The Ghen

By Deacon Rayne

I am anti-life, the beast of judgment. I am the dark at the end of everything. The end of universes, gods, worlds...of everything.
And what will you be then, Dreamlord?"
"I am hope."

--Neil Gaiman, SANDMAN Preludes and Nocturnes.

A favorite sentiment of mine and the one that guided the creation of Ruin World; the campaign setting in which the first society I devised: the Ghen is contained herein.

And while nothing would please me more than to discuss its roots and origins there is someone eminently more qualified to do so.

Don't worry he has been paid in full.

Enjoy.
--Deacon Rayne

"So, you are the latest pilgrims here to this place. You have questions and I have been well paid by the scribe Rayne to supply answers.

Sit and be still, this will take a while.

This world has its roots in despair, in frustration, in looking around at everyday life and crying out THIS IS NOT RIGHT. THIS IS NOT HOW IT SHOULD BE.

There is madness in every direction. Morals bought and sold, rapine and destruction, greed and death and above it all; corruption. This world is corrupt. The powers of church, coin or crown rule here using men like me to enforce their will. Fear of force though is usually a more powerful collar than actual use and so the majority remained cowed by the overly endowed minority.

Yet there are not yet so mighty that they are above fear. I have known many rich kings, powerful priests and well protected with all the muscle their ill gotten spoils can buy. One and all their blood has fed my sword, their screams no more impressive than that of any farmer or commoner that is faced with death. In many cases, their pleas and
blubbering wails of cowardice were much less impressive to the point that in many cases, I took my time with them.

Yes, I am an assassin, a bodyguard, a bounty hunter. I am the power of life and death either bringing it down upon the heads of your enemies or shielding you or yours from it. I am a hunter and all things that exist; living or dead, mortal, divine or diabolic is my prey.

And all for a price for whatever the job I am hired for you may rest certain in the knowledge that it will cost you. If you can bear the price, I bid you sit. And listen. And learn.

A question? Very well, one question though all my clients are bound by a simple contract, whether they be god or child: No questions, no comments payment up front, in full.

What is my name? Many: "Halobane" to the scions of the pits, "Fiendsmite" to the angels and their choirs, "Ifreanthai" to the wood elves and
"Myth-herald" to the dwarves in their halls.

My name amongst the Ghenzari, the people you are about to learn of know me simply as "The Red Man."

You will learn of their ways: of schism and honor, slaughter and wilderness. A proud people each with an honorable and glorious vision of what the future of their race is and each side fully willing to die?or kill, for that vision,

No further questions. Time is moving and we are sitting still and I have many contracts aside from your own to fulfill and not all my clients are as harmless as the scribe.

The Ghenzari (more commonly known as "The Ghen") are a race of semi-nomadic warriors that live north of Daymore Kharas, beyond the Bannoth Thor Mountains. They are a schismatic people caught between the mystical nature of their past and the rigid imperialism of their present.

Origins

In the beginning, there was nothing. Then, the Great Gong sounded throughout the silence of the cosmos. Those notes that were harmonious became the Arieanis. Those notes that were discordant and harsh formed the Khulghaani. At once these two forces set upon each other, and for time immortal, waged a great war. The Arieanis strove for order and honor, whereas the Khulghaani were dedicated to chaos and slaughter.

Finally, the two sides realized that they could not conquer each other, for within the cosmos, both were immortal and eternal. Their war declared a stalemate; the leaders from both factions came together to discuss an alternative.

The wisest of each decided they should create a battlefield that they could visit, and soldiers to serve them. They would make bodies for themselves that could die, thus giving them a way to keep score.

The most powerful of the Arieanis and the Khulghaani then came together and conceived. Their bodies melted together and birthed the world. The birthing was a draining one and the new world consumed its mother/father whole, their bones forming the lands and people inhabiting them.

The warring factions wasted no time in resuming their hostilities, using the world as their battlefield and mortal pawns as their soldiers, occasionally even visiting the world themselves. Entire civilizations rose and fell, wiped out in the slaughter. Both the Arieanis and the Khulghaani manifested upon the world, only to be slain by the other, return to the cosmos, and wait for the next opportunity to be reincarnated while mortal followers would swell the ranks of their armies to war upon each other yet again.

One day, a simple peasant farmer, Momotaro, was working in the fields. A meager, uneducated man, he took delight in his peaceful life and the lives of his wife and children.

