Biwato Tribal Zu'aan

History

The origin story that is responsible for the creation of the Biwato tribal zu'aan dates back to around the year of 3E 3001, at the ripe beginning of the kin'toni infection, when an air-based transport unit lost its ability to fly while carrying a group of fleeing zu'aan, due to the decreasing levels of functionality in about every technologically advanced sector of Taerel; this failure in engine, in communications, and in overall functioning made it so the same flying unit crashed into what's known as the Retynu Roofed Swamp.

Due to what is considered by the tribe members nothing less than a miracle, the vast majority of the passengers survived the crash, due to the softened landing into the large trees which make up the roofed swamp; luckily, the same flying unit kept in its storage a series of rations, water, and other necessary resources that allowed them to remain within the failed aircraft for many years on end, only going out when it was needed to refill any of their limited resources, right until the ripe start of the Shattering Age in the year of 4E 2.

In this year, survivability proved to become more scarce. The members within the airplane that were still alive saw difficulties in not only surviving through the rations, which only got more and more limited, but also due to the ash spread by the volcanic winter of the Shattering Age, which caused many casualties originated from COPD, asthma, chemical pneumonitis, and pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. The posture they had until now was to not leave the aircraft unless needed to obtain critical resources.

A decision that was made by the very pilots which survived from the crash, a posture which was forcefully stripped from that group of zu'aan once a group of kin'toni slashed open one of the doors that was forced shut by the leaders within the fallen aircraft. That group of kin'toni reigned terror in many of the remaining members, other than a surviving 40 that was able to flee into the Retynu Roofed Swamp's river from a broken window, from which they swam for a while, still remaining under the cover of the roofed swamp, but far away from what was once their home.

Many of those zu'aan, that now acknowledged themselves as the Biwato tribe, took some fallen parts off the aircraft, some as plain relics of a recent past, and others as tools, maybe more resistant iron or steel, both of which were used in simple blunt-damaging weapons to scare off any kin'toni within the roofed swamp, or even larger chunks as to float down the river more safely. From there on, the Biwato tribal zu'aan kept following the riverstream until founding places around more fruity trees and more potable sources of water where they could settle properly by the year of 4E 6.

By the year 4E 7, the tribe had finished their main settlement, but resources remained slow. Many of their members that had more ability to tend to the fauna had died either by the crash itself or by the hands of kin'toni, which forced the members of the Biwato tribe to rely more on what was given to them by the trees and the land, in ways of fruits and vegetables, respectively, marking their vegan diet as an important part of their tribe, responsible for shaping many sectors of it.

Psychology

The main psychological core talking point of the Biwato tribe's behaviour focuses all around how much their history, even with its short characteristics, shaped their way of thinking for many generations to come. This is initially presented within their perception and overall psychological need for boundaries, creating a common notion within societal consciousness around their historic feeling of protection around the steely walls of the failed aircraft, which creates a series of ideas on how, many times, the members of these tribes might oftentimes feel jailed while in open places with viewable horizons.

Within their technological advancements, we observe a severe melancholy in terms of seeking advancements or research, be it to recover what they once lost with the changing world they live in, or be it by the creation of necessary means for the survival of their tribe, and not only is their production and outlook on technology quite old and oftentimes slow, they also focus a big relationship of themselves to the small bits they do have a strong bond with, that being with the scrap metal many of them brought from the old aircraft.

From such outlook within technology, we observe the birthing of quite an interesting contrast, that being of a primitive tribe that acts and behaves such as many other zu'aan, but with quite a few advantages over others, while still being psychologically opposed to tech, often even believing that the spirit of technology died with that crash, and any attempts of recreating it would be a waste. Furthermore, the members of this tribe tend to exist within a constant sense of a seeking and undeniable need for constant respiratory anxiety.

Many times dating back to the historical trauma developed by the very winter which kept them trapped in that aircraft unit for so long; that memory, while collectivized, serves a grand purpose in their constant hyper-fixation on a search for any examples of clean air, not only to avoid many of the diseases that were brought alive within their members due to those series of incidents, but also from a clear existential dread around dirty air and its consequences, turning such into a plain culture where those sicknesses are terrifying omens that might as well just be signalizing doom.

This tribe also developed a fashion to follow veganism to quite a strong pulp, seeing it not only as a matter to achieve a higher level of moral righteousness, but also as a way to place themselves in a distinct living style than that of the kin'toni, which would, in theory, make it so they're less likely to attack them in different moments. This sort of notion where vegetarianism isn't only about the food but also a sort of shield is normalized within members of this tribe to also contribute to quite a high sense of need to defend the ecosystem around them.

Seeing aggression or meat-eating as practices that are undeniably non-zu'aan-like.

