Mel'Fala Kin'toni Clan

History

The Mel’Fala kin’toni clan is an ancient clan that has existed since around the time of the first kin’toni outbreak. The clan was founded by a nihilist named Amenon. Amenon had already lost faith in the zu’aan some time before he was turned into a kin’toni by the virus. He had no loyalties or ties to anyone or anything. He believed in nothing but the truth and was a great philosopher of his time, if perhaps a bit pessimistic. He set about turning zu’aan into his followers, each one he turned would take on his beliefs and pass them onto any zu’aan that they turned.

After many years, the clan’s numbers had risen steadily, and they numbered in the many hundreds. All of them were taught to have no loyalties and thus they stuck together not out of loyalty but because they all shared similar beliefs about the world around them. The chaos and bloodshed that occurred after the original outbreak had proven Amenon’s point that humanity was beyond saving. The clan was now very large and filled with people who either adopted their ways or already agreed the zu’aan deserved the punishment they were getting. Since the clan now had many members to house and feed Amenon decided that they needed a place to settle down.

Garsul Dead Forest was chosen because of its ugliness. The region was not an attractive place for any other clans to settle and was not home to many zu’aan. Garsul was mostly covered in dead or dying trees that managed to continue to exist despite their state. The landscape was dark and mostly lifeless. The air in the region was not kind on kin’toni lungs and many of the clan members were lost to lung diseases. Those who survived began to adapt to their new surroundings. The Mel’fala kin’toni evolved to have unique lungs that could process the foul air in their home region.

They quickly rooted out all of the zu’aan in the region and either ate or turned them. The clan relied on nearby regions for their supply of food and new clan members. Overtime the clan’s customs began to change. Their nihilist beliefs remained mostly the same, although Amenon died many years before significant cultural change occurred in the clan. The dead forest around them did influence them somewhat as well. Eventually the clan adopted death as their messiah. They believed already that the zu'aan were doomed, a belief that could easily be coupled with the idea that death was their saviour.

The clan began to dress in dark colours and hunted zu’aan and kin’toni alike from nearby regions in order to sacrifice them to their representation of death itself. They erected a special altar for this purpose. After a sacrifice, the clan would feast on the blood of the victim. The clan became feared by other clans and zu’aan alike due to their seemingly insane nature and dark appearance. Their reputation spread throughout central Taerel, but their numbers were too large for any army to attempt to attack.

Psychology

Biology

The Mel’fala kin’toni clan are dark-skinned and have deep, grey eyes. Their skin and eyes have become this way from living for long periods of time in region of Garsul Dead Forest. This region is very sunny and has little natural cover from it due to all the trees being dead. The exposure to the sun has caused the clan to slowly become more and more dark-skinned over time. The clan members grey eyes mimic their darker beliefs but also represent their lack of colour in all aspects of their lives. They live in a colourless region and always wear black clothing.

Their belief in death as their saviour means their lives, to them, have little meaning. Mel’fala kin’toni are not very tall but some of them are tall because they were tall as zu’aan. Generally, their hunched over lifestyle will cause them to become slightly hunched in the spine. This makes the mostly small clan members appear even smaller. Mel’fala kin’toni do not put on muscle very well. They are mostly skinny due to their biology and also due to them usually having to live on little food. There are not many animals in Garsul Dead Forest and even less zu’aan.

This means that the Mel’fala kin’toni must go on little food for long lengths of time. They have adapted to be able to survive on minimal food and some of the older clan members can survive for weeks without feeding. Newer members will take some time to adapt to the lifestyle and they are given most of the food the clan has or can gather from nearby regions. Their slow metabolism is one of the reasons that they cannot grow muscle and remain very skinny, sometimes unhealthily so. They do not have enough protein in their diets to sustain large growth which is why many of them are also short.

Mel’fala kin’toni do not have a very long lifespan due to the harsh conditions of their homeland as well as many of their customs. This generally doesn’t bother them because death is a good thing in their culture. An average Mel’fala kin’toni can live up to fifty years but will most likely die after around thirty. Disease is another dangerous killer for the Mel’fala kin’toni, as their bodies are not very physically strong against bacteria and viruses. Often the clan does little to stop the spread of these diseases because of their belief in death.

Disease has wiped out many of the clan members in the past. Sometimes the clan leader does intervene and try to separate out the infected members. Too many cannot die at once or the clan will lose its main strength which is its massive numbers. If too many are lost to disease and starvation, then the clan may become vulnerable to invasion from other clans if they found out. Mel’fala kin’toni naturally grow a lot of dark facial hair around their mouths. Often these can be grown out to cover each kin’toni’s entire mouth to help prevent aerial transmission.