One day, while he was in the fields, the legions of the Khulghaani descended upon his farm. He fought bravely using only the hoe for his melon patch, but in the end was knocked to the ground, wounded gravely and missing his right eye. He awoke to find his family butchered and his fields and home burned.

For many nights he wept, cursing the Khulghaani and their insatiable appetite for carnage. As his rage and bitterness at the sheer wrongness of the situation took hold, it became a core of steel in his heart. The Ghar Khan (warrior spirit), gleaming bright and sharp, banished his despair and moved him to action.

Taking everything he could find, he fashioned a crude weapon made of plow blades, scythes, and hoes. With nothing more than this and the clothes upon his back, he set out to seek his revenge.

What little is known about his journey is scattered amongst the tribes as myth. What is known is that with every demon creature Momotaro slew, his weapon—through some magic— became more and more refined until it became a perfect shining sword. With this sword, Momotaro cut a path of death through the Khulghaani and their legions, along the way picking up seven disciples who followed him at a distance and were never spoken to directly by him. These disciples, learning what they could from his actions, took his teachings and formed the seven tribes. The disciples included amongst their ranks a thief, a king, and a woman masquerading as a man.

At the end of his journey, Momotaro entered the Sym Baal (gateway of black souls) and into the Khulghaani's realm, So Cho Nedagathia (Land of the red skies). There, Momotaro fought through legions of the Khulghaani, man and demon alike. Finally, reaching the castle of their king, he slew all the inhabitants before confronting the warlord of the Khulghaani; a spawn of the demon responsible for one half of the world.

Upon seeing his opponent, Momotaro knew he—a mortal—could not defeat a demon as powerful and as old as the world. Making his decision, Momotaro charged the demon. The demon's claws cut him, his fiery gaze seared the skin from his bones, his scaled fists beat him, yet Momotaro reached the beast's breast and, in a single act of sacrifice, drove his sacred sword through his own heart. The blade traveled through his body and into the breast of the demon, pinning himself there.

The demon king was puzzled. He could not understand why his opponent seemed to have committed suicide and reached forth to claim Momotaro's soul from his body. In this moment, Momotaro's soul sprang its trap, bursting from his corpse in a ray of light.
Momotaro's soul was stern and powerful; a great being of light and fury. For quite some time, the demon king and the warrior's soul did battle across all the plains of Nedagathia annihilating the landscape, as was Momotaro's plan.

Finally, both entities bloodied and battered, Momotaro lured the Khulghaani warlord to a patch of Nedagathia, the first speck of land that had been sprung from the emptiness of the limbo. Momotaro found the gateway into the cosmos from which this speck had been formed and prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.

The demon king lunged at the warrior's soul. As his last act, Momotaro's soul reached out and shattered the sword that still impaled his body to the breast of the demon king. The sword's shards exploded out of the demon king, wounding him grievously. The shards moved with such speed and keenness of edge that they slew whatever demons they encountered before finally cutting the fabric of reality in Nedagathia and escaped back into the world.

His heart no longer pierced, Momotaro's now-unfettered soul was wrenched by the will of the cosmos to ascend to Ein Chen Galandris (Home of honor and valor). However, Momotaro refused paradise and used the power of his ascension to grapple the demon king. With a final effort, he plunged both himself and his foe into the void of the cosmos, destined to drift forever in the nothingness beyond space and time.

Through the courage of a simple peasant, the demon king of the Khulghaani was destroyed and, witnessing the courage and sacrifice of Momotaro, the Arieanis retreated from the world; no longer using it as a battleground. The Khulghaani were forced to do the same, giving their blessing to his disciples. Their descendents in the lands would come to be known as the Ghenzari.

Society

At its broadest, the Ghen are broken up into two social classes: The Rohagani (Men of bone and leather)—m ore commonly known as Wilder Ghen—and the Shokokhan (Men of steel and gold)—or Imperial Ghen. These two classifications are broken down into the five tribes (two tribes are considered extinct). Within these tribes, different clans (families) hold different powers. Some families are very powerful in certain clans, others less so.

