Zageight Kin'toni Clan

History

The Zageight was one of the last clans to be formed after the battle at Vorusk. The Zagezwar clan had retreated after a long fight and had formed a clan with the prisoners from the battle. The Ormis Kin'toni Clan was formed by Zagez’s lover and her two friends who had fled from the battle after Zagez died. The Voont Kin'toni Clan Kin’toni had fled from the Vorusk city after surviving the battle as they did not want to stay where they had faced so much loss, both as Zu’aan and as Kin’toni. The Zageight clan was originally formed by the Kin’toni who had fled from the battle between the Zagez followers and the survivors in Vorsuk.

They had taken off as soon as their leader, Zagez, had died in the battle. They were hopeful that their people would have survived so they did not go far. They were a group of five Kin’toni who hid until they heard the sounds of the battle subside. They stopped any of the Kin’toni who were fleeing the scene in singles (as in, only one person) and they told them they could wait out the battle with them, regardless of whether they had black sclera or white. After the sounds of battle subsided, the survivors waited until they thought it was safe before they slowly made their way back to the city.

Unfortunately, they had chosen their time badly. They missed the Zagezwar, Voont and Vorusk clans leaving the city, but they arrived before the Ormis Kin’toni. Thus, they thought the city was abandoned and realised they would have to find their own way in the world. They raided the Kin’toni bodies for any supplies they could find, and then went off into the forest. In the forest, they wandered for four days and five nights, barely coming across any Zu’aan, almost starving before one of the Kin’toni had a mental breakdown. He started screaming and crying and scratched at his own face until he had claw marks covering his own face.

Then, he sat up bolt straight, as though shot with electricity, and started marching with purpose. The rest of the Kin’toni followed him, trying to stop him, and considering whether they should just let him go off. However, following him was advantageous for them. That Kin’toni, Loma’ru, guided them straight to the mouth of a cave system that was not even visible until the thick bushes in front of it were moved. After reaching here, Loma’ru collapsed and started shaking. The rest of the Kin’toni dragged him inside and finally made their way into the cave.

This cave became their home. They learned that the cave system was incredibly complex and dangerous and tried not to go deeper than they needed to. They accepted Loma’ru as their religious leader, and wholly believed that there was a divine intervention involved in their survival. Over time, Loma’ru was named the Prophet and High Priest of one of the palaeolithic zu’aan deities; J’kar the Night King, god of shadows, secrets, and order. Many of the Zageight believe that it was J’kar who guided Loma’ru, and as a result the other kin’toni who would form the Zageight, to the cave where the clan now lives.

This belief was heavily reinforced after the discovery of various resources like the il’matha plant, a versatile vine that grew on the cliff sides near the cave’s entrance, and the natural mineral spring that eventually became the Tabernacle of J’kar. The fact that the Zageight kin’toni continually adapted for silent movement and life away from the sun was also a major part of their belief in the Night King. After Loma’ru’s death, his apprentice Imal’ra was named High Priest. While Loma’ru was highly eccentric and prone to long fits of madness, Imal’ra was level-headed and had already developed a reputation for his skills in fairly arbitrating disputes within the clan.

Imal’ra helped to solidify the J’karist daith while also reminding the Zageight people that it was still their responsibility to care for each other and to work their hardest to hone their skills to their sharpest point. With the help of Imal’ra the Wise and the Chieftain he had anointed, a skilled hunter referred to as Mi’thal the Swift in Zageight records, the Zageight kin’toni flourished and thrived within their darkened cave system. The current High Priest of J’kar is Ri’shan the Austere with Ki’ra the Brave being the current Cheiftain.

Biology

The Zageight Kin’toni were a cave dwelling Kin’toni clan that did not often venture outside of their intricate cave system. Since they had been inhabiting the caves for two hundred and fifty years, their bodies adapted to the climates and living conditions. Since they spent most of their time inside the caves, the Zageight Kin’toni’s eyes had to adapt to the bad lighting. The white sclera of the Kin’toni who had been infected in the Vorusk city became prominent as it was better suited for living in the dark. All the Kin’toni who had originally arrived in the caves had had vertical slit pupils, but such small pupils were not ideal for the dark caves.

