 January 27, 2011 - 2:25pm | Imperial Lord offered an interesting comment in the honor code thread: Tradition is Yaziran meat, ritual is Yazirian drink. This of course begs the question, What is yazirian ritual and tradition? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 27, 2011 - 3:02pm | I can offer something I wrote in the "Opiate of the Osakar" article This would be an ancient Ritual and not widely or openly practiced. taking the lead that every osakar finds some unique religion I detailed up a handful of Frontier religions. Also noticing that the osakar are the linguist par excellance of the Frontier I wondered what would happen if an osakar began studying the yazirian equivelant of Beowulf. Incidently Beowulf, being in Old English is utterly unreadable by a modern english speaker and listening to a reading of it is utterly incomprehensible as well- hence the reason an osakar would study it as they are big time into linguistics. Combine the drive to practice a distinct religion as an expression of individuality and their natural gift for linguistics and said osakar happens upon passages describing an ancient blood sacrifice rite in the Ballad of Baillor and before you know it this osakar has resurrected the ancient yazirian blood rite as the first practicioner in thoughsands of years much to the chagrin of the Family of One. Note that what became know as Baillorism is a reconstructed religion as the literary evidence of it is fragmentary. However, it quickly spread in yazirian society among the elite who practice it as a snub at the heavy handedness of the FoO. With the sudden rise of this practice the FoO quickly banned it. but out side of the system that they directly control its difficult to stamp it out. the trade in wyvoles, the traditional animal for the sacrifice has become very lucrative. FoO has tried to exterminate all wyvoles outside the Araks system but that only served to make the trade in them even more lucrative. The standard blood rite is to bind the wyvole to the stone altar and 3-4 practicioners approach with knives. They encircle the altar and dash in and out of reach trying to get a one shot killing blow to the top of the head. The fact that the wyvole is vicious and dangerous and can easily take a pound of flesh out of you is part of the appeal to yazirians- the few osakar who practice this generally opt for a substitution animal that is less likely to rip an arm off. The one who makes the killing blow cuts out the heart raises it above his head with a benediction and slices out bites to all present (like catholic communion). Note I just embellished the ceremony just now with more details then in the original article. There are full stats (2 versions of the wyvole- wild and domesticated) and artwork for the wyvole in the article see:"Opiate of the Osakar" SFman #15 page 79 I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 27, 2011 - 3:05pm | Other rituals would be the the slaying of the "fatted calf" by the newest clan member to reach adulthood at the clan gathering. the adulthood ceremony. (yazirian barmitzvah, confirmation or etc.) mating ceremony. The recounting of defeating of a Life enemy at a clan gathering. "The Song of Warriors" - at the clan gathering- two parts to this one is the singing of the recent & honored dead who may or may not count as clan heros and the singing of the clan heros. Some dralasites that make fun of this song, which is different in each clan, have come to a tragic end. these are just ideas that might stand to have some embellishment. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 January 28, 2011 - 12:35am | I think the idea here is that the Yazirians found that their respect for ceremony and ritual has a soothing effect on their minds. It mellows out the savagery that has afflicted them for thousands of years. It reminds them of the glorious past of their Clan, and brings them all closer together. Intertwined with the rituals are the tales of the great deeds and battles fought. Artifacts, such as old weapons, scrolls, newspapers, holos, and other forms of evidence are elaborately placed on display almost in a kind of trial of the old legend (as proof that it is actually true) and the celebration of the past heroes. The evidence is presented, the tale told (usually in poetic form), and songs are sung to confirm that the glory, yet again, has been proven. Perhaps even fragments of ancient bodies are put on display, similar to the relics of saints during the European Middle Ages. For scientifically inclined Clans, these relics could be early versions of Yazirian inventions. Medical advances, for example, attributed to Clan doctors (or even ancient shaman) of the past. Not all of these celebrations are necessarily military in nature. At this point in Yazirian development, most are probably not. The youngest members are taught about such items, evidence and deeds from the time that they start to recognize speech. It is woven into their being by the eldest members of the Clan, who's responsibility it is (primarily) to teach the youngest the achievements and glory of the past. Anniversaries are not just remembered such as birthdays and such but also the dates on which these special Clan achievements occured. So every Yazirian Clan basically has their own Clan holidays - their calendar. In a corporate setting, a Yazirian would take their vacation days (or call in sick if they must) to celebrate these great events. Those Yazirians who can't make the celebration will attempt to holo-in and attend remotely, if only for an hour or so, if such subspace communication is available. Otherwise they send gifts and messages and try to replicate the ceremony on their own in a small scale, perhaps inviting other Yazirians to a small party to sit around and brag about how great their acheivement was and how life today would not be the same without it. The sheer number of rituals and their variety number in the thousands. Some are only a few minutes, others can last for hours. Most involve the entire Clan in a kind of sci-fi mead hall from the ancient Celts or Germans. Around a central pit, the Clan members are seated according to a rather rigid hierarchy. Once the ritual is complete and it is time for dinner, then delicious beasts are released into the pit to be slain for the freshest meat possible. Squeals of dying sacred animals soothe Yazirians - something hard wired into them from their violent past thousands of years ago, and their deep past as hunters in the forest. Adolescent Yazirian males consider it a great honor (and great fun) to run around the pit with spear and knife in hand, hacking away at the animals and slicing off the choicest cuts for the Clan Leader and the other senior honored members and guests of the Clan. It is a bloody spectacle, but does not turn Yazirian stomachs at all - it only makes them hungrier. Humans have been known to turn green at these sights, as blood spatters around and entrails are pulled from the dead animals. The meat is then cut and distributed raw to the rest of the Clan. Yazirians rarely cook, but often have bunsen-burner type devices near their place settings to provide just a little "crisping". Great varities of sauces and gravies often add flavor. And of course, fresh blood is always a welcome condiment. Bowls are often passed around, drawn from the slain beast. Fish and large spiders are also delicacies, as the Yazirians particularly like the feeling of a live, but dying animal wiggling around in their stomachs for a little bit. Food such as this is consumed as a kind of dessert, as the wriggling "settles their stomachs." Heroic amounts of wine are also consumed, especially red wine as it goes very well with meat and resembles blood. However, much like Humans, Yazirians will brew hooch from anything they have available. Mead, beer, spirits - whatever materials are on hand, you can count on the Yazirians fermenting and pounding it. As the night goes on, feats of strength, loud songs, and gliding contests from the rafters (often with painful results) increase in craziness. Grains, fruits, and vegetables are also eaten, but only raw and are very much side dishes consumed with little relish. |
