Kha'orm Kin'toni Clan

History

The Kha'orm Kin'toni Clan was founded in 4E 152. They are descendants of bunker-dwelling survivors of the nuclear fires. The Zatarrina city state had burned the area to a wasteland in an attempt to cleanse the kin'toni. Most kin'toni died, but some in bunkers did not. These kin'toni tried to rebuild their lives using the zu'aan technology left over from the fall.

In 4E 152, a charismatic pair of kin'toni called Tira and Mira united those scattered remnants. Tira and Mira were a pair of strange, mysterious, and unable to be separated twins. They appeared from the North. They gained leadership via their charms and the promise of a shared destiny. Slowly, the lost kin'toni were united. The twins' beauty was both haunting and unsettling.

"Nobody knows where Tira and Mira come from. The two graceful, in sync kin'toni speak and move as two halves of one. I saw them singing nonsense songs and playing a game together. Tira and Mira move as mirrors, their movements flowing like water. When I asked them where they came from; they said: "We have always been one. Ever since we remember. There was never two, only two halves of one."

- Ja'varael, 'On the Twins: Tira and Mira of the Kha'orm Kin'toni Clan' , 4E 154

The clan faced a new problem two years after the Twins appeared. The clan relied on crumbling technology. It could not be fixed due to a lack of parts, maintenance, and fuel. Over the years, the clan's technology deteriorated to Iron Age levels. Even with this lack of technology, the clan endured. Using iron tools, they started digging tunnels and building an underground Empire from their bunkers.

The bunker and tunnel networks at first were dug out of mud. Later parts were deeper and carved from stone. Tira and Mira ordered a large hall to be carved in their name. The hall took many years to build. It was hard work as the tools were primitive tools. No one understood why Tira and Mira wanted such a grand construction and luxuries such as the silks they wore.

Some of the clan's members also started to die of radiation sickness. Those who did not die adapted to the irradiated region. The clan replaced their losses by recruiting from nearby groups. The strong survived and the weak died. Over the years, the clan expanded to eight hundred people. The Twins had their eyes on the lands of nearby clans and plotted how to try and take over.

"I saw the Twins in their cavern hall one day. Their hair was the red of sunset, and their skin was the white of fresh snow. They heard me come and looked up at me with coal-black eyes. With voices like bell chiming they asked me "Tira wants to know what you are doing here. Mira thinks you should leave." Together they asked me "What are you doing here?". I asked them about their plans of conquest."

- Ja'varael, 'On the Twins: Tira and Mira of the Kha'orm Kin'toni Clan' , 4E 154

In the Shattering, the clan tried and failed to take over the nearby Zae'ik Forest region. The local clan used their greater strength and numbers to their advantage. The Kha'orm was a small and frail clan that struggled with violent conflict. Their region was shunned and the local bands were few in size and number. The clan managed to drive away the local packs and bands of the outlying wasteland.

Many joined due to the charms of Tira and Mira promising a safer and more stable clan. Often, packs were ambushed when they went out to hunt. To deal with packs, the clan used their greater numbers and killed if they did not join. The main band that the clan drove away was the Xerous. The Xerous camped in a small cave hidden by bush. To deal with the band, the Kha'orm poured boiling water to flood the cave.

After the Shattering, the clan had problems with a sickness called the “Lalii-Hailika,” or "the Spotted Sickness". It was known for causing large, spot-like lesions that wept and became infected. The clan, as isolated as they were, had not managed to develop the immunity that many local clans had. This sickness, along with their losses in the Shattering ravaged the clan. The three hundred or so strongest clan members survived both the Shattering and the Spotted Sickness.

"I asked the Twins how they did not die of the Lalii-Hailika and they just laughed and went back to playing hop-stones and singing their nonsense songs. In a way, they are kind of childish, but they are cunning leaders. I did manage to record their songs and some of it appears insightful. Maybe I should ask more about their origins next time, as their origin is very mysterious."

