Confederated Chiefdoms of Badgassi Mara Honi

The **Badgassi Mara Honi** are a people that closely resemble honey badgers. They tame various animals, like lions, leopards and hyenas as mounts, and they live nomadically in huts built on the backs of elephants.

The tribes north of the Ngi Xica Savanna have been the epicenter of near constant wars for near two millennia. The lands are rife with mineral and natural riches, with all kinds of ores and produce easily obtainable. However, trying to take these resources has been exceedingly risky for centuries, due to the great wars between the two dominant species of the region: the **Zidazzi** and the **Badgassi**. These two groups have maintained one of the longest feuds in recorded history, with tales of their battles being recorded back during the days of the unification of Azan. However, only recently the badgassi have managed to get a significant advantage over the Zidazzi, pushing them all the way back to the Onyx Mountains. The **Confederated Chiefdoms of Badgassi Mara Honi** has been growing as a power ever since, threatening to expand to both the Zulutaur Steppes and to the Ngi Xica Savanna.

## The Badgassi

The **badgassi** are a sentient species of humanoid badger who live in the lands south of the Onyx Mountains. They are tall and lanky figures, being on average taller than most elves, but with arms much longer in comparison. Their body is cover in an dense black and white fur, strong enough to stop most piercing attacks, with cases of badgassi capable of shrugging off multiple arrows shot at them. They also have powerful claws, used for both digging and fighting, though it has made them have problem manipulating delicate items, and as such, are notoriously poor craftsmen and artisans. They have an elongated head with powerful teeth, capable of crushing bone.

The badgassi are well known for their tolerance to poison. Somehow, their body has adapted to resist nearly all known natural poisons and toxic concoctions, only causing them a mix between dizziness and hangover at the very worst. As such, they have a tolerance to alcohol that surpasses even the most ancient dwarves, a fact many dwarves who meet a badgassi for the first time will happily put to the test, which can end up badly depending on how much ale they have at hand. This means that only magical or alchemical poisons can really threaten their lives, and even then, they will be able to resist them for much longer than other species.

The badgassi are fierce warriors, able to shrug off most wounds and keep fighting for hours. However, they are generally not the smartest nor the most organized species out there. They tend to limit themselves to tribal groups of a couple of families, moving around as hunter-gatherers, and occasionally settling down in areas where the resources make it possible, such as mining regions or areas occupied by humans, who tend to be rife with poultry and other farm animals. Their general organization is poor, being historically unable to join into a cohesive state until relatively recent. Even though the badgassi have been in contact with groups that dominate herding, husbandry and farming, it has only been recently when they’ve started to partake on these activities. In particular, the domestication of the dwarf elephant, a small but very intelligent species of elephant that lives in the area, has allowed them much more success, especially for those nomadic groups that need more protection from bandits, the zidazzi and other badgassi.

## The Zidazzi

The Zidazzi are a sentient species of humanoid honeybee who used to live in the the lands south of the Onyx Mountains, though over time they have been pushed more and more into the mountains themselves. They are a very diverse species, having a complex hive system that not only affects their behavior and role on the colony, but also their physiology as well. Their eusocial lifestyle means that their roles are picked up for them once they are born, and throughout their lives, they will be given a specific diet that will change them into the role chosen for them. In general, most zidazzi are slightly shorter than humans, with cases such as the zidazzi soldiers and queens being much bigger. They have four arms, plus two legs and a pair of wings, which help them fly over short distances. Due to their size, they cannot really travel long distances by flying, but they can still use their wings to traverse short distance, or keep themselves afloat for a while. Their bodies are covered with a light carapace that protects them while not really weighting them down. At the end of their backs, they have a stinger, though it is in reality a vestigial element. Most zidazzi produce poison, but they secrete it through their mouths instead of their stinger. This poison is mostly designed to be incredibly irritating, capable of temporally blinding enemies when in contact with their eyes, and can be fatal if ingested or if it enters the respiratory system.

