Predkin
05-05-2007, 21:36
Pain. Aggression. Sweat. Rage.
These are the things that make up the mentality of just your average Predkin, and Gladiator Ax'al was certainly no different. Roaring with fury, lifting his bloody and battered opponent off the sanguine arena floor, his rival's throat in one hand and his enormous ceremonial Mal'ata axe in the other, he spat into his competitor's face while the slowly dying man writhed and clawed at the hand clamped on his throat.
"You have disgraced him, Gladiator Ax'al. Now show him our brand of mercy, and release him from this disgrace."
Acknowledging the voice, Ax'al threw his foe into the blood-red dirt at his feet with such ferocity that the sound of the wretched man's spine snapping in two echoed throughout the arena.
The crowd cheered zealously as Ax'al raised his ceremonial axe in both hands, hatred burning in his blood-red eyes, and with a thunderclap brought it down on the head of the vanquished, leaving his skull cloven in two.
Sweat glistened Ax'al's scarred flesh and adrenaline pumped through his veins as he released his axe, still lodged in his opponent's unfortunate skull, and turned around, arms raised in victory, to face the cheers of the audience. And of his king.
"You have done well, Ax'al," his king announced, as the crowd died down to a hush built on equal parts respect and fear, "You have honored myself and the Teeth Mother with your valor and bloodshed, and, as I'm sure you are aware, as the new champion of our arena you are afforded a choice."
The crowd, knowing full well what came next, waited in anticipation. The events that could ensue might cause the dawn of a new era for Predkin, or might reduce their new champion to a bloody mess on the arena floor, mingled with the remains of the other vanquished.
"The choice you, and all those before you, are and have been afforded is your fate - do you, Gladiator Ax'al, wish to take your rightful place by my side as the highest of my honor guard, a position higher than that of any of your kinsmen and elevating your clan beyond your dreams... or do you wish to challenge me, the eternal king of Predkin, the begotten son of the Teeth Mother herself, and claim the title of king of Predkin for your own? For surely, if you are able to vanquish me, you are more worthy of my divine heritage than I myself would be. The choice is yours. I, your king, give you permission to address me."
Ax'al exhaled slowly, his mind churning with all it had to process. He didn't notice the awe of the crowd at the king's words, his mind was on the words themselves. The king had asked him to speak.
Ax'al remembered seeing the last champion rise to power as a youth, in fact, the man he had just decimated. This man was never given the privilege of speaking to the king, he was forced to use body language to respond to the same question the king had posed Ax'al. It was Ax'al's understanding, and that of the entire audience in fact, that the king never allowed anyone of Ax'al's present status, champion or no, the privilege of speaking to him.
His wits returning to him in a flash, Ax'al fell rapidly to one knee and bowed his head before his master, daring not to look the monarch in the eyes.
"You honor me beyond honor by granting me this and invoking the name of the glorious Teeth Mother in my presence," Ax'al spoke to his lord, "but only a fool would challenge the only begotten son of the Teeth Mother to mortal combat, doing so would be certain and instant death."
Raising his head up to look at his lord, Ax'al shouted with all his might, "I vow to serve you and only you, my king!"
With a flashing smile of bright white pointed teeth, the king replied smoothly.
"You have made your choice, and a wise one at that."
In an instant the ruler of Predkin arose from his throne and leaped into the arena, jarring the ground as he landed before Ax'al, whose eyes were wide with awe.
"Gladiator Al of the Ax clan!" the king announced, "For victory and the greatest glory in the arena and under the watchful eyes of the Teeth Mother, I bestow upon you the new title of 'Warlord', and the new given name of 'Amal'."
Plink. A single teardrop rolled down the warrior's cheek, hitting the arena floor and mingling with the blood of the fallen.
"Arise, Warlord Ax'amal, and be bathed in the triumph of your strength. Arise, and become my right hand."
Ax'amal rose, his head bowed, still paling in comparison to the king's eight-foot stature.
"For the glory of the Teeth Mother, and of her son, the eternally victorious King Teth'Rokmakar!"
Allowing his new subject to have the last word, King Teth smiled smugly as he exited the arena, leaving the newly-promoted warlord to bask in the admiration and cheers of the crowd.
The project had gone better than he had ever hoped.
OOC - PREDKIN SPECS:
General
Predkin is a warrior nation that exonerates melee combat, but in war uses modernistic technology such as planes and guns, considering them a necessary evil, diluting the glory and honor of war. Predkin relish any opportunity to hack and slash at their opponents.
As you may have guessed, the country's given name is "Predkin", and its citizens are also referred to as "Predkin".
Military
As stated above, this is a modern tech nation. Predkin's tactics consist of tried-and-true maneuvers from centuries past, such as flanking, holding the line, faked retreat, and others. Predkin prefers to deploy light Per'ushka tanks in the place of ancient calvary, and the light, speedy Humvee-like Mak'ola vehicles as backup and scouts. Every soldier is given a melee weapon, and all guns are fitted with a variety of bayonets of all levels of practicality, from simple stabbing knives to chainsaws. An unique weapon in the Predkin arsenal are superheated Cal'dara plasma flamethrowers, employed in a variety of tactical situations to limit battlefield space for their enemies through fires, spread fear throughout the ranks of the enemies with their blue flame, and to just generally set people on fire.
