Astia Tribal Zu'aan

History

The origin of the Astia tribal Zu'aan is an incredibly unique tale, having marked the start of their eternal journey as a sort of chronicle of mechanical defiance, a clear objective which would determine the Astia tribe. In the year of 4E 43, a group of members from old, now very scarcely inhabited tribes lived within the fertile valleys below the Ser-mos-oerd; these members were mostly sophisticated architects and sometimes even stone-masons, who lived relatively peaceful and uneventful lives despite the entire threat presented by the Kin'toni.

That was until the year of 4E 330 when a group of expansionist Zu'aan started moving within the region the pre-Astians inhabited, which was the Ser-mos-oerd pasturelands; and these invading Zu'aan were not only expansionist, but also extremely militarily aggressive, making clear pushing movements towards the settlements of the pre-Astians. This forced these Astians to make a decision: to either face the possible threat of genocide or extinction under the hand of these invaders, to fight back (which seemed futile when looking at their military forces).

Or to make a nearly impossible retreat into high-velocity wind canyons that occupied the upper regions of the pasturelands, and, to say the least, the Astians aren't afraid of what seems impossible. The period of time which extended itself during the decade which followed their decision to escape in the year of 4E 51 marked the tribe members with brutal tests around their very biological limits, something forced onto them considering the extremely strong winds of those pasturelands, which often forced them to sleep and settle for nights within cramped and natural caves.

Which they latched themselves onto so they wouldn't get blown away by the strong winds of the biome. Though, this period didn't come only with drawbacks, since the Astians began utilizing these moments of rest as a means to study the behavior of the wind within their environment; this made them slowly develop manners of utilizing such wind for their advantage, such as by creating the first sketches for updrafts which worked consistently enough to lift loads, which led them to create pulleys for a bunch of tasks, such as hauling water from the canyon's floor.

As time passed and the members of this tribe made slow, yet consistently paced improvements to their lifestyle within their given conditions, these architects who once lived a peaceful life began to find a different home within the strong winds of the canyons within the Ser-mos-oerd pastureland, marking their stay now with inventions which were able to fully revolutionize the advancements hitherto made within Taerel, such as by the conversion of the wind into mechanical torque, which allowed for early signs of mechanical automation by an extremely renewable source.

This allowed them to thrive for the next couple of years, when the Astia tribal Zu'aan began utilizing such inventions to fully move out of the damp caves of the region and begin to create intricate wooden and stone structures which were engineered and bolted to these vertical cliffs, all put together by a series of massive wind-powered connections, which made their tribe become famous for their engineering masterpiece.

Psychology

The framework of the psyche of the Astia tribal Zu'aan is a direct result of the mix of taking a tribe encompassed of many cultured intellectuals and bringing them up into living within newly built structures that operate within the vertical axis, all of which isn't done only literally but also turned into a symbolic justification to abandon ideals of attempting to create horizontal logics, such as those of the floor.

And replace them with ideas that also combo with their placement along the vertical axis, making it so the psychology of this tribe is something that is a direct comparison to the very preciseness and high-tension needed to make the gears that keep their homes up. Starting off, this disdain towards horizontality has developed within the tribe members into a full on superiority complex which revolves around heights, leading into a psychological trait which creates entire systems and physical hierarchies of bias depending on the altitude of not only structures and kin'toni.

But also the very Zu'aan within the tribe; this makes it so things such as height to be a direct correlation to the idea of safety, something developed from the clear historical fact that these Zu'aan spent generations looking down at the world just to be able to survive; another consequence of these psychological mannerisms is in how the Astians see things such as intelligence as the biggest sign of moral clarity, something which is given to them as a right for inhabiting such a high place.

This hate towards anything that is fully horizontal also makes it so the members of the Astia tribal Zu'aan have a developed and almost inherent sense of agoraphobia whenever placed within open and flattened terrain, and it isn't a fear only in the shallow sense of the word, it is a fear that is deeply pathological within the very senses of the Astia, one which often makes them experience sensory meltdowns simply from not having a wall to lean against or a proper cliff to navigate within those open spaces.

All of these experiences that are different from their verticalized society often makes the members of this tribe feel unanchored from reality, almost as if they were floating above an abyss and might fall horizontally, crushed by the sheer emptiness of the horizon. The members of the Astia tribal Zu'aan also have a unique characteristic in how hyper-focused they can truly be, something drawn from their evolutionary and, honestly, revolutionary sense of engineering, which has brought them the drawback of being extremely perfectionist in many of the things they do within most of their day to day life.