Their way of life follows a rigid caste system. Most of the members of a zidazzi hive are sterile females, with both the males and the fertile young females leaving the colony once they reached adulthood. Like in many eusocial systems, the queens are the center of the hive, and they are the most important element of the entire colony. The queens are twice the size of the regular workers, and they lay dozens of unfertilized eggs, which are then fertilized by the male drones. The queen and the drones take most of the decisions in the colony, keeping an eye on every aspect of everyday life, being informed about the state of affairs by the many workers. The worker zidazzi are the most numerous members of the hive by far, and are required to do most of the activities dedicated to the continual survival of the colony. Zidazzi are known for being exceptional at the art of agriculture, capable of bringing yields of flowers in areas that, under normal conditions, would not be suited for the task. However, it is important to remark that the zidazzi only really harvest plants with flowers. They do not work with most crops due to their produce, focusing instead of generating the most amount of flowers. This is because the zidazzi only eat nectar and honey, created by said nectar. Their very specific diet has forced them to take a lot of measures to preserve their food supply, since a bad harvest could mean starvation for the entire hive. The zidazzi have created the equivalent of small cities, gigantic structures made out of wood and wax, both as a place to reside in and as a place to store honey for the bad times. These massive structures are guarded by the zidazzi soldiers, towering brutes who are capable of secreting a poison so toxic it can dissolve some organic matter. The zidazzi soldiers are the rarest of the hive outside of the queen, and are only ever seen around her.

The zidazzi are a society with a high appreciation for arts and culture. They are well regarded as hard workers around the region, with a long production of wax sculpture and literature. Unlike other eusocial species of Giantstep, the relation between the colonies is amicable and peaceful, usually trading male drones to keep consanguine problems from popping up. The members of the colony are also less likely to abandon the hive, due to the high quality of life they can reach within their society. The zidazzi are a peaceful species, and in general they do not seek violence if they can avoid it, which is it can be shocking for many outsiders to see the lengths they will go to fight the badgassi.

## History

The warring between the badgassi and the zidazzi seems to have been going on forever, with clashes being recorded all the way back during the azanese unification. However, calling it a war during most of history seems rather unfair. During most of recorded history, the zidazzi have dominated the region, handily controlling the lands over the badgassi, who only survived due to the zidazzi never really pushing to exterminate them or expelled them fully from their lands. The zidazzi were more advanced, more numerous and more organized. The growing civilization of the zidazzi could not really compare with the barbaric tribes of badgassi, constantly assaulting the hives to reach one of the most appreciated resources in the land: honey. Zidazzi honey is highly addictive for non-zidazzi, and its effects are especially notable in the badgassi, who will go to great lengths to retrieve it. While at first glance this may seem to be a great opportunity for the zidazzi to obtain control of the entire badgassi race, in reality, the bellicose and rebellious nature of the badgassi meant that they’d rather fight to the death to steal the honey than work for it. The tales of many tribes of badgassi joining together to assault a hive are common in the area, as well as the punitive raids the zidazzi launched afterwards. The zidazzi never saw the long war as a significant conflict, being able to dominate the with relatively little effort. In comparison, the tales of the badgassi focus on the great struggle to survive in a land ruled by their eternal adversaries.

Looking at this, it can be strange to think that nowadays, it’s the badgassi who maintain a powerful nation, while the zidazzi’s holdings have been reduced to the Onyx Mountains. But there are many things that can explain the fall of the zidazzi and the rise of the badgassi. First, the zidazzi’s highly specific diet has caused them severe problems at many points, in times when the weather or natural causes resulted in poor honey and nectar production. The zidazzi hives have to dedicate an enormous amount of time and effort to keep their reserves of food up, and even then, access to food can be quite limited sometimes. In contrast, honey badgers can eat practically everything, with their resistance to poison serving them well even when eating rotting food. Second, the badgassi’s have become great at attacking from underground. While they are not really adapted for the underground lifestyle, the badgassi’s strong arms and claws are perfect for digging tunnels from which they can assault the reserves of honey of the zidazzi. This has been countered in the past by the zidazzi, building their honey reserves in honey towers, but the badgassi don’t particularly mind climbing either. Third, the zidazzi are very vulnerable during the long periods of infancy, during which they find themselves in larval stage. In contrast, the badgassi are under no such pressure, and young badgassi joined the raids and battles against the zidazzi once they are able to walk. While in isolation, these things wouldn’t really cause the fall of a civilization as seemingly advanced as the zidazzi, it all changed around 2.961 ABE, with the arrival of Hibila.

**Hibila the Terrible** was the youngest son of the tribal chief Hibiuk, leader of one of the smaller tribes near the Zulutaur Steppe. Legends say he was captured in a battle and turned a slave, and lived his formative years as a servant of some other tribes of badgassi, and later down the line he served as a pirate once he gained his freedom. His experiences leading men in assaults against coastal towns made him a constant threat in the Sea of the End, but quickly set his eyes to the rich lands controlled by the Zidazzi. At that point in time, the tribes of badgassi were content warring against themselves and occasionally assaulting the hives of the zidazzi for honey. Hibila partook in many of these assaults as well, recruiting many badgassi to attack smaller zidazzi enclaves, but after seeing the effects the zidazzi honey had over their people, he swore to destroy its influence over them. This set him on a path of destruction, centered around destroying the source of the substance that kept the badgassi addicted: the zidazzi.

