Karoshim

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Karovadd

Culture and cultural heritage

The Karoshim are a solemn people carrying out an ancient duty for the repentance of an act of defiance an age long past. For them, remaining in silence contemplating their sins and the sins of their forefathers is an act that takes up much of their time, leading to them being considered rude by others. This has caused a rift with the Ajurow as diplomatic talks almost always end in the Ajurow leaving and feeling slighted. Despite this, if one can actually get a Karoshim to talk they are quite open and friendly people, though they caution against talking about religion, as it is a sore spot for them.

During times of conflict the Karoshim utilize their own Faith-Militant, known as the Desiccated Path, individuals who have given themselves over to service to the point where death does not phase them at all. These warriors, known as Stylek, fight using a wide array of tactics, though are known mostly for their hit and fade tactics that they use against superior numbers. Most Stylek fight using weapons made from Iron Cap or crafted from the tough hides of slain Fungal beasts.

Common Dress code

While the other Ashlanders might wear clothing made from the exotic fibers available to them, in the Fungal Forests the Karoshim have made do with living suits of fungus, grown over an intricate bracing of a slime mold-esque life form. Over the top sheets of moss, fungi and plant matter are grown for various purposes, such as bio-luminous fungi on the clothes of hunters, the Iron Cap armour made for the Stylek and shaggy moss for city dwellers on cold winter days. When outside of a settlement all Karoshim wear either a helmet resembling a wide, flat fungus, or a shroud with a mask. They do this as thin fiberous strings of the mask or dangling under the helmet catch spores and prevent them from choking the wearer.

The warriors of the Karoshim the Stylek, wear large flat helmets that shroud their faces in darkness as they move, and are clad in suits of Iron Cap mushrooms that protect them from metal weaponry. These suits allow the Stylek to march near silently through Ashstorms, allowing for the Karoshim to have a much further military reach than most would assume.

Art & Architecture

Karoshim settlements are situated under a near imperceivable shroud of the same fiberous strings used in the helmets of the Iron Cap suits, in order to keep the streets clear of spores. This has led to an interesting design where buildings are always the tallest at the center of a settlement where the shroud is the tallest, and get steadily smaller as the shroud lowers the further out it goes. This has led to some of the outer most buildings being partially submerged, in order to keep the usable space sufficient.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

When traveling around the Fungal Forests parties of Karoshim will beat a drum to let other groups know where they are, partially for security's sake but also to let them know that other nearby sounds are not friendly and should be cautioned against. When at war, the Stylek also beat drums, though not for their allies, but for their enemies, as they move through Ash Storms with their drums echoing around, their opponents cannot spot them but know they are out there. These mind games are common tactics for the Karoshim, as it helps if your enemy fears you.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

When a child is born, three days after they are taken out of the safety of the settlement and placed in a small cradle that burns with hot flame, not enough to bypass the infants heat resistance, but just enough to keep them mostly safe from the spores. The child is left out here for thirty minutes and then retrieved, if it is still alive the child is considered to be blesses by Aion and a celebration is held, if the child dies they are considered to be weak and not worthy of being blessed.

Funerary and Memorial customs

When an individual dies, they are laid to rest on a bed of fungal spores and placed outside of a settlement to be consumed by the fungi, which are then harvested and turned into memorial charms for that individual, and are given out to their family. Unlike the Ajurow, the Karoshim do not practice divine necromancy, and consider returning the bodies to "Aion's Forest" an honour.

Parent ethnicities