Post by † Lux Teper † on Dec 18, 2009 2:54:37 GMT -5
Species Name: Vulu
Species Type: Cold-blooded humanoid
Planet of Origin: Vulur
Average Maximum age: 200 yrs
Age of Maturation: 30 yrs
Average Height: 8' 0"
Average Weight: 200 lbs
Notable biological features:
2 Varieties:
Polar Vulu:
Pitch Black to Charcoal Gray skin
Equatorial Vulu:
Ash Gray to Silver skin
two sets of eyelids (like a crocodile)
Both:
eye color ranges from yellow-green to burnt orange
horizontal pupils
7 fingers per hand
3-toed feet
Carnivorous
No lips/external teeth
blue blood (copper based)
Number of limbs and Type:
X2 arms
X2 triple-jointed legs
Vulu Shaman
Culture:
The Vulu hail from a desert planet with a vertical axis where terrible sandstorms and searing heat ravage the equator. This has resulted in two starkly different phenotypes. Equatorial Vulu possess a secondary, protective pair of eyelids to shield their eyes from the intense UV radiation, searing winds and whipping sands. This subspecies also possesses thicker skin of generally lighter tones.
The alternative subspecies resides at the polar ends of the planet and possesses darker skin to better absorb the light from their sun where there is less heat to warm their cold-blooded bodies.
The subspecies are capable of interbreeding though this rarely occurs due to their societal structure.
Society:
The Vulu are a nomadic species of hunters that dwell in clans and follow set migratory patterns. This has resulted in relative isolation and the prevalence of numerous clan disputes as migratory patterns cross.
They are an aggressive species who's social structure revolves around hunting, battle prowess and a devotion to a unique animist shamanism that has resulted in theocratic miniature governments. Each clan is led primarily by a force-sensitive Shaman called a "Va Anake" (Roughly translated this means Father Night, though this is considered an androgynous title.) who's various duties include prophesy, delegation, and the education of future generations. The name is often shortened to simply "Va."
Religion:
The presiding Va also identifies the force sensitive children of the future generation through his own abilities. These children receive supplemental training and education from the Va and spend most of their time with the village leader, eventually becoming detached from their mothers by the age of 10. This is a widely accepted practice since becoming a shaman is seen as a great honor and to give rise to a Va Anake is to become one of the thousands of spirits serving under the three gods.
The Vulu's religion refers to a series of three gods who preside over thousands of lesser but powerful spirits they call "Lua", meaning "shadows" that govern all the minute aspects of daily life. The Vulu gods have become synonymous with what they represent and are as follows:
Odyeh - God of Life, Death and War. Odyeh presides over all warriors, gives all children life, and takes it back after they've died. He is able to command all Lua to do his bidding and is ever present.
Iegah - God of the Day. Iegah is considered the most capricious of the three gods since he can command the winds, sands and sun. Iega has authority over all Lua but those of the dark, the cold, and the dead.
Nibo - God of the Night. Nibo governs the night sky and all things of the dark. He is considered the patron of the Va Anake and presides over the Lua of the dead, the cold, and the dark. The Vulu believe darkness to be the source of their shaman's mysterious abilities due to the enigmatic nature of Nibo. All Va where a talisman said to contain a portion of the shadow magics of their teacher and the essence of Nibo that will become their own when they pass their knowledge onto their students.
Each god is to have a short ritual performed in their honor at the first hour of darkness or the hour of first light. These rituals include the burning of the skeletal remains of their previous hunt or the shedding of their own blood to appease the gods. While Iega and Nibo are only to be appeased and honored at the beginning of their reign, Odyeh is to be included in the rituals of both.
In addition to this series of rituals, the Va are required to perform a small ritual whenever consulting the Lua or any of the three gods. most rituals involve some form of sacrifice, song, or dance. One such ritual of Nibo involves the Va remaining awake throughout the entire 37 standard hour night to commune with Nibo (this is a particularly difficult feat to this species because their cold-bloodedness causes them to naturally hibernate in the colder temperatures of night). The introduction of Spice to Vulur also led to the consumption of various hallucinogens in order to commune more easily with the spirits.
(It is considered a crime against the spirits to refer to all three gods in the same word so there is no translation for "god" into the Vulu language.)
