Eekraw of the Taltir
Region Spotlight: Region 4
I’ve decided to do a region spotlight, to showcase what my worldbuilding process has created so far. I rolled a 1d14 (as of Turn 8, the total number of regions), and got a 4, so I will show off region 4. All of the below information is current as of Turn 8.
Region 4
Overall, the Eekraw of the Taltir (forest) of Region 4 have a fairly sophisticated structure for hunter-gatherers. They have a priest nest (the Yeek), like many of the Eekraw tribes. The Yeek conduct rituals to drive away the “Fark” - evil shadow spirits. Only the Yeek call the evil spirits Fark, most of the common Eekraw call them by the euphemism ‘Raikivar’ (literally, ‘night in the sky’).
The clans of this tribe use Raatir (moss that glows when dried and crushed) to leave symbols behind on their migrations. Each clan has their own symbol, which allows other clans to know that they’ve been here.
The clans of this tribe also trade younglings between themselves to fill out their nests. Eekraw young are able to fly and effectively contribute to gathering and hunting around the age of 10 to 15. However, they don’t reach full sexual, social and intellectual maturity until around 20 to 25 years old. Among the Eekraw of the Taltir, it is common to send younglings to another clan at around the age of 15, to grow up in that clan and eventually form a nest with members of that clan.
Such trading (perhaps ‘fostering’ implies a more correct description, though it also might be misleading, since these younglings don’t return to their original clan), encourages relations between the different clans, and allows for clans to provide help to each other when needed.
The story of Tarkay’kre and Tuur’yiti, one of the myths of this tribe, concerns such a fostering arrangement. Unusually, though, the younglings in question took it upon themselves to arrange the situation themselves, rather than waiting for it to be arranged by their elders. They flew further than even an adult Eekraw would dare to, impressing their new clan so much that they were adopted into the clan without the assent or consultation of the old clan.
The other major myth of the tribe is that of Akir’krat. Akir’krat was a newly matured adult, who was taking care of a group of nestlings. A Kretikk (a flying predator that wouldn’t generally attack an adult Eekraw but would a youngling or nestling) started attacking the nestlings. Akir’krat used magic to summon a Tikktir (the apex predator of the forest) which attacked and drove off the Kretikk. Akir’krat then gathered the nestlings and took them out of harm’s way.
Maps:
This region occupies the temperate forest, just southeast of the original mountain region from which the Eekraw sprang. It is dominated by an area of hills/small mountains running southeast, a continuation of the aforementioned mountain range. In that hill range, there are a few taller mountains, but mostly it’s from 2000-5000 feet above sea level.1
The rivers are hard to see on this map, but there are rivers leading from both sides of the range of hills, leading down towards the ocean on the eastern side and a series of lakes on the western side.
Societal Overview:
Biome: Hilly Temperate Forest
Social Structure:
Clan units of related nest groups, limited specialization
Specialization is at the nest level (i.e., there is a nest of Yeek)
Trades younglings between clans to create new nests. For example, two clans might agree to combine their most promising younglings to create a new nest in one or the other clan. Or a clan with a nest that has lost a member might request a surplus member from another clan. This also creates ties between clans.
Culture:
Reverence for the sun
The Fark are evil shadow spirits (originally based on a predator of an ancestral biome)
The Yeek (priests) conduct rituals to try to drive the Fark away spiritually
These Eekraw use Raatir (luminescent moss) to create specific symbols to represent their clans, so other clans will know when they’ve crossed paths. Not a territorial thing, as they migrate
Technology/Tools
Shelter: Nests in the forest, lined with insulating moss
Myth/Oral History
Akir’krat - Akir’krat was a young adult Eekraw, just past her full maturation. She was taking care of a group of nestlings when she saw a Kretikk diving at the nestlings. She used magic to summon a Tikktir , which attacked the Kretikk and gave her time to pull the nestlings into the safety of the trees, protecting them from the predator.
Tarkay’kre and Tuur’yiti - Tarkay’kre and Tuur’yiti were both male younglings, members of a clan that was large, and therefore hard for a youngling to make a mark. They heard there was another clan that had been devastated by disease or predators, and therefore needed new males to fill out its ranks. They traveled a long distance through the forest to find this clan, and at one point stayed in the air for around 80 miles, further than most Eekraw even thought possible. Eventually they reached this new clan and had so impressed the clan that they were accepted into a new nest as Kiva (fostered younglings from another clan) of the clan, and eventually accepted as nestmates of females of the clan.