- Ja'varael, 'On the Twins: Tira and Mira of the Kha'orm Kin'toni Clan', 4E 154

As of 4E 500, the clan worried about the rumors of the ice sheets from the North and South. They trust Tira and Mira to lead them through the new, dark times. The cold was slowly affecting the Wasteland. Winters grew longer and summers grew shorter. The climate slowly became wetter from more rainfall. The local animals moved on to new regions south of the Wasteland. The Wasteland's lifeforms that moved in were adapted to a colder, wetter climate

"The Twins do not seem worried about the incoming cold. In fact, they are not cold in their sheer, skimpy silk finery and gems. They just flick their long hair through their pointed ears. I asked about the incoming cold and they just laughed in their bell like voices. Tira said "Tira thinks you are being silly." Mira added "Maybe you should not bother us about such silly things."

- Ja'varael, 'On the Twins: Tira and Mira of the Kha'orm Kin'toni Clan' , 4E 154

Psychology

Kha'orm kin'toni has a unique but temperamental personality. Most of these kin'toni avoid contact with kin'toni of other clans because they are social recluses who are plagued with radiation poisoning; however, they do interact with each other and sometimes go out on hunting trips to hunt for freshly deceased meant and sometimes not so freshly deceased meat before going their separate ways later on down the road. The Kha'orm kin'toni clan is very intolerant towards strangers from other clans. This means they have no allies from other clans as they kill them on sight.

Kha'orm kin'toni is also known for their distinct eating addiction to wood, for when they gather up enough small pieces of lumber in the nearby forests on the outskirts of their region they will often put their lumber. In a pile and invite other fellow Kha'ormans to join together for a feast of the wood. Where they chew the wood up with their extremely sharp teeth and digest it in their bodies. This ability to digest wood is unique to the clan. The reason they eat wood is that they have a disorder called Pica. This is characterized by an appetite for largely non-nutritive substances.

They have Xylophagia (consumption of wood) in particular. When this clan of kin'toni operates, they operate on an instinctive basis, meaning that they act directly on basic instinct and next to nothing else. Sometimes when they go out to hunt they will hunt for other things other than freshly killed or diseased meat, such as plants or things of that nature. They are unusual as they eat quite a lot of planet matter, compared to many other clans. However, since they only operate at night, it is very hard for them to see things up close as they can see things better when they are far away.

Another intriguing fact about their behaviour is that their main language, Zatarr, consists of a complex series of animal-rescue sounds that would otherwise resemble similar characteristics to the language of a dog or a parrot. However, their secret language, Khulirian, is a reversed version of their main language as it contains a complex string of reversed chirps, screams, whimpers, giggles, cackles, and other forms of verbal emotion. Due to their lack of content with other clans, they are unable or unwilling to speak in other clans' languages, other clans do not know the Kha'orm clan's languages.

Biology

The Kha'orm are adapted to the hot, radioactive, barren Swudra Radioactive Wasteland. They are short, stocky, and incredibly dense of build.. Being very heavy and dense, they cannot climb anything but solid surfaces. Under their dull yellow skin, is thick, calcified bone plates to act as a form of biological armor. The skin itself is heavily sclerotized and leathery, containing embedded metallic compounds for radiation shielding. This skin is rigid and prone to tearing during high-impact movement. Their hair is sparse and wire-like, adapted to be highly reflective to protect from heat.

Under the skin, is a thin layer of fat that contains sequestered metabolic waste products to act as an secondary radiation absorber. If it is breached, it can lead to temporary, severe systemic sickness as the toxins are released into the blood stream. This hair offers no protection from the cold. The eyes are large, with an secondary, radiation-filtering nictitating membrane. The nose has specialized nasal membranes that for filtering out particulate matter from the air. The teeth are reinforced with high concentrations of heavy metals.

