Post by Horsie on Jan 3, 2015 2:43:07 GMT
The Junlocks are a race of wolf-like humanoids that live in a tribal society, similar to ancient European societies like the ancient Gauls, or ancient Britains (the guys the Romans used to invade). Their home land is very large but relatively sparsely populated. It is a very cold region (its not Arctic, but they get a lot of snow and there are cruel, icy winds) with snow covered planes and might pine forests.
Junlocks are physically big and strong, and don't feel the cold much at all. They generally enjoy hunting, outdoor physical activity and storytelling.
They worship the sun and the moon as gods, Belmarix being the male moon god, and Jatis being the female sun god. They build elaborate standing stones to track the sun's movements to divine the correct time for festivities and sacrifices to earn the gods' favour. The Junlock priests are known as druids and they believe in reincarnation, where the brave and righteous are rewarded with a new life by the gods.
They value personal courage and individual freedom above all things. They follow through on their belief in freedom to the extent that they consider imprisoning criminals cruel and unusual punishment. Execution is more merciful to the Junlock way of thinking. Obviously slavery is a right out for the Junlocks, and they view races that keep slaves (such as the Ivos) and those that are willing to trade slaves (such as the Zadakine or Brorg-Dao) very poorly.
Being relatively low tech they have often suffered attacks from stronger neighbours; raids by the Brorg-Dao, numerous Ivos invasions, and most recently crusades by the Darsai. This has made many of them embittered, and many of their warriors travel to other lands to work as bandits or mercenaries, taking out their resentment on other races directly. This type of thinking makes some of them very open to making alliances with powerful but dangerous forces, such as the minions of the West.
Junlock society is fairly equal in the way it views men and women. Only fighting as a warrior is generally seen as an exclusively male role, though even here there are some Junlock women who have become renowned as mighty warriors. One example is the feared swordswoman Valatrex, whose armour is said to have been pieced together out of steel plates torn from the bodies of a hundred Nameless warriors.
Lacking much industry, the Junlocks often go into battle unarmoured, many fighting without even a shirt on (just their brightly patterned trousers). Leaders and elite troops will often have some armour though, generally helmets and chainmail shirts. They are brave, fierce, sometimes even berserk in battle, but also disorganised and reckless. Often they fight more as a group of brave individuals, rather then a coherent force, making them vulnerable to more disciplined armies. They know their icy homeland very well, so they can ambush invaders and pick off supply lines very effectively, though if they were to try to fight a war in another country, without these advantages, their forces would be very vulnerable.
One of their most feared weapons is a heavy, forward-curving sword called a Falx, which can cause terrible injuries and punch through armour. This is especially useful as many of the Junlock's enemies, such as the Ivos and the Darsai, are well armoured in battle. The Ivos in particular have learned to treat those that wield these weapons with respect on the battle field!
Junlock society does not tolerate homosexuality, which is seen as deeply immoral. Anyone discovered to be homosexual is driven out and banished, though some might be lynched on the spot. The Junlocks are even more hostile to half-castes, especially those found to have any Ivos parents. Half-castes can expect only the cruelest treatment at the hands of a Junlock community, unless they have very powerful or influential relatives who can offer them protection.
A bit of extra stuff about their gods an morality;
Jatis (the sun goddess) has a brother called Dobolly. Dobolly is not represented by a celestial body and does not receive any direct worship. He is portrayed as a small, scrawny Junlock with a wide grin and wild, staring eyes. Interestingly, despite being a god, he is portrayed as being relatively weak, being pushed around by bullies or frightened by large animals. However, though he can't do much in a direct fight, Dobolly is the master of cruel tricks, with which he teaches those who are wicked, selfish, greedy, or tyrannical harsh lessons. And these lessons are indeed very harsh! The villains may be tricked into to cutting off their hands, or wearing red hot iron shoes or all sort so other cruel (and more often than not ironic) fates!
The many stories of Dobolly are humourous in nature but also serve as morality plays, teaching a valuable lesson to the listeners about the price of evil behaviour. Junlock audience are kept in stitches by the telling of a good Dobolly fable from a skilled bard.
Since in Junlock society, swearing often relates to invoking the name of a character of history or legend, Junlocks commonly use Dobolly or characters from his stories. "He needs to meet Dobolly!" or just "Meet Dobolly!" is a common exclamation, meaning "He needs someone to put him in his place/teach him a lesson"
Their intolerance for half-castes and homosexuals is partly a fact of their culture and world view, but their views on these topics have certainly been hardened because of harsh treatment from the Ivos in particular.
Getting invaded a lot inevitably results in women being raped and others willingly becoming romantically involved with the invading troops. So having a larger number of half castes that look like their hated enemy has almost certainly made them more hateful towards half castes in general. The Ivos have no problem with homosexuality (often considering it superior to hetrosexual love...after all, to Ivos thinking men are clearly superior to women in all ways so the love between two men must be the greatest love of all!), thus homossexuality is seen as an Ivos trait, meaning that anyone exhibiting these tendancies is not just seen as a deviant, but a possible collaborator with the enemy.