Odyeh, Iegah and Nibo are not as involved in the lives of the Vulu as the Lua but they, as well as their Lua, are not unknown to command the Vulu through the Va, this is what gives the shamans their political as well as spiritual authority. It is also forbidden by the gods to kill a Va even if from an opposing clan though other Va are exempt from this because it is believed that they are able to take the essence of Nibo residing in the other shaman into their own bodies.
The force-sensitive Va in training are heavily trained in the arts of combat for this reason. In a single clan there may only be one Va Anake so all the presiding Va's students are to do battle following the death of their master. The victor is to become the Clan's governing Va while the defeated opponents become the primary hunters of the clan, said to have been stripped of their Essence of Nibo but retaining some residual magics and skill (explaining their abilities to sense and use the force after being supposedly stripped of it).
It is for this reason that the Va are said to be the elite warriors and hunters of the Vulu and the Vulu hold the belief that their Va's power increases with every victory.
The Vulu value battle, honor, piety, and are highly chivalrous, recognizing women as the progenitors of the Va.
(Due to the isolated nature of their clans, different Va from different clans often have differing methods and specific beliefs about the workings of the Lua and gods.)
Shaman Disciplines:
In case you did not realize, a shaman's connection to the Force is called their "Essence of Nibo" and they refer to the Force as the Lua or the Will of [insert god's name here]. Similarly, battle prowess is referred to as a Vulu's "Essence of Odyeh." If a Vulu possesses unusual ferocity, they are said to possess the "Essence of Iegah." The last is considered dangerous since it is only valuable mid-battle.
There are some Va who devote their worship to Odyeh or Iegah rather than Nibo. These are typically individuals and outcasts from standard society. These are specifically referred to as Va Odi and Va Nageh. The Va Odi are the followers of Odyeh and are highly disciplined individuals (most like Jedi), while the Va Nageh are more warlike, using their "Essence of Iega" like their "Essence of Nibo" and giving into passion and violence, they are often berserkers (highly similar to sith marauders).
History:
The Vulu never evolved from their nomadic lifestyle, partially from their successful niche as hunters and partially because of the impracticality of cities or even villages under the scorching winds of their planet.
As such, their culture and society has been left relatively unchanged for thousands of years, virtually untouched by the rest of the galaxy.
In the year 3746 BBY, Vulur was first discovered by a band of failed smugglers hiding out in the Outer Rim from a Hutt's bounty hunters.
The Vulu were at first highly suspicious of the smugglers but the clever men quickly showed them the remains of their cargo: 5 crates of hallucinogenic Spice.
The Vulu clansmen brought the smugglers to their Va Anake and upon sampling the mind-altering substance, the elder Vulu ordered that they procure more, for this was a substance granted them from the Lua to better their communication with Odyeh, Iegah, and Nibo.
The Vulu had no items of Value but, being a warring culture, they had a few prisoners of war to be traded as slaves.
Gladly the smugglers traded away their 5 crates of Spice for three Vulu Slaves. The smugglers would then introduce them as an exotic species to the slave trade and the Vulu clan that had made business with the "Analu" or "Night Messengers", the Ghede clan, saw a steady increase in it's influence over other clans through the power of their "Magic Powder."
This clan became exceedingly famous throughout the equatorial clans and rumors spread through both poles of a clan who'd been blessed with the voice of Nibo.
Over the next hundred years, the traffic to the planet would gradually increase, providing spice and weapons to the primitive Vulu in exchange for the only resource they had: Slaves.
The Ghede eventually became the primary slavers of Vulu, kidnapping from other clans in the night and even depleting their own population to a bare minimum. After many years of indulging in the Spice, the Ghede Va gradually began to atrophy and his discipline in the force weakened. Others saw this as his falling out of favor with the gods and Lua and around 3645 BBY, the Ghede were wiped out, overtaken by the other clans.
It was also around this time that the Vulu adopted a policy of general isolationism. Using the weapons and technology they'd garnered from the slave trade, they would attack all outsiders to land, blaming the "Analu" and their trickery for the fall of the Ghede.
Only recently have they opened up enough to allow some of their own to go off-world and investigate the "Belly of Nibo" in the efforts to develop their own technology and advance enough to prevent another Era of dilapidation.
