The Wakwat

The Wakwat are a decentralised, multi-species cultural group that inhabits the inhospitable eastern ice sheets of Barasud, between the nations of Forlark & Ulkenult. The Wakwat are a fairly primitive & recently borne culture in comparison to contemporary peoples. They define themselves via the consumption of Wak, a product of their staple herd animal, the Mukwaa.

## History

Wakwat culture is defined through shared heritage of being refugees from an external, malicious entity. This is detailed as such in the analysis of contemporary historical records as well as the traditional legend of the Wakwat peoples, such legends being the only source of an origin Wakwatkimak whom founded the culture

### Traditional Legend of Origin

The forefathers of the Wakwat, the Wakwatkimak, originate from a distant territory known as Inaakimak. Inaakimak lay as far below the surface of the ocean as the sun sits above it. They lived then as they do now, but in a life bereft of predators, enemies, evil spirits and of malicious thought entirely. They farmed the Mukwaa, as much as they do now, but the Mukwaa were naked and fed straight from the water. The wak they shed was sweet and just one cup could fill a man for weeks. There was no night or day, simply playing and frolicking and merriment. It was like this for eons until Cuuk. Cuuk was famine; the Mukwaa began to shrivel up and dry in huge numbers and wak was as filling as sand men became so desperate for food they would bite and snap at the water in search for crumbs. Cuuk was disease; welts would grow on the skin of men as large as their heads, glistening with thick red ichor inside. The welts would burst and the ichor would rain burn through the earth and imbue the people with further sickness. Cuuk was wrath; households who once lived together in peace would froth at the mouth once sighting each other. They would scream at one another bear arms until the water was opaque with blood and bodies littered the floor.

Very few survived, and those who did knew best to leave. The Wakwat ranks had been decimated and they fled in all directions. Years upon years they slaved through the ocean depths, bearing through toil upon toil. They clambered among rocks, and fought against currents, they fended themselves against monsters never before known nor even imagined and endured unknown horrors that turned innocent eyes to soul-sucked glass orbs. Strength of will however bore through, and as time went on their skin hardened and the Mukwaa became tough, bearing fair fruit from their loins and arms from their corpses. The Wakwatkimat became strong, and thus prepared for the world beyond once they had breached the great glass surface.

### Contemporary History

The Wakwat emerged in around 350AS, the Wakwatkimak and Mukwaa being entirely unknown and encountered prior. They relied entirely on flint and animal parts for tools, weapons, instruments, clothing etc. Around 450AS some families of Orcs had been integrated into Wakwat culture s

## Lifestyle

The Wakwat live a semi-nomadic lifestyle subsisting mainly off of herding. Their staple animal being the large, thick-furred, slug-like animals known as Mukwaa. They partake in fishing, crabbing and gathering on a seasonal basis. The Mukwaa are the main source of food in Wakwat daily life, the staple food of the Wakwat being the nutritious and vaguely sweet fluid secretions that come from the Mukwaa's side known as 'Wak'. Mukwaa fur and hide serves as the main source of clothing, however seals and the hide of other occaisionally encountered mammals may also be used.

The Wakwat spend winter herding the Mukwaa along the polar ice sheets, living in short lived dwellings made of bone, hide and driftwood. They retreat back to the land come spring-time where they occupy seasonal dwellings. In the northernmost island these dwellings consist of concentric circles of stacked stone which are then furbished with bone and hide. In the south these dwellings are normally larger facsimiles of their temporary winter homes

### Tukaawaawic Mukk

'Tukaawaawic Mukk' in Wakwat means 'the guiding senses', and is a term that refers to the set of various rules that govern Wakwat life, from philosophy and ideology to the maximum amount of catch a fisherman can harvest. All the mukk are in place to ensurethe avoidance of Cuuk, as embodies negative events and emotions, violence, ignorance, lack of cooperation, chaos and eventually death. The Tukaawat Makkuwam are not a moral high-ground from which one judges the actions of others, but is the sensible method of avoiding harm to oneself and others. These rules are poetically expressed through the sense of touch, taste and smell.