Shoijans
Every tribe has a stronghold called a Shoijan, or home, followed by tribe designation (Shoijan Running Wolf, Shoijan Watching Lotus, etc). Here the chieftains of each tribe reside, as well as heads of the most prominent clans in the tribe. The chieftains and the heads of the major clans discuss tribe policy, news of the region, encroaching enemies and, of increasing importance, the politics of the capital city, Ragsakian Ghenzari, (Throne of the Ghenzari). The warriors of the most powerful clans train and hone their skills preparing for assault, either for another attack by the Morgai or an unfriendly visit from the Shokokhan, coming to stamp out these last bastions of tradition and mysticism.

The women and children of the clans prepare food, as well as cure meats and skins taken from the various beasts that wander the plains. Horses are kept, bred, and trained for battle, always treated with the reverence the wilder Ghen are well known for. Weapons and armor are crafted from wood, leather or the ultra-hard bones of the Triceraghar beast which roams the plains. Children are instructed in the arts of horsemanship, combat and the mystic traditions specific to each tribe.

Rituals and traditions are carried out here as well. Siwabawa (Dances of dust and stamping feet) or more simply Dust Dances are carried out in celebration or ritual. Feyd shiwa (Seeing with the heart) or vision quests are also started here. Finally, nar gon ghul (Dance of cutting blades) or duels are held here, either between rival clans or sometimes even between family members. Often these duels are held to settle disputes of honor, land, titles, valor, mates, or land.

The shoijans are the centerpiece of each tribe—the heart of each tribe's culture—society and civilization; one part stronghold, one part village, much like a town that springs up around a military outpost. These places are the core of tribe identity and unlike the watyas (mobile villages), they remain in one place; their buildings and halls built from stone and wood rather than hardened mud and leather.

Watya
Watya (Place of earth and wind) is a type of mobile village, populated by the Wilder Ghen. They take their name from their ability to be erected and then deconstructed very quickly, making it difficult for both the forces of the Shokokhan and the reptilian Morgai to track them down.

The buildings here are formed by poles and cured animal skins creating a type of spacious tent called a koji (home of skin). Each koji is unique as they can be constructed a thousand different ways to accommodate climate, space, materials available, and the personal taste of the owner, whether it is luxurious or Spartan.

Clans with an arcane spell caster (rare but not unknown outside of the Watching Lotus tribe) or with other more mundane means available, and who are of sufficient station, can create homes of fire-hardened mud called wequah (Home of fire and earth). These sturdier structures often also serve a martial purpose such as serving as the stable, barracks, fletcher, armorer and weapon smith.

Wilder Ghen weapons are made of a type of ultra-hard bone harvested from Triceraghar, a large stout creature that is grey with many horns and boney collars, favored by the dwarves as mounts, which inhabit the plains. When treated and tempered via a specific combination of herbs, oil and technique it's strength and keenness is comparable to steel, which is extraordinarily rare in the open plains. As they do not possess steel to make Bodkin arrows to punch through armor, Ghen archers use very sharp, very flat arrowheads that are easy to make, whether from bone or stone. They are designed to slip between the cracks of most armor. With this in mind, Wilder Ghen archers rely more on accuracy than firepower. Armor is crafted from leather in the form of straps, scales, small links or large plates. The beasts that provide the bone for their weapons also provide the skin and plates for the armor and thus nothing is wasted.

Watya are ruled by a council of elders, as opposed to the Shoijan chieftain or the Shokokhan Emperor. Whoever the village deems to be the wisest, most experienced, or strongest tend to be assigned positions within the council, their responsibilities matched with their abilities.

These villages maintain mobility due to the dangers of attack by Morgai, Shokokhan, or any number of the various creatures that wander the plains. Constant vigilance is crucial. As such, there are special riders called Shen-Zai (Eyes of the wind) or Watya riders. These horsemen constantly patrol the village and the surrounding area for threats whether they are soldiers from the capital, wild animals and monsters, or the dreaded Morgai. At first sign of peril, these horsemen use tools called Mao tsa (Howling of the wind), which is a hollowed-out gourd attached to a thick length of rope. When swung quickly overhead it produces a keening, high-pitched sound that echoes quite loudly over the flat vastness of the Ghenland plains. The rider hurries back to the watya still sounding the Mao tsa. Other riders who hear the call of the Mao tsa activate their own and race back to the watya as well. The combined din of the riders is enough to alert those in the watya to mobilize their defenses. The people of a watya deliberately travel light so that their homes may be quickly abandoned and just as quickly rebuilt elsewhere.

