Ninjas, anyone?
11-15-2018, 06:59 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-14-2018, 07:04 PM by Circe.)
Ardent is woefully lacking in teeny ninja-esque wolves and I'd like to fix that, so I give you THE SONGA! Who are these minuscule badasses, you ask? Well, let me tell you... The Songa are a people who have lived in Auster for generations. When the land bridge opened up and HUGE wolves poured in they retreated into the trees and have been very quiet ever since as they have tried to decide how to handle the formidable giants. They've watched packs rise and fall, and sent scouts into Boreas, but they still aren't sure what the best course of action is. THEIR CULTURE is a very loose amalgamation of pre-reservation Cherokee and Comanche with a pinch of 15th century ninja-ness, a liberal sprinkling of tree veneration and a LOT of imagination. EDIT: I'm leaving this bit up so you can see where I started, but this is now ohhh, I dunno, 90% imagination? The Songa are a loose collection of families held together by blood and tradition. They're matriarchal, with children taking their mother's name and they're polygamous, with elite males typically marrying as many females as their wealth allows. They aren't led by a leader, rather, their big decisions are made by a small counsel who are nominated by their peers as situations that require the community's consensus arise. Members are “elected” based on their experience/ knowledge on a specific topic and the counsel “disbands” after decisions have been made. As far as ranks and the like go, the Songa have no official pack structure. Each member of the band is expected to be self-sufficient. They do what they need to do to survive and barter with each other to make their lives easier. Depending on the skill of the individual, they may or may not amass wealth this way. Now, just because they're expected to be self-sufficient doesn't mean they thumb their noses at those who are less fortunate. If you're a lazy ass that's one thing, but if you have a genuine need among the Songa your neighbors will no doubt do what they can to help. BUT...they'll do it secretly. Why? Because there's an ingrained belief that by giving someone something to their face you're humbling them, thus lessening their dignity, and being the dignity/respect/honor-centered people that they are, this belief means that they too look bad because they've damaged someone else. So nice gestures are either done in a way that humbles the one doing the gesturing (thus allowing the receiver to save face) or anonymously. Marriage While it's only typical for males to have multiple spouses, the females make most of the decisions when it comes to marriage and family. The most desirable male is one who has amassed the most wealth. Females are the ones who usually initiate courting and the decision to marry is ultimately up to the female. Marriage tends to be a formal thing, done to forge alliances and move you up the social ladder, but marrying for love isn't unheard of. It is, however, something that will probably make your parents unhappy unless your partner also happens to meet their standards. Honor Songa society is centered around the acquisition and preservation of respect and honor. Honor is acquired through raiding, through giving respect to the older generations, through treating fellow Songa with dignity, and through plying an “honest” trade. Respect is given carefully and with all the brevity normally reserved for religious ceremonies. Bowing is a very important greeting to the Songa and failing to bow or bowing too quickly or shallowly is considered a sign of impertinence. Individuals who regularly fail to follow this social protocol generally aren't thought very highly of and may find it difficult to establish themselves in their community. Exceptionally rude individuals might even be shunned until their manners improve. Raiding Males (and to a lesser extent, females) participate in raids against other peoples to increase their wealth and standing among the Songa bands. He (or she) who possesses the most trophies gets the most goods and the most prestige. What kind of trophies might they take, you ask? Well, the best trophies are the ones that have clearly been taken from somebody else, so things like ears and tails are the most highly prized. They are proof that a fighter has bested someone (or more than one someones) and it's not unusual to see Songa wolves adorned in the carefully preserved tails of their vanquished enemies. Make no mistake, they'll take anything they deem valuable and the taking of body parts, while prevalent, isn't something that's taken lightly. Possessions are much more commonly taken. RELIGION Animistic in nature, the belief of the Songas is that all living things - from the smallest of ants to the largest of trees – have a spirit. All spirits are revered and no lives are taken flippantly. This segment of their culture is a WIP and I'll expand it if there's interest in the Songa. Rites of Passage WIP WIP WIP WIP WIP WIP Tree Veneration I'll add this if there's interest in this plot and detail their creation story, why they sleep in trees, etc. Something in here includes banding together and killing off their excessively large enemies many generations ago. I MENTIONED NINJAS, DID I NOT Every adult member of Songa society has an important role to play. While highly skilled individuals in all fields are praised for their ability, the highest places of honor are reserved for the most skilled, most sneaky of their fighters. Those who tread on the lightest of feet, who scale trees quickly and silently, who defeat their opponents using cunning or surprise instead of brute force? Those are