Ubantu:Contents:Peoples:Wakonyingo

Wakonyingo

The Wakonyingo or Wakyambi are the Heavenpeople who live on the summits of mountains and in their own magical country (Ukonyingo, of course). They have the same ebon skin as other peoples in Ubantu, but have long, straight hair. Their trademark feature is their tails, which are very animate and expressive, and fully prehensile. They are somewhat shorter than humans and lithe.

The Wakonyingo have taken a very different approach to the human invasion. By means of a simple Intervention, which in their terms cost them almost nothing, they have earned the permanent respect and almost veneration of all humans living in Ubantu. Their mountains and sacred valleys are taboo and no sane human would think of trespassing. In addition, they have access to eager volunteers, the most capable young warriors from every human tribe to aid them in their mysterious War.

In addition to compassion and mystery, the primary trait of the Wakonyingo is curiousity. It is common for their youths to magically transform themselves and wander through human lands. They Wakonyingo call these students of life "Seekers" and they are required to take a special vow of noninterference - meddling in the destinies of other races is something best left to the elders. The Seekers' Vow is comprehensive - they must maintain their disguise and do nothing to change the general course of a race's future. This can be very mentally stressful for a young Mkonyingo, such as tolerating slavery and other human institution the compassionate heavenfolk find deplorable. Most Humans in Ubantu, for their part, are aware of this wanderjahr tradition and it is considered very rude and unwise to attempt to penetrate the Seekers' disguise.

Wakonyingo begin their lives in their sacred valleys in the Mountains of God. There are six such valleys, Uulanthir, Manjelesi, Tharian, Ilia, Vaal and Yu, from north to south, each holding around 5,000 Wakonyingo. The valleys are connected to each other by tunnels but totally inaccessible to the outside world. This is as much a matter of magic as of steep mountains and sheer cliffs, not to mention protective Mikishi. The vocation of Ranger is very popular with Wakonyingo youths and quite romantized in their culture. The duties of Rangers are more concerned with protective travellers from the dangers of the Mountains, rather than protecting the secret valleys.

Wakonyingo technology is 100% magical. Every productive activity is accomplished via magic. As an example, they have no means whatsoever for making fire or heat without magic - the skill of flint and steel, etc, is not known. Fire is in fact almost unused, as magical heat is much safer and more controllable. There are no tools or artifacts of any kind that are not enchanted. Their building are living trees and their fabrics are transformed flower petals.

In some ways Wakonyingo are base primitives. They do not use written language, the entirety of their mythohistory being in the form of ballads, the complexity of which dwarfs anything found in human oral traditions. They do not use iron or any other metals, prefering enchanted wood or stone. The wheel is unknown and they have not even the simplest machines. They have no practice of agriculture - they are exclusive vegetarians and gather what they need.

Wakonyingo magic, and, indeed, all of their civilization, comes from language. Kikonyingo is, by itself, magic. Once the language is mastered, anything is possible. They have no need to be taught spells or to record them, they can simply create them with about the same amount of effort as human would put in creating a simple poem. When first made, the spell may take a minute or so of speech, of poetic urging and shaping, but with practice it becomes a purely mental effort. As might be expected, learning Kikonyingo is a massive effort that makes nuclear physics look simple. To take this into account, the skill has it's own learning curve: IQ-10 1/2pt, IQ-9 1pt, IQ-8 2pts, IQ-7 4pts, IQ-6 8pts, IQ-5 12pts, IQ-4 16pts, IQ-3 20pts, IQ-4 24pts, IQ-3 28pts, IQ-2 32pts, IQ-1 36pts, IQ 40pts, etc. From a human point of view, Kikonyingo is hopeless. Where a human language will have one word, Kikonyingo will have hundreds, reflecting minute differences in form and variety that a human might not even be capable of understanding, not to mention agglutinations, conjugations and declensions that involve a world view that is starkly alien. Wakonyingo spent at least their first hundred years learning to be conversant in their own language, and are not considered adults until they have mastered it at IQ level.

After the languages comes the legends. Adult Wakonyingo must master all 512 Sagas, each the length of "War and Peace" in a language that encodes a staggering amount of detail. Given the Eidetic Memory advantage, this is at least possible, though even hearing an entire Saga may take a year. Once these are learned, the adult becomes an Elder, and then spends an unspecified amount of time teaching before leaving for the mountaintop monasteries.

Wakonyingo born without Eidetic Memory are considered crippled. They are not persecuted, of course, but they are pitied and many choose to leave and live in the outside world.

ST-1 (-10), DX+1 (10), IQ+1(10), Attractive Appearance (5), Magical Aptitude (15), Unaging (15), Charitable (-15), Total Truthfulness (-10), Curious (-5), Prehensile Tail (10), Reputation+4 (20), Eidetic Memory (60) - optional, see text. Seekers don't pay for the reputation and have a -15 Vow.

Yrth Sidebar

On Yrth, the Wakonyingo are a type of Elf, but they don't have tails. This perception is caused by a peculiarity in their mode of dress, which uses woven ropelike belts ending in tassels, tied in the rear. This cultural artifact is a deliberate mock-up of a tail, it is even called "tail".

Kikonyingo is the ultimate "Old Elvish" for Elves everywhere on Yrth. Most Elves on other continents use the language only in their traditional magic, which is rarely taught to other races. Nevertheless, the language is not lost, being preserved by Elven archmages