| 1. Rules | |||
| 2. Culture | |||
| 3. Kingdom Map | |||
| 4. Magick Guide |
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A dragon named Ereshkigal created a world. She made the land and sky, the animals the plants and the luktai out of her own blood and the Void. The luktai followed the OldWays, as they are now called. The OldWays held magick as sacred, to be used only at the most urgent of times. The land was healthy, everyone coexisted, and all was well. They all worshipped Ereshkigal, the land was called HerWorld. After her time of creation was over, she became tired. She slept underneath what is now Ilhenke, and as she slept, HerWorld changed. The Great War broke out between the Ancient, High, Common, and Low classes. Luktai were torn between the OldWays and a new way of life. Rebels appeared in all classes who wanted a hierarchial society ruled by the Ancient and High classes. It is said in some tales that the rebels were led by a son of Ereshkigal, though it has never been confirmed that Ereshkigal ever gave birth. The battles of the Great War were often fought by espionage and subversive ways, and was continued for years with many assassinations and silent bloodshed. Eventually, the rebelling luktai were silenced by the kuun, a sect of the rebellion that worked with the "innocent" classes to form the Royal House. The King and Queen were advised by the Royal Council in all matters. The Council went out into the Kingdom to hear out the problems of all classes of luktai. Laws were laid by the King and Queen, justice was carried out by the ekan. The ekan were also given the power and appointment to protect the luktai of all classes from being persecuted because of their magick class. The ekan prevented uprisings, worked to make conditions liveable for all classes, advised the Royal Councilors, and were sent to other worlds to protect luktai settlers. Because of this expansion into other worlds, HerWorld became OurWorld. There was peace for many generations. However, the rebels of the Great War and their descendants still met in secret underground sects. With a double circle of Ancient Magic protection, they woke Ereshkigal. For a time they controlled her, but only while she was still half-asleep. She laid underground as they wove their magick around her for days, her power fought against those who were trying to control her. When Ereshkigal fully awoke, she tore away from her bonds and in her fury began the Inferno. The Inferno came of her rage at being controlled by her own creations. She believed HerWorld had failed, and to start anew she would have to eat the hearts of the luktai and reabsorb her magick before destroying the world in fire. She flew the world over, eating the hearts of hundreds of luktai and melting the cities to the ground. As the King and royal Council came down on what is now Ilhenke together to stop the massive dragon, the Queen was nowhere to be found. She was a new Queen, and is now known as the last dragon-ordained Queen of OurWorld. It has always been rumored that the Queen was giving birth in hiding. When the Queen reappeared, the King and Council had been destroyed in what is now Ilhenke, and Ereshkigal descended upon Kuunreinka. As Ereshkigal destroyed the royal city around her, the Queen climbed to the highest battlement of Kuura and Called the dragons to OurWorld. As Ereshkigal ate the heart of the Queen, the dragons came and ripped Ereshkigal to shreds. Her Shade, which could not be destroyed, was enslaved in a Talisman protected by Elemental, Ancient, and Dragon Magick wards. The Talisman burned whoever touched it, so as it dropped to the soil of OurWorld, the land swallowed it, and Ereshkigal and the ShadeTalisman disappeared for hundreds of generations. Though OurWorld was in shambles, Ereshkigal had played into the hands of the rebels. Having infiltrated as far as the Royal Household, Ereshkigal had managed to kill all but a single heir, who was a rebel himself. He was coronated as King, but dragons did not appear at his ceremony. There have been no dragon-ordained royalty since, and OurWorld has slowly, over hundreds of generations, sunk into corruption. It is prophesized that the bloodline of the last true Queen exists unknown somewhere, and at the last, greatest hour of need, a dragon-ordained kuun will rise again.
