Introduction
Excerpt from the diaries of Lord Blackthorn
Savage culture & language (RP guide)'Savage' cultures - field study journal
In my many years spent in the pursuit of balance in the embrace of Chaos, I have travelled far across the land of Britannia, or Sosaria as it was known prior to my Lord British's instalment of the Eight Virtues that have so captured the minds of the people. Throughout those travels I have studied closely the many 'primitive' and savage cultures that exist outside the guarded safety of human settlements. Some of these cultures are those of the magical races, such as the infamous orcs that so many fear. Others are human, no different from the rest of us, save for the fact that they live on the very edge of survival, without the stone walls and armies of trained guardsmen that protect us in town.
One such culture I found in the desert of Compassion, eking out a meagre and lonely existence alongside the orcs of the Bloodrock clan. Her name is Niha, and she lives with a handful of her people, the Iduali, waiting for the rest of her tribe to arrive from 'across great salt water'. She knows not when they will arrive, only that 'Shai-Hulud' assures her they will indeed come. Niha is considered a murderer and outlaw by the guardsmen and lawmakers of our towns and settlements, but once I established I meant her no harm, she was welcoming enough, although the rest of the Iduali remained uncertain, wary of my presence. She told me that 'city dwellers' come to her little patch of desert sometimes, often with the intent to harm or kill her. They say she is a savage and deserves no mercy. As one who welcomes Chaos, I have reserved judgement for now. I did indeed observe a collection of trophy heads in Niha's small, thatched hut, but who is to say they were not obtained during defence of her home?
Niha has managed to evade death at the hands of all the hazards of the desert, from giant scorpions to the notoriously bloodthirsty Bloodrock orcs. She says she has brought 'tribute' to many orcs and forged something of a tenuous friendship with them, but she is concerned that the rest of her people do not trust them. The future seems uncertain for the Iduali, but one thing is for sure - if and when the rest of their people come, this little patch of desert will be changed forever.
The language and some of the cultural concepts of the tribe derive from the Fremen of Frank Herbert's Dune, so those who are familiar with the book will have a headstart. Chakobsa gets very complicated and no one expects new recruits to learn a whole new language from scratch, so the terminology has been whittled down to a short list of simple day-to-day phrases. However, like all languages, this may evolve over time and future tribal councils may decide to adopt more of the language, adding greater depth.
Tribe name - Iduali
Home ('Sietch') - Jacurutu
Language - 'Chakobsa'
Basic phrases -
'subakh' - greetings/hello
'chukka' - meat
'chaumas' - poison
'akrab' - scorpion
'ankab' - spider
'anash' - snake
'shari-ha' - ritual
'yali' - house
'kala' - desert
'yah' - yes
'ne' - no
'shoka' - thank you
'suuba' - goodbye
'chouha' - fight
'ichwan' - savages as a whole ie; you are ichwan, we are ichwan
'tahaddi' - trial by combat/fight to the death
'Shai-Hulud' - Spirit of the sand, creator of life and protector of the ichwan. The savages worship Shai-Hulud, and the earth elementals are the manifestation of Shai-Hulud, 'sand spirits'. All the creatures of the desert are Shai-Hulud's, sent to keep his ichwan strong. Earth elementals are often referred to as shai-hulud, but they are not the god himself.
Otherwise, savages communicate in fairly standard broken english, an example conversation follows:
A: subakh (greetings)
B: subakh
A: many akrab today, kala alive wid chaumas (lots of scorpions today, the desert is alive with poison)
B: yah, sayyadina hav much wurk heeling chouhada (yes, the mages will be busy treating injured warriors)
Basically, drop pronouns a lot and spell things phonetically (write it how it sounds). The challenge is not going overkill on the phonetics. The general rule of thumb is if you're having to try really hard to figure out how to render a word into phonetics, you probably don't need to bother.
Rules
The Iduali are warriors, sworn to defend their desert home from city dwellers. They live and die in the desert, and abide only by their own laws. To be one of the tribe, you must be aware of the following rules -
- Do not steal from fellow savages.