Culture

The Mel’fala kin’toni clan is based around the idea the zu'aan are doomed. They believe that happiness is a futile illusion that others create to bring some small meaning into their lives. They have no real loyalties to anyone, even their leader. They only believe in death as their messiah and this is what keeps them together. It is their belief that when the die they will be set free from their mortal bindings. They will find meaning and the truth of the world after dying. This means that the Mel’fala kin’toni are not afraid of dying but actually openly embrace it.

They also worship their image of death which is represented by a statue of a scythe wielding man in a cloak. The clan is highly religious and are extremely hostile against anyone who does not share their beliefs. Sadly, just about everyone else on the continent does not share their beliefs. This leads to bad relationships with nearby clans and zu’aan alike. The clan’s massive population is one thing that keeps them from being attacked in force. The clan often go on hunts, generally only attacking weak targets. The Mel’fala are not great fighters so they must pick their targets carefully.

Any zu’aan they capture will be turned and brought into the clan or brought to be sacrificed. They need a steady supply of these new members due to their short life expectancy and losses to skirmishes with other clans. Any kin’toni who are captured will be brought before the death altar and sacrificed to death. This causes further grief with other kin’toni clans because they obviously are against their members being kidnapped and executed for what in their eyes is pointless. They believe that they must sacrifice these kin’toni so that they can have the truth revealed to them.

The zu’aan that are sacrificed have their blood drained from their dead bodies to be consumed by the clan. This helps keep death satisfied as well as feeding the clan. Any kin’toni who are sacrificed are simply thrown into the local river and left to float away. The clan believes that they have been freed from their mortal bodies restraints and they no longer have use for their old body. This means that it can be thrown away from their point of view. The clan celebrate the death of their own members. When one of their own dies from old age, disease or whatever cause, the whole clan celebrates for one night. ]

They consume any blood they have stored up and do dances and rituals in remembrance of the fallen. The fallen member is strung up on the altar whilst the crowds dance around them. In the morning, the clan leader is responsible for taking their body down to the river and releasing it. The clan members are taught that dying is a natural part of life and should be celebrated as a great thing. When many members die at once the clan holds larger, mass celebrations in their name.

Government

The Mel’fala kin’toni clan government is a form of religious dictatorship. The clan has a leader who was chosen to lead by the leader before him/her. This leader is responsible for the religious practices of the clan. The most important part of the job is making sure that death is given the required sacrifices. The leader is also responsible for the ceremonies that take place after the death of a clan member. The ceremonies cannot occur without the members bodies being present, so the leader is also responsible for retrieving the bodies if they died elsewhere or were killed in battle.

Sometimes this can be a difficult task if they were killed in enemy territory as some clans burn the dead or dispose of the bodies in some other way. If a clan leader does not perform their duties correctly then they are liable to be replaced. The leader will choose someone to take over from them. They do not do this begrudgingly but willingly, as they only want to serve death faithfully so they can be enlightened to the meaning of the universe. The clan itself has no loyalty to the so-called leader, as they don’t really have loyalty to anyone.

The leader does not issue instructions or orders, they merely do their job. The leaders are also responsible for keeping the clan safe from disease. Sometimes letting a few members die can be a good thing but the leader needs to consider if too many will die. The same thing applies to war, if too many will die then the leader will advise against it. The clan must have enough members living to preserve their beliefs otherwise they will die out. They must wait their turn for death and serve him in life as best they can in order to earn their place by his side.

When the clan needs to make a key decision, they will go to the leader and ask for his advice on the matter. This is most commonly about disease and warfare, but it can really be anything. The leader will give his advice and usually the clan will obey. The leader cannot come forward to the clan with a proposal, his/her advice is only called upon in times of need by the clan, the leader does not choose when. The leader’s advice is meant to be in the best interests of death. The leader is also the one who plans out the raids and hunts in order to find new food and sacrifices.

The leader must be an organised and wise kin’toni to do their job properly. The former leaders make sure to identify potential successors before they themselves die. This way the clan is able to make sure they always have a leader to give advice and run the ceremonies. If a leader believes they are not fit for the position or are doing a poor job they can chose to abdicate the position to another of choosing. This is usually done selflessly for the betterment of the clan.

