Tohin

## Overview

   The Tohin people, named for the clan that led them through the Thinning of the Veil, are a pragmatic culture of primarily herdsmen, living in the greater landmass of the regions of Dongsu and Ikhung. Now known as the Tohinan Steppe, this wide expanse of grassland and hills changed much during the Thinning, and now provides a home for the descendants of those unwilling or unable to abandon the lands of Nobugo during the great burning.

Among the Tohin one would find mighty warriors astride massive horses, armed with spear and bow; shamans maintain connections with the spirits and omens to guide the movement of the Hosts, staying ever beside the leaders of their clan. Artisans work the looms and tan leather for clothes and the Tohin *ger*. The revered shepherds keep their watch on the vast herds of livestock. All of these different people make up the whole that is the Tohin Host, the name for the nomadic groups of clans that rove across the expanse of the steppe.

## History

   During the Thinning of the Veil, most of the people of Nobugo abandoned their burning cities and wildfire-stricken woods for the safety of the coastline. In the midst of the tragedy, many who could not move quickly were left behind, people such as the sick and weak, or the elderly. Were it not for the efforts of one clan, the Tohin originators, Nobugo’s forgotten people may have perished in the great fires.

   Sabo Tohin was a gray-haired man, a veteran of the Nobugo military and beloved community leader in the capital city of Nobugo. Tohin legend states that during the great fires, he personally pulled a thousand people from burning buildings, and led a great expedition in the flames' wake, finding the starving survivors throughout Nobugo. The truth of this legend is far more mundane, as most legends tend to be. Sabo indeed saw the many people left behind in the city, and while he organized rescue efforts, a falling beam crushed his leg in the first house he stepped into, sidelining him. Even so, the Tohin clan was massive, and as the patriarch, Sabo convinced his family to stay, arguing that the Dongsu province would always be their home, and that this hardship too could be weathered.

   The most important part of the legend of Sabo Tohin is remarkably accurate. From the capital city, the Tohin clan moved out into rural Dongsu, sending expeditions led by the young, strong cousins of the Tohin name. Over several months, Sabo gathered a massive fellowship of the lost and forgotten of fallen Nobugo. And before all, Sabo invited them to his clan, to share in their food and drink, to sleep in their tents, and to sing with them before the great bonfire. This motley congregation was the first Tohin Host.

## The Hosts

   The basis of the Tohinan culture is the gatherings known as Hosts. The first Host was that of Sabo Tohin, in the months following the Thinning. In later years, clans with strong senses of independence left the First Host, and would eventually form their own. As of the current age, there are around 15 Hosts that move around the steppes of Dongsu and Ikhung. To the Tohin, those who travel with a host are to be treated as family, though this is not binding. The burden of leadership is placed on the head of the Host’s Great-clan, whichever family line first gathered the Host. The Great-clan is given leave to decide who may journey with them, and who cannot.

   Host size can vary wildly, with some at around a couple hundred people, or others with thousands of mouths to feed. Their hierarchy is generally as follows:

   Great-clan Head

   Great-clan members

   Shepherds

   Shamans\*

   Laborers

   Warriors

\*When matters of great importance arise in the steppe, the Hosts can call a moot, and the Great-clans will hold council under the authority of the shamans. While the shamans hold very little authority in the Hosts, their connection to the earth and sky gives them divine right as arbiters in matters concerning the land as a whole.

## Culture

   The Tohin way of life places a great spiritual emphasis on the livestock that is kept in large herds with each Host. All parts of the Tohin life eventually comes back to the goats, a beast very different from the goats found in other parts of the continent. The Thinning changed the goats of Dongsu and Ikhung, making them into large, great-horned grazers much like a bison. Their placated nature and easy pace of life keeps them easily domesticated, but an angered or frightened Tohin goat is a force to be reckoned with.

   The goat is considered to be a wise beast, connected closely to the Land as the only herbivorous creature still grazing in the Dongsu steppe, as many other of the grazing animals migrated out of the steppe for more bountiful pastures. As it allows life for the Tohin, many consider the goat to be a guardian animal of the people, and the goat symbology is reserved for the banner of the greatest Host, the descendants of Sabo Tohin.