Culture

The culture that was created and developed within the Biwato tribal Zu'aan follows most of the foundations and observations that are drawn in their psychology, allowing for the creation of interesting pluralities within a unique blend in a tribe that's, for most, expected to simply follow primitive swamp-living tactics, allowing for the creation of customs and traditions that design, per example, their vocabulary, which is birthed from a unique perception of their view of the world.

Following their historical aircraft imagery and its "death" makes it so many words they tend to use follow much of their dreamy contrast whilst they still live in huts, calling their tribe chiefs as navigators or commanders, per example, or, by the creation of unique slang that goes around terms that talk about oxygen, flight, wings, and etc., creating a constant verbal anchor to the aircraft they once collectively lost. Another thing which follows many of the notions developed in other paragraphs is that of the tribe's architecture.

Which is oftentimes sealed in airtight spaces with the ideal objective of mimicking the cabins of their past dwellings, which tries to create both the space of the failed aircraft, their previous home, and also limit the entrance of all that dirty air, a concept which causes a high level of existential anxiety for most of the members of the tribe; this is seen and illustrated clearly in how they weave long and thick vines, combined with a series of different swamp-resins to attempt to recreate airtight hanging huts.

Which also have very outdated moss filters as windows, almost working as a pod, which are distributed amongst the hanging vegetation of their roofed swamp, connected by a series of narrow and defensible hatches. Another cultural characteristic of the tribe and their members, as was also previously mentioned, is their adherence to veganism in various levels, negating any sort of consumption of meat or products derived from the biome's fauna, which isn't only seen at their practical level of, obviously, not eating or cooking any of those products in a vast majority of their cuisine.

But also within ceremonial level for all members of the tribe; these ceremonies around their diet also mix themselves with ceremonies that have the objective of praising and thanking the roof of the swamp, one of the means that guarantee their protection and well-being the most. These practices can very much be seen in how their harvests are treated such as proper rituals, reinforcing the idea that meat consumption is a practice which places a Zu'aan closer to the Kin'toni than to the members of the tribe.

In these rituals the tribe is given the collective objective of carefully managing the fruity trees of the swamp, taking out any sorts of fruits that might serve of nourishment for the animals which reside close to those trees, while, at the same time, praising the trees for their imagery around being providers which must be serviced to some degree, placed as both an expression of the divine and of the giving, and also a necessary engine for society.

Government

The governance style of the Biwato tribal zu'aan follows many of the notions they have developed as key to maintain a high-end society, which mimics their historical funding history of a failed aviation protocol, almost as an attempt to rebuild the order they had stolen from them. This is seen primarily even within the semantics of their governing body, where the term politicians is replaced by the term navigators, giving emphasis on the idea that these members are those which would have been responsible for leading the aircraft forward whilst at the same time maintaining the entire functional body of their world afloat and safe.

These navigators are elder members of the tribe, most of which even still carry some memories from the inside of the aircraft, though very few, with most just being some members which inherited such role from their previous family member's scrap metal; though, it wasn't just inheritance which allowed for the members of the governing body to become politicians; any member which had the functional skill to develop and properly instruct others in the collective oral history of the Biwato's survival could also compete for such role in yearly elections.

And, regardless of the manner of which such title is achieved, the role given to the navigators is that to chart out the tribe's "course," which is a fancy way to say that they're responsible for administrative measures such as the maintaining of rations or the allocation of resources for constructions. Though, the regulations proposed by the navigators also had to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs), as is expected from members that had rights on upholding the functioning of a society.

These procedures are what the tribe declares as their law system; these SOPs follow many of what the collective consciousness of the tribe requires, be it psychologically, culturally, or the basic necessities of any zu'aan, creating a series of non-negotiable and rigid regulations that defend the individual right to boundaries and proper order. The act of breaking any SOP, be it being wasteful with potable water, trespassing, or even murdering another member of the tribe, is properly treated as an attempt at sabotage.

Something which is fully unacceptable in a flight, holding the potential to take down the entire aircraft, something which is seen as extremely harmful for the tribe since they often view themselves as a functioning machine, which will undoubtedly lead to swift reactions by law enforcement, be it re-education, demotions, or even removing a member's right to reside within the tribe, be it by exile or executions. Furthermore, other than the administration by the navigators, we observe the creation of leaders which are divided into the different departments necessary to run a tribe.

Something which follows a member's status, something measured since their date of birth which basically sees how well a member of the Biwato tribe adheres to the desired protocols and customs, which is something which influences many of the tribe's leaders to invest a lot into internal observation of members, and members to be extra weary with their decision-making since this status affects their living style and well-being directly, since the lower the status, the worse living conditions you are guaranteed by law.

