The Pumpkin Eaters
The Pumpkin Eaters was the name given to the most fanatic followers of The Mad King. The group primarily consisted of radical cursed-bloods followers of The Bloody Queen. The Mad King used this select group during both the conquest of Kofficstain, Hacki, and the attempted conquest of Teula (Slepheilm) employing them as his elite force. The Pumpkin Eaters got their name from the blood rite each member would perform before coming into combat.
Structure
During the formation of The Pumpkin Eaters adopted the traditional Koffic hierarchical structure of parent-child where the child owes their allegiance to the parent). In a much later period, the code of justice and duty was developed where loyalty and respect are a way of life.
The parent-child relationship is formalized by the ceremonial drink of the blood of the parents from a chalice. This ritual is not exclusive to the Pumpkin Eaters—it is also commonly performed in traditional Koffic weddings, and may have been a part of sworn brotherhood relationships.
During the Slep-Speun war, the more traditional form of the organization declined as the entire population was mobilized to participate in the war effort and society came under the control of the strict military government. However, after the war, The Pumpkin Eaters' traditional hierarchy was adapted again.
Prospective Pumpkin Eaters come from all walks of life. The most romantic tales tell how Pumpkin Eaters accept sons who have been abandoned or exiled by their parents. Many Pumpkin Eaters start right after school as common street thugs or members of gangs. Perhaps because of its lower socio-economic status, numerous Pumpkin Eaters members come from native backgrounds.
Pumpkin Eaters groups are headed by a family head who gives orders to his subordinates, the children. In this respect, the organization is a variation of the traditional Koffic senior-junior model. Members of YPumpkin Eaters gangs cut their family ties and transfer their loyalty to the gang boss. They refer to each other as family members - fathers and elder and younger brothers. The Pumpkin Eaters is populated almost entirely by men and the very few women who are acknowledged are the wives of bosses or priestesses, who are referred to by the title older sister.
The Pumpkin Eaters have a complex organizational structure. There is an overall boss of the syndicate, Grand Father, and directly beneath him are the senior advisor and headquarters chief. The second in the chain of command is the father, who governs several gangs in a region with the help of the Uncle who is himself responsible for several gangs. The regional gangs themselves are governed by their local boss, the First Son
Each member's connection is ranked by the hierarchy of blood sharing. family heads are at the top and control various senior advisors. The senior advisors control their own turfs in different areas or cities. They have their own underlings, including other underbosses, advisors, accountants, and enforcers.
Those who have received blood from the family heads are part of the immediate family and ranked in terms of elder or younger brothers. However, each child, in turn, can offer blood as father to his underling to form an affiliated organization, which might in turn form lower-ranked organizations.
The parent-child relationship is formalized by the ceremonial drink of the blood of the parents from a chalice. This ritual is not exclusive to the Pumpkin Eaters—it is also commonly performed in traditional Koffic weddings, and may have been a part of sworn brotherhood relationships.
During the Slep-Speun war, the more traditional form of the organization declined as the entire population was mobilized to participate in the war effort and society came under the control of the strict military government. However, after the war, The Pumpkin Eaters' traditional hierarchy was adapted again.
Prospective Pumpkin Eaters come from all walks of life. The most romantic tales tell how Pumpkin Eaters accept sons who have been abandoned or exiled by their parents. Many Pumpkin Eaters start right after school as common street thugs or members of gangs. Perhaps because of its lower socio-economic status, numerous Pumpkin Eaters members come from native backgrounds.
Pumpkin Eaters groups are headed by a family head who gives orders to his subordinates, the children. In this respect, the organization is a variation of the traditional Koffic senior-junior model. Members of YPumpkin Eaters gangs cut their family ties and transfer their loyalty to the gang boss. They refer to each other as family members - fathers and elder and younger brothers. The Pumpkin Eaters is populated almost entirely by men and the very few women who are acknowledged are the wives of bosses or priestesses, who are referred to by the title older sister.