The watyas closest to the shoijans are often all made up exclusively of that tribe, most often comprised of lesser clans who have yet to gain enough fame or honor to find a place either within the shoijans or within the walls of Ragsakian Ghenzari. As one ventures closer to the capital, watya become more multi-cultural with members of all the tribes living together due to exiles from the city and those rare Imperial Ghen who are seeking the council of ones who still practice the old ways, since banned within the capital.

Unfortunately these multi-tribal watyas are targets for the Emperor and his Shokokhan because they are often congregations of criminals, political dissidents and worst of all, those who still practice the old ways, deemed heresy by the Emperor. As such they can be very hard to find, as they remain mobile to avoid persecution.

Ragsakian Ghenzari
Ragsakian Ghenzari "Throne of the Ghenzari" is the capital of the Ghenlands with a population of roughly five hundred thousand and is ruled by the Emperor (though technically the Ghen is not nor has even been an empire) Sun Rahn. Beneath the Emperor is the council of five, the highest-ranking chieftains of their respective tribes who have converted to the Imperial way of life.

Beneath, in theory, are the heads of the most powerful families in the city, whose ancestors or they themselves have been distinguished in Ghen society. In practice, these powerful families, which consist of members from all five tribes, hold astonishing power in the city's political structure that may rival the council of five.

A clan that achieves honor and glory in battle, marries well and produces powerful heirs, or acquires the largest number of either retainers or lands and goods may choose to forsake the watya or the shoijans and move to the city. Many of these clans are the ruling families of their respective watya or powerful families within the shoijan who are not yet powerful enough to rule it.

Upon arrival, the head of the clan presents himself to the Emperor (how quickly he may do this depends on how powerful the clan petitioning for recognition is) and swears fealty to him. If the Emperor is pleased he dubs the petitioning clan a moriyi "noble house" and welcomes them to take their place in the city's political landscape. If for some reason the Emperor is NOT pleased, the consequences could range from a simple rebuff and encouragement to come back with greater achievements to harsher punishments, such as public humiliation, seizure of lands or goods, exile or even being branded noriyoshi "Disgraced" and they and all their descendants are forever banned from taking a place in the capital, relegated to being Rohagani, considered little more than backwards barbarians by the city at large. Many noriyoshi find their way into the watyas nearby in order to regain some measure of their former power and dignity. (Hence these watyas are constant targets of the Emperor.)

A kind of covert political warfare occurs within the capital where ruling houses attempt to hijack each other's influence, monies, power and prestige. It may be as simple as wooing the unmarried heir of a more powerful house away from a competing house or as complex as a nighttime raid upon the manor of their rivals leaving every last noble dead in their beds. The rule here is discretion, tact, finesse, and above all, do not get caught, either by the city's police; the Harima, or worse, the Emperor's secret police and political inquisitors the Zagasazi "Eyes of the supreme ruler". So long as one does not attract undue attention and performs their misdeeds with delicacy and discretion, wiping out an entire family and taking their power is perfectly acceptable.

There are a variety of possible outcomes from this kind of assault, called kainde (ironically meaning "Righteous Spear"). Should the assaulting house fail to exterminate the head of the house, the heirs or any witnesses, then in retaliation, the defending house may perform the ceremony of gen chna' "blinding shield". An accusation by the surviving members of the defending house is brought against the attacking house (if that house can be identified) before the Emperor and the royal court. At which point, the assaulting house faces a choice: confess and be granted the right of van sien "honorable death" where the head of the household accepts responsibility for the botched attack and is either executed or allowed to commit suicide. The heir of the house would assume the throne with all holdings and monies intact having only been forced to forswear any further violence against a house (officially) for the duration of his rule and pay an annual tribute to the offended house, the duration of which is determined by the Emperor.

On the other hand should the attacking family deny the charges, the Zagasazi investigate and should the assaulting house be found guilty despite their protestations to the contrary then the most feared outcome may come to pass; the Jinn-Han, genocide; the extermination of the entire family down to the last child, the entire family declared noriyoshi. This dreaded act is what has given the Zagasazi and to a less extent, the Emperor such a feared reputation.

