Body: Humanoids with feline features, the Enkidukai are smaller than humans. Their bodies are covered in short hair rather like fur, which is either striped, spotted, dark or uniform. Their legs are similar in shape to the ones of a feline, and they have paws instead of feet. Their arms are long and lean, their hands sometimes have claws. The Enkidukai gestation time is short. They only spend four months in pregnancy. Height: They range from 1.60 m to 1.70 m tall. Eyes: They have small, slitted eyes. Their vision is one of their most evolved senses, allowing for vision in darkness. Hair: Their head is covered by short fur like the rest of their body. Age: They life is on average 60 years. Starting stats: Strength 55, Endurance 50, Agility 85, Intelligence 40, Will 70, Charisma 50.
Social Structure and Organization
The Enkidukai live in packs, led by the strongest and most skilful male. The packs are easy to recognize as they cut or color their fur differently, as well as having different cultural rituals.
Ojaveda is their Capital City and home of the Enkidukai race. Not all Enkidukai live within the walls of Ojaveda but it is the place to find each of the six main packs. These six packs are the Rabani, Clamod, Sarraghi, Blikau, Kore, and Akkaio.
The Enkidukai race maintains its wild nature, they live in packs controlled by the one who is strongest and most skilful in combat. Each pack has a typical and easily recognizable look, partly because of their habit in cutting or coloring fur in ritual or traditional ways along with their natural colorings. Enkidukai are suspicious and careful of strangers, but if trust is gained, they can become faithful companions.
The Enkidukai believe a failed hunt is a bad omen, brought up through time from the days when a failed hunt could mean the end of a tribe. The Enkidukai will pursue a hunt to its end, or to their death, whichever comes first.
The Enkidukai believe that children are the future, they keep their children safe even to the extent of sacrificing themselves. They consider the highest crimes to be those against children, and the children's enclave is always in the center of their settlements, usually fairly well fortified and guarded. The Enkidukai children tend to be well loved, and know that they are so.
The history-keepers use a vocal tradition that dates back before the entry into the portal gates. They are known as Graalahkam-maarhe, or the memory singers. They are considered to be among the most important members of the tribe, and often in the past a tribe would be disbanded when all the memory singers died.
The Enkidukai are considered of age when they complete their first hunt, usually at age ten. They have a ritual of blooding, drinking the blood of the slain beast, and eating the flesh. Through this act it is believed that the spirit of the beast is conferred to the new adult. Despite the importance of this ritual, it is generally a rather simple affair, done at the time of the kill. Within some packs however, it is customary for a grander, symbolic hunt to be re-enacted where the young man or woman is symbolically re-blooded so the rest of the pack can share his or her advancement to adulthood. Adulthood may also be recognized under certain circumstances where a great beast was slain to defend others.
The Enkidukai have a culture that detests waste, in everything. Metals are kept and recycled, bone is reworked into other things, sinew into rope and bindings, fur into dyed and colored fabric for trade.
The Enkidukai believe in cultural stasis, but are far too cunning and adaptable to make it permanent. The Enkidukai adopt aspects of certain cultures that they believe are good, often sending out scouts to see what others are doing so they might emulate it. There is a long-term testing period associated with any given incorporation, at which point it is rejected or accepted by the elders of the given clan. Of the clans, there are many different rates of acceptance and change, and as with any culture, some that would be just as happy should they be living out and hunting again as their forefathers did, with no change at all.
Religion
In the past, pre-exodus, they had a basic religious view based on the powers of nature and luck of the hunt, their beliefs have suffered greatly since the exodus, but the worship of luck of the hunt maintains. Their center of luck is always round with a fire pit in the center, always lit. There they burn the flesh of one example of every enemy encountered and the walls of the building are lined with a skeletal head of each. It is considered a matter of honor for the clan to have the best collection of skulls, not only in different types but also in quality and size. They often add paint to the many different skeletal heads. The burning of flesh is seen as a gift to the gods of luck since the Enkidukai do not always eat cooked flesh, and even though they do now, it is never cooked well. The colors used to paint their Religious Center are in sharp contrast to their usual colors, here bright and contrasting colors are considered the best to keep luck on their side, as perfect luck is unattainable chaos. Some of the Enkidukai have leant towards following Xiosia and Dakkru when the deities revealed themselves. Prior to that, and even with the new deities being around there is also a heavy following of Talad. The Enkidukai also believe in a system of six, and eight, being holy numbers.