 January 28, 2011 - 1:06pm | I do so love it when Imperial Lord speaks. It gets my creativity flowing and takes me across the void to the places and, most vividly, to the people he describes. I stand in the hall and salute you as a fellow Yazirian. Take my knife and slay this beast with me that we might feast together as friends. Intertwined with the rituals are the tales of the great deeds and battles fought. Artifacts, such as old weapons, scrolls, newspapers, holos, and other forms of evidence are elaborately placed on display almost in a kind of trial of the old legend (as proof that it is actually true) and the celebration of the past heroes. The evidence is presented, the tale told (usually in poetic form), and songs are sung to confirm that the glory, yet again, has been proven. Perhaps even fragments of ancient bodies are put on display, similar to the relics of saints during the European Middle Ages. I imagine the pillars of the clan halls are decorated floor to ceiling with these relics and trophies. These halls are large and high so that balconies are the norm, think three stories minimum. For scientifically inclined Clans, these relics could be early versions of Yazirian inventions. Medical advances, for example, attributed to Clan doctors (or even ancient shaman) of the past. Not all of these celebrations are necessarily military in nature. At this point in Yazirian development, most are probably not. This is a good thing to note. We commonly get caught up on the savage side of Yazirians and forget that physically they are not the biggest muscle bound brutes of the core four but rather the track star built race. Also the Yazirians are THE scientifically focused race of the core four. I can see clans with a strong medical history ceremonially repeating an ancient healing procedure on an actually patient. The honor to the patient is to be healed the ancient way. The honor to the clan is that they can still do it. The youngest members are taught about such items, evidence and deeds from the time that they start to recognize speech. It is woven into their being by the eldest members of the Clan, who's responsibility it is (primarily) to teach the youngest the achievements and glory of the past. This just sang with me as a cultural identity point for Yazirians. Yazirian children are educated in the clan hall for our equivalent of grade school. The elders of the clan teach the three Rs and the clan history. Add in clan dress and warrior / hunting customs and you have the equivalent of a 10 year old human child but the Yazirian way. Then the children go to multi clan schools for their secondary and professional education. These multi clan schools are heavily influenced by clan alliances. At the highest professional schooling levels the clan alliances may even be forged by the exchanging of students. Anniversaries are not just remembered such as birthdays and such but also the dates on which these special Clan achievements occured. So every Yazirian Clan basically has their own Clan holidays - their calendar. In a corporate setting, a Yazirian would take their vacation days (or call in sick if they must) to celebrate these great events. Those Yazirians who can't make the celebration will attempt to holo-in and attend remotely, if only for an hour or so, if such subspace communication is available. Otherwise they send gifts and messages and try to replicate the ceremony on their own in a small scale, perhaps inviting other Yazirians to a small party to sit around and brag about how great their acheivement was and how life today would not be the same without it. I love this. This gives a Yazirian character spice. Let the player detail his clan and their history. When are the clan anniversaries? Let the players play them into the campaign. Then also, a good referee can introduce some plot hooks by introducing some important anniversary that the player must attend or loose face. The adventure could be in getting there on time from across the frontier or to bring some promised or assigned item that is hard to obtain. -iggy |
January 28, 2011 - 8:37pm | One idea, base of Imp Lord and iggys post is that the "pit" Really aught to be at the top of a pole or poles. A cage. young yaz race up the poles (like trees really) get a slice and then jump from the cage and glide down to deposit the meat on patters at the head table. Alternately it really is a pit but in the center is a pole and after they get a slice they must climb the pole to its top and jump away to glide down. to the banqueting area. Reinacting the primal struggle to surrive in the trees of Huax Levor millenia ago. Or alternately it could be that the whole dive into the pit, get some meat, climb the pole, jump & Glide and heap the meat on platters is a bit of a dinner theater/contest. Where the platters are before two yazirians who are dressed in traditional costumes representing classic heroic figures. The whole dinner revolves around a bit of drama re-enacting their blood feud, including mock combat. In the end the two clan lords decide to settle their differences with a contest: they'll send their young warriors to collect the "sweet meats" The drama gets played out to see which legendary figure will win but as the meats get heapped on the platters the legendary figures begin to feign dramactic hunger and eventually there is a comic (to other races that is) succumbing to the lust for the meat and they dive in. This is the official beginning of the feast. as all the players "make friends" over the meat and all the young bucks carry the platters while the legendary figures serve out meat to the guest. Some clans practice this ritual fastidiously while some only practice it when there is the rare coming together of two clans for a special clan gathering. Some dont practice it at all but all yazirians know the story as its a classic. Told to children and done in holo puppet plays. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 29, 2011 - 11:27pm | @jedion. I think you have described the Yazirian equivalent of Thanksgiving or something. You inspired me to this: In the beginning there were but two families. There were not yet any clans. The world was a paradise for these families and game was plenty. One family had golden brown fur, the other had reddish brown fur. The creators smiled upon them and provided for their every need. Then the families became greedy and wasteful. They began to hunt excessively and to kill for pleasure alone. When they ate they only favored the sweetest meats and left the rest to rot. They became such vicious hunters that all the game in their home forests were killed. And thus they were forced to leave their home forests by the creators, who cursed them to compete with great wild beasts for game in the forests beyond their homes. The creators decreed that they could not return to their home forests until they mastered the savage within and rose above the great wild beasts of the forests. The families wandered many years in the wild forests and game was difficult to gain. The wild beasts were more powerful and better hunters and the