TheSovereignGrave

The Broken World: Nations of Azoth

I'm going to show my tentative interest in this. I do have one question though: what are the Nyr'kiin hives like exactly? Like, an actual city or something more akin to, like, a giant beehive? Because I kinda want to make a nation of them.

Upon Our Changing Times

All right, writer's block broken. Got my first post up; hope it's up to snuff.

Upon Our Changing Times

The twilight of dusk had settled upon Batu Menangis, with the sun only just beginning its descent behind the great mountains surrounding the valley. And in the centre of the town Sin Chik, the High Priest, was busy tending to his duties. The high priest was not an old man though his hair, kinky and close-cropped, did have streaks of grey and there were a great many lines and creases on his face. Chik was dressed in a loincloth as was typical, though he also wore several long strings of colourful beads across his shoulder and had a small white circle tattooed on his forehead.

The duties in question were the traditional nightly offering to the spirits, a simple matter but an important one nonetheless. Chik was careful as he made his way to a tall stone, standing mighty in the middle of a clearing with intricate designs carved and painted into its surface. In Chik's hands were a pair of bone bowls, one filled nearly to the brim with a dark red liquid while the other was piled high with offal. Situated in front of the stone was a small fire, kept burning throughout the entire day, which Chik then knelt in front of.

Slowly he picked the offal from the bowl and set it in the fire, watching as it slowly sizzled and burnt in the flame. And then, once there was no more offal remaining he picked up the other bowl, slowly pouring the blood over the fire in order to extinguish it for the night. That done, Chik stood back up and smiled as he looked around at Batu Menangis; the sky was only getting darker and while there was little activity it was not entirely silent. Some of the longhouses, great wooden things with thatched roofs which served as the communal homes for the towns clans, had groups of men sitting on the covered porches and chatting by candlelight. Likewise through many of the rear windows light could be seen, and indicator of the womenfolk gathering on their own.

Chik smiled as he saw a younger man of the village 'sneaking' to what was presumably the longhouse of another clan. The high priest was reminded of himself when he was younger, as well as what he had planned for this night. But there was one last thing he needed to do first, and he picked up the sacrificial bowls and carried them off to a small building on the edge of the clearing. Compared to the longhouses it was small and modest, but in truth it was a sign of great prestige. It was Chik's own home, and as High Priest he was one of the only ones in town who had a whole room to themselves, let along and entire house no matter how small. He quickly made his way inside, not even bothering with any light since he knew his home well enough to navigate it by the twilight, and set the bowls on a small table on the side. Then he plucked two small pieces of dried and salted meat he had hanging his ceiling. One he popped into his mouth, while the other he carried with him back outside.

Then he made his way past the longhouses of the town, occasionally responding to a greeting from the men sitting outside. It wasn't long at all before he arrived at his destination: a longhouse just like any other. Out front were a group of men who all smiled and waved when they saw Chik.

"So, you going to take the time to talk with us tonight?" one of the older men asked.

But Chik simply smiled and shook his head, "Sorry Uncle Megat, but I'm busy tonight."

"Oh, you're always busy, Uncle Chik," said a younger man, "You can take a break, right?"

"Sorry Ujang, but this has nothing to do with my duties tonight," Chik replied.

"Oh really?" one said, then another added "What is it?"

"I'm making a visit," Chik said simply, to which the men all grinned and a few even laughed.

Then there came the barrage of questions. "Who is she?", "Is she beautiful?", "For how long?", and "Aren't you getting a bit old for that?" Though that last question earned a good-natured smack on the head from a man even older than Chik.

"We just met, and I'll have you know she's the most beautiful woman in Batu Menangis," Chik said, which was met with "Aren't they all?"

At that Chik just smiled and shook his head, before proceeding to do what he'd actually come for. As much as he enjoyed chatting with the men, that wasn't why he was here. Instead he made his way to a small thing on a post in front of the longhouse. It was another longhouse, built exceedingly small and mounted in front of the porch. And it was on the porch of the tiny house that Chik put the second piece of dried meat, as an offering to the spirits who lived there and watched over the Sin clan.

"Well, I'll see you all tomorrow," Chik said, waving goodbye to his clansmen, "And I promise I'll stay to chat then."

They all waved back at him, telling him goodbye and good luck before quickly going back to their previous conversations. After that Chik made his way through town once again, looking forward to what was to come. Once again the walk was a short one, and he stopped by yet another longhouse. This one had fewer men sitting out front, though the murmur of conversation was evident front the back of the longhouse. Quietly he made his way around back, though one of the men around front noticed him. The man just ignored Chik; after all, the sneaking was nothing but tradition. After all, the women all slept in a communal room and one knew how they liked to gossip. And quickly Chik made his way to one of the open windows, and peeked in.

The room was large and consisted of a quarter of the longhouse, a communal bedroom for the women and children of the clan but with enough open space for the women to gather and talk in the twilight of the day. And chatting they were; while the children slept the women were up and talking with each other, a few were simply lying or their beds or sleeping, and there were a handful dealing with fussy infants. Then one of them noticed him, and made her way over to the window he was peeking in.

"Well, High Priest, what brings you to our window tonight?" she said, loud enough for all the other women to hear. Almost all of them looked in his direction, with the notable exception of an exceptionally elderly woman who could very well have fallen asleep sitting up. Chik simply smiled at the gaggle of ladies staring at him.

"I've come to visit Seeran Kasih anak Dayang," he said simply, "Tell me, is she here?"

Once more the women all focused on a single person, but this time it was one of their own. It was a young woman, fidgeting with her hands even as she beamed at him. She stood up, and began to make her way to the window when the first woman moved in front of it.