The plan of Hibila began by working for the zidazzi themselves. Fighting the other badgassi helped him gain a reputation as a fearsome warrior, and by staying close to the zidazzi helped him learn their political and military structure. Hibila gathered around him a great army, trying to adopt the war machine of the zidazzi for his band. While he did that, he began sending mercenaries and pirates from the outside to the flower fields, sabotaging them by sending parasites and other plagues. Thus, the yearly yield of honey decreased, and that caused friction between the different zidazzi hives. Hibila also gathered rumors that an outside power was trying to invade. The gossips became garbled and confusing, from dozens of different sources and stories, making it very confusing for the zidazzi to know what exactly they should prepare for. This caused some hives to overextend their resources preparing an army to face the possible invaders, whereas some other hives decided to ignore the rumors, assuming it was all baseless tales of sailors and pirates. This all caused the zidazzi to pressure the badgassi tribes more and more, having less time to lose from their stealing assaults.

Once he saw the zidazzi were suitably distracted, Hibila reunited the main badgassi chieftains and offered them a deal: join him in a military alliance to destroy the zidazzi who had kept their species on the run for centuries. If they refused, they would be skinned alive and then killed. Most of the chieftains accepted the proposition, knowing that Hibila’s army had become the biggest force the badgassi had at the time, and by joining him, they would gain more than by trying to dethrone him. Those who refused were taken prisoners, skinned alive and their furs sent to the zidazzi to further the act.

After this, Hibila secretly gathered a fleet of pirates and bandits from all over the Sea of the End. While many would have been able to discern the ruse, seeing as the fleet nearing the coast of the coastal zidazzi hives was no real conquering force, the well sown paranoia had gotten the better of the zidazzi queens. They send a massive force to counter the approaching fleet, emptying their collective hives to squash this apparent upstart from conquering their lands. Hibila was ordered to set sail alongside their forces, but he instead sent his second in command, and ordered him to betray the zidazzi fleet once they began attacking the pirates. In the Battle of the Queen Xibianix’ Strait, the pirate forces and the badgassi managed to outmaneuver the zidazzi fleet due to one singular advantage: gunpowder weapons. The zidazzi had never respected gunpowder, since it couldn’t be used alongside their wax-based architecture. Their fleets were quite outdated, mostly designed to carry the zidazzi soldiers to board their enemy. But by that point, both the pirates and the badgassi had gathered enough gunpowder weapons to just sink the zidazzi fleet from a distance, keeping enough distance to avoid a direct boarding, and shooting the zidazzi soldiers when they took off and try to fly towards their enemies. Chaos was absolute, and the zidazzi fleet was annihilated on the sea. A single painted hawk with a branded note, a dark claw, signaled the victory for Hibila, who then started the next phase of his plan. With his forces, he raided and pillaged the undefended hives, burning down all the fields of flowers they could find, as fast as possible. To do this, they used trained elephants covered in heavy furs and leathers, and then covered those with flammable liquids. Once the elephants charged and began burning, they wouldn’t stop until they were dead, wreaking havoc in even the most fortified flower fields.

The zidazzi never saw this coming. Suddenly, a sea of barbarians jumped over the undefended colonies. Well-armed, well organized and very well motivated, the badgassi destroyed most of the biggest colonies of the zidazzi. The badgassi pillaged and plundered to their heart’s content, but Hibila made sure to try to destroy as much honey as possible, to keep the badgassi to falling prey to its addicting effects, and thus keep them fighting. Once the ruse was clear, the zidazzi began to counter-attack, but they had lost quite a lot of terrain to the badgassi, and couldn’t really act fast enough to slow their momentum. In a decade, the badgassi had pushed the zidazzi to the mountains, with the rest of them enslaved and sold as slaves to the pirates and neighboring countries. The whole species might have been erased from the world, if not for the sudden death of Hibila. During his wedding with his third wife, he was apparently squashed by an elephant carrying gifts, who had drank the alcohol reserved to the guests.

The death of Hibila may, under other circumstances, led to fights to decide who’d be his successor, but the badgassi’s chieftains decided to, instead of electing a leader to rule over all, to share the conquered territories between all of them, preferring to enjoy the spoils of war rather than continue fighting. The lands of the badgassi were rich in natural and mineral wealth, and thus they were able to live in opulence by allowing traders and other businessmen to exploit it, taking a great share of the profit. The central position of the lands of the recently formed Confederated Chiefdoms of Badgassi Mara Honi meant that they could trade with both the southern and western kingdoms, allowing them a considerable influence, despite the famously indolent attitude of the badgassi chieftain and their families from that point on.

