They hold unmitigated hatred for slavers; while some outsiders are surprised that Attites don’t have a racial hatred of pachyaura, Attites differentiate and know their enemies have alway
Trang 1cautious and especially protective of their women and
children They hold unmitigated hatred for slavers;
while some outsiders are surprised that Attites don’t
have a racial hatred of pachyaura, Attites differentiate
and know their enemies have always been the
much-loathed Watu
Ranks & Types
Of the human tribes, Attites have the largest number
of ranks and castes, making it difficult for outsiders to
judge an Attite’s exact social or political standing
• Landao, Dotrong, and Trung: Names for civil
au-thorities derive directly from the Attite terms for
advancing age, including Landao (“grown”),
Do-trong (“grayed”), and Trung (“venerable”) They
cherish the knowledge and experience of their
el-ders more than other human tribes, but often still
succumb to the timeless struggle between wisdom
and youthful petulance
• Rau: Of high prestige among the Attites are their
Rau, or “bearded ones,” proud evangelical
philoso-phers who grow especially thick beards high on the
face and down to their always-exposed shoulders
and chest Rau are thought to be especially virile
men, sought by women of quality and power
• Tongia: Contrasting their high social regard are the
rags worn by the Tongia, a Shadazim-guided
reli-gious minority that shuns worldly relationships
al-together
• Moigoi: Unique among the Attites are the
Moi-goi (“marriage brokers”), who have more say in
pair bonding than the individuals or their parents;
moigoi are not above accepting favors to influence
their decisions
• Maigiang: These are socially elevated prostitutes
of both genders who ply their trade with impunity
among the higher castes who can afford their
com-panionship
• Detdosh: Detdosh are professional hair weavers
who dominate a fashion industry that they create,
change, and then enforce anew
There are also strata among the Attite military that
af-fect those in the armies, but may or may not subsume
any civilian social status outside those ranks
• Conoan: The Conoan are a merit-based scholarly
elite whose counsel is faithfully heeded by even
the most reckless military commander To disobey a
conoan is to invite the scorpion into one’s bed
• Giotinh: Giotinh are most renowned among the
At-tites and their position carries social and military
honor alike Randomly selected as newborns and
trained through childhood as warriors, these 225 honor guards swear to protect any important figure
or warlord Sometimes called the “fifteen 15s”, they are perfectly selfless and carry out their instruc-tions without regard for life or limb Giotinh are re-putedly as tough as xursha scales!
• Turotch: In the armies, Tong oversee three-ranked
spear formations called turotch
• Chutich: Chutich lead groto-armed skirmishers
known as whitusk Traditionally, Attite participants
in any Rite of Vindicta are highly regarded Chutich
• Ilinh: Ilinh are wandering healers who move
fear-lessly among the wounded during and after battles, saving as many as possible They administer the water spice hesheyel among the soldiers in times of need
Attite Psychology
Despite the considerable fighting skills of many At-tites, war forever remains secondary to diplomacy and reason—a mindset forged by centuries of oppression by Watu slavers they could hardly vanquish by strength
of arms A fight avoided marks one as a true leader as surely as victory by spear and sword To the Attites, all humans are equals, though none outside the tribe may marry into it except in the most remarkable circum-stances Regardless, all non-humans are animals One must really be convinced of a pachyaur’s or krikis’ intel-ligence and worth, and even then skepticism will linger just beneath the surface
Other aspects of the Attite mindset follow directly from their fatalist traditions For the individual, life
is a brief gift that will pass and end in pain For the tribe, Khitus will one day be picked clean, and only those who adapt will survive There is no guaran-tee that the Attites themselves will adapt sufficiently
to avoid extinction The writings of the philosopher Amon Arik preach this fatalist message and encourage mental discipline to face it honorably Youngsters must memorize most of these centuries-old passages before coming of age
Customs & Culture
Attite communities hold a transgressor’s feet to the fire, sometimes literally, for ignoring their rules and rites Taboos are strictly enforced with punishment, shaming, and exile, even for transgressing the slight-est rules
Attites never eat exactly at the moments of sunrise or sunset They pause for a full breath after learning
some-Chapter 3: RACES & REALMS