Religion
All Predkin worship a goddess known only as the "Teeth Mother", who represents the barbaric animal spirit inside all mankind. King Teth is believed to be her only son, which the Predkin believe based on his demonstration of powers they could only explain as such divine heritage, such as the ability to slice a man in half using only his hand. Certain weapons are considered god-given, such as the large Mal'ata axe and the Cal'dara flamethrowers, the latter's flame considered the embodiment of the Teeth Mother's power.
Many temples to the Teeth Mother exist, many of them also military bases, and it is traditional for a Blood Priest of the Teeth Mother to bless a unit before it goes into battle, and to feed them traditional a stew of beef, sprouts and strong, time-released natural stimulants concocted from the holy coca plant. Human sacrifice is common for a unit to receive an even more powerful blessing, though the only humans that can be sacrificed are those declared by King Teth to be enemies of the state.
Culture
Though every Predkin has their own individual profession, they are expected to be warriors first and their chosen profession second. This excludes only foreigners, and even the king must abide by this rule.
The apostrophe in names separates the name of the clan, which comes first, from the name of the individual, which comes second. In the instance of Ax'al, his given name is Al and he came from the Ax clan. Every citizen is given a single syllable name, and all clans are single syllables as well. The king can bestow two-syllable given names on his subjects as a token of appreciation for services rendered, and the king himself has the only three-syllable name of any Predkin. Often, weapons are named after those who invented them, which is why most of them consist of a clan name and a two-syllable given name, although weapons that are retired from service are often referred to by the inventor's one-syllable given name.
Arena battles are a popular pass time, as well as movies and other modernistic forms of entertainment. Predkin is a capitalistic nation, though it follows no specific doctrine of capitalism.
Science
Much technology is bought off of other nations, though it is rumored King Teth keeps a well-paid secret enclave of foreign scientists whose inventions sometimes leak out to the streets. Still, scientists are never frowned upon, but they are still expected to be warriors first, and scientists second, like everyone else.
Agriculture
Again, farmers follow the same rules of warrior-hood as anyone else, and farmers are often respected for living on the fringes of the "civilized" world, and glorified in movies for fighting off bandits and foreigners before they can reach Predkin proper.
Any questions or comments can be posted on this thread, just thought I'd give a taste of what my nation is about as a sort of introduction. I'll do more open RPs later. =)
These are the things that make up the mentality of just your average Predkin, and Gladiator Ax'al was certainly no different. Roaring with fury, lifting his bloody and battered opponent off the sanguine arena floor, his rival's throat in one hand and his enormous ceremonial Mal'ata axe in the other, he spat into his competitor's face while the slowly dying man writhed and clawed at the hand clamped on his throat.
"You have disgraced him, Gladiator Ax'al. Now show him our brand of mercy, and release him from this disgrace."
Acknowledging the voice, Ax'al threw his foe into the blood-red dirt at his feet with such ferocity that the sound of the wretched man's spine snapping in two echoed throughout the arena.
The crowd cheered zealously as Ax'al raised his ceremonial axe in both hands, hatred burning in his blood-red eyes, and with a thunderclap brought it down on the head of the vanquished, leaving his skull cloven in two.
Sweat glistened Ax'al's scarred flesh and adrenaline pumped through his veins as he released his axe, still lodged in his opponent's unfortunate skull, and turned around, arms raised in victory, to face the cheers of the audience. And of his king.
"You have done well, Ax'al," his king announced, as the crowd died down to a hush built on equal parts respect and fear, "You have honored myself and the Teeth Mother with your valor and bloodshed, and, as I'm sure you are aware, as the new champion of our arena you are afforded a choice."
The crowd, knowing full well what came next, waited in anticipation. The events that could ensue might cause the dawn of a new era for Predkin, or might reduce their new champion to a bloody mess on the arena floor, mingled with the remains of the other vanquished.
"The choice you, and all those before you, are and have been afforded is your fate - do you, Gladiator Ax'al, wish to take your rightful place by my side as the highest of my honor guard, a position higher than that of any of your kinsmen and elevating your clan beyond your dreams... or do you wish to challenge me, the eternal king of Predkin, the begotten son of the Teeth Mother herself, and claim the title of king of Predkin for your own? For surely, if you are able to vanquish me, you are more worthy of my divine heritage than I myself would be. The choice is yours. I, your king, give you permission to address me."
Ax'al exhaled slowly, his mind churning with all it had to process. He didn't notice the awe of the crowd at the king's words, his mind was on the words themselves. The king had asked him to speak.
Ax'al remembered seeing the last champion rise to power as a youth, in fact, the man he had just decimated. This man was never given the privilege of speaking to the king, he was forced to use body language to respond to the same question the king had posed Ax'al. It was Ax'al's understanding, and that of the entire audience in fact, that the king never allowed anyone of Ax'al's present status, champion or no, the privilege of speaking to him.
