Neerver-orm Kin'toni Clan

History

A group of healers that had been turned into kin'toni after leaving the main crowded cities, roamed Taerel in search of a new home. Although their lives had changed dramatically, they were strangely calm and decided to use their skills in order to heal others that had been victims of this outbreak and of the old zu'aan empire. The focus was on kin'toni, despite there being many zu'aan that had been affected by this outbreak and that did not have any idea regarding what the empire was doing. They healers chose to proceed this way because of the inherent problems that exist when zu'aan meet kin'toni.

They called themselves “Neerver-orm”, which means “the soul in conflict”, the process of becoming a kin'toni is about learning to accept that one will never be what they once were and being able to survive in this new reality. They did not find somewhere to settle down, however, they came across dozens of battlefields, some had just been used, the ground was still wrecked and there were so many bodies that it was difficult to find somewhere one could step in. This was the moment when they finally started actively searching for injured kin'toni to heal.

In was not a process that took a long time, the Neerver-orm found almost hundreds of injured soldiers throughout the first few years. Saving all of them was out of the question, many of the soldiers were injured beyond the point where the healers could do something for them, which meant that they needed to focus on the one that actually had higher chances of survival. About one in five soldiers was able to live with the care of the Neerver-orm. Many of the soldiers that they saved did not stay with them, they went back to their clans, without an arm or a leg.

Because they just wanted to go back home, nevertheless, many did stay with the Neerver-orm, out of gratitude and some due to the fact that they could not go to their tribes having being defeated in combat. It was only a few decades after, that the healers understood that they were not going to live for much longer, after all, the kin'toni were not able to reproduce, as they came to find out. This meant that their knowledge about how to treat the kin'toni body needed to be passed forward. Since then, a small group of the members of this clan carry the knowledge of the initial healers.

It had become easier saving more and more kin'toni, it used to be quite dangerous to roam a battlefield while having zero to no form of defense, the healers could not fight well. However, as they had more and more soldiers in their clan, they were able to venture out into more dangerous locations without risking losing their lives. Finally, after becoming a large clan, they decided to build a small settlement, although they would keep on making their pilgrimages to heal kin'toni. This settlement was located in the Alria frozen lakes, one of the first areas to be affected by the cold.

Biology

There is a clear distinction between the original healers and the warriors that they heal when it comes to the biological traits of each one. The original healers were unusually tall and not very strong, their irises were dark green with white sclerae and crescent pupils, and skin tone varied. They were particularly susceptible to getting illnesses, which is not a very good trait to have, given their profession, some of them have died over the years over infections and other diseases that one can catch on a battlefield or from the dying.

The warriors they save, however, do not share these biological traits. All of them have some sort of scar, be in on the arms, the legs, the torso or on the head, most of the scars indicated wounds from a former battle that were stitched together by the Neerver-orm healers. These scars end um becoming a matter of pride for the soldiers, and it is not uncommon for them to compare the injuries, as if the bigger the injury, the bigger the reason one had to be proud of it. These now closed wounds, are a testimony of the prowess of the Neerver-orm healers, they can perform operations that would be considered impossible even in the biggest zu'aan cities of Taerel.

The bodies of the warriors that are healed develop something very interesting that baffled the healers at first. They have developed some sort of resistance to being wounded again, it is not that the skin hardens and a sword can not pierce it, a sharp weapon can go through the body of one of these warriors as well as through any other. However, once they get slashed by a sword, the blood that comes out is very little compared to what normally happens with a normal body, there is a natural cauterization process, in which the body heats up a particular part of itself and it forces the wound to stop bleeding.

Naturally, it depends on the wound itself if this process can take place, some are too big for the body to have this reaction. There are warriors that have lost more than a simple patch of skin that is now sowed shut, some have lost fingers, toes and even hands, arms or legs. When the situation is more serious than usual, the healers need to take drastic measures and, after stopping the hemorrhage, they try to install specific metal parts that are supposed to replace the member that they have lost. The prosthetics they install are not very complex, but have been improving over time.

To the point that they can insert different things in the prosthetic, instead of it being only a large metal spike, as it once was, now it can have a blade attached, or a ball of spikes at the end. For the legs the same thing can be achieved, some attach blades to the side of the metal foot. However, these prosthetics cannot replace a real arm, leg or any other part of the body, they are simply not evolved enough, yet. Unfortunately, it can be hard for them to have these metal objects attached to them, the metal will, sooner rather than later, rust.