After thousands of generations, very few know or care about the Ancient History of OurWorld. Days are spend working, surviving, staying blissfully unaware of their own past. Some of the educated, the Nobility, the Royal House, and spirit magick users who are bards and storytellers still remember. The recent history of OurWorld is still fresh in the minds of everyone, children still telling their baby brothers and sisters of what happened right before they were born. It is said that as a dekam, a luktai named Setirak found a talisman in Kuunreinka with mysterious powers. Over many years, he began to change, and was never seen without it. It is believed that the Shade Talisman had found him, and after many years of wear, it had become melded to his chest, infecting his mind, body, magick, and soul. Setirak became Setirakkuun after the old kuun died under mysterious causes. Setirakkuun never married, yet he took many carefully picked courtesans into the Royal House for his personal pleasure. His personal favorites bore him four children, dekame Kmitza, dekam Lrrak, dekame Narilsa, and dekame Mesume. The Royal Council was slowly being replaced by Setirakkuun's specially chosen members of the Nobility. Eirias was the only Councilor not replaced by a Noble. Most believe this was because Eirias was most favored by the luktai of OurWorld, but it is whispered in dark corners that there was an attempt on her life that she thwarted so effectively that no one wished to take her place. Because of Setirakkuun's lack of parenting with his children, Eirias became their guide, the onlly mother-figure they ever knew. It is said that she saw dekame Kmitza becoming selfish and cold as a young child, so Eirias took her out into OurWorld, showing how magick had corrupted everything, how people were oppressed and no longer equal, forced to survive in dismal conditions. Most of all, she show her that OurWorld was beginning to die. Dekame Kmitza was the firstborn child, and as Eirias taught her compassion, Kmitza helped to bring up first her little brother Lrrak and then her litle sister Narilsa. As the children grew up into adults and Setirak found they were unlike himself, infected with compassion and consideration for lower classes, he became angry. He arranged marriages for dekame Kmitza and dekam Lrrak. Lrrak wed Anyashy-a, a noble who was said to have tried to dabble in Ancient Magic and had failed, and now the Void controlled her. Eirias became suspicious of these marriages. It had been rare for any deka to become married before becoming kuun because if the deka were to die before becoming kuun, their mate would then become a deka. Bringing her suspicions to Kmitza, it became clear that Setirakkuun was attempting to replace his children as he had replaced the Royal Council. On Kmitza's wedding night, her mate attempted to kill her while she slept, no one heard from him or ever saw him again. Shortly after this, Eirias helped dekame Kmitza escape to Earth. Earth was a planet discovered in a parallel world situated in a different timescape. Time passed more quickly on Earth than it did in OurWorld. This meant that in order to live on the planet, she would have to bind herself to her new home, and could never return to OurWorld. She escaped, and as soon as Setirakkuun discovered she had disappeared, he went after her, abandoning his office without a second thought. It is said he was spurred to do so by the ShadeTalisman. Setirakkuun deserting his kingdom began what is now known as The Chaos. Before dekam Lrrak was wed to Anyashy-a, he had been deeply in love with his personal Royal Servant, Karantha. Karantha became pregnant with his child and, fearing discovery, it is said they went to the dragons and gave the child to them. After dekam Lrrak wed Anyashy-a, she had him become her slave. He was forced to rape and kill, because this gave her power. It was Karantha who came and told him despite threat of rape and death of the chaos of OurWorld, how Kmitza had fled and Setirakkuun had followed. Lrrak, thinking only of his beloved sister, fled OurWorld to Earth after a confrontation with Anyashy-a. It is said that Anyashy-a could not feed off of Karantha and Lrrak's coupling, and it made her suspicious. She found from Lrrak of the pair's illegitimate child, but only knew it was conceived by a Royal Servant. As Lrrak escaped to Earth with Eirias' help, Anyashy-a methodically murdered every Royal Servant in Kuura. By some twist of fate, Karantha was spared, and she rushed to Earth to aid her one love and the only true Royal Family. Eirias, in a desperate attempt to put the Kingdom of OurWorld back in order appointed an ekan named Wakiza as Regent until dekame Mesume (who had only been born a year earier) would be old enough to become kuun. It is said that Wakiza was secretly dekame Kmitza's lover, and that she had conceived his child before rushing to Earth to escape her Father's