Yuaa Kin'toni Clan

History

The Yuaa are among the most famed clan in the whole of this landmass of Taerel, they are known to form the priest class of the Itkali Kingdom and as such are seen to be one of the most important kin'toni in the administration of the Kingdom. They are the caretakers of the religion of the shepherd which is followed by nearly the whole kin'toni population of Itkal. They have been in possession of the land since the first emperor recognised their lineage as being one that shared links with the kin'toni that he referred to as the Shepherd.

Since that day of their formation, the Yuaa have continually expanded their role in the Itkali bureaucracy, initially they had been intended to be caretakers of the temples that were being constructed in reverence of the Shepherd. As time went on, and the Itkali administration suffered massive blows during the Shattering, the Yuaa went through a transformation. They went from being mere priests to being the all important priests. Their whole administration is based on the principle that they are not merely the keepers of the religion of the shepherd but the keepers of the whole kingdom of Itkal.

They began by asserting themselves into the lives of the Itkali citizenry by convincing the first emperor that the common Itkali kin'toni lived a life of sin and misery for the kin'toni was unaware of the teachings of the Shepherd. They convinced the emperor that without intervention the whole kingdom would one day astray from the path that the shepherd himself had shown to the first emperor. This was a sore point for the Itkali emperor, who had one publicly confessed his worry for the spiritual welfare of the Itkali people.

The Yuaa were able to capitalise on this concern of the emperor to occupy an important role in both the formation as well as the implementation of the law for the Itkali people. And although this meant that they had a much bigger role in the play of powers within the Itkali kingdom, the Yuaa were not satisfied with their place in the world yet. The net evolution for them came during the times of the Shattering, a cataclysm of both geographical and political upheaval that destroyed many kin'toni lives and ruined the fortunes of several kin'toni nations.

Among the nations that were affected worst by the Shattering were the Itkali, for prior to the Shattering, they had been so reliant on the kin'toni nation of Zelan from Canlai for the supply of their bloodstock that when the Zelan nation chose to prioritise holding their own stock for reserves rather than supply the Itkali nation, the kingdom was nearly ruined. kin'toni across the whole kingdom found their cities drying up of the blood stock that had once flown abundantly, the stark landscape had never been particularly lush with animals.

But during the Shattering the animals of the kingdom were nearly wiped clean away as the kin'toni took to hunting in earnest in order to try and feed themselves and their clan members.

Psychology

The Yuaa are a shrewd kin'toni race, and over the years as heir importance has increased, their resources have allowed to make them only more powerful and intelligent. Since they became the quintessential tool of the Itkali throne, the Yuaa have altered the procedure for the kin'toni that wished to join the ranks. For prior to that time, it was said that the only thing that was needed in order to join the ranks of the Yuaa was to demonstrate a deep love for the shepherd as well as the courage to walk in his shown path,#

Nearly all that chose to apply for membership were readily taken, but at the time there were truly a handful of kin'toni that wanted to join their ranks besides those that had been chosen to form the Yuaa due to their unique lineage. This unpopularity in terms of applying kin'toni was due to the Spartan lifestyle the priests lead, or at least used to lead, until they became important enough to demand luxuries beyond those even of the noble clans of Itkal.

Since the aftermath of Shattering, it is not possible to apply to Yuaa Clan, but a kin'toni must be invited to interview for membership to the clan. This route of membership is reserved for the truly exceptional minds of the Itkali kingdom, for the Yuaa priests that are posted in the villages of Itkal have the responsibility of keeping a record of the annual evaluation of the kin'toni and sort through the evaluations for kin'toni that display above average intelligence/

And this method is rigorous enough that only about a handful of kin'toni have been chosen to ascend the steps to the temples of the shepherd built in the trees of the Cataract bog. Most of their new additions are done through the conversion of zu'aan using the purest of the Yuaa blood. And although over the centuries even the kin'toni that are from disparate bloodlines, most of the Yuaa kin'toni have adapted a similar or rather the same mindset. The same mindset may seem like an extreme statement for those that are not familiar with the Yuaa.

But in fact describes them perfectly, the Yuaa members are perfectly aligned in all things. They are a cohesive kin'toni clan that follows the guidance of their elders to the letter, for the kin'toni that lead them are said to be able to hear the voice of the Shepherd and as such are able to offer guidance to the whole clan. Going against the orders of the clan leaders is seen to be liking going against the shepherd himself. Therefore disobedience among the rank members of the clan is almost never seen and when it is observed, the offending kin'toni is punished with utter cruelty.

