♦♦♦ Name:Harbinger (Ishulut in Fiyuri). Likely not his "real" name..
♦♦♦ Age:Early 40s (around mid 20s in human age)
♦♦♦ Breed:Regular
♦♦♦ Shanak:Water
♦The founder-leader of the Dar-vatta megapride. Patient, pragmatic, and surprisingly indulgent toward cubs. Despite his authority, he displays a near-complete lack of interest in luxury. He hunts and gathers his own food when he's not too busy.
(One detail of note: he resides near a wild soybean field. He does not claim it as his, and anyone is technically free to come and harvest some, but out of respect most refrain from harvesting them so that he can have them for himself.)
♦Extraordinarily knowledgeable when it comes to geography (of Sildat), meteorology, botany and possibly a bit of geology as well.
♦While he is quite approachable, he doesn't seem to have any friends -- only followers. It's not that he's too high and mighty to have friends, though. He just does not seem to have that emotional need for friends or family. Or is he the type that has difficulty forming close emotional bonds with others?
♦Little is known about his past prior to founding Dar-vatta. And just how is it that he's the only one immune to the poison fog surrounding the Forbidden Lotus? Who is he... or as some have questioned, what is he?
Three years before the arrival of humans.... The Great East was dying from a drought. The land did not see a single drop of rain for months; even the springs were reduced to meager trinkles. The heaven and the earth had both forsaken their Children.
Julnga, a Major Pride that had guarded the Origin Spring for generations, made a difficult choice: they would leave their home. They would head to the Northern Peaks, where water was always present in the form of snow. None of them wanted to do it, but what other choice did they have?
Then he appeared. An outsider, accompanied by five followers, approached them the night before their planned departure. Introducing himself as the Harbinger, he urged them to come home. Come home? They were already home, thought the Julnga. Only now they were about to leave it behind so they could survive.
Yegaluhe. On the contrary-- Jengam iyorif requammar x'ano. There is another, a true home. Ru x'anova mihe. There has always been. S'herekkadar ihabhu vatkkugre darva bremhe. Rekkadar is alive, and she is waiting for us.
Rekkadar, the tainted city. The uninhabitable. And this Harbinger not only wanted them to go there, but insisted that there was a reservoir within the city filled with clean water, free of taint. He even produced several ancient relics as proof of his claim that he had come from there. But were they proof enough? They couldn't just trust their fate to some crazy words of a stranger. Sure, the Northern Peaks natives might not appreciate a foreign pride intruding into their territories, but they had to understand their situation. They had nowhere else to go, didn't they? Rekkadar could not possibly be--
Something flickered in the corner of their eyes. Some even saw it straight on, but did not dare believe what they saw. Then a few seconds later, crackle.
It was real. There was a storm in the southeastern skies, in the direction of Rekkadar. They could even see the blur of rain every time a lightning bolt lit the clouds. The drought was over; the Wandering Era was over. The Children were coming home.
The journey was long. Rekkadar was much farther than the storm they had seen, which produced barely enough rain for the group to relieve their thirst before it dissipated. But still they kept going; the closer they got to Rekkadar, the wetter the ground became, indicating that the storm had come from that direction. Surely they would find water there... and perhaps their destiny as well.
Along the way, the Harbinger proved himself to be reliable, capable and kind. No matter where they were, he seemed to know all the shortcuts, resources and dangers the way a local would. He and his men took the initiative in taking care of the weak, making sure no one was left behind. And when he had gained enough trust from the Julnga, he assisted their leaders in resolving conflicts during the volatile days on the road.
As they neared Rekkadar, they were joined by other prides who had also been following the storm. Now there was an undeniable need for an independent leader not affiliated with any of the prides. With both confidence and humility, the Harbinger filled that roll, and he remains the leader of the Children to this day.
♦♦♦ Necromancer Exile. Out of everything he's ever done, this has been the most controversial. Desert exile is a lengthy process due to the distance between Dar-vatta and the Desert. So why not just chase them out -- or even execute them, as some believe to be the best solution?
Simply chasing them is obviously not an option if Dar-vatta is to maintain a harmonious relationship with its neighbors. As for not killing them, the Harbinger says it is out of respect for the healers they were before they turned. He also does not want anyone to kill recklessly just because someone might be a necromancer.
Not everyone is satisfied with his answer. But they are allowed to execute necromancers who have become violent after turning, and this has appeased the majority of the folks.
♦♦♦ Territory Laws
Every sub-pride within Dar-vatta is required to mark their territory with certain objects. For example, pride A may hang deer antlers on prominent trees; pride B may hang ungulate mandibles while pride C might use canid mandibles; pride D might build cairns/ deposit rocks at the base of prominent trees. Urine marking does not count because 1) it's considered vulgar, and 2) individuals can switch prides.
In March of Year 0, the Harbinger gave a map of the Great East to a panel of Corleos, and send them to survey the land. The members of this panel are called the Land Witnesses or Jurigwa. They summon the local leaders with the purple smoke signal. During the meeting, each leader states their territory boundaries before the Land Witnesses, so that no one can secretly move territory markers around and claim it's always been that way.
The Land Witnesses mark the borders on the map and report back to the Harbinger. It has been decided that the Land Witnesses will go around every four years. Extra trips can be made between the scheduled surveys if there is a serious dispute over territories.