families learned hunger. Some of the most savage of the families even became prey to the great wild beasts. As they wandered the wild forests they became less savage. To stave their hunger, the creators eventually gave the families the lask beast to follow and hunt. Then one night as the families were hunting lask the two fathers happened to be tracking the same lask. Each threw his zamra at the same time and the lask was struck by both and died in the cleft of a great tree's branches. The father's leapt to their kill eager to claim the meat and feed their family. There on a branch of the great tree the fathers meet. A great fight commenced between them over the kill. Father fought father tooth and nail. The battle lasted the entire night until both collapsed with fatigue. In the morning light both saw that during their fight the lask had been devoured by a pack of forvurs. The two father's collected their zamras and parted with great contempt and hatred toward each other. That same night the youngest sons of each of the fathers had also been out hunting mekal. Neither found any spore to track and by chance ended up climbing twin trees to sit watch. During the watch they each became aware of the other and each, thinking the other was an elder brother, began to challenge the other in games of skill. When they started throwing their zamras they discovered they were not brothers. The two young yaz became quick friends and challenged each other all night long. Shortly before dawn they caught the scent of a pair of bogah returning from their nightly foraging. The two quickly schemed an snaring hunt and killed both bogah. At sunrise they parted, each vowing to tell their families about the other. They traded zamras and headed for home each with a bogah. When the young yaz each returned home they found that their fathers had returned first. The fathers were cursing the creators and angry. They each declared the other family an enemy, demons created by the creators to torment them. Each father declared that hunting the forest around the great tree was forbidden. The two young yaz held their speech and hide their zamras. For the next three months, one family hunted near the river, the other hunted near the cliffs, and lask were scarce. The lask feared the river because of the great wild beasts. The lask seldom foraged along the cliffs for there are few fruits they eat growing along the cliffs. The families suffered for food during these months due to the lack of lasks. The two young yaz continued to secretly visit each other during these months and their friendship became true. They became very skilled at snaring bogah together. Their hunts became every more prosperous and the meat they each brought to their families began to be celebrated. The two young yaz became embolden by the accolades of their families and decided to hunt lask together. To keep their secret friendship hidden they agreed to hunt two lask so that each could bring one home. After many nights of hunting together they happened upon a pair of lask. They schemed their kills and tracked the beasts deep into the forest. Then together as they had learned to hunt bogah they threw their zamras and killed both lask. The blood of the two young yaz filled with jubilation and primal joy. They ceremonially embedded their zamras into the skulls of the lasks and rushed for home. Each young yaz was greeted a hero when they brought their lask home. The beasts were placed upon the central poll and their mothers howled for all to gather. Ceremonially each young yaz pulled their zamra from the lask's skull and cut their father's choicest cut of meat. Then presented the meat upon the zamra for their father to consume. The father's each recognized the markings on the zamras as those of the other demon family and so the two young yaz had their secret revealed. The father's each declared war upon the other family. The young yaz each argued valiantly that the other family were not demons. The young yaz courageously stood for each other and told the stories of how they had learned to hunt together. They pressed that the many bogah they had killed were killed together, that they had always divided the hunt equally, even consuming the odd one together as brothers and sisters do. By their persuasion they succeeded to get their fathers to agree meet again at the great tree and show each others lask and zamra to the two families. Then to demonstrate that they could hunt together as a team, as brothers. The two families gathered that night at the great tree. The fathers each sat with their zamras ready on opposing branches, their families in the branches about them, ready to fight. The two young yaz went gliding through the forest hunting bogah, lopah, peegat, dropah, sorga, and plaat. Their eldest brothers followed them to confirm the kills were made as a team. All the meat was brought back and laid before their fathers. Finally near dawn the two young yaz caught the scent of a lask. They took their well practiced positions in opposing trees and threw their zamras. They brought the lask to their fathers at the great tree and divided it in half. Placing the lask before each father, the elder yaz were overcome with hunger for the meat and impressed by the friendship of their sons. That morning the two families feasted together a great feast of lask, plaat, sorga, dropah, peegat, lopah, and bogah. The fathers became friends. The families became one. That evening the first clan was formed and the creators were pleased. The creators blessed the clan and they became many clans and filled all the forests. Hope you all like this. I wrote it to feel ancient and mythical or scriptural. The names and details of the families are lost. The story is known and believed by all Yazirians. Scientifically and historically this is myth or religion, but all Yazirians have some attachment to it. -iggy |
January 30, 2011 - 3:25pm | @ Iggy, I'll be back to this latter as I want to elaborate on your stuff a little, I like this though I started the Noe Toe Vu after watching a documentary on the Po Po Vu, the Mayan creation myth. but I think we'll call the Noe Toe Vu the Yazirian Clan Creation Myth. Unkownable if its true though no doubt it holds a kernal of truth. I sort of envisioned the costumed and masked figures that play the dramatic parts in it as something out of Japanese theatre. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 30, 2011 - 3:47pm | That's a great tale, Iggy. The only problem I have with it is the family part. |
January 30, 2011 - 6:59pm | I made the tale two families to split from the human Adam and Eve re-spin. I have feelings that I want some of the hunters who were slain by great wild beast to be equivalent to the fathers in the stories. I used fathers to hold a status position without introducing the clan concept until the end. I also did not want to say tribe or troop or pack. I envision these families as having had an idealic life before they gave in to their savagery. Then many were killed by hunger and great wild beasts after they were expelled from their home forests. So what I am searching for is something that is small and fundamental to society like a family but without starting the clan system. The positions of father and mother could be replace by equivalent leadership position that are Yazirian. However the myth leans heavily on the relationship of father and son. Seems to me that we discussed Yazirian families in the past. What is your take on the structure of Yazirian mating and offspring? -iggy |