This is the other trait that sets them apart from other kin'toni clans as well, for most kin'toni are cruel but the Yuaa have made an art of cruelty, they are unaffected by even the deepest of pleas of mercy, and are unflinching in the service of the Shepherd.

Biology

The biology of the Yuaa has gone through significant changes as their roles within the kingdom have changed and evolved. In the very beginning, when the Yuaa were nothing but a clan dedicated only to the priesthood of the Shepherd, they were a completely different kind of kin'toni as they are today. The Yuaa are the perfect example of the ability of the kin'toni to adapt quickly and drastically to not only their surroundings but also their changing roles.

In the starting of the clan, the Yuaa were a beautiful clan, they were well proportioned, with lean limbs that allowed them to bring the message of the shepherd to the many cities of the Itkali kingdom that existed prior the Shattering. Perhaps the most memorable feature of the Yuaa from the time were their voices, these were the result of a much larger voicebox than that found in the kin'toni at the time, this enlarged voice box allowed the priests to preach their sermons in clear and loud voices.

So that even those that were approaching them from a distance were able to hear clearly the messages of the shepherd that Yuaa wished to convey. This voice box also allowed them to sing in the most melodious of voices, and as they travelled the roads, the Yuaa would sing praises to the shepherd in order to keep their spirits lifted during their journeys through the most stark landscapes of Taerel. Later onwards when the kin'toni became an important attachment of not only the law making bodies of the kingdom but also the implementation of the law.

There was a perceptible shift in the nature of their eyes, a feature that continues to remain with them today unlike enlarged voice boxes and the lean frame. The Yuaa eyes are certainly a shock for those who have never seen them before, seeming to glow with knowledge, the eyes of the Yuaa have added much to the authority they claim in leading the people of Itkal. Although it is not completely understood what triggered the change in the eyes and hw it spread thorugh the population of the clan so quickly, it is established that it happened around the time when they had begun to manage the laws of the Itkali Kingdom.

It is quite difficult to describe the eyes for they are not truly unique in their shape or colour but only in the manner with which they seem to focus on their subjects, contracting and expanding as the Yuaa speak, their eyes have said to cause many a kin'toni that looked at them for too long to fall sick or unwell. The Yuaa are said to be able tell when a kin'toni is lying through the use of their eyes and although there are no concrete evidences for this fact little has been said to dispute this fact either.

Lastly, the most recent change in the Yuaa has been with their ability to perform complex arithmetic and their frames, which have expanded to a significant proportion since the times when the Yuaa kin'toni would tour the whole kingdom. They have dark pink irises with black sclerae and a vertical slit pupils

Culture

The Yuaa culture is perhaps one of the most insulated cultures in the whole kin'toni world, for although many of their ceremonies are performed publicly, the general populace of the kin'toni is unable to understand the significance or the contents of the ceremonies that are performed. This is because of the language that the Yuaa clan adopted after claiming the responsibility of the village administration in subsequence of the Shattering. The language is referred to as Imperial Itkali and is very different from the Itkali language that is spoken by the common populace of the kingdom.

The reason for the evolution and adoption of the Itkali kingdom has been two fold, and was publicly explained through announcements by the first emperor who approved the transfer of all official records of the empire to be kept by the Yuaa priests. In order to understand the reason for the development of Imperial Itkali we must first understand Itkali culture at a little more depth. Once of the defining features of Itkali culture is their aversion to the written word, almost all records of the Itkali government were maintained in the form of oral records.

And this meant that the power of the empire was severely concentrated in the hands of those individual kin'toni that had the training and the education to maintain and access those oral records, these kin'toni eventually came to found the noble houses of the Itkali kingdom. After the Shattering when power was to be transmitted and shared with the Yuaa, the difficulty of the transmission of the oral records was a point that was brought to the attention of the first Emperor.

And suggestions made to begin the practice of written records at least only in the management of the kingdoms most essential functions. Given their recent ascendance, the Yuaa were given the task of creating the written records, and they encountered a unique problem. The Itkali language was never meant to be used for the purpose of written communication and although a form of the written script did exist at the time, the script was barely of any utility, complex figures and concepts could not be explained with ease or comfort.

Therefore the Yuaa proposed the formation of a new language one which would allow them to communicate difficult information efficiently and accurately. So the imperial Itkali was founded by the Yuaa, who made the decision to have the language be completely separate from Itkali not only in terms of written script but also in origin. They revived an old zu'aan language that had been used in the governance of one of the largest provinces of the Xerea Empire, and moulded to the context of the kin'toni world, most remarkable of all was the feature of the script.