What happens when you start chasing a prey within your territory, but end up catching it in someone else's? You drag the carcass back into your territory before anyone sees you! If the other pride sees you in their territory with the carcass, though, the Harbinger's law says you have to pay them with one hindleg off your kill. This does not happen often; unlike wolves, Corleos do not engage in long distance chases. And it's not like prides patrol every inch of their territory borders 24/7. But the law is there to minimize disputes when it does happen.
There is a large area within the Rekkadar ruins that belongs to no single sub-pride. It's a public place meant to be shared. Everyone is welcome to come and go as they please, but no one is allowed to claim any part of it as their own.
Note that map-reading is an acquired skill. Except for those with a natural gift in this particular skill, even the most accurate map will not make much sense to you if it's the first map you've ever seen -- and for the vast majority of Corleos, the Harbinger's maps are the first ones they've ever seen (Fiyuri didn't even have a word for "map"; they had to invent a new word by combining Land + Image). For this reason, all of his Land Witnesses receive quick training in map reading before they officially join the panel.
♦♦♦ The Forbidden Lotus It's illegal to enter the foggy area surrounding the Lotus. And you would be either very foolish or very suicidal to break this rule: the fog is lethal poison.
♦♦♦ Pseudo-Theocracy, or Semi-Separation of Church and State? According to the legend, the poison fog is what became of the healing mist of the Golden Days. It became toxic when the necromancers tainted the land. The Great Spirit became angry and gathered the fog around the Lotus, which was a temple built to honor the Spirit. The Spirit did not want the mortals to enter the temple anymore.
Except the Harbinger, apparently. As mentioned earlier, the Harbinger is the only one immune to the poison fog. Those who believe in the Spirit have taken this as a sign that he must be the Spirit's favorite Child, and meant to take the role of the head priest. The Harbinger has agreed to perform some priestly duties, strictly on the side. From time to time he disappears into the fog, saying that he will go to the temple gate to pray. He may also answer some questions about the Spirit.
However, he has made it clear that he will not discriminate against non-spiritual individuals as the leader of Dar-vatta, and that Dar-vatta is not to cater to any specific religious beliefs. His stance has been criticized as being "half-hearted" by extremely religious minorities who want a devoted leader and a devoted pride.
♦♦♦ Human Protection The Harbinger has given a piece of land to the humans. Any Corleo that enters it must abide by human customs. The shipwreck is also human property, and Corleos need human permission to take anything from the shipwreck. But who grants permission? That is up to the humans to decide.
Even outside of their designated territory, humans receive some degree of protection. Corleos are not allowed to hunt them as prey. Humans can be punished/ harmed for failing to observe Corleo customs outside of the human territory, however.
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 2:22 am
Accomplishments on the Side ♦ ♦ ♦ ────────────────────────────────────────────────
♦♦♦ Cartography. The Harbinger has drawn a few maps on parchment: the map of the entire east side of Sildat, and a few copies of the Great East map. These maps have been proven to be highly accurate, which is remarkable considering the lack of technology. He does not travel around anymore, though (at least not on a continental scale). He has been working on creating a 3-D clay model of Sildat in his free time.
♦♦♦ Signal System Corleos had been using primitive smoke (day)/ fire (night, as well as overcast days) signals for a long time. Some prides had more complex signal codes, but there was no single unified code that could be understood across different prides. The Harbinger introduced a new signal system for all of the prides of Dar-vatta:
Contents of the message:
Vertical fireball shots = Battle. Calls forth able fighters, and warns the others to evacuate.
Vertical and horizontal alternating = Natural disaster; EVERYONE EVACUATE.
Horizontal fireball waving back and forth = Non-dangerous news. Come see what it's about!
That's only half of the message. To complete the message, you add directions:
Black smoke accompanying the message: North of Rekkadar. For example, a vertical fire signal with black smoke means there's a battle north of Rekkadar.
White smoke accompanying the message: South of Rekkadar.
Lightning flashes accompanying the message: West of Rekkadar.
Rarely used, but still in the system: smoke + lightning flashes + fireball means Northwest or Southwest of Rekkadar.
There is no sign for East of Rekkadar as Rekkadar is pretty close to the east coast.
A fireball-only message indicates the origin of the message. For example, a fireball bouncing up and down with no smoke accompanying it means that's where the battle is happening.
There is one last signal, which is the purple smoke (produced by igniting Dhot berry sprigs). This summons the local leaders for a meeting.
Prank signaling is a serious offense. First-time offenders are either beaten by the whole community or are imprisoned for a month... or both. Repeat offenders are to have their core CRACKED, which would cripple their psionic abilities for a long time.
Children of Rekkadar Captain
Offline
Children of Rekkadar Captain
Offline
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 2:23 am
The Five Lieutenants ♦ ♦ ♦ ────────────────────────────────────────────────
♦♦♦ U/C. ...
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 2:24 am
Other Associates & Relationships ♦ ♦ ♦ ────────────────────────────────────────────────
♦♦♦ U/C. ...
Children of Rekkadar Captain
Offline
Children of Rekkadar Captain
Offline
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 2:27 am
Layout of Residence ♦ ♦ ♦ ────────────────────────────────────────────────
Reply
