Qetia Kin'toni Clan

History

Like the Diwarale Kin'toni Clan the Qetia were forced by their creators to work the mines. Only, this clan was made to work the iron mines where they were made to forge weapons for their creators. This was possibly their greatest mistake since the incident where one creator was bit by a kin'toni and did not report it. The Qetia secretly forged swords and shields for their uprising and joined forces with the Diwarale clan to free themselves from their captors. However, they did not choose to live in the mines as their unstable allies did. They instead chose to live within the confines of the Lathra Mountain Forest and beg nature to take them in.

According to stories told by the Qetia, nature embraced and protected them by providing a forest that will protect them from both the scorching sun and their cruel creators. The Qetia had lured their cruel creators into the Lathra forest where nothing technological worked within its vast boundaries. Also, within its dense canopy of sturdy branches, large leaves, and thick vines no sunlight filtered through. It was perpetual twilight through the day and pitch black at night. As their creators were overly dependent upon their precious technology, all those who pursued the Qetia were immediately vulnerable.

This was not realized until it was too late. Because of the rich and diverse metals within the mountain range, compasses were useless. Due to this same effect, radios were unable to send a signal anywhere outside of the forest and batteries that powered lights or tasers were quickly drained. The remains of the creators they had killed hang in the trees on the boundaries of the Qetia territory to this day to warn all not to enter with ill intentions. Shortly after winning their freedom, the Qetia began to work with nature instead of against it to further spite their creators who had built their environment with their buildings, labs, roads, and so on.

The Qetia made structures similar to log cabins using branches from trees and thick vines they knew would grow back as building materials. These cabins were placed high among the trees where predators and trespassers alike would not easily spot them. Each cabin was secured to the trees using a thick vine-like rope that was surprisingly stronger than steel. A special iron blade similar to a hacksaw is needed to cut them. By becoming one with nature, the Qetia believe that they are an accepted part of their world and work to live in harmony with it.

Psychology

As the Qetia 's territory rests directly above the Diwarale clan's realm, their alliance is unstable. Both clans are slow to trust one another but both are aware that they must rely on each other to keep their territory safe from any third party clan that may attempt to invade their realm. The Qetia are very selective in who they turn into one of their kind. Those who wander into their realm are not immediately attacked; they are instead watched carefully. Some wary travellers find themselves lost in the Lathra forest and collapse from exhaustion only to wake up on the edge of the forest.

The Qetia only attack those they deem worthy to become one with their clan or those who pose an obvious risk to their kind or their forest home. This clan strongly believes that the laws of nature are also the laws of life. Their world, in their view, has one overall law: Change with me or perish. The Qetia have learned to predict the weather, the changing of seasons, and approaching danger by observing nature around them. The animals sense the coming of bad weather and take cover. When animals fall silent in the dead of night, the Qetia know danger is approaching.

They learned to pay close attention to the behavioural patterns of the animals and insects and hope that, in time, they too will develop the same senses nature had provided its children. The Qetia do not waste a single item. Everything in nature has a use, a purpose and the Qetia find the purpose that best fits their survival needs. As they do not require flesh to sustain themselves, they use the flesh of an animal they had drained to attract predators so to drain its blood. The flesh is also used to feed timber wolves which they use as pets to ward off the curious and the foolish who wander too close to their villages.

They prefer not to hunt outside the safe borders of the Lathra forest but will move out during the night in times of shortage or when the need comes to increase their numbers. Because of this, most of the kin'toni in this clan have been known to suffer nervous breakdowns or meltdowns as a result, which, in the past, has led to some of them having to be detained to keep themselves and others safe. As a result of most of the kin'toni in this clan being subject to nervous breakdowns, they almost always talk to themselves. Many of them have fallen into madness and had to be killed.

Biology

The Qetia are adapted to the rocky, steep, tree-filled Lathra Mountain Forest. They are dense and muscular of build, with powerful asymmetrical limbs. The arms are longer then their legs. This is an adaption for bipedal climbing, swinging, and gripping vertical rock faces. The downside of this is an awkward, lumbering gait on flat ground.. Their skin is dark browns and greys in color, rugged, thick and highly elastic. This allows protection from rock and branches while granting effective shadow camouflage.