This makes their teeth extremely durable but also brittle under sudden, sharp impacts. Their claws are thick, keratinous and shovel-like claws. These claws are adapted for digging, making the delicate manipulation of tools difficult. Their nternal organs are compartmentalized using protective connective flesh as to lower the effect of localized damage or radiation poisoning. This makes their feeding process less efficient than other Clans. The reason behind this is that the compartmentalization slows down the rapid systemic distribution of absorbed nutrients.

They have very efficient, multi-stage kidney and hepatic systems to filter, process and excrete heavy metals and radioactive isotopes via urine and feces. This needs a higher intake or water, both or both as to systemic dehydration. Their blood vessels have s additional sphincters and thickening as to survive pressure of radiation-induced cell swelling. They have large basal stem cell reservoirs, for producing damage-resistant, heavily-mineralized tissue. The downside of this is very dense, heavy bones that stop them swimming or climbing.

Their bodies have increased production of internal cellular repair enzymes as to rapidly fix minor DNA damage caused by low-level radiation exposure. Their muscles contain specialized protein chains that do not denature under extreme heat. This is part of their adaptions to have exceptional resistance to thermal damage. They have cellular mechanisms that can absorb and metabolize low levels of environmental ionizing radiation for cellular repair. The structures of the mitochondria are altered to thrive in high-temperature environments.

This allows them to be resistant to the heat of the wasteland. The downside of this is requiring constant, low-level environmental heat. Without this heat, they have sluggishness, muscle stiffness and then hypothermia.

Culture

This clan is made up of groups of small groups who come together in a single location for protection and convenience. When they group themselves, they will often stand on guard watching for any intruders that might dare come their way. Any intruders that try to come their way, however, might find themselves fighting a war against radiation and other related toxins, and that in itself is an uphill battle. Just ask the 5,000 Kha'ormans left in existence. When the Kha'ormans take shelter underground. They will usually resort to prayer to gain strength.

But just like their ancestors before them, they do this in groups in the same way that they come together to protect each other. The prayers that they say to themselves are performed and led by their religious leader, the Xalu, and, as suggested by kin'toni'ati historians, they somehow return to their location above the bunkers ready to face yet again the bombardment of radiation that surrounds them. Most of the things that the Kha'ormans do are often done in a group or a series of groups. With that said, during the night they will look for something to sink their fangs into, and it is usually either an animal.

That is approximately their size or an animal that is much bigger than them and heals very quickly. When they find something to draw blood from, they will normally sink their fangs in a vein on the large animal's leg. After a few moments, they let go of the large animal and wander off into the night to search for trees in the forest while the large animal's bite marks heal quickly, albeit not as quickly as other large animals. Just before dawn comes, they will dig a hole in the ground that leads to the underground and mark their territory.

Often after digging the hole and crawling into their bunker below they find enough dirt to cover the hole up so that it doesn't cause the radiation from on the ground to leak into the underground. As much as it would without covering the hole up. This way they prevent themselves from further exposure to the radiation and prevent other clans from being exposed to the radiation. This does not work will the time. kin'toni in this clan normally only wear rags in dull blues and greys and they make jewellery out of what bits of metals and plastics they find around as scrap.

Government

This clan does not have a major governmental structure as all of the kin'toni in this clan live relatively short lifespans due to the amount of radiation they are exposed to during the night; however, if it did (and, for some reason, it does), it would be governed by a sole leader, who is often referred to as the Aqla. The Aqla is the oldest kin'toni in the Kha'orm clan and is responsible for organizing the clan's major outings, as well as how they can dig their way into the underground and patch up the holes from where they came in. The Aqla is also responsible for arranging hunts where they look for blood.

And to look for sap to drink, as well as what animals they are to get blood from. If the oldest kin'toni in this clan, or the Aqla, dies as a result of certain circumstances (unknown or otherwise), then the kin'toni who has lived the longest lifespan will replace the dying Aqla and must fulfil all of the previous leader's responsibilities, including the organizing of hunts, major outings, and how they manage to dig their way into the underground. The new Aqla that rules over this clan must decide a replacement for himself, however, if he, too, should die of certain circumstances.