This leads them to live a life which is heavily dominated by a deep sense of mechanical order, often making them obsessed with a single task until they can bring the result as close to perfection as they possibly can, something which makes them extremely proficient but often cold and even petty in how much prideful comparing there exists within the inventors of the tribe.

Culture

The cultural framework of the Astia tribal zu'aan acts as a proper representation of what can be considered high art in both literal and figurative senses; this is seen mainly in the form of how the tribe has mastered all of the vertical winds released from the Ser'mos'oerd and how the entire life cycle of the tribe is based around the maintaining of these winds as if they were a proper part of the tribe. Considering how the tribe members live on the cliff side and have to face those winds constantly, their society has learned to grow deep levels of appreciation/

Instead of seeing the ruffling of hair as an annoyance, it is celebrated; it is seen as the air which sustains the Astia, something which shapes them into a zu'aan group which prefers all of these light-related characteristics instead of any heavy notions. One of the key cultural notions of the Astia tribal zu'aan is the indistinguishable treatment between music and engineering; this is most seen within hybrid projects between engineering masters and artists, which take to the carving of massive flute-like, trombone-like, and horn-like vents all across the canyon walls.

These vents are opened and closed within a defined schedule with the means of doing things such as wake up calls, notifications in cases of emergencies, countless distinct rituals and celebrations, and declaring the time to go to sleep; the power which gives the noise to these carvings obviously being the wind which is constantly blown in the region. Furthermore, the Astia tribal zu'aan hold a ritualistic practice which focuses on being the determiner of the transition between childhood and adulthood.

In this ritual, the members of the Astia youth are marked by an entire ceremony which revolves around their fair establishment as a productive mind within the construction and maintaining of the tribe. Each of these young members has to go through the trial of forging their first structural anchor within the architecture of the tribe's space, by placing their first bolt within a new section of the cliffside; when the hammer strikes at last, it's treated as though the signing of a sacred contract.

Where the individual declares their position as a provider of support for the tribe whilst still being dependent on the others equally as much; this ritual, in marking their entering stage into adulthood, also guarantees to the youth rights into property and into performative means of leisure that were beforehand prohibited. The aesthetical sense within the Astia tribal zu'aan is incredibly defined by vertical notions combined with a slight sprinkle of aerodynamics; this is seen in the clothing fashion of the tribe, mainly with their clothes that are tight-fitting and woven from the silk around the windy areas.

Designed to whistle softly as the wearer moves along the corridors built by the tribe, which makes for a pleasing soundtrack for most of the day-to-day moments of the tribe, something complemented by the sculptures that are often also engineering projects used to decorate the tribe members' homes.

Government

The governance form of the Astia tribal zu'aan has been organized around the establishment of a technocratic stratocracy, which in more digestible terms means a system where political power exists within vertical logic, where the flow of said political power is a vector which works with a direct proportionality tied to the altitude and the engineering mastery within the canyons of the Ser'mos'oerd Pastureland; this makes it so, upon formal political terms, those who live the highest are seen as socially and morally superior individuals who have, "logically", achieved more within their lifetime.

Making it so they are commonly perceived as the most vital part of the tribe and a key asset for their own survival, thus justifying the stratocracy as it's set up. The distribution of political power is asserted within the tribe via cyclical rotations of power distribution, which take place every 6-7 years; these cycles of distribution of political decision power are done based upon each district of the tribe, which are spread out vertically, within the basis of a deep analysis done by the engineering masters of the tribe.

Who analyse the structural integrity of each district, having to observe if the lower districts have managed to engineer a way to safely anchor themselves above their current standards, or if, perhaps, they are able to engage and create a project which is more impressive than the average project within the entire tribe; if either case is met, then leadership naturally shifts them up, creating a system based upon measures that make it so the government is always led by the most innovative members of the tribe.

Though, it isn't a flawless system, since the lower districts have lesser resources and the analysis isn't exactly egalitarian. The diplomatic mannerisms of the tribe created a system based upon a branch of government which is responsible for monitoring the horizon past the highest peaks of the Ser'mos'oerd Pastureland, often making it so the behaviour and the decisions of the politicians within the Astia tribal zu'aan are incredibly unpredictable, although they are fully aware of incoming invasions or perhaps of the intentions of another zu'aan group that plans to pass by the tribe.