Language
Basics (1):
Eg - me
Yie - you
Ru - them
Ew - us
Kir - yes
Kre - no
Culture (2):
Yeek - priest/shaman nest
Fark - evil force of darkness (word only spoken by Yeek)
Raikivar - euphemism for the Fark spoken by non-Yeek
Ekee - nestling
Ekevar - youngling
Varyie - adult
Karrah - home
Kiva - a youngling who has come from another clan (i.e., flown up)
Tavarkek - the process of integrating a new youngling into a nest
Valew - the clan
Varro - another clan, specifically one with which a youngling has been traded
Yitiki - a youngling who is having difficulties integrating to new nest
Ratra - a tree that has been marked by the clan
Ratirru - a tree that has been marked by another clan
Descriptors (3):
Yota - bad
Yitit - evil
Jiklai - good
Jilkajil - excellent
Tiku - shadowed/obscured
Verbs (4):
Kar - to fly
Tavkrark - to take off, jump off
Krovor - to succeed/excel
Kril - to use
Tark - to land
Kraat - to defend
Yeerti - to pray, meditate or defend against spiritual challenges
Tava - to start
Ratirri - to mark with Raa’tir
Other (5):
‘chee - suffix for small
‘thi - suffix for young
‘ga - suffix for new
‘vaar - suffix for big
Rah’ - prefix for important/sacred
Environment (6):
Raha - sun
Toli - ground/soil
To - underground
Tra - water
Var - the sky
Ray’kre - day
Rai’k - night
Rakir - sunset/sunrise
Vakre - flight
Taltir - forest
Varaltir - canopy (negative connotation - scary, unpredictable)
Ratal - clearings in the forest
Trakiti - stream
Tavark - jumping off points for flight - tall trees
Vartrak - mist/fog/dew
Travar - the ocean
Tikuvare - bad weather
Creatures (7):
Tik - dangerous creature
Skik - non-threatening/harmless creature
Tarakre - Large floating creatures that are buoyant due to gas-filled sacs within their body, graze on tree tops. When threatened, they release the gas, which both disorients and harms their opponent and causes them to rapidly sink downwards, hopefully evading the predator
Jiltalvarkre - Small, winged reptiles that feed on flower nectar and fruit
Tikktir - Medium-sized creature with sleek body that can adjust its colors to blend with the forest, four multi-jointed legs with flexible, nimble feet that allow it to grip and traverse the trees as easily as the ground. Ambush predator
Kretikk - Medium-sized green flying creature. Will swoop down on creatures up to the size of an Eekraw from the canopy.
Yitikir - Semi-transparent gliding kite-like creature. Paralyzes its prey then wraps it up and slowly dissolves it
Torskiki - Small, armored insects that travel in swarms to devour carcasses and organic waste
Turjek - Small, mouse-like creature with long tails that can be shed as a decoy when threatened
Trarati - Medium-sized animal with hard exoskeletal shell, four legs. Feeds on the hard fruits, travels in small family groups
Ratirsik - A medium-sized ground-hugging herbivore with a tough, segmented body. It moves up to bushes and squats on top of them to eat their leaves while keeping its shell between it and any predator.
Plants (8):
Tir - plant
Varskti - trees
Tirrat - A fruit with a hard outer shell, and a soft, nutritional inside, primary sustenance for the medium herbivores, but can also be eaten by Eekraw
Raatir - A moss that grows on the north side of trees and rocks. When dried and crushed, it can be used as a bioluminescent paint or marker to help with navigation signs or even art
Ekratir - moss that is incredibly soft and has insulating properties, can be used to line nests and keep eggs and chicks warm
Vartilk - Large leaf which is edible, and also can be wrapped around other foods to make them portable
The larger, less detailed maps come from Fractal Terrains 3. The more detailed terrain map come from exporting them to Campaign Cartographer 3. Both are software by ProFantasy Software, which makes really cool (but very expensive) mapping software. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to represent these maps, the above more detailed map is kind of hard to read, to be honest. I’ll probably wait until the Eekraw settle down such that they migth make their own maps prior to doing so, though.