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Thraerkmig Khengartheill
Topic Started: Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:56 am (240 Views)
Thraerkmig
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[tabs][tab=Akar’thal]Thraerkmig’s mother wandered into a walled village several centuries ago and lived only long enough to give birth. Thraerkmig has inherited, among other inherent attributes, at least some small measure of his father’s presumed immortality. For this reason, he has been mostly forgotten except as a veritable urban legend among the people that reared him; he still considers them his people and returns home from time to time, sharing tales of his travels and protecting his people, but was never “one of them” even in his youth. Because he was not of the tribe by birth, he was taught how to hunt but never allowed to wield a spear; he dwelt in the home of his adoptive parents, tending animals and learning the ways of the tribe, but has never been allowed to claim the land of his adoptive parents as his birth-right; and he was never allowed to learn the ways of war or to touch the weapons of the tribe. What he has learned of weaponry, war, and magic has been taught to him by the world that exists beyond “his” tribe; he sought that world when he was much more foolish than he is today.

The following information all pertains to the people that reared Thraerkmig.

Akar’thal
Akar’thal
Akar’thal literally means “yak-folk” in the tribe’s native language, which is spoken only and has no name. These people call themselves the Akar’thal because of their close association with wandering herds of wild yaks, which are both hunted and tamed. They have a close association with yaks that goes beyond meat, hide, horns, hooves, bones, and the like (see tab: Northern Animism).

Akar’ta
”Ta” is the Akar’thal word for “land”, and Akar’ta refers to the lands inhabited by roaming herds of wild yaks. The Akar’ta lies beyond the North Reaches of Imythess and is extremely harsh, constantly covered in as well as beset by snow and ice. Frigid winds are always blowing across the Akar’ta, the only breaks being copses of fir trees large enough to be considered small forests. These copses are harvested by the tribes that dwell upon the Akar’ta, as are the Akar (yaks) themselves (see below: Akar). The Akar’ta itself is mostly flat but some places are sloped or hilly, and the land stretches out for more than a thousand miles in every direction with large but rare frozen lakes dotting the landscape. The ice over the lakes is thick and difficult to pierce, prompting the common belief that nature itself is protecting the various tribes from great monsters that lie far below the surface.

Akar’turk
In the Akar’thal tongue, the word “turk” can be translated as both “tree” and “thorn”. Among the Akar’thal, it can also refer to a permanent settlement established by the Akar’thal due to their practice of planting great logs deep into the ground and sharpening their tops into razor-like edges to form immense and sturdy walls. On average, a turk (referred to often as “Akar’turk” by non-Akar’thal tribes) will house roughly fifty people. The Akar’thal are the only tribe in their native lands to build settlements in this manner, as other tribes known to them are either nomadic (thus establishing and “breaking” temporary settlements as necessary) or have other means by which to establish permanent or semi-permanent settlements.

Within the walls of a turk, long-houses are built up from foundation trenches; these trenches are dug into the ground in order to act as cellars in which to store goods, weapons, and other things beneath the living spaces of the Akar’thal. This provides the Akar’thal with natural cold storage but also prevents damage or theft; their floors are covered with rugs made from the hides of wild yaks, both providing comfort and concealing the doors leading into their cellars. Most long-houses constantly have fires going as much for warmth as for household necessities such as cooking or boiling water, and large wash-basins used for bathing as well as cleaning clothing are dug into the ground as well; snow and ice are boiled and dumped into the basins, which are designed to be drained easily into the ground below.

Of course, the source of the turks are the copses of trees sparsely populating the Akar’ta. These fir trees are harvested for use as more than just walls and homes, however. The wood itself is used for tools, utensils, cookware, carriers such as baskets (complementing the use of Akar bladders as waterskins but also used to carry other things), toys, weapons, et cetera. The bark is prepared in various ways or added as-is to various medicinal remedies; it has also been used as patches in the reparation of clothing and fabrics, though this is not common and might be construed as a poor man’s way of mending something (as opposed to using good, strong hide or fur). Sap can be heated up for use in medicine as well as sealant, and needles are also used medicinally (particularly in medicinal tea). Roots are traditionally chopped up and burned as an offering to nature, an act that also produces fire for heat and light; the thickest roots tend to burn the longest, but unused wood (frowned upon though it is) from the trunk and branches of a fir can also be burned.