These watchers aren't only trained to remain fully focused while at post for sometimes days on end, but they also utilize an older version of binoculars along with lip reading training as a means to be able to see the conversations of their potential enemies; this has given the tribe a sort of unique position within inter-zu'aan diplomatic relationships, since they're able to sell the data and info that they're able to discover to other zu'aan tribes that may be in danger.

Military

The military forces of the Astia tribal zu'aan serve as a strong example for other zu'aan on how to set up defenses that are leveraged and fully prepared to operate whilst facing the dangers of gravity; they set up defenses that aren't fielded within the sense of a traditional army, something which also departs from a cultural sense which makes the Astia see themselves as higher and above the functioning of other tribes and of kin'toni themselves; this makes them disbelieve in meeting their enemy on a level playing field.

Instead treating the verticality of the Ser'mos'oerd Pastureland as a weapon itself, turning the sheer drop of the canyons into a lethal obstacle for anyone who attempts to attack the tribe's well-being. This usage of the canyons as a weapon is proved right to almost an extreme degree considering how the members of the Astia have rigged the very geology of the Ser'mos'oerd Pastureland as a whole, identifying and preparing key points within rocky formations, setting up boulders held in very specific spots by mechanical pins, organized in such a way that if a single lever is pulled from a mile away via a pulley system.

The members of the Astia would basically be able to ensue a controlled avalanche over any advancing and threatening forces, basically allowing the tribe to delete entire paths or climbing routes and to bury invaders at will; this is not only extremely effective and deadly, but can be done from a large distance without any risk to zu'aan life. Furthermore, for non-lethal defensive methods or for when the Astia partake in capturing high-value targets (another part of the war economy they partake in other than the sale of info), they utilize and drop nets from their higher positions.

To put it in simple, highly adjectivized terms, we observe massive and weighted webs looming and hidden in the shadows under overhanging cliffs, which, when triggered, are forced to fall with immense speed downwards; this can drag the targets they hit down into more misty areas near the bottom of the canyons, something done to oftentimes force them into passing out before bringing them up in hanging cages for them to be interrogated or placed within a temporary prison before being sold to those who hired the Astia.

If these prisoners are afraid of heights, they won't be able to relax whilst under the grip of the Astians, considering that these prisons are held high above any floor to ensure they remain terrified, and to guarantee that, in the case of a rescue team arriving, they're simply able to cut the ropes holding the prisoner up so they fall to their demise.

Religion

The religious beliefs of the Astians offer a philosophical alternative within the observation of developing a tribe's spirituality within the sense of a notion above the community in levels of abstraction with the objective of allowing for a common and collective mindset to be made, an optional mindset needed to survive within the windy valleys of the canyons the tribe lives in; the logic created within their religious belief to sort of influence the members into that optional mindset is one that believes in the idea that the entire universe and all that has the right of properly existing comes from an eternal struggle between all that is grounded and made of heavy matter and all that is connected to the wind.

This is all from the intellect, and to the very spirit, and the goal of a member within the religion is to try to refine oneself until they are fully away from all that is grounded and physical, truly unburdening their existence. The core notion which shapes and describes the origin of the religious justifications of the Astia tribal zu'aan focuses entirely around an initial set of sparks that came from the highest points of the sky and started from then descending down into the lower levels of existence.

This also extends to how the members of the Astia see their own life cycles, observing themselves to mimic those sun energies in the manner in which they mimic those energies' movements downwards, creating a long fall that's basically the stepping stone to determine that something is alive, sort of seeing it as a representation of how souls are trapped within matter-heavy physical bodies that are forced to be linked to the ground, which makes it so their rituals oftentimes focus on the ideal of ascending to flee from such a burdensome reality.

Though, the need for light and to transcend the material needs established by the matter within existence isn't something chased blindly, with members of the Astia tribal zu'aan seeking instead a sort of notion of balance between those two key elements, respecting the sanctity and the necessity of an anchor which keeps them grounded to the physical and material world around them. This notion of giving a desired value to what is solid and heavy is something expressed mainly around architectural structures that keep the tribe's high position thoroughly connected to the floor and the bottom of the canyons.

Sort of acting as a practical and real spiritual anchor; something which anchors the tribe's position as messengers of the divine while still existing within the earth of Taerel, symbolizing an extremely strong contrast between the forces which regulate the world and of a strong and faithful connection between the tribe and the universe they believe in. Most of their prayers are done within simple musical and mechanical acts, oftentimes utilizing some of their sound structures that manipulate gale-winds to distribute sound across the tribe in rhythmic manners of praying.

This allows the tribe to be in synchrony for most of it whilst still differing depending on the region.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

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