Yemi Kin'toni Clan

History

The Yemi clan are a clan that have made an effort to be excluded and alone from the world. Very soon after the kin’toni gathered and formed this clan, they retreated, seeking a place to claim as their own and live in seclusion. They travelled for a short while before coming upon the Zikyr-valan Plains Plateau, a series of large, wide plateaus with wide open plains on the top. They claimed this area as their own, and started establishing their home. They went to the centre of the plains, and went to one of the large canyons between the plateaus toward the centre.

They began to dig into the side of the plateaus, establishing a system of caves and tunnels between the rock of the plateaus, and leading up to the top, where they built some basic buildings on the surface to protect them from the sun if they should ever need to emerge during the day. They spend almost all their time under the plateaus in their caves, living away from the sun and outside. They have learnt to farm and grow plants under the ground, and have been able to negate almost any reason to ever leave their home, except to take scouting actions to keep the clan safe.

The clan became very xenophobic and exclusionist, going to great effort to never make contact of any type with nay kin’toni or even zu’aan. The only contact with other beings they would allow was raids upon zu’aan settlements when they were in pursuit of blood or specific resources that the clan might need that the zu’aan would have. If any nomadic zu’aan tribes or kin’toni clans were to come into the area, the entirety of the Yemi clan would retreat into the plateaus and block off all entrances to their caves, in an attempt to hide all trace of their presence and prevent any chance of contact or meeting.

The nearer zu’aan tribes, and nomadic tribes which pass by the area, are aware of the Yemi, but make an effort to avoid them. They have learnt of the extreme seclusion of the Yemi, and have learnt how violent they can become if provoked, so all make an effort to allow them to keep to themselves. The Yemi do not participate in many events, but over time have been part of many battles. They are extremely territorial, and over time when zu’aan or kin’toni have come too close to the Zikyr-valan plateaus, they have very quickly rushed to attack the perceived invaders and push them out of the area.

They are extremely vicious when provoked, and fight ferociously to defend their homes when necessary. It has been a long time since they last engaged in combat, as most kin’toni clans are fully settled into their own territories, and the zu’aan have learnt to not approach too close to the plateaus. Despite this, the Yemi remain very vigilant, keeping scouts posted along the borders of the outer plateaus, constantly observing and watching the surrounding area.

Biology

The Yemi’s constant subterranean existence has changed them, leaving them adapted to a life of little light, low nutrition foods, and small spaces. The Yemi are small, having short legs, and shrunken bodies, perfect for squeezing through tight spaces and navigating underground passages. Their lungs are very flexible, and when needed, they can inhale large amounts of air and hold it in for long periods of time, assisting them in their swimming. Despite their smaller size, they have formidable strength, and powerful climbing abilities. They are excellent climbers.

Clambering all through the caverns of the mountain, going upwards and downwards. They have wide hands, with short, thick fingers, and rock hard nails, perfect for digging into the stone and gripping tightly. Their feet are smaller, but with the same thick toes and hard nails.This help them in their climbing, as they can dig their hands and feet into the stone, their nails digging in and providing a solid anchor to keep them steady and secure while they climb. They are also excellent swimmers, with their light bodies and powerful arms wonderfully adapted to pull them quickly through the water and help them hunt for fish.

Their faces are small and round, with wide eyes. The eyes have light green irises, like those of a cat, with white sclera and vertically beaded pupils. They have excellent night vision, perfectly adapted to see in the dark, but in bright light, they can struggle to adapt, and take a rather long time to properly see in sunlight. They also have a strange double eyelid, with an inner eyelid that is transparent, allowing them to swim with their eyes open and see through the water very accurately and adeptly. The ears are long and thin, and slightly pointed, but very sensitive.

They easily and adeptly pick up faint echoes and sounds, and assist them in manoeuvring the depths of the earth and finding things which may hide from sight. The ears are also adapted for the water, capable of strangely closing to protect the ears and head when swimming. Living underground has meant they do not have much access to nutritious and good food, so they appear to be almost malnourished, thin and spindly. Their main sources of food are fish caught from underground lakes, and a few varieties of basic crops they have managed to grow underground.

None of these foods are very nutritious, as underground in the rock caverns they lack sunlight and proper soil, but they are still enough to keep the kin’toni of the clan alive. This lack of proper food is part of the reason for their shrunken size, the lack of proper nutrients causing their development and growth to slow or stop in comparison to most other kin’toni. They also require less blood than most kin’toni clans, and are capable of surviving off of the watery blood of fish and other subterranean creatures like rats, though they do occasionally attack zu’aan tribes to claim their blood as a rare treat.

Culture

The Yemi are an extremely xenophobic clan. It is important to these kin’toni that they remain completely isolated and separate from all others, and they go to great lengths to avoid contact with others. They have created large stones which they can roll in front of the entrances to their homes, covering them completely and hiding them totally. The clan are not very strongly bonded, and most kin’toni of the clan prefer to be alone, or in small groups, as opposed to living together as a clan. All of the clan, except for the scouts, live underground in the dark, and rarely, if ever, emerge into the sunlight.

