Post by Harkovast on Oct 19, 2016 22:45:25 GMT
The Komus look like brightly coloured tropical birds, while their priests look like vultures.
At the very north of Vellastrom, isolated by geography on their own peninsula, are the Komus. Though they share a common culture and religion, the Komus are not a united people, having numerous city states, each with their own monarchys claiming the divine right to rule with the support of the powerful priest class.
Komus are industrious and hard working, clearing the jungle to build vast stone cities. Due to their isolation, they are technologically backward compared to much of Harkovast, having no knowledge of smelting metal or constructing wheeled vehicles.
The Komus are highly religious, and their faith in Shaldemos guides much of their civilisation. They believe that Shaldemos floats through the heavens, and the planets are the realms of different gods. The Komus priests track the movements of celestial bodies with great care and accuracy, around which they base several complex calendars, each based on different planets or stars. Komus queenss will consult with priests to see if a particular day is favourable for a particular course of action.
Komus view the heavens as presenting a perfect celestial order, and believe chaos and disharmony come from the underworld below. By charting the heavens and understanding the complex meanings of each day on each calendar, they can make a harmonious and ordered society.
As with most follow Shaldemos, Komus believe that Korvetor, God of Death, is the harsh ruler of the Gods. He is the owner of life. The Komus believe that Korvetor made life from his own blood and it is a debt that must be repaid.
When days the signify misfortune over lap from several calendars blood sacrifice is required to maintain order and prosperity in Harkovast. When hardships occur or good fortune is required, such as before a battle, the population of a city expect their priests to spill blood and would be outraged if this wasn't done.
Though there are usually Komus volunteers, ready to die to appease the gods, the demand for blood can often outstrip supply. Since blood sacrifice serves to please the populace, Priests and Kings will often order vast amounts of killing in order to improve their standing and gain support. Criminals provide a source of sacrifices, as do captives from wars with other cities or by attacking the Wah-Daq or Trakatek.
This urgent need for people to sacrifice in the pursuit of order, ironically makes Komus society high unstable. Cities that do not perform enough sacrifice risk having their rulers over thrown by an angry populace, fearing divine retribution. But those that perform too much killing risk antagonising other cities too greatly and creating alliances against them.
Life in the jungle is hard at the best of times, the Komus tendency to look for supernatural explanations to real world problems often makes their thinking very short sighted.
Slash and burn farming and over population can render their cities unsustainable and result in them collapsing and the population scattering.
Many abandoned stone cities have been reclaimed by the jungle.
As cities fall, new ones rise up to take their place, as villagers band together and organise themselves together into larger communities, in an endless cycle that spans back through all of Komus history,
Komus warriors are very fierce and highly skilled, using their wings to move with great agility through the jungle. The fight many tree top battles with the Trakatek, who they consider backward, blood drinking cannibals.
The Wah-Daq are their most feared opponents, also known to be cannibals by the Komus. The Wah-Daq hide in the water of their swamps and attack with poisoned darts from their crossbows. Only the trees that grow in the swampy territory deep within Wah-Daq territory have wood suitable for making these crossbows, and know Komus or Trakatek could hope to enter so deep into lands sacred to the Wah-Daq and return alive.
The most elite fighting order of the Komus are the Rastikar Warriors, who dress in body suits that resemble the six limbed predators that stalk the jungle, with a head dress that looks like a Rastikar with its mouth open and the warrior looking out.
Rastikar warriors defend the temples of their city as well as the monarchy and dedicate their lives to the arts of combat. They consider their deaths in battle to be a sacrifice to Shaldemos and so are completely fearless in combat.
Though Komus are fierce warriors, their limited technology means they use weapons of wood, bone and obsidian.
This implements are deadly and cause very unpleasent wounds (breaking off pieces of their edges in opponents) but would be no match for the metal weapons used on Vellastrom or Jaydia.
It is perhaps fortunate that the Komus have limited technlogy, for if had superior tools and infrastructure they might expand beyond their current isolation and would prove a fiercesome empire indeed.
As it stands, the Komus generally capture anyone that comes into their territory and usually sacrifice them to the gods, and no major power has really attempt to annex their harsh, jungle realm, where disease and difficult terrain would soon weaken any conventional force.
For entertainment the Komus engage in The Ballgame, an ancient sport that holds great spiritual significance to them.
It is played against a wall, with players trying to knock a rubber balls through a side ways hoop by knocking it using their hips and heads.
Though the game is played recreationally, it can also form part of their religious rites, with losing teams being offered in sacrifice.
Sometimes captured enemy prisoners will be forced to play the game against the Komus, but lacking wings and having not played before, and often being in poor condition due to their treatment as prisoners, they effectively stand no chance of winning.
The Komus consider this a sign of their own divine favour, that the gods will always award them victory.
Komus are matriarchal, with women viewed as leaders, while men are generally far more expendable, in war or sacrifice.
Komus have no prohibitions against homosexuality.
They have little concept of half castes, as their societies only interaction with their neighbour's is through warfare to take captives for sacrifice. Foreigners in their lands are generally viewed as enemies and half castes would get similar treatments.