Over the years, their eyes expanded until they had large, round pupils with little to no iris. This was a necessary development as it allowed enough light into their eyes for them to be able to see comfortably in the dark caves. However, it made the Zageight more sensitive to light, making it more difficult for them to move around outside the caves during the day. Thus, they avoided leaving the caves while the sun was up. Their irises were also almost devoid of colour. They had originally had multi-coloured irises as all of them came from different places, however their eyes eventually changed to a pale lilac colour that better reflected light into their pupils.

This gave their eyes an eerie look the irises almost merged into the sclerae, leaving the pupils as the most visible part of the eye. Additionally, Zageight have enhanced olfactory, auditory, and tactile receptors that make navigating their caves easier. Their lack of exposure to the sun also made their skin develop a pale, almost translucent grey colour. Because of the odd colour of their skin, Zageight kin’toni that have fed recently have a light pink shade, with their skin becoming more red as they consume more blood. The less blood they had access to, the closer they were in shade to white. They usually tried to feed and hunt frequently enough to maintain their shade at a healthy pink.

The clan members were quite short and stout, ranging from 155 cm to 170 cm in height, and 50 kg to 60 kg in weight.

Culture

The Zageight kin’toni soon created their own identity as a spiritual people who believed strongly in individual freedom. While not zealots, the Zageight’s faith in J’kar is deeply entwined in their traditions and daily lives. Every Zageight can be seen praying before they food. They did not find the need to wear clothes, except when they were hunting where they wore tight loincloths. Zageight hunting parties are typically made of one military man as the leader, a priest to administer first aid, and two civilian hunters that have proven themselves in a coming of age ceremony.

Because of the lack of clothing in their society, the Zageight will adorn themselves with tattoos and body paint to distinguish themselves from one another. The locations of the tattoos signify their importance, with tattoos on the back being used to signify family and the chest for personal accomplishments. Only members of the military are permitted to tattoo their arms as a way to signify their ranks. Scars over tattoos or marked out tattoos are often a sign of disgrace or abandonment. Zageight are also largely asexual in nature as, like their bretheren, they reproduce by turning zu’aan into kin’toni.

However, many Zageight outside of the J’karist clergy will often choose a life partner to spend their lives with and to provide for. Because they live underground, Zageight kin’toni learned to work stone in a way that allowed them to take advantage of the cave system into which they retreated, creating intricate carving to allow people to navigate the intricate cave systems with relative ease. Stone tablets are also carved with their history and literature while a massive relief carving of the story of how the Zageight came to be, depicting Loma’ru and other significant religious figures as saints.

When it comes to feeding, Zageight tradition is for the hunting party that brought in the kill are the first to feed, followed by the High Priest, the Chieftain, the members of the Familial Council, and then the rest of the population starting from the youngest to the oldest. Food is also taken directly to the Tabernacle of J’kar where it is distributed first to the infirmed, then the clergy, and finally the Spring Keeper. The caves of the Zageight are unfit for growing any sort of crop, but there is a mildly psychedelic mushroom that this clan of kin’toni cultivates.

The mushroom is used both recreationally in small doses and in larger doses to keep zu’aan captives from fighting back or feel any pain from being drained of their blood. When a member of the Zageight dies, they are buried with any worldly possessions that they have not left to others. The ceremony takes several days and involves the family placing the items into a familial memorial cave that either has formed naturally or has been carefully dug out, and then multiple clergymen will pray over the body of the deceased in hopes that J’kar will claim their soul.

They then believe that the soul passes on to one of two afterlives; Tha’ael, a paradise of gentle shadows and perfect order ruled by J’kar, or Gol’imath, an endless void of light and fire where the soul of the wicked burn for eternity. The Zageight are simultaneously reclusive and open-armed; while none receive explicit invitations to become a part of their kin’toni clan, any who find the entrance to their cave are welcomed as Zageight. If a zu’aan finds the cavern entrance, they are turned and become part of the family of the kin’toni that turns them.

Government

The Zageight kin’toni government is a theocracy, with the clan’s High Priest or High Priestess being the one to appoint the clan’s Chieftain, who is typically assisted by their spouse in keeping the peace and ensuring that the clan is cared for and happy. A Chieftain will serve for a minimum of 5 years, after which the High Priest will evaluate the Chieftain's progress and popularity; if the Chieftain has done a good job, he serves another 5 years and the cycle continues either until the Chieftain’s death or until the High Priest selects a new Chieftain.