His wits returning to him in a flash, Ax'al fell rapidly to one knee and bowed his head before his master, daring not to look the monarch in the eyes.
"You honor me beyond honor by granting me this and invoking the name of the glorious Teeth Mother in my presence," Ax'al spoke to his lord, "but only a fool would challenge the only begotten son of the Teeth Mother to mortal combat, doing so would be certain and instant death."
Raising his head up to look at his lord, Ax'al shouted with all his might, "I vow to serve you and only you, my king!"
With a flashing smile of bright white pointed teeth, the king replied smoothly.
"You have made your choice, and a wise one at that."
In an instant the ruler of Predkin arose from his throne and leaped into the arena, jarring the ground as he landed before Ax'al, whose eyes were wide with awe.
"Gladiator Al of the Ax clan!" the king announced, "For victory and the greatest glory in the arena and under the watchful eyes of the Teeth Mother, I bestow upon you the new title of 'Warlord', and the new given name of 'Amal'."
Plink. A single teardrop rolled down the warrior's cheek, hitting the arena floor and mingling with the blood of the fallen.
"Arise, Warlord Ax'amal, and be bathed in the triumph of your strength. Arise, and become my right hand."
Ax'amal rose, his head bowed, still paling in comparison to the king's eight-foot stature.
"For the glory of the Teeth Mother, and of her son, the eternally victorious King Teth'Rokmakar!"
Allowing his new subject to have the last word, King Teth smiled smugly as he exited the arena, leaving the newly-promoted warlord to bask in the admiration and cheers of the crowd.
The project had gone better than he had ever hoped.
OOC - PREDKIN SPECS:
General
Predkin is a warrior nation that exonerates melee combat, but in war uses modernistic technology such as planes and guns, considering them a necessary evil, diluting the glory and honor of war. Predkin relish any opportunity to hack and slash at their opponents.
As you may have guessed, the country's given name is "Predkin", and its citizens are also referred to as "Predkin".
Military
As stated above, this is a modern tech nation. Predkin's tactics consist of tried-and-true maneuvers from centuries past, such as flanking, holding the line, faked retreat, and others. Predkin prefers to deploy light Per'ushka tanks in the place of ancient calvary, and the light, speedy Humvee-like Mak'ola vehicles as backup and scouts. Every soldier is given a melee weapon, and all guns are fitted with a variety of bayonets of all levels of practicality, from simple stabbing knives to chainsaws. An unique weapon in the Predkin arsenal are superheated Cal'dara plasma flamethrowers, employed in a variety of tactical situations to limit battlefield space for their enemies through fires, spread fear throughout the ranks of the enemies with their blue flame, and to just generally set people on fire.
Religion
All Predkin worship a goddess known only as the "Teeth Mother", who represents the barbaric animal spirit inside all mankind. King Teth is believed to be her only son, which the Predkin believe based on his demonstration of powers they could only explain as such divine heritage, such as the ability to slice a man in half using only his hand. Certain weapons are considered god-given, such as the large Mal'ata axe and the Cal'dara flamethrowers, the latter's flame considered the embodiment of the Teeth Mother's power.
Many temples to the Teeth Mother exist, many of them also military bases, and it is traditional for a Blood Priest of the Teeth Mother to bless a unit before it goes into battle, and to feed them traditional a stew of beef, sprouts and strong, time-released natural stimulants concocted from the holy coca plant. Human sacrifice is common for a unit to receive an even more powerful blessing, though the only humans that can be sacrificed are those declared by King Teth to be enemies of the state.
Culture
Though every Predkin has their own individual profession, they are expected to be warriors first and their chosen profession second. This excludes only foreigners, and even the king must abide by this rule.
The apostrophe in names separates the name of the clan, which comes first, from the name of the individual, which comes second. In the instance of Ax'al, his given name is Al and he came from the Ax clan. Every citizen is given a single syllable name, and all clans are single syllables as well. The king can bestow two-syllable given names on his subjects as a token of appreciation for services rendered, and the king himself has the only three-syllable name of any Predkin. Often, weapons are named after those who invented them, which is why most of them consist of a clan name and a two-syllable given name, although weapons that are retired from service are often referred to by the inventor's one-syllable given name.
Arena battles are a popular pass time, as well as movies and other modernistic forms of entertainment. Predkin is a capitalistic nation, though it follows no specific doctrine of capitalism.
Science
Much technology is bought off of other nations, though it is rumored King Teth keeps a well-paid secret enclave of foreign scientists whose inventions sometimes leak out to the streets. Still, scientists are never frowned upon, but they are still expected to be warriors first, and scientists second, like everyone else.
Agriculture
Again, farmers follow the same rules of warrior-hood as anyone else, and farmers are often respected for living on the fringes of the "civilized" world, and glorified in movies for fighting off bandits and foreigners before they can reach Predkin proper.
Any questions or comments can be posted on this thread, just thought I'd give a taste of what my nation is about as a sort of introduction. I'll do more open RPs later. =)