Hurakan tribe of Sairundani

[shadowbloodmoon]

Having based my character from Knight Otu's Hurakan clan of Sairundani humans, I felt obliged (read: was asked) to do a write up of that tribe for them and so here it is:

Proposal: The Hurakan tribe of the Sairundani live in Helatia, the capital and largest city of the Sairundani. Centuries ago, Helatia housed the Typhoon tribe, but the ravages of their wars with the Orcs and Efreeti dwindled their numbers so that they were no longer as powerful as they once were. As is tradition, the remaining leaders of the Typhoon tribe asked the tribe that they had the best dealings with, the Hurakan, to take over living in Helatia.

Abdil ai Kalil, the patriarch of that tribe at the time, saw the opportunity to cement the tribes together permanently. Asking his friend and mentor Sarum ai Jamid, patriarch of the Typhoon clan, to wed his daughter with Abdil's son Jamai, started his plan was for the two tribes to become one. A week later, after agreeing to several independant offers and deals, inlcuding making sure that there was always a Typhoon in an Advisor's position, the two were wed and the Typhoon and Hurakan were one.

The tradition became that the first son or daughter of the patriarch/ matriarch was to marry their opposite from one of the Typhoon Advisors, in order to keep the bloodlines mixed. This tradition has continued for over a hundred years, and for the most part, there have been no challenges to it. No other Sairundani tribe has anything like it either.

However, there are some who value the Sairundani tradition of freedom more than the tradition of family and these people make their selves heard. While the advisors of the tribe listen to them, these Sairundani are quickly shown the wisdom of their elders and such things are put to nonsense. Their main argument for the tradition is simply that it cements the family that they now are, one tribe instead of two.

Unfortunately, there are some members of the original Typhoon tribe who weren't happy with this transpiration of events. Calling themselves the Ai Typhoon (Heroes/Sons of Typhoon), they cause major annoyances when they crash weddings, kidnap brides and grooms, and generally denounce their Hurakan ties. These clashes have yet to actually escalate to actual violence, but some Advisors fear that may be just around the corner.

Currently, the patriarch of the Hurakan is Sabil ai Habul. His only daughter was set to marry the son of the last Typhoon Advisor, Soren ai Sairundan, who was once a champion of the people. Soren gained his people's name by being a major player in the activities that would bring the Orc raids that occured after the Great Orc War to a near end. His actions both in combat and in the discussions brought peace to the tribes and the Orcs, causing sweeping changes in the overall path of the Sairundani, earning him his people's title.

Patriarch Sabil's daughter has disappeared however, and none know of her whereabouts or none are speaking of it if they do know. He and his advisors suspect the Ai Typhoon, but no leads have turned up. He continues to this day to search for her, as it could cost him more than just his daughter.

Because it is an honor to be married to and carry on the Hurakan/ Typhoon name, almost everyone in the 'royal' arena have children, and it is the right of the patriarch or matriarch to take more than one consort to enable having that first child. If something happens to that child, it is said the winds do not favor that family any longer and a new heirarch is chosen and that person's first child becomes the royal line that another Advisor's child will marry. Of course, the new heirarch's child must be of age for that to happen. The current age of the next in line's oldest child is 14. Sabil has two more years to find his daughter.

The Hurakan have amiable ties with almost every clan of the Sairundani. Their next closest tribe, after the Typhoon, are the Etesians, who inhabit a small nomad village a few days from Helatia. They enjoy a profitable trade agreement that keeps the Etesian's supplied with things that can only be obtained in a city and the Hurakans get what they need from the wilderness.

The only tribe that the Hurakans have any major trouble with are the Haboob. Believing them to be roguish outcasts of the major society of Sairundani. According to the Hurakans and even some of the other tribes, the Haboobs take the Sairundani openness a bit too extremely. Most of the tribe disagree with the Haboob practice of inviting outsiders into their tribal structure and altering their traditions in order to dilute the tribes. According to the Hurakan, the Haboob have become so diluted, that it is difficult to tell that they were once Sairundani.

The Haboobs on the other hand feel that the Hurakans have overstayed their welcome in Helatia and should relinquish to another more deserving tribe, like themselves. The truth of the matter is that the Haboob have learned that having a city can be just as rewarding as the nomadic lifestyle and a majority of their advisors would like to learn that for themselves. The Hurakan are quite happy where they are and would prefer not to move at least not yet. This feud has gone on for years with no apparent resolution in sight. The Hurakan enjoy their position in the city and Sabil has more important things to worry about than the "fire-breathed Haboob".

[Knight Otu]

I like it.
A few comments:
Each of the patriarchs named in your proposal has the honorific to be called a son of his tribe. While that is certainly plausible (for example I intended Harmattan to be Harmattan ai Sirroco), it is not required.
A sentence or two about Soren ai Sairundan would be nice, being a great hero.
How would the tribes solve the problem if there were no suitable heirs for marriage?
It would also be interesting to hear why the Hurakan consider the Haboob to be outcasts.

