Naynard Kin'toni Clan

History

The Naynard-clan is one of the largest clans in the entirety of Taerel, its population was always very high and the numbers have been steadily increasing for decades by infecting more and more zu'aan. In he second Era, around the year 4E 283, they entered the Solak overgrown plains, an enormous patch of land that was controlled by several zu'aan tribes. Some these tribes, simply by watching the Naynard clan entering the region, decided to gather all their valuables and to flee, given that the odds of winning a battle against this large clan were slim, at best.

However, not every tribe in the plains was willing to give up its home without a fight, many had nowhere else to go and had lived there for generations. The battles that ensued were legendary and are still told by small children, to each other, around large bonfires and food. By the end, the zu'aan that had fought were almost all dead and it was difficult to walk without stepping on an arm, leg or skull; and although many of the Naynard were dead as well, more than enough were still lived after all the bloodshed. After they had won the battles, this clan took over the Solak Overgrown Plains in its entirety.

Which was not an easy task due to its massive size. Even the impressive numbers of the Naynard could not be tasked with looking after the entire territory, and because this is something they knew very well, the construction of a wall started. The now famous “Chaia wall” extends itself for several kilometers and although it doesn’t surpass four meters in height, it is made from hundreds of spikes that make jumping over it considerably difficult. Along the wall, there are a large number of outposts in which several members of the Naynard-clan are stationed to protect the region.

This wall and the clan have turned the overgrown plains into a control point, many people, who bravely try to cross the plains, end up being stopped by the wall. When they reach the wall, they need to walk alongside it until the gate can be easily seen. It is here, at the gate, that the Naynard consider letting you pass or not. There are two men or women at the gate that are called the “Kontaela” and it is their job to inspect the person and assess if they are eligible to pass to the other side of the overgrown plains. This does not always happen peacefully and the proof of that are the bodies laying next to the gate.

That warn newcomers not to resort to physical violence. The Naynard have plans to continue building a wall so that every single meter of the region is protected, this would make them incredibly powerful because they could directly control the influx of people to the east. However, this goal is still far too difficult to attain, even if they had the materials for such an operation, the manpower would be spread too thin and several points of entrance would barely be guarded.

Biology

kin'toni that belonged to the Naynard clan were relatively small, their skin had a translucent tone before they moved to the Solak Overgrown plains and their light yellow irises had white sclerae and crescent pupils. Now, the average Naynard-clan member is around two and a half meters tall, some smallest being around two meters and the tallest ones scratch the three-meter line. This is not only a blessing but also a curse, it is rare for the body to keep up with a lot of physical activity, running, for example, is almost impossible due to their size. They trip and risk falling or even breaking bones if their legs move faster than it is possibl.

However, their long strides partially compensate for this slight handicap. A Naynards body also decays faster than that of an average zu'aan or kin'toni, most Naynards go beyond the age of fifty-five or sixty, afterwards their bones start breaking spontaneously and the back can no longer support the weight of the torso and the head. Furthermore, some injuries are usually fatal for a Naynard, if in a battle one of the members of this tribe gets stabbed by a knife or pierced by an arrow. He or she can still be healed through medicine and rest. Contrary to this, in the case an arm or a leg is cut off.

The body of the Naynard permanently loses stability and the kin'toni becomes absolutely useless for tasks even new turnees can perform. Because of this, wounds that require amputations or soldiers with limbs unattached are immediately put down with the consent of the clan. Nevertheless, there are some advantages that come with being as long and tall as someone of this clan is. The long legs, despite being horrible for running, are fantastic for jumping, and a Naynard can jump several meters in the air or forward. Climbing cliffs or towers does not pose a difficulty to a kin'toni of this clan.

Additionally, their long arms make it possible for them to throw objects faster and with more force than anyone else. A well-trained Naynard can hit a zu'aan with a rock from one kilometer away. Vision is also one of their assets, presumably because of the place they live in, vision is paramount, one needs to be able to spot a threat or a prey through the tall grass. They need to be able to act upon it in an instant, this is the reason why Naynard can distinguish between almost three thousand shades of color and even possess the vocabulary to name every single one.

The Naynards that are even more gifted than the average clan member, are sent to the wall, where they can spot an incoming zu'aan or kin'toni almost hours before they reach the wall.