Akar
Translated into Common tongue as “yak”, the word Akar refers to large herds of wild yak that roam the hundreds of miles making up the Akar’ta. They are hunted by several tribes, but only the Akar’thal both hunt and domesticate them. Wild Akar that are hunted and killed are harvested for their meat; hides; horns; bones; tendons; hooves; and tails, which are highly prized as spiritual fetishes believed to encourage good fortune by way of a deep connection with the yaks. It is said that if you can grab a wild Akar’s tail without hurting it or getting hurt, you and your family will be prosperous until Raku takes you.

Captured Akar, however, are young and strong. They live long, healthy lives being well-cared for in turks. Domesticated Akar serve as pack animals and work animals; they are milked just as other domesticated cattle are; and they are shaved periodically for their fur, which always grows long and shaggy but slow. The fur can be used for many things, ranging from fibers for clothing or other fabrics to be sewn to rope fibers to decorations and other things. When domesticated Akar die, they are harvested just as wild Akar are; however, their meat is prepared in a special way so as to prevent it from being too tough and hard to eat.


Tuka
Tuka are one of the few plants that can grow in such a harsh climate as the Akar’ta. They are root vegetables that are planted not as seeds but as roots, which are always warm to the touch; the roots produce heat that melts snow and ice, which in turn are absorbed to produce more heat and promote growth. Wet soil is the best for growing tuka, so boiling water is poured onto a patch of tilled ground in order to melt any ice or snow thereupon and ready the soil for planting. Once planted, the tuka roots will do the rest. They take about six weeks to grow properly and resemble yellow potatoes when fully grown, except that they’re about four times the size. Tuka innards have an uncanny ability to soak up viscous liquids, such as blood, but they are also good for eating. Tuka that are used to soak up liquids are buried outside the turk as an offering to nature, for they cannot be eaten once they are so spoiled.

The skins of tuka, however, are not eaten straightaway. They are instead boiled in water to produce tea, which is drunk by every member of the Akar’thal on a regular basis. A single tuka’s skin can be used to produce two full cups of good, strong tuka tea before the flavour wanes. Tuka skins shriveled from tea last a while in the cold, so they are stored for use in cooking.

Tukas have a strong bittersweet taste that is best diluted in a stew or tea.


TradeTrade is the ultimate form of connection between people within a tribe and between different tribes. Firs can only provide so much, after all, and there is just as much taken in trade for goods or services as there is from nature. For this reason, fires in Akar’thal long-houses rarely burn down. Various tribes frequently trade with the Akar’thal, providing both themselves and the Akar’thal with much-needed supplies on a regular basis. Without trade, the Akar’ta would truly be a desolate land.
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[tab=Northern Animism]
Northern Animism
Arquti
Thraerkmig was raised by a tribe who believes that everything, from animals and plants to certain patterns and effects of weather and even living rock and earth, has some semblance of a soul. While various families within the tribe primarily worship certain aspects of the natural world, nature as a whole is deeply respected and seen as a system into which they are wholly integrated. To respect the natural world is to respect themselves, and to respect themselves is to respect the natural world. This universalist cycle governs much of what Thraerkmig does (or does not do) when not caught up in the turmoil of others or the hustle and bustle of one “modern” civilization or another.

Akar
Among those spirits for whom Thraerkmig has great respect and pays special homage to is Akar, the yak. In the frozen wastes in which stands Thraerkmig’s village, the yak is the widespread animal. Great herds of them feast in the summer-time upon plants that need no sunlight - only water; the plants are short grasses and shrub-like weeds, mostly, that take in moisture from the surrounding snow and ice to sustain themselves, in turn providing the imbiber with surprising quantities of protein, vitamins, minerals, and other vital nutrients. To Thraerkmig’s tribe, there is no heartier or more reliable animal than the yak. Although they are hunted, it is not without mercy or respect; homage is paid to Akar by taking in young or loner yaks as domestic cattle; they are bred, milked, and sheared as opportunities provide. In this way, Akar has integrated itself into the barbarian society to which Thraerkmig belongs. Thraerkmig’s devotion has even been channeled through his magic, a clear testament to his unyielding respect for such a favoured animal.

Anuri
Thraerkmig has been called Wind-Talker in the past for his apparent affinity with the wind; his ears are exceptionally keen due to his parentage, but he has not inherited his mother’s primal connection to the Elemental Plane of Air. Nevertheless, he is elementally aligned with the wind and has made the most out of it while traveling beyond his native lands - so much so that he considers the wind a “close, personal friend” with whom he often “chats”.

