#taerel

Anywhozles, the first piece that I’ve done in years is this backstory piece for a DND-based text campaign. I have a pretty unique character for the setting that merges the two ideas that the DM had (a harsh environment with tribal-minimalistic survivors) and the dwarven community that lives below it. That inspired this little know-it-all sass monster named Taerel, who is a mixture of both cultures.

This piece is a backstory piece for Taerel, exploring the world where he’s from along with adding mystery and a possible exploration quest in the area. It’s a first hand witness account for a hunt. like “we know about the legend, we witnessed it. It’s there and we can do something about it or do more research into the subject” kinda deal.

Expect to see more pieces in the next couple of days because I am really gonna kick my own ass into writing. I miss my muse and I want them back.

Length: 2,750+

did an icon for my newest inquisitor bc i somehow got back into this hell game again

September 01, 2025 at 1:24 pm

Basicly, I spent over an hour trying to fix my wiki and broke it many times. I wanted to remove all the www redircts and remove the google sites hosted page as I replaced it with a self hosted and nicer page. Look at that in https://taerel.com

Google sites is ugly after all and I had to work with ChatGPT and Google Gemini to get a nice landing page how I wanted it. I wanted it to look like my wiki after all, but still have the same layout as the google sites page.

Removing the www and getting MediaWiki's short URLs to work again was a nightmare of trying tons of diffant configs and non works. Google gemini was useless in this. Turns out after ages and a load of prompting, ChatGPT-5 Mini knew.

I have added ChatGPT 5-o Mini's answer here in case someone wants to do the same setup. Ubuntu version: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS MediaWiki version: 1.43.3 PHP version: 8.3.6 (apache2handler) MariaDB version: 10.11.13-MariaDB-0ubuntu0.24.04.1 ChatGPT's answer:

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Ah — finally, here’s exactly what was happening and why all your previous attempts 404’ed:

1️⃣ The root cause

Your wiki files were in:/var/www/html/Wiki/

You wanted the URLs to be under:/w/Page_Title

But your symlink was wrong:/var/www/html/w -> /var/www/html/Wiki/index.php

Notice: it pointed to the file index.php, not the folder Wiki.

2️⃣ Why this caused 404s

Apache tried to resolve /w/Page_Title.

/w pointed to a file, so /w/Page_Title doesn’t exist → 404.

Even with correct $wgScriptPath = "/w" and rewrite rules, the filesystem path didn’t exist for Apache.

All the previous rewrite attempts failed because Apache cannot rewrite URLs inside a symlink that points to a file.

3️⃣ How it was fixed

Remove the incorrect symlink:

sudo rm /var/www/html/w

Create a correct symlink to the Wiki folder:

sudo ln -s /var/www/html/Wiki /var/www/html/w

Ensure Apache rewrite rules point to index.php inside the /w directory:

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?title=$1 [L,QSA]

AcceptPathInfo On allows URLs like /w/Page_Title to be passed correctly to index.php.

✅ After these changes:

/w exists as a directory (via symlink).

/w/Page_Title → /w/index.php?title=Page_Title

MediaWiki sees $wgScriptPath = "/w" and works perfectly.

So the entire problem was:

“The /w symlink pointed to a file instead of the Wiki folder.”

Once that was fixed, the wiki works with short URLs as intended.

If you want, I can draw a diagram showing how /w maps to /Wiki and the rewrite flow, which makes this crystal clear. Do you want me to do that?

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This update is part of the Taerel setting. All Rights Reserved.

Discord: https://discord.gg/BhXua6AE4K

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CANON NOTICE:

Only content on the Official Wiki is considered an canon, official part of the Taerel Worldbuilding Project's lore. Content outside should be considered non-canon and non official.

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TAEREL JOB OPENINGS:

Xarte Kin'toni Clan The Xarte Kin'toni Clan were children when they was turned in the overrun city. From the city also came the Parakk Kin'toni Clan, Vlakia Kin'toni Clan and the Yergha Kin'toni Clan. These kin'toni decided to make their base in the Xerte school and named the clan after the school. As children, they were weaker then the other kin'toni and therefore had to rely on stealth to survive.

The clan's role in their early days was as scouts and scavengers. They were seen as an curiosity; children rarely survive turning into kin'toni. The clan heared rumors of an Jalka Kin'toni Clan, living far from the city in the Ia Kelp Forest. They heard that they lived as an independent clan. Following this rumbor, the clan left the city behind to journey on to the Ia Kelp Forest.

