Clan Midicoil

Everything that exists has a specific nature, each entity exists as something in particular and has characteristics that are part of what it is. "A" is "A". -Qurrim Midicoil

Clan Midicoil
ru (clan) Midicoil, a small village of Zabrak men, women and children on the planet Zelos II. Old men governing and providing wisdom to the village, young men raising families, farming and training for battle, and women, the young and old, about as strong as the men, cooking, helping tend the fields and training with their husbands for battle, while the children play and dream of fighting with their friends when they are of age.

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History
In the days of old, ru Midicoil was a rather simple Zabrak village in the southern equatior of the planet Iridonia, generations came and went peacefully. Men worked hard in the mines and farms, trained as soldiers and had the occasional festival. The women usually raised the children and took care of the land.

Famine struck the land many years ago, so the clan elders took the village and migrated far off onto a strange lush world called Zelos II where they set down south of the equator on a small continent and set up a village. At first the native Zelosians were hostile to the strange horned creatures that "invaded" their world but eventually realized that the Zabrak only wanted to live in peace with them, so over time the two species intertwined and were allowed to be apart of the clan, inter-racial marriages became normal and hybrid Zabrak-Zelosians were birthed.

In the year 2436 BE (Clan Calendar not SW timeline) after burning the rival Zelosian Clan village and "integrating" the survivors into Clan Midicoil, the clan began to prosper and grow very quickly. Hasrak's son Hasrak II became King of the newly established Midicoil kingdom in 2481 BE and conquered many towns and villages around and south of Clestia, the new capital city of the kingdom. Following the conquests the people had many years of peace and prosperity earning Hasrak II the title of "The Triumphant."

2501 BE, Hasrak II The Triumphant is 83 in Human years when the disaster struck. Thousands of Zelosians pour over the Midicoil Kingdoms borders fleeing from a new plague spreading to every town killing Zelosians and the native livestock. The Green Smoke plague was turned the skin to a smokey dark green color, and sapping the life of the carrier until it reached the heart or brain killing them. The Zabraks immune to the plague were blamed for creating it to wipe out the Zelosian population in the southern continent Bryndas, and a Zelosian uprising burned every Zabrak town and killed every non-pure Zelosian if they refused to cure the plague. Hasrak II after weeks of trying to calm down the rebels and keep peace in his kingdom, finally sent the army to deal with the rebels.

After defeating the army in the plains of Kysla, the rest of the Zelosian population became furious and uprisings in every city destroying towns and villages quickly moving towards Celstia. 5 days later the Zelosian rebels surrounded the walls of Celstia and attacked, Zabrak soldiers, farmers, peasants, nobles, everyone defended the city to the death, even King Hasrak II killed 15 Zelosian rebels before dying on the steps of his palace. Harask II's son Prince Qurgax and his family were ordered by Harask II to flee the planet and start anew, leaving the planet Qurgax and his son Q'urrim and daughter Absa'on fled to Balmorra while the brave Zabrak defended their burning city to the death, not one fleeing the battle in shame.

Many years later Q'urrim returned to Zelos II and re-established his tribe with the remaining Zabrak and Zelosians loyal to him and they now serve the Sith Imperium under "His Excellency, Darth Q'urrim Midicoil of ru Midicoil, Lord Hand of the Supreme Lord, Great Scientist, Diplomat, Grand Master of the Knights of Indrexu and Dark Lord of the Sith."

Relationships and Culture
From this point on the majority of the text will be about general Zabrak clans

ru
A ru, or Clan, is a large group of Zabrak families all related by blood. Most of these families are distantly related, so each family within a clan usually has its own unique name. A clan typically consists of 100-500 families, and anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand members, depending on the number of children each family has. It is unknown exactly how many established clans there are or have been at any one time.

Clans are governed by a council of elders, led by one individual who has been chosen by the rest of the elders. This leader is responsible for the clan's well being and also for enforcing the laws. The Clan Leader is a lifelong position, which can only be terminated if the current leader's duties are shirked. In this case, the clan Elders will confront the leader, and in some cases, assassinate them for negligence or malfeasance. This is a rare occurrence, but is a possibility. The elders will then decide upon a new leader from their council.

A youth becomes a full clan member by passing their rites of adulthood. Once passing, the new adult then holds all rights, privileges, and responsibilities of all adults within the clan.