While the family of the Chieftain is strongly in the public eye of the clan, there is never a guarantee that the eldest child will be the one to rise to be the next Chieftain. This tradition was started when the prophet Loma’ru chose one of the kin’toni he was travelling with to be the the leader of their then small group. Unfortunately, the man he chose was unfit for the job, but was able to become an effective leader with the assistance of his spouse. Aside from the Chieftain and the High Priest, there is also a Council that presents issues to the Chief and advises him on different matters.

The Council is composed of seven kin’toni who are selected by the head of the family to represent that family in front of the Chief. To attain a seat on the council, one’s family must have at least four generations and a minimum size of fifty members. While a seat on the council is considered prestigious, it is not a position that is actively sought after by Zageight as they view a desire for power as selfish. There are two tattoos for the Council; a pair of skeletal wings on the back to signify that a family has a seat on the Council and a small dash under each eye to signify that one is a member of the Council.

The Familial Council, the Chieftain, and the High Priest are the ones who select hunting parties and must decide on members unanimously before sending out the party. They are also the second to feed after a successful hunt, with the hunting party having the honour of first blood.

Military

The military of the Zageight kin’toni clan is relatively weak due to being physically weaker than other kin’toni. The Zageight are able to compensate for their physical weakness with their stealth, agility, and cunning. Zageight hunting parties are formidable mainly because of their numbers, but Zageight are also highly capable combatants with ranged weapons such as slings and bows, but have a preference for throwing small, smooth stones. They are able to hit the head of a zu’aan in almost complete darkness from almost 60 metres away with a single throw.

This is largely in part to the large back and chest muscles they developed from generations of climbing and scaling the stone walls of their cavernous home. Zageight also have a preference for ambush tactics, often hiding amongst the cliffs near their home and waiting for unlucky zu’aan traveller groups. These tactics were far more useful in the beginning of establishing themselves, but proved ineffective against larger zu’aan groups. Survivors of large groups of zu’aan that were ambushed by the Zageight quickly ran to nearby cities and spread the word of a deadly kin’toni clan that could kill a man with a single throw of a stone, leading to the zu’aan finding alternate travel routes.

To counter the zu’aan newer routes, the Zageight began sending out smaller hunting parties to look for smaller groups of prey and began using bone daggers and spears with sharpened stone stone tips to more quickly eliminate prey. Zageight will also often resort to distraction tactics, which they mastered due to the great deal of blind monsters inhabiting the caves where they live. Decoy tactics are also commonly used by this particular clan of kin’toni and have proven especially effective when hunting groups of zu’aan up to six people in size.

One Zageight will be in the path or in a clearing and hold the attention of the zu’aan while hunters will silently start picking off members of the group from behind. The now unconscious group of zu’aan will be brought back to the cave and fed upon shortly after they awake. While weaker than other kin’toni clans, the Zageight are still significantly stronger than a vast majority of the zu’aan. The Zageight possess an enhanced grip strength that makes their grappling and wrestling capabilities greater than many other kin’toni. Despite their combative prowess, the Zageight will more often than not avoid conflict with other clans over food and prefer to keep to themselves.

Religion

The Zageight kin’toni believe that Loma’ru was a prophet of J’kar, a god of night and order. Zageight J’karism is monotheistic and preaches obedience of authority, patience, and self-control in all things. Because of these core beliefs, the Zageight are a very stern people that come across as aloof and emotionless, but are simply in extreme control of their bodies and emotions. J’karism also has scriptures about supporting the community, but prioritising people’s individual freedoms. J’karist clergymen are the only Zageight who wear clothes outside of hunting, but still only wear simple loincloths and hoods made of leather with the symbol of J’karism, a bone hammer inside of a crescent moon, tattooed on their collarbone.