Species Type: Cold-blooded humanoid
Planet of Origin: Vulur
Average Maximum age: 200 yrs
Age of Maturation: 30 yrs
Average Height: 8' 0"
Average Weight: 200 lbs
Notable biological features:
2 Varieties:
Polar Vulu:
Pitch Black to Charcoal Gray skin
Equatorial Vulu:
Ash Gray to Silver skin
two sets of eyelids (like a crocodile)
Both:
eye color ranges from yellow-green to burnt orange
horizontal pupils
7 fingers per hand
3-toed feet
Carnivorous
No lips/external teeth
blue blood (copper based)
Number of limbs and Type:
X2 arms
X2 triple-jointed legs
Vulu Shaman
Culture:
The Vulu hail from a desert planet with a vertical axis where terrible sandstorms and searing heat ravage the equator. This has resulted in two starkly different phenotypes. Equatorial Vulu possess a secondary, protective pair of eyelids to shield their eyes from the intense UV radiation, searing winds and whipping sands. This subspecies also possesses thicker skin of generally lighter tones.
The alternative subspecies resides at the polar ends of the planet and possesses darker skin to better absorb the light from their sun where there is less heat to warm their cold-blooded bodies.
The subspecies are capable of interbreeding though this rarely occurs due to their societal structure.
Society:
The Vulu are a nomadic species of hunters that dwell in clans and follow set migratory patterns. This has resulted in relative isolation and the prevalence of numerous clan disputes as migratory patterns cross.
They are an aggressive species who's social structure revolves around hunting, battle prowess and a devotion to a unique animist shamanism that has resulted in theocratic miniature governments. Each clan is led primarily by a force-sensitive Shaman called a "Va Anake" (Roughly translated this means Father Night, though this is considered an androgynous title.) who's various duties include prophesy, delegation, and the education of future generations. The name is often shortened to simply "Va."
Religion:
The presiding Va also identifies the force sensitive children of the future generation through his own abilities. These children receive supplemental training and education from the Va and spend most of their time with the village leader, eventually becoming detached from their mothers by the age of 10. This is a widely accepted practice since becoming a shaman is seen as a great honor and to give rise to a Va Anake is to become one of the thousands of spirits serving under the three gods.
The Vulu's religion refers to a series of three gods who preside over thousands of lesser but powerful spirits they call "Lua", meaning "shadows" that govern all the minute aspects of daily life. The Vulu gods have become synonymous with what they represent and are as follows:
Odyeh - God of Life, Death and War. Odyeh presides over all warriors, gives all children life, and takes it back after they've died. He is able to command all Lua to do his bidding and is ever present.
Iegah - God of the Day. Iegah is considered the most capricious of the three gods since he can command the winds, sands and sun. Iega has authority over all Lua but those of the dark, the cold, and the dead.
Nibo - God of the Night. Nibo governs the night sky and all things of the dark. He is considered the patron of the Va Anake and presides over the Lua of the dead, the cold, and the dark. The Vulu believe darkness to be the source of their shaman's mysterious abilities due to the enigmatic nature of Nibo. All Va where a talisman said to contain a portion of the shadow magics of their teacher and the essence of Nibo that will become their own when they pass their knowledge onto their students.
Each god is to have a short ritual performed in their honor at the first hour of darkness or the hour of first light. These rituals include the burning of the skeletal remains of their previous hunt or the shedding of their own blood to appease the gods. While Iega and Nibo are only to be appeased and honored at the beginning of their reign, Odyeh is to be included in the rituals of both.
In addition to this series of rituals, the Va are required to perform a small ritual whenever consulting the Lua or any of the three gods. most rituals involve some form of sacrifice, song, or dance. One such ritual of Nibo involves the Va remaining awake throughout the entire 37 standard hour night to commune with Nibo (this is a particularly difficult feat to this species because their cold-bloodedness causes them to naturally hibernate in the colder temperatures of night). The introduction of Spice to Vulur also led to the consumption of various hallucinogens in order to commune more easily with the spirits.
(It is considered a crime against the spirits to refer to all three gods in the same word so there is no translation for "god" into the Vulu language.)
