Cledwlen City Zu'Aan

History

This group was founded by Mandava Ristenda and lives in the Dewidln Oasis. When the kin'toni outbreak was beyond being contained the only option was to evacuate. All the airplanes in the airport were insufficient, there had to be crowds heaped, ordinary people mixed with specialists. One of those flies was the plane AZ 3151. Due to the rush the engine was not verified and nobody cared it was already failing. The original destination was a fortress equipped with laboratories, the airplane was carrying experimental technology for terraformation and animal specimens to experiments besides 400 voyagers. While the airplane was flying there was a sudden engine fail, the controls were not responding and the plane would fall at any moment.

The pilot tried to make an emergency landing changing the route to a flat wasteland of sand dunes, the landing was a success, the AZ 3151 dragged into the sand until stop. Due to the sand reduced the impact, there were no casualties, however, the airplane was damaged beyond any repair and it would not fly again, there was not enough equipment and engineers to fix it. 400 persons were stuck in the middle of a wasteland. With reduced supplies for a week, no options to find any food or water in the sterile wasteland, and no chance to fix the airplane, the scientist's thoughts were to give poison to the survivors to avoid slow death by thirst and starvation. However, a woman named Mandava Ristenda spotted the plan.

In place tell to the other survivors Mandava Ristenda decided to persuade the scientists and engineers to find a solution to keep living. Since she was a singer she started to sing to inspire and cheer the people to keep alive. The sings of Mandava Ristenda helped the survivors to avoid the depression and stopped fights, she was always singing happy songs and inviting others to the chorus. There was a mine nearby the airplane, someway an old equipment of technology to irrigate crops was found in good conditions inside the mine with other useful machines. The engineers were not sure the old machines would help, However, Mandava Ristenda persuaded them to find a way to use them. The scientists in the group, convinced by her, shared secret experimental terraformation devices that could work. There was no power supply for those machines, the specialists were losing hope but Mandava convinced them to keep thinking. As result, the engineers found a way to use the airplane fuel to produce power for the machines.

Combining the machines and the experimental devices gave as result a stable production of chemically produced fresh water in amounts enough to supply the survivors and to bring life to the arid surroundings and at the same time the machine was producing fuel enough to keep working due it was fixed to work with hydrogen. The water production technology let the survivors fill the void in the ground until made a lake that was named Dewidln Oasis. Soon the survivors had prosperity enough to become a town and they selected to Mandava Ristenda as a leader, she decided to found Cledweln City. Now, as the devices fail, only fixed by jury-rigged repairs and hope, how long will they last?

Psychology

Citizens of Cledwlen are descendants of survivors from an emergency landing. They are hopeless people who need to sing to buff themselves and others. The practice of singing was adopted from the example of the funder of the city Mandava Ristenda, as a way to imitate her and replace her, she was a spiritual and political guide that gave hope to the survivors when they were resigned to die. In a way, they sing to try to be like her, have her strength and determination. Isolated from other zu'aan groups, Cledwlen has prosperity, but quite a few kin'toni attacks, they have won most of the fights against predators however they are not defenseless, and they are prepared to fight against hostile forces.

Due to recordings of radio communication, they are warned about the dangers beyond the wasteland, they are sure is safer to stay where they are, protected by miles of hot and dry sand dunes; however, some of them are still curious about the possibility of finding something good if there is a way to cross the wasteland. The citizens know the Dewidln Oasis is not natural, but made by a freshwater generator, some of them live worried by the day the machine stops working, the daily singing helps them to forget their worries and trust in the queen. They are convinced the queen and the scientific syndicate have everything under control. In their mind, there is the idea women lead better than men, which they want to avoid any fight and find a way to benefit everyone placing their family first.

As an example of Mandava Ristenda they adopted as a tradition to place women in important positions and rule for the good a common welfare leaving egoist desires left. Every woman in an executive position believes it is her nature to rule, however, this doesn't mean they believe women are better than men. They believe music is important, however, they consider more important the voice than musical instruments, which they use to mark the rhythm only. Their melodies are simple and repetitive, they could not count as music at all without the lyrics. For they there are no ugly voices, there are no people who sing ugly, but they recognize the beauty of a nice voice. Since they consider the voice as the shape of the soul they use to believe a beautiful voice is the reflex of a beautiful soul.