Where the Itkali script had made use of alphabets, the Imperial language was made using pictographs, these allowed for the condensation of information into a few marks of the pen rather than having several marks to convey barely a word of the language. Soon the imperial Itkali language began to completely replace the original Itkali language to the point that all royal communication and proceedings were in the imperial language.

Government

The governance of the Yuaa is perhaps not unique in arrangement but rather in practice, for like almost all other kin'toni clans the most important basis upon which roles within the clan are decided is through the basis of age, the most elder of the kin'toni are given the burden of leadership, and this is similarly the case with the Yuaa as well. The most important position in the Yuaa is that of the kin'toni Crook, so named after the instrument that the shepherd was known to carry in the ministration of his herd.

All those below the crook are known by the rank of kin'toni Nala-Ua, and are meant to represent the animals that shepherd had tamed and depended upon in regulating his herds. The kin'toni crook is the eldest kin'toni of the Yuaa, and is said to have been converted by the shepherd himself, he is also said to have been present when the shepherd embraced the sun and returned to the embrace of the nature he had drawn his breath from. The word of the kin'toni crook is scripture.

He is known to converse very little, spending the majority of his time in deep contemplation within the uppermost canopies of the Cataract bog. He confers often with the Itkali king, and besides being the head of the religion of the shepherd and thus being an important political officer of the kingdom, the crook is known to also be a close confidant of the king himself. At the time of the death of the first emperor, it was the crook who is said to have been most instrumental in not only choosing the next monarch but also ensuring that the transition of power was smooth and without trouble.

The kin'toni crook is also said to be personally involved in the selection of zu'aan that are to be converted to the bloodline of the Yuaa. Besides attending the meetings with the current monarch, and helping in the selection of those that would be given the privilege of the Yuaa blood, the crook is said to not be involved in any other aspects of the administration of the Yuaa clan, that responsibility is reserved for those that fall under the rank of the kin'toni Nala-Uas.

The Nala-Uas maintain the records of the whole clan and make the administrative decisions in a council that they all agree to unanimously. The council of the Nala-Uas is not only responsible for selecting the Yuaa priests that are to be sent out into the villages for roles as the leaders of the villages but also in detail discuss what matters are to be included into the oral records that are transmitted and shared with the common populace of the Itkali kingdom.

In this way the kin'toni Nala-Uas are able to maintain an iron grip on both the hearts and the minds of the people of the Itkali kingdom. In a lot of ways the Yuaa have begun to outshine even the king and his clan in the heads of the local populace.

Military

The Yuaa have never had an active military service of their own, given their unique role within the Itkali kingdom, the priest clan does not have to meet the annual conscriptions that are exacted from the other clans that live within the Itkali kingdom. However, the Yuaa are present in great numbers when an enemy is set to the field, their role at the time is to ensure that the morale of the troops that are present is always high and that they do-not lose heart even in the face of impossible odds.

The presence of the purely whit clad kin'toni priests within the mix of the soldiers is truly an eerie sight, and although the Yuaa do not descend to the battle themselves, they have been known to accompany fighting soldiers in particularly important battles or during their last stand. It is the presence of the Yuaa priests coupled with the fervour of the kin'toni soldiers of Itkal that truly make a difference in the combat of the Itkali armies, enemy generals have remarked that perhaps the discipline of the Itkali forces has a great deal to do with the presence of the Yuaa priests.

Who in the minds of the soldiers are representatives of the Shepherd, the kin'toni god in whom they place their whole trust. The garb of the Yuaa that is assigned to the armies differs significantly from that worn by the Yuaa that man the villages as well as those that administer the King’s rule within the capital. The Yuaa that are sent to war are garbed in the purest of white cloth, with their heads shaved, and the only colour besides the white of their clothes and the pale complexion of their skins is that of their stark and alien eyes.

Among the members of the clan, those that are chosen to serve in the armies of the kingdom are known to have this adaptation of the eyes most well developed. The Yuaa that function as priests in the armies are therefore known to be able to captivate a large contingent of the army troops with the fervour of passion for service to the throne and to the shepherd. It is a position of privilege and although many kin'toni from the clan apply for a position to the Itkali armies only the best are chosen by the council of the Nala-Uas,

Once a Yuaan priest has served at least two tours within the armies, the kin'toni in question can expect rewards from the throne as well as advancement within the ranks of the Yuaa themselves. The Yuaan priests themselves have a training college for those of the kin'toni that have been selected to serve in the armies, and although the main teachings in the college are about the administration of the way of the shepherd for the soldiers fighting the wars in his name.

They are also taught the trade of the soldier so as to allow greater understanding of their charges and to allow them to allow them to associate with their flock at a deeper level.

