Ubantu:Contents:Peoples:Twafwe

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The Twafwe Pygmies[edit]

Physical Nature[edit]

The Twafwe are a small people, males around three and half feet tall, females closer to three (two feet shorter than a nonpygmy Human of their ST). Their weight is normal for their height, average weight being less than eighty pounds. Their skin tone is chocolate brown with a slight reddish tint. Their hair is black, crisp and cut very short. Their noses are broad at the base with wide nostrils. Their chins are small and their arms are somewhat longer in proportion to their bodies than those of the Bantu peoples. Their toes are quite long and the big toe diverges noticable from the rest. Men have wooly beards, also close cropped. They mature at 10 years and marry soon thereafter. Twafwe rarely live more than 50yrs.


Culture[edit]

The Twafwe live in nomadic bands of 60-100 people. Temporary village have approximately 10 huts woven from saplings and leaves. The huts are circular and are arranged in a circle. Villages usually last a few months, until the game and vegetal resources of the area are exhausted. Bands of male hunters go on weeklong hunts, building simple camps deep in the jungle. They hunt deer, pigs, hippos, crocodiles and birds, frequently using poisons. Nethunting invovles the whole village, the women and children holding the nets and the men drive the game. Damfishing involves damming streams then catching the fish in the resulting pools downstream. Women gather berries, fruits, tubers (especially the forest yam), insects (termites are favorites), reptiles and bird eggs. Honey gathering is in the domain of men.

Twafwe bands have no central leader, though elders are respected. Issues are settled by prolonged relentless arguements, which are also a form of entertainment. If there can be no agreement, a ngoze ceremony is required (see below). The Twafwe are generally monogamous. Alloparenting, meaning that the children are raised by member of the band other than their parents, is the norm.

Despite the dangers of the jungle, the Twafwe actually spend much less time providing for themselves than peoples from agarian or pastorlist cultures. There is plenty of time for songs, stories and other entertainments, meaning that talented performers are highly esteemed. As a people, they are good-natured, optimistic and generally happy. Mental illness amoung the Twafwe is totally unknown.

Men wear leather lioncloths, women make theirs daily from leaves. Men often pierce their septums, women prefer necklaces with teeth and wooden beads. Both sexes wear headbands made from colorful reptile skins as a kind of "formal" wear.

Music, singing and dancing are vital parts of Twafwe culture. Outside the sacred molimo, they use tall membrane drums, harps, flutes, rattles, lamellaphones and two string bows (women only). Twafwe singing is legendary, especially the choral songs of the children. Adults sing alone, with a kind of yodeling. Dancing and music are the main forms of magic in Twafwe culture. There are specific dances and song for different diseases, and these are quite efficacious.

Molimo ceremonies are specific to men. While the women stay in their huts, the men dance and sing until it is time to retreive the molimo, which is special type of horn normally hidden in the forest. There are many molimo ceremonies, concerning death, poor hunting, etc. They may last for one night or for weeks. The elima ceremony is the female analogue, used for the death of women, fertility, birth, etc. Male and female initiation ceremonies are distinct and very secret.

The Twafwe have no equivalent of sorcerors or priests, and do not belief in witchcraft. Although the women are very adept at herbalism, all Twafwe magic is done cooperatively in the form of musical ceremonies. Unforetunately, the GURPS magic systems are almost useless in this case. Disease-specific cures (including snake bite, etc), minor healing, major healing, birthing, summon game,

The most powerful and central ceremony is that of the ngoze. Ngoze is shrub whose roots produce a powerful hallucinogen. One of the most noticable effects of the drug is a kind of pseudotelepathy that persists into normal life. This is called nlem myore ("one heart only"). All of the Twafwe in the band are immediately aware when one them is injured or in need. Likewise they are empathically bonded, easily sharing their joys and griefs. When two bands meet, there is an inevitable ngoze ceremony that often results members changing bands. Interband warfare is unknown. This effect also aids greatly in cooperative hunting.

Ngoze is used to commune with the forest and with the ancestors. The Twafwe are very aware that the Ugenji Jungle is a sentient being. During the ceremonies, Migenji spirits come and dance with the people. After the sex-specific initiation ceremony, a young Twafwe has a more generaly initiation with ngoze, where he alone takes a large dose and the Mother Jungle gives him his spirit name. Following the mourning rituals of death, the entire band has a ngoze ceremony by means of which they visit with the newly departed and with other ancestors, who live in a village in the Heart of Ugenji.

Ngoze is NOT a recreational drug. That role is served by the duna mushrooms, which are mildly euphoric. In the typical communal way, all of the duna mushroom found in a patch are made into a drink and shared by the band. The duna ceremony, which is mostly about fun and wild dancing, is followed by lucid dreams which are given greap import.

The Twafwe are unlike Earthly Pygmies in that they are totally isolated, having never encountered the Bantu. As an example, they speak a language completely unrelated to anything else on Ubantu, whereas their Earthly relations speak the languages of the neighboring Congo or Sudanic peoples.

Advantages and Disadvantages[edit]

ST-2 (-15), DX+1 (10), Fit (5pts), Silence x1 (5pts), Primative TL0 (from TL3, -15pts), Poverty: Poor (-15), Illiteracy (-5 - half value, largely irrelevant), Short Lifespan (1 lvl, -10), Communal Empathy (5pts see below)

Racially learned skills Stealth at DX+1 (4pts), Rituals and Ceremonies (M/H male and female skills are distinct, see below), Camouflage, Bow and Palette Firemaking +2, Climbing, Survival, Ugenji +4 (this includes sheltermaking), Naturalist +2, Men have Tracking +2, Spear+2 or Bow+2 (4pts). Women have Herbalism at IQ. The Survival and Naturalist skills are sex based. Women have a +2 in relation to plants, -2 for animals, vice versa for men.

Other common skills are Netmaking (P/E), Tanning (P/A), Dancing, Singing, Bardic Lore (oral mythohistory M/H), Basketweaving (P/A - NB, weaving is NOT easy, women only), Mimicracy, First Aid, Diagnosis, Instrument Making (P/A men only)and Damfishing (P/H women only)