Warfare
When there is a clan war, all members of the clan are expected to participate in battle, with the only exceptions being: children who have not completed the rites of adulthood, pregnant women, mothers or single parents with children younger than three years, and those who are too disabled to fight. As clan loyalty is extremely important, any excuse other than these is considered dishonorable.

Colony Clans
Most emigrated Zabrak and their descendants, identify with their colony or space station as their true home world and view themselves as having no ties to Iridonia. Some colony clans work exactly as Iridonian clans, but most are less traditional and less strict. Each colony is different in its traditions.

Families
A Zabrak family is no different than a family of humans or any other sentient species, typically led by a husband and wife and consisting of anywhere between 1 and 10 children (usually 2-5). These children are raised as most human children, with the exception of Zabrak traditions and training. Things such as schooling, friendship, sibling rivalry, and parental supervision and house rules apply to Zabrak children just as any other.

Aside from the immediate family, Zabrak also acknowledge slightly more distant relatives such as grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. These relatives typically consider themselves of the same family and will visit each other for family get-togethers. Any relatives more distant than those mentioned are usually considered a part of another family.

Zabrak acknowledge that every member of their clan is related in some way, but it is so distant that most do not even know how they are related; only that they have the same blood. Though the clan is a very important establishment to all Zabrak, and clan loyalty is absolute, clan members think of each other more as neighbors than any sort of relatives.

Marriage(s)
Because clans are so large and most of the families are so distantly related, most Zabrak marry within their own clan. However, marriages between members of two different clans are not uncommon. These marriages are usually accepted, but each clan has their opinions and occasionally problems can arise.

If the bride and groom are of opposing or warring clans, it's likely that both clans will disown them, in which case they will go to live in a "general" city or a non-Zabrak city on their home world.

When the bride and groom are of two clans who are friendly with each other and support the marriage, the couple still must choose which clan they and their future family, if they are to have one, will live with. This can at times cause fighting between the two clans who were friendly before, but usually does not result in disowning from either clan. Again, every clan and their leaders have their own opinions, so nothing is definite. But generally, each clan will accept the new spouse as an honorary member while still recognizing their own as a member of the clan, even if the couple chose to live in the other clan's village, or in a general city. [In ru Midicoil the rule is slightly different, the female will join the Male's ru except in extreme cases]

Interspecies marriages can also occur. Zabrak clans will generally greet this marriage the same way they would inter-clan marriages, be it good or bad. Even members of other species may be accepted as honorary clan members if married to a Zabrak.

Adoption
It is fairly common for Zabrak families to adopt children of other species. These children, regardless of their species, are raised and treated exactly the same as Zabrak children, with one exception: they are not allowed to participate in Res Selenoren. However, when their time has come, they are honored along with the other new adults during the ceremony. Their parents may be allowed to give them their own personal (unofficial) rites of adulthood, and they are sometimes allowed to wear their clan's tattoo or a personal tattoo similar to that of the other clan members.

Zabrak and Humans
On Iridonia, humans are generally seen as a weak and dishonorable species. However, most Zabrak have no problem with humans who exceed these expectations, and even those who live up to the stereotype are not treated with personal discrimination.

On the other hand, colony Zabrak sometimes feel inferior to humans. After the rise of the Empire, Zabrak were often discriminated against and had less employment opportunities than humans.

Generally, the Zabrak and the human coexist peacefully.

Human-Zabrak marriages/relationships have occured, some being successful, and others not. If a human mother becomes pregnant with a Zabrak child, the pregnancy will be difficult for her, and most do not survive the delivery because Zabrak infants are much larger than humans at birth. If a human woman is to safely deliver a half-Zabrak child, it is neccessary for her to have an operation rather than a natural childbirth. Sometimes things can go wrong even before the delivery stage, because the woman's body cannot handle the pregnancy during the last trimester. Zabrak mothers have no problem delivering half-human babies normally.

Res Selenoren
The Zabrak rites of adulthood are known as Res Selenoren, literally meaning "The Challenges" (res = the, selenoren = challenges). The rites of adulthood are the most important series of events in a traditional Zabrak's life. Each Selenoren is different, and very private, only to be discussed between the youth and his or her parents. Therefore, what you will read here is the general idea behind the ritual and how they are commonly acted out.

The Selenoren are taken at puberty, usually somewhere between the ages of 13 and 15, but the exact age is different for every Zabrak and is decided by the youth's parents, who have been keeping a watchful eye on their child over the past few months or years to acknowledge their growth. When the youth is ready, the parents will know, and will begin planning the challenges for their child to face.