The problem with rust is that it can cut the body and, although the wound will close itself, it might get infected, something the Neerver-orm are not very resistant to.

Culture

The entire identity of the Neerver-orm clan is connected with their desire to help the wounded and the hurt. It can’t be considered a divine purpose, but the Neerver-orm think of it as being the best thing one can do with their lives, adding suffering to the world will bring all the beings of Taerel even farther away from a good life. It is the hope of the healers that, by curing some of the kin'toni, their hate for the world will slowly disappear and, eventually, diminish the amount of wars and struggles that are happening every day in all of Taerel’s regions.

Healing is seen as a process that hopefully will, in the end, make the kin'toni whole again in more ways than simply in health. However, those that are not healers, are almost exclusively fighter, which makes this whole situation quite ironic, the healers want to heal in order to create peace, and the fighters want to fight in order to regain their honor or to get vengeance for themselves. This means that the healers have to explain their goals to the fighters that they heal and, as expected, many of them leave the Neerver-orm due to disagreements that stem from this.

Those that stay, however, are usually loyal till the end. The only reason they have and carry weapons is to see their goal through, it is something that, although the objective is to get rid of violence, can only be achieved through violence itself. The healing and medicine itself are part of a tradition that the Neerver-orm have created, due to fact that kin'toni cannot breed, the knowledge cannot be passed on to the children of the healers, which means that they need to instruct some of the warriors that they heal with this knowledge. The ones that are chosen are usually fighters that will no longer be able to fight.

For a healer should not be someone who inflicts pain, but the opposite. This means that warriors who’s arms or legs cannot be fixed and that believe in the values that make up the identity of the clan, are usually the ones chosen for receiving the knowledge of the Neerver-orm healers. Finally, when the operation is not a success and the healers realize that a particular kin'toni will not be able to survive, a “death ceremony” is performed, in which one drenches himself in a painless poison and goes to sleep, the poison is then absorbed through the skin as one sleeps.

Outside of the healers, communication tend to be a problem, most of the warriors that are healed come from different battlefields, which means they come from different regions. Due to this, the language that they speak tends to have some differences, after the initial outbreak, there were smaller regions that created their own idioms. These differences mean that any effort to communicate is almost always in vain, only the healers know a few languages and they are not always present to translate, therefore, the warriors have mostly resorted to making grunts or gesturing in order to communicate.

Although this works for simpler things, there ends up being a lot of miscommunication and problems that reflect on the clan’s performance in particular areas.

Government

This aspect of the Neerver-orm society is slightly complicated, there are no rules dictating that someone is the ruler or leader of the clan, there has never been a need for such a code and, hopefully, there never will be. Although this has to do with the fact that the healers are considered the leaders of the Neerver-orm, due to the fact that they were the ones who started all of this, the position for “ruler” is more informal than formal. It is not as though the healers think of themselves as the authority in decision making, but anything that they say has a high chance of being agreed upon by the other members of the clan.

Furthermore, the healers are seen as the most essential part of the Neerver-orm, without them their goal would not be possible, which means that whatever wish the warriors choose to follow is the wish of the healers. Despite following what the those who heal say, the majority of the Neerver-orm disagree with one another, this is mostly due to the fact that the communication between different clan members does not always go smoothly. But the other reason is that the decisions that are not made by the healers are left to up to these warriors.

Even though they do not have the necessary information to make the decision. Contrary to what is intended, the clan tend to divide itself in several small factions that choose to follow their own plans, in the healers do not oppose themselves. They are still in agreement with the values that the clan holds, however, they can live relatively independent lives. There have been discussions about the future of the clan, due to its growth, it might be a positive thing if they decide on the leadership position, unfortunately, these discussions did not go far.

The Neerver-orm have many connections with other kin'toni clans, mainly due to two reasons. The first one is that they require metal that does not exist in their region, which means that it can only be acquired through trading. The Neerver-orm have, therefore, deals with merchants from faraway lands. With this metal, the blacksmiths of the clan build the metal prosthetics that are then added to the bodies of injured kin'toni. There is a preference for light and durable metals that are resistant to the cold and sudden drops in temperature.

