NEUS Projects

Hunt with the pack - Bleed with the pack

The Rasa Tribe of Egwyn


In the jungle's deepest reaches, the land is ripe with tribal conflict. Competition for hunting grounds, resources, survival. The Redrayder slavers taking our people. The rampant illnesses, and constant struggle to keep our people fed. Only the strongest can survive in that kinda place. In our home.

And we didn't.

12 years ago, our people got wiped out by a rival felidae tribe after a long history of war. With the recent wave of infections we had to deal with, and how poor the hunts were getting, it was more like a final blow. As soon as we got a bit weak, the jungle came to take us down. And I thought we were the strongest.. Guess when you're living each day trying to get to the next one, it only takes a couple bad days for everything to come crashing down.

And me... I ran. Betrayed everythin' we stood for, in that last moment. Ain't looked behind, until now.

Our people

Oh man... Back in the day, it was all about the pack. The family. We did everything together. Hunt, eat, sleep. That was the way o' life.

We live for the hunt. As soon as you hit 5, if you can run, you can hunt. Our fathers and mothers teach us the ways of our people. Tracking down the beasts, surrounding them, and chasing them down. Dig the claws in their necks, in their legs. Make 'em bleed, but don't make 'em suffer more than you need. Finish the job fast, with a blade or any way that works. Respect the corpse, take it back home and use every part. Thank the beast for a good hunt. Enjoy it. That's why we're alive.

If you feel pain, then you're alive. The more pain you feel, the more alive you are. We teach our people to use that pain, turn it into anger. That anger turns into power. Nothing can stop a Rasa when they're angry enough. Ain't no beast can stand in our way when we're hunting with the pack. Ain't no wound able to stop us, until we lose all our blood. As long as there's pain, we're alive.

Every other day, the elders gather all the children under 10 and tell them all sorts of stories. Teach them about how to hunt, how to make knives, carve things out of bone, prepare meat, trade with other tribes, build fires and buildings, tan and sew pelts for clothing, and... They teach them the stories of the great beasts. Of course, they also tell them the most important story.

All the kids know about the endless jungles. When a Rasa dies among their pack, they head off to the afterlife in the endless jungles. There, you can meet up with all the other Rasa who died before. All the ancestors are there, hunting beasts in a lush jungle that doesn't end. There's no hunger, no illness, and no war... That's why we take care of our own. Take care of the people here, so you get your place in the endless jungles when your soul moves on through lazarus, and makes it there.

Of course, if you ain't got a pack... Then you're never gonna make it to where the ancestors are hunting. So, well... Don't die alone, Rasa.

Hang the beast on a tree, and carve. Start with the pelts, set them to dry. Cut out the best pieces of meat for your pack. Cook them on a good fire. Anything you can't eat fast enough, smoke it on a rack over the dying fire. Take out any trophies. Largest teeth, antlers, horns. Keep ones worth keeping, and show them off. Take out the bones with the most marrow, to gnaw on later. Use the hardest bones for all kinds of things: knives, arrowtips, fishing hooks, sewing needles, even weapons. With the sinew, make sewing thread. Use the intestines for cordage, pull it into thread and spool it or keep it to make smoked sausages with the lower quality cuts, if you're feeding a lot. Throw away anything you won't use into the jungles, let the hungry beasts take it for themselves. This is the only good way to treat a beast.

Eat the meat with your claws, he fought for it, you gotta fight till the end too. Make clothes out of the pelts, the more pelts the better. Keep their memory alive.

There's only one alpha, the one that leads the pack, calls the shots. That used to be my father, but now... It's nobody. An alpha has to be both a parent and the strongest of the tribe. If you don't got kids you can't lead us. Once every year during the week of the summer solstice, anyone who wants to can challenge the alpha, as long as he's healthy. But usually, the title is passed on without a fight. It's a matter of respect. We're a family.

The Den
Every day, we redo the communal bed. Older pelts are replaced, and new fresh leaves are placed around to keep it soft. Everyone sleeps together, because we're one people. Yeah... Back when things made sense.

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But all that... Was a long time ago. Sometimes I wonder though, did any of my people make it?.. That kinda stuff keeps me awake. Ain't had a damn good night's sleep in a long time... Still though. I'm gonna keep upholding those traditions. Those are my people, even though all of them are gone, now. It's who I am. I just hope I can keep the memory of the Rasa alive, even in the Empire.

Because they're my family.

- Karvan Rasa


(OOC note)

If you'd like to play a character who is a survivor of the Rasa tribe, related to them in some way, want to roleplay with Karvan, or have any questions at all, feel free to DM me on discord at Polkjm#0329!