At the very north of Vellastrom, isolated by geography on their own peninsula, are the Komus. Though they share a common culture and religion, the Komus are not a united people, having numerous city states, each with their own monarchys claiming the divine right to rule with the support of the powerful priest class.
Komus are industrious and hard working, clearing the jungle to build vast stone cities. Due to their isolation, they are technologically backward compared to much of Harkovast, having no knowledge of smelting metal or constructing wheeled vehicles.
The Komus are highly religious, and their faith in Shaldemos guides much of their civilisation. They believe that Shaldemos floats through the heavens, and the planets are the realms of different gods. The Komus priests track the movements of celestial bodies with great care and accuracy, around which they base several complex calendars, each based on different planets or stars. Komus queenss will consult with priests to see if a particular day is favourable for a particular course of action.
Komus view the heavens as presenting a perfect celestial order, and believe chaos and disharmony come from the underworld below. By charting the heavens and understanding the complex meanings of each day on each calendar, they can make a harmonious and ordered society.
As with most follow Shaldemos, Komus believe that Korvetor, God of Death, is the harsh ruler of the Gods. He is the owner of life. The Komus believe that Korvetor made life from his own blood and it is a debt that must be repaid.
When days the signify misfortune over lap from several calendars blood sacrifice is required to maintain order and prosperity in Harkovast. When hardships occur or good fortune is required, such as before a battle, the population of a city expect their priests to spill blood and would be outraged if this wasn't done.
Though there are usually Komus volunteers, ready to die to appease the gods, the demand for blood can often outstrip supply. Since blood sacrifice serves to please the populace, Priests and Kings will often order vast amounts of killing in order to improve their standing and gain support. Criminals provide a source of sacrifices, as do captives from wars with other cities or by attacking the Wah-Daq or Trakatek.
This urgent need for people to sacrifice in the pursuit of order, ironically makes Komus society high unstable. Cities that do not perform enough sacrifice risk having their rulers over thrown by an angry populace, fearing divine retribution. But those that perform too much killing risk antagonising other cities too greatly and creating alliances against them.
Life in the jungle is hard at the best of times, the Komus tendency to look for supernatural explanations to real world problems often makes their thinking very short sighted.
Slash and burn farming and over population can render their cities unsustainable and result in them collapsing and the population scattering.
Many abandoned stone cities have been reclaimed by the jungle.
As cities fall, new ones rise up to take their place, as villagers band together and organise themselves together into larger communities, in an endless cycle that spans back through all of Komus history,
Komus warriors are very fierce and highly skilled, using their wings to move with great agility through the jungle. The fight many tree top battles with the Trakatek, who they consider backward, blood drinking cannibals.
The Wah-Daq are their most feared opponents, also known to be cannibals by the Komus. The Wah-Daq hide in the water of their swamps and attack with poisoned darts from their crossbows. Only the trees that grow in the swampy territory deep within Wah-Daq territory have wood suitable for making these crossbows, and know Komus or Trakatek could hope to enter so deep into lands sacred to the Wah-Daq and return alive.
The most elite fighting order of the Komus are the Rastikar Warriors, who dress in body suits that resemble the six limbed predators that stalk the jungle, with a head dress that looks like a Rastikar with its mouth open and the warrior looking out.
Rastikar warriors defend the temples of their city as well as the monarchy and dedicate their lives to the arts of combat. They consider their deaths in battle to be a sacrifice to Shaldemos and so are completely fearless in combat.
Though Komus are fierce warriors, their limited technology means they use weapons of wood, bone and obsidian.
This implements are deadly and cause very unpleasent wounds (breaking off pieces of their edges in opponents) but would be no match for the metal weapons used on Vellastrom or Jaydia.
It is perhaps fortunate that the Komus have limited technlogy, for if had superior tools and infrastructure they might expand beyond their current isolation and would prove a fiercesome empire indeed.
As it stands, the Komus generally capture anyone that comes into their territory and usually sacrifice them to the gods, and no major power has really attempt to annex their harsh, jungle realm, where disease and difficult terrain would soon weaken any conventional force.
For entertainment the Komus engage in The Ballgame, an ancient sport that holds great spiritual significance to them.
It is played against a wall, with players trying to knock a rubber balls through a side ways hoop by knocking it using their hips and heads.
Though the game is played recreationally, it can also form part of their religious rites, with losing teams being offered in sacrifice.
Sometimes captured enemy prisoners will be forced to play the game against the Komus, but lacking wings and having not played before, and often being in poor condition due to their treatment as prisoners, they effectively stand no chance of winning.
The Komus consider this a sign of their own divine favour, that the gods will always award them victory.
Komus are matriarchal, with women viewed as leaders, while men are generally far more expendable, in war or sacrifice.
Komus have no prohibitions against homosexuality.
They have little concept of half castes, as their societies only interaction with their neighbour's is through warfare to take captives for sacrifice. Foreigners in their lands are generally viewed as enemies and half castes would get similar treatments.
