Hiend Tribal Zu'aan

History

The origin history of the Hiend tribal zu'aan dates back to the year of 4E 426, when the ancestors to what is now known as the tribe itself found themselves in the margins of many different tribes near the southernmost part of the world of Taerel; they were often at these margins due to how much their worldview challenged much of the traditionally conserved standards of the tribes they inhabited. Oftentimes, the well-being of the Hiend tribe's customs was at intense threat, being seen as though a heres.

Much being due to their obsession with attempting to break how much zu'aan were able to study the liminal spaces between life and death; this often led to their execution, exile, and overall their political and religious persecution, all due to their obsession with the unseen. Through many years of persecution, this group of zu'aan was slowly pushed further and further away from all the settlements they ever tried to participate in, occupying, instead, unsafe places; places that were both prone to things such as natural disasters.

By being placed on angled hills that made it so their houses could break easily, or to kin'toni attacks, as they often occupied the same lands as they were forced to live in. This made it so fighting for your life became something necessary on a daily basis simply to survive on a day-to-day basis; thus, all of this mess these zu'aan were forced to face due to their belief system inspired them to look for an alternative in where to live and how to live. This alternative was found in a looming presence that often stood right below their hill.

Which had a sudden stop and a foggy drop that almost no zu'aan knew what lay under, other than a few older members who often recalled an eerie presence within a dimly lit forest,o one so silent that you could hear your own organs at selected times of night. This idea of the forest that laid upon their horizon often stuck to the minds of political and religious leaders who tried to lead the tribe members into seeking an alternative for their practices, which, slowly but surely, made it so they found themselves migrating to the place.

Often seeing it as a potentially important place where they could really practice their beliefs in peace. In the year of 4E 428, the entire population of the Hiend had already migrated to what became known as the Tanshyar Shadowy Forest; the new settlers realized that their eyes slowly became more and more useless; eyes that were adjusted to the sun served no purpose within that dark and quiet place. Many took this transition in a state of constant terror, oftentimes leading to massive casualties from the forest's predators.

And this became their grim reality until the tribe slowly began to develop and adapt their religious practices within their few safe spots; where their solution was odd but functional: deciding to take upon rituals of sensory eversion to make it so the tribe simply chooses to embrace that darkness instead of attempting to see through it, fully embracing blindness.

Psychology

The psychology of the Hiend tribal zu'aan allows for a deep study of their common practice of sensory substitution and how it affects the psyche and the overall personality type of these zu'aan; and not only that, but their acceptance and dissolution within their environment, something clearly observed in the manner of how these zu'aan go through an entire process of attempting to reject their primary zu'aan sense of sight. This makes it so their brains are constantly and thoroughly rewired into a different form of perceiving the world around them.

Exchanging eyesight for a complex web of vibrations, pressures, and an utilization of their other senses to get around, something that leads to a contrast between its limitation and the peace most of them report feeling. One of the key aspects that should be regarded is their adaptation and different behavior when it comes to their spatial cognition; something that is clearly much more different than the average zu'aan around Taerel due to how inverted the senses of the Hiend tend to be. This is clearly drawn by how they don't really visualize or see spaces; they choose to hear and "feel" them instead.

This all leads to a psychology that is built on a constant state of spatial awareness that exists to a degree that no other zu'aan tribe can truly comprehend. They are able to identify, for example, trees, not due to their shape or placement, but by how they as a body block the silence by themselves being an unwanted noise; this is also elevated to how they treat things such as approaching kin'toni, recognizing their smells and how their feet tend to move, which then leads for the Hiend to carefully proceed within their military and defensive procedures.

Their mental state is, due to the previous paragraph's notions and many others, incredibly calm and centered—never surprised, and even if surprised, non-reactive, elevating themselves above the position of expectation by being ready to feel displacement at any moment and simply taking their actions to stop the potential harm they may face from threats. Their introspection is something that allows for an extreme shift in the normalized psyche of the usual zu'aan within the world.

Considering that their internalization of just about everything becomes the norm for how to behave when it comes to their existence in the world around them. A member of the Hiend tribal zu'aan is rarely seen by themselves and sad at the same time—well, not in the traditional sense, at least; they feel themselves as lonely, but their internal monologue and constant conversations with the world around them replaces much of their acute biological needs. They are able to live regardless of how isolated they may be and be able to exist and thrive regardless of the physical environment around them.

All in all leading to a psyche that is extremely different from other zu'aan expressions of thought, which is something complemented by how isolated their very biome is from the rest of the world.

