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Regions and villages that are approved will be added to the library and considered part of canon. These will be available areas for new members to use in the creation of their own characters.
You may also submit a god or pantheon for use in the Active Deity system, which would also be added to canon.
And you may also submit ideas/write-ups for local myths, legends and folklore. It's a coastal city with tons of immigration - lots of cultures, plus watery inspiration. Let your imagination run with folkloric themes!
Um, if it is alright with the staff, I would like to submit some lore that will flesh out Sisila's origins. Since it is a creative venture, I crave any shared ideas from others to make this more deep and interesting. Please, if you are inspired to join in or speak up, do so.Sisila comes from a tribe of nomads. One of several tribes that loosely interact with one another and can be united to fight against a foe common to their way of life. A specific tribe can be wiped out just as easily as a tribe may spit to form two smaller tribes.
The name of her tribe? I haven't come up with it yet... or at least... she has yet to tell me the name of her tribe. I do know that they had an elderly Wise Woman and a middle-aged male Chieftain. While she was different from other members of her tribe in appearance and the way she came to magic, she was more-or-less accepted because she was born into the tribe and raised within it.
Tribes? Each tribe is governed by three main ruling bodies: the Wise Woman, the Chieftain, the tribal law of rites common across all tribes. A tribe may have more than one Wise Woman, but only one (usually the most powerful, assertive, and opinionated) will serve the political role in the tribe complete with the responsibilities and authority. Only one Chieftain may exist in a tribe, for it is the title given to the man or woman that shares governing authority with the Wise Woman to make decisions that effect the tribe as a whole. Tribal law is a common set of guidelines, beliefs, taboos, rites, and instructions that is not to be modified lightly or on a whim. A tribe may consist of as few as two people (a Wise Woman and Chieftain) or as many as hundreds.
A few of the tribes:
- Na'shaku tribe [Reverse Waterflow]
The Na'shaku tribe is one of the smaller tribes, led by a middle-aged chieftain by the name of Chirren and an elderly Wise Woman by the name of Mammo'. This is the tribe from which Sisila hails.
_ tribe [Valley that Sparks in the Sun]
This is a fairly new tribe, still fresh from a tribal split. Only two members make up this tribe, Asilinor the Wise Woman and her husband Terroc the Chieftain.
Magic? There are members of every tribe who know and practice magic. The primary practitioners and spiritual leaders are female Wise Women, male or female Shaman, and male or female Witch Doctors. More about the differences between them later. Other members of the tribe may learn how to cast a few spells to help them accomplish tasks or defend the tribe. The few who come by magic naturally and can use it instinctively from an early age are rare and referred to has having "blood of spirits." A girl child born with the "blood of spirits" is likely to become a Wise Woman as she matures. A man child born with the "blood of spirits" is regarded as an ill omen, and may be killed, rejected by the tribe (he becomes a Churec Mog're, one left behind), or he may be trained as a Shaman or Witch Doctor, depending on the tribe's Wise Woman and her interpretation of signs.
Wise Woman? These women are the spiritual leaders of the tribe, and each tribe has at least one. If more than one Wise Woman resides in a tribe, either the elder will be the primary, or the winner of a sanctioned and non-lethal struggle of magic and wills.
See TRIBAL SPLIT for more information about multiple Wise Women in the same tribe. A Wise Woman is both the
keeper and
teacher of magic in her village. She knows and records the magic know by her tribe, magic shared by other tribes, and magic learned from outsiders. When it comes to practicing magic, Wise Women can and do practice all types, with or without the 'schools' or 'disciplines' imposed on the art by civilizations. All Wise Women share a focus on conjuring magic, ceremonial magic, and what could be described as psychic magic. Each individual woman may have other particular fond areas of study that specializes her and makes her unique to her tribe.
Each Wise Woman is the custodian of her tribe's history, both ancient past and current events, and may choose to pass the tradition orally or through writing. Many Wise Women are known to pass this responsibility in part to apprentices and/or delegated tribe historians.
A few famous Wise Women among the tribes:
- Mava of the "Three Blue Moons" [rough translation] tribe
Mava is an elderly Wise Woman with a spine that has distinctly bent in her old age. Her hands are withered and stained by her favored art, potion making. She is well known among many tribes for her skill, and will exchange medical drafts for fresh ingredients. Besides her renown for healing potions that cure the sick and poisoned, mend the weak and wounded, and fortify the healthy against malady, Mava is capable of brewing poisons and magical drafts. - Herrada of the "Blood Runs Cold" [rough translation] tribe
Herrada is an enchantress made famous among the tribes for the wands she creates. While she is a potent Psychic Witch that is to be feared by those who anger her, her preferred past time is trapping the souls of lesser "Bad Spirits" in crystals for use in enchanted objects. Thanks largely to her hobby and passion for enchanting, her tribe has grown to be one of the largest, the most powerful, and most feared of all the tribes. Despite how powerful and well known she is, Herrada is still relatively young and still has hair as black as obsidian. - Asilinor of the "Valley that Sparks in the Sun" [rough translation] tribe
Asilinor is a young Wise Woman from a recent tribal split. She is known for sending her teacher (the Wise Woman of her parent tribe) into a coma-trace with powerful dream magic. More recently, Asilinor is spoken of for her incredible talent as a Seer and Dream Weaver. Currently, she and her husband, the Chieftain, are the only two members of their tribe, a tribe still fresh from the split. Because they are a tribe of two, they frequently travel with other tribes as visiting members.
Shaman? One who is named a Shaman for the tribe works closely with the Wise Woman to serve their tribe (a Shaman can become Chieftain). A Shaman may be male or female, and the gender split seems to be fairly even. When a Wise Woman appoints a tribe historian, very commonly that person will be a Shaman; it is common for a Wise Woman to appoint a Shaman she knows and trusts to the position of Chieftain during a split.