#### Taste

Taste pertains to how one should treat and interact with others, how one should view & control their own emotions, and how emotions & relationships are viewed in Wakwat society. This serves as the basis of social laws, and the relevant aspects are usually rules that should be followed.

Tasting sweetness is to act with kindness, respect and empathy, to do upon others as you would like done upon yourself. No harm must come upon any living creature without reason and without the proper ceremony. Its flesh must be consumed, it's skin must warm your back, and its bones must be the tools of the next generation. Death without purpose feeds into the Cuuk, which will use its evil power to make animals weak in body and number and their products with little nutrition. If a man is found cold and starving in the wilderness, he must be brought in, fed and sheltered. If you treat him well and teach him the mukk, he will become a wakwat and thus his next generation. He will be able to join the fight against cuuk and do upon others in the same way. All must aim to be kind and complacent, and to make others feel the same. "All living things are your brethren".

Tasting bitterness is to come to a mutual acceptance with the universe and all events within it; what has happened in the past is unchangeable. It is thus that you must accept the consequences of your actions, breaking a law comes with a punishment and thus it should not be avoided. A loved ones' death is tragic, but must not be dwelt on. Disease and famine are great pains, however they must be bared. It is imperative that one takes to the world with patience and humility. You must always accept someone's flaws but by no means are they worth praise. You must accept your own small worth in the order of the universe and that all things are equal to you "Patience stills the rock against the strong winter wind but the sea still turns it to sand".

Tasting sourness

Tasting saltiness

Tasting blood

#### Touch

Touch encompasses actions their respective nature & intent and their consequences. This serves as the basis of all laws, and the relevant aspects are rules that are obligatory.

#### Smell

The beliefs held by an individual or group. This does not so much act as a set of guidelines or laws as the other categories, it pertains more to how the Wakwat in general perceive the history, other people, each other & the world as a whole in a philosophical and spiritual context. Very rarely are laws observed pertaining to scent.

## Biology & Demographics

The Wakwat initially consisted of a majority 'Wakwatkimak' species, with some Orcs individuals or families assimilated into the Wakwat as refugees of the broken wastes. Historically, the occasional Dwarf and Xitaris would be taken into the clan after being subject to a shipwreck, these individuals were brought into the Wakwat out of the obligation to taste sweetness, and such individuals were usually more than happy to assimilate out of need to survive in the inhospitable ice sheets. This is a rare occurrence and thus the Wakwat have no dwarven or Xitari lineages amongst them. The Wakwat themselves would include their herd animals, the Mukwaa, as part of Wakwat however they do not exhibit signs of sapience. Despite this, Wakwat tales sometimes include people 'talking' to Mukwaa and of Mukwaa possessing and granting magical powers.

### Mukwaa Biology

Mukwaa are large, migratory gastropod molluscs whom the utilise as their primary food source. The Wakwat have a mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship with the Mukwaa, in that Mukwaa filter feed in order to eat. This requires the Mukwaa to be stationary for long periods at a time, leaving them vulnerable to attack from predators, orcs, or monsters that originate from the broken wastes. It is thus that the Wakwat defend and tend to the Mukwaa, in return recieving Wak, a nutritious fluid that the Mukwaa secretes from its rear as a bi-product of feeding. Wak is thick and slightly opaque with a salmon-pink colouration. It is only somewhat sweet, and otherwise has a savoury flavour akin to yeast. This is the staple food of the Wakwat and is either consumed raw or used in various recipes. Although the Mukwaa are best utilised alive, they, as all things, still tend to die from time-to-time and thus the Wakwat make use of whatever parts of the Mukwaa they can recover as tools, including their thick, off-white fur. Mukwaa flesh is unpalatable, with a rubbery texture and unpleasant taste.

Mukwaa have a thick, multi-layered coat utilised for clothing, the underlying skin being hardy and flexible is utilised for creating storage vessels and in building shelter. The thickest, toughest skin is found on the Mukwaa's foot, constantly excreting a lubricating substance akin to oil. The oil is used for water-proofing textiles, fueling lamps and fire and in some medicinal contexts. The skin of the foot, if large and hard enough, is used for sleds, shields and canoes, however requires great preparation and specially made tools to tailor.