These kin’toni are either solitary, or live in small groups. The solitary kin’toni tend to live deeper in the caverns, creating small homes for themselves where they grow their own food and catch their own fish. The kin’toni who live in groups are usually slightly higher up, and grouped homes are often near to each other. Groups often cooperate, working together to grow food or find resources, understanding that they can live better lives together. They still consider themselves separate families, but are willing to work with other families and groups.

In this clan, clothes are not particularly important. Underground in the caves, clothes are easily torn and broken, so most kin’toni do not use more than a basic loincloth, or very simple rags over their body. They do not care or have any concept of needing to cover nudity, and rather choose their clothes based on practicality, choosing clothes that will keep them warm or assist them in carrying and keeping their belongings with them.

Yemi clan homes are simple caves dug out of the walls of the main caverns. When a group decides to create a home, they use basic pickaxes and tools to dig out a simple new cave for themselves. Most of these homes are just a simple, single cavern, but some of the larger homes may have multiple smaller rooms connected to the main cavern. Often, a group will also divert water from underground lakes or rivers to flow into their homes so that they can have a constant supply of water without needing to leave their home or go into the main caverns.

The largest, natural caverns are used as meeting places. The clan do not often gather together, but when it is necessary, they gather in these main, natural homes, and have great respect for this place. No kin’toni will enter these main caverns unless specifically summoned, seeing it as a special place to only be used when necessary. The Yemi do not have a very advanced culture, and don’t care about painting or art or music. They only care about survival, and keeping alive. They do not waste time on trying to improve the appearance of something, seeing it as a waste of time that could have been used to improve their own lives.

Government

The Yemi kin’toni are a largely disconnected clan, so do not have a centralised or organised government. They rather have a series of basic laws and rules that the clan are expected to follow, but are not always heavily enforced. The only form of leadership that the clan has is a basic leadership position. Whoever claims this position is capable of calling the clan together for a meeting, to discuss or direct the clan to specific things. These meetings are not common, as the clan do not enjoy meeting or being forced to work together.

Any leader who summons the clan together needlessly too often will be removed from the position, often violently, by the clan. Because of this, the position is not often sought out, as it is entirely dependent on the whims of the clan, and their opinion of you. Most of the time, kin’toni only take this position when they truly believe it is necessary and that the clan is needed to be together. This leader does not have much power beyond summoning the clan and attempting to organize and direct them, but are still respected, if they do their job correctly.

The clan does not have any form of law enforcement, but rather leave it up to the individuals to punish any who they know broke the basic laws of the clan. Any who enforce the punishment of the law are free to decide on the inflicted punishment, but may be targeted for punishment themselves if they are seen as being overly harsh. Because of this, kin’toni are usually very cautious about breaking or enforcing the rules of the clan, and consider it carefully before taking action, not wanting to risk their lives, as these kin’toni are often very cowardly, with a strong instinct for self preservation.

The laws of the clan are not very complex, and have a variety of punishments. Kin’toni may not needlessly or carelessly kill fellow members of the clan, though they are allowed to if they have some form of explanation to cover why they did it. Thievery and stealing is not prohibited, but kin’toni are free to retaliate with lethal force if someone attempts to steal from them, making it a severe risk to attempt to take another’s belongings. The kin’toni are very possessive of their homes, and therefore it is highly prohibited to defile a home or drive someone away from their home.

If any kin’toni attempt to push another out of their home, they are almost always met with a lethal punishment, and killed for their infraction. Most punishments are situational. There is no process for judgement, and a punishment is rather meted out as an immediate reaction to the crime as it happens. There have been a few occasions when proper deliberation has been used, but that has always been in reaction to a kin’toni in some way endangering the clan as a whole, or exposing the homes of the clan to outsiders, which is seen as the greatest crime any of them can commit.

Military

The Yemi do not have an organized military or combat aligned force, beyond the basic training and organization of the exterior and scouts. Each kin’toni is rather left to their own choice to practice or prepare for combat and train themselves. Many of the kin’toni do put a lot of effort into training themselves or working together as a group to prepare themselves for combat. Their extreme paranoia and xenophobia pushes them to always be prepared for battle and be able to defend their homes and attack any invaders. They mainly make use of basic stone knives.

They are chiselled and crafted from the stone of their mountain, and attached to basic bone handles. They can be very skilled with these knives, moving with great speed to surprise and attack their enemies from the shadows before their presence is even known. They are particularly dangerous when fighting in their homes under the plateaus, where they gain great advantage from their speed, size, and vision in the dark, capable of hunting and killing almost any creature they come across, using their great stealth to excellent advantage in the dark.

The only form or organized combatants that the Yemi clan have are their scouts. These scouts sacrifice their comfort to live above ground on the top of the plateaus, instead of underneath them in the dark. These kin’toni live in basic buildings of stone along the very edge of the border plateaus, constantly watching the borders of their land. If anyone is to pass, be they kin’toni or zu’aan, they will dive into the tunnels and make their way to the main settlement to inform the clan. It will then be decided whether or not an attack will be made, or if they will simply keep watch.