January 30, 2011 - 7:49pm | I dont see that they would not have fathers and mothers and we dont have to find something radically different from human "just because" I think the concept of father and mother might be a very natural thing to evolve- a natural imperitive to perpetuate the species by protecting the one you mate with and feeding her in her delecate months while she's carrying your off spring. the children bond on these two individuals who are their whole world when they are young. ultimately there will be words in languages that will get translated mother in Pan Gal and that will happen by virtue of it being a feminen noun that is related to the one who gave birth to another. All these words will have shades of meaning but will still end up translated mother. Quite contray to what iggy said, I think the word pack might be a good substitue if family is that offensive, which I dont aggree that it is. or we can not use pack but use alpha female and alpha male but then if you mix two packs each with an alpha male, who's the new alpha male? Finally I have to say that any creature that evolved with 4 breast did so for a reason and its very likely that in giving birth they give birth to litters or that the largest normal litter size will max out the number of breast available, generally. That said child rearing is incredibly energy intensive and its extremely likely that said female with 4 breast and the average litter of 4 will need a support structutre around her to support that enterprise; call it family or pack. I dont see the yaz functioning without a family unit. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 31, 2011 - 6:14pm | Mates, yes. The sexual and love match up makes sense. It is also useful for inter Clan alliances, etc. But mothers and fathers... I don't think so. They are probably somewhat revered, but then what about brothers and sisters then? Now it's looking like... guess what... a family. Human. We have to be careful to avoid such things, even if they seem "natural" to us. I would say that the parents of a Yazirian child have a slightly higher reverence for their father and mother, but the Clan is their supreme social unit - by far. Family does not have the same meaning to a Yazirian as to a Human. The Clan is not a "system" but rather something hard-wired into the Yazirian mind and soul from the very beginning. To have it absent from their creation myth does not make much sense to me. |
January 31, 2011 - 10:17pm | @Imperial Lord I get where your going. The end of the myth is the creation of the clan. The parallel is the marriage of Adam and Eve but I did it after the temptation and expulsion. I also wanted two groups rather than two individuals. I am more inclined to stick with social positions of father and mother because biology creates them. Now, the family for a Yazirian needs to be defined. Do Yazirians mate for life? Does the father stick around until the children are born? Which parent raises the children? If the parent doesn't raise the children who does? How many children are born at a time? Biology plays a big part in what constitutes a Yazirian equivalent of a family. But if we answer these questions then we can determine what family is even like and then define what are the basic building blocks of the clan. The clan is in the Yazirian mind and blood and is fundamental to them but it is so large that it is made up of some smaller organizations. -iggy |
February 2, 2011 - 8:14am | Imperial Lord, I think you are bending over backwards too far to avoid dressing humans up in monkey suits. Your efforts on this front were well merited in regards to the vrusk and dralasite but with the yaz I think its doing them a disservice. ISSUE 1 However, even in a non Zebs universe where the only aliens are the core 4 and the sathar there is still the possibility that you will get some congruence between two of the races, In a Zebs universe with Rim Races and the Saurians and etc then the chances of that go up even if the similarities are superficial. ISSUE 2 Setting the above aside I feel you are overlooking that fact that since the yazirians are strongly clan based, which is a blood relationship, Will they suddenly, grow up and say I'm all about this important blood relationship but not my family unit that brought me into the universe. Its through the actions of two mates that they even get brought into the clan in the first place-their family is their direct link to the clan. A yaz will value its clan bond and its family bond. They are not going to dump the family bond because their afraid of being seen as "too human" Also overlooked is the 4 breast- in humans, breast feeding has been shown to establish a powerful bond from the mother to the child and vice versa. Its not likely to be different for the yaz. The building blocks of a clan will be families, new clans will be built from families, and in ancient times clan alliances were sealled, possibily, from a marriage. ISSUE 3 I suspect that your approach is end result oriented; meaning that you are probably more concerned with what the end result will look like and that you've decided that whatever it is it most certainly should not look "human". My issue with that is that it neglects the details we have like the honor bound, clan based society, four breast, carnivores diet, and ect. and forces those detial to fit the final product. I very strongly feel we should be asking ourselves "if we have these details what would the evolution of the yaz society looked like during their prehistoric period, what sort of things happening would give us these details we now have in the modern day. That is exactly the sort of thing iggy did, and he did it well (much like some of his work on the humma). If this natural extrapolation of details gives us a modern yaz society with some congruence with humanity it is not wrong. The yaz are still a distinctly different race. ISSUE 4 Finally there is a game play issue. Most of the 12 real world persons I introduced to Star Frontiers played humans, two played yaz, 1 a dral and one played a vrusk. The overarching comment as to why the majority went human was that they could not relate to the alien races and figured they could handle playing a human. Trying to make the yaz as alien as possible from humans is a bad idea from a game play perspective. They are the most like humans and have enough similarities that a newbie might go with them for his first character, something 2 people did in 2 different groups. Respectfully Jedion I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 2, 2011 - 11:50am | @Jedion A very well thought out post. The Yazirains are the most biologically similar race to the Humans. I feel that we should be also asking all kinds of odd questions about how the Yazirian people developed from primitives to a society. This will help us see where they are similar to Humans and where they are alien. Let's all come up with some questions for the next few days then start bashing ideas around to answer those questions. What was the world of the "knuckle dragging neanderthal" Yazirian like? How long does a Yazirian female need to take care of it's young before it can fend for itself? How many young are born at a time? How does Yazirian mating happen? Do they go into heat? Are they in control of the act? What biological things are in play that would force the Yazirian thinking creature to act a certain way? -iggy |
