The Annun-Lul Confederation

Created by /u/CAvenir

The Annun-Lul Confederation is a confederacy that is situated at the island of Sawu, located at the northern regions of Aokoa. The nation consists of two races: the Annun, which are pine tree/animal semi-humanoid hybrids 7-12 feet tall, and the Lul, which are 1-foot one-eyed owls.

## Terrain & Geography

The Confederation is located on an island called Sawu, surrounded on the sea called Mua-l. The island is mostly composed of pine forests but there are occasional hills, caves, cliffs, and caverns scattered on the island. The texture of the terrain of the island varies, there are areas that are smooth, there are ones that are rough.
By the way, here is the topographical map (and location) of the island of Sawu.

## Biology

### The Annun

In summary, they are 7-12 feet tall semi-humanoid plant/animal hybrid creatures with the skin, branches, and leaves of pine trees.

#### Perception, Diet, And Consumption

They have 5 expandable and contractable vertical slits that represent various facial organs. 2 short slits in the middle for sight, which contain solid brown/beige eyes (but there is no eyebrows or eyelids around the slits), one short slit below for speech, eating, drinking, and respiration (which contain respiratory and digestive systems designed for a herbivorous diet), and 2 slits in the sides for hearing, which contains auditory organs. They do not have any olfactory organs and teeth, so they swallow rocks in order to digest what they eat. They can also use photosynthesis for synthesis but they only use it in emergencies and desperate situations.

#### Locomotion And Extremities

They are a tripedal or quadrupedal type of species with 5-12 limbs present in each Annun. Each limb has 1 extremity, and the limbs and extremities closely resemble the branches, twigs, and roots of ordinary pine trees (albeit movable).

#### Reproduction And Lifespan

They reproduce as normal pine trees do, but a single Annun only produces a singular fertilized cone every 10-50 years, depending on the size of the cone. A single Annun can live up to 500-1000 years.

#### Other General Features

The Annun are generally more intelligent, more strong, and more sturdy/durable than the average human. However, they are more vulnerable to fire and are less quick and agile than the average human.

### The Lul

In summary, they are a 1-foot tall species of yellow one-eyed owls with white feathers and black spots all over the body.

#### Locomotion And Extremities

They usually use their black hand-claws located in their wings to use tools but they also use their clawed feet sometimes, especially to catch prey. They can fly continuously from up to an hour before they became physically exhausted.

#### Reproduction And Lifespan

The Lul reproduce as normal owls do, but a single female Lul only produces a single egg every 4 years. A typical Lul has an average lifespan of 50-60 years.

#### Other General Features

An average Lul is much quicker and faster than an Annun and an average human. However, a Lul is generally weaker than an Annun and a human. The Lul have an omnivorous type of diet, which was sustained by a constant supply of fish, meat, and fruits found in Sawu.

## Racial Quirk

### The Annun

The Annun can recreate the texture, color, and pattern of their surroundings on the whole body (or any part of it), as long as they concentrate and think carefully. It will take 10-20 seconds to do that depending on the detail, and it will last 4-6 minutes before the user gets exhausted physically and mentally. It isn't fool-proof however since a keen observer would notice *something* if he/she stares at it for too long, or if the camouflaged Annun moved too quickly and/or for too long.

### The Lul

The Lul have an entirely separate quirk that lets them see in the dark and perceive depth and space even though they are one-eyed. They also always have a clear vision and is also resistant to optical problems and diseases, like blindness. This quirk just drains them slightly a bit more of their physical energy, however.

## History

### Origins

#### The Higher-Tech Version

The higher-tech families of the Confederation are currently trying to explore their real history since the history that the lower-tech families believe on are full of lies and legends. As of now, the higher-tech families believe that they are related (and perhaps had a related origin) to the owls and trees around them, but they couldn't pinpoint the answer yet. They also believe that before the Confederation was founded, the Annun and the Lul had lived a simple (and perhaps ignorant) lifestyle, until some people had decided to unite the creatures and form the Confederation.

