Athich City Zu'aan

History

The Athich zu'aan were a city that built their homes on the sides of trees and hills, lending them the view of their land, as well as defences against any dangers they may face. Their houses were practical and small, so as not to put too much strain on the trees they built them in, but also to allow them to build more than just a couple of houses. Because of the layout of their homes, the Athich zu'aan built a ladder and rope bridge system that circled the tree as well, allowing them to walk up and down to their homes with ease. This system was effective for the Athich zu'aan, as it allowed them to see the land around them, as well as each other, while they went about their business.

Since they lived a life that they believed was ascendant, the Athich zu'aan enacted factions that allowed everyone to easily discern who everyone was. There were 5 factions, named inaugural, ascent, regent, bohemian, and alliant. Each faction had their own leader, as well as their own beliefs, all of which would be kept within their faction borders, keeping them secluded from each other, but yet they were all a part of the same city. Everyone from Athich city strived to be different. They wanted to be known as the city of zu'aan that were different from the others, the zu'aan that did everything they could to be different. Their factions were what they settled on to keep them unique, and to keep their city from being the same as all the others.

How the factions worked, was they were a hierarchy. There were clear ranks when the factions would gather, which was often in the city centre, where the higher factions would be able to walk through the city, while the lower ones were either working or trying to make their way through hordes of other zu'aan. This was how the city had been for years now, and the factions stood, even through the Shattering. There was nothing they couldn’t beat, which was another reason they believed they were better than other zu'aan. After all, if kin’toni couldn't beat them, then who could? Despite the independence of the cities in the nest, the zu'aan liked to spend their time in the city centre, partying and getting together with each other, so they could talk about the things that went on their own parts of the city.

Of course, since there were clear factions, parties were typically tiered, with zu'aan from the lower factions trying to meet people in the higher ones so they could make friends, as well as making contacts for business and arranging marriages. It was always the ambition of the lower factions to have some part of their family move to the higher factions so they could have more favour in their businesses and other parts of their lives. There were many times when the upper factions would make the lower ones work for their favour, making them complete tasks or have “trials” as it meant they would be able to see who was truly worthy of their favour.

Psychology

Because of the way they lived, the Athich zu'aan, in all of their factions, believed that they were superior to other zu'aan. Of course, there was nothing truly special about them, but since they chose to seclude themselves to their separate parts of Athich city, they were regarded as odd, and they loved it. Whenever any other zu'aan came from other cities, the Athich zu'aan would play up their seclusion from each other, using it as a way to garner attention from other zu'aan, and making them want to move to the city. When it worked, and other zu'aan would move from their cities, into Athich, they would see that the seclusion wasn’t as drastic as it was played up to be, but since they had already moved, they would accept the way the city truly was, and they would live there, as they planned to.

Since they believed they were better than other zu'aan, the Athich zu'aan were cocky in the way they did things. Of course, they had to flaunt the things they did, and it would typically end in them being injured, all because they refused to go about their lives reasonably and always had to have an audience. There wasn’t anything other zu'aan would do to stop the cocky zu'aan, since they didn’t have the facilities to do so. They were scared that they wouldn’t be able to help, so they didn’t help. Whenever there was a time that there was a competition, the Athich zu'aan always believed they were going to win, regardless of the outcome of the game. If ever there was a tie, the tied zu'aan would tell everyone that they were the winner, because they could not accept losing, in any way.

Loss was something that was greatly avoided in the Athich city, because to them, the only way to be, was winning. This included losing a child, or a family member, and the one that was lost was simply talked about as though they had gone somewhere, as opposed to being dead. No one would question them, given that it would mean they would have to talk about a loss, so the excuse for an “absence” was simply accepted. There were some zu'aan in the city, especially from the higher factions, that would go around and cause trouble for the lower factions, since to them, it was a way to garner attention, as well as give them a boost of happiness and adrenaline. They would seek out the reaction, and because of that, would spend their time terrorizing other zu'aan.