Each Zabrak's challenges are different and are carefully designed by the parents to bring out their individual strengths and weaknesses. Also taken into account are the Selenoren of the parents and prior generations of the family. The father will administer the rites to his sons, and the mother to her daughters.

The rites typically consist of a mental challenge, a physical challenge, and a social challenge. The latter is given to all eligible youths at the same time during the Rising Festival, given publically by the clan elders. If a father doubts his child's readiness for the final challenge, he may evoke a "stay of years" -- an indefinite period of time in which he is allowed to help his child better learn what is required of an adult. Since the first two challenges are in preperation for the social challenge, the honor of the entire family is at stake at the final challenge.

Selenoren take place at any time within a three-month period prior to the Rising Festival. Since the parents are said to know exactly when their child is ready, failing the selenoren is a rare occurance. If a child does fail one of the first two tests, the parents have until the Rising Festival to create and administer new challenges for the child to pass.

Complete failure of the Selenoren brands the Zabrak as forever a youth: neither a child nor an adult. This is not seen as a negative social status, but still brings much shame and guilt for dishonoring the clan. After failing, the clan's markings are scarred into the youth's skin (known as "fro jataj") rather than tattooed, and the prefix "ke" is added to their name to signify their eternal youth status. These "eternal youths" are still expected to act as mature clan members.

A third alternative is refusal of the Selenoren. Those who refuse to take the rites of adulthood as known as tlestri. They are allowed to participate in the Rising Festival with the other clan members, but after that night, they are no longer allowed to sleep with the clan. They will typically spend the entire night saying goodbye to family and friends and preparing to leave their village the next morning. Parents and family are not allowed to help the tlestri start a new life, but are allowed to give the child the name of a friend outside the village who may help them. The tlestri is given parting gifts by their family and friends, which may include food, weapons, or sentimental trinkets. The aforementioned gift of a friend's name to help the young tlestri begin a new life is also counted as an acceptable parting gift. Once leaving the village the tlestri is never allowed to return. Once they leave they are considered and respected as an adult. [ru Midicoil slightly differs from the last part in that a Tlestri is allowed to return but must partake in the Selenoren before being accepted]

The Rising Festival
The Rising Festival is an annual ceremony taking place at the end of the year, which celebrates the passing of the rites of adulthood. All youths who have passed their Selenoren during the year are honored during this ceremony, and those who have not yet been tattooed will receive their markings in a public celebration. This ceremony also includes entertainment, food and refreshments, debates, hunts and contests, and other fun events that the whole clan can take part in.

The Law of Hospitality
On Iridonia there is what is called the law of hospitality. This law states that any visitor staying in your home will be treated as a family member and is your responsibility for as long as he or she is staying under your roof. It is the host's responsibility to protect their guest by any means necessary, right down to giving their own life. The visitor will accept a gift from the host, marking the beginning of their stay and the law of hospitality's effectiveness. Once the guest leaves the home, the law becomes inactive. [ru Midicoil adheres to this law]

Zabrak Names
There are many different traditions among Zabrak involving the naming of their children, usually varying by clan. In Iridonian clans, every clan member uses the clan's name as a surname and is given a unique first name at birth. It is even said that certain clans give children the clan's name as their first name and the second name is what names them as an individual.

Most offworld clans, however, observe the human tradition of each family having their own surname, and each member a first name which their parents choose at birth. When marrying, one of the two individuals (the woman) will take the other's surname.

In other cases, a Zabrak may have only one name; or at least only one that they use. In this case their second name (or even their first) may be that of their clan and they have chosen to drop the name.

Zabrak have widely varying names, but there are certain letters that are very commonplace among traditional Zabrak names. These letters include: K, H, M, T, and E, among others. [ru Midicoil stands with the first paragraph, being married into or adopted into ru Midicoil means you take the last name Midicoil without exception]

ay (Royalty)

 * ay Kaieera (Princess) [Zabrak/Augmented] {Augmented Creation of Q'urrim's}


 * ay Q'urrim (King) [Pure Zabrak]

edar (Elders)
(Note: All edar must be of Zabrak, Zelosain or Zelos/Zabrak blood.)
 * Krukrok (Army)
 * Brodax (Religion)
 * Qodra (Treasury)
 * Eusrot (Law and Justice)
 * Tavru (Technology)
 * Surgok (Navy)
 * Hekore (Head)