- Do not kill fellow savages without initiating tahaddi. To initiate tahaddi, both sides must consent and/or obtain the permission of the naib or other high ranking members (sayyadina or fedaykin). You may not initiate tahaddi "because he called me an ass in irc", etc.
- Just because you're a savage, this doesn't mean you get to be a complete pain in the backside for other people on the shard. The tribe must interact with the UOSA community with the same respect and class that any RP guild must exercise to be a success.
- Always stay in character, even when outsiders are not present. If you think this policy is flawed, you've missed the point entirely and the tribe may not be the best place for you. If you are having trouble with the language, take another look through the guide above, or ask a guildmate for assistance. Don't panic if you have difficulty, it takes time to get used to. You won't be kicked out for getting a word wrong.
A good template to start your first savage with might be -
Fencing
Tactics
Healing
Anatomy
Resisting Spells
Hiding
Tracking*
*Note this is simply a suggestion, this is a 'free' seventh skill, but bear in mind the restrictions of magery etc.
Swordsmanship - Swordsmen must wield axes. Fedaykin may use a bardiche if they wish. Halberds are NEVER allowed.
Macing - Warhammers are restricted to Fedaykin only.
Fencing - War forks are restricted to Fedaykin only.
Parrying - Wooden or tear kite shields only.
Ranks
Maula - Slave (this rank is reserved for mule characters. They are not required to have an ichwan name, but it must be something sensible ie; 'SNOOPDOGGJR' will not be accepted)
Wali - Recruit/young savage.
Chouhada - Warrior.
Fedaykin - High ranking warrior and member of the veteran fedaykin, a fearless warrior band chosen from the elite among the chouhada. They lead and give orders in battle.
Maaji - Mage.
Sayyadina - The mage equivalent to the fedaykin.
Naib - Chief.
Appearance
The physical appearance of the tribe is borrowed from the savages in the UO:R expansion, who are pale in complexion and bald headed. The image above shows the skin tone you must choose for your savage character to be accepted into the tribe. Male and female characters are both required to be bald. Be aware that one current member of the guild was formerly an orc, this was prior to general recruitment when the priority was establishing an active group and an appropriate backstory was created to justify it. All future applicants must use the image above as guidance for creating their character.
When it comes to naming your character, these links are useful references -
Male names
Female names
The above lists are obviously not exhaustive, so use them as a reference in inventing a name of your own. You may also wish to refer to some of the names given to various fremen characters in Dune for further inspiration. You are also welcome to give your character a tongue-in-cheek humorous name, just so long as it has a 'primitive savage' feel to it.
Uniform
Maula (slave) - Brown pants and bandana.
Wali - Full bone armour.
Chouhada - 4 pieces of bone armour with 2 leather pieces of your choosing. You may also wear a red tribal mask.
Fedaykin - 2 pieces of bone armour with 4 leather or studded leather pieces of your choosing. You may also wear a bear mask.
Maaji - Purple sash, sandals and you may wear a white tribal mask.
Sayyadina - Purple sash, sandals and you may wear a deer mask.
Naib - The Naib wears whatever outfit is appropriate to his skillset, in addition to a cloak, which only the Naib may wear. The cloak is purple if a mage, black if a warrior.
Plate armour is absolutely not allowed, regardless of rank.
Mounts
Wali - No mount. You will learn to understand the hazards of the desert by facing them on foot.
Chouhada - Desert ostard or a white horse.
Fedaykin - Desert or frenzied ostard.
Maaji - Desert ostard or a white horse.
Sayyadina - Desert or frenzied ostard.
How to Join
If you read all that and you're still interested, PM me on the forums, or contact me in IRC. Right now the goal is to build a decent sized group before moving on to plan some hopefully very exciting events for the enjoyment of the entire UOSA community. So if you ever wanted to be a savage and run naked in the desert poking things with a spear, let me know!
ALSO: 4 small houses in the Compassion desert area are available for deed price to established recruits.
