Editing LeviathanTempest:ArchivedSocialLife (section)

== Tribe Life ==
For the most part, the Tribe does not host any overarching social structures. Many Leviathans are fiercely independent, and beyond the struggles of personal preference and inter-group politics, there are instinctual hurdles. Leviathans bristle in eachother's company as much as they do in human society, as submerged desires - territorial and mating urges - come surging out of their blood. The strength and alien tone of these desires, as much as their actual content, is an unpleasant and unwelcome reminder of a Leviathan's nature.

Tribe unifiers are quick to point out that, in an uncomfortable world, the Tribe serves as a source of peers who are going through the same problems, and whose numbers form an extended family. Detractors are quick to note that the nature of the "extended family" only renders their instinctual feelings for one another more grotesque - few family reunions ought to make one feel like tearing out Cousin Harold's throat to impress Cousin Susan. 

=== Taxa ===
"Taxa: Many Leviathans have two Taxa, a (or group of) member(s) of their phyla and a (or group) member(s) of their Class. Think support group. These are informal grouping. If someone calls together an emergency meeting of all the Leviathan in a certain city, those who show up are a Taxa. If you could get all the Oceanids on the East Coast or all of the Tehom in NYC into a room, that would be a Taxa too. No formal structure, but the big fish (often called a Headman or some variation therefore of, a situational ranking/title if there ever was one) sits at the head of the table, if you know what I mean." 

The largest relevant social unit of the Tribe, a taxon is a meeting of Leviathans drawn together for a given reason or for sharing a given trait. If every member of the Tribe meets, that's a taxon. Most taxa are composed of members of a given School from a certain region, generally meeting to discuss a particular find or event that concerns them. As Schools are primarily informal, these meetings aren't built with a guest list in mind - everyone who shows is showing because the thing under discussion is relevant to them. A taxon might involve an exchange of information, especially contact information, in order to build a support group, but many Leviathan are reluctant to be "in touch" with other members of the Tribe - there is an understood degree of emergency that is necessary before contact will be made between individuals who are part of a taxon. 

Regional taxa might also have an informal leadership - generally the most dangerous or developed Leviathan that bothered to show. When a Tribe member in a region goes rogue, or an enemy is about, this is the figure that gets turned to for advice - generally right before or right after every Leviathan in the city does what he or she wants about the problem anyway, however. A regional taxon is often a place where Tribe members who will later form a Cohort meet, and it also informs members of various Schools about locals that share their interests - it lets the members of Kingu's Camp know where they might be able to get information or aid on a problem from, for instace.

This informal leader is traditionally called a Headman, as he wields influence without any formal authority. Some Headmen remain so for years on end and manage to bring a certain regularity to taxa meetings, but this is rare. More often, a given region will have several Headmen who will call meetings on different areas of interest.

=== Cohorts ===
"Cohorts - ( These are your AA sponsors for Leviathanhood, your emergency contacts, those people who if you call will show up and go scoobie doo on a Riptide sighting with you or help you cover up the fact that you accidentally shattered a wall of solid stone) (Parties basically)"

The Cohort is an informal social grouping of Leviathans that share a regional connection or have some social link to one another - familial or otherwise. The Cohort model grew out of the desire to keep an eye on things in one's neighborhood, and its most restricted form is simply a sort of wary and predatory mutual observation. Each Leviathan knows the other's stomping grounds and steers clear of things that the others have marked as their own, unless he can produce the muscle to just do what he wants. Any Leviathan that goes rogue, or attacks another member of the Cohort, might be subject to a united front of the other members. 

Not all Cohorts are this standoffish, however, and some groups, especially those composed of fresher Tribe members, remain in touch more solidly. The Cohort offers a space of relaxation from the human world, and a pool of social peers that are not subject to the Wake. It also can serve as a source of resources and information in a pinch, or even material or emotional support - the Cohort is host to the sort of friend that can help you move a body. These more connected Cohorts are more subject to personality clashes - interactions between Leviathans are always tense - but their benefits often outweight their drawbacks.

=== Lahmasu and Hybrids ===

==== Ideas from the Thread ====
"Lahmasu: kinfolk template, descendants of human worshippers, carry on heirlooms from ancient sea-cities such as weird relics and strange cult rituals, not very well-adjusted, in fact pretty crazy"

"Hybrids: The nasty reminders of what happens when the Leviathan mate in their True Form. These are a shame and a responsibility, misguided creatures that will often seek to create more hybrids like themselves and otherwise take out their frustration on humankind. "

"the successfully assimilated semi-Hybrid lines known as the Lahmasu, who seek out the Wicked Tribe with great fervor. "

==== Reconciliation and Summary (With some added ideas) ==== 
When the blood of the Tribe, or of its cousins, interacts with mortal blood, there are a couple possible outcomes. The most likely is a mere mortal - one who carries the blood but who does not express any of the Primordial bloodline. The other is the rarest, a full-fledged Leviathan, manifesting the full range of the progenitor's traits. Yet there are those that are neither human nor Leviathan; their blood marks and twists their bodies but does little to change their basic nature. These hybrids are defined by mutation, expressing some of the traits of the Leviathan form but having no ability to change shape. For most hybrids, the trauma of this half-life severs them from a normal human life and drives them mad. Experiencing many of the ancient instincts and simmering discomforts of the Tribe, hybrids seek to find fulfillment in their monstrous roles. Some hunt and devour humans, others seek to propagate their twisted species, raising vast broods of hybrids and leading them in isolated cults, attempting to replicate half-instinctual shapes of the Tribe's ancient roles. 

Hybrids with limited or concealable deformities might participate in human society. Their children, however, will continue to manifest greater and greater mutations, eventually becoming incapable of passing for human. Some remain close to the families that produce them, sheltered but also secluded, as dark "family secrets" or isolated "strange cousins." Unsurprisingly, a line that produces Hybrids is very likely to also produce a member of the Tribe, and occasionally a Leviathan comes to discover that her seemingly-normal family is host to a number of hybrids, a long-concealed secret, already prepared to venerate their new "messiah" - or to devour her, seeking to claim from her flesh the secret of physical normalcy. 

A Leviathan with the time and the right knowledge can deliberately ensure the birth of a hybrid. The child does not have to be the Leviathan's own, but the process is much easier if it is. These "planned hybrids" are called Lahmasu. Each Strain of the Tribe produces a distinct sub-line of Lahmasu, and these cultivated bloodlines of Hybrids are naturally inclined to serve Leviathans, and will, if abandoned (Lahmasu breed true with one another and might outlive their Leviathan progenitor) often eagerly seek out a member of the Tribe to venerate. 


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