Cledweln citizens enjoy art, they like dances, and stories however they prefer songs. They enjoy fantasizing about the possibilities beyond the wasteland, like new animals and plants they could bring back to the oasis. They know it impossible to cross the wasteland with their current technology and carry animals, however, it is not on the plans of the queen or the scientific syndicate to find the way to cross the wasteland, they know there are bigger possibilities of bringing danger to the oasis than something good for them. The day they find a foreigner wandering in the wasteland they will receive them with more curiosity than fear, however, they will no doubt on killing them if they feel any risk.

Culture

Clewdlen citizens wear clothes to resist the wasteland heat. They wear light colors with wide hats. With the Dewidln Oasis close to the city, they have always fresh water to use in anything they need. There are limited resources in the wasteland, so most of the buildings are made of sand bricks; to produce sand bricks they mix sand with water, then compress the blocks and bake them until they are solid enough to build. The streets are paved with sand bricks, During the night there are streetlights made with fire protected by glass barriers. Due to the massive amounts of sand from the wasteland they can obtain glass by heating sand. There are many decorative figures and home objects made of glass, master forgers can make jewelry made of glass with rounded edges that can´t cut. Mixing mineral particles they can make mirrors too. Most of the tools are made of baked sand, palm wood, or bone, iron is rare and even stone is uncommon.

There are few iron crafters, however, there are many artisans who work with sand, they can do almost anything with sand. Almost every house is made with sand brick, inside there can be palm wood furniture and sand furniture too. Despite the limited species, agriculture gives resources enough to produce a rich variety of food and fibers to make clothes and stuff pillows. The cattle have limited species too, but they have big amounts of specimens to get food, leather, travel on them, and carry objects. It is possible to extend the variety of meat and resources by hunting the migrant birds allured by the Oasis. Due to the Oasis there is water enough for plenty of miles of green grass and other plants, the wasteland sun makes the crops grow faster, people get protection from the sun under the palms and fruit trees.

Sing is an important part of the culture in Clewdlen City, people are always singing. This costume was kept from the times of the funder Mandava Ristenda, which sings gave hope to the survivors and join them to become a city. They sing when they wake up, during work, when they are feeling good, while they rest, and before go to sleep. They sing to express emotions and these songs buff them. Some songs are like poems while others are just extended vocals. Music instruments are more to mark the beat for the vocal songs, the more common are pipes and flutes made of baked sand, palm wood drums, and bells made of glass. There are public spaces in the street when people reunite to sing together and play instruments, the preferred hours are midday, sunset, and an early night.

All the metal tools and instruments are made from the remains of the airplane AZ 3151 which was carrying the settlers when they landed in the desert. There are no traces of the airplane now.

Marriage ritual

When a couple wants to marry they call a guardian of the faith to sign date and a public area. On the day marked the couple goes to the sanctuary in the public area, where the guardian of faith will be waiting for them. The guardian plays her glass bell and sings to Mandava Ristenda deity to introduce the couple, after that the man and the woman sing by turns to promise loyalty and love each other, the man takes a glass cup of water to give her to the woman to drink and can give her a piece of glass jewelry too. The woman gives the cup back to the man to he drinks the remaining water. Then the guardian of faith plays her bell to announce to the gods and the public the just married couple. The man and the woman will spend the rest of the day in a party of songs and they will go to sleep together at the night.

Government

The city has a monarchy where the tradition is women rule and have important places. Mandava Ristenda, the founder of the city, was a benevolent queen who ruled the people with love and songs. The monarchy gives the right only to the first daughter to rule, the younger sisters have not any power unless the current queen dies. Every monarch wears a crystal crown, inherited from their royal ancestors, a crystal scepter, and a cloak made of feathers. The king has power but he can´t take important decisions as the queen, the sons can´t become kings but knights with high status. The tradition of a government of women is based on the judge of them to avoid conflicts and care for the welfare of their families, during centuries Cledwlen has live in peace, besides kin'toni raids and the rate of crime is almost inexistent.