Nutrition
The Enkidukai are very fond of fresh meat, red meat in particular, but they will settle for fish. There are also one or two varieties of fish that are preferred above the others. Enkidukai are good farmers despite their preference for meat. They believe that to eat the flesh of your first kill, raw, is to take the power of the beast within you, to fuel your inner energy.
Names
s z r h a i letters are usually in their names and the apostrophe character.
Abilities and fields of interest
Acute senses: They possess extraordinarily acute senses, and excellent reflexes. Given the hard training and the constant competition of survival, all the Enkidukai are good warriors and valuable companions in battle. They are stronger and more resistant to harm or disease than one would guess by their slim constitution, and they have a deep determination and strong will.
Martial arts: One aspect of the culture that is continually evolving is a martial arts form known as Kehaghaar-merrah, or 'the balanced flow'. The nature of this art is to find the center of gravity for the body, to take it and move it in order to be out of balance, then to flow back in. A combination of allowing others to use their own energy to help you, (edarhe) and to use your own energy to help others (edarma) and to use your own energy to defend and attack as needed (umarde), it is a balanced form. To use references from Earth cultures, it is similar to Aikido, but incorporating other attack and defensive forms as needed. Most of the point of the art form is its fluidity, finding the most stable position, and this art form is typical of the entire culture of the Enkidukai.
Architecture
The Enkidukai make several different varieties of buildings, according to their needs and the materials at hand. One of their early great considerations was the need to be able to pack up and move quickly, so the earliest and most popular variety of building for the more nomadic of the clans is the 'sempa-mor' or 'swift home'. This is a radially oriented set of wooden poles, lashed together at the top, with a light hide covering, and an opening in the top for smoke to escape from the central campfire. The opening is usually, with the Enkidukai, lashed together at the bottom, and pulled tight with a lace that runs through it, when loosened they can slip out of the tent.
The second building style is a heavy tent of hides and cloth, called 'Utlic', again with ventilation near the top. It is far more squat and unwieldy than the sempa-mor, but also far more durable, and more easily defended. It was originally developed for the colder climates in their homeworld. The walls are often made with tiny holes hidden in them, so they can see out, but others can't see in as easily, covered by thin fabric to prevent firelight from shining out at night. The greatest of these are heavy, multistory dwellings, sometimes built down and into the ground, one or two even with false floors that open into larger chambers excavated out below.
The third building type was adopted for permanent settlement, designed out of stone or adobe clay to block the light of the sapphire sun, or that of a desert. Originally these were made of mud, with sticks or plant fiber mixed in, simply covering one of the other styles of dwellings, but they've been adopting some lemur and Ylian structural styles since they started to build Ojaveda. They have a heavy concentration on defense in these structures, they usually have cellars that can be sealed off or even hidden if the need arises. Most of the Enkidukai's cultural and family life goes on in these hidden places, in familiar surroundings with deep cultural meaning..
In formal buildings, they often have a central podium, which is between four to six feet above the surroundings, to speak from. These are their government buildings for debate, and the seating area is recessed four feet below the base of the pedestal this mound sits upon. Upon the top of this mound is often a roaring fire, so that the speaker doesn't speak too long. In less developed tribes, they often have a stone, known simply as the jholan-merhasa, the speaker stone. The carrier of this stone is allowed to speak until the tribe decides that they have heard enough, at which point he rescinds the stone or has it taken.
Tools and Clothes
Homeworld
Homeworld name: Phon'larr'jit
Description of Home World: A lush world of vast oceans and sprawling plains. Given the Enkidukai nomadic natures and their technological development (approximately Bronze Age) their world was remarkably underdeveloped despite the Enkidukai population numbering some eight hundred thousand. These 800,000 were, at one time, divided into at least fifty packs. The hunting was plentiful there and their crops flourished. Though metals were a part of their lives, the People were not miners, rather preferring to let the land give to them what it felt they needed.
