Canon Tribe of DunHúmur

[CyberChaosV2]

I was asked by Som to move this to the fanfic thread and happily agreed. I think there might have been some misunderstandings with why I made that thread in the first place, it was NOT to make an actual tribe that people would play as, I was young and naive when I posted that thread in the organizations and groups area. The real reason I made this, was to help myself and other get an idea of the kind of stuff Roy grew up with and how it would affect him...plus I like making characters and quite liked making an entire tribe, I'm still open for people making characters for said tribe, just follow the handy dandy character form ill be putting in the next message and you'll be good!

Location: A cave near the marshes of the Northern Kingdoms, fairly close to Zima'Maloj.

Tribe Leader: Karrim DunVada

Tribe Members:
Men-
Jarritt Beringer: Bartender and Brewer
Raulin Handorf: Head Weaponsmith and Tailor
Hanz Nichterbein: Head Jeweler and Silversmith
Carl Peuterscheit: Resident Barkeep and Brewer
Karrim DunVada-:Tribe Leader and Armorsmith
Ulrich Fasselkrief: Tribe Scholar and Architect

Women-
Greta Handorf: Tribe Chef and Botanist
Agnise Fasselkrief: Tribe Champion and Priest
Fronika Nichterbein: Tribe Physician and Nurturer
Lucie DunMada: Tribe Mother and Physician (DECEASED)
Keterlyn Peuterscheit: Tribe Miner and Trader

Honorary Tribe Members-

Gregor Beledrent(DECEASED): Blacksmith that earned the respect of the dwarves.
Beatrice Beledrent: Wife of Gregor, has made a few drinks the tribe has enjoyed.
Roy Beledrent (Does not live with the tribe):Son of Gregor, raised by the tribe as a whole.

Building Style: Due to the more open nature of the caves the tribe lives in, they were open to make larger buildings than usual, though, not having QUITE so much room as to construct Large manors, they stuck to a style akin to the ancient Pueblo people of North America. The rooms and houses themselves were carved into the walls and sometimes even floors and ceilings of the cave(s) they inhabit. Over time, they carved the walls so much, that eventually the hosues started sticking out on their own, while remaining a part of their cave, these houses sometimes had faces carved on them for the tribe's beliefs. However, only the DunVada and DunMada's house has the faces of the previous DunFadas and DunMadas.

Belief: All members worship Korog as their main Pantheon, however, they do accept all other gods, due to Korog's neutral standing, and believe that all gods are needed to keep the world in harmony. This same belief leads to the idea that when all gods are favored equally, the world shall know of an everlasting golden age, where no wars, hunger, disease, or poverty shall occur. This, however, is usually regarded as a child's dream, as they themselves worship Korog above all others. The final belief is that, should you devote yourself to another, it is to do so for the rest of your life, even if they fall in battle, illness, or age, Loyalty is highly regarded in the tribe.

Leadership Style: While they look to the DunVada for guidance in many tribal matters, usually there is a leader for each situation who is asked to advise the DunVada, and the DunMada usually is well learned in many of the different trades, enough to know if someone is talking utter nonsense or not. The DunMada is left in charge of the tribe during times of War or when the DunVada is not present. Should the DunMada be unfit for leadership, or be deceased, the tribe then turns to it's champion, or greatest warrior, in their stead.

Tribal Customs: There are seven different customs of the tribe that are strictly followed-

• Birthing: When a child is born, they are put in boiling water for a few short seconds to cleanse them of their parents outer humours, leaving them to be rid of any influence their parents may accidentally leave on them, this allows the child to be able to more freely make their own choices, as well as ready them for the harshness of the world.
  