This also leads to lessened cutaneous oxygen absorption. The skin is very sensitive to even minor temperature differences. This allows them to find areas shielded from wind and cold for day-sleep. The skin also has glands near the surface that secrete a dense, waxy lipid. This coats the outer layer of skin to act as an layer of insulation against extreme mountain cold. The hair is thick, oily and dark and in tufts on their necks, shoulders and wrists. This hair acts as protection from impact and cold wind.

The eyes are large and with heavy brow ridges. Their sight has exceptional trinocular vision to allow them to judge large vertical leaps. The ears are short and with fur tufts to protect from the cold. The ear structures are adapted to filter out the high-pitched sounds of mountain winds. This allows them to focus only on low-frequency sounds over long distances. Th e downside of this is being unable to fear high-frequency sounds. The inner ear canals are adapted to have an innate sense of vertical orientation and balance.

This allows them to navigate slopes and heights without vertigo. The nostrils are wide and flared. These have receptors that detect minute atmospheric changes. This allows them to predict wind shifts, but can be overcome with strong smells. They are able to detect and trace highly diluted scent particles that are carried on the wind to allow them track prey by smell, even in the canopy. Their teeth are heavy and recurved for deep secure purchase on large, powerful mountain mammals.

This lowers the chance that they are thrown off during a struggle, but are not good at feeding on small prey. The claws are powerful, hooked and semi-retractable for climbing traction and anchoring on sheer rock and bark. Using their hand and fingertips, they are able to tell the diffidence between exposed roots, loose soil, and stable rock. This is used to work out safe anchor points during climbing. The palms and soles are coated in a layer of micro-papillae for friction on vertical surfaces.

The joints are adapted with cartilage and fluid sacs that are enlarged to provide superior shock absorption for hard landings and falls. They have a metabolism that allows them to need less oxygen to sustain high-level activity then low altitude kin'toni. This also means they are prone to a form of altitude sickness in lower altitudes. They also have an innate neural ability that allows them to rapidly calculate and adjust their center of mass, even while in mid air. This allows them great landing accuracy after a jump.

Culture

The Qetia clan has a unique culture about them that makes them stand out from most other clans and not necessarily in a good or bad way either. First of all, the Qetia clan comes from a mountain forest environmental background, so when in the forest it is not uncommon to see groups of Qetia ns practice self-defence techniques in the forest during the night. Another thing about their self-defence and kickboxing techniques is that sometimes they can practice these techniques for up to several hours at a time, but some Qetia groups have been known to practice throughout the night going into the dawn.

At which point they would have to retreat to an underground bunker by digging a hole in the ground that leads to their bunker. Then Qetia clan kin'toni get bored and they often go out in groups to hunt for Tyai trees that contain a plethora of tree sap inside their respective roots. This rather rare tree sap is regarded as this clan's beverage of choice. Because of this, the Qetia clan regards tree sap as beneficial to their health. The sap itself is considered by many Qetia clan kin'toni to be their proverbial fountain of youth (no proof that it is true).

Although some of the kin'toni who have studied them in centuries past that, like everything else, the sap is finite and can only last for such and such an amount of time. However, they also hunt for large animals to drink blood from. So when looking for these animals they often look to drink just enough blood from a large animal, such as the bat-winged mammoth or Cvzago, to last them long enough to make it through the week without starving. Because the Qetia clan hunts in groups and, sometimes, in pairs, it is up to each of them to work together as a cohesive unit.

This is to make sure that they can take in the blood of the Cvzago to guarantee that they will not starve that night; however, like the vast majority of large mammals on Terael, the bite wounds heal almost instantly, within a matter of minutes. As a result of that, the Qetia kin'toni can drink the Cvzago's blood as long as it doesn't notice them. Surprisingly, the only reason why the Cvzago's bite marks don't end up turning into infections is that, according to the Qetia clan, the tree sap they ingest every once in a while.

This is thought to help keep their mouths clean and free of any germs for at least a couple of minutes and serves as a stimulant for their bodies. That's why the Qetia clan considers it paramount to take in tree sap only before they hunt for large mammals such as the Cvzago; that way, the blood of the Cvzago combined with the stimulants in the tree sap can keep the body nourished and taken care of. Generally speaking, the hunt is perhaps the Qetia clan's best tactic when looking for large creatures.