Most who are called Shaman are well-versed in magic that supports the tribe above and beyond other tribe-fellows, are very spiritual and have conveyed messages from the spirit world, have shown themselves as reliable Seers, are capable of conjuring spiritual or magical beings for the benefit or defense of the tribe, or have the gift to convey messages to other tribes across long distances through telepathy, dream weaving, or spirit couriers.
Tribal politics generally place all Shaman as the assistants and advisers of the Wise Women and the Chieftain. They are in a position of respect among their tribe-fellows. Because a Shaman may be chosen by a Wise Woman as a Chieftain, they may be compared to the nobles of some more civilized races.
Witch Doctor? A Witch Doctor is a savant and servant of the tribe. In contrast to a Shaman, who is in a position of respect in the tribe, Witch Doctors are looked on as 'public servants' to their tribe-fellows. Witch Doctors know and practice magic, and may have even been born with "blood of spirits" and deemed as too dangerous to be trained in the way of the Wise Woman or Shaman.
Magic commonly practiced by Witch Doctors relates to healing and mysticism, repairing or confusing the body respectively. While Witch Doctors are the most likely to take on the skills and practices of herbology and potion making for the good of the tribe, these skills are normally learned from, and possibly delegated by, the tribe Wise Woman. A few Witch Doctors are trained in lethal forms of magic and sent out as Witch-Warriors of the tribe, but the practice of training Witch-Warriors is tribal taboo that is rarely ignored.
Because male children born with 'blood of spirits' are notorious for making particularly powerful and dangerous Witch-Warriors, some Wise Women exercise their right to sacrifice such male children born in their tribe to the spirits.
Tribal Split? If a tribe splits into two tribes, it is because more than one Wise Woman were a part of the parent tribe and they could not come to an understanding of who leads and who supports the other. Both Wise Women go to the ruling Chieftain and demand the rite of Mog'lag, which forces the Chieftain to choose the tribe Wise Woman. After the rite, the Wise Woman that was not chosen appoints her new choice of Chieftain to lead her away for a new tribe. This newly appointed Chieftain and spurned Wise Woman leave the parent tribe, taking with them any who wish to join (any number may leave, except the parent tribe Chieftain and Wise Woman). Because there is no tribal law governing the prescribed size of a tribal split, it is possible for either the parent tribe or daughter tribe to be left with only two members (Wise Woman and Chieftain).
WORDS:- b'lac
Lifeflow. Blood. Particularly blood still flowing and circulating within the body. - B'lactau
A child born with "blood of spirits." This title refers to a child born with innate magic and the instinctive ability to create magical effect(s) without prior training. Wise Women are born as B'lactau. Male B'lactau may be seen as an ill omen, due to their notorious use as powerful Witch-Warriors. - Churec Mog're
Literally translated, it is a man who is "one left behind." This is the title given to men who chose to abandon the tribal nomadic way. While a Churec Mog're is cut off from the tribes, one who chose that exile for themselves may eventually return to the old ways and join another tribe. A Churec Mog're who is forcibly exiled by the tribe Chieftain or Wise Woman is left with a curse evidenced by a tattoo somewhere on his body, which marks him as an exile no longer a friend of the tribal nomadic way. - Churec Mog'ra
Literally translated, it is a woman who is "one left behind." This is the title given to women who chose to abandon the tribal nomadic way. While a Churec Mog'ra is cut off from the tribes, one who chose that exile for themselves may eventually return to the old ways and join another tribe. A Churec Mog'ra who is forcibly exiled by the tribe Chieftain or Wise Woman is left with a curse evidenced by a scar cut into tribal patterns and rubbed with soot to discolor the scarred flesh somewhere on her body, which marks her as an exile no longer a friend of the tribal nomadic way. - c'tau
Spirit, singular or plural. Usually a reference to a "bad spirit" that represents a threat to the tribe or dangerous magical/spiritual entity. C'tau are the demons of tribal religion and the 'bogeyman' of folklore, but can be a very real threat if a tribe's Wise Woman is too weak to keep such evil spirits at bay. According to popular tribal belief, Churec Mog're and Churec Mog'ra are commonly eaten or possessed by c'tau.
Some c'tau in folklore
- Babac'tau
Woman with the lingering eyes. Babac'tau is usually portrayed as seductress that is not very attractive or an old hag. Mothers warn their children and young men about Babac'tau. The children are taught to fear her as an evil spirit that steals and eats children that run away. Young men are taught that she is an apparition that can feed on their lewd fantasies and devour their sanity; a young woman the mother does not approve their son seeing may be described as an agent of Babac'tau. - Massac'tau
A green-skinned hairy troll that is the size of a human child, but with arms so long its knuckles drag the ground and with sharp, jagged teeth. Misbehaved children are warned that a Massac'tau could chew off their ears if the do not listen to and obey instructions. This threat can be made a reality, for a particularly rebellious child that infuriates a Wise Woman may have their ears cut off and left behind as an offering to the spirits.
- f'lah
This is a word not used in general conversation, but refers to the "act of having sex." Someone that uses this word in general conversation might be considered a potty mouth, children would especially so. - n'fla
Excrement. Poop. May be used in a phrase to elevate it to 'strong language.' An example would be to say someone is "full of excrement," full of n'fla. - tau
Spirit, singular or plural. Usually a reference to a "good spirit" that represents benefit to the tribe or a subject of worship as god, or "neutral spirit" that represents no harm to the tribe or evil thing. - t'lar
A popular insult. It was originally a reference to a purple toad covered in warts, but it has become a favorite insult for someone the speaker does not particularly like.