   The simplicity of existence in the steppe, the base struggle to meet the needs of life, has, for lack of a better term, regressed the societal structure of the Tohin from the more usual settled agrarian paradigm that they used to practice when they lived as Nobugohito. Tribal temperament comes as a natural consequence of how Sabo Tohin laid out the structure for the Tohin people, and for all that they have retained the Nobugo language and the written script, much technological knowledge has been lost. Those that Sabo led into the steppe of Dongsu were not the thinkers and logicians of old Nobugo, nor the rich. The Tohin have always been built of the common clay of Nobugo, the hardy laborers. As a result, Tohin culture has not placed much emphasis on education and learning, though most children learn the minimum of their letters from the shamans, who have simplified the Nobugo written language over time to create something that can be learned faster.

### Military

   Warriors live at the bottom of the social ladder in Tohin culture. In a flat, rocky land where agriculture has become difficult, if not impossible, the Tohin have become a utilitarian people. Livestock is the lifeblood of their culture, the giver of wool for warmth, leather for the *ger*, and meat for the people’s hunger. Warriors, as the Tohin see it, do not give but rather their purpose is to take life. While warriors are not slaves, they are most often the directionless and the dishonorable, the people who had nothing else to turn to save for a life alone in the steppe. When they take up arms, they are branded with hot iron and given marks that denote them Takers. Once one has a war brand, they cannot serve the Host in any other way.

   For most warriors, the coveted position is that of the Great-clan’s raiders. Bearing throwing spears, small and flexible bows, as well as massive two-handed sabres, the raiders of the Great-clan are well equipped and well trained. Their purpose, in addition to handling the feuds between Hosts, is to police the Host and execute criminals. Lower warriors participate in feud raids, but they are also given the task of slaughtering the livestock. Prior to this each animal set for slaughter is consecrated by a shaman, asking forgiveness from the land for the life taken and giving thanks for what it will provide the Host. The actual slaughter is done by a warrior, whose hands are already stained with blood. This ceremony causes some to view warriors as honorable martyrs, soiling their soul with death so that the people of the Host may remain pure.

Formal war does not exist among the Tohin people. When feuds arise between Hosts, conflict is used not for annihilation, but for a more ritualistic form of raiding. During these raids, Tohin warriors take great care not to take the life of anyone without war brands, the marks of those who Take, rather than Give. If the death of a shepherd occurs, the offending warrior will often be executed by his own people. Feuds are resolved when one Host submits to the other, whether because the raids have had heavy losses or the simple belief that fighting has gone on long enough. At this time, the victorious Host can allow the other Host to leave the area and camp in other parts of Dongsu, or in some rare cases absorb the losing Host. Complete decimation of another Host is looked down upon in Tohin culture, as feuds are never between the common people of the Hosts, but rather the Great-clans themselves. Rather than complete destruction, in extreme circumstances one Great-clan will wipe out the core members of the surrendering clan, and then absorption of the remainder of the Host takes place. If a moot determines that a Host is executing Great-clans without due insult, a spectacular unification of the Hosts takes place against the guilty party. This has only happened twice in the history of the Tohin, and the threat of a unified horde of all other Great-clans is enough to keep even the ambitious Great-clans in line.

### Spirituality

   The shamans are the leaders of the Tohin faith, but their practical purpose is often much different from that of say, a priest in another culture. Shamans do not give sermons, nor do they offer worship services. Consecrations and rites are a necessary part of the Tohin belief system, but these ceremonies are not formal events, and often are paid little attention by the regular people. The beliefs of the Tohin Hosts have changed from the time they were considered Nobugohito, but the foundation has remained much the same. Reverence of spirits is still central to the Tohin religion, but beliefs now encompass a more universal sense of spiritualism. The individual spirits of living things form a cohesive whole, which the Tohin simply refer to as the Land. In this sense, the Tohin revere the concept of ecosystem as much as anything else, and great emphasis is placed on maintaining balance in all things.

