Drahinuaw Origins

Rough History

Long before the Reconstruction , during the developmental era of the vnou civilization, there was more segregation and variation in their cultures. Drahinuaw is an echo of one of those long dead cultures, now only preserved in their gray skin and red eyes. Much of the planet has been homogenized during the period of conflict before the Reconstruction and certainly more so after the fact. Drahinuaw's culture was nearly wiped out during the conflict and, in the aftermath of the Reconstruction, their one remaining Zmutwe managed to secure the name amongst the newly established nobility.

Though present day Zhu’Drahinuaw are scattered across the planet in the largest cities, their origins are based in the old region known as to them as the Luari. It takes up the Principality of Porteria, the Kingdom of Vikimar, and the Chevria Union. This was a land that was dominated by the vnou that would eventually comprise the small but influential family of Zhu’Drahinuaw. Territorial disputes, warring with the neighboring vnou, and infighting would eventually be the Luari ruin, fracturing them to the point that they would be a weakened land by the time the Reconstruction would ripple across the planet and result in Drahinuaw essentially tricking the other powerful factions into being one of the few to become established in the new, modern era.

Map via Azgaar

Lost Names

The Reconstruction required many smaller families and factions of the Luari to band together under the common name of Drahinuaw – thus resulting in the loss of their own family origins. Much like the Luari region and its history, these names are retained by the Drahinuaw Shpou and known to the main bloodline, and their history, but no other. There are some of the Fa Family under Drahinuaw that use these lost names though many don’t know their origin.

Sample Lost Names

Imiburiack, Kalerilosa, Echeaelmuiso, Shyearde

by Midjourney

Courtship

Amongst the secretive and often highly selective Drahinuaw, courtship can be as transactional as it is amongst the other noble families. Whether it’s based solely on the appearance of another vnou, for their red eyes and gray skin, or for their connections and access to certain markets or networks, the Drahinuaw use their smaller numbers in precise ways. Most that are in the Drahinuaw family don’t even know – marrying into Fa or Shpachhad. Everything is on a need to know basis, so only those in the Shpou line of the Drahinuaw need to know.

Values

Secrets and knowledge is the foundation of the Drahinuaw name and how the Luari preserved what little is left of who they once was. Only through the use and wielding information did the Drahinuaw name even survive the Reconstruction, playing one of the biggest tricks on the most powerful families. This is a well known and beloved story in the Shpou Drahinuaw line – but nowhere else. It is to emphasize and reinforce the power of knowledge and secrets, knowing when to use it and when to hold back. Emoilorend's Agreement is one of Drahinuaw’s most popular stories in the family’s inner circle and only in Drahinuaw’s version of the story is Emoilorend’s brother and Bya Keleashuet mentioned because he played such a huge part in the family’s information network at the time. No one else knows and no other story has the brother’s name included. He isn’t mentioned in any record – a feat that in and of itself is a mark of pride for the Drahinuaw.

Dress Code

Every noble vnou family has colors that are a hold over from older eras and Drahinuaw is no different. This means that the vast majority of the family wears clothing styled in these colors with little deviation, in materials based around a particular metal if a family has an investment in one over the other. In Drahinuaw’s case, though they own and operate with copper, they have no particular affinity with any medal. They tend to stay away from gems or other precious metals like gold or silver since such things are heavily associated with the other major families. Instead, the family tends toward monochrome and their colors that reflect colors of the Luari. Since the Drahinuaw live exclusively in large cities, much of the attire is urban casual unless they are in the upper ranks of a Shpachhad – in which case they’ll wear something more formal.

Ideals

Beauty

Luari, or Drahinuaw, traits highly coveted by the family in present day. They are defined by bright red eyes, a color they share with Zhu'Shpazh, black, gray, or white hair, and gray skin – a color that is unique to them. To have all is the epitome of attractiveness in Drahinuaw and a guarantee to draw the attention of the Shpou. Because the Luari were scattered and broken during the Reconstruction, these physical traits sometimes crop up in the common vnou populace. The appearance of red eyes or gray skin is likely to draw Drahinuaw attention, but having all three hair, eyes, and skin tone will result in a meeting from the family and an appeal to join them as breeding stock, if nothing more. Under the stipulation that the family will take care of them, of course.

Relationship

It is drilled into nearly every Drahinuaw – at least every Shpou – the importance of tracking down and preserving the Luari traits. This means that many Shpou will go to extreme lengths to catch and keep any vnou that has all of the physical characteristics of their family : hair, eyes, and skin tone. While no Connection can ever be forced, they still try very hard to work out an Arranged Courtship first – if that fails, they involve the Pra'Myoiw and their mystical powers of matching vnou. No method is too low.

by Midjourney

Vs Shpazh

Red eyes are a trait that all vnou can trace, in one way or another, to the origins of Shpazh or Drahinuaw – the old Shwazen Empire or the Luari. This has made red eyes in the vnou an extremely exotic trait associated with royalty, in the case of Shpazh dominated areas, or access to hidden markets and things unseen, in the case of cities with a Drahinuaw presence. These rumors tend to have a flavor of truth since many vnou with red eyes will find themselves wrapped up in one of the families. Whether it’s paparazzi spinning stories of distant relations to the most popular royal family or those in the big cities running in the Shpachhad crime families, vnou with red eyes almost always are tied to one or the other.