This was mainly because the higher factions had less work to do, so they were left with more time on their hands, and it would cause them to act out, wanting a sense of purpose in their lives. The lower factions understood that the higher factions would terrorize them, and many of them had taken precautions to ensure that they weren't going to be harmed by any of the pranks that took place, given that they didn’t want to deal with it, or clean up after them. Some of them had found a way to rig alarms that allowed them to be prepared if anything happened, getting to a safe place so they didn’t have to worry about being injured.

Culture

Within the Athich city, there were a surprising number of cultural aspects that were shared amongst the factions. They were similar in the fact that they valued their view from the trees, given that being amongst the beauty of nature was important to them. If they were amongst the land they loved so much, then they were going to enjoy it and learn about it as much as they could. In the middle faction, Regent, they built their particular part of the city on knowledge. They loved to research and find out as much as they could about the land, the wildlife, and the plants there. If there was something to be learned about the land, the Regent faction knew it, and they would share their knowledge with the other factions, especially if it was of dire importance.

Given that they lived on the sides of trees, the higher up they were able to get, the more they were able to see of the land, the more they were able to learn about it, which meant the Regent faction of Athich city were the ones that would live the highest in the tress, despite the hierarchy, given that they would go to any length to get the information they wanted. When there were marriages between factions, it was expected of the female to move to the faction she was marrying into, since that was how their culture proclaimed a marriage be finalized. When it came to marriages in general, many of the lower factions would try to gain status in their families by making their daughters look good for men in the higher factions.

They wanted their families to move up in the government, therefore, they would do anything they could to make the male zu'aan from higher factions want to marry their daughters. There wasn’t a length that wasn’t gone to, including offering money and other services as a bribe to ensure their daughters would be accepted. Sometimes, when there was an influx of children in the higher factions, they would offer them to the lower factions, who sometimes could not afford to have children, and so they would be allowed to have one, which they were allowed to love, with the support of the faction who had given the child to them. It was hard for the lower factions to get their hands on upper faction children, as there was a lengthy process for them to endure before they would be matched with a child, much like adoption, although it was taken far more in detail.

Not just anyone would be allowed to have a child from a higher faction until they had passed the “tests” of the higher factions. The houses had to be pristine, they had to be able to make an income while someone was home to take care of the child, and they were meant to provide all schooling, just as the child would receive in the higher faction, but instead in a new home.

Government

Given that they were split into factions, the Athich zu'aan had 5 different governments for their 5 different factions, although they still had a government that presided over the centre of the city, where the different factions would come together to party or to spend time together. The city centre was a place where any zu'aan could peddle their businesses, allowing them to make contacts from other factions that may not come to visit their faction to notice the business. As well, there were parties always being thrown in the city centre, which meant there was a specific military that would have to guard the parties and ensure there was nothing suspicious going on or handle any problems that arose.

The governments in the factions were all akin to one another. This was because they were essentially the same government but split up into the factions with different leaders and officials. While they could have the same leader for the entire city, it was easier for them to have 6 separate governments. This way, while they could all avoid each other, the various leaders would come together and talk to each other about how their cities were working out and functioning. When they were meeting, they typically all came to the city centre, as that was in the middle of all of the factions, and was typically an equal distance for each of them to travel to the meeting, which was why they chose to meet there.

During their meetings, each of the factions would go over their plans for the meeting, followed by commencing. They would go over the number of zu'aan that were in each faction, allowing for each leader to bring attention to any issues they may have with their numbers. Sometimes, other leaders with overpopulation would nominate some families to move to other factions, as that would even out the numbers and keep each faction working as a well-oiled machine. Other times, they would talk about the factions special interest, and bring up anything interesting that came from it, giving the knowledge freely to the other leaders in hopes that it would benefit everyone.

When there weren't meetings, the leaders happily led their factions, ensuring peace was kept and dealing with the pranksters that had too much time on their hands. Sometimes, they would sentence them to a job in the city centre, ensuring they always had something to do, so they weren't able to wreak havoc on other zu'aan simply because they were bored. Overall, the leaders in Athich city always tried their best to make sure everything was fair and reasonable, although they would do so with a cocky undertone, making sure that even when they were wrong, they were right because they were the leaders of the faction they presided over, and there was nothing anyone could say that would change that.