 February 2, 2011 - 12:02pm | We can also look at the primates in our own world for ideas. Is it an honor thing for Yazirians to groom each other, or is it a sign of affection? Is there a pecking order within the clans? or within Yazirian families? Did yazirians evolve from nomadic tree climbers, or from a species that staked out territory. do Yazirian have one life mate, or seasonally choose a mate? are there specific mating rites, or rituals/ Do Yazirians scents change depending on their mood? How do Yazirians express anger (beating their chests, displaying their teeth)? Are yazirian children raised by families or by the community? "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
February 2, 2011 - 1:05pm | Well jedion the problem is natural extension... That is to say, if we extend parenthood to Yazirians, whose to say that those same blood relations (mother, father, sister, brother) do not supercede the Clan entirely? The you have familial (Human) relations trumping the most important aspect of them all. You had mentioned the "pack" before. I think that is a much better model to go off of than parents or any kind of family relationship for the prehistoric Yazirians. Kind of a bunch of near-savages literally swinging through the trees. I see the pack morphing into the Clan much easier than the family doing so. |
February 2, 2011 - 7:56pm | Pack or family unit either could morph into a clan. However the operative thing with the clan is that it will be sociological in its transmission, regulation and perpetuation. What I mean by that is that everything a young yaz learns growing up will serve to strengthen his commitment to the clan system; as he gets older he'll look back on the old traditions with nostolgia and age will make him more conservative. @Deryn: since they have the pataquim flaps for flying I think we're forced to go with tree dwelling- but nomadism is not a given, they could equally have been nomadic or territorial, My feeling is that part of the dedication to clan is also rooted in this issue. That they had territory which may or may not have shifted over time and they defended it staunchly. That imperative to defend their territory will be part of the imperative to defend the clan. @Iggy: good questions 1. What was the world of the "knuckle dragging neanderthal" Yazirian like? Dont know but your story would seem to shed some light on it, deff. something we should talk out. 2. How long does a Yazirian female need to take care of it's young before it can fend for itself? How many young are born at a time? It fairly typical in higher creatures that both gestation and child rearing takes time. but that is earth biology- I suspect that the more intelligent the animal the longer it needs in childhood to assimilate key skills and knowledge. For me I'd say give the Yaz a similar period as for a human with the caveat that children learn faster from copying each other and with the size of litter that the yaz have I suspect they mature a little faster than a human 3. How does Yazirian mating happen? Do they go into heat? Do they have fertile periods and non? yes Is this identifiable by the opposite sex? I suspect biology made sure it was- scent and other cues. how they mate: the male demostrates his power/prowess the female warms to him. after that you tell me iggy. 4. Are they in control of the act? I'd have to say yes. Reason why is complicated- will people want to play an alien that goes out of their controll because of heat. It doesn't seem to me that no matter how "primal" we paint the yaz that they will have an advanced society where the individuals loose control of themselves. Plus whether it was the pack or the family model it does not stand that all members rut incessantly- in the pack the alphas mate not the betas, typically. 5. What biological things are in play that would force the Yazirian thinking creature to act a certain way? This is a complicated question. In humans we have needs and desires and these can lead one individual to act one way while another reacts differently. It'll be the same for the Yaz. I suspect that the clan system evolved partly to keep base and primal instincts in check and was a means of socializing the yaz, perhaps it was the clan over the family structure that trully civilized the yaz. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 2, 2011 - 9:04pm | Maybe we need to ask, what is a Human family? Is it a Human family if the father forgets about the mother until the next time he happens to be interested in her? I don't mean that to be a sarcastic comment. Think of the bear. The father wins the moment with the future mother and then goes about his business. The mother then deals with the children (possibly two cubs) then when their ready to fend for them selves she pushes them out on to their own. This to me feels kinda natural to the Yazirians. The young get taken care of but then are push to be responsible for themselves. Is this a Human family? One idea that I am favoring is that the very young are held by the mother. The clan then nurtures the grade school age children. Then for teen / young adult there is some inter-clan relationship. Then you are out into the world. Another question we might want to ask is what do you call a group of Yazirians who are all from different clans but are together for mutual support or survival? -iggy |
February 2, 2011 - 9:52pm | 3. How does Yazirian mating happen? Do they go into heat? Do they have fertile periods and non? yes Is this identifiable by the opposite sex? I suspect biology made sure it was- scent and other cues. how they mate: the male demostrates his power/prowess the female warms to him. after that you tell me iggy. Ya know! I don't think we have to imagine up much on this one. But for demonstrations I don't see them acting really monkey or guerilla like. I suspect that the clan system evolved partly to keep base and primal instincts in check and was a means of socializing the yaz, perhaps it was the clan over the family structure that trully civilized the yaz. I think you may have hit on something here. What if the Human type family really wasn't working for the Yazirians? Maybe to a Yazirian families equated to very small clans and the result was constant conflict with the other family clans. As a result the bigger clan became the stable norm. So how big would one of these clans be? 50? 100? 500? 1,000? 5,000? 10,000? Did history show a progression in the size of clans to present day kilo-clans? This opens the option that mating in a clan is very mixed. There would be many half-siblings. Does Yazirian biology stress the same inbreeding concerns that Human biology does? I have a biochemist friend that I will quiz on the science there. -iggy |
February 9, 2011 - 3:22pm | OK, I've spent some time thinking the Yazirian parental social structure over in relation to the clan. I debated it with my brother and asked all kinds of questions to my biochemist friend. This is what I came up with. First a few definitions and explanations. Families in Human biology support protections against inbreeding. Human DNA needs about six generations of diversity before related DNA can be used again without problems. My biochemist friend had all kinds of terms and data on this but I will not pretend to be at his level. Also, if uncontrolled breeding is allowed then fourteen generations is needed before genes can be reintroduced to the pool without creating defects. So I pressed the biochemist further and we got to the fact that Human DNA is deterministic. This is what limits the breeding. Given that the Yazirian equivalent of DNA is not deterministic but rather partially random, then we can divorce ourselves from the need for genetic diversity. So I asked him how this would work and he stated that a part of the Yazirian DNA that makes the creature Yazirian would be deterministic. Also the part of their DNA that determined that the organism is viable during embryonic development would also be deterministic. The