Military

Following the logic of internal maintenance and security watching that the government needs to keep their tribe afloat and to maintain the status system, which is a highly determining factor for the well-being of the citizens, most of the Biwato tribal zu'aan's military forces act less such as the classical style of a traditional standing army and instead operate under a sort of internal maintenance wing, which is justified due to the collective trauma the tribe holds with the idea of breaching, which, basically allows the military to uphold its existence as a way to prevent unauthorized entries into the swamp's roof.

This sort of maintenance idea is supported by the highest-ranking officers within their command chain, which encompass the members of the security wing, members which hold roles that are strictly defensive and internal, not going into any sort of invasion-like missions, often times just assigned to tasks on patrolling the perimeter around the tribe's reach, be it against the potential of invading kin'toni, or be it to keep the very members of the Biwato tribal zu'aan in constant check, as to ensure their status remains correct to their actions.

Which creates a military class that operates as direct enforcers of the SOPs, leading to a militarized police institution within the tribe that is responsible for regulation through legal force. Whenever combat is inevitable, the members of the Biwato's military often utilize their biome as a tactical advantage against kin'toni, utilizing a series of reinforced vines from the swamp's roof to perform a series of rapid vertical maneuvers—tactics which are trained by the members of the military since their starting days.

Allowing warriors to stay hidden within leaves and the thickest parts of the canopy to drop onto intruders whenever necessary for combat, creating quite an effective way to fend off kin'toni; some of the most skilled warriors also have the skill to bounce right back into the canopy after a drop strike, which translates into even more effective fighting capability. Their weaponry exists as one of the strongest cultural relics for the maintaining of their past history within the metallic aircraft.

All while still allowing them to develop proper attacking and defensive tactics with the limited technology guaranteed by the Shattering Age; these weapons are often focused on either being extremely short-ranged, to allow for increased efficiency in point-blank scenarios, being useful both within internal control and also as a way to combat kin'toni and their attempts at invasion; examples of these weapons might be blowguns, shortswords, and even shanks, all which are often built with scrap metal brought from the aircraft's remains.

Which tend to be incredibly good in dealing with situations within tighter spaces, as an attempt to limit a soldier's probable clumsiness in the mess that is the tree-walled corridors of the swamp. The blowguns also utilize the swamp in other ways, like by infusing the darts with neurotoxins that are often extracted from the local fauna, such as from bright amphibious animals; the same sort of toxins that are often smeared along blades as a way to guarantee that a hit equals a kill in critical situations, something that is utilized with higher frequency against kin'toni.

Religion

The religion of the Biwato tribal zu'aan creates a haunting contrast between all of the mysticism that was culturally developed around their past history with their fundamental aircraft and the feeling of desperation that was forced upon them, not only with the Shattering Age but with all of the societal regress caused by the kin'toni plague, which allows them to basically begin worshipping not nature itself as is seen in many other faiths, but the hope of one day being rescued from the doom that awaits them within the swamp floor.

Their faith is centered around the image of Hin-warak, often revisioned as the first captain that the world has had, keeping up with the whole aircraft theme the tribe has; they often believe that Hin-warak was responsible for giving the first movement the world needed to begin spinning, even believing that Hin-warak had direct involvement in throwing their aircraft onto the trees to save their lives originally, sacrificing the material existence of that plane so that the passengers could live.

It is seen pragmatically as a deity, or so a God, of trajectory, of proper planning, often related to those members responsible for observing the trajectory of flights from control stations. The theological afterlife developed within Hin-warakism is entirely vertical in its logic, placing the usual logic of a fully clear sky in comparison to a low, sufferingsome abyss under, something done as a means to influence the overall doctrine for the members of the tribe into one that values what is promoted by Hin-warakism.

The contrast around the abyss and that sky follow very usual tropes: a realm of purity, where Hin-warak resides, where the good zu'aan go to rest all of eternity in ultimate bliss, whilst that abyss is a hellish region of chaos and decay, where those zu'aan which went against what Hin-warak did in his command go to rot and suffer for all of eternity. Many of their rituals revolve around the practice of breathing; many times members of the Hin-warakism group up in circles and hold the hands of the members by their side, where a priest member in the center would order them to breathe in healthy and slow periods of time.

Which acted as not only a cultural and religious practice, but one which would help members calm down after a long day of work, or perhaps even take a moment to breathe, literally. This is done due to their historical event where they were forced into a limited position within the aircraft, one of which limited their access to clean oxygen as volcanic ash filled the air around them, often believing that the purified air that is just plain oxygen is a gift given to them by their deity.

As in comparison to all of that ash released by the volcano, which is seen as physical expressions of sin into the world of the living.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

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