While the queen keeps the people quiet, she is supported by a group of people called the Keepers of Knowledge that keep working the freshwater source, the power generator, the mine, and other machines, but knowledge has been lost over time. While the monarch lives in a palace made of sand blocks and glass and goes to the public plaza to greet the citizens, the Keepers of Knowledge are working on projects inside the research facility inside the mine, they decide the important changes in the city, analyze possibilities together and vote the proposed projects. The current monarch is invited to the research facility meetings, where they explain possible ways to improve life quality, within the limits of the ancient era tech the city has.

Usually, the queen has no problem with that projects, neither has a problem refusing if she thinks that would affect the population in any way. When a queen doesn´t want to cooperate with the Keepers of Knowledge they can´t take action by themselves, they only can discard the project or change it to make it fit better with the queen´s mind. The Keepers of Knowledge are made by the most brilliant minds in Cledwlen city, only citizens who studied in a school and have the top rates can enter the Keepers of Knowledge, usually the sons of members. The scientific syndicate is the legacy of the scientists and engineers who settled the city after the AZ 3151 emergency landing, they give the knowledge to the next generation to keep the freshwater machine working.

Town guards under orders of a female captain patrols the city to keep the order and help people in trouble. There are prisons to enclose public offenders to make them think about their behavior, after some days they let them go out to become good citizens. Recidivists are enclosed twice time each time they are caught. Some criminals, like murderers, have not such chance and they are exiled, sent tied to an old carry animal to get lost in the deep of the wasteland. Men can´t ascend to executive positions, however, they can become assistants of executive women. The only institution ruled by a man is the army.

Military

Cledwlen City has faced many an invasion or attack from kin'toni of the $2. They are very isolated, surrounded by miles of sterile wasteland that can´t be crossed by kin'toni, other than the Kha'orm kin'toni Clan, but rival tribes have been unable to cross. However, they have an army inherited from the settlers, who had a sergeant and officers with them. The Keepers of Knowledge have a radio and recorded messages from the past describing horrible attacks and fearsome hostile forces. They know there is danger beyond the wasteland and understand there is needed a defense system like the army to protect the city the day hostile forces arrive or another raid from the Kha'orm kin'toni Clan happens.

The army, called the Defenders of the Cledwlen Realm, is the only institution directed by a man. The general receives orders only from the queen, he has under his rule sergeants that choose men from the population to become new soldiers and train them. The sergeants are replaced only when they die or retire. The new recruits must leave the city to move to the headquarters on the border of the wasteland, army men can visit the city only once a week. The Army wears a tan uniform made of animal skin, they wear leather boots and belts, and in the head, they have a cap that protects them from the sun. The weapons they have are wooden lances and bows with glass heads, bone knives, and glass throwing daggers.

Sometimes they use poison in the sharp ends of the arrows, they get the poison from insects that live in the deep parts of the mine. Defenders of the Cledwlen Realm have had a lot of experience fighting against the Kha'orm kin'toni Clan, but not much experience fighting other kin'toni clans or zu'aan groups, their activities are marched the border of the city to find animal predators and eliminate them before they become in serious danger. The soldiers have faced and killed manhunter packs of nomadic animals many times, also they build walls to protect the city from upcoming sandstorms. Soldiers use to deal with troubles the town guards can´t, for example when wild animals get inside the city or runaway convicts in-group become in a threat. However, soldiers can´t enter the city unless it´s an emergency.

The rest of the time the soldiers are training in the headquarters or marching, they sing too, they learn dozens of battle chants that buff them to endure more. They take turns to watch during the night, the ones who go to sleep wake up before the sun appears. Soldiers can ascend but not retire, they keep as soldiers until they die. The sergeants and the general can retire, but they don´t go back to the city. When an army man retires, he must walk to the wasteland equipped with his weapons and a water canteen only to find out what is beyond. They use to retire when they are too old to keep the rhythm and want to change their life or feel the end is near. Nobody knows if the retired army men succeed to cross the wasteland, although nobody hopes they come back, and they are not seen again.

