Garest Tribal Zu'aan

History

Late in the Shattering Age, in the year of 4E 132, the Laenaia tribal zu'aan had come to exist as an intimidating force for the kin'toni of the age; it had been a tribe so massive and strong in its capabilities, that it had debated the right to call themselves a kingdom, as it had been one of the strongest expressions of sovereignty and population numbers of that entire age period; however, it had also been that very size that had been one of the largest contributing factors to the tribe's eventual downfall.

In the year of 4E 141, as a result of the effects of political polarization, led by the pressing influence of extremist groups, it had been seen that the Laenaia tribe had come to decay from being a thriving semi-kingdom to a dying society, which had been barely able to feed its own population on a constant level, as it had been lacking resources despite being located in one of the richest regions of Taerel, and stability had been slowly stripped from it, until it had been officially declared to have fallen in the year of 4E 141.

As the tribe had been torn asunder by a kin'toni attack that had coincided with what had been able to only be called a civil war. From the collapse of the Laenaia tribe, three other tribes had been formed: one which kept reigning in the same region as Laenaia, one which fled south into the isolated ashlands, and the one described in this article, known as the Garest tribal zu'aan, which was historically formed by the highest elites within the aristocratic class of Laenaia, which took not only their own riches from the kingdom as they fled.

But also most of the military class of Laenaia, venturing far north until arriving at the Kudapa Mutated Forest, where that elite-led group decided to settle for the time to come. Though, once the settlement was finally organized, that minorital elite kept hegemony within political and economical power, something which bothered a couple of individuals which saw such organization as unequal; but the same sentiment wasn't fully spread amongst the members of the tribe, many of whom still agreed with those aristocrats keeping power.

Though, this changed in the year 4E 139, when those members started turning their power into abusive expression, whipping members which didn't adhere to more strugglesome working hours, often times via beatings with other guards that were originally also part of the military class. But, those few members which always opposed the elites already organized against the elites, often times bringing most of the military, and now deeply exploited class together, pointing out critical thinking processes, such as the fact their tribe can't run without their own effort.

And that those controlling elites do nothing for the maintenance of their society; and, after organizing a while, in the year of 4E 140, that exploited military class overthrew their wealthy elites, often sharing the thought process that a rich individual isn't necessary for their society, while the worker, in unity, always will be.

Psychology

The psychological framework which encompasses the psyche of the Garest Tribal Zu'aan is deeply rooted in their historical identity and unity, fruit of their previous revolutionary overtaking of society into a tribe they could shape by themselves, which leads to quite a huge pride revolving around what that military class was able to achieve even under an extremely abusive structure. This pride extends to how the vast majority of their members see themselves all as a collective which owns all of the means which are necessary for the functioning of a societ.

Being able to regulate and manage the products of their own labor; this naturalized how the Garest found a deep sense of psychological dignity related to the process which they faced to meet these conditions, which the vast majority is extremely thankful for. Psychologically, for the Garest, a single person is worth way more than any of those riches that the aristocratic elites once possessed; in fact, most of the notions associated with those aristocratic elites are often seen as repulsive, one of the main characteristics being their so-called softness.

Which is seen as a sign of weakness and uselessness, something which only fools would carry in a world such as the one of Taerel during the Shattering Age. This repulse made it so the members of the Garest often value the contrast psychologically a lot more, often enjoying stories of members which fought to overthrow the aristocrats, or any sort of passerby zu'aan which tell their tale; be it full of physical suffering and struggle, or be it through many efforts related to their emotional well-being, it is all valued under the view of the Garest.

Which come to very much value those members responsible for the labor which keeps society going. The members of the Garest also tend to dive a tiny bit into paranoia, though it doesn't take much place psychologically as it does within their structural systems; and this paranoia is very much around the ideas of a potential return of those same elites which abused them, and not in the manner of the return of the same names and individuals (which were historically exiled), but in the fear of accumulation of wealth and/or of plain political power within their tribe.

Creating a sort of sense around hyper-vigilance around things such as fully egotistical ambition or the hoarding of material necessities, be them rations or medications, which creates a tribe fully ready to combat the absence of equality when necessary, treating it as a full threat. This sort of collective world-view isn't limited to the members of just the Garest tribe; they're highly empathetic individuals, especially to other worker struggles across the world of Taerel, often times sending aid to tribes which suffer from abusive power accumulation as an attempt to help those crucial members of the world into living a better life in a more honest and equal structure.

Instead of one that's run by the interests of the few which hoard resources.