Junlocks are physically big and strong, and don't feel the cold much at all. They generally enjoy hunting, outdoor physical activity and storytelling.
They worship the sun and the moon as gods, Belmarix being the male moon god, and Jatis being the female sun god. They build elaborate standing stones to track the sun's movements to divine the correct time for festivities and sacrifices to earn the gods' favour. The Junlock priests are known as druids and they believe in reincarnation, where the brave and righteous are rewarded with a new life by the gods.
They value personal courage and individual freedom above all things. They follow through on their belief in freedom to the extent that they consider imprisoning criminals cruel and unusual punishment. Execution is more merciful to the Junlock way of thinking. Obviously slavery is a right out for the Junlocks, and they view races that keep slaves (such as the Ivos) and those that are willing to trade slaves (such as the Zadakine or Brorg-Dao) very poorly.
Being relatively low tech they have often suffered attacks from stronger neighbours; raids by the Brorg-Dao, numerous Ivos invasions, and most recently crusades by the Darsai. This has made many of them embittered, and many of their warriors travel to other lands to work as bandits or mercenaries, taking out their resentment on other races directly. This type of thinking makes some of them very open to making alliances with powerful but dangerous forces, such as the minions of the West.
Junlock society is fairly equal in the way it views men and women. Only fighting as a warrior is generally seen as an exclusively male role, though even here there are some Junlock women who have become renowned as mighty warriors. One example is the feared swordswoman Valatrex, whose armour is said to have been pieced together out of steel plates torn from the bodies of a hundred Nameless warriors.
Lacking much industry, the Junlocks often go into battle unarmoured, many fighting without even a shirt on (just their brightly patterned trousers). Leaders and elite troops will often have some armour though, generally helmets and chainmail shirts. They are brave, fierce, sometimes even berserk in battle, but also disorganised and reckless. Often they fight more as a group of brave individuals, rather then a coherent force, making them vulnerable to more disciplined armies. They know their icy homeland very well, so they can ambush invaders and pick off supply lines very effectively, though if they were to try to fight a war in another country, without these advantages, their forces would be very vulnerable.
One of their most feared weapons is a heavy, forward-curving sword called a Falx, which can cause terrible injuries and punch through armour. This is especially useful as many of the Junlock's enemies, such as the Ivos and the Darsai, are well armoured in battle. The Ivos in particular have learned to treat those that wield these weapons with respect on the battle field!
Junlock society does not tolerate homosexuality, which is seen as deeply immoral. Anyone discovered to be homosexual is driven out and banished, though some might be lynched on the spot. The Junlocks are even more hostile to half-castes, especially those found to have any Ivos parents. Half-castes can expect only the cruelest treatment at the hands of a Junlock community, unless they have very powerful or influential relatives who can offer them protection.
A bit of extra stuff about their gods an morality;
Jatis (the sun goddess) has a brother called Dobolly. Dobolly is not represented by a celestial body and does not receive any direct worship. He is portrayed as a small, scrawny Junlock with a wide grin and wild, staring eyes. Interestingly, despite being a god, he is portrayed as being relatively weak, being pushed around by bullies or frightened by large animals. However, though he can't do much in a direct fight, Dobolly is the master of cruel tricks, with which he teaches those who are wicked, selfish, greedy, or tyrannical harsh lessons. And these lessons are indeed very harsh! The villains may be tricked into to cutting off their hands, or wearing red hot iron shoes or all sort so other cruel (and more often than not ironic) fates!
The many stories of Dobolly are humourous in nature but also serve as morality plays, teaching a valuable lesson to the listeners about the price of evil behaviour. Junlock audience are kept in stitches by the telling of a good Dobolly fable from a skilled bard.
Since in Junlock society, swearing often relates to invoking the name of a character of history or legend, Junlocks commonly use Dobolly or characters from his stories. "He needs to meet Dobolly!" or just "Meet Dobolly!" is a common exclamation, meaning "He needs someone to put him in his place/teach him a lesson"
Their intolerance for half-castes and homosexuals is partly a fact of their culture and world view, but their views on these topics have certainly been hardened because of harsh treatment from the Ivos in particular.
Getting invaded a lot inevitably results in women being raped and others willingly becoming romantically involved with the invading troops. So having a larger number of half castes that look like their hated enemy has almost certainly made them more hateful towards half castes in general. The Ivos have no problem with homosexuality (often considering it superior to hetrosexual love...after all, to Ivos thinking men are clearly superior to women in all ways so the love between two men must be the greatest love of all!), thus homossexuality is seen as an Ivos trait, meaning that anyone exhibiting these tendancies is not just seen as a deviant, but a possible collaborator with the enemy.