Religion

The Yuaa preach the religion of the shepherd, a religion established by the first emperor himself, and followed not only by the subjects of the Itkali people but also by several thousand kin'toni from other nations in Erea as well as kin'toni nations across the oceans on landmasses like Canlai. The religion of the shepherd preaches a holy path for the life of a kin'toni that was preached by the Shepherd, a kin'toni of the first generation that is said to have been chosen by god and nature to outline the right path of life for the kin'toni in the future generations.

There is very little direct evidence about the past of the shepherd, and his actual origins, although the holy scriptures outline in detail how the shepherd came to be, although their account has never been confirmed by any researcher or scholar. For the people of Itkal it is the word of the priests of Yuaa that matters most and these priests preach the words of the kin'toni crook who has written of the life of the Shepherd in the holy account, that has since then been converted into a holy book that the Itkali people live and swear by.

The Sherperd’s lament is the name given to the account of the Shepherd’s life and his teachings, and it details the way of life for the ideal kin'toni so as to ensure harmony with nature and a place in God’s heaven. It is common knowledge that the zu'aan created the instrument through which the kin'toni came to be, some dispute this claim by believing that it was through the intervention of nature, and although the zu'aan’ machines did create the medium of the conversion.

It was actually nature that had interrupted the process and led to the birth of the kin'toni people who would eventually sweep away the zu'aan that had been continually destroying the nature’s elements. The Itkali priests do believe in this account but believe that there was a secondary bloodline for the kin'toni of the Itkali people, and that is the bloodline of the shepherd’s clan. The Shepherd’s clan lived in the depths of the Cataract bog during the height of the power of the Xerea Empire.

Their bond with nature was pure and strong, and as the health of the bog began to diminish due to the polluting practices of the zu'aan, the shepherd’s clan began to die away. According the Shepherd’s lament, the shepherd witnessed the death of all the people he had held dear in his life, until only a handful of them remained. Taking pity on the fate of these handful of zu'aan that had forever loved and serviced nature, they were granted a boon, through which they were transformed into something more than zu'aan and kin'toni both.

The oral record of the shepherd details a highly painful and excruciating process and the death of all but three members of the Shepherd’s clan. The other two kin'toni to be made through this process are believed to be the progenitors of the royal clan of Itkal while the other the one for Yuaa.

Miscellany

The Yuaa follow the oral records passed down through the centuries of the Shepherd’s lament, the now written book is what most Yuaa clan members meditate upon in contemplation. Said to be the book of all knowledge, it is a common practice for the clan members to begin the day by opening the book to a random page and then contemplating the opened page throughout day. The book is a tragic tale of the shepherd’s life, beginning from the time of the Xerea Empire when the zu'aan habitations had already decimated all the living species on the planet.

It details how upon the invasion of their village within what was once a lush forest in the region that is now occupied by the Cataract bog, the shepherds clan escaped into the deepest parts of the forest. Nature in this part of the forest was strong, and terribly angry with zu'aan, it unleashed all its fury on the small clan of the zu'aan that had fully come into its realm. Nearly all of the hundred members of the shepherd’s clan succumbed to death by disease, hunger or an animal attack.

And when all but ten of the clan members were left, which included not only his mother, wife, and children, the shepherd himself close to the precipice of death prayed. The shepherd prayed to God for succour for his family and offered his own life in tribute, the earnestness of his prayer along with the sheer selflessness of it was such that nature was moved. It spoke to the shepherd through the wind and breather the secret of life into his ears and that of his companions.

The pureness of the knowledge imparted meant that it could not live within a zu'aan vessel, and so all those that heard the secret of life were transformed. This was not an easy transition, involving the whole breakdown of their body and rebuilding from within, the process was too painful for his young children and his wife and mother were too weak to survive the change. So upon the very precipice of death his wife noting the shepherds own weakening body bade him drink her life.

And though the shepherd wept with grief he fed on his wife’s life in order to ensure that the knowledge that had been entrusted by nature to the Shepherd was passed on. Upon the completion of the change, only but two of his companions remained, both distant cousins, and they were made into tools of nature itself. In their new forms, they were armed with the might of the nature and god, but since they were still new to these forms they were unable to use them to their fullest abilities.

All but the shepherd learned to exact a transformation of the body through their blood, but they unlike the shepherd could not cause the change of heart that the shepherd was able to exact. When finally the other two clan members passed away they left behind their blood which became the seed for the Itkali nation. The Shepherd’s lament is a large book that details several more ordeals but it is an account of the transformation that has been publicly denied by the authorities of Nara as well as Ashat.

Nearby Groups

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Yuaa Kin'toni Clan

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