Military

The Mel’fala kin’toni clan’s military is quite large in number. The military has no individual commander and prefer to fight freely. The clan leader is always present in any attacks or battles the military partakes in. Service in the military is compulsory for at least ten years for all new Mel’fala members. This helps keep their army size very large and imposing to scare off other clans. The military is armed mostly with primitive weapons or weapons that they have stolen in hunts and raids. They seldom wear armour, preferring to wear their black robes instead.

The army numbers in the dozens usually but has been known to go below 3 dozen during tough times. They never march in massive force unless it is to defend their homeland. They attack in small groups which are decided by the clan leader. The clan leader is responsible for picking the members to partake in raids and also partaking in them themselves. The soldiers are not loyal to the leader but will heed his advice and are willing to accept that he is doing his best to serve death and they should follow his instructions when it comes to raids. The leader will choose newer or weaker members to conduct raids on easier targets.

This will help to integrate new soldiers into the clan. The leader may also choose to have stronger and more experienced members partake in more difficult raids. The leader is also responsible for how many soldiers will come on each raid. There can only be one raid at a time however, as per the Mel’fala culture the leader must be on every raid. Since he can only be in one place at any given time there can only be one raid at a time. The clan attacks villages and small towns in order to get blood, weapons and sacrifices for their gods. The raids are also the clan’s main source of new members.

The Mel’fala clan are not especially good warriors but they have learnt to use their numbers wisely to help them win battles. Constant raids on nearby areas have kept the clan’s army fairly large. This dissuades any other perhaps stronger clans from attacking them in their home. The soldiers in the army are a great team. Having been brainwashed upon being turned the members all feel as though they are part of something greater than themselves. They may be weak individuals but together, working as a cohesive unit they can defeat opponents greater than themselves.

The army is mainly outfitted with stolen swords and spears. They have some lesser items crafted that they crafted themselves, but generally these go no larger than crude knives. They make advantage of any weapons they can take. The clan is always low on weapons that can be used as many age and wear away. Weapons for the army is one of the main priorities that must be considered by the clan leader when conducting raids. If a full scare war was to occur it is likely that the Mel’fala would be underequipped.

Religion

The Mel’fala kin’toni clan’s religion is based around the worship of death itself as an entity. They believe that death is a physical thing, a being perhaps, and that meeting him will grant them freedom and access to what the clan calls, ‘the truth’. Dying in the Mel’fala kin’toni clan is not considered as a bad thing. Upon death one is freed from their mortal confinements and can live on in freedom. The clan’s original beliefs came from their founder who had lost faith in zu’aan after their failures during the kin’toni outbreak. This kin’toni believed that life was pointless and had no real meaning.

Happiness and love were things that people created in order to bring meaning to their insignificant lives. It was this belief that spawned the clan’s religious beliefs. ‘The truth’ speaks about the true meaning of life and death. The clan believes that upon meeting death they will learn the truth about all existence and finally they shall find actual meaning in this world or the next. The clan makes routine sacrifices to death as they believe that he requires souls in order to survive. These sacrifices are mostly captured kin’toni or zu’aan from raids that the clan has conducted.

Members of the clan who have betrayed or questioned the beliefs are also sacrificed as traitors. One of the clan’s highest priorities is to keep a steady line of healthy sacrifices going to death. They must keep the sacrifices healthy before it is their time. Kin’toni or zu’aan who are soon to be sacrificed are well fed and watered and live comfortably for their final days or hours. The Mel’fala want their sacrifices to be strong and healthy as to better please death.

The Mel’fala clan have a dedicated altar located in the centre of their main stronghold within Garsul Dead Forest. This altar is a statue of what the clan believes is the physical representation of death. This consists of a man wearing a cloak and holding a long scythe. In other words, a crude imitation of the grim reaper. This altar is the sacred site for the Mel’fala clan. Here they celebrate the deaths of the clan members. As dying is considered to be a great thing, the clan celebrates each death with mass feasting and festivities.

These celebrations are held by the clan leader in front of the altar. The altar is also where the sacrifices take place. If the sacrifice is a zu’aan the clan will drink their blood as it runs down specially designed tunnels. The clan leader is considered to be very holy amongst the clan members. He was chosen by those who had come before to lead them to the truth and the enlightenment that comes with it. The leader is the head of religious affairs inside the clan. He/she must host all the death celebrations as well as perform all the sacrifices.

The leader is held responsible should death be displeased. Often the leader will step down willingly, but sometimes they have been known to sacrifice themselves after large failures.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

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Mel'Fala Kin'toni Clan

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