The remaining zidazzi hide in the mountains. These lands are not appropriate for the survival of the zidazzi, since they don’t hold enough flower fields to sustain any decent population. To keep the badgassi from finishing the job, they dump enormous quantities of honey in the main river of the region, the appropriately called Honey River, which keeps the badgassi content enough to let their old foes alone.

## Society and culture

The badgassi have reached a level of power and prosperity incomparable in all of their history. The previously nomadic chieftains settled down in their respective territories, using the remains of zidazzi hives to build their own cities. The fields of flowers are useless for the badgassi, and have been transformed into farms and mining spaces, to keep a more common economy going. As such, the population of badgassi has been allowed to grow considerably, though a great percentage of the population still lives as nomads. Many of these groups have adapted a trader lifestyle, using their domesticated elephants to move around products from one settlement to another. The use of elephants as a transport has been growing lately, especially the smaller varieties, which can carry on their backs their tents and provisions without issue.

The population of outsiders in the nation has also increased exponentially. In the past, the zidazzi were careful to bring any species that needed agriculture or settled farming to survive, since it would take space from their flower fields. This was especially true with the great mining resources of the region, not allowing great prospections and open-pit mining due to the effect on the flower plantations. Now, however, the badgassi happily allow the exploitation of the many resources of the land, and for that, they need manpower. There are plenty of small to medium farms owned by the badgassi, but in general, most of the land belongs to the families of the chieftains. They work the land in great plantations using a lot of slave manpower to keep everything going, and this is also applicable to the mines. Many pirate clans that helped during the war against the zidazzi were handsomely rewarded with tons of land and riches, and have become authentic enterprises, capturing slaves throughout the Sea of the End not to sell them back, but to work their own estates and private mines. This has resulted in the appearance of many cosmopolitan cities, full of humans, elves, dwarves, drow, joos and other species that before the badgassi victory were seldom in the area. All of this has allowed a fantastic economic growth, only hampered by the fact that the badgassi leaders and chieftains are more than content in just enjoying their spoils and fortunes, and have very little interest in becoming a major world power.

Still, all and all, the Confederated Chiefdoms of Badgassi Mara Honi are the biggest power in the south of Giantstep. Each of the chieftains generally gathers their armies, and as such, they are quite diverse in both training, equipment and focus. What to use their armies for, however, is a different matter, since the badgassi chieftains have to reach difficult agreements to use their forces for anything other than defense. The badgassi warriors are very individualistic, and tend to work better in small raiding groups, harkening back to the days of their nomadic lives. They tend to favor short bows and throwing spears, which they use as both infantry and cavalry. They wear very light armor, trusting in the innate strength of their fur to carry them. The badgassi chieftains have also hired private fleets, mostly bought from pirates that decided to retire and enjoy their riches at one of the badgassi cities or in their own estates.

The badgassi have become pretty adept at the use of gunpowder, though they do not use artillery as other nations do. badgassi raiders are well known to have a couple of single shot flintlock pistols, discharging them at an enemy that gets too close to comfort. They also use arquebuses, most of them imported from overseas, but their adoption is limited, seeing as their slow reload and weight use does not mix well with their fast moving tactics. badgassi have also tried to used cannons mounted in elephants to some limited success, but in general they’ve proven to be much more of psychological weapon than an actual siege weapon, due to the logistical problems attached to them. Oddly enough, one of the most popular gunpowder weapons of the badgassi are the so-called “Wasp rockets”. Brought from changrilese pirates and mercenaries, the wasp rockets are long arrows loaded with two gunpowder charges, one inside the arrow tip and one at the side. They are loaded into launchers built to fit 200 arrows, and these launchers are moved around in a kart. The arrows have a small rocket attached which, when ignited, launches the arrow as if it had been thrown by a professional archer, though the accuracy of the weapon is dubious. A single wasp rocket salvo can devastate close formations, and the penetration power is quite powerful, since the charge inside the arrow tip can be made to explode and push the tip further into the enemy’s body. The downside of this weapon is that it takes a long time to reload, but it’s effects against enemies who do not move or pursue the badgassi raiders is quite effective.