Social structure and organization: The Enkidukai were once a nomadic race, moving hither and thither across the lands whence they came. A race of warriors and proud nomads, they hunted the wild beasts and farmed the lands in harmony with nature.
Reason for Leaving Home World: The plains of sorrow: The Enkidukai tribes originally numbered about fifty, but inter-clan stresses on their home world caused massive divisions. There were many treaties, sometimes contradictory and conflicting, many border conflicts and disputes. Eventually these conflicts broke out into full civil war. There were many U-turns and reversals during the war. Originally the Enkidukai fought as single tribes, then tribes began to form alliances for greater advantages and for greater capability, factions of tribes sprang up. Many tribes were destroyed outright, eventually leaving only a few left to fight. As they were preparing for battle, Gharruk one of the tribal seers of the Akkaio, oldest of the tribes, saw a comet that had entered the sky. The comet streaked across the sky, but the tail seemed to spiral behind it, and ghostly faces seemed to peer out from within. Calling out to the other remaining tribes he called for peace as he foretold a great danger was approaching for them all.
The ancient Gharruk died within a week of his prophecy, but his conviction was so strong that the clans took it unto themselves, and forged a peace that would last for fifty years, before the invasion that drove them from their homeland occurred. It is incorporated into their artwork, their society; a simple field of green and red often seen on their structures, a square, that is mottled with the red, often with white bone designs. In their jewellery, they use bloodstone with bone carved and inset for the skulls.
The dying times: Shortly after this comet passed overhead, cold black ashes fell from the sky. A horned race living on the other side of the great sea, had somehow answered the call of the comet, fires were seen far off in the distance, smoke rising, they were invading their lands. These creatures had powerful weapons, that could not only cut the flesh, but also spread a devastating disease. After endless battle the united Enkidukai managed to vaniquish the enemies, but the venom of the wicked weapons spread a disease, causing a slow death that seemed to take forever to end, a slow death with progressive weakness, the loss of fur and opening of sores. The Enkidukai took to burning their corpses in an effort to prevent its spread, but before too long, only five of the clans remained.
The Enkidukai realized the doom that had come upon them, and the seers reminded them of the dying words of Gharruk, to head for the eastern mountains, to find a new home there. So they traveled, driven on by the perusing army that followed implacably. The Enkidukai watched from afar as their homes were destroyed, carrying only their most valuable belongings. Among these was the staff of Gharruk, which still sits within the dsar Akkaio. It was the most potent weapon against their odd enemies.
This staff is incorporated into their jewellery. Often you'll see a black and silver rod of bone there, and above each door, where they can afford it, a black bone rod, with platinum, silver, or steel embedded in distinct patterns. Where they cannot afford it, it is usually present as a short strip of black, with white paint on it.
Exodus: The Enkidukai found an odd glowing archway, suspended in the air. After a short time, they entered it fearful of what would become of them if they stayed. On the far side of the archway they found themselves in the Labyrinth. In the time it took them to decide, they saw their people, their proud dsars, torn down and enslaved, in the lands they had left.
Often you will find on an Enkidukai a small piece of bone, painted blue, in the shape of pointed oval, signifying the rift. It is usually either edged in gold or painted gold around the edges.
Race history in Yliakum
Portal Location in Yliakum: Stone Labyrinths
Arrival Time in Stone Labyrinths: 305 AY
305 AY - Enkidukai went through the portal. There were 5 packs.
306 AY - Enkidukai found Yliakum.
306 AY - Ylian and Enkidukai met each other soon followed by meeting the Kran and Lemur.
308 AY - Founding of Ylon Dynari by the Ylians.
310 AY - After a long time roaming Yliakum the Enkidukai gathered in the desert and established a small village, which later became Ojaveda.
325 AY - The dwarves made contact with the Enkidukai, Kran, Lemur, Diaboli, and Ylian.
326 AY - Pantel Firgal (Ylian) declared war on the Enkidukai.
330 AY - The Enkidukai encountered the first Klyros.
335 AY - Ylon Dynari was destroyed, the Ylian-Enkidukai war ended. Pantel Firgal became the first ruler of Yliakum with a council.