• Blessing: When the Child has turned ten years of age, they are to be brought forth to show their loyalty, not to Korog, but to the tribe, and to then receive the blessing of Korog from the tribe's priest. This shows the child's devotion to those that have raised them, starting lessons on the different crafts soon afterwards.
• Blooming: A festive ceremony that takes place when one has earned the title of adulthood, either through battle, or through craftsmanship. If it was through battle, the warrior is expected to recount the battle word for word, without any exaggeration, should it have been found worthy of granting the warrior adulthood, it need not be changed. During the recounting the warrior shall drink with his brethren throughout the night, hearing their words of appraisal, afterwards, the warrior will be given their own armor and weapon(s) specially made by the "master" smiths of the tribe.If the Adult earned their change through craftsmanship, they shall be required to bring the "masterpiece" before the tribe "masters" for critique, should they approve as well, the Adult is then required to perform their craft for three days straight, stopping only to drink and eat, and resuming when their hands aren't full. For these three days, the Adult must produce ONLY crafts that the "masters" approve of. Adults that earn their titles through craftsmanship are usually looked much more highly upon than those who earned their titles through battle.
• Betrothing: Once an Adult has found their lifemate, they shall stand in front of the tribe, and present each-other with an object that is valuable to their body, their mind, and their soul. Then they shall be presented with a pair of puzzle rings, and must work with one another to figure out how they come apart, representing the trials that will come with staying with eachother for the rest of their lives, the time it takes showing a prediction of their lives to come. Afterwards, if the proposing Adult earned their title through warfare, a set of armor resembling the proposer shall be made for the other. Should the proposing adult have earned their title through craftsmanship, they shall work together to forge one item, which shall be used in their Trade crest, designed by the Scholar. Afterwords, they shall be given their own place to live and (for the crafters) a place to perform their craft. The couple is then locked inside a room in a specially made building where they will be left alone for "nightly activities for producing happy family members."
• Bestowing: A ceremony that happens only once per lifetime usually. This is done for anointing a new DunVada, Champion, Or master Tradesmen. The ceremony is a harsh one, and is usually referred to more as a a trial. The new DunVada must prove himself by staying up for an entire week without eating, drinking naught but water, sleeping, and constantly performing deeds for the tribe throughout this time, should no deeds be found to be done, the DunVada shall travel to other towns seeking deeds to perform, and shall be accompanied by the Champion (Or the scholar should no champion be present) to ensure that they not break their oath. The Champion must fight all the warriors of the tribe till none of the warriors can move any longer, or for three days straight, whichever comes first. The master Tradesmen must prove they have mastered all the trades by performing each of them for 24 hours straight, stopping only to eat and drink, and expected to be working when their hands are empty. (24 hours for smithing, 24 for tailoring, 24 for botany, 24 for cooking, 24 for writing, 24 for mining, and 24 for brewing.)
• Burial: When a tribe member dies, their soul remains trapped in their body, slowly corrupting it with the decay of the humours trapped inside, should this continue long enough, the soul shall forcibly move the body and seek vengeance upon those who denied it freedom, as well as others (zombies and skeletons). To ensure this doesn't happen, the body is first lightly coated in flammable oils to help it burn quickly and thoroughly, it is then placed in the blacksmith's forge, along with an item important to their craft (or a wooden version of their weapon, should they be a warrior) after the body is fully burned, including the bones being reduced to ash, the ashes are collected, along with ashes from the forge, and placed in an urn, which is then carefully sealed shut with heated metal, save for a tiny hole near the top. This allows the soul to venture back from the heavens, should it forget who it was. It can touch the ashes of its body to remember it's life, the ashes of its item help remember the passion they had for their craft, and the forge's ashes help it remember the people it lived with from all the items forged for them.
• Bethinking: Performed once a year, this ceremony is to remember all the important members of the tribe, the good and the bad, and reflect upon their lives. Normally, only two or three people are focused on, due to the tribe working together to tell all parts of that person's story, what they accomplished, what they failed at, even the mediocre parts. This ritual, unlike the others, does not pertain only to members of the tribe, as people outside of the tribe (Humans,Elves, Caparii, and Earthspawn alike) have all contributed to the well being of the tribe, and even endangered it, in some manner or another.

