Arrakdoqnod

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Arrakdoqnod is a small tribal nation bordering the New South Sea. The name translates to 'Nation of Exiles', and is inhabited by a group of exiles from a nearby human nation, following an affliction that transformed them into a bird-like people known as Arrak, or Harpies. Residing among the tall trees of a great forest, and hunting along a river that gave them refuge, the Arrak as a culture put emphasis on labor and charity, believing that though combined acts of social grace they will one day be freed of their curse. Arrakdoqnod is a tightly knit confederation of tribes, who live in small settlements known as Roundhomes, or Nokkaqarson, segmenting their cities into smaller in-groups of 100-200. The most iconic elements of Arrakdoqnod culture are the Labormounts and the Thorntowers (Dokedqet). Labormounts are mass mount/ziggurat structures build competitively amongst the tribes during the dry season. Dokedqet are tall wooden towers that dot Arrak land, to serve as places for Arrak to glide from.

The Arrak are very humanlike in appearance, with three key differences-- their hair has been replaced with feathers, their arms with clawed wings (with surprising dexterity), and their legs with bird-like legs ending in claws. The type of bird an Arrak resembles depends on the astrological signs they were born under, and there is great variety. The Arrak put a great deal of stock into what variety of bird a person resembles, extrapolating an individuals personality from these outward signs.

Basic Statistics

## History

The history of the Arrak people is somewhat muddled. The origin of the plague that caused their exile is unknown. The majority believe that it started with an individual, Qekkorat, who stole from a village's stores during a time of great hunger, but this isn't certain. Some in their nation of origin, Dorraqe, believe that the actual first victim of the curse was a young girl who strayed too far into the deep woods, and others believe that a first victim cannot be determined, since the plague spread so quickly. Regardless, the transformation process was so painful and frightening that the survivors were exiled by a local leader struggling to prevent the spread. The Arrak fled, many of them orphans, widows, or those alone in this world, and fled to the northwest for many days and nights, living off the local flora and fauna. When they arrived in Doknoqarr seeking succor, though, they were turned away there too, as the local population wanted nothing of the plague as well. Distraught, and knowing nowhere else to turn, they turned south, heading towards the sea. On this long journey, many of them half-starved, exhausted, and still struggling from the damage the curse wrought on their bodies, a young woman named Kotarre who was serving as a scout stumbled into a grove filled with precious Whitetrim mushrooms, which she ate. Seeing a hallucinogenic vision, this woman became convinced she knew the way to a new home for her people, and led them south to the point that would become the capitol of Talonsrest (Dokodnad), finding the ruin of a great old tree atop a hill near the river Qedot, where the first Arrak tribe made their home.

In the following generations, the Arrak have multiplied and spread out along the Qedot river, cultivating the land for hunting and gathering, and the rivers for permanent aquaculture. Arranged into familial units of many hundreds, they have aligned into five major tribes, each with their own distinct territories.

## Geography

The southern coast of the Eastern continent receives a great deal of rainfall and is heavily forested. The Arrak people mainly live along the Qedot river valley and smaller tributaries in the area. The area around the Qedot is relatively flat, though there are many megaflora in the region, such as large redwoods, and the remains of even larger trees that appear to have died out. This flat region is prone to flooding, so many Arrak permanent settlements are build upon constructed mounds, that serve as the foundations for their Trialmounts.

### Fauna

Salmon is one of the major staples of Arrakdoqnod diet, and cultivation and preservation of the Salmon stock is a major part of an Arrakdoqnod cultivator's role.

Frogs are a common companion in Roundhomes of the Arrak, and many Roundhomes contain a small, structured pond where frogs are transplanted to and raised. Poisonous and hallucinogenic frogs are considered valuable for the medicines and intoxicants that can be gathered from them.

### Flora

Wild rices that grow in the floodplains of the Qedot river are cultivated whereever the Arrakdoqnod reside.

Redwood trees of the area provide lumber and shelter for the Arrak, and are considered by some to be a national symbol. Redwood masks are a staple of Arrak fashion.

The Whitetrim mushroom grows in isolated caves around the Qedot river, and is popular among the Arraq both as an intoxicant and for cultural rituals.

## Languages

The dominant language of Arrak is an off-shoot of Jush, from the Proto-Karrdaq family.