Odyeh, Iegah and Nibo are not as involved in the lives of the Vulu as the Lua but they, as well as their Lua, are not unknown to command the Vulu through the Va, this is what gives the shamans their political as well as spiritual authority. It is also forbidden by the gods to kill a Va even if from an opposing clan though other Va are exempt from this because it is believed that they are able to take the essence of Nibo residing in the other shaman into their own bodies.
The force-sensitive Va in training are heavily trained in the arts of combat for this reason. In a single clan there may only be one Va Anake so all the presiding Va's students are to do battle following the death of their master. The victor is to become the Clan's governing Va while the defeated opponents become the primary hunters of the clan, said to have been stripped of their Essence of Nibo but retaining some residual magics and skill (explaining their abilities to sense and use the force after being supposedly stripped of it).
It is for this reason that the Va are said to be the elite warriors and hunters of the Vulu and the Vulu hold the belief that their Va's power increases with every victory.
The Vulu value battle, honor, piety, and are highly chivalrous, recognizing women as the progenitors of the Va.
(Due to the isolated nature of their clans, different Va from different clans often have differing methods and specific beliefs about the workings of the Lua and gods.)
Shaman Disciplines:
In case you did not realize, a shaman's connection to the Force is called their "Essence of Nibo" and they refer to the Force as the Lua or the Will of [insert god's name here]. Similarly, battle prowess is referred to as a Vulu's "Essence of Odyeh." If a Vulu possesses unusual ferocity, they are said to possess the "Essence of Iegah." The last is considered dangerous since it is only valuable mid-battle.
There are some Va who devote their worship to Odyeh or Iegah rather than Nibo. These are typically individuals and outcasts from standard society. These are specifically referred to as Va Odi and Va Nageh. The Va Odi are the followers of Odyeh and are highly disciplined individuals (most like Jedi), while the Va Nageh are more warlike, using their "Essence of Iega" like their "Essence of Nibo" and giving into passion and violence, they are often berserkers (highly similar to sith marauders).
History:
The Vulu never evolved from their nomadic lifestyle, partially from their successful niche as hunters and partially because of the impracticality of cities or even villages under the scorching winds of their planet.
As such, their culture and society has been left relatively unchanged for thousands of years, virtually untouched by the rest of the galaxy.
In the year 3746 BBY, Vulur was first discovered by a band of failed smugglers hiding out in the Outer Rim from a Hutt's bounty hunters.
The Vulu were at first highly suspicious of the smugglers but the clever men quickly showed them the remains of their cargo: 5 crates of hallucinogenic Spice.
The Vulu clansmen brought the smugglers to their Va Anake and upon sampling the mind-altering substance, the elder Vulu ordered that they procure more, for this was a substance granted them from the Lua to better their communication with Odyeh, Iegah, and Nibo.
The Vulu had no items of Value but, being a warring culture, they had a few prisoners of war to be traded as slaves.
Gladly the smugglers traded away their 5 crates of Spice for three Vulu Slaves. The smugglers would then introduce them as an exotic species to the slave trade and the Vulu clan that had made business with the "Analu" or "Night Messengers", the Ghede clan, saw a steady increase in it's influence over other clans through the power of their "Magic Powder."
This clan became exceedingly famous throughout the equatorial clans and rumors spread through both poles of a clan who'd been blessed with the voice of Nibo.
Over the next hundred years, the traffic to the planet would gradually increase, providing spice and weapons to the primitive Vulu in exchange for the only resource they had: Slaves.
The Ghede eventually became the primary slavers of Vulu, kidnapping from other clans in the night and even depleting their own population to a bare minimum. After many years of indulging in the Spice, the Ghede Va gradually began to atrophy and his discipline in the force weakened. Others saw this as his falling out of favor with the gods and Lua and around 3645 BBY, the Ghede were wiped out, overtaken by the other clans.
It was also around this time that the Vulu adopted a policy of general isolationism. Using the weapons and technology they'd garnered from the slave trade, they would attack all outsiders to land, blaming the "Analu" and their trickery for the fall of the Ghede.
Only recently have they opened up enough to allow some of their own to go off-world and investigate the "Belly of Nibo" in the efforts to develop their own technology and advance enough to prevent another Era of dilapidation.