Culture

The purpose of the wall is not only protecting members of the clan and controlling who enters and leaves the region, it is also a way of the clan setting itself up as a major trade partner with several faraway regions and people. The Naynard looked at this patch of land and admired its size for the opportunity it provides. Every kin'toni that passes through the wall, needs to leave something behind, be it an item or a piece of knowledge the Naynard did not previously know – even if it is something as simples as the location of a particular tree or of a plant.

If one is able to provide such information, they will be granted safe passage under the protection of the clan. The Naynard are bound by their word and will not break this promise even if their lives depended on it. Particularly curious is the relationship of this clan with the zu'aan, as well as any other member of any other tribe, a zu'aan can be granted passage if they present the Naynard with new knowledge. Furthermore, trade is also done with the zu'aan tribes. These tribes occupy places without kin'toni, for obvious reasons, and because of this they have materials, medicine and several other types of items that the Naynard consider very valuable.

The consequence of this is that the Naynard have amassed knowledge from all the different parts of Taerel and from almost every tribe or clan there is. Interestingly enough, some of the knowledge they have acquired has brought about a passion for gastronomy, the kin'toni of this clan are known for the food they are able to produce. Finally, the Naynard are not an egotistical clan, much of what they know, they apply to help not only themselves but other kin'toni clans. Taking advantage of their numbers, each year a group of Naynards called the “Laufein” roam all of Taerel in the hope of two things, retrieving and spreading knowledge.

The things this clan learns on the wall are passed on to dozens of kin'toni clans all throughout the lands in order for them to have the edge on all the zu'aan. Whom they do not hate, but understand that coexistence is not a viable option for the future. It is the case that many of the Laufein are murdered and robbed of the books and items they are trying to share with the rest of the world, this is why it is considered an enormous sacrifice to be a part of this group. Only adults with intense combat training and a special rhetoric prowess are allowed to venture Taerel.

However, if they return to the overgrown plains, they receive several perks in the clan and are seen as heroes.

Government

The government of the Naynard-clan is made up of the aforementioned Laufein, when they return to the wall, one of the perks that exist is being able to participate in governmental activities. This is presented as an option, but they Laufein are practically forced to take this political route. They are usually forty when they start taking part in political decisions. Which means most of them hold their positions for ten or fifteen years at the most. This government usually is made up of thirty people at a time and is present in every single decision that is made, from what to grow in the land to what types of clothing the workers should produce.

This can be seen as suffocating for many of the clan-members and poses as one of the many problems the Naynard have with their government. Political alliances are one of the most important parts of this clan’s political agenda and one of the areas that more resources are spent on. By allowing several tribes and clans to pass trough the Chaia wall, they end up developing important political relationships with some of these groups. That in turn may allow them to enter their lands, take advantage of their resources or even military.

The Laufein, even before they enter politics, as they are roaming the lands in an attempt to create or reinforce previously established alliances. Nevertheless, the choices made by the Laufein when occupying the role of leader has not always been ideal, according to many of the Naynards. In recent years, as a group of particularly mischievous Laufein nicknamed the “The five lies” entered government, a new taxation system was implemented. It stated that what was received at a Chaia wall, would now me distributed among the politicians first, be it knowledge or another material thing.

Additionally, the members of the clan, even those in the military. Would have to pay a “protection fee”, for getting the protection the Clan paid for. This created an even bigger discrepancy between the Laufein and the rest of the clan members. The judicial system is also something that, although it isn’t that common among kin'toni tribes, the Naynards have created. It used to function to perfection and for years it worked as a tool to propel the clan forward and establish some sort of order.

However, “the five lies” have been changing the system so that the law only applies to clan members who don’t have a status of Laufein. All of these issues have started creating a tear in what was once one of the mot powerful clans in all of Taerel and many have speculated that the Chaia wall will fall soon enough.

Military

The military of Naynard was hundreds of soldiers larger than any other military near the overgrown plains, seeing this army going down a hill would strike fear into even the most well-trained soldiers and many did flee due to this. Now, the military has decreased in size and represents only half of the entire Naynard population. Many were killed and wounded and many others simply decided to focus on trade or agriculture. Once the army did nothing but fight, they roamed Taerel fighting and trying to find a place large enough for the clan to settle down, but now there has not been a fight in decades.