other parts would be random. The boiled down result of his explanation is that ALL creatures of Yazirian biology are like this. Their DNA makes it possible for them to mate with which ever of their species and produce another of their species. There are no sub-species of any given Yazirian species. There are no races among Yazirians. There are not dozens of versions of Yazirian hawk like there are Human hawk. Evolution on the Yazirian world favors creating new species that are separate and can not mate with each other. This is in contrast to Human world where dozens of cats and dogs have evolved that can still mate with each other. Additionally this kind of biology makes it such that one can not discover the parentage of a child organism from the DNA. The randomness prevents this. Also, the child does not have any biological requirements to inherit traits from it's parents. A Yazirian child whose sire had black fur and whose mother had red fur could very easily have white fur. Even if all of the sire's clan were black fur and all of the mother's clan were red fur in all of their respective recorded histories. My biochemist friend also explained that offspring from this biology would distribute along a bell curve. At one end would be the non-viable embryos that their biology would/could naturally reject before birth. The vast middle would be the average individual. Then the other end would be the gifted or exceptional biologically. I asked if this would lend to a natural form of population control and he said that it could. The frequency of births could be limited by the natural rejection, and the number of children in a litter could also thus be limited. Additionally the siblings from such a litter would be genetically diverse and as with their parents it would be able to biologically determine that they are siblings. Finally this system of biology would be easier to manipulate because the deterministic needs that cause some many organism changes to fail would be eliminated by the randomness factor. This explains nicely why the Yazirians are knows for their Yazira-forming. Their biology supports it while the Human biology fights it. Thus the Yazirain clan system builds not on the biological mating need but on the societal need to group together for the greater good, protection, food production, etc. So I see the Yazirian clans building initially from survival needs then with time also forming around common interests or practices that give the clan leverage or value in relation to the other clans. Yet I do not feel that Yazirians clans become greatly specialized. That feels too much like Vrusk corporations. I also worked out a societal structure with roots in their pre-history. Due to the Yazirian need to hunt (I see them as more carnivorous than Humans) Yazirian females only tend their young until they have finished nursing. The Yazirian child is born to a litter (I want a Yazirian term for this) of 1 to 4 siblings. The new born are small, think half size of a human infant, and are able to instinctively hang on to their mother's fur. This stage of development is called a suckling for lack of a Yazirian term. As soon as the child no longer needs it's mothers milk it is left on it's own by it's mother. This begins the next stage of a Yazirian's development, that of the tree-bound. Biologically the tree-bound and survive on it's own by scavenging for grubs, insects, etc. But back in the furthest recorded history the tree-bound have been tended and taught by the eldest of the clan. They do not have to live on scraps and forage, but are brought meat by all the others. Feeding a tree-bound is considered an honorable thing akin to Humans giving candy to children. A Yazirian is tree-bound until it learns to glide. This is the pre-school age of Yazirians, equivalent to the human five or six year old. Gliders are the Yazirian youth that have learned to glide but have not yet become blooded. A glider's responsibilities in society are to learn and to gain skill. Anciently this was primarily hunting but now also includes primary school education. Blooding is a rite or passage to the Yazirian. Among Yazirian animals there is a long list of worthy game, game that take proven skill to capture. A Yazirian is considered blooded when she has captured and eaten one of these animals with the clan. This has developed in modern times into a very important event. Young Yazirians plan and choose carefully which creature they will blood with. The status and value of your blooding creature has societal ramifications for much of a Yazirian's life. A blooded Yazirian is starting his equivalent of teenage years in modern times. Anciently he may have become blooded at a younger age. In modern time this encompasses the young Yazirians secondary education and may span into her advanced education. After a Yazirian is blooded then his next step in maturity is to become a speaker and gain a voice in the clan. This is similar to the right to vote but it is bestowed by the clan as maturity is demonstrated not by age. This marks adulthood for Yazirians and often coincides with career choice. The final status of a Yazirian is to be honored as wizened or a teacher. These are the Yazirians who anciently tended the tree-bound and taught the gliders because they were bound by age or permanent injury to the home trees. Modern times are more formal with the elderly taking formal clan positions as nurses, teachers, coaches, and advisers. The Yazirian clan is a fertile system for education and advancement of knowledge. It is very honorable and important for a Yazirian to pass on all that he knows before he dies. Last of all the Yazirian puts little distinction on gender. The one distinction is the honoring of females with a nursing litter. Now to retell the tale of the first clan. But first a message from our sponsor.... -iggy |
February 9, 2011 - 3:23pm | Now a restate of the myth... In the beginning there were but two hunting packs of Yazirians. There were not yet any clans. The world was a paradise for these hunters and game was plenty. One pack had favored golden brown fur, the other tended toward reddish brown fur. The creators smiled upon them and provided for their every need. Then the hunters became greedy and wasteful. They began to hunt excessively and to kill for pleasure alone. When they ate they only favored the sweetest meats and left the rest to rot. They became such vicious hunters that all the game in their home forests were killed. And thus they were forced to leave their home forests by the creators, who cursed them to compete with great wild beasts for game in the forests beyond their homes. The creators decreed that they could not return to their home forests until they mastered the savage within and rose above the great wild beasts of the forests. The hunters wandered many years in the wild forests and game was difficult to gain. The wild beasts were more powerful and more skilled and the hunters learned hunger. Some of the most savage of the hunters even became prey to the great wild beasts. The longer they wandered the wild forests they became less savage. To stave their hunger, the creators eventually gave the hunters the lask beast to follow and hunt. Then one night as the packs were hunting lask the two speakers of these hunting packs happened to be tracking the same lask. Each threw his zamra at the same time and the lask was struck by both and died in the cleft of a great tree's branches. The two speakers leap to their kill eager to claim the meat and feed their hunting packs. There on a branch of the great tree the speakers meet. A great fight commenced between them over