## Politics

The formal power in the tribes in Arrak territory is vested in the elders of a given tribe, those old and infirm enough that they have taken up the role of divining the meaning of the stars. Each decade, the elders elect a promising youth of their village to be vested with power, and then convene at a Labormount, rotating amongst the tribes, to select the greatest of them to lead the nation through competition and deliberation. These competitions are often unnecessarily brutal, in the thought that the burdens of conscience for participating in them will lead the eventually selected leader to devote themselves to selfless labor. The national leader is then directed to select a group of ‘parents/mentors’ (advisors) to join them in their court and family, out of the gathered elders. They are also encouraged to adopt and care for any of the Youths participating in this challenge who are maimed or disabled during the competitions.

## Religion and culture

### Moral values and principles

* *Accept All At Hearth And Home*

One of the common myths the Harpies share for the reason for their own affliction is a theory that the first harpy stole food from the tribe's stores. Thus ownership of food is a crucial part of Harpy culture. Food is considered a communal resource and the acquisition of food for the society is a morally positive act. Freely giving food & shelter is also a cultural preoccupation, and travellers through these lands willing to stay in a Harpy village will find themselves spoiled to the point of irresponsibility on the tribe’s part. This culture of giving causes issues of competitions between tribes of who can give ‘the most’, since it’s both a moral good to give the largest gift, and a moral good to refuse a gift that the other party clearly cannot afford to give. Relates to the larger Arraknod ideal of Neq Neq, or ‘all is all’.

* *The Family Is Universal*

Arrak family units encompass the whole population of their Roundhomes, owing back to days when the peoples of the land were almost all orphans, widows, and those alone in this world. Children are raised communally, and buildings are generally built for a public good– most individuals in a village live within the ‘roundhouse’, a raised large wooden building at the center of a village with many places for an individual to ‘roost’. Individuals are generally freely accepted into communities, occasionally causing considerable confusion about which tribe an individual owes allegiance to. Larger settlements are many up of many Roundhomes that have come together to form a larger tribe, and it's common for Roundhomes that exceed the capacity of their homes to elect a youngling to fly between the tribes, gathering excess population among them to found a new Roundhome after the next Great Labor.

* *Redemption Through Labor*

Labor and struggle are considered virtues in Harpy society, as a way of cleansing the soul and striving towards freedom from the Curse. Individuals are encouraged to be clear about their wrongdoings to the elders of the community, so that their labordebt might be tallied for them to clear it as part of a yearly ritual during the dry season. This has the unfortunate side effect of encouraging individuals to do things that society considers taboo (killing, warmongering, anti-social activities) as long as they can afford to do the labor to remedy their labordebt when the year ends.

* *The Stars Are Fate*

As the curse seems to have some connection to the state of celestial bodies at the time of an individuals birth, a great deal of weight is put upon astrological sign and the state of the stars. Elders believe they can predict the future through the stars, sweeping determinations about the personalities of individuals are made based on the type of bird they most resemble (Vultures are Not well liked) and villages maintain intricate celestial calendars. Many days are marked as taboo for one reason or another, on which the Arrak are forbidden from eating, singing songs, killing living creatures, or flying in the skies.

* *Cover Your Mouth*

The mouth is considered the most profane part of the Harpy, due to it being the main vector for the spread of the curse, so a major part of Arrak fashion is facial coverings, ranging from the simple lower face mask, to the intricate full mask, to the veil. Facial coverings are often the most valuable personal physical possession an Arrak has in a society that emphasizes communal ownership, so they can get extravagant. A cheap face mask is often judged by others on the basis that that individual ‘clearly’ did not put enough labor into obtaining something interesting or intricate.

* *Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness*

Another result of their connection to the spreaded Curse is a cultural obsession with cleanliness. Cleaners who maintain the Roundhomes and wash clothing in The River are well respected in society, and Harpies are generally mandated to clean themselves before entering their Roundhome, and are not allowed to bring profane objects like fresh, untreated kills inside of the structure.

### Traditions

* *The Great Labor*

A yearly tradition, starting with the first eclipse of the dry season, where tribal communities come together to exonerate themselves of their Labordebts. A prideful competition, the origins of this tradition come from attempts to build mounds that would protect local tribes during the wet season from flooding of The River. Each tribe has a Labormount that is added to each year. Originally, these mounts were meant to be ‘completed’ at a certain point, but over the years this has gone to the wayside, in favor of competition between tribes to build taller and taller pyramidal structures as a display of dominance over the other tribes. This tradition culminates with the week of Laborsfeast, where tribes visit one another, feast, and exchanges of population between the tribes occur, often based on the impressiveness of a tribe’s Labormount.