Government

The Qetia clan has a government that is run by the clan founder's biological descendants; this government, often referred to as the Talai ka'la Malaua, or translated, the Entity of the Red Lore, consists of two dozen of the clan founder's direct descendants, all of which work together in unity to pass rules and legislation that would otherwise make their clan's population more tolerable to manage, thereby making the kin'toni' lives easier altogether. The Entity of the Red Lore is led by the eldest descendant of the clan founder, who is in charge of most of the Entity's main activities and functions.

And given that several of their clan allies meet with them once every decade on their turf to discuss plans for a prosperous future of survival. The eldest descendent, often referred to as the Yzwyr, is responsible for taking in ideas for the rest of the Entity's leaders, all twenty-three of them, to be precise and the most distinguishable ideas, which are often determined through a vote, are often considered as original and unique and are thereby passed as laws for everyone else in the clan to follow. The eldest descendant is often referred to as the Yzwyr.

Is responsible for taking in ideas for the rest of the Entity's leaders, all twenty-three of them, to be precise, and the most distinguishable ideas, which are often determined through a vote, are often considered as original and unique and are thereby passed as laws for everyone else in the clan to follow. The Entity's less popular ideas, as voted on by the eldest three descendants, would then be revised by each of the other descendants, at which point each descendant would have to try and come up with at least one revision to the law, if necessary.

After the revisions are made, the law is then revoted on, at which point the ratification and passing of the law would have to receive at least a fifteen out of twenty-three approval rating. Once the fifteen out of twenty-three approval rating is met and everyone has cast their votes with an "ahe" or a "ne" the proposition is then made law and signed in the stone by the eldest descendant. Once this law is officially signed it will become law and go into effect for everyone in the clan, including the government, who is said to always abide by the laws, even if some of the laws are contradictory.

However, there have been times where the fifteen out of twenty-three approval rating has not been met, and in these particular circumstances, the law that was revoted on must undergo another iteration of revisions, which are suggested by the eldest three descendants. If the law still doesn't get a fifteen out of twenty-three approval rating after the third vote the law is then declared null and void. This law, which is often considered and referred to as the Wzydna Vinyd, or the Three Strikes Process, has proven to be the standard process in lawmaking for the Qetia clan's government, ever since its founding all those centuries ago.

Military

This clan's army, often referred to as the Empire of the Lost, is perhaps one of the most underpopulated militias in the kin'toni'Ati world, but with a soldier count ranging between more than a third of the clan's population, it is also one of the most demanding, which may also explain why the other two-thirds of the clan population isn't able to be part of the Empire. This militia was originally known as the Army of Ancient Creed from its inception nearly 70 years ago until just a few centuries ago, just recently, when the clan's military was given a complete overhaul following the loss.

Of more than half of their military's soldiers amid an inter-border war between several different clans over control of the Lathra Mountain Forest. The Empire of the Lost has a unique initiation process, and it's said to be shorter than most other clans' military initiation processes. When applying for the military, the only thing that you have to do is participate in a rigorous obstacle course, and if you manage to get through the obstacle course within about 5 minutes then you are automatically initiated as a member of the Empire.

However, in case you don't complete the obstacle course in time, the leader of the clan's military, often suggested to be the middle descendant of the clan founder, can allow you to attempt the obstacle course again. You can attempt the obstacle course up to five separate times, but if after the fifth time you cannot complete the obstacle course within the five-minute time limit, you will be barred from attempting the obstacle course again for another twenty years. During the twenty-year barring, you can train in none of the clan's military bases except for its main one.

Which is located dead in the centre of the Lathra Mountain Forest; you can train anywhere in the Lifeloss Mountain Forest as long as you are not on a governmental base or military base. As a result, there is still a myriad of different places to practice during the barring. After the twenty-year bar is lifted, you will be given another opportunity to complete the Empire's obstacle course, and if you can get through the entire thing within five minutes you will be initiated into the Lost Empire as a cadet. From there you will have many opportunities to participate in military activities.

With your fellow Lost Empire militants and attempt to rise the ranks in the military. The highest rank one can achieve in the Empire is the rank of Evzquar, or Head of Militia, at which point you can choose to continue serving the clan's Empire as a leader or retire from the Empire with the highest honours. After you retire from the Empire of the Lost, you can also choose to apply as a lobbyist and work for the Entity of the Red Lore.