When an entire nomadic zu’aan tribe passes, it is not uncommon for the clan to attack. Though they are not as dependant on zu’aan blood as other clans, they still find great pleasure and strength from draining zu’aan blood. When a zu’aan tribe passes by during the night, around half of the time the decision is made to raid and attack them. They will attack from the shadows, but are always sure to not kill the entire tribe. They drain all the blood they wish from a few unfortunate victims, killing them and ensuring they never turn into kin’toni, before raiding any supplies they may need.

Such as specific foods or materials they may need that the zu’aan are carrying. They are careful to never totally exterminate or cripple the zu’aan tribes, as they want to ensure the tribes will return to the area so they may once again come and claim the zu’aan blood. The only time they make an effort to totally exterminate any zu’aan tribes or kin’toni clans are when they invade their territory and enter the area of the plateaus themselves, rather than simply passing by without stopping.

Religion

The Yemi are not particularly religious or spiritual. They do have beliefs and a god, but they are not as consistent or faithful as many other clans are. They believe in the spirits of the earth and stone, and say that the spirits will bless those who truly respect the earth and take care of it. Each group and individual within the clan has slight differences to their beliefs, but they all follow these spirits and attempt to serve them in some way or form. At times, the differences in beliefs can lead to clashes and friction between various groups, though they never allow it to get too violent or deadly.

The main part of the clan follow the same set of beliefs. The central group of the clan believe that by pleasing the spirits, they have been chosen as the favourites of the earth, and have been blessed. They believe they are already favoured, and must simply maintain their devotion to the earth in order to keep their blessing. They believe that they are blessed with their homes, and that it is only by the grace of the spirits that they may carve out their homes and places. Their belief is that to please the spirits, they must make sacrifices. Whenever they raid a zu’aan tribe.

They collect various materials and foods that they see as a luxury, and bring them back underground to their homes. They then pile these goods in the entrance to their homes and set them alight, leaving them to burn and nourish the spirits directly. With every raid they complete, they must do this ritual, and leave the best of the gathered materials to the spirits. If they were to claim anything for themselves and burn lesser materials, they would lose their blessings, and risk being ejected from the caverns. These kin’toni see the earth and stone as one large organism, all connected and working as one.

They attempt to emulate this by working together and living in groups. The outer, loner kin’toni have different beliefs. They believe that no full group can be blessed by the spirits, and only the strong and independent can be truly blessed by the spirits. They believe that the rest of the clan are wrong, and do not truly serve the spirits. They have isolated themselves almost totally in an attempt to show the spirits of earth and stone that they need nothing more than the earth and the spirits to survive. They see the earth as many singular pieces, all independent and alone, and attempt to emulate this by living alone and independent as well.

They hesitate to interact with any others, even the other loners of the lower mountains. They each have their own rituals and customs which they perform, which they believe will attract the favour of the spirits, but many of them relate either to proving your strength and independence, or making a great sacrifice to prove their devotion.

Miscellany

The Yemi clan eat only food they have collected or grown themselves. When raiding zu’aan they may bring back some of their food, but purely for the purposes of sacrificing to the earth spirits. For food, they do a lot of fishing in underground lakes and rivers, leaping into the rivers and catching fish by hand. They can either eat these raw, but some do enjoy making a fire and cooking the fish, though not all of them do this every time. The rest of their food is made from some crops they have managed to grow underground.

Each familial group maintains their own crops, having learnt how to divert water to irrigate the land where they grow crops. These crops can vary slightly, but are all basic variations of short, simple plants with low nutritional value. It is not clear if they are unable to grow other types, or if they simply do not want to for some reason.The Yemi clan are not particularly concerned with clothing. They usually wear simple loincloths (regardless of gender) or scraps and rags draped across their frame.

When they raid the nomadic zu’aan, they will often take their cloth and materials and use them to fashion new, simplistic clothing in the same style as all their clothing is. The only kin’toni who wear more than these simplistic rags are the scouts. They spend their time in huts above ground, and so wear cobbled together leather wrappings that serve as armour. These scout huts are very different to the usual caverns and dug out caves that the rest of the clan enjoy using as homes.

These huts are a mixture of sculpted earth, piled stone, and wood collected from the zu’aan. Despite the cobbled together and unsteady appearance of these huts, they are surprisingly sturdy and secure, keeping the scouts safe from the sun and out of view at all times. These scouts do occasionally spend time underground, but most of their time is spent serving on the service. They have made the choice to sacrifice their own comfort and live above ground where they can serve the clan, and because of this, almost the entire clan respects them greatly.

The subterranean homes of the Yemi are very simple. They are just rock caves dug out from the sides of the naturally formed caves that the clan found upon their arrival. They do not waste time decorating the cave walls, and so they look rather plain, a simple rock surface. Within these homes, they have arranged them very practically, diverting water inside to make their lives easier, and carefully placing sleeping cloths and materials out of the way when not in use to maximise their free space.

Many kin’toni spend long periods of time in their homes, staying indoors when they are not catching fish or working with their crops. They have developed very basic games and things to do to keep themselves entertained and busy.

Nearby Groups

Unknown

Yemi Kin'toni Clan

Unknown