The Pumpkin Eaters have a complex organizational structure. There is an overall boss of the syndicate, Grand Father, and directly beneath him are the senior advisor and headquarters chief. The second in the chain of command is the father, who governs several gangs in a region with the help of the Uncle who is himself responsible for several gangs. The regional gangs themselves are governed by their local boss, the First Son
Each member's connection is ranked by the hierarchy of blood sharing. family heads are at the top and control various senior advisors. The senior advisors control their own turfs in different areas or cities. They have their own underlings, including other underbosses, advisors, accountants, and enforcers.
Those who have received blood from the family heads are part of the immediate family and ranked in terms of elder or younger brothers. However, each child, in turn, can offer blood as father to his underling to form an affiliated organization, which might in turn form lower-ranked organizations.
Culture
The cutting off of one's finger is a form of penance or apology. Upon a first offense, the transgressor must cut off the tip of his left little finger and give the severed portion to his boss. Sometimes an underboss may do this in penance to the family head if he wants to spare a member of his gang from further retaliation. This practice has started to wane amongst the younger members, due to it being an easy identifier for police.
Its origin stems from the traditional way of holding a Koffic sword. The bottom three fingers of each hand are used to grip the sword tightly, with the thumb and index fingers slightly loose. The removal of digits starting with the little finger moving up the hand to the index finger progressively weakens a person's sword grip.
The idea is that a person with a weak sword grip then has to rely more on the group for protection—reducing individual action. In recent years, prosthetic fingertips have been developed to disguise this distinctive appearance.
Many Pumpkin Eaters have full-body tattoos (including their genitalia). These tattoos are still often "hand-poked", that is, the ink is inserted beneath the skin using non-electrical, hand-made, and handheld tools with needles of sharpened wood or bone. The procedure is expensive, painful, and can take years to complete.
When Pumpkin Eaters members play dice with each other, they often remove their shirts or open them up and drape them around their waists. This enables them to display their full-body tattoos to each other. This is one of the few times that Pumpkin Eaters members display their tattoos to others, as they normally keep them concealed in public with long-sleeved and high-necked shirts. When new members join, they are often required to remove their trousers as well and reveal any lower body tattoos.
All female children born to a Pumpkin Eater family are required to take the blood rites ritual, bathing the newborn in the Witch's Blood, while all-male Children born to a Pumpkin Eater family are required to drink from the pumpkin chalice.
Its origin stems from the traditional way of holding a Koffic sword. The bottom three fingers of each hand are used to grip the sword tightly, with the thumb and index fingers slightly loose. The removal of digits starting with the little finger moving up the hand to the index finger progressively weakens a person's sword grip.
The idea is that a person with a weak sword grip then has to rely more on the group for protection—reducing individual action. In recent years, prosthetic fingertips have been developed to disguise this distinctive appearance.
Many Pumpkin Eaters have full-body tattoos (including their genitalia). These tattoos are still often "hand-poked", that is, the ink is inserted beneath the skin using non-electrical, hand-made, and handheld tools with needles of sharpened wood or bone. The procedure is expensive, painful, and can take years to complete.
When Pumpkin Eaters members play dice with each other, they often remove their shirts or open them up and drape them around their waists. This enables them to display their full-body tattoos to each other. This is one of the few times that Pumpkin Eaters members display their tattoos to others, as they normally keep them concealed in public with long-sleeved and high-necked shirts. When new members join, they are often required to remove their trousers as well and reveal any lower body tattoos.
All female children born to a Pumpkin Eater family are required to take the blood rites ritual, bathing the newborn in the Witch's Blood, while all-male Children born to a Pumpkin Eater family are required to drink from the pumpkin chalice.
Public Agenda
During the age of the Mad King, The Pumpkin Eaters' purpose was to enforcers of The Mad King and The Bloody Queen's personal bodyguards. In current times they now focus on policing the outer territories for the Lane family while trying to fulfill The Pumpkin Eater Prophecy, in order to return them to power.