Months later, the clan arrived at the Imech Dunes, near the coast. This coast was also home to the Ia Kelp Forest. Seeking kinship with the Jalka Kin'toni Clan, they met. The clans debated for days over the terms of their alliance. Upon the dusk of the fifth day, the leaders emerged. The debate had led to a choice, decided by a game of hop-stones. The winners of the game were the Xarte.

with the win, the alliance was declared. The Xarte settled in the Imech Dunes. The clan built dome-shaped shelters out of driftwood and woven kelp to protect themselves from the sun. Their alliance with the Jalka protected them from local packs and bands of kin'toni. To defend their land, they built pit traps and camouflaged their camp. The final defense is walls of driftwood, woven kelp mats and sand. These walls are topped with sharp shells and coral.

The clan had to deal with a local band. The Iush band wished to kill these new people near their lands. The Xarte and Jalka used ambush and traps to wear down the adult sized Iush. It took weeks, but the Iush slowly dwindled in number. The final attack by the Jalka and Xarte slaughtered the rest. Their body parts were used to decorate the Dunes and the coast near by the Kelp Forest.

In the Shattering, the clan had to deal with more bands of kin'toni. These bands were drawn by the promise of the ocean's food. The bands, such as the Loa'ak were worn down with traps and then ambushed. One band, the Maui had to be tracked back to their underground lair. The location of the lair was found by their Jalka allies. Once the Xarte found the lair, they smoked the Loa'ak out. The Loa'ak were burned to death by the sun.

As of 4E 500, the clan has noticed the increase of rival groups of kin'toni coming to their region. These groups were drawn by the bounty of the sea. The Jalka and Xerte dug and built more traps. The Xerte had negotiated with the Jalka to split any blood they get half each. The kin'toni stragglers grew in number day by day. The Jalka and Xerte also had a pact for retreating to the sea if all esle fails.

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This work is part of the Taerel setting. All Rights Reserved.

Discord: https://discord.gg/BhXua6AE4K

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CANON NOTICE:

This item of lore is a DRAFT item of lore. It is not canon yet.

Only content on the Official Wiki is considered an canon, official part of the Taerel Worldbuilding Project's lore. Content outside should be considered non-canon and non official.

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TAEREL JOB OPENINGS:

On May 07, 2026 at 4:40 am

I have updated all place pages so that the controllers templates are moved the controllers from the infobox to a dropdown just above the nearby places box. This iso that the infobox is not so long.TAEREL JOB

This update is part of the Taerel setting. All Rights Reserved.

Discord: https://discord.gg/BhXua6AE4K

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CANON NOTICE:

Only content on the Official Wiki is considered an canon, official part of the Taerel Worldbuilding Project's lore. Content outside should be considered non-canon and non-official.

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TAEREL JOB OPENINGS:

I deleted about 227,000 words of lore from the Taerel Wiki on the 20th of May, 2026

So instend of 500 words for all history, it is 500 words per era for all 14 eras (~7000 words total) This is to allow new place histories to be written that fits the new 14 ages timeline better, as the old place history was written before that was added.

The kin'toni are driven by the remnants of their super-soldier programming and their primal hunger. Their society is composed of fluid structures. The groups vary greatly in size, internal dynamics, and the threat posed to the dwindling zu'aan population.

Solitary Hunters / Lone Wanderers

- Size: 1 Kin'toni

- Description: Loners are kin'toni who operate alone. Some are outcasts, some are survivors of a shattered group, and some are just cunning, highly independent, and prefer solitude. Some have mutations or mental health issues that make it hard to live in a group.

- Complexity: None. They only survive due to stealth, their own prowess, and the instincts of a predator.

- Purpose: The lone only cares about survival, hunting zu'aan and fauna when they can, scavenging for resources, and avoidance of larger kin'toni groups and dangerous zu'aan territories.

- Threat to zu'aan: Medium: Even a loner is a silent, relentless predator. A loner is skilled at ambushes, picking off stragglers, and stealth.

- Lair/Habitat: The lair of a loner is a concealed and very temporary place. A loner will use natural crevices, collapsed sections of buildings, abandoned vehicles, or dense overgrowth for shelter. Most of the time, the lair is nothing more than a hidden sleeping spot. Often, the loner changes their lair each night and leaves minimal traces. They rely on their stealth and ability to blend into their environment.

