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T R I B A L _ S A V A G E S
Cultural Overview
Origins
Society & Language
Religious Inclination & Alignment
Tradition & Rituals
TL;DR - Savages in Short
Become a Tribal Savage
OriginsCultural Overview
Origins
Society & Language
Religious Inclination & Alignment
Tradition & Rituals
TL;DR - Savages in Short
Become a Tribal Savage
The first known record of encounters with Savages date back to the winter of 2279 near a colony town called [Eventine]. The colonists there had set up a base for the sake of surviving and gathering knowledge of their surroundings. Their plans were heavily disrupted at first contact with a savage. It was scarcely dressed and spoke a language the colonists did not understand. After this first meeting, the colonists found their stocks regularly stolen from and they decided to fortify. The colonists reported the following in a journal excerpt:
"The next time they came to steal from us, we were ready for them. We fought them off easily, they were no match for our weaponry. We killed three that day, after they turned hostile towards us. Within the next week, there were bodies strung up from the neck in a tree across the river. Not long after, the savages launched a full scale attack in the night. We retaliated and tracked them through the forest, where we found their huts and homes. What we should do with this knowledge is still being discussed."
The continent of Eventine at one point got overrun with the undead, and the population of Altera moved in a [great migration] overseas to the new continent which we live in now: The Eastern Kingdoms. The savages had known the route or might've slipped aboard a few ships, for the same tribe was later pinpointed to be located on [Horror Island]. An island that had gotten that name due to the unholy ritual sites, skulls, bones and bodies found in the caves beneath the surface of the island. The Dwarves of [Dunasten] made an attempt to claim the island for themselves and systematically succeeded in banishing (read: wiping out) the Savages from the island. Part of the reason was to settle their own town of [Hurr Nor] there. Another part of the reason was that the savages had acquired quite a lot of Gold. An excerpt from a Dwarven journal mentions the following about this campaign:
"We went through the caves; once a week a different one. What we found down there was akin the horrors of Jishrim or Skraag themselves. We cleared a cave filled with spiders of all kinds. Seemingly the savages had once lived there too and the spiders took over. Yet, sometimes I couldn't shake the feeling they were... Feeding them? Keeping them in that cave. In a matter of weeks we cleared the entire island for Khorug, and settled our refinery town of Hurr Nor."
For a long time, this was the last anyone had ever heard of any Tribal Savages, except of course the more sociable [Engems]. Recently, however, one of the tribesmen, [Ahya'iki], has made its presence known in a gathering in Storm's Landing, during a strange black fog that rolled in from the sea. Are these savages co-conspirators, or are they as worried as the average civilian about these recent world-threatening events?
The Tribal Savages have always been away from society and most recently organized themselves into the Bwabo Tribe, taking refuge in their [Sacred Grove]. Nobody is allowed to walk the Grove unless they are of Tribal Birth or have taken the Ritual of Sanctification. The tribe does not speak common tongue, nor do they feel the need to attempt learning it. They've got very little to no knowledge on societal topics or social hierarchy in civilization. The Bwabo speak their own language, referred to by outsiders as "Savage Speak". The tribe lives in quite primitive conditions, making them very reliant on the timing of natural events, the weather, and thus; the Gods.
The tribe is lead by the individuals that are most in tune with the Gods, or in other words; those whose rituals have proven to have the most effect. Tribes-people look up to these individuals in times of need, they ask them for advice, and take them very seriously. Most of a Tribal person's life is focused around death. To them, death is the most holy of things and their whole life is fated towards it, so that they may end up in the best place possible. The tribes people live in square 'boxes' with a face carved in them on the west-facing side. The sun sets in the west, the moon sinks there too, so the whole house must face the place where the great things in life seize to be.
Known Words so far
Bwabo - Together
Eikeesh - The name of a game in which participants throw coins to a wall, the coin closest to the wall wins all.
Yamaho - Hello / greeting
(For more, see the next comment)
Religious Inclination & Alignment
Through their disconnection with the rest of the world, they've come to worship the Gods differently. They've never been given the tenets, nor have they ever visited a church with any names written. Instead, tradition has passed down through the ages which rituals and actions provoked a reaction from which entities, and two of these entities have turned out to be most favorable for their immediate needs and belief-system. The Bwabo worship primarily both [Jishrim] and [The Grey Lady]. They refer to Jishrim as the Black Creature of Eight and to The Grey Lady as The Shrouded Lady.
Their belief-system is based around the idea that on birth, The Grey Lady already knows which realm will become their afterlife. As such, they believe that everyone's destiny is fated. Because everything is fated to happen, the Bwabo belief strongly in Omens. The only way for someone to change their fate, is through the power of Chaos. Chaos is from which the Bwabo believe the strongest beings draw their power. When the omens show that it is to become a week with meager yield from the hunt, the tribe will use prayers and rituals to Jishrim to enhance chaos and change the fate in their favor.
As such, the Bwabo are a Chaotic Neutral aligned people. Their motivations for what others may consider sights only heard of in horror stories are mainly based on the belief-system explained above. Jishrim is the only God who in their eyes has the power to change the fates to benefit them. Those fates are set by The Grey Lady.
