Monkeys, monkeys everywhere!
09-16-2018, 07:32 PM
Pyrrhic is going to be getting a mandrill companion named Benkos as soon as Risen moves to their new lands. The more I thought about Benkos and the things I intend for him to teach Pyrrhic, the more interesting and fun his backstory got to be. I'm now to the point where I think it could be fun to involve other Abraxas. In a nutshell, Pyrrhic is going to befriend Benkos, a middle-aged mandrill warlord who has used the teachings of Sun Tzu to become very successful. In his youth he took control of a small horde of mandrills and over the next few years accrued a lot of wealth, a large harem and an ungodly amount of offspring. The horde grew so large that he eventually broke the collective down into war bands and put several of his ambitious sons in charge of them. Through them he now controls a large portion of Auster. His chieftains spend their days raiding other mandrill hordes and enlisting or enslaving other primates and Benkos, surrounded by capable young bucks, can now kick back, relax and lead from the comforts of Amron's Castle. Cue the Abraxas. Their arrival will send the horde racing for the trees where they'll spend the next several days studying the annoying canines that now roam their favorite stomping ground. Benkos, unfamiliar with this new enemy, will decide to leave the castle and observe the Abraxas from a distance as he tries to decide his next course of action. Enter Pyrrhic, who will grab Benkos' attention by doing something really stupid. For reasons that I have yet to flesh out (perhaps he's bored with the good life) he decides to drop some wisdom on the silly little doggy. Now, you're probably thinking "wow, Laz, that's a lot of backstory for a very, very minor character who is more or less an accessory for your real character." To which I would say...yes, yes it is. But companions always feel so flat and boring and I'd like Benkos to be more than that. So, this is what I was thinking. Primates make very useful companions. Their hands make them good crafters so pretty much any character could benefit from having one as a companion. I'd like to incorporate them into Risen somehow. All Abraxas can take members of the horde as companions and I'm tossing around the idea of IC Malleus teaming up with Benkos one day and pairing primates with Risen members and OOC giving passes as prizes or something. Prizes will be a later thing. Right now I just need a place for the horde's info and a list of connected members. Anyone can adopt any member. The horde's "core" is almost entirely mandrill, but pretty much any primate can be adopted as the horde has scooped up all individuals who could benefit them. Below is a bit of info about the horde, its customs and its ranking system. The ranking is simple. Benkos is Fumu "king" of the horde. Directly below him is the war band chieftains (all of whom are his sons) who act as advisors. Under each chieftain is a collection of valued band members who advise their chieftains. Each war band is largely self governing, although each chieftain takes orders from Benkos. The bands are more or less little packs so they're set up with citizens, fighters, healers, etc. Since he can pretty much kick back and relax, Benkos has surrounded himself with a large harem and oodles of kids. He trains the kiddos, is doted on by his servants, tended to by his ladies, and more or less spends his days living the life. His ladies, young kiddos and servants can all be adopted. Mandrills have a patriarchal society and that's reflected in how Benkos manages his horde. Females are caregivers, healers and wives while males are usually (but not always) some kind of fighter, be it a guard or a soldier. In addition to land, the horde will fight other hordes to steal their females and introduce new blood into their horde. While you might think the females are kind of mousey given that they're won or lost in conflicts, that's not true. They too have their own hierarchy and are just as fighty and honor driven as the males. It's not a big deal for a horde to get taken over and that's the time when the more ambitious types will try to move up in the world by attracting the attention of the high ranking males. Being part of a high ranking male's harem will raise a female's place in society. Some individuals (like Benkos' wives) might even rank higher than the average male. WIP WIP WIP WIP WIP WIP WIP WIP WIP WIP WIP WIP I have a ton more info to add! Let me know if you guys find any of this interesting or if you'd like to adopt a member of the horde. There are no requirements for adopting, I just need to know if you do so I can add them to my member list. |
background pic by this guy.