The Pumpkin Eater Prophecy:
On a moonless night, three witches born,
And through their curse, a soul is torn,
for whom a child the darkness yearns,
And from the blood, the king returns
The Pumpkin Eater Prophecy:
On a moonless night, three witches born,
And through their curse, a soul is torn,
for whom a child the darkness yearns,
And from the blood, the king returns
History
Despite uncertainty about the single origin of The Pumpkin Eaters' organizations, most modern The Pumpkin Eaters derive from two social classifications which emerged in The Red King's Rein (1757-1782): The Bone Men, those who primarily peddled stolen or shoddy goods from the dead; and Embalmed, undead slaves used for manual labor. The name pumpkin eater comes for the ritual used to create the Embalmed. Prior to being embalmed the slave would be forced to drink Witch's Blood from a bowl made from a small pumpkin.
The Bone Men ranked as one of the lowest social groups during The Red King's Rein. During the Mad King's Rein (1782-1838) As they began to form organizations as street enforcers, they took over some administrative duties relating to commerce, such as stall allocation and protection of their commercial activities.
Under The Mad King, The Embalmed became a highly structured and hierarchical group with the boss at the top and gang members at the bottom. This hierarchy resembles a structure similar to the family. During the Mad King's Rein, the government formally recognized the Embalmed. At this time, within the Embalmed the bosses were appointed as supervisors and bodyguards of the Blood Queen
Gamblers had a much lower social standing even than traders, as gambling was illegal. Many small gambling houses cropped up in abandoned temples or shrines at the edges of towns and villages all over Kofficstain. Most of these gambling houses ran loan sharking businesses for clients, and they usually maintained their security personnel. Society at large regarded the gambling houses themselves, as well as the Gamblers, with disdain. Much of the undesirable image of The Pumpkin Eaters originates from Gamblers.
Because of the economic situation during the Mad King's Rein and the predominance of the merchant class, developing Pumpkin Eaters groups were composed of misfits and delinquents who had joined or formed Pumpkin Eaters groups to extort customers in local markets by selling fake or shoddy goods.
After the fall of the Mad King, most of the Pumpkin Eaters were driven northern contains forcing them to go either go underground or flee to some of the island kingdoms who were loyal to Mad king, or head south to Slepheilm. The roots of the Pumpkin Eaters survive today in initiation ceremonies, which incorporate The Bone Men or Embalmed rituals. Although the modern Pumpkin Eaters has diversified, some gangs still identify with one group or the other; for example, a gang whose primary source of income is illegal gambling may refer to themselves as Bone Men.
The Bone Men ranked as one of the lowest social groups during The Red King's Rein. During the Mad King's Rein (1782-1838) As they began to form organizations as street enforcers, they took over some administrative duties relating to commerce, such as stall allocation and protection of their commercial activities.
Under The Mad King, The Embalmed became a highly structured and hierarchical group with the boss at the top and gang members at the bottom. This hierarchy resembles a structure similar to the family. During the Mad King's Rein, the government formally recognized the Embalmed. At this time, within the Embalmed the bosses were appointed as supervisors and bodyguards of the Blood Queen
Gamblers had a much lower social standing even than traders, as gambling was illegal. Many small gambling houses cropped up in abandoned temples or shrines at the edges of towns and villages all over Kofficstain. Most of these gambling houses ran loan sharking businesses for clients, and they usually maintained their security personnel. Society at large regarded the gambling houses themselves, as well as the Gamblers, with disdain. Much of the undesirable image of The Pumpkin Eaters originates from Gamblers.
Because of the economic situation during the Mad King's Rein and the predominance of the merchant class, developing Pumpkin Eaters groups were composed of misfits and delinquents who had joined or formed Pumpkin Eaters groups to extort customers in local markets by selling fake or shoddy goods.
After the fall of the Mad King, most of the Pumpkin Eaters were driven northern contains forcing them to go either go underground or flee to some of the island kingdoms who were loyal to Mad king, or head south to Slepheilm. The roots of the Pumpkin Eaters survive today in initiation ceremonies, which incorporate The Bone Men or Embalmed rituals. Although the modern Pumpkin Eaters has diversified, some gangs still identify with one group or the other; for example, a gang whose primary source of income is illegal gambling may refer to themselves as Bone Men.
Founding Date
1782
Type
Religious, Cult
Leader
Leader Title
Location
Related Ranks & Titles
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
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