It is important because this will keep the clan with a leader and organized. Considering how important the position of Aqla is to the kin'toni in this clan there are often elections held to determine who will serve as the Aqla's assistant or the Uqua. and who will be elected to serve as the clan's spiritual guide or Wolxo. Each position is critical in keeping order and decorum in this clan as they often provide the clan with a bit of safety and protection. Without an Uqua or a Wolxo to aid the Aqla during his outing and trips during the night, there is no protection, nor is there a guarantee.

That they will make it through the night in one piece without dying. There is also a way to ensure safety and security in this clan, although most of the kin'toni in this clan will not find it anytime soon or even ever. The key is to travel in groups of thirty to forty; this way, the chances of survival are great and the chances of death are slim to none. When Kha'ormans travel in packs of thirty to forty they provide themselves with all kinds of unique opportunities to bond with each other as well as with the rest of their clan. Through teamwork, speed and agility.

Kha'ormans can find large beasts known as Zvaluns and get blood from them.

Military

This clan is not necessarily known for its military. This reason for this being the case is because this particular clan does not have an organized military, but, rather, a zhumu, or small armada. Everyone that is a member of this clan takes part in this zhumu and often serves as part of the zhumu. And although it has been proven that not all of the kin'toni in this clan are very strong, it has also been proven by kin'toni of many clans, that their dedication to togetherness, unity, and teamwork holds the key to their long-term survival. Nonetheless, most of the kin'toni have a unique wit about them.

This enables them to coexist with one another in a way that not many clans can manage. This clan's zhumu is led by one or even both of the Aqla's aids, although in some cases the entire zhumu splits into several different groups of at least three or four hundred, with each group being led by the eldest kin'toni of the clan. As they make their nightly trips to the forests with their spiritual leader, or Xalu, at the side, they will go different paths, sometimes as many as ten or eleven and they all somehow find a way to meet each other right back where they began their hunt before the coming of the dawn.

Even so, a kin'toni in this clan needs to learn pure survival skills and street sense, for possessing such senses can cause them to live potentially longer lifespans than usual. Given this, for a kin'toni to survive in this clan they have to be somewhat immune to the radiation to a degree, although eventually, it will, in due time, kill them; furthermore, they must also learn how to fend for themselves, which all of the Kha'ormans consider a part of their code of honour. Unlike other militias from other kin'toni'atic clans, there are no demotions or promotions in this clan.

But, rather, punishments and rewards. For instance, if a Kha'orman can find and transform a zu'aan into 'one of them,' then the Kha'orman who found and transformed that zu'aan gets to spend the rest of the day underground; however, if a Kha'orman finds a zu'aan but lets it get away from its grasp, then the Kha'orman who couldn't successfully transform the zu'aan in question will have to spend the night surrounded by radiation exposure. Some kin'toni think of these things as rather extreme and harsh, but the Kha'orm clan is used to this, especially since their ancestors had to go through this as well.

Religion

This clan does believe in worshipping one being, but the being in which they worship also happens to be a sort of mythical figure from ancient kin'toni'ati history known as a Quox. The Quox is a large animal with duck wings, horns on its forehead, and an ox-like appearance with a beak on its face, and it is generally considered the living, breathing epitome of what the Kha'orm clan represents. To believe in this creature of ancient kin'toni'ati mythology one would have to sacrifice a small animal known as a bilza after praying to their religious Quox-like god for renewed strength and stability.

Since the worshipping of the Quox is not practised in a widespread manner, kin'toni in this clan generally worship it while underground — and, rarely (but in some cases), on the ground. There is one place in the Uainiae region that they converge and meet together to worship this being one time every two months, however; it is a place known as the Iron House of Immunity (in Khulirian: Imirou), where there are no windows where the radiation can slip past any cracks in it and enter the inside. Very few, only in the Kha'orm Clan, know where it is. Some from other clans are trying to find it.