wrath. While Wakiza began to soothe the chaos in OurWorld, reconstructing to the best of his ability what had been destroyed in the sudden battles of factions in the ekan, Nobility, and commoners after the sudden desertion of their kuun. Anyashy-a whispered to the ekan, telling them secrets and lies, gaining their support through her corrupt powers. With the ekan behind her and suspicious of Wakiza, Eirias, and Mesume, Anyashy-a planned to destroy the last of the Royalty, letting herself take the throne. In the middle of a moonless night, Anyashy-a came to destroy them, and Eirias battled her while she weaved the portal to Earth. The three escaped, and Anyashy-a called the Royal Council together. She put them to blame, saying that Eirias had poisoned the Royal Family and they had done nothing to stop her. Fearing Anyashy-a, they let her take control of OurWorld. Wakiza's work had brought normalcy back to the kingdom on OurWorld; Anyashy-a was easily accepted. However, the damage was still great to the mighty kingdom. Settlements that had gone to new worlds, new lands, expanding the kingdom beyond a single planet disappeared. The Chaos either lost track of them, or they were swallowed up in the terrible fighting. Anyashy-a sat on the throne for some time, undisturbed by the aftermath of The Chaos. She let herself be pampered as self-proclaimed kuun. All servants were ordered to become blind and mute, control of the ekan was given to the Nobility, and all criminals were to be executed at once to maintain peace. But then, the magick on OurWorld began to disappear. Whole cities began to die from starvation, buildings fell apart, crops would not grow, rumors of horrible monsters sprouting from the very planet finally reached Kuura. One by one, cities of millions of luktai vanished. Anyashy-a became afraid. She opened a portal to Earth, sending minions to the planet to search for Setirakkuun. Hearing he had died, she Called for any Wolves of the Earth to come through her portal, Calling them back to OurWorld in a desperate attempt of survival.
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General Appearance Commoners/Ekan: Usually short and muscular in human form, with a variety of hair and eye colors and very tan skin. Wolven form is very muscular, they are considered a "working breed," fur color is various shades of grey and brown. Mottled and mixed. Royalty/Nobility/Huun: Usually tall and lithe, each Noble house has distinguishing features with hair and eye color in human form. Pale skinned, considered the "scholarly breed." Wolven form (which is not taken often) is either pure white or pure black, though black is much more common. Children: Children are usually born as wolf pups, with dark grey fur and blue eyes. After a month, they are weaned, and after this, mental development is very fast. They learn to shift into human form shortly after weaning, and it takes 17 years to become their final adult size in both forms. Zodiac's note: On Earth it only takes wolves a single year to grow from puphood to adult size and 22 months until sexually mature. Kmitza changed it.
For all luktai, clothing is optional. Luktai bear no shyness with their bodies. It is not taboo to be unclothed and nudity is the preferred state of dress. Clothes are worn for the purpose of beauty enhancement and usefulness rather than necessity. The Royalty, Nobility, and the huun wear much more clothing out of tradition. High class tradition calls for soft, thick cloth undergarments with silken, shimmering cloths draping across the body in swaths. The undergarments are cut and slit to reveal the important assets of an individual, and the thinner, transparent cloths are worn over this so that skin is still covered, but may still be seen. Clothes of the Royalty and Nobility are usually dark, jeweled colors, and accentuate the paleness of the face and hands. The huun are considered the most conservatively dressed luktai. They wear robes which are actually a single piece of fabric folded in a special way. It is said that each huun has their own version of this fold, and that it is only when they are a full-fledged huun that they may add stitches to hold these folds together. Female huun wear long skirts under their folded robes. All huun wear white, though the color of the stitches of full-fledged huun may vary. Ekan normally go topless, and wear skintight clothes for maximum mobility when patrolling. Commoners wear minimal clothing, usually thin garments which are cut to accentuate curves and genitals. What is most common for travel are cloth "baskets" which hold in place important bodyparts (boobs or pni). More clothing is used if a job is held which poses hazard to the flesh. A popular "working material" is a cloth called pakka, which has a soft skin-side and burlap-like outside. Cloth worn by commoners are usually very bright colors: oranges, reds, and yellows, and often made of patches.