Culture

The culture of the Hiend tribal zu'aan allows for a masterful observation in an artistic expression that focuses itself on existing without utilizing the field of observation, existing fully independently of eyesight and vision. This follows the doctrine that treats anything related to appearance as a fully meaningless concept; something that is a direct contributor to building a civilization that is based around the texture of touch way more than the functioning of sight.

Focusing more on things such as the very geometry of sound and the sanctity given to any notions that regard silence or the refusal to see and speak. This makes it so entering a Hiend settlement is basically a ticket that allows a zu'aan to step into a living instrument instead of a museum. Since they often choose to live within the hollowed-out regions of the massive ancient trees and sometimes the very caves where each member's rituals take place, the specific characteristics of the architecture of the Hiend tribal zu'aan oftentimes attempt to focus as though they were trying to shape the living units of the tribe to operate like a guitar.

Focusing on the acoustic resonance of the places by designing walls via carving them along specific grooves and ridges to catch wind and redirect it as an internal hum that is extremely low and soothing. This is utilized as a beacon for the most skilled members of the Hiend who are able to guide themselves with frequencies as low as this one. Their aesthetic in general isn't one that focuses around looks or appearance, as it has been made obvious, which makes it so a beautiful room isn't one that is appealing in that traditional fashion.

It is instead one that can carry acoustic dynamics that can be comparable to perfection and are utilizable on a daily basis to direct and redirect members of the tribe around. To supplement their lack of vision, the Hiend also use a sophisticated system that relies on their sense of smell, differentiating the identities of different things based on their pheromonal expression; something that is not only done with objects or regions of the tribe itself, but also within the different families that inhabit the forest.

Each one is given a chosen blend of herbs and plants to cultivate so as to make sure their territories and their family members have distinct aromas and so they can be told apart from each other more easily. This whole tactic utilizing the Hiend's sense of smell isn't only done to identify specific members when they enter a room or to identify an individual's private property, but it also allows them to spread messages and make sure other Hiend don't get lost within more dangerous regions of the forest.

With specific "danger aromas" being designed with the purpose of being rubbed across more dangerous regions or potentially predator-filled areas.

Government

The government of the Hiend tribal zu'aan attempts to shape itself around the classical notion of a meritocracy that bases itself around all the possible merit a member of the tribe can acquire when it comes to the sensory precision an individual of the tribe may be able to develop, creating a council fully focused on the members who are able to detect, identify, and differentiate all of the most subtle changes in sound, touch, and smell. This is something crucial, considering that the Hiend is a society where physical appearance and material accumulation are abstract and invisible things.

Things that are seen as distractions from the overall goal of the Hiend tribe and of the Hiend individual; this thus justifies how authority is granted to those who possess the most refined perception of all that is unseen within the world. The highest authority of the tribe is one treated as the most important member of the tribe, whose word is final and whose decisions are responsible for shaping all that takes place within the tribe; this tribe member is regarded as the closest a zu'aan can come to being considered a part of the void itself.

Known as the Oracle, they sit at the pinnacle of the Hiend's social division, being considered not only a mortal vessel for their religious beliefs but also a member who has been able to maintain their purity more than any other member within the tribe, said to be living in a state of total sensory deprivation. The Oracle lives locked away within a subterranean sanctum, where their only contact with the rest of the world is via their scheduled meals and their communication with other governing members.

They don't speak, don't even make as much as a sound. They communicate via a form of writing that forces the zu'aan communicating with them to open their eyes once more, as a manner to prove themselves as inferior to the Oracle and also as a way to force those members of government to have to face the deviations presented by light once more, fighting them directly to be able to access the wise words of the Oracle. The councils responsible for the micromanagement of the tribe on a daily basis are a series of high priests chosen by their direct lineage and relation to the Oracle.

And how much they're able to communicate with them without having their eyes burn up, or by being members who might be family members of the same Oracle. Instead of most other tribes where the legislative branch contains a group of elected individuals, for the Hiend, we only have six, each responsible for a desired and specific matter which they were raised to manage, be it the management of fungal networks and food distribution, the overseeing of the blinding rituals, or even the micromanaging of all the paths and pheromonal distinction between spaces.

All done within the means of the state official religion and all of the cultural and psychological dogmas the tribe has come to develop.