It's also been suggested by some kin'toni that this Imirou was made completely out of steel and concrete and will supposedly stand the test of time for eras to come. As kin'toni converge in this Imirou and meet once every two months they also take part in a religious song and dance ritual that is often performed and led by the Wolxo, or the spiritual guide of his clan, and the Xalu, or spiritual leader. It involves the use of house percussion, in this case, sometimes, by banging on walls that can supposedly never cave in or collapse and stomping on a floor that can supposedly never crack or fall through.

Once this ritual is done, the Aqla will open a service with an ancient prayer which is repeated word for word by the Xalu and the Wolxa. After this will come a dramatic retelling of how the Quox dominated most of Terael in the early days of kin'toni'ati existence. Another thing that is interesting about the Kha'orm clan's religious influences is that although it resembles traits of Vyrism, a somewhat common and well-known kin'toni'ati religion practised by other kin'toni'ati clans, Vyrism is one of few common religions. The Kha'orm kin'toni Clan religion is also completely based on tales of folklore and mythology.

Given this bit of information, it seems fitting that the Kha'orman choice of religion doesn't have a legitimate name, although many kin'toni'ati priests spanning many clans suggest that this religion be known as Quoxism, which also happens to be named after the mythological creature of a similar name.

Miscellany

The Kha'ormans' ancestors from before the Shattering all those thousands of years ago were much more muscular and heavier than their present counterparts; however, it was also generally assumed and is still believed that the Kha'ormans' ancestors were of the same height and that particular height similarity trait is generally prevalent throughout the history and chronology of this clan. Another key difference between modern Kha'ormans and their pre-apocalyptic ancestors is a distinctive birthmark on one's left leg, which was originally visible on one's left knee, after the Shattering.

This has evolved to appear on one's left tunqua, which is just above the heel of a kin'toni's leg. Another contributory fact about the Kha'orm clan that is commonly overlooked or misinterpreted is that a Kha'orm clan kin'toni is supposedly immune to the radiation when in their youth, and — despite claims to the contrary by various kin'toni — have a 1 in 5 chance of being immune to a host of other known and unknown toxins such as sulfur and a kin'toni'ati gas known as zurzogu, a toxin that resembles fog but appears to look more like red mist. Given this, it has become very apparent that although these Kha'ormans have a short lifespan.

Their lifespans come to an end when their bodies can no longer repel the radiation, which is normally at around a Kha'orman's 7,000th to 7,500th year of existence. In the Uainiae religion where the Kha'orm clan resides, the temperature stays at 68 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the day and into the night — except for the late hours of the night leading up to the break of dawn, where the temperature drops a couple of degrees before returning to its normal temperature; this, as a general result, makes this region somewhat like a thermostat to some extent.

The reason for the temperature dropping several degrees briefly in the hours leading up to the break of dawn is unknown. But some kin'toni suggest that the zurzogu toxin that looks like some kind of red fog could have something to do with it; unfortunately, however, one of few clans whose internal organs can combat the zurzogu toxin appears to be the Kha'orm clan. But the most intriguing part about such a clan whose lifespan is much shorter than that of the average kin'toni is not the fact that Kha'ormans cannot reproduce on their own because of their sterility.

Nor is it the fact that most of the kin'toni that enter the Kha'orm clan's home region of Uainiae mysteriously disappear and never come back. The most intriguing and mysterious part about the Kha'orm clan is that their three-horned faces. Two of which appear on each side of their heads and one of which appears in the centre of their forehead are surprisingly symmetrical to each other in every way. kin'toni conclude that this is a hereditary trait that has remained consistent throughout the chronology of the Kha'orm clan.

Nearby Groups

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Kha'orm Kin'toni Clan

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