the Songa's most valued members. They are the Soundless. Small pups aspiring to be Soundless spend hours on the ground sneaking up on small game. It's said that if an older pup is able to walk up on a sleeping takin and kill it before it wakes s/he is ready to begin formal training. I've used 'fighter' quite a lot in this little adoption thingy, but that doesn't quite do the Songa's Soundless wolves justice. They aren't brawlers or close combat fighters. They're a little too small and light for that. No, these little guys are crafty little ninjas. They fight dirty (smartly, if you ask them) and from a distance. It would be nothing for a Soundless wolf to to rig an ole timey cartoon trap and leave an opponent dangling from a tree by a foot. Another good Soundless trap would be a net flinging contraption. WHY DO YOU KEEP MENTIONING TREES, LAZ A peculiarity among the Songa is that unlike their much larger canine relatives, they spend a great deal of time in the trees. The Ancient Oaks (where my boy Balsam will be from) is chock full of gigantic old trees with big honkin' branches that are just perfect for little nimble canines to make nests. APPEARANCES In many on site families, the bigger the wolf, the better. The opposite is desirable among the Songa. The smallest and lightest wolves are the swiftest runners and the quietest climbers, and so it's for that reason that big wolves are looked at not as powerful adversaries, but as bumbling, heavy-footed knuckleheads. Selective breeding over the years as reduced the average Songa height to a punchy 25" with smaller individuals considered more desirable and bigger individuals considered a bit unwieldy. 29"+ is unheard of in the Songa. Build The lighter, the better. Coloration Common colors are shades of brown, warm greys, natural reds and black. While it's a bit unusual, wolves with green tinged base coats or green markings aren't unheard of. All eye colors are acceptable. Albinism is nearly unheard of (and VERY undesirable!) but melanism is quite common. Medium to dark-colored coats are the norm, but light-colored coats do pop up occasionally. Those that do tend to be textbook examples of counter-shading. While they may differ in coloration, there is one thing all Songa wolves have in common: blue/grey tongues. No one knows when this trait popped up, but no one thinks anything of it anymore. That's just the way their tongues are. Some only have blue/grey spots or streaks, but most have solid blue/grey tongues and dark-colored mouths. Decorations No adult Songa in his or her right mind walks around without at least a bauble or two somewhere on their person. That would be like one of us walking down the street in our birthday suit. It's just not a good look, okay? Your neighbors will think you've lost your mind and the Songa, should they see a peer without decorations, will no doubt think similar things. The adornments Songa wolves choose to wear tend to represent their careers and interests. So Soundless wolves might have a bangle with a tails on it or a necklace made of ears. Healers might wear a braid of herbs, hunters might wear a crown of antlers, and so on. WHAT I'M DOING WITH THIS PLOT I'll be bringing in a yearling male named Balsam (who is being modeled off of red pandas/raccoons, just fyi, make of this statement what you will). He's desperate to make a name for himself as a Soundless warrior. Why, you ask? For a reason that's as old as time. He's got a crush. This girl is everything he could have ever hoped for and more. She's perfect in every way and hearing her name is enough to give him butterflies. The problem? She won't give him the time of day. Why? He doesn't know for sure, but he has a pretty good guess. He is, after all, just a boy until he claims his first trophy. BUT getting a simple little trophy isn't good enough. Nope, this girl deserves the best and it is for that reason that he's determined to get something no Songa wolf has ever gotten before: a trophy from Boreas. Considering that consensus hasn't been reached by the counsel, Balsam running off half-cocked isn't going to go over very well with, well...anyone. There will be those who agree with him, those that don't and a whole spectrum in between. So, Balsam (all 23 inches, 70ish pounds of him) is going to run headlong at Boreas (or at the “Boreas” intruders in Auster if he sees them first) which no doubt will throw his people into a panic. And I don't know about you, but that sounds like a great time. This is only what I'm doing. If you're interested in a teeny ninja but don't like what my boy is up to, feel free to play it however you want. All members of Songa society are up for grabs and they can have any personality and any goal. That being said, his friends could go with him. Perhaps there are other wannabe fighters out there itching to kick ass and take ears. Or, maybe there are those in the community who don't want to engage the Boreas giants and just want to go back to the way things used to be. Perhaps they aren't going to take a subtle approach to returning things to normal. I'm all for Balsam's mother or auntie trying to drag him home by the ear. So, interested in adopting one of these For Joe Smoe Songa: Code: <b>Name:</b> For Balsam's family: Code: FAMILYI reserve the right to take back and readopt out inactive characters. This includes those who have been set inactive and those who simply haven't be posted with in 1 ooc month. To simplify things I ask that all purchases you make/its design go with the character unless it has 10 posts or less when I reclaim it. 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 - TAKEN 9 - TAKEN |
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