It is for this reason that it is rare that a house launches the kainde against another house, especially when there are safer ways to acquire power that will not result in possible genocide. One is the act of nagaz "blinding the eye", where the head of the targeted house is murdered or simply convinced to abdicate. The heirs are all blackmailed into abstaining from succeeding the now-defunct head of the house and as such the house is declared na'l noriyoshi "Defeated with honor". The defeated house's majority holdings are officially taken into the custody of Most Honorable Emperor (unofficially the house that committed nagaz successfully winds up with most of it behind closed doors) while a token portion is allowed to remain in the hands of the defeated house. While their social standing and political position are stripped from them, they still retain their honor and so may still achieve power through other means, such as military service or service to a greater house. The irony of this arrangement is that in many cases the defeated house pledges itself to the service of the very house that defeated them, in hopes that through loyal and excellent service, they may regain a portion of their honor in the eyes of the Dragon Court.

Other factions in the city include the variety of merchants, some gaining an impressive measure of political power in their own right. Various criminal organizations and guilds also hold power.

One other power that bears mention is the Ariguro, the military. Under the supreme command of the Emperor, the army and navy are at his full disposal and many generals within its ranks hold considerable political power and often form moriyi of their own, parleying their military success into political power. It is in this way that na'l noriyoshi may regain some measure of their former power.

In exchange for their position and power, the sons of noble houses must serve in the honored ranks of the Ariguro. Most nobles are all too happy to do so as the Ariguro offers an opportunity for the young and unproven to gain power, reputation and honor. For na'l noriyoshi and the common man, they are required to prove their worth. For those who would seek a place in the military and the power that it can convey, they must build their reputation in combat by venturing beyond the capital and combating the enemies of the Emperor in a kind of warrior pilgrimage called tsudo sai, "way of fire" comparing the pilgrimage to the blacksmithing process of heating metal to make it strong. Upon their return, they must find a patron within the ranks of the Ariguro who will sponsor the applicant on their honor. Should the applicant fail in anyway during the time of zajimbo "The Tempering", a type of probationary period, both applicant and patron will be stripped of their rank and honor.

The Ariguro is tightly regimented and highly organized, utilizing very cunning and elaborate battle tactics in their battles against the enemies of the Emperor. Within their ranks are zenshi "peasant spearmen" consisting of those who have not yet achieved nobility through battle, as well as jusaka (archers), kyodo-reiche (mounted archer), kyodo-shazi (mounted scout), kyodo-gunshin (heavy cavalry, the prize of the horsemen Ghen), kendai-mayu (heavy swordsmen) and many other classifications as well. All of these classifications fall under two categories, yara meaning "unproven" or "second-class" those who have yet to achieve honor in the battlefield or the disgraced; and seitou meaning "honorable warrior" or "battlefield nobility" those who have proven their honor.

As opposed to their "barbaric cousins", the Imperial Ghen prides themselves on steel weapons and armor and the quality in which they are made. The Emperor funds very expansive mining expeditions into the nearby regions, part of why it's impossible to find metal in the wild anymore. These weapons, in the militaristic society of the capital, are status symbols as well as essential tools and as such are treated with the utmost of respect.

The Tribes
There are now five tribes in the Ghen culture. In the watyas and shoijans tribal identity is crucial and very pronounced. In the capital as part of the Emperor's shinsei junsa "Sacred Cleansing" (the attempt by the Emperor to suppress and ban the knowledge and practice of the old ways), tribal identity is discouraged and downplayed, substituted with house identity.

The five tribes are:

* Hunting Wolf: This tribe was originally branded "Running wolf" by the other tribes, who made abundantly clear that the title was meant to signify cowardice rather than swiftness. The tribe of the Hunting Wolf is scorned and spat upon, often treated as second class citizens, even by the other wilder Ghen.

The reason for this lies in their origins and in their culture; the tribe was founded by a woman masquerading as a male warrior. As their clan was founded by deception, that always been their calling. While they do produce the most proficient rakua "Men of the plains" (rangers) in all of Ghenzari, they also produce the loathed akage "Men of shadows and forked tongues" (thieves, spies and diplomats), the shuuukukasha "Bringers of quiet death" (assassins) and the bara "women of poisoned lips" (Female assassins and spies, masters of the art of seduction). Because the tribe of the Hunting Wolf fosters these groups and makes them part of their culture, they are treated very poorly by the other tribes who consider them eti "polluted". The irony is that many of these same tribes come to these people whom they scorn when they either require knowledge of lands they are afraid to tread or need something done they cannot "soil" themselves with. The people of the Hunting Wolf are growing quite resentful of this racist and hypocritical treatment and may do something about it soon. Members of this tribe and of all the classes therein may be found in both the plains and the capital, though in what capacity is up to the individual. It is noteworthy that only in the tribe of the Hunting Wolf are women trained for combat beyond that of the defense of hearth and home. This practice does not endear them to the chauvinistic society of greater Ghen.