Religion

The middle descendant in the Red Lore is often referred to as the Yrnsha, which, translated in Tzanwyr, means, "Religious Leader" or "High Priest." The Yrnsha is responsible for carrying out all religious sessions within the government, and he or she is also responsible for designating a priest in every part of the Lathra forest region. The Yrnsha's Priests and Priestesses meet together with one another every month to decide which option would be the best option to invite their fellow Spiritualists within the clan population; as a result, and after a bit of deliberation.

Decide upon the best idea as suggested by one of their own, at which point they would then travel to the various parts of the Lifeloss region and give them an invitation. Ana'Quna is a religion in the Qetia clan, and it is also the predominant religion in the clan, with over 70 per cent of its clan population choosing to believe in this religion and more than 25 per cent of the clan choosing to be agnostic. Every once in a while, specifically once every six weeks, the Ana'Quna come together with the Priests and Priestesses of their faith in a remote location in the forest to praise their spiritual selves.

This is with a series of chants and tonal interpretations of hymns otherwise long gone. These meetings often referred to as the Times of Thought and Appreciation, are generally consistent and can run for as long as a couple of hours and as short as around forty minutes. When these particular meetings come to an end, the Priests and Priestesses generally close with a prayer to their creator, supposedly an ancestral spirit that reigns above them in the upper dimensions of their reality. After this prayer is said, the members disperse, and the Ana'Quna followers return to their natural habitats.

This is in search of something interesting to take part in. In other words, when the meeting comes to an end the Priests and Priestesses return to their Ana'Quna temples to continue going about their nights in silence as they transcribe their thoughts in stone and chisel; this is generally considered standard in the Qetia clan's religious community. There is a code of honour that is generally set in stone within the religious community in the Qetia clan; this code, which consists of three main morals, is considered by many in this clan to be more important than almost anything else in their lives presently.

The first of these morals states that you must always look for signs of spiritual salvation, which include the tree sap within the roots of the trees, as well as the Cvzago, which is generally considered to be the Qetia kin'toni's best friend and protector in times of tribulation. The second and third morals suggest that you must learn to tolerate pain in battle and dish it out as well and that you must always try to make amends with one that has been wronged incorrectly.

Miscellany

While it is generally assumed that a little more than 25 per cent of the Qetia clan are agnostic most of the agnostics consider large creatures such as the Cvzago to be their allies. They don't see each other very often because they are generally antisocial, but when they do they try to at least engage in lively conversation. That's why it is important to remember that most of the agnostics in this clan don't particularly look at religion and religious activity as important; in fact, religion is among the least of their concerns, with hunting and looking for stuff is their main priority.

One of the most important things that one might overlook in a typical Qetia kin'toni is a simple fact that they are almost always active. During the night when they want to be, and some of these Qetia kin'toni often think about many different things to themselves while sleeping during the day, making those that study them wonder just what, if anything, is on their minds. Most of the Qetia kin'toni have had nightmares of apocalyptic visions going on in their dreams, such as an ice outbreak that causes most of their world to engage in a deep freeze, and as a result, they can sometimes wake up from their dreams.

While screaming and finding themselves to be sweating profusely; even stranger, some have died in their sleep as a result of these hellish and apocalyptic nightmares. Because of that, most of the kin'toni in this clan don't necessarily sleep during the day, causing many of the kin'toni in this clan to suffer from bouts of insomnia when trying to go to sleep. The typical Qetia kin'toni is generally unkempt from the chin up, although some would suggest that this is because of their inability to shave or cut their hair. However, it is also suggested that while they don't keep their faces and hair trimmed.

They can bathe in rivers that are supposedly clean and untainted and often use leaves to wash their body. Because of these two facts, most kin'toni Clans. Would generally assume that the Qetia clan cannot take care of their bodies as well as others and to make matters even better, ingesting the tree sap once every couple of years can have added benefits in addition to the prevention of the yellowing of teeth, which include healthy gums, a cleaner mouth, a healthier tongue, and an increase in awareness and ability. Nevertheless, seeing as though the Qetia clan have many issues.

That is about their psychological and mental states they may end up having to fight an uphill battle as the upcoming ice age will lead most of them to have to create an underground bunker to keep themselves from freezing to death. Other than that, the Qetia clan's like for hunting for blood, makes them one of the healthiest clans. Because their government is a dynasty many things could change should the wrong pieces of legislation become law? It is known that more and more of the kin'toni from this clan are going to have dissent with the rulers of the clan.