They will also put on red face paint in an “X” pattern to honour the prophet Loma’ru, who had scratched out his face before finding the cave that saved the Zageight. The High Priest of J’kar is the only Zageight who can be seen fully clothed in leather robes, hide boots, and carries a gnarled wooden staff that Loma'ru used to support himself in his twilight years. While Loma’ru is by far the most important figure in the religious history of the Zageight, there are others such as Imal’ra the Wise, Loma’ru’s successor and apprentice, who wrote down the teachings of his mentor and started the tradition of J’karist priests learning how to treat wounds.

The Tabernacle of J’kar was constructed in a cavern containing a natural spring of water believed to have healing properties granted by the deity (when in reality the minerals in the spring simply assist in the relaxation and recovery of strained muscles). The Spring was discovered by the priest Akar’el during one of the first explorations into the elaborate cave system inhabited by the Zageight. The refreshing rest that the small excursion party took and the fact that a priest was the first to find the spring is what began the belief that the spring was blessed.

Akar’el was then instructed by an elderly Loma’ru to claim the spring and the cavern it resided in as a holy site to dedicate to J’kar. Unfortunately, Loma’ru passed away shortly after construction of the Tabernacle began. Because the Tabernacle was so early into its construction when High Priest Loma’ru died, one of the first chambers to finish construction was a mausoleum that would be used to bury every High Priest. After the construction of the Tabernacle was finished, the newly appointed High Priest Imal’ra anointed Akar’el as the abbot of the holy site, bestowing him with the title of Spring Keeper.

The Tabernacle was then used to house the clergy of J’kar, store the written teachings of Loma’ru the Progenitor and Imal’ra the Wise, and serve as an infirmary for ill and injured Zageight. When it comes to death and the soul, the Zageight believe in two afterlives. Tha’ael is their paradise. It is believed to be an endless expanse of perfectly organised caverns and caves with endless resources where the souls of the Zageight live in peace and prosperity under the direct rule of the Night King, J’kar. In Tha’ael, all are considered equal and are given the same type of cavern regardless of the status or material possessions attained in life.

Gol’imath is an endless void of sunlight and fire where the souls of wicked Zageight burn for eternity, with the severity of their sins determining their proximity to Gol’kimar, the source of the painful light. Those considered demons like the bloodthirsty Ra’alim Al’imaq are said to be chained directly under Gol’kimar, screams silenced by their spiritual flesh being burned away to ash and dust.

Miscellany

Amongst the Zageight, there is a warrior of great renown known as Ra’alim Al’imaq, which translates roughly to Al’imaq the Crimson. Al’imaq was a Zageight who went out on a hunting trip and proceeded to single-handedly wipe out a group of five zu’aan warriors, feeding on two until they were nothing but dried husks. While other clans may have revered such a warrior as no less than divine, the other Zageight refer to Ra’alim Al’imaq as a demon of greed and bloodlust and often depict him in carvings and illustrations as a kin’toni with a wicked smile, greatly elongated fangs, and blood covering his lower jaw, chest and arms from the elbow down.

For members of the Familial Council that have abdicated their seat, a second dash is added under the first. Abdicating a seat on the council is considered honourable and Zageight with two dashes under each eye are highly revered in the community. The ink used for the tattoos is made from the various berries and flowers that can be found in and around the entrance to the cave. The darkest ink used is an indigo ink made from the lichen that grows in one of the deeper caves of the cavern system. The Zageight hunters are considered to be masters of stealth and gruella tactics.

Many zu’aan scholars believe that Imal’ra the Wise was once a zu’aan scribe before the kin’toni emerged. Those zu’aan that have survived encounters with the Zageight often go insane from grief and fear, with the face paint of various kin’toni hunters haunting their dreams and memories. The staff of Loma’ru is sacred to the Zageight, to the point that only the High Priest is permitted to touch the relic. The il’matha plant has four primary uses; the bright yellow flowers are dried and mixed with animal fat for usage as body paint, while the gourds that form from the flowers can be hollowed out and dried to be used as storage vessels.

The vine itself is very strong and is often braided into the ropes the Zageight uses for traps and other utility while the broad leaves can be used as dressing for small or shallow wounds. Zu’aan scholars that first saw the essentially nudist clan of kin’toni were perturbed, with notes being visibly more erratic and short-handed, to the amusement of many academics.

Nearby Groups

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Zageight Kin'toni Clan

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