* Watching Lotus: This tribe makes up the majority of sorcerers called maryoku, "crafters of enigmas" and wizards, called jouston "warriors of paper and flame" found in Ghen society. In the wildlands, they are often shamans aiding in tasks from helping to erect wequah to aiding in defenses of the shoijan and wetya, casting magic down upon the heads of their enemies, aiding and enhancing their warriors and using their knowledge of the mystical to combat enemy spellcasters.

In the city, as magic is slowly being pushed out by the shinsei junsa, members of the Watching Lotus clan take up other professions such as herbalism (helping the sick and less publicly making and selling poisons), alchemy (brewing chemicals to be used as weapons or other purposes), medicine (knowledge of human anatomy is a touchy subject amongst the rigid shokokhan but is still practiced), as well as a host of other medical and scientific pursuits. Many members of this tribe also help tend to libraries and are working to bring a university to the city.

Some members of the Lotus tribe are not content to slowly have their way of life eradicated, nor are they willing to surrender their power and prestige. These discontented wizards and sorcerers continue to meet and practice their craft in defiance of the Emperor, setting schemes to thwart the shinsei junsa. Ironically, they find assistance in the very nobles that make up the Emperor's constituency as many of them come to these hidden mages with requests for magical aid. Through a system of bribes, blackmail and middlemen these hidden cabals continue to ply their forbidden and mystical craft.

* Bloody Tiger: The most powerful of all the tribes, this tribe is made of kyou khar "Men of cutting hands" (warriors) and kyou bak "Men of closed hands" (monks). As the premiere source of conventional soldiers, warriors, and monks, the tribe of the Bloody Tiger holds great power in the warrior society of the Ghen, both in the wildlands and within the capital. A significant portion of the Ariguro is made of this clan and nearly all its generals hail from it.

Members from this tribe are both the most numerous and the most valued, free to make their own way through Ghen society with no hint of discrimination that hangs above the heads of the other four tribes (though a member from the rohagani may still find a very cold reception from their brethren of the shokokhan). To this tribe, prowess through battle is all and from this tribe springs the most powerful, respected warriors. The Emperor's ancestors are believed to hail from this tribe, as the Emperor himself was a general in Ariguro.

Warriors from this tribe are not simply brawler or barbarians; they are trained relentlessly from birth in the arts of war and have an impressive, nearly prodigal grasp on battlefield tactics, from the smallest war party to the largest army. Members of this tribe can be found easily in either the wildlands or the capital and may serve in any capacity from the disgraced to the most highly honored.

* Praying Owl: Like the tribe of the Watching Lotus, this clan specializes in the mystical. And it has also fallen onto hard times due to the Emperor's decree forbidding magic, though to a lesser extent.

Priests and healers, those who specialize in the contact of the ancestral spirits (see "Religion" below) and draw their strength from the rituals therein have been discouraged to do so, at least within the capital. Shokokhan of this particular tribe though have a slightly easier time of it, as their skills in channeling the power of their ancestors and the medicinal arts are treated with much more respect and honor than their more distrusted, wizardly brethren. The priests' ancestral worship and approved medicinal practices are seen as honorable and more easily understood and acceptable by society at large than wizardly magic.

Many nobles, from whose resources the Emperor draws a goodly amount of his temporal power, have discreetly sidestepped the Emperor's decree and retain several mystical healers as their own personal physicians. Their reasoning is why should they deny themselves the formidable power of their ancestral spirits, simply because the Emperor is paranoid and small-minded about all things not military?

Among the Wilder Ghen, these priests (as well as shamans and druids) are revered healers and mystics. While the Lotus tribe member may rain down fire upon their enemies, it is the tribe of the Praying Owl that heals their wounds and infuses the watya or shoijan with its spiritual strength and well-being. If the maryoku and the jouston are the mystical fists of the village then the priests and druids (called kinben sosen "Shepard of the Spirit" and kinben chikyuu "Shepard of Earth") are the spiritual heart, serving as shamans, medicine men, advisors and keepers of tribal lore and customs.

