the god they had experienced. In the present times, all Aerch kin'toni recognise the presence of their god within the world, and seek the help of the Darkness in the completion of their duties.

The kin'toni of the clan also believe that their god is not one of love and praises but one of hard sacrifices and emptiness. Their method of praying to the god and seeking the blessing for an upcoming assignment is the gift of an empty vessel that the Darkness may come to exist. This is a complex meditative state that only the very best of the Aerch clan members are able to attain, and it was said that the state was a lot easier to reach during the times of struggle when they had yet to become the Aerch kin'toni warriors as they are known to be today.

This meditative state came about with the realisation that true Darkness is not the mere absence of light, but the absence of all things, and the best vessels for the existence of true Darkness is within the mind of a kin'toni. In the olden times, when the life of the Aerch kin'toni was only that of pain and strife, the kin'toni were able to abandon all feelings with relative ease, but now that the kin'toni have come to find a home and comfort, they find it much more difficult to become the vessels of Darkness.

Miscellany

The Aerch kin'toni in the past century have gone through a significant transformation, and the most recent change in them has come about with their alliance with the Adon Kingdom. The Kingdom is truly a marriage of clans that although are separated by not only culture, religion and location but also in ideology. The various clans however are united in their knowledge that the current state of affairs that are found in the Erea landmass are unsustainable and likely to lead to the wipe out of the smaller nations by the much larger nations of the Ashat and Itkal.

The Aerch are perhaps motivated with a desire of revenge against the two nations, but the other kin'toni clans have a larger goal in mind. With the change in the objectives and a lot of the operations of the Aerch, a lot more details about the nature of their practices have begun to come forward. The most recent and perhaps the most controversial information that the Aerch have hinted at has been the death of the First Emperor, Dedunova Eelmalera, of the Itkali kingdom.

There have been several rumours regarding the death of the First Emperor, and one of those had been the involvement of the Blood phantoms. The Aerch have since their involvement with the Adon very categorically claimed that the death of the monarch was not something that their clan had been involved in, however, they have further added that one of their missions was approached by a kin'toni from the Yuaa clan of the Itkali kingdom that had proposed to hire the Aerch for the assassination of the First Emperor.

This piece of information has obviously been disputed by the official sources of the Itkali kingdom, who have labelled this account as malicious and untruthful and an ill-thought out plan to destabilise the peace of the Itkali kingdom. Surprisingly, the reaction from the Ashat Kingdom has been particularly violent, as they have begun to mobilise troops and adopted aggressive postures in many of the bordering regions with Itkal that do not have settled border areas.

Their diplomats and spokesperson have expressed disgust at the internal politics of the Itkali region, and blamed the Yuaa Kin'toni Clan for the endless number of deaths that have been caused due to the wars that came about between the two kingdoms following the death of the First Emperor. At the time the Yuaa had been very vocal about the possible involvement of the Ashat nations’ leadership in the death of their monarch. The resulting back and forth between the two nations had eventually precipitated into open combat on multiple fronts that were just as bloody for the nation of Ashat as they were for the people of Itkal.

In the present times, the Ashat council feels that the Yuaa kin'toni clan used the death of the First Emperor to grab hold of more power in the region and blamed the murder on the Ashat nation in order to try and divert the attention of the local citizenry away from themselves and their involvement in the death.

Nearby Groups

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Aerch Kin'toni Clan

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