"Oh, I'm not sure if she's here right now," she said, a playful smile on her face, "Perhaps you'd like to visit someone else?"

From his vantage point most of the room was now blocked by the woman's body, but he could see the mortified expression on Kasih's face and hear the laughter of the other women. "Oh come now Dayang, leave the little lovebirds alone," one of them said and the woman laughed as she moved out of the way.

Kasih quickly made her way to the window, and swiftly gave Chik permission to enter at which point he climbed through the window. After that Kasih escorted him to her bed, and it was quite obvious she was embarrassed almost as much as she was nervous. "I can't believe my mother did that," she told Chik quietly. But it evidently wasn't quiet enough, as laughter rippled through the assembled woman who had purposely not even glanced in the couple's direction since Chik had climbed in. Kasih did her best to ignore them as she undressed, while Chik did the same. Chik gave a very pointed stare to a woman he caught staring, who quickly looked away. There was, after all, a way this was to be done and it didn't involve spectators. Then the couple climbing into bed with each other for the first time, and it was there they would stay until the morning when Chik would steal out the window in time for his morning duties.

[IC/OOC] God and Country - A low-fantasy renaissance NRP of religion and discovery

Me and Hyg have pretty much finished our second collaborative post; it should be going up pretty soon. And then afterwards I'll have to work on my next solo post. But we are still here. :D

Upon Our Changing Times

I probably won't get anything up tonight (it's late) or tomorrow (D&D day) but I should have a post down by Monday. Or I may get it down tomorrow; we sometimes get finished with our session early enough.

Upon Our Changing Times

I always found it a bit amusing that there are Turks and Turkmen and they're two separate (if related) groups of people. Though should we wait for you to make your own first opening post? Or should we just post once we get it down (hypothetical question; I'm not done yet)?

[IC/OOC] God and Country - A low-fantasy renaissance NRP of religion and discovery

...Echo?

Upon Our Changing Times

I'd prefer something more akin to actual southeastern asian animals (though not exact, obviously; this isn't the real world), and not just generic jungle animals.

And I mean, do we really need gorillas and hippos if we can have rhinos and elephants? Plus gibbons! Who doesn't like gibbons?

Upon Our Changing Times

Fabulous; I put my sheet in the Character tab. Now I can't wait to get started. :D

EDIT: Hmmm, you know I just realized that the three of us on the left all have rather similar colours.

Upon Our Changing Times

Batu Menangis

Batu Menangis

Leaders:
Kuzai Agung anak Suriawati, Chief of Batu Menangis
Sin Chik anak Murni, High Priest of Batu Menangis

Location:


Population:
700

Background/History:
Batu Menangis is a village of the Orang, a people indigenous to the region rather than descended from those migrating from the West. The earliest histories of the Orang are shrouded in myth and legend, but the Orang themselves believe themselves to have been founded by a warrior named Guntur and his 99 companions. They were born in the east but traveled west to carve out a land of their own, fighting and eventually exterminating a race of giants and claiming the mountains for their own. The women these men fathered children with would become the first matriarchs of the 120 clans of the Orang, massive extended families which spread throughout the Orang beyond the barriers of villages and bands. Batu Menangis is relatively new as a village, though the area has had the name for untold generations. The name means 'Weeping Stone' and refers to a great waterfall that pours out of a sheer cliff face near to the village itself.

Before the arrival of the men from the west, the Orang were simple hunter gatherers. They traveled from place to place, following game in an attempt to avoid starvation. Though they did indeed live in the mountains, there were also Orang who lived in the lowland regions. But no longer. For when the men of the west came, they desired land of their own. They claimed the more fertile land of the Orang, forcing them from their traditional hunting grounds and back towards their kin in the mountains. Today there are few, if any, Orang, outside of the great mountains that house them. However, the arrival of the western men was not without its up sides. Not all contact was violent, especially once the Orang were reduced to the mountainous land that the outsiders did not deign worth taking. And the outsiders brought the secrets of technology such as metalworking and agriculture, which the the Orang have begun to adopt.

However, the land in the mountains is not the most fertile and only the hardiest of crops will grow there. As a result there are still many bands of Orang who are hunter-gatherers and even the sedentary Orang must result to hunting and gathering to supplement what they are able to grow in the mountains. Batu Menangis itself was one of the earliest of Orang villages to spring up, thanks to its location alongside a lake and adjoining rivers making it more suited to agriculture than many other regions. It was governed much in the same way as the nomadic bands had been; a high priest dealt with spritual matters while wordly affairs were left to the chief. The high priest was chosen and trained by his predecessor while the chief was chosen by the village matriarchs, usually the eldest woman of each clan with members in the village. The earliest days were harsh on the Orang, as agriculture was a new concept to them and they had yet to learn anything beyond its very basics. Many died, but it was fewer than had been dying of hunger when they had traveled in nomadic bands. But as time went on the village would grow as the population boomed and nomadic bands decided to settle within the village, and other villages would be found among the Orang.

Though relations with outsiders are well enough that peaceful trading and negotiations are possible, there are a great many who are distrustful or outright hateful of the Orang. For the Orang are known to raid and pillage the villages of their neighbours as it is simply part of their way of life, and Batu Menangis is no different. But even worse in the minds of many is the fact that the raids are more than just that; they are also hunts. For among the Orang there is no stigma against the consumption of human flesh, in fact it is an everyday part of life. Unless one dies of disease traditional Orang funerals involve the ritual consumption of the deceased's flesh, and even after that the left over skin and bone are often used as crafting materials, as the Orang put no importance in a person's body once their spirit had fled it.