336 AY - Enkidukai started to build the outer walls of Ojaveda to protect themselves
340 AY - Trading of minerals started between Enkidukai and Lemur/Kran/Klyros with the commerce center being Ojaveda.
345 AY - The outer wall was completed and the city of Ojaveda was formed
370 AY - The Chamber of the Speaker was created as a symbol of the 5 clans living together in peace forever.
374 AY - The Towers of Ojaveda were completed. This allowed for Ojaveda to be a trading hub for Megaras.
402 AY - Truvar Zhaiad was born (future ruler of Hydlaa and first Octarch) and soon after was found nearly dead by the Enkidukai on the road to Ojaveda. They accept Truvar as part of the city.
411 AY - Towers of Ojaveda were fortified with siege weapons
422 AY - Truvar gained a lot of trust from the Enkidukai because of his special talent of finding new mines and hidden resources. Due to his discoveries Ojaveda had a big boost in its economy.
428 AY - Iaen Firgal (current hydlaa leader) decided that for the secured future of the races in Yliakum they must stay united under a common leader, and he allowed his daughter (Melria Firgal) to marry Truvar Zhaiad and have him step up as new leader and first Octarch.
428 AY - The Octarchal Decree, introduced the concepts of the Octarch, Vigesimi and taxes. Eighty messengers were sent to all of Yliakum's levels to reach out to all cities and villages to provide them with the decree.
440 AY - Kore Arwain was born, a Rabani with white fur and black stripes, a cross breed between Akkaio and Rabani.
455 AY - Kore was rewarded for great deeds and became a well known personality within the Enkidukai.
460 AY - Kore started his own Dsar, he gathered the other mixed breeds of Rabani and Akkaio, he called the new Dsar: Kore.
462 AY - Kore created a small arena in Ojaveda and taught martial arts and combat. This resulted in greater order forming within the Enkidukai guard ranks.
470 AY - A large group of Enkidukai moved to the third level, founding a city there: Juzhal.
490 AY - Hydlaa Octarchy contacted the new city, and asked for a formal Octarch, Shazelim Osharas was elected.
503 AY - Shazelim was a very good governor. As the third level was very rich in natural resources, the city flourished, and started being a center of trading for other races/levels. Long caravans begin taking new goods to the upper levels, up to Hydlaa.
515 AY - Ankhaarum Lemani created an expedition to map the boundaries of the lands, they explore all of Yliakum levels and some of the tunnels leading "out" in the big cavern.
560 AY - Kran arrived on the third level and settle founding a new city.
562-582 AY - Kran do not want to submit to the Enkidukai Octarch and claim the land for themselves. A Few years of battling followed.
590 AY - Peace was finally settled on the third level between Kran and Enkidukai.
600-750 AY TO BE DEFINED.
Significant Person Tracking
Gharruk - The Enkidukai seer who brought peace between the packs and warned of the coming doom.
Kore Arwain - Considered the greatest warrior of the pack Rabani. Kore was an unusual Rabani. The cub of a Rabani mother and an Akkaio father, Kore was born with gleaming white fur, segmented by deep black stripes. When Kore was rewarded for great deeds it allowed him to start his own Dsar, he gathered the other mixed breeds of Rabani and Akkaio. This union of the two packs to make a third pack was well planned and now Pack Kore is the largest in all Ojaveda.
Ankhaarum Lemani - A female Enkidukai who was known for a bit of eccentricity in her tale-telling. She accompanied a group of Enkidukai down into the lowest levels, and she was the only one that returned. She bore tales of seeing a hole that led into a sea of mist, as far as the eye could see, a huge cavern, bigger than Yliakum's top level by far. She had watched in horror as the others fell into the darkness, the distance so great they shrank from sight before they disappeared into the mist. She managed to find her way back to the top level. She led a second group of Enkidukai, Kran, and Lemur, prepared for this possibility, but none of them were ever heard from again. It is unknown if she actually saw beyond Yliakum, or if it was simply the hallucination of a mad mind, but she helped the Lemur form ideas on the structure of the stalactite itself.
Physical Traits