the kill. Speaker fought speaker tooth and nail. The battle lasted the entire night until both collapsed with fatigue. In the morning light both saw that during their fight the lask had been devoured by a pack of forvurs. The two speakers collected their zamras and parted with great contempt and hatred toward each other. That same night the youngest gliders of each of the hunting packs had also been out hunting mekal. Neither found any spore to track and by chance ended up climbing twin trees to sit watch. During the watch they each became aware of the other and each, thinking the other was a blooded pack mate, began to challenge the other in games of skill. When they started throwing their zamras they discovered they were not pack mates. The two young gliders became quick friends and challenged each other all night long. Shortly before dawn they caught the scent of a pair of bogah returning from their nightly foraging. The two quickly schemed an snaring hunt and captured both bogah. At sunrise they parted, each vowing to tell their families about the other. They traded zamras and headed for home each with a bogah. When the young gliders each returned home they found that the speakers had returned first. The speakers were cursing the creators and angry. They each declared the other hunting pack an enemy, demons created by the creators to torment them. Each speaker declared that hunting the forest around the great tree was forbidden. The two young gliders held their speech and hide their zamras. For the next three months, one pack hunted near the river, the other hunted near the cliffs, and lask were scarce. The lask feared the river because of the great wild beasts. And, the lask seldom foraged along the cliffs for there are few fruits they eat growing along the cliffs. The hunting packs suffered for food during these months due to the lack of lasks. The two young gliders continued to secretly visit each other during these months and their friendship became true. They became very skilled at snaring bogah together. Their hunts became even more prosperous and the meat they each brought to their hunting packs began to be celebrated. The two young gliders became embolden by the accolades of their hunting packs and decided to hunt lask together. To keep their secret friendship hidden they agreed to hunt two lask so that each could bring one home. After many nights of hunting together they happened upon a pair of lask. They schemed their kills and tracked the beasts deep into the forest. Then together as they had learned to hunt bogah they threw their zamras and killed both lask. The blood of the two young filled filled with jubilation and primal joy. They ceremonially embedded their zamras into the skulls of the lasks and rushed for home. Each young glider was greeted a hero when they brought their lask home. The beasts were placed upon the central poll and the wizened howled for all to gather and celebrate their blooding.. Ceremonially each young glider pulled their zamra from the lask's skull and cut the speaker's choicest cut of meat. Then presented the meat upon the zamra for the speaker to consume. The speaker's each recognized the markings on the zamras as those of the other demon pack and so the two young gliders had their secret revealed. The speaker's each declared war upon the other hunting pack. The young gliders each argued valiantly that the other pack were not demons. The young gliders courageously stood for each other and told the stories of how they had learned to hunt together. They pressed that the many bogah they had snared were snared together, that they had always divided the hunt equally, even consuming the odd one together as litter mates do. By their persuasion they succeeded to get the speakers to agree meet again at the great tree and show each others lask and zamra to the two hunting packs. Then to demonstrate that they could hunt together as a team, as a team. The two hunting packs gathered that night at the great tree. The speakers each sat with their zamras ready on opposing branches, their hunting packs in the branches about them, ready to fight. The two young gliders went gliding through the forest hunting bogah, lopah, peegat, dropah, sorga, and plaat. One blooded from hunting pack followed them to confirm the snares and kills were made as a team. All the meat was brought back and laid before their speakers. Finally near dawn the two young gliders caught the scent of a lask. They took their well practiced positions in opposing trees and threw their zamras. They brought the lask to the speakers at the great tree and divided it in half. Placing the lask before each speaker, the speakers were overcome with hunger for the meat and impressed by the friendship of the young gliders. That morning the two hunting packs feasted together a great feast of lask, plaat, sorga, dropah, peegat, lopah, and bogah. The speakers became friends. The hunting packs became one. That evening the first clan was formed and the creators were pleased. The creators blessed the clan and they became many clans and filled all the forests. -iggy |
February 13, 2011 - 11:20am | Very well done! I like how you work in the gliding as a sacred activity, and that the heroes come up from the ranks, both being junior members of their respective packs. The packs wander and hunt for centuries in the mythical Yaziria and from these the Clans emerge. |
February 13, 2011 - 11:45am | I imagine that hunting is an enormous industry on the Yazirian worlds, with carefully managed stocks of game to retain their biological viability. For wealthy Clans, this activity is the equivalent of American golfing. The elites of the Clans compete for game, and when they grow too old, they sit around with the other elders at the campfire and trade legends and tales. Business deals get struck on the hunt, and to associate with a great hunter is considered an honor and asset to the Clan. This endeavor is a great networking opportunity, and there are hunts on certain holidays where a dozen or more of these great Clans compete for the largest and fiercest trophies. For the Yazirian middle-class Clans, hunting is important, but can get rather expensive. Perhaps certain government subsidies are in place to defray some of the costs. With a little sacrifice and effort, though, they manage to maintain the tradition and achieve the different levels of bloodings. Poor Clans have to rely almost entirely on the benificence of other Clans and religious institutions. But, if they attend certain holidays, and assent to assisting in the celebrations and legendary rituals of the Clans greater than themselves, they are given seats at the Great Hall. Otherwise, they are lucky to get any blood on their zamra. Great Clans use the hunt as a source of patronage. A measure of a great Clan is how many poorer Clans can be drawn into its orbit of support and alliance. Inter-marriage can draw these relationships closer together. In the case of a Yazirian "marrying up" the mate from the greater Clan will call most of the shots. This is accepted by the other mate, however, most of the time, as long as their own Clan celebrations are attended and honored. Big problems emerge in such relationships in the case of a holiday conflict, however, and most marriages are investigated for such similarities before the the vows are exchanged. And, of course, great hunters could emerge from the poor Clans. As a result, the best hunters can pull their entire Clan out of poverty. Remittances of cash prizes and jobs networked from the great hunting competitions are often a key, and sometimes singular, source of income for a poor Clan suffering through a recession and down on its luck. And, of course, hunting is a key feature of Yazirian romance. Nothing turns on a Yazirian female more than a potential mate dripping in the blood of his kill, zamra stained red down the handle, with a delicious carcass draped around his shoulders. The prestige offered to such males serves as an additional incentive to mate. Hunting is also symbolic proof (and to an extent real evidence) of being a provider. The greatest Yazirian hunters are noted for their ribaldry, and it is largely tolerated, as long as it does not get too out of hand (which of course it sometimes does.) I'm sure there are some Charlie Sheen-like hunters out there... |
