Mosquitoes

## Description

Mosquito tribe are the inhabitant of Palenosa swamp with their capital being the great city of Tabae.

### Appearance

Mosquito tribesman usually have a rather pale skin, more so for their male member. This characteristic is not caused by lack of exposure to sunlight but due to their bloodletting tradition which is part of their religious practice. During dire times however, their skin turned black due to iron buildup caused by excessive consumption of blood. They have black hair, straight for the ones living north of the cliff and wavy for the ones living south of the cliff due to the heat and humidity. Male members generally keep their hair cut short while female members are more varied. Their average height is about 175cm for male member and 170cm for female member.

### Ability

Mosquito tribe are blessed with the gift of blood digestion. During dire times, they can consume blood not only to replace basic nutritional need, but also to strengthen themselves by both the nutrition contained in the blood and also by Desea's blessing.

## Society

The society of mosquito tribe focuses on blood sacrifice. Unlike other tribes that has to resort to hunters association's help to ward off beasts away from around their settlement, mosquito tribe are protected by their loa way further from their settlement. In return for this protection, the mosquitoes has to regularly offer blood sacrifice to Desea. These conditions both allows and forces mosquito tribe to explore and expand their territory well beyond their capital city in search of fresh blood to be offered. In recent times however, mosquito tribe has stopped their expansion to avoid conflict with the peacock tribe in the south and catfish tribe in the north. This is also supported by their very big and stable economy allowing them to just purchase slaves from the slavers for blood sacrifice.

### Governance

Mosquito tribe are governed by hereditary monarchy with the ruler bearing the title of prince regardless of his or her gender. In governing, the prince is aided by 5 ministers which covers military, religion, economy, internal and external affairs. Other than governing, the prince also serve as vessel for Desea to manifest as an avatar and also becoming sacrifice to appease her should she happened to be in a bad mood and jeopardize the tribe. The current royal family is the Vixav family with succession usually went to whichever child the former prince deemed worthy to inherit the throne or whoever Desea spared by the end of the former prince's rule.

### Military

Military order of the mosquito tribe consisted of standing army and reserves. Each male member of the mosquito tribe must join the army upon reaching 18 years of age to receive 6 months of training before serving for 5 years. After 5 years of service, they will be granted citizenship and can choose to continue serving in the army or becoming a civilian. Becoming a civilian however, doesn't exempt them from military service. Until they reach the age of 45, civilians are still required to attend 2 weeks of training every year and should the need for extra force arises, they will be called upon to aid the main force.

Primary weapon of the mosquito tribe is the Bosi, a straight thrusting sword with 1-1,2m long blade and 30cm long hilt. Bosi usually used in conjunction with Sobosi, a dagger with hand guard designed to catch opponent's blade. Bosi can be attached to a pole to form a 4m long pike called Lobosi. The 3m long pole itself can be further split in half and have a counterweight at the bottom that can be used as a striking weapon.

The main army consisted of 2 types of unit being the Ulobosi and the Ribosi. In an open battle, they work together to execute their most effective tactic, the anvil and the hammer. The Ulobosi, pikemen unit wielding the Lobosi, serves as the anvil and hold the enemy in place while the Ribosi, mounted riders, serves as the hammer and strike the enemy's flank, forcing them to rout. Outside of battle, Ulobosi function as a static unit with tasks such as guarding settlements while Ribosi function as a mobile unit with tasks such as patrolling territories.

Several Ribosi can be promoted to become part of the royal guard. These Ribosis are called the blood riders and consisted of the strongest and most experienced warrior of the mosquito tribe. Other than protecting the royal family, they are also the main pursuer during rout in battle due to their superior chasing capability. In olden times, they also accompany the prince in hunting for fresh blood and were notorious to leave settlements a forest of exsanguinated corpses impaled on Lobosis. The minister of military is always chosen from blood riders.

### Religion

Worship of Desea in the mosquito
tribe is organized by the blood church. The church member consisted only of
female member of the tribe and on usual circumstances, joining can only be done
before a girl had their first menstrual cycle. Some girl joined out of their
own volition, some forced by their family as a gratitude towards Desea and
others simply didn’t have anywhere better to go. These prepubescent girls
started at the lowest rank called the daughters of the church. They are sheltered
by the church and given the complete necessity to not only live, but also grow
to become a fully functional member of the society that can achieve their own
hope and dreams. These privileges however, can only he obtained as long they
serve the church and fulfill their duty. Like any other recruits, their task
also started from the very basic and growing harder and harder as they grow
too. They are also taught the basics of religious ceremonies and once they’re
proficient enough, they can start helping when one is being held. After they
reached 18 years of age, they will be promoted to become sisters of the church.
They are now tasked to educate the daughters and led them to become a good
sister as well. If a sister is deemed able to lead all of the minor ceremonies
by herself, she might be charged in running a chapel overseeing a small
population of the tribesman. Most sisters will spend the rest of their lives in
this rank but few of them can be promoted to be mothers of the church. For a
sister to become a mother, she must be capable of leading all of the major and
minor ceremonies and showed the capability to handle a larger community and
responsibility. These are only the prerequisites to become a candidate however,
to become a mother, a sister must be chosen by the previous mother to succeed
her and the choice must be agreed upon by all of the other mothers and the
blood mother herself. A mother is tasked to run a church which oversee several
chapels and also lead major ceremonies. The head of the church is called the
blood mother and is chosen by Desea herself. The candidate usually came from
the mothers but Desea can choose whomever she pleases. The blood mother is
tasked to run the cathedral which oversee the entire tribe, advising the prince
on religious matters as one of the ministers and become the medium which Desea
uses to communicate with her people.

Minor ceremonies

Blessing

Baptism

Marriage

Communion

Warding

Major ceremonies

Sisters inauguration

Army inauguration

Blood fount

Desea ceremonies

Mothers succession

Blood mother succession

Prince succession