There are four hard, calciferous internal structures in the Mukwaa anatomy, all comparable to anatomy in both sea and land-borne slugs and snails. These structures are more comparable in strength texture to the shells of other molluscs, however they serve a purpose analogous to vertebrate bones. Du to the lack of vegetation in wakwat territory, these internal structures are heavioly utilised in Wakwat life for crafting tools & weapons, in pictorial inscription and cultural craftwork as well as large degree of other versatile practical usages. The variation in the size of the Mukwaa is integral to how such parts shall be used. For example, the operculum (see above) would often be used as a bowl or as protective or ceremonial headwear, however in particularly large Mukwaa there is potential for usage as a shield or as simple shelter.

Mukwaa are an entirely hermaphroditic species and usually mate during late winter and give birth during spring to live young. The young are pink, fuzzy and usually 10 to 15 centimetres long and less than 300 grams in weight. They reach sexual maturity once they have exceeded 3 feet in length and weigh in excess of 20 kilos. Their lifespan can be as short as 30 years to as long as 150.

### The Wakwatkimak

'Wakwatkimak' means 'respected milk-drinker' and is used to refer to the members of the original, distinct Wakwat species. The Wakwatkimak, have a rather obscure anatomy, especially in regard to the heavily utilized and labelled anatomy of the Mukwaa. Traditional pictorial inscriptions simply depict a semi-circular shape with marks representing two pairs of eyes. In person all that can be seen of the Wakwatkimak are their aforementioned eyes, otherwise being a dark silhouette clad in Mukwaa fur. All that can be said for certain about their physiology is that they do not possess bones, possibly being arthropods or echinoderms. As a species they seem to be very long lived, on average living 50 to 90 years. It is unknown how they reproduce.

### Wakwat Orcs

The arrival of Orcs into Wakwat culture began the differentiation between the original Wakwat species and others that joined. Orcs in Wakwat are referred to as 'Aakcwat' literally meaning 'meat-eaters', however it can be equated to 'the muscular folk'.

## Language

The Wakwat cullture are united by speaking the Wakwat language, however the Assimilation of and interaction with Orcs fleeing the the Broken Wastes has led to admixture between the Wakwat language and the various dialects of the Orcs. Any orcs who identify as Wakwat will primarily speak the Wakwat tongue, however language contact continues to merge the languages in areas where neither culture is the majority, regardless of species.

Wakwat language has the following features:

* 3 Distinct vowels: ɑ, i , u. The vowels are latinised as the letters a, i & u respectively.
* 8 Distinct consonants: k, t, p, w, m, n, ͡ts, j. The consonants are latinised as the letters k, t, p, w, m, n, c & y respectively.
* No voice, aspiration or tonal distinction, i.e. /g/ = /k/
* Contrast between vowel length and consonant gemination, i.e. /ɑk/ ≠ /ɑ:k/, /ɑk/ ≠ /ɑk:/
* Has a two basic sentence structures, passive; OSV, and active; SVO. Passive sentences are indicated by the verb ending with the suffix '-ak'. Active sentences are indicated with the verb ending in the suffice '-aawic'
* Verbs are inflected for passive or active aspect, with optional person marking. There is no grammatical gender or case

## Culture

In Wakwat tradition, the start of spring is marked through the construction of their semi-permanent seasonal dwellings. When the sea ice is no longer stable enough to wander and herd Mukwaa along, the Wakwat will engage in sedentary life. The beginning of sedentary life is marked through a ceremony that takes place on the first day of spring, wherein the clan members gather to spend the evening reciting their history. As the sun begins to set, the villagers will form a circle around all of the food they had gathered that day, and beginning with the most senior member, take turns reciting the oral tradition in verse, in-between all members chanting 'muktukaawak' in unison, meaning 'we were led'. This is often accompanied by rhythmic stomping, clapping and drumming to emulate the footsteps of their ancestors on their journey from the deep sea. When the oral history is finished, the members will continue to recite in verse the events of the previous year including the loss and arrival of other clan members or simply things they thought. This continues until the sun has finally gone below horizon, whereupon they eat. This ceremony serves to honour the ancestors, welcome the new year, and to send cuuk away for the summer