Mortifis
Cold, calculative and the longest living of the Dreagasian. The Mortifis class are able to feed on energy they come into contact with. They often see their comrades as tools or temporary assets. Symbolizing death, they calmly execute the most efficient way to defeat an opponent.
Energy: Much like the Aquilla class, The Mortifis are able to absorb incoming energy but are able to hold onto it for a much longer period of time before the energy being metabolized. However they can only absorb one energy type at a time and must be free of all other types to do so.
Dragonscale flesh: Porous scales that allow for energy to be absorbed through binds energy that passes through it to the Dreagasian, removing it of any will or manipulation previous held by a previous user
Stone: Obsidian
Energy absorption metrics: 8.5 megajoules per second (thermal/electrical) 300,000 joules per second (kinetic)
Maximum cellular energy containment: 25 gigajoules(thermal/electrical) joules (kinetic)
Expulsion rate: 20 megajoules per second(thermal/electrical) 600,000 joules per second(kinetic)
Energy manipulation range: 50 meters.
Energy Conversion: All energy that passes through a Mortifis must undergo a property change before the energy becomes completely under their control. This conversion takes microseconds to fully occur will increase dependent on the amount of energy absorbed.
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Culture
Culture and cultural heritage
Battle poems: A passed down continuous verse, composed by each great leader or family head of house. At the end of their life, they add a single line and the decision whether to continue the current rhyme or attempt to start a new one could bode boon or blight for ones lineage.
Saga wall: Mortificians keep great intricate murals of both victories and defeats, plagues and blessings. They use these as an eternal account for their personal history. Among the many of these within the culture the five most grand are located in the foyer of each of the five keeps. The grandest containing undamaged tales from over 300 generations. It is common however, that a great liberty is taken with the accurracy in these stories, often inflating the grandious of victories, and the devestation of defeat.
Shared customary codes and values
- For an adolescent Mortifisian to be recognized as an adult they must complete a ritual known as The Trial of Ash. (See: Rites of Passage for details)
- As a symbolic gesture of love for his people, a Mortifis leader may choose to walk among his followers and help them in their duties, even doing what is normally considered females’ work such as helping them care for eggs. This is also done to inspire the Mortifis to work diligently so as to not be outdone by their superiors.
- Mortifis warriors form very close-knitted relationships, referring to their comrades as “brothers'' or “sisters'' and remaining intensely loyal to them. This loyalty is shown in the custom of grieving after the death of a fallen comrade, a ritual which includes a prayer for the dead warrior.
- Young Mortifis raised Grey's learn and sing old narrative poems, the most famous and widely known being the legendary ballad of the God Mortifis and his ascension to Godhood.
- The Mortifis place great value in names and titles, and consider names to be a privilege given only to those who are worthy. The Mortifis generally regard other species as nameless, aside from generic labels, such as the monikers for other Dreagasians, such as Pyrros/Teranno/Aquilla/Zennon.
Common Etiquette rules
Male.
- High class:
- Medium class:
- Low class:
- High class:
- Medium class:
- Low class:
Common Dress code
Common wear: Mortifician territory is divided between harsh ashen wastes and swamps crawling with ravenous fauna thusly they have two form of wear complimentary to the traits of each region.
- Swampland: Tight leather garb optimized for mobility and water shedding properties. Pallet color matching that of the glades as to provide natural camouflage
- Ash wastes: Roomy, full covering shrouds draped with many layers of hide to shield from the cutting shards of ash that are blown in the violent winds coming from Mount. Askara.
Art & Architecture
Ancient Themes
- Art
- Architecture
- Art
- Architecture
- Art
- Architecture
Birth & Baptismal Rites
During their early years, like all other Dreagasian Classes, these children are typically raised in the communal environment of their family keep to ensure that all start on an equal footing and progress in rank by merit of their abilities. They are not allowed to know the identity of their true fathers and are usually raised by a maternal uncle instead. This is a method of preventing status from being inherited in order to force children to make their own way in the world so they actively work for and earn advancement, thus minimizing nepotism and promoting loyalty to the whole clan rather than their parents. However as some children’s fathers are warriors who have been granted the right to reproduce with any number of female Mortifis they desire, the use of a maternal uncle as a father-like figure is used to allow children to be raised equally. Sometimes the individual acting as a Mortifis “uncle” is in fact the father, but this makes no difference to his role as the child will never know.
While traditional on Dreagasia, the custom of Mortifis children not knowing their fathers is not followed on all Mortifis-occupied worlds, particularly ones with smaller populations and tighter-knit families. Such as some clans who diverged from the mainline Mortifis culture at the dawn of the Mortifis rule over Dreagasia.