Most of the soldiers aren’t even old enough to remember the wars that led to the conquering of the overgrown plains. The role of the military consists, manly, of guarding the Chaia wall and repairing it as the years go by. Morale has been, due to this inaction, lower than it has ever been and service in the military needed to become mandatory just for the Naynard to have enough people defending the wall. The most exciting project one can be given is recon. Groups of ten to twenty soldiers are sent to investigate if there have been any changes in the areas surrounding the wall.

Sometimes these reconnaissance groups find a wild animal or a group of thieves and fighting ensues. However, this is rare and the fighting is almost always quick to end, which means that almost no satisfaction can be derived from it. The equipment of the Naynard is different from the equipment an army usually possesses, they rely on their shields to protect themselves, given that any type of effective armor would not permit them to move easily due to its weight. Furthermore, because there is a large number of soldiers and each soldier is taller than two meters, armor production is extremely complicated.

The soldiers end up wearing nothing but their normal clothing. In what comes to weapons, they Naynard focus mainly on ranged combat and, therefore, use bows and crossbows. The Liliai is a bow that’s almost two meters tall and can only be used by the most experienced archer, the arrows it shoots are one meter long and made of wood with an iron tip at the end. One arrow from the Liliai can travel for several kilometers if it does not encounter resistance.

Marching against a flurry of these arrows is like having hundreds of spears falling from the sky, few are the warriors that can pass this barrage of arrows. Occupying is also something that the Naynard prefer to do, they see no benefit in murdering an entire town and drinking the blood of the zu'aan nor in enslaving the people of said town. They prefer to occupy a region, learn about it and then integrate that knowledge in in their culture. Slowly, they integrate the region and its people, be it through infecting the zu'aan or bringing in other kin'toni to replenish their forces.

Many of the places they occupy, because they are near the plains, are filled with horses and several types of farm animals, however, horses are essentially useless due to the size of the Naynard, and even if the height wasn’t a problem, the weight would surely be.

Religion

In the olden day, the Clan was known for being fairly indifferent to religious beliefs and practices, some of its members believed in the divine and some even had small temples and shrines outside their homes, however, when they finally settled down in the Solak overgrown plains and their lives suffered a drastic change through this process and then, religion started becoming more natural and grew to become very important to the identity of the clan. The first religious war was in 4E 142, when a neighbor clan whose name is not in the history books attacked Naynard, they wished to purge the land of religious belief and fought the Naynard for several years.

In the end the Naynard won and the exact opposite of what the attacking clan wanted, happened. The connection with religion grew into something more and from this point onwards, the Naynard were tied to religion and sought to protect it in any way they could. The Naynard clan is now home to many different religions that entered its walls through trade, refugees or simply through books. There have been thousands that passed through the Chaia Wall over the years and of those thousands.

Some decided to stay with the Naynard, bringing not only their knowledge but also their costumes with them. Despite many Naynard fearing it would destroy their own culture and identity, through embracing these new ideologies, something very different happened, their views were incredibly expanded. Part of the religious views of the Naynard-clan are monotheistic. Usually, the recently turned zu'aan have prominently monotheistic view that differ wildly in what comes to the God they pray to. Other views are polytheistic, the kin'toni that have developed slightly slower than the rest of Taerel are more likely to have polytheistic views.

And usually assign one god to a particular area. There are several gods of war, gods of the harvest and gods of the sun, for example. Finally, some tribes whose connection with nature is stronger than the average, might see nature as a god in itself and they praise it as if it were a divine being with immense power, given that it controls most of the world. Having all of these different religious views, the Naynard have created a new type of religions that encompasses all of the aforementioned. This new religion states that the divine depends on the interpretation of the kin'toni or zu'aan have of it.

One can see the existence of a single God as a fact and that is correct, but one can also believe in the existence on several Gods and be correct regarding that as well. The same goes for believing in nature as a divine presence. Consequently, the Naynard are a very open clan in what comes to religion and have always had minimal problems in this particular area, so much so that they are a known safe-haven for the religious exiled. Every year, dozens of kin'toni and even some zu'aan ask to be infected. This is just so they can live at peace with their religion without being hunted for believing in a God, several or in something different altogether.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

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Naynard Kin'toni Clan

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