Military

The military style of the Hiend tribal zu'aan allows for the establishing of a functional defense system that operates very differently from what could be considered an army by just about any standard within the world of Taerel. It is a military that is undeniably built around a doctrine that focuses on the belief that defense is a holy act necessary to preserve all of the quietness and darkness they worship; it is a key action that the tribe should be concerned about to be able to keep their constant fight against light afloat.

Which justifies much of their military actions and the structuring of the recruiting system the tribe has come to develop. The members of what can be considered the frontline of the Hiend tribal zu'aan's armed forces (and take the term frontline with a grain of salt, considering how little fighting the members of this tribe actually engage in) consist of an array of warriors who have, first of all, taken a vow of absolute silence. Oftentimes, they perform rituals such as the default one for the removal of sight.

All with the purpose of creating divisions that are fully prepared to exist and layer themselves within the silence of nature to fully disguise themselves from possible enemy detection. These soldiers move with a terrifying sense of fluidity within the natural biomass of their biome; they are fully trained and prepared to time their footsteps with the natural rustle of the forest just to make sure none of their movements are detected in the slightest, simply attempting to surround possible threats before ever giving the opponent a chance to react.

Within the development of defense-based tactics, the members of the military forces of the Hiend tribal zu'aan operate in a form that complies with their extremely non-combative doctrine. There are divisions fully dedicated to the technique of utilizing webs and their vibratory characteristics for their advantage when the Tanshyar Shadowy Forest turns into a battlefield; this is done within really basic yet still extremely well-thought-out systems of cobwebs that serve not only as traps by themselves by sticking some enemies in place, but also allow for the establishment of what can be fairly compared to tripwires.

Not only via the usage of webs is this technique done; oftentimes, the Hiend also utilize specific fungi along the forest floor that make specific fluffy noises along with the quiet release of pheromones that allow for the well-trained Hiend to be able to identify the position of enemies and monitor their direction and speed from miles away. This allows for the tribe members to "trigger" the forest and initiate a series of region-specific actions such as the collapse of hollowed-out trees or the release of heavy clouds of spores.

Overall, the fighting style of the Hiend tribal zu'aan, if you can even call it one, focuses more on the immobilization of the enemy and their monitoring, something that the tribe is lucky to have the chance to do considering how much the Tanshyar Shadowy Forest is basically an area off the map that no kin'toni go to looking for conquest.

Religion

The religious development within the Hiend tribal zu'aan is deeply important for the shaping of their entire society, a statement which is presented by the fact that their religion is one of the key factors for shaping where they are currently, many of their cultural practices, and it has also historically represented years of oppression that they had to face; this is all done due to how unique and eerie their religious beliefs tend to be, since they are deeply introspective and very active within their rituals.

Allowing for a faith that treats things such as darkness not as a lack of light within the concept of physics, but in its absence, a holy and heavy blanket, a protective presence that allows oneself to be distracted from the physical world as a whole. To the members of the Hiend tribal zu'aan, the Sun is seen as nothing more than a screamer, a screamer that works within manners of deception; it exists with the justification of distracting zu'aan and forcing their eyes to focus on the lies presented by the surface level of metaphysical existence.

Denying the Sun, the alternative the Hiend tribal zu'aan seek to worship is a primordial state of absolute darkness and emptiness; a notion where absolute silence reigns, something that, according to them, existed before the universe was polluted by light and its ideals and consequences. This leads to a religion which establishes their objective to be an attempt to return to this previous state, something that is given material possibility within the Tanshyar Shadowy Forest.

Which is regarded within the religious beliefs as a sacred womb where not only the noise and the light of the world are muffled, but where the believers will finally have their souls listen to the silent vibrations of the universe as they are birthed once more. This materialization is done via a significant spiritual milestone that is imposed onto every member of the Hiend tribal zu'aan, which is a rite given to the notion of eversion; something done by them "realizing" that their eyes are not only useless but also extremely problematic within their role as a fair member of their society.

This all leads to a symbolic decision that often progresses into a literal abandonment of vision. This ritual is done upon a zu'aan's entrance into adulthood, when a member is placed within a lightless cavern for forty days and is forced to go through a process of reverting back on their physical senses; they are given nothing more than food and water every 8 hours, something done as a way to push out their hearing and touch until they can feel the room itself without utilizing any of the six senses.

The finishing touch of this ritual happens when they come out; if a member does it "correctly," they are expected to fully choose to keep their eyes closed as they come out, transcending past the deception of light, and if they fail to do so, their punishment scales from blindfolds to having their eyes plucked out by force.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

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