To luktai, variety of food is important only to the high class. Most luktai are content with whatever meat they have access to. Markets usually carry several different types of meat. Meat is a huge part of all luktai diets. High class luktai either hunt their own prey, or have personal herds which are slaughtered moments before they are brought to the table. Commoners must buy their meat at markets, which is rarely fresh and must be cooked so the rot is less noticeable. Commoners often keep small flocks of flightless bird-like creatures called tulu if they wish to have fresh raw meat. Farms in OurWorld usually grow either spice-producing plants, grains for breads, or vines of kinnik berries to produce fermented drinks. There are also a few "meat-farms" to raise slaughter stock. Spices and breads are the few supplements to meat which luktai eat. Spices bring some of the only variety commoners get with food. Flat breads are most common with the commoners, yet they can come in many shapes and sizes. Next to water, nik, a fermented drink made from kinnik, is the most popular. The drink gets thicker as it gets older, and the processes which make the nik sweet are not public knowledge. Luktai are not allowed to grow their own kinnik, though there are those who try, yet their nik is almost always sour.
Drugs are a very recent development of luktai society. It is not illegal to get high, make or distribute these, but it is generally looked down upon. There are the beginnings of a "black market" to take care of the demands for these narcotics. These drugs are named after the five types of elemental magick so that they may be talked about out loud and in public without bringing attention to themselves. Hrriku - Earth magick - The drug Hrriku is popular among the lower, working classes in OurWorld. Effects include a mild sense of well-being, a disconnected sense of time, a dreamy consciousness and self-absorption, and a reduced ability to think and communicate clearly. Extensive use of this drug can result in reduced attention span and lowered problem-solving skills and reading comprehension, along with deep depression and suicidal tendencies. It is ingested as a thick paste, usually mixed in with food. Reiku - Fire magick - This drug is very rare and highly desired for its sexually charged effects. The main effects are physical rather than psychological and vary according to the user's mood and expectations, and the environment in which the drug is ingested. The highly unpredictable effects include distortion of sense perceptions, a suspended sense of time, feelings of hyperactivity, and what feel like hour-long orgasms. The most common effect is an increase in sexual appetite and stamina. This drug is usually smoke, but can also be taken as tea (for a diluted effect). Srreeku - Water magick - This drug is like an extremely potent form of alcohol. It acts as a very powerful painkiller and tranquilizer, and has been known to produce euphoric sensations in experienced users. The effects are long-lasting, but when they do fade they are replaced by an insatiable craving for food. Srreeku is usually brewed and ingested as a tea. Lehuku - Air magick - A common drug among the ekan, lehuku’s effects are used to combat the effects of hunger, hard work, and thin air. The effects are pleasurable, immediate, and brief. It produces intense but short-lived euphoria and can make users feel more energetic. It produces wakefulness and reduces hunger. Psychological effects include feelings of well-being and a grandiose sense of power and ability mixed with anxiety and restlessness. As the drug wears off, these temporary sensations of mastery are replaced by depression. This drug is usually smoked or inhaled as a powder. Arruku - Spirit magick - A popular and easy-to-obtain drug among the upper noble houses, arruku triggers a bewildering array of hallucinatory effects, such as out-of-body experiences, visual and auditory hallucinations, and more. The effects last for only a short time, less than half an hour if used sparingly. It is ingested as a solid, usually in tablet form.
The language of OurWorld is called kele (kay-lay), and is not normally a written language. The only true written documents are kept by the Royal Council. Most, if not all knowledge in OurWorld is passed down from generation to generation orally. Storytellers and bards are very important in this aspect, as they collect these oral traditions and are some of the only sources of true education for the lower classes. Since kele is basically a completely oral language, there are sounds which are more important or less important than others. The emphasis in most all words is in the first syllable, and then on the important sounds in the word. To demonstrate this, the written words in this manual are all spelled phonetically. Vowels in kele are all considered important sounds.
Vowels are almost always spoken individually, even when doubled up (ex: "aa" is pronounced "ah-ah"), except for the combination "au" which is sometimes pronounced "oh." The most important sound in kele is the consonant "k," followed by the vowels, then the consonants "t," "h," "s," and "r." "S" is given a hiss, a single "r" is trilled at the front of the tongue, and a double "rr" is trilled at the back of the throat and sounds like a growl. Kele is spoken fast in the middle and lower classes, the sounds often slurring together. The Royalty, Nobility, and usually the huun speak slower, pronouncing each consonant and vowel meticulously.
Zodiac's note: There isn't a real process for naming, yet. Just try to make a name that sounds kele, and I'll most likely accept it. Just note that most names that start or end with "k" are found mostly in the upper classes.