I like the Ai Typhoon (who effectively also call themselves Heroes of Typhoon), and the "firebreathing." Quite an insult for a Sairundan.

[shadowbloodmoon]

I had thought about the patriarch thing and presumed that they would have been moved up from Advisor by performing some great deed or another, earning their clan title, but perhaps you are right. I might have to alter that a bit. As far as Soren goes, I envision him as once being a grand diplomat and warrior for the Sairundani themselves, perhaps by finally making a peace with some of the Orc tribes that once were enemies of the Sairundani. I think that may mess with the timeline a bit though, I'll have to check.

As far as the marriage tradition goes, unless you want to make it an entire race thing, I would say that it was only a tradition formed of the Hurakan and Typhoon union. Perhaps something similar could exist for the other tribes as well. Because it is an honor to be married to and carry on the Hurakan/ Typhoon name, almost everyone in the 'royal' arena would have children, and I think in this case it would the right of the patriarch or matriarch to take more than one consort to enable having that first child. If something happens to that child, it is said the winds do not favor that family any longer and a new heirarch is chosen and that person's first child becomes the royal line that another Advisor's child will marry. Of course, the new heirarch's child must be of age for that to happen. The current age of the next in line's oldest child is 14. Sabil has two more years to find his daughter.

This of course is why he refuses to worry about the Haboob just yet. That being said, he and most of his clan disagree with the Haboob practice of inviting outsiders into their clan structure and altering their traditions in order to dilute the tribes. According to the Hurakan, the Haboob have become so diluted, that it is difficult to tell that they were once Sairundani. The truth of the matter is that the Haboob have learned that having a city can be just as rewarding as the nomadic lifestyle and a majority of their advisors would like to learn that for themselves. The Hurakan are quite happy where they are and would prefer not to move at least not yet.

I'm glad you like what I do have. I am sometimes hesitant to mess with another DM's homebrew, but I felt there was a lot of room to grow with the Sairundani and I like their aspects.

[Knight Otu]

The big war against the orcs is long over, but I'd say skirmishes between the Sairundani and the orcs still would be relatively common, so the diplomat approach for Soren could work.

As for the marriage tradition, I'd prefer to keep it isolated to the Hurakan/Typhoon tribe.

With the Haboob, I am not sure. Being somewhat open to strangers is something I want for the Sairundan culture. But maybe the Haboob take it to an extreme that is unsettling to some other tribes, especially the more settled Hurakan?

[shadowbloodmoon]

That's what I had figured for Soren. Though the actual main war ws over, skirmishes happened all the time, but Soren helped cement ties with the less aggressive of the Orc tribes, and thus the integration began with the rest of the Sairundani and the raids crept to a minimum.

I was thinking the same, keeping that tradition of marriage to just within the Hurakan/ Typhoon.

As for the Haboobs, that is exactly what I thought. They take it to an extreme almost unheard of by the others. I don't know if you've played Legend of the Five Rings, but I guess you could say it is similar to the Unicorn clan from there.

[Rystil Arden]

Question--these guys have names that make them sound like they are a desert-dwelling people. Are they? Just wondering.

[Knight Otu]

They are living in the southwest of Enworld, which is at least in part badlands and desert, due to the proximity of the Tower of Air.

In case you haven't seen it, here is the original post on Sairundan.

[Knight Otu]

Since it seems most issues have been taken care of, you might want to edit your proposal to reflect them.

[shadowbloodmoon]

edited to include changes, addditions...

[Knight Otu]

Very good, thanks.

In my function as a judge, I Approve of this proposal.

[orsal]

Looks could in principle, but one technical detail. You use the words clan and tribe interchangeably. Implicitly, this would establish that the two words in the context of the Sairundani are synonymous. Typically, a clan is a smaller unit than a tribe, intermediate between an extended family and a tribe.

Have we established all the levels of Sairundani social and genealogical organization? If it is confirmed that there is only one level of division between the family and the whole of the Sairundani culture, then conflating two different words for it poses no problem. But if there might be more -- even if we have yet to detail that aspect of the culture -- then we should reserve the words for different units. I'd suggest editing the proposal to use one word or the other consistently.

[Knight Otu]

I noticed that myself, but considered it minor enough that it could be edited when posting it to the Approved Content thread. The correct* term would be tribe. The only time I used clan was when I said that the Sairundani don't use clan names.

*read - the one I have used.

[orsal]

OK, so with the stipulation that "clan" should be read as "tribe" everywhere, I vote Yes to this proposal.

[shadowbloodmoon]

fixed....

[Jdvn1]

This needs one more vote. Judges?

[nimisgod]

Yes