Religion

The practice of sing inherited from Mandava Ristenda is important part of the culture and in their religion too. Cledwlen citizens sing as a way to pray, to give thanks, or ask for help to a divinity. They adore the founder as a goddess, they sing on her name reunited in public spaces or inside their houses in front of a small figure of the founder, usually sculpted on sand or glass. The other deities they adore are the Xais, god of the Oasis, Vala, the god of the wasteland, Xaer, the god of the air, and Paem, the god of sound. To adore each one of them there are different songs with plenty of intonations, although the same sanctuaries work for all of them. A sanctuary is made of a rounded column railing, a pedestal with a glass cup of water, and sometimes a statue or figure although their gods have not shape but Mandava Ristenda.

There can be a bench in the sanctuary, it´s optional; there can be more than one person in the sanctuary singing at the same time but they must sing the same song. It is considered to sing as an act of faith, the same way it is considered to say bad words or make disgusting noises as a sin. Sinners must pay for their faults singing in the sanctuary, the time is determined by the fault. Women dressed with white clothes and wielding a glass bell are the guardians of the faith, they direct the songs in the public areas, they sit on the bench to listen to people who want to talk with them about faith and they decide the penitence for the sinners who feel regret. The women have an hourglass to help them to measure the time of the penitence.

Only women can be Guardians of the Faith, they can have children but they can´t be caring of them while they are serving the believers. The place of men in the religion is to make sacred objects. Only pure men, with no sin, are able to make glass bells and Mandava Ristenda figures. They must get a permit from the guardians of the faith before taking any request from them, it is believed artisans pray with their work so they have no need to sing in order to please and be blessed by the gods. Men build sanctuaries too, but there is no need for a permit for that. It is believed sing is the shape of the soul. When somebody dies the funeral is a series of songs with a chorus performed by relatives and friends, they sing to send the soul of the dead to a paradise where Mandava Ristenda lives and sings for all.

The dead are buried in a grass field full of sand tombstones, nobody goes there but to sing in memory of the departed ones. A guardian of the faith directs the songs along with the funeral with her glass bell from the beginning until the body is buried, then the guardian of faith sings alone.

Miscellany

Mandava Ristenda, the funder of the city, used to be a famous singer, she released many albums but she didn´t keep any of them. The terraformation device that makes it possible to produce chemically freshwater was experimental technology that would be used to colonize outer space, but it is now wearing out and starting to fail. The sand blocks used to be baked with an electric oven, it stopped working but there were already grown-up trees to get firewood. Besides the freshwater generator, the only piece of technology Cledweln city has are the remains of machines use to mine, but those have worn out from being unable to fix them, so they mine by hand. They want to find iron and other metals because they have several lacks of them.

The absence of medical supplies makes it hard to survive several injuries, the medics put more effort on give herbal tea and sing for the health of their patients than suture and cauterize wounds. The new recruits often die when they accidentally get poisoned with the sharp ends of poison arrows. There are a few boats to cross the oasis and fish, those boats are public property that anybody can use. Anybody can swim in the oasis but it´s forbidden to dump garbage on their waters. The sanctuaries for sing more visited are the ones built next to the oasis. The most popular toy in the city between the children is marbles. Women can become guardians of the faith once they become adults, they can get married and have children.

Guardians of Faith can use a palm wood drum in place a crystal ball, it is a less popular instrument. There is a tournament of glass throwing daggers that is celebrated once in the year, the winner is the player who makes a bullseye or the one who breaks the dagger inserted in the bullseye circle. During all the year migrant birds visit the oasis, the habitants know the directions they come and they go to, however, they never tried to follow them. Hourglasses are common in houses, they don’t use them to know what time is it, but to measure time in the process like cooking. It is forbidden to make musical instruments with the shape of Mandava Ristenda, the voice is considered more important than the sound of any instrument.

Many of the new recruits in the army are young men who are bored of life in the city. It´s normally one of ten soldiers die fighting against nomadic predators or kin'toni. Experienced soldiers use a hammer made of sand blocks, it is not part of the basic equipment because it is hard to wield. Some houses have ovens that works using the solar heat to cook food inside a crystal cage, it works better with vegetables than meat. They believe in Calai, god of wasteland, but they consider him as an evil god. Even so, they pray to him for mercy, more by fear than devotion.

Nearby Groups

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