Coming of Age Rites
The Trial of Ash: A trial of survival and cunning. An adolescent Mortifisan must travel to the Ashlands and survive for a half span of time. Not only must they survive the harsh environment, but also contend with dangerous creatures; while at the same time slay one or more of these beasts. Once they have defeated one, they must conduct a ritual of extracting bones from the creature, Alive, as a trophy. They then must craft them into ornaments to decorate their clothing/horns. However the more trophies, or trophies made from some of the more dangerous creatures of the Ashlands, they return with the higher their standing within the Mortifis society they will be granted.
- Certain clans may require a certain number of creatures, or a specific creature, to be slain to be welcomed back into the clan once the Trial of Ash is completed. If they fail to complete this task they are then branded a failure and tossed out of the clan to make their own way in the world without any resources save the clothes on their back and a small handful of currency.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Being a Non-producer class, Mortificians often have bodily remains left behind as they depart the physical world. The corpse will be taken by the Bloodline Stakes who will prepare the Dreagasian for its journey to the beyond. To preserve the Mortificians power, the storage glands are removed placed into clay urns before the corpse is wrapped in tight linin. The corpse will then be placed into a vat of bog mud to soak for several days. The cadaver is removed and the coating of mud is cured in open air to create a sealed cocoon to preserve the corpse. These cocoons of muds are then placed into sarcophagi, ornamant and decoration depending on social status where commoners having simple stone cases and nobles having sarcophagi of ornate gold and obsidian, often depicting their deeds in ornate pictograms.
Mort' las skarla: More commonly known as "Night of Mortifis waltz" is a annual holiday among the Mortifician people in regard to their honored dead. It is believed that Mortifis, the god of the dead, grants his favor onto the fallen of his own class to allow them to repossess their bodies for one moons passing. It is belief in this that leads to the Mortficians careful preparation of their dead, as they wish to preserve the body they will be inhabiting on their return. The living will exhume their dead sarcophagi returning it to their residence, it is heavily forbidden to open the sarcophagi, as opening it would release the soul of the presevered Dreagasian preventing them from returning to the afterlife at suns light. The night will be filled with revelry, song and story to celebrate the brief return of their departed. The mood is kept festive as to provide the dead with a sense of home and safety away from the tumultuous fields of the battles beyond.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Male attractive features:
- Talon length and strength
- Horn shape, some being more attractive than others.
- Cunning
- Tail length
- Scale luster
- Intelligence
Gender Ideals
Male:
- Life military service, upon draft
- Governmental Positions
- Ranking military positions
- Official Land owners
- Education positions
- "Bloodline stakes" positions
- Science positions
- Legal positions
Courtship Ideals
Male: To display affection to a female, a male will spend a good deal of time crafting a beautiful trinket from bone and vines inlaid with precious metal and stones. The male will present this to a female and if she is satisfied with the craftsmanship as well as the overall value of the trinket courtship may begin.
Female: When a Female Mortifician is greatly interested in a male, and has made the decision that it is that male they wish to court they will preform a drastic display of....affection. The female Mortifician will attempt to assassinate the male. Beginning by following his motions, understanding him and his routine. Here, she can learn if the Dreagasian has any other potential suitors, as well as gauge his overall courtship worthiness The female will wait until her target is alone before striking, should the male survive the encounter, courtship may begin.
Relationship Ideals
Male: Males are viewed as the protector and provider, as well as expendable.
Female: Females are viewed as the caretaker and tactician, they handle most of the internal functions of the relationship.
Major organizations
Government:
The Mortifis have no unified government, they are splintered into numerous feudal, meritocratic states. A given state consists of five hol and is governed by a council of leaders from various keeps within each state. Each council consists of five powerful leaders known as Elders, which is then headed the strongest or most decorated elder, known as an Ancient. Each keep within a state belongs to a different clan under the leading keeps rule, though the Elder of each keep Elder assumes the Ancients clan name as a title signifying their position, regardless of the name of their own family keep (e.g. The Elder of Atreno keep would assume the Ancients clan name of Reliquiae to signify his position as an Elder of the state). However in times of war a council of Ancients may be called and all states Ancients will attend to determine how the war effort will proceed for all of the Mortifis.
In Morifis culture, it is customary to settle disagreements with authority by assassination, through one has to use personal weapons in order for the practice to be considered honorable. For example, if a council Elder believes that his vote was ill-advised or had second thoughts, it is considered a tradition for council elders to initiate some form of attack, such as sending assassins, against the Ancient to test the true merit of [the] ruler’s martial abilities. The belief was that “An ancient/Elder who could not defend himself was not a true leader.” Should the attack fail, the responsible person would be executed immediately, and his family will be killed. However, punishment for this form of failure was usually flexible. As such, if the person did something honorable, such as attack the Elder/Ancient himself, or attempted to make a final stand against the Elder/Ancient, then he would probably have managed to save his family from certain death, although they might still be banished.
Encompassed species
Related Organizations
Related Myths
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