The duties of the shamans are directly correlated to the idea of maintaining balance. The foremost of their responsibilities is things like ledgers, numbers, and keeping accurate counts of the herds for the Great-clan. The shamans are certainly the spiritual leaders of the Tohin, but also the academics. They educate children in large schooling ger, using their large chests of scrolls filled with the knowledge of the Tohin, much of which stretches back to Nobugo before the Thinning. Even with the efforts of the shamans, much knowledge has been lost or thrown away to make room for their more important records. Despite the seeming flippancy with which knowledge is occasionally discarded, Tohin shamans are quite meticulous with what is kept and thrown away, always prioritizing information that assists the survival of the people.

### Food

   Aside from whatever hardy root vegetables can be scrounged in the steppe, the Tohin diet consists almost entirely of meat. Common meals are goat and rock-yam stew, long skewers of goat, roasted goat leg, salted goat liver, and goat bone broths. Guests in the Hosts have described the Tohin as “religiously carnivorous,” and derogatorily said that “If we are what we eat, the Tohin are practically fauns.” Meals are mostly eaten with the hands, or drunk straight from a bowl.

   The rock-yam is the primary vegetable of the Tohin diet, which is usually foraged. The vegetable buds primarily in the cracks around large boulders, and depending on the stability of the boulder can be somewhat dangerous to harvest. Rock-yams have proven quite difficult to cultivate, and are known to be a slightly magical plant, in a vestigial sense left over from the Thinning. The rock-yam is also used to ferment a strong alcoholic beverage enjoyed by the Tohin known as *huwen*. This drink warms body and soul on cold nights, and is the primary reason that goat and rock-yam stews are a less common meal.

### Clothing

   The clothing of the Tohin is most often wool-lined soft leathers, rarely dyed. The earthy colors are occasionally broken by woven scarves and sashes, dyed by an inedible red berry that grows on dry, bracken, and thorny bushes out of cracks in the steppe. An oddity in the Tohin attire is their affinity for pockets. Some garbs have up to ten various pockets, in differing sizes. Adults most often keep lucky charms or small tools in their pockets, while children stuff their pockets with fascinating rocks or the latest cool bug they found.

   As accessories, nearly every Tohin owns and carries a thick quarterstaff, for both self defense and navigating particularly rough or steep terrain. Jewelry is uncommon, at least with actual jewels. Carved and painted stones are more usual around the necks or wrists of the average laborer. The only significant piercing are wedding earrings, which both spouses wear in the left ear. Widows (referring to either gender) transfer the earring to the right ear, and only remove the earring if they are willing to remarry. No tattoos or body markings are common aside from war brands on warriors.

### Music

   Tohin music is recognizable by large, booming drums, chorale singing, and asymmetrical meter. Their music favors repetition, often building songs on the same theme repeated many times. This form of music making is often done after the Spring Challenges, as a method of allowing the Host to come together as one following a week of bitter rivalries and competition.

   The Tohin have notably no war songs, nor do they write songs or ballads about great deeds in battle. They believe that war has no place in music, and that verse should be used to remind all of the good things in life, such as the beauty of the world or love. Most warriors join in song with jubilation, seen among them as a respite from the otherwise dark life they lead as those with war brands.

### Spring Challenges

   As the warmth of the sun returns to the steppe, following the winter, the Tohin engage in a week-long festival known as the Spring Challenges. Visitors to the Challenges have found the event an oddity in Tohin culture, considering their general distaste for violence. During the week, people of every age compete in various tests of skill, such as archery, quarterstaff dueling, wrestling, and horseback riding. These challenges are meant to be a time to sort out grudges and engage in sometimes friendly, sometimes bitter competition.

   For many, especially the young Tohin, the Challenges are the most exciting time of the year. In most Hosts, archery is the most contested category, and children train year round with the bow to best their friends each spring. The horseback challenges exclude children, for whom it is considered too dangerous. Quarterstaff duels, which are strictly non-lethal and are done in sets to the first blow, are primarily used to sort out civil disagreements between adults. They are overseen by a member of the Great-clan, and the results are considered legally binding. The quarterstaff event particularly confuses visitors, who usually fail to understand the Tohin distinction between fighting and killing. Only those with war brands kill, but the other purpose of the challenges is to ensure that the common people are ready to defend themselves if the need ever arose. Indeed, while the warriors of the Tohin train tirelessly and possess great skill, a Tohin tanner with a quarterstaff is no easy foe either, and any young boy in the Host could take up a bow in the event of an attack.