Daily Life: usually, the tribe is full of activity, someone is always doing something, and rarely will you ever find someone relaxing, the tradesmen usually work 14-16 hours a day, being very passionate about what they do, they live their lives by working, and they see no problem with this.
Speech Style: The tribesmen all seem to have a more smooth and softer way of speaking than normal dwarves, though there's also a lilt in their voice that seems more fun, yet calm. They also tend to have their own insults, farewells, greetings, and swears. (these can be found on Roy's page below in my signature)

Tribal Philosophies: The tribe and its members believe heavily in the worship of Korog as their patron deity, as such, many tribe members think like philosophers, desiring to find an actual truth rather than winning an argument or reinforcing their own belief despite other's ideas. Many tribe members sound like four year old children in that they like to ask the simple question of "Why?" though this is less to annoy and more to find a reason for the different thoughts of other individuals. The children of the tribe are usually raised with a curiosity found vastly irritating by other people, though, the constant repetition of thinking about why and having the question asked at them time and time again has instilled a very high level of patience within the tribe members. Though their curiosity has been the crux of many members' misfortune, the tribe continues to try and keep open minds and overwhelming curiosity.
Tribal Clothing: Due to their living deeply in a cave, the tribe members did not have much in the way of animal skins, nor did they know which plants could be woven into a fabric. As such, they gather silk from the spiders that inhabit the caves and use resin from the trees they chopped down to use as fuel for their forges in order to create clothing that is quite formfitting and not very covering. As time went on, they eventually met traders and traded metals in exchange for animal skins, they still use spider silk, though it is woven by multiple seamstresses merely to make durable straps for armor, or used to make ceremonial garb. Due to it being quite fragile, a large quantity of Spider silk is required to make a simple shield strap, more being required for the second strap (should the shield require it.)
Tribe Laws: The laws decreed by the tribe are quite easy to follow, though some are a bit stranger than others, the translation is a bit rough, as it was passed down simply by word of mouth and even the older members are sure the wording is a bit off, but the meaning stays the same.
-No man shall live without learning to fight to protect family and home.
-Warriors are to be respected, and they are to respect their kin.
-Craftsmen are not to be taken advantage of, for they are wise in the ways of their art.
-Should one be called upon to perform a task, they shall perform that task without complaint.
-So the DunVada decrees, the kin shall do, for it is he who knows what is best for the people.
-Never bury the dead, unless decreed by the DunMada. all dead are to be burned and their ashes mixed with that of the forge of the people, and the ashes of their life (their job).
-Live a life of happiness, that is, live a life that is well enough, that when you are called upon to give up that life, you will do so readily and without hesitation.
Tribal Job Descriptions:
Cultural Creations:

• Music- No matter how old, the art of creating sound to please oneself or others has been a longstanding one, the tribe of Dunhúmur is no exception to this, however, due to the spider strings being used in large quantities to make clothing, and the tribes lack of animal skins, they had little to go off of. As time went on, slowly they developed a system of using specially shaped stones, and small cylinders/blocks of metal, painstakingly made from the scraps of failed/broken weapons, and the remnants of their creations, were both used to make a sort of loud beat to which the rest of the tribe could follow with their voices. While not the greatest of singers, all will agree that the sheer power of the tribe's voices, fueled by their barrel-like chests, can indeed make one feel like they can do much more than normal. The singers tend to use sporadic shouts, set at certain tones, combined with deep humming and sometimes Horgaahn words they no longer know the meaning of, but seem to sound right for the song, as such, the songs usually have no meanings in the lyrics and tell no stories through the words, but rather, through the tone of the song, and its pace. Due to the generality, no song tells a specific story of a hero going through their trials, nor a woman finding her true love, simply a warrior on the battlefield, two lovers sharing an embrace, or even a miner at work, the tribe finds music in all these things.
• Food- Not having much in the way of animal meat or plants, the people usually ate spider meat, or the mushrooms that grew in the caves, eventually, they found that by mixing certain mushrooms with the insides of what was only known as the "deadly" part of the spider (Its thorax) the people found that they could drink the "deadly liquid" that resided inside without fear of harmful effects (The tribe grew to be immune to small doses of the poison, but drinking in large quantities could leave one very ill) many dishes center around different ways to cook the spider, and other insects found in the caves, but many consist of a very small overworld item to help supplement the taste in someway. many of these dishes would be considered vile looking to overworlders, and the taste isn't something one would want to get used to, but a few select dishes, rare to the people, can be considered to be very exquisite and almost heavenly in taste.
• Dance- The dance of the people matches their music, it's sporadic and very rough, the movements usually consist of the dancers themselves making the loud noises for the singers, since the people aren't that great in numbers, as such, the feet are heavily moved, and the hands are usually clapping or using one of the instruments. Though in many cases, there is one dancer that is selected to be the "Storyteller" saying not a word, but bringing the story to life, either by dancing out what is happening, or bringing in noises not normally heard in order to emphasize the point.
• Art- Not having much access to colors, but being drawn to finding new ways to tell stories, the people used the overabundance of coal that they had to mark drawings on the walls, they also shaped the walls of their home into many faces, usually the DunVada and DunMada that were alive at that moment, after passing away, the tribe would then etch markings into the faces of the important person, giving them a more divine, or infernal look, based on how they impacted the tribe's well being. It is considered a great honor to be added to the walls of that cavern, and to insult any, even the infernally marked, is considered a grave insult and is highly frowned upon.
• Writing- Many of the people's writings are stories, as they love to tell the tales of other people's lives and how they were affected, or affected other people. Many of these writings have a moral, not only for children, but for adults as well. The tribe usually teaches their children straightforward the value of certain things seen as "Common knowledge" as such, instead of the usual "Strangers are not to be trusted" or "pride will be your downfall, should it control you" they instead teach other morals, such as: "The only evil is seeking harm upon all, including yourself" or "Do not judge others, lest you have the ability to first judge yourself" Many of these writing are closely kept, as the tribe reveres their collection of stories above all else, and are seldom to give any away. However, they love storytelling, and should one ask to copy it down, they would quickly agree, happy that others will get to hear the stories of their ancestors.

Knowledge and Education: While the children of the tribe learn different things based on what craft they wish to master, or if they wish to be a warrior, all children are required to learn 3 different ways of sustaining their bodies over the many years to come, so as to maximize the amount of time contributed to the tribe:

• Muscle Relaxation: Due to the strains the many jobs required of the tribe's members perform, children are taught how to help their parents, and other adult members, deal with the muscular pains that come with, and know how to help the body relax, though this is a crude method and is only meant for getting rid of knots found throughout the body, it's still quite pleasant to have done on you.
• Memory Recollection: As remembering one's life is considered to be of the utmost importance to the tribe, scribe's take to writing down journals of others lives, should they have not kept one themselves. However, should these journals be lost, or destroyed, it is the duty of the member to recall their own life in such detail so as to write it down themselves, or recall out loud for cataloging.
• Spiritual Enlightenment: A sort of form of meditation, this is to help one see all the different sides of an ongoing conflict, as well as have the knowledge to know which side is the most beneficial to the tribe, some members have achieved enlightenment to the point where they see only what benefits the tribe, and let no personal feelings, unimportant thoughts, or otherwise, distract them.

(Please let me know what you think, is there anything i missed? tell me! im tired of always referring to "the tribe" and saying things in a way that makes people think i made it up on the spot because it works and it's different... i planned this out after i got whitelisted XD)
EDIT: Im saying this now THIS IS NOT A CURRENT GROUP OF PEOPLE. At most, i plan on using certain members to help interact with certain people that roy interacts with. This wouldn't be for a while, but im not trying to make the tribe an actual thing.

 

[CyberChaosV2]

Character Name:
Gender:
Profession: (Pick one, I used two cause I got lazy)
Spouse (If any):
Children (If any):
Physical Appearance:
Personality:
Relationship with Roy: (Can be good, bad, or neutral,totally up to you, just give a bit of description)

 

[CyberChaosV2]

Hey! I'm going to start saving up for nobility to make this tribe a real thing, if you're interested in joining, please PM me and I'll add ya to a list, the above characters (Except for Roy, Karrim, Lucie, and Jarritt) Are completely filler and can be replaced if you wish for your character to have their profession, though please note, if they are above 15 years or so of age, Roy would probably know them, so I ask for a PM to get an idea of how the two would interact should they meet.