#### The Lower-Tech Version

The full story could be found here, but the TL;DR is that in the early years of the existence of the 2 races, they were plagued by monsters that are accidentally created by the gods. Laum, one of those gods (that didn't create the monsters) tried to help the 2 races survive it by giving their own racial quirks, but in turn, the god was killed by a monster. The 2 races tried to revive him in hopes of stopping the wrath by finding and putting back the body parts of Laum (which are scattered all over the island) in the form of a monolith. The only thing left is a glowing stone representing the soul, but it was located deep in the cave of one of the monsters. They didn't know what to do until 4 creatures showed up to them. These creatures are willing to find the stone, so they set out on a journey to find it. After an encounter of a monster who apparently kept the stone due in order to keep it away from the monster who killed the god, another encounter with a gigantic bird that found the stone and commanded the first monster to do it, and a fight with the aforementioned shadow god-killer monster, they eventually obtained the stone, placed it on the monolith, and revived the god. The god had stopped the monsters from spawning and the day is saved.

## Government And Society

### Government System

The Annun and the Lul consist of independent families that are united under a common bond of friendship and camaraderie. Each family is led by 3 figures called the Umn that will help keep the family in check together with the parent trees. Those 3 figures will occasionally meet with the other figures to discuss and propose things for the whole of the Confederation, but these families are mostly independent of each other. The Annun and the Lul consider themselves as equals since both of them have weathered through undesirable times and they didn't leave nor forsake each other, thus creating a strong bond among them.

### Traits

In general, the whole of the Confederation is a pacifist and egalitarian kind, and the lower-tech families are generally a conservationist and isolationist kind, generally keeping things to themselves aside from a few bouts of diplomacy and trade to the higher-tech ones, which are the ones that are more active with the outside world.

### Sex, Gender, And Gender Roles

#### The Annun

They generally do not have any concept of separate genders, especially when it comes to the lower-tech families of the Confederation since they can grow both male and female cones on their bodies (and reproduce just like a normal pine tree would). However, when it comes to biological sex, the lower-tech families had a rudimentary type of knowledge when it comes to it while the higher-tech ones on the coast have knowledge from the outside mingle with their own.

When it comes to the Annun, gender roles do not exist, since they believe that all Annun are the same when it comes to their functions.

#### The Lul

The Lul do have a concept of separate genders (namely male and female) since their biological and reproductive functions made it this way. They also have a concept of gender roles, but they are generally minor since all Lul (aside from a few with accidents or disabilities) have the same features expected as a Lul, and as such are treated as equals. They have the situation as the Annun when it comes to the knowledge of biological sex.

#### Marriage

When it comes to marriage, it was actually non-existent, including other formal declarations of romantic union. Instead, those who want to stay somewhere else and found a new family will need trust and consent to those who guided them before.

### Factions (also known as the Socio-National Identities Of The Confederation)

The two races are pretty sure that they are united as one country. However, that feeling of unity and camaraderie has been lessened due to the formation of several groups with different interests, which are mainly divided into 4 groups:

#### The Low-Tech Families

* Known as the **Deep-Keepers/Keepers/Deep-folk** by some, they aim to preserve the traditions that they worked hard to pass onto the succeeding generations. They generally hold a grudge against the higher-tech families due to the belief that they destroy their identity and their land. They aim to cut all ties to the outside world (believing that they "desecrate" the island by the presence, some though allow the most essential foreigners and infrequent bouts of trade and diplomacy to pass) and to take care of the environment as a reverence to the 3 gods.

#### The High-Tech Families

* Also known as the **Coast-Traders/Traders/Coasters** by some people, they aim to maintain contact and relations of the outside world and to improve the state of their technology, way of life, and knowledge. They generally do hold scorn for the lower-tech families since they believe that these "savages" don't want progress to come into their nation. They do understand what the lower-tech families had said and argued, but since they believe that tradition can coexist with progress, they usually discredited them.

#### The Middle-Grounders

* There are people that do not belong to those 2 main factions. These **Grounders** (by some people) have various interests in mind, but they do mainly want peaceful negotiation between the 2 main factions.

#### The Carvers

* There is also some creature who want something greater in their lands. They want the nation to expand territory and gain a rightful place in the world stage. They aim to stop the bickering of the 2 main factions, just like the Grounders do, but they do also aim to adopt a more interventionist and expansionist agenda for the Confederation.