Culture

The culture of the Garest tribal zu'aan is deeply interesting due to its nature around the valuation of the worker and of the image of the soldier, creating literally living monuments which inhabit the area of the Kudapa Mutated Forest, building a structured and rhythmic cultural society amongst a chaotic and unpredictable, almost liquid existence, naturalizing quite a radical societal experience as in contrast to the conditions put forward by the Shattering Age. What would be expected from this society is the observation of the practice of labor as something sacred.

However, the Garest tribal zu'aan take quite a more humanitarian approach, seeking to value the worker and their efforts more than the practice of labor itself, attempting to create a society which is free from any ideas of zu'aan-on-zu'aan exploitation, instead focusing on valuing what makes each zu'aan unique and special, above the very practice of labor, something which was seen as necessary for just about everything that makes their tribe function, but not something which will dignify one's existence.

This collective valuing mindset often leads the Garest to partake in a daily life which is very rhythmic, following a series of collective actions as a way to improve each individual's own technical abilities, such as hauling timber, forging metals, or practicing for combat, often done under joint chants played by drums, which most of the tribe's members often sang along to as they performed their tasks and hobbies, creating a sort of naturalized notion around the beauty of a joint effort, guaranteeing a freeing and accessible cultural framework.

Their architecture also follows many of these collectivized structures for cultural living experiences, creating ideals which go about rejecting most expressions of needless private luxury, which basically places things such as mansions or gated estate property out of the picture for the Garest; instead, investment around construction was mostly focused around heavily reinforced series of communal houses which took a really long shape, which allow for many families to live together, each with their own dignified right to both a piece of proper living property and, of course, to their own privacy.

Not only that, but within those communal spaces, many other chore-related activities tend to be fully socialized, such as spaces to eat, for leisure, sport, and many other activities such as laundry areas, creating structures that are not only accessible, but also hold a huge amount of utility and even defense. They also have an incredibly fascinating way of handling the relics of their past, be it the ones that were birthed from their so-called revolution and the ones which were brought to the tribe by the wealthy elites which often times got discarded in a very ritualistic sort of manner.

Where any of the symbols of old Laenaia aristocracy, be it family crests or jewels are, if they serve no use, discarded, often times even melted down publicly, and when of use, are redistributed within the tribe itself.

Government

The government style of the Garest tribal zu'aan acts as though a proper shield created with the very intention of protecting the majoritarian wishes of the collective, respecting not only the capabilities of each individual's expression, but also the very guarantee of all the rights necessary for such expression to take place in safe ways; this state structure follows the logical outcome from a tribe which purged their aristocratic masters, keeping an extremely sturdy structure that is decentralized yet highly disciplined.

All operating on the idea that their main goal is to prevent any new elite from getting any funny ideas and accumulating power over the collective well-being of the Garest. Their governing body is shaped around a chosen council of delegates which make up the central council, creating what is generally known across the tribe as the general assembly, which creates a rotating body for different perspectives to operate and maintain the tribe under, all within the contrast of the usual image of a throne for one.

The representatives are elected directly by the workers, not via party systems or a single vote for one leader which chooses the rest; each member is individually chosen by the diverse communities of the tribe, and every single one of them is required to still perform their usual labor whilst participating within the governing body. Another key factor within the governance of the Garest tribe is how they fully abolished any notions around the ability to own and concentrate private property or wealth, being something not only condemned culturally and psychologically, but something which is legally declared as a criminal action.

Such a statement being birthed from their perspective on how such factors around profit exist only within the realms of an exploitative economic system; this translates into practice in how we observe the fact that every resource, be it timber, water, or rations, is organized and allocated to different sectors of the tribe depending on their need, often times distributed amongst those longhouses described within their architecture, all done as a means to prevent hoarding and ensuring the well-being of the Garest.

Since members are elected individually without a party to fully back them up, accountability is given directly to the individual responsible for political labor, and that accountability is incredibly heavy on the governing forces, considering how those members tend to have their entire mandates revoked if they fail to satisfy members of the tribe, all done legally within the historical perspective of preventing the existence of useless leaders who care only about accumulating wealth, power, or influence.

Which allows the Garest to maintain their status quo within a healthy and democratic fashion, though one that makes any change different from this system difficult. Another thing that this government is forced to provide to the people is just about every basic means for survival a zu'aan could need, and if it fails to do so, the most common expected result is for the leaders to get replaced, through democratic or legally direct means, all as a means to guarantee the majority of zu'aan can actually live a proper life without the need for political ideologies to control their existence.