February 13, 2011 - 7:20pm | I like how you have expanded on the hunting aspect of the Yazirians. I too was feeling that way but did not get it out while focusing on the legend. I can see the Yazirians developing a managed game industry on their home world long before we did in our history. They would need to do this yearly in their history to avoid killing off everything. I like how you compared hunting to golf in business importance. As my biochemist friend explained to me that a randomness in the Yazirian biology would make biology sciences based on the Yazirian model easier to master I envisioned ancient game management programs steeped in tradition to keep the hunting available to all clans and support the need for all Yazirians to blood with respectable game. This would continue into business by making negotiating and closing of deals heavily influenced by the game included in the hunt. One thing you mentioned is marriage. Are you thinking monogamist relationships? After talking out the biology with by biochemist friend I was leaning away from marriage all together. My take on the making of clan alliances was not through marriage but through the exchange of blooded young. The promising young are placed in opposing clans much like ambassadors. Then as they prove themselves and become speakers as awarded by the clan they have allied with they are also recognized as speakers in their birth clan. Thus a political relationship is built of those who are speakers in two clans at once. -iggy |
February 17, 2011 - 11:11pm | The marriage issue is extremely difficult... And yet, I have to feel that the fundamental aspect of "mating" should probably be universal to all of the Core Four. After all, sentience implies love. And love indicates a dedication to a single other individual above and beyond all other considerations. Therefore, it seems plain to me that there would be a mating process in all of the Core Four - simply because they think and love and have self-awareness. I believe that a good way to deal with this is to then say, "Ok, well what do the different races DO with mating?" In the Yazirian case, the mates reproduce, and then basically "give" their offspring to the Clan. The child is raised by all, but the marriage maintains itself. Among the Vrusk, the situation is similar, but the young Vrusk is given away to the Corporation. Again, viewed by some others as cruel, but it is linked to the ancient hives, and works with them. The Dralasites are a little more difficult to reconcile in this case. Perhaps the mates are selected from comedic value and then the youngsters are raised by the stoa? I believe this has been discussed in other forums about the Dralasites, so maybe we can refer to that. And then the Humans, of course, have the family structure. Etc... Reluctantly, I have to believe that the true commonality of the Core Four, and sentience, is mating. Giambatista Vico discussed this in his theories of the universality of ancient peoples and while I think he was way off scientifically, his core beliefs on the importance of marriage hold water here. The essence of a sentient being is love, yes? So therefore, we should make the effort, in my humble opinion, to insert forms of marriage into all of the Core Four. What would be really cool is if we could dovetail the marriage beliefs into some sort of reconciliation with the unique features of each Race. I think we have done a lot of that already, but I am interested to hear everyone's opinions on the subject. ***** And one more thing: Iggy, do you think we should give names to the two gliding heroes from the creation story? I would think that many Yazirians would name their children after those two great hunters and founders of Yazirian culture. |
February 17, 2011 - 11:32pm | Names for the heroes. I like it but don't have great names for Yazirians of this stature. Let's all think of it. These guys might also have one or two follow on tales that are just about them. The tree bound Yazirian youth are put to bed on the stories of these two I'd think. The stories would also teach the Yazirian core values. Marriage! The Yazirian system I described can easily be switched to marriage with or with out the random DNA capability of their biology. I prefer to stick to the random DNA capability of their biology because it helps explain why Yazirians are so good are yaziraforming. Their biology is made for it. They don't need to expand to get more suitable habitats because their biology is so much easier to transplant and transport in bulk. But back to marriage for Yazirians I'm for it more than against it. I explored the non-marriage option to see what was there, avoid the human in monkey suit, and because there was interest expressed in the forum to look there. Lastly marriage fits well in counterpose to life enemy. Marriage to a Yazirian is life mate. Now for Dralasites, they are the only one I have problems with marriage in. Their physiology leads me to spores for mating and that makes direct mating contact unnecessary. That and the fact that they are both genders throughout their lives leads me to think that they just catch spores and bud. Hence I focused so much in the Dralasite thread on their bond with their offspring and their past parents. Also this lends to the Dralasites being a more unified race. They love each other more than others races do. Your mate could be anyone so you are drawn to love all. -iggy |
February 17, 2011 - 11:53pm | I hear you iggy, and I understand where you are coming from in terms of the Dralasites. I have felt much the same way, but I am also looking to reconcile... It's not easy - one way or the other. Perhaps they are just so happy-go-lucky that they don't need permanent mates? Too busy joking around to settle down - ever? And the stoa pick up the slack? I am not being sarcastic or rhetorical here, I honestly don't know where to go with this aspect. But hey, we have figured out everything else about the Core Four, why not this? :-) |
February 18, 2011 - 11:59am | Ya know, their aliens, we're Humans. There may be aspects that we just don't get all the time, just for fleeting moments. :) -iggy |
February 18, 2011 - 8:18pm | I did invent an ancient yaz name in the Ballad of Balor it was suppose to be the yaz equiv of the Epic of Beaowulf, and written in a very old version of modern yaz speak which an osakar (they're all gifted linguist) decided to study and as she poured over the religious elements of it decided to resurrect the ancient yazirain Blood rite to practice as her religion. Pouring over the ancient documents she reconstructed a version of this ancient practice and introduced it to the modern Frontier. The Family of One is not pleased to say the least. Some yazirians, upper crust dissenters to the Family of One have also joined in and practice this as well. The reconstructed religion is now called Balorism after the hero of the Ballad. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