## Vexillology

   The flag of the Confederation symbolizes the races that inhabit it and the land they settle. The **green background**symbolizes the **leaves of the pine forests** that are scattered around Sawu. It also represents the **leaves of the Annun** that are located in its body, the **brown color**of the circles and lines symbolizes the **skin of the Annun** and the **barks of the ordinary pine trees** of the island, the **lines inside the circles**represent the **eyes of the Annun and the Lul, respectively.**The **circles**meanwhile represent the fact that **the Confederation will stand the test of time** and its **inhabitants** will always **treat each other as equals**.

## Culture

### Camouflage

The quirk of the Annun isn't just used for hiding from the monsters that roam their lands before. It has gained more significance and usage throughout those years after the cooperation since it is used for communication (since the Annun prefer not to speak too much), expression of emotion, and symbolism.

### Celebrations, Ceremonies, And Customs:

The higher-tech families welcome foreigners with open arms in the coast, though they aren't welcome in the deeper parts of the island, where most Deep-folk reside. The deep-folk though do not want those outsiders though even in the coast, and they call for removing those "strangers", aside from the most essential ones, in their lands. The 2 races did not cut trees or disturb the land too much, especially in regards to the Deep-folk, unless when absolutely necessary. The Deep-folk usage of metal isn't widespread in this island due to the fear that some monsters may still lurk in the unexplored caves, thus limiting their mining activities. The Coasters, however, did mine in areas that do not have any "monsters" (at least in those areas that are explored and approved by the deep-folk). They also sometimes trade to the Deep-folk for metal.

They celebrated the day when the world was created every year (called the Umal) on a new moon (especially in the lower-tech families), and they also celebrated the day when Laum was revived and the monsters are gone (called the Matul, lit. joy/happiness) once every year on a full moon (especially in the lower-tech families). There are also other ceremonies, like when an Annun or a Lul has hatched/fertilized a seed/egg, or when a creature was born or has died, but it will be discussed later on.

### Arts And Crafts

The Confederation has a rich oral and written tradition consisting of various stories and myths carved onto the trees, or even onto the skin of the Annun. They are also good at making sculptures and carving, showing their prowess whenever there is a stone lying around or a tree trunk untouched in the forest. They are also good at spoken music and dancing, commonly putting this in use usually during ceremonies and celebrations. They are incompetent however when it comes to musical instruments and painting (together with the other aspects of visual art that are not a sculpture or a carving).

## Occurrence Of Magic

Magic users are revered and respected among the populace, and they are 4 present for every 1000 citizens of the Confederation. Magic is usually used for divination, cleansing, and healing, but it is also used for:

* Improving the racial quirk of the Annun and the Lul, by increasing the duration of the quirk up to 30 minutes, making the design more harder to find even to a keen observer, decreasing the time to transform up to 3-5 seconds, and to make it less exhausting both physically and mentally.
* Using druid-like abilities like controlling and communicating with plants, and accelerating and controlling the growth of them. However, it is physically and mentally taxing, and they can only affect plants on the range of 5 meters, and the magical effects will last up to 10 minutes. The non-magical effects will remain even after the magic is gone.

## Major Exports And Imports

### Exports

Since the island is full of pine forests, wooden products, timber, and lumber are the primary exports of the Confederation. Stone, native flora and fauna, and its related by-products are also included. The mysterious gray-blue rocks called Uwam, which allegedly boost the magical abilities of a creature is also one of the most sought-after exports of the Confederation. They also export wood from the Large Trunk Forests inside the island at times, which seemingly came from their closest neighbor and trading partner, Trommiersland (which also explained the properties and the origins of it in their lands).

### Imports

They import food and spices not present in their climate in order to make their diet more diverse. They are also importing metal and metal tools, containers, etc. to further sate the supply demands of the higher-tech families.

## POSTS

The Annun-Lul Confederation

All About Magic, Leylines, and Some Trouble!

Identity and Roles in Annun-Lul Society

A Carver initiated a violent fight, perpetrators arrested

Making Peace

Reaching Out

MM: Facing a Brave New World

Go Ahead and Prosper