* *The Starflight*

When a Harpy comes of age, as determined by the Elders of their tribe, they are assigned a Starflight. The harpy is laden with food and water, as much as they believe they can carry for a sustained period of time, and are sent on a long flight, where the goal is to fly for as long as possible, sustained only by what they carry with them, while contemplating the stars. Harpies will fly back and forth between Thorntowers of local settlements, and when they appear to the local Elders to have nearly exhausted their strength, are provided with a small amount of hallucinogens provided from crushed and treated Whitetrim mushrooms. They are expected to have a vision based on what they can divine from the stars, which they deliver to their elders when they land, and which is generally used to divine an individuals future and worth to the tribe. Individuals living in Harpy lands who cannot fly sometimes partake in a similar ritual, except walking between towns instead of flying.

* *Fish And Foliage*

The healthy waters of the New South Sea and the River provide the majority of the Arrak diet. Aquaculture and permaculture are the basics of the economy, and the southernmost tribe also engages in salt farming along the beaches of the New South Sea. This system is stable, though relatively inefficient. Arrak hunting parties also range out of arrak lands in search of additional sources of food, to the chagrin of neighbors. An example of traditional Arrak festival food might be a strip of Salmon, smoked and salted for preservation, wrapped in a riceflour cake.

* *Parabolic Pastimes*

Though Harpy societies traditionally consider their condition a curse, it’s hard to prevent children from playing games, and flight is, admittedly, a lot of fun. The most traditional harpy game involves the use of a sling or rudimentary bow and arrow– a target is laid in a high tree and the competitors take turns attempting to hit the target with their weapon while diving. This is very difficult, since one can’t use their wings while aiming, and has resulted in more than a few deaths, but you try to stop kids from being kids and see where that gets you. Another game played at festivals is the Burden. A target is marked a distance away from a village’s tower, and the players compete to see who can drop the heaviest object on the target while still flying. Special harnesses are used to play the Burden, which allow the player to release their payload with their feet.

### Religion

The closest form that the Arrak currently have to a ‘religion’ is Redentism– the belief that the curse of the harpies is the result of moral failings of the first harpy, and dedication to remedies of those failings, and Qetqet, the philosophy that 'all is all', and that one must heal others in order to heal the self. These are rigid cultural traditions, but are not exactly a religion. The Arrak also put a great deal of stock into Astrology, which they believe can be used to divine the future, past, and present. The clergy class is also the criminal class, made up of individuals assigned penitent acts by their local tribal structures. This is not a structured religion with standards of behaviors.

### Art

* *Thorntowers (Dokedqet)*

Harpies are not very good at flying. Their bodies are too big and their wings are too small– the most comfortable version of Harpy flight is gliding. Thorntowers facilitate this. Generally built at the center of harpy settlements and out near harpy hunting grounds, Thorntowers are a clear sign you’ve entered Harpy territory. Generally built out of wood, Thorntowers are named after the strange curving and thinning of traditional structures of this type. Each plank of wood used in a thorntower is etched to various extents with artwork, traditionally carved by claw. The more used a Thorntower is, the more parts of it are intricately designed. Thorntowers have the unfortunately quality of often being the tallest structure around and attracting lightning, so they burn down semi-regularly. This is considered an ill omen for the surrounding hunting grounds for at least a year.

* *Laborpaintings*

Labormounts contain much of the stone that Harpies are able to source in a given season, and are therefore centers of art. Limited mainly to browns, purples, blues, and reds in pigments, the Labormounts are lit up yearly with intricate paintings, which wash away on a yearly basis during the rainy season, leaving the Labormounts their iconic purplish-brown hue. It’s considered a high compliment to recreate someone’s artwork from a previous year on the Labormount.

* *Birdsong*

Music is a central part of Harpy society. Wooden percussion instruments, stringed instruments using leather-covered resonance chambers, and vocal song for the basics of Harpy music. The strangest Harpy instrument is the Whistler, a variety of woodwind instrument designed to be strapped to a harpies body so that it creates a screeching tone when the harpy dives in particular ways. When Harpies have been forced into border skirmishes, warriors pulled from the hunting groups have tied whistlers to their bodies as a form of intimidation.