These diplomatic links are considered valuable, through trading, the Neerver-orm earn the respect of other clans and are even able to create some alliances. The other way they have connections with other clans is from healing kin'toni from all over Tearel, even if a kin'toni decides to go back to his clan, they bring home the news that a clan of healers has helped them, which can lead to alliances forming. However, this is not always good, sometimes kin'toni desert their clans in order to get healed by the Neerver-orm, which can mean that that particular clan begins to see Neerver-orm as a clan that accepts dishonored deserters.

Military

Members of this clan are not focused on the offensive power that one can have through developing a powerful clan. Back in the early days of the Neerver-orm, there was even a hesitation in walking around with a short sword or a knife for self-defense. Over the years, this has changed and the healers started walking around with small swords, which actually allowed them to perform they jobs better, given that some of them had been dying due to being unarmed. Although these short swords and the lack of training were problematic, they served their purpose because enemies would be more hesitant to attack them.

Than they would the healers of the past, that carried no weapons with them. More recently, as the numbers of the clan have increased, an army has become sort of a necessity, the danger of a clan coming up to them and enslaving them all was something the Neerver-orm were not willing to accept. This means that this clan is totally focused on their defensive prowess, the Neerver-orm do everything in their power to avoid a conflict, but can keep themselves safe in case one happens. The soldiers the healers help are, evidently, built just like a typical soldier would.

This means that they have large torsos and strong arms and legs, however, they vary greatly in their specific skillset, due to the fact that they were healed in battlefield from very different places all, over Taerel. Some of them have a higher resistance to the climate of a specific region, others might have increased strength or speed and others might not be as strong but compensate for it with their agility. Because of this, the army does not have a plan for wars per se, they each utilize their best characteristics in order to fight the enemies they might face in whatever situation they might face them in.

Prosthetics are a big part of the military because they are a big part of the kin'toni that make up that same military. They come in many forms and are custom made by the blacksmiths of the clan with the metal the Neerver-orm get from trades. These prosthetics were incredibly primitive, but now the most common are “the hammer”, at the end of a metal arm, a small iron block is added; this can work as a hammer in battle and it will easily crush the head of an enemy that in unprotected. Also popular are the leg spikes, this one is used by kin'toni that have lost their legs and are agile enough to make use of it.

One can use the metal leg to kick something in a way that the spikes are then stuck in the flesh of the enemy. Although these are weapons for a kin'toni of this clan to fight with, it is also common to attach a small shield or simply a metal rod in one’s arm so that it can be used as a form of defense against other blades.

Religion

Over the years, the question regarding the abilities of the healers has never been clearly answered, it is true that they do not use magic, they rely simply on reality to perform their surgeries. The oldest healers always said, when asked, that the they needed to study for years in order to be able to do what they did, however, study was not the only important factor in this equation, they also kept referencing the divine as having played a role in their learning. Unfortunately, the first kin'toni healers died without sharing what they meant with “the divine”.

They did, however, share the knowledge that they had amassed over time. This means that from the second generation of healers onwards, they had to interpret the divinity aspect of their work. The interpretations have varied throughout the years and even from person to person, nevertheless, there is a common idea of what it is supposed to be. The divine is not a specific God or deity, which makes the Neerver-orm spiritual, but not religious. It is something that exists, that they are sure of, perhaps an energy of some sort, or a impulse that led the first healers to the place where they first learned to perform medical “miracles”.

That were far ahead of those performed by everyone else in Taerel. Due to this, it is not as though there are specific rules in the clan that are guided by their beliefs, the only informal rule is for them to keep honoring this divinity by learning more and more about the art of healing. In order to do this, many Neerver-orm leave their settlement and venture the lands in search of plants, types of dirt, flowers or technological advancements in other clans that can end up benefiting the medicine. A few years ago, they were able to recruit some blacksmiths into their clans and are.

Therefore, using them to create the prosthetics that the soldiers use, but also surgery material. They have forged very delicate objects such as long and incredibly thin needles and blades that will be used specifically for amputations. This was seen as a sign from the divine, that once again blessed them with the possibility of building something that will help them with their end goal.

Miscellany

Nearby Groups

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Neerver-orm Kin'toni Clan

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