The badgassi chieftains enjoy a great power, but they do not rule with an iron fist. The laws of the land are very traditional and only really written down after the badgassi began building cities. These laws are taught to all younglings from a very early age, and punishment for breaking them is severe. To counter this, the law of the badgassi is not very oppressive and does not hold sway over every little aspect of the badgassi’s lives. Freedom is a value highly respected and valued within their communities, and as such, they have the minimum amount of rules they need to work as a society. The leaders of the badgassi will spend their time enjoying their treasures, having built incredible palaces for themselves. These castles are usually made by foreign builders, and as such, they mix architecture from many different places. The badgassi do not have a particular style of architecture, due to their long periods of nomadic life, but they give a lot of value to fabric. Their huts and tents were made with vibrant styles and patterns, and this has been carried over to the modern day. No matter the architecture style, the badgassi will fill their palaces with many fabrics: curtains, rugs, furniture covers… The interior is full of different fabrics; many of those are inherited from family to family.

Familiar groups can be quite big. In general, a family consists of the badgassi patriarch and his wives. badgassi men are allowed to marry with up to six wives, but this is seen as a show of opulence and indulgence, and it is highly discouraged. Nowadays, it is very rare to see a badgassi man married with more than three wives. Families also tend to join together with each other, strengthening their ties and keeping numbers up. When a badgassi marries, the man has to ritualistically cut his own scalp with a ceremonial knife, to proof to the family of the wife he is strong enough to endure the pain, and thus strong enough to protect his bride. The fact their pelts are quite dense and strong makes this an excruciating process, and many people believe this custom came about to make young and hot-blooded badgassi do not rush into marriage. The badgassi can grow their scalps back, so this is no problem in case of multiple marriages.

## Religion

The badgassi have traditionally followed a very animistic faith, believing in the spirits that dwell on the realm. When someone dies, its soul goes back to the mortal world, keeping the energies of the world going, and if the soul is strong enough, it will find its way to be born again as a badgassi. The badgassi built many small totemic icons and monoliths around the lands to appease these spirits and to wish them good fortune. This has made the badgassi very superstitious, having many beliefs that model their behavior depending on the world around them. In recent years, due to the arrival of many outsider species to the lands of the badgassi, many other religions have spread throughout the land, from fey cults to the new azanese faith. The newly built cities usually have plenty of temples competing for the attention of the masses.

## Foreign Relations

As a newly emergent power, the badgassi have tried to establish relations with all nearby nations. In general, many of these nations have received these approaches with caution, since their relation with the pirate powers of the south and their outright slaughter of the zidazzi give them pause. However, access to the rich lands of the badgassi is always a great incentive to do business with them. They have great relations with Azan, connecting with their trade routes through the paths to the Sunset Ocean by crossing the Zulutaur Steppe. This has made the new azanese faith very popular throughout the human population, especially in the coastal cities. The badgassi also have great relations with Changrila, and it is said that the gunpowder guns and technology the badgassi used to fight the zidazzi came from changrilese contrabandists.

However, not all foreign relations are good. The badgassi have particularly bad tensions with two of their neighbors: Bakir Sahabaharadad Sultanate and the Mona Ki Ngi Xica. Around the 3.066 ABE, a plague destroyed most of the cattle of the Sahabaharadad region, causing the human nomads of the land to expand in a bid to gain enough resources and power to survive. This expansion arrived in 3.075 ABE to the lands of the badgassi, and threatened many of the easern chiefdoms. In the Battle of the Silver Oasis in 3.077 ABE, the badgassi forces managed to push back the invaders, and soon they went back to their original borders. Afterwards, the badgassi and the sahabaradadians made a deal to create many trade routes through their lands, connecting the trade of the Sea of the End to the Sea of Fog. This has become a marvelously profitable enterprise, connecting the trade of the west and the east through the south, and has made both the badgassi chieftains and the sultanate’s walis absurdly rich. However, even if it looks like a happy business, both members want to monopolize the trade, and as such, both have tried to conquer a direct line to the other side of the land. This takes the form of attempts to invade the Ngi Xica Savannah. The badgassi have sent both offers of annexation and outright attempts to conquer the lands, but the proud warriors of the Mona Ki Ngi Xica have kept it from happening, with help of both the Sultanate and the Blind Bastard’s Domain, who want to keep the old azanese trade route firmly in their hands.

The badgassi are also constantly guarding their northern borders, since the Onyx Mountains are now the home of the zidazzi. The badgassi are well aware that they committed an outright genocide against the zidazzi, and they do not intend to lower their guard against their ancient enemies. Though they are more or less confined to the southern areas of the Ettin-Range now, coexisting with the other inhabitants of the mountains, the badgassi have set up a series of fortresses and watching posts to keep tabs on the zidazzi, just in case they ever try to reclaim their lands. The zidazzi, on their part, have sworn eternal hate and vengeance over the badgassi, but in their current situation, have very little population and resources to do anything about it.