Military

The Garest military creates a physical notion which translates their society's very thesis, which allows for the collective to defend itself via itself, which allows for a doctrine which fully defends and calls for a total mobilization system, which naturalized the notion of independent guardians of all the society the very Garest built by their very own sweat, blood, and tears, all utilized with the intention to defend the equality and their control over the Kudapa Mutated Forest, almost as though an existential justifier for the armed forces.

The doctrine of total mobilization rejects the classical ideas of standing armies by instead replacing every able-bodied member of the tribe into a position of defense whenever harm comes to be necessary, creating a sort of indistinguishable idea of a worker from a soldier; this, of course, can only be executed properly once military training is integrated into the routines of every able-bodied member of the Garest tribal zu'aan, something done in daily life whilst disguising itself in things which can vary from basic leisure as a means to train the body.

Into high-intensity labor for those members which present themselves as the most capable, basically guaranteeing that a lumberjack crew's wood gathering is efficient in training just as much as a football team's weekend game. Their military structure organizes itself in a federalized control structure, where overall advances and decisions are planned by the very high council of the tribe, but in field, many times, to avoid inefficiencies in critical moments, members of the military tend to organize themselves into brigades.

Each serving the purpose of a tactical unit in moments of war or of invasion prevention; these squads create practical advancing companies whose cohesion is, in thesis, unbreakable from the Garest's societal development, which often allows for every more tactical merit to be distributed amongst different members, regardless of their heritage or whatever, which is often actually a common moment for the accumulation of charisma needed to elect a member of the tribe's council. Many of their fighting strategies also draw a lot from properly done guerrilla tactics.

Something which can be done effectively within a biome they know as much as the Kudapa Mutated Forest, creating a practical nightmare for any invading kin'toni; the Garest use their knowledge as a strong advantage amongst any sort of conflict which the tribe has to face, even shaping a lot of their training around close-quarters combat in tight spaces, since they'll rarely advance upon open fields within their biome. Their weapons often times follow patterns of being modified or heavier versions of tools more usually designed for labor.

Such as great-axes and sledge-hammers, sometimes even harpoons which are made for fishing, which allows for an extremely brutal and always massive arsenal which allows for each fighter, regardless of sector, to be able to properly defend themselves when needed; even things such as spears live as symbolic expressions of alive resistance, allowing for heavy and blunt weaponry which even contrasts the previous elites' elegance by being extremely blunt and crushing.

Religion

The theology of the Garest tribal zu'aan focuses itself around many of the communal objectives developed by the tribe's historic existence and its development within Taerel; we observe the creation of a secular and grounded faith which seeks to replace the worshipping of Gods on an abstract or simple level, by instead replacing such belief with the veneration of a collective notion around the spirit of unity, which makes it so the Garest, instead of looking at the heavens for salvation, often choose to remain and believe in the untapped potential created from the unity amongst zu'aan themselves.

The deity, or moreso the concept they worship, is often referred to as Xoumia, which isn't regarded as a singular individual or god which exists above all else, instead displayed as a concept, a rite, and in more symbolic interpretations, an unbound spirit; but what doesn't change is that Xoumia represents a force birthed from the collective and harmonical workforce made when zu'aan come together for a singular collective purpose which brings benefits to them all.

Another idea around the Xoumia is that it was for many years being starved by the previous elites which reigned the Garest's previous home, accumulating wealth and power to a singular individual instead of allowing for the indomitable zu'aan spirit to thrive despite the challenges presented by the universe, which made room for many prayers, where groups of Garest join together to partake in group songs and rhythmic chants, something that can be expressed during properly cultural reunions or even during labor itself.

Designed to make them similar to Xoumia by shaping their heartbeats and movements into a single necessary force. Within said theology, the Garest often await death as though it represents a grand return into what was once the primordial state of each being; it doesn't function as an afterlife described as a dichotomy between punishment and bliss, instead simply believing that an individual's energy is returned into Xoumia after their passing, which allows for a way more material form of treatment of the dead.

And that's not used as a way to say that the symbolic value is lost, but that individuals come to value the work of each zu'aan even more, which contrasts some other societies where people may remember who ordered the construction of an important building, but not those which were building the same building, regardless of it being a scorchful or rainy day; all of this allows for not only a bigger expression of gratefulness, but also comfort, allowing for immortality to live within the structures the Garest built overtime.

The place where prayer or ritualistic practices take place aren't big built temples or properly set up settlements; it is often wherever a nucleus can be formed with over 20 members, which meet with the objective of sharing their own histories through their days, or even to share food and drinks, all with the intention of strengthening Xoumia by keeping the zu'aan necessary for Xoumia's well-being in a better state spiritually.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

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Garest Tribal Zu'aan

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