Raku”Death is an old friend,” some have said. While this is not necessarily true for Thraerkmig, he respects the spirit of death perhaps more deeply than any other, but not out of fondness. Raku can take anyone or anything at any time and in any place for any reason, and if the warnings of Raku are not properly heeded, the next life will be particularly harsh - assuming the next life ever comes. Believing in reincarnation as a reward for a life well-lived until Raku takes him, Thraerkmig is always conscious of the souls of the deserving when confronted by or causing death. Often-times, this means a small ritual or ceremony when someone or something has died. The dishonourable, however, rarely receive such respect.

Yet Thraerkmig’s people - the barbarians who reared, trained, and taught him in his youth - are not opposed to dying. They do not fear death. A common saying among Thraerkmig’s people is to “make one’s bed with Raku”, although this can have more than one meaning (dependent upon the context). On the one hand, making one’s bed with Raku could be an admonition; in this sense, it means that someone is foolishly courting death - in essence, that said individual is recklessly ignoring the warnings of Raku. Such warnings can be almost anything, of course; all are mortal, and it is the instinct of those who are mortal to avoid Raku’s embrace. But on the other hand, “making one’s bed with Raku” can also mean that one is ready to accept his embrace. The question is often asked before a battle or a hunt, when one is badly wounded or poisoned, or when there is some other danger put before a member of Thraerkmig’s tribe; it is the context that gives this phrase meaning, and it is the meaning that (of course) determines the nature of one’s answer (if not the answer itself).
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[tab=Flaws]
Flaws
Curiosity
Thraerkmig is a naturally curious person who finds mysteries of any sort irresistible. In most circumstances, alas, his curiosity overrides his common sense.

Dislike of Nobility
In Thraerkmig’s experience, those of noble blood tend to prefer ruling over serving. They’re akin to pirates more often than not, taking what they can and giving nothing back despite the responsibilities inherent in their titles. They flaunt their wealth and squander it because they can. They care little for those that fight for survival or commit themselves to day after day of hard labor for the same reason. It is their generally selfish, greedy, ambitious, and manipulative natures that has caused Thraerkmig to avoid them whenever he can.

Righteous
Thraerkmig has no qualms regarding the commission of heinous acts (e.g. torture) in order to get the information or results he needs.

StubbornThraerkmig doesn’t change his mind very often, if at all. Once he’s decided on a course of action, he follows through no matter what. Attempts to convince him that he is wrong roll off of his back with no effect.
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[tab=Languages]
Languages
Common
Thraerkmig’s dialect of Common is non-Imythessian and bears a somewhat rougher undertone, but he is fluent in the general language.

Elvish
Thraerkmig has only ever spoken mountain Elvish, though he is intimately familiar with both the Gwilikith Mountains and Dragonspine Mountains dialects. [silver]

Daemi
Daemi is one of two dialects of a common Abyssal mouth-language that low-planars can comprehend. It is spoken with a much lower pitch and a completely different inflection from its opposite, Daemi. It can be difficult to properly speak, especially at length, for those who do not or cannot speak in a deep voice. Thraerkmig is well-studied in this language but only moderately successful at speaking it. [darkred]

Daemo
Daemo one of two dialects of a common Abyssal mouth-language that low-planars can comprehend. It is spoken with a much higher pitch and a completely different inflection from its opposite, Daemi. It can be difficult to properly speak, especially at length, for those who do not or cannot speak in a high-pitched voice. Thraerkmig is well-studied in this language but not very good at speaking it.. [tomato]

Draconic
Though taught this second-hand by the tribe that raised him, Draconic is a racial language that comes exceptionally easy to Thraerkmig in speech. [gold]

Dwarvish
Thraerkmig is fond of this language and well-studied in it. [steelblue]

Fae-Tongue
Many fae tend to be surprised when they realize that Thraerkmig is fluent in this language. [cornflowerblue]

Greentongue
A mixture of two separate languages, Goblin-Tongue and Orcish, is spoken among the goblins, orcs, half-orcs, and related green-skinned races in the lands surrounding Thraerkmig’s village. Thraerkmig and his fellow barbarians think this guttural tongue foul and rarely speak it, but most barbarians that Thraerkmig knows have at least a basic understanding the language. Thraerkmig is well-studied in Greentongue but does not like to speak it if he does not have to. [green]

IstaniIt has been said that Istani sounds odd coming from Thraerkmig, but it’s understandable enough. He’s most familiar with formal Istani and has had very little exposure (if any at all) to military Istani; although he may once have been somewhat comfortable with canal Istani, that was a very long time ago and he has mostly (or perhaps completely) forgotten it. [khaki]
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Edited by Thraerkmig, Thu May 25, 2017 10:54 pm.
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