Many Ghen lorekeepers are not arcanists; most bards and heralds come from this tribe. These men of learning also possess a certain flamboyance that makes them more suitable for entertainment and keeping of stories than medicine. These are not simply lute-bearing fops; instead they are essential in Ghen society, whether assisting in conducting the siwabawa and a variety of other rituals in a shoijan, helping maintain an oral record and history of the watya and its inhabitants, or maintaining records and composing great works to the honor of a noble's ancestors (or the nobles themselves) within the capital. These shijin ("Keepers of memories) have a distinct place of honor all their own in the Ghen society.

* Tribe of Raging Bear: Berserkers, savages, madmen. These titles and more are given to the barbarians of the Ghen. Called okumaaga, meaning "sundered mind", these fanatics are often kept in cages in the capital city, and even within watyas and shoijan often live separately from the rest of the community and are kept a very close eye on. These warriors, who can enter the killing rage and know no pain and no fear, are indispensable as shock troops, crashing down upon their enemies like a tsunami of howling fury.

Many chieftains of this tribe are not willing to settle for having their brethren used as effective but ultimately expendable cannon fodder, and are attempting to carve a place for themselves in the rigid Ghen society. The more politically-minded among them push for alliances with the other tribes, and better treatment of their city brethren (a distinct departure from the attitudes of all the other tribes), while the more martial venture forth into the land, using their unique powers to conquer enemies of their people and earn honor for themselves and their tribe.

This lends itself to an interesting situation as many times, young Ghen both from the city and the other tribes will venture out to the shoijan and watyas of the Raging Bear in hopes of meeting warriors whose fearless (and reckless) exploits are legendary. It is thought that in the berserkers lays the fiery passion that once lay in the heart of all Ghen, the same fire that fueled the sacred Momotaro to take up arms and carve a path all the way to the Sym Baal. Ghar Khan, the warrior spirit, the inner fire that forges the steel of the Ghen soul is in sharp decline as of late and it is thought that the rages these tribal warriors enter is the spirit of the Ghar Khan, raging against the stifling social hierarchy that the Ghen have placed upon themselves. As such, warriors of the Raging Bear can sometimes find themselves as the head of dozens of discontent young men convinced that by following the example set by their newfound idol, they can reclaim some small portion of their nearly-forgotten heritage and in the process rebel against the culture that they find no solace in. And so these rebels find their way to those who know no fear in the hope that perhaps the old ways are not as dead as the Emperor would like them to be.

There are two other tribes in the history of the Ghen, one branded traitor, the other extinct.

The king that followed Momotaro on his pilgrimage countless eons ago, founded the Tribe of Leaping Mantis. What manner of men produced by this tribe is unknown; what is known is that as time went on, arrogance ate into their hearts. A sickness began to fester, fueled by the very regal power that their progenitor had imparted upon them; the power that had made them the strongest of all the tribes now warped into arrogance, cruelty and sickened pride. Their hearts and minds diseased and corrupted, they made contact with a Khulghaani using dark forbidden rites and pledged their service to his cause in exchange for power.

They sold their souls and the souls of their countrymen and attempted to undo what Momotaro had sacrificed his very essence to achieve. They were traitors now and were dubbed "Tribe of the Spider". They marched forth, their dark powers allowing them to slaughter their kin and countrymen with impunity. No tribe could stand against them. Save one.

A simple thief had also joined Momotaro with the intent of robbing him and the other pilgrims. Spat upon by the other pilgrims (save the woman who founded the Hunting Wolf tribe who knew what it was to be persecuted), he followed Momotaro into the woods with the intent of robbing him.

A short while later he emerged, a changed man. His back, always slumped in furtive hunger and sneak-thievery was straightened now with pride. His eyes were clear, and tears of joy trickled down unashamedly. He walked with a nearly overpowering regality that caused even the king who had joined them to bow his head in acknowledgement of the power of this once common cutpurse.

From that day forth, the once-thief became a paragon of virtue. He did not drink, gamble, or womanize; instead he contemplated not only what Momotaro was teaching them all through his actions, but also how the world around him reacted to those actions, what changed and what still needed to be changed. He learned to fight well, infusing equal parts passion, zeal, and nobility until he was a warrior to rival any that the world had seen.