Huuve - "hoo ooh vaye" - The most prominent religion of OurWorld, centered around the worship of dragons. However, this is not worship of Ereshkigal, their Maker. It is worship of the dragons who saved the luktai from the Inferno. These dragons are those who live in the Dragonlands, a desert world which no one seems to know the true location of. Most of the lower class luktai consider themselves to be Huuve, and in the past everyone worshipped in Huuve velas (temples). However, over recent years velas have become very exclusive, and the lower classes have been slowly forgetting Huuve or moving on to other religions. Kaanve - "kah ahn vaye" - Originally thought of as a cult or a offshoot of Huuve, Kaanve has become the second-most prominent religion of OurWorld. Though the only Kaanve velas is in Kaanka, small, hidden velus (little places of worship, like sacred sites) are spread all over OurWorld. Kaanve centers around the worship of the kaan, creatures who are only seen by those who worship them. Those who practice Kaanve are very secretive about their religion, and consider it a very private matter since they are still considered a minority (or even a cult) by many luktai. Kaanve is not as hierarchial as is Huuve, the velas are open for all classes who wear the Kaanve symbol.
Many ancient ceremonies have passed into memory. Those which once involved seasons and the harvest have become obsolete since the weather and seasons are controlled by magick. However, there are some ceremonies which are still present in luktai daily life. Birth - Birth ceremonies are considered times of mourning, as newborn pups will have to be exposed to the hardships of life. Birth ceremonies are basically the same, disregarding differences in religion. Luktai families all gather in wolf form for a birth, and make a circle around the mother, joining together in mournful howling during the ceremony. As each pup is born, a midwife or Elder woman is present, announcing the magickal attributes of each, the family which share the same magick ability shield the child with shields that will last until the child can control themself. Marriage - Luktai marriage ceremonies are much like handfastings in the way that the ceremony is an elated acknowledgement that your paths are bound together and the same from that point forward. The ceremony is usually held on a moonlit night in a forest clearing or velu (sacred site). First there is the casting of a circle, depending on what elements the luktai have, the circle can be of candles (fire), rocks (earth), etc. The two luktai enter the circle from the north, the direction of which the moon rises. A priest or priestess invokes their chosen deities, and the luktai sing their vows. These vows are not written, by are improvised by the will of their deities, and can last a few minutes to much longer. Only after this is finished will the two finally touch. They will touch palm-to-palm, representative of touching auras and bonding spiritually. More traditional ceremonies also call for the sharing of magick. The circle is usually broken after this, the mated couple picking up one of the circle objects (rock, candle, etc) together. Death - Death ceremonies are much like birth ceremonies except for the fact that they are celebrating the release of a family member from a harsh world. Friends and family form a circle around the deceased luktai and all at once add their magick together, effectively dissolving the body. The following tradition is to sit together and recite stories about the deceased until all grief has passed.
Education is mostly reserved for high class luktai. Huun are taught in their velas, the ekan are educated during their training years. The Nobility and Royalty all have private tutors, usually a member of their own family, though some of the Nobility send their children to velas to study. The low class luktai are taught by parents and elders, bosses and their social community, though there are no specific schools set up for the peasants. Much of the commoners are taught by storytellers, bards, and entertainers. The only higher education some luktai get are from those who follow the religion of Kaanve. The Kaanve believe in the education of all classes. Which gives another reason to the high class luktai to distrust the Kaanve.
There are not many distinctions in luktai society between gender classes. Men and women can, and are expected to do the same careers, etc, with no restrictions. Men and women are allowed into the ekan and huun. Basically, the more important aspect of luktai in society is your level of magickal power. However, when luktai are caught breaking laws, traditionally, males and females are dealt with much differently. Men are either killed outright or forced to join the ekan, but are given jobs like cleaning or bedmating. Women traditionally can't be forced into the ekan, so they're given to Noble's harems (the ones with bizarre tastes in women), or magickally prevented from changing into wolf or human form, always stuck in limbo, and then given to a bordello.
Magic serves as the source of energy for all luktai technological needs. They are not very technologically advanced, but magic is powerful enough to do any job they would wish. Those who research technology are generally looked down upon, but it is not illegal. It has become a kind of 'underground community' that shares information together, yet there have been no technological advances that have been taken seriously by the public. |
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