Traditions & Rituals
The main thought behind most rituals is that there is a way to communicate with the dead. So disposing of the dead entirely through cremation or burial is considered heresy. Instead, the Bwabo keep parts of their loved ones within their daily life, because they belief their soul is still attached to particular bits of the body, through which they may forever be together. The problem with this is of course that outsiders will see exactly their rituals as horrific heresy and evil doing.
Rituals of The Shrouded Lady
Shrunken Heads: The faces of loved ones are very carefully carved from their skull and then hung to dry. Under the right conditions, this loose skin shrinks into a smaller and more wrinkly version of that person's face. These shrunken heads are often put near doorways of dwellings, so that their loved ones may still see each other on a daily basis.
Cannibalism: When a person died and the face is removed from the skull, their vital organs and flesh is rendered off the bones and then consumed. The consumption of the body has a strict hierarchical order, in which the people closest to the person will have first pickings. Traditionally, the love-partner takes the heart and eyes. The family members then take most of the skin and then the more distant the relation, the more they are left with what is left. However, it's immensely impolite and borderline heresy to refuse eating a part when it is offered, as it is a great honor to become partly one with the deceased.
Skull Tombs: The tribes people live in square 'boxes' with a face carved in them on the west-facing side. The skull and bones of that person are put in a small box, which is then put within a smaller variant of the traditional house; a square small stone-brick face. This face is then rolled off the side of a specific cliff. The further it rolls, the more satisfied the deceased has been with the death-rituals performed for them.
Rituals of the Black Creature of Eight
Breeding & Feeding Spiders: The most common of rituals, already preformed by small tribal kids, is the keeping of spiders as a pet. The larger spiders, once they get too dangerous, are put in a large place where food can be delivered, but the spider can't escape. Through sacrificing small things to the spider by feeding it, the person asks for chaos to change the current fates surrounding that person.
Sacrifice of choice: To create chaos, sacrifices to the black creature of eight can come in many shapes, yet they must always be personal. Some have sacrificed bits of their mind to ensure a chaotic event for the greater good. One may sacrifice bits of themselves to change the fates of others, but only to change them for the better. When someone is caught changing a fate for the worse, they themselves are sacrificed by feeding them to a spider. Such rash reactions and meaningful sacrifices keep the tribe in a very unsteady and wary state, which enhances the effect they may have to their own fates, or so they think.
Mixed Rituals
Dream Changing: Through the consumption of certain plants and the inhaling of smokes, a shaman may lead a single person or group through a hallucinatory trip, where they may give or take from each other's stores of luck, time, love and illness. To the tribe, luck is as much a substance as sand. Someone may have a lot of bad luck and can reduce this by giving it to someone else who is willing to take it. These substances can never be removed without given to another. They stick.
Memorial Art: When great or unexplained things happen, the tribe has a tendency to record them for generations to come. This has caused their holy grove to be filled with scattered statues representing different things. One of these statues represents the moment when the black fog 'Strange' created a replica of Ahya'iki with a golden staff. Not only statues, but also drawings, song, and plays are created in the name of either two Gods.
The Sanctification: People who are not of tribal savage birth may still be allowed to walk the sacred grove if they become a part of the tribe. This ritual will make them such. The ritual differs per person and is tailored to their persona. Whatever the tribe believes is necessary to cleanse them enough to satisfy their Gods.
TL;DR Bwabo in Short
They date back to 2279 - Eventine in the old world. Then they were found at Horror Island. Now they're in the world as a playable character again, still possessing plenty of gold. They do not understand normal societal topics in civilization. They have their own language. They worship both Jishrim and The Grey Lady from a neutral perspective; their culture is heavily focused on death and afterlife with chaos being the only thing to influence it. They've got all sorts of rituals that may seem vile or evil, but their motivations for them are never for evil.
Become a Bwabo
Currently we're with three of us: Bok'ra (Retro Hagrid ), Iqya'te (Shao ) and Ayha'iki (myself)
If you wish to join this culture with a new character, send an application to me personally.
Put in this app: Your ingame-name, a character profile of the character you wish to play (May be as small as the one of Ayha'iki (link in story above)), motivation why you wish to play a Tribal Savage.
If you wish to join in with an existing character, be ready for a lot of roleplay!
You'll be following these guidelines for RolePlay:
- At the very beginning, you do not know any Common Language. You communicate with tribal-sounding words and gestures.
- You respect the lore as above, worshiping either one or both of the Gods named above and no other God.
- You do not have to have a neutral character. This lore gives enough reason for a tribesman/woman to grow up Good or Evil too.
- You are aware of the rituals and their meaning, and so will your character be.
- You will not easily mingle with groups of people, stay in character; these are a people that have been away from civilization because civilization does not understand them. Of course, you may make friends and RP with random people, but when in a big group, try to stand out as what you are; a tribal savage.
- Savage Grove is sacred ground, you only take people there who are willing to be part of the tribe and submit to a ritual to allow them to walk the sacred grounds in the eyes of the two Gods.
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