Finally, as Momotaro was prepared to enter the Sym Baal, the humble thief-turned-knight prepared himself to enter. He was the only pilgrim with the courage to do so; for all knew from a single glance into the portal and the world that lay beyond it that to enter was to be condemned for all ages. Momotaro turned to the small man and spoke his first words since the death of his family, "My brother, would you leave this world when still so much of it requires your aid?"

Without another word Momotaro plunged forward into the gate and to his destiny. As for the peasant knight, he went on to found the tribe of the Celestial Dragon. And from their ranks came the kensai "sword saints".

The Ghen Paladins.

For centuries this smallest yet most powerful of the tribes continued to train in accordance to Momotaro's last words, striving to aid the world as best they could, waiting for the day when they would be called upon in the hour of the world's greatest need. The hour arrived with the betrayal of the Mantis tribe and the near genocide of the Ghen.

Mobilizing the entire tribe, the holy warriors of the Ghen marched forth. Their divine powers, some believe given to them by the Arieanis and taught to them by Momotaro himself, beat back the Spider tribe and their demon masters, just as Momotaro had done himself so long ago. They pushed back the Spider tribe to the Sym Baal.

And then, without a moment's hesitation, the entire Tribe of the Celestial Dragon marched, banners held high, armor gleaming, into the Sym Baal and vanished, a song of glory and honor shouted high into the heavens from their lips.

Some say they did this to honor Momotaro, others believed that so deep was their sense of duty that they could not allow the Spider to exist where they could return and do greater harm to the Ghen. Whatever the reason, aside from scant rumors and whispered tales, neither tribe was ever heard from again.

Religion
The Ghen do not have a pantheon of gods, per se. Instead they honor their ancestors, especially the memory of their fathers. When divine spell casters pray, it is to these ancestors they direct their pleas.

Rituals differ dramatically between the Wilder Ghen and the Imperial Ghen. Wilder Ghen utilize sacred dances, drumming, and vision quests to commune with their ancestors, while their Imperial brethren prefer a private shrine, offerings of wine and incense and quiet prayers. The more prosperous houses in the capital city contain large sacred gardens called mioshani "gardens of stone and memory" named for the statues of their ancestors which are often displayed among either grassy yards or fine white sand stretches.

Amongst the Rohagani is a unique belief: one that the Emperor is desperately attempting to stamp out. The Ghen believe that all life is cyclical. That which dies may be reborn in another form, whether that form is a man, a beast, plants or even a certain location. It is believed that Momotaro escaped oblivion and was reborn, though his soul was scattered in a thousand different pieces because of his sacrifice. Certain items are thought to be touched by a shard of Momotaro's soul. In the past these have been a white tree, a winged horse, a blind albino and other forms. The Emperor himself lays claim to a garden which lies within his expansive estate: a garden made of multicolored fire. Every blossom upon a seemingly normal vine bursts in blue, red, or green fire that is cool to the touch. It is believed that a portion of Momotaro's soul is contained within the garden.

What the Emperor fears, and what the Rohagani pray for, is the Sinjam Khafar "The Unification", when all the shards of Momotaro's soul will come together as one and be reborn in a man. This man will have no distinguishing characteristics, he will not be noble born or special in any way save one: he will possess great courage and all Ghen will be drawn to him and will follow him.

This prophecy, lain down by those who followed Momotaro on his original journey, has been hotly disputed, especially by those of the noble ranks who chafe at the idea of a holy figure being born to peasantry. It has been interpreted that "noble born" simply means "a man of privilege" which is part of the reason houses that have been stripped of their rank are still permitted to live within the capital.

None fear this prophecy more than the Emperor, who waits in terror of the day that his garden of fire shall go out, signifying that shard of the soul has departed to be reborn. He is well aware that despite his efforts to suppress mysticism and faith in the Ghen culture, he simply cannot compete with a messiah. And so the Emperor dreads when the enemies of the Ghen approach, be it the Morgai, the goblin tribes or even the now-corrupt kingdom of Daymore to the south, that he as a military man will not be able to retain command over his people and that they shall follow blindly an ignorant peasant falsely glorified by an outdated myth, and that he shall lead them all to ruin.