Military

The military of Athich city was one, but was split into the factions equally, and often on rotation, to ensure that each of the factions were properly protected, as well as making sure they weren't staying in one place for too long, as to them, that meant they would get too attached to a specific faction, and that was against the law. None of the military were to expect to be allowed to grow attached to any of the factions, as their job was to protect everyone, not to choose favourites. The military of Athich city was large in number, allowing them the upper hand when it came to staving off attacks, since they had the high ground when it came to being attacked.

There was always a military zu'aan up in the towers above the city, in the tallest trees, looking over the land and poised to call out any attacks or threats as they saw them. It was easy for them to see the world around them, and so they did what they could to be able to see without having to go through so much effort. The towers were easily seen from a long distance away, allowing anyone close enough to know that they were approaching Athich city and that they were liable to be attacked. While the Athich didn’t believed in outright attacking anyone that showed an interest in their city, if they looked suspicious or threatening, they would be met by a small group of the armed guards that protected the outskirts of the city, so they could be properly scoped out.

If they weren't suspicious, then they would be allowed to continue on, or they would even be asked to join, otherwise, they were asked to leave and to never come back, unless they wanted to be killed. Other than guarding the city and the factions, the military was responsible for scoping out any and all potential threats to the city and the zu'aan there, as well as making sure that they were keeping their training up to date for their skills. There was no excuse for not being able to defend and protect the city, so any zu'aan that was found to be unable to perform their tasks was quickly taken out of the military and forced to work in another job until such a time as they were able to perfect their skills and could apply to rejoin the military.

They would be considered the same as the other applicants, despite their prior experience, as it was believed that they could change from who they were, so they were always accepted as a new face. The members of the military were typically from each faction, as their status in society was less important than their skills. The owner of the military was the one that decided who was allowed to join and who was applied to which ranks. There were some members that were better for ranging, and others that were better for guarding, and the owner always made sure the right zu'aan were in the sight places.

Religion

As they had factions, the Athich zu'aan had different factions that were typically based on their faction. Of course, religion wasn’t mandatory in any of the factions, which meant they were free to practice if they chose to, but if it wasn’t for them, then they could spend their time doing something else. In Inaugural, they believed that they had been blessed with their wealth, and so they would thank the gods and praise them for allowing them to be so rich and happy. They would only celebrate their religion and incorporate it into their life when it suited them, as they wanted to spend more of their time lounging around and enjoying life, rather than practicing a religion that took their time away from things that made them happier.

In Ascent, they believed that there was a god looking down on them, watching their actions, and so they decided they would live a very modest, happy life. Since they were still wealthier than most other factions, they were able to truly indulge in their religion since they didn’t have to spend so much time working. They liked to leave out “offerings” for their god, typically liquids and foods for them to “eat and drink”, so they could be blessed with thanks from their god. This was something that was taught to children from an early age and consistently incorporated into their lives until they were old enough to choose if they wanted to continue the religion.

In Regent, since they were in the middle ground, they believed that religion was an option, not a right, and so they wouldn’t accept religion unless they felt they needed it in their lives. There was nothing they liked more than to have the right to choose what they wanted to do with their lives, so they were consistently changing their minds about things. When they were religious, their beliefs changed, but the most consistent was that there was a creator for the world, but that they weren't required to thank them for making the world, simply keeping it as beautiful as it had always been. In Bohemian, it was believed that work was sacred, and so they would pray mostly during work hours and while they were on the location.

Otherwise, there wasn’t a lot of religion that was practiced at home, unless a parent was teaching their child about how they viewed their religions. Typically, there were specific breaks for religion when the zu'aan were at work, as they felt that since work was sacred, they needed to take a break to make sure they were still able to properly perform their job. In Alliant, since they were the lowest of the factions, they didn’t have a lot of time to practice their religion since they were always so busy with work. It was believed by the higher factions that they wouldn’t have any religion because of this, but the Alliant zu'aan always found time to pray, to thank the world, and to preach to each other that their lives were sacred and should always be valued.

The Alliant faction believed that they were in the lowest faction because they needed to work on who they were, and so they would pray for forgiveness while they were working themselves to the bone. They would tell their children that they were there because they were needed, and they would thank them for coming into the world.

Miscellany