## Packs

- Size: 2–10 Kin'toni

- Description: A pack is a small and highly cohesive unit of kin'toni and often formed by those with similar or complementary mutations. Often, they have strong primal bounds or even consider themselves a family in a twisted sense. A pack has a strong sense of unity and shared purpose and relies on coordinated tactics.

- Complexity: Very Low. A pack is often led by the Alpha, the strongest, fastest, or most cunning kin'toni in the pack. The decisions are instinctual and immediate, driven by hunger and opportunity. A pack has a fluid hierarchy based on dominance.

- Purpose: The purpose of a pack is efficient hunting of larger prey, often small zu'aan groups, and mutual protection against rival kin'toni. They establish temporary, mobile lairs.

- Threat to Zu'aan: High: If a pack is well coordinated, they can be devastating to zu'aan foraging parties or patrols or even small outposts. Together, the pack's combined strength and tactics make them far more dangerous than a lone Kin'toni.

- Lair/Habitat: The lair of a pack is established more than a lone wanderer's, but it is still temporary. Often, packs occupy places such as a small, defensible ruin, a section of a collapsed tunnel, or a dense thicket. The dens are crude, marked by zu'aan and animal bones, scavenged debris, and the distinct, feral stench of the kin'toni. A den is a central point for resting, feeding on prey, and planning hunts, but is abandoned if needed. Dens are often abandoned due to the pack being threatened or prey becoming rare in the area.

Bands

- Size: 11–100 Kin'toni

- Description: A band is a significant aggregation of Kin'toni. Bands are often coalitions of several successful Packs. Many are large nomadic groups that have not yet established a permanent territory.

- Complexity: Low to Medium. A band tends to have a recognized leader, a council of the strongest pack Alphas or similar. With bands, coordination is more formal than a pack and always less rigid than a clan. In a band, disputes are common, but most disputes are resolved quickly to maintain group cohesion for hunting.

- Purpose: The purpose of a band is large-scale hunting expeditions, sustained raiding of zu'aan trade routes and smaller settlements, and defending against rival Kin'toni Clans.

- Threat to Zu'aan: Very High. Bands are able to overwhelm most zu'aan patrols and pose a threat to a smaller walled settlement. Bands are a serious force of kin'toni and often require a coordinated defense or a strategic retreat. A band is a clear and present danger across wider regions.

- Lair/Habitat: The lair of a band is a temporary but often fortified encampment. A band will take over and crudely reinforce a defensible ruin, a large underground chamber, or a natural stronghold. Defenses are often made of scavenged debris, twisted metal, and piled rubble. Often, a lair will have rudimentary barricades and choke points and is messy, filled with discarded bones, scavenged goods, and the stench of the kin'toni. Their lairs are designed for short-to-medium term occupation while the band carries out its raiding campaign or exploits a rich hunting ground.

Clans

- Size: 101–1,000 Kin'toni

- Description: The clan is the primary stable and territorial social unit for the Kin'toni. Each clan controls a significant, often fortified, region-sized territory. Only 10% of kin'toni are in clans, the rest are in bands, packs, or are loners. There are some "nations" made of alliances of clans, such as the Ashat and Tharis.

- Complexity: Medium. Clans have a clear chain of command. They have their own unique histories, psychologies, biologies, cultures, governments, militaries, and religions. They have defined hierarchies, structures, goals, and members.

- Purpose: A clan's purpose is defending against rival clans, maintaining and expanding territory, and preparing for larger conflicts.

- Threat to Zu'aan: Extreme. A clan is able to launch sustained sieges against zu'aan cities, control a whole region and its vital resource points, and a clan poses an existential threat to regional Zu'aan populations. A clan is a major, organized adversary.

- Lair/Habitat: A clan has a permanent, heavily fortified "Nest" or "Stronghold." Such nests include abandoned industrial complexes, deep sections of subway tunnels, or even a cluster of collapsed skyscrapers. A nest is fortified with extensive defenses such as barricades, traps, and watch points. Often, they are made of scavenged concrete, wood, metal, and debris. Inside, there are designated areas for sleeping, storing scavenged goods (often piles of junk), and "turning dens." These lairs echo with the sounds of the kin'toni and the turning zu'aan prisoners.

Hordes

- Size: 1,000+ Kin'toni (potentially tens of thousands)

- Description: A horde is a grand, but truly cataclysmic aggregation of multiple kin'toni clans, bands, packs, and loners. Often, the leader is a "warlord" or "grand alpha." A horde is a temporary and unstable formation and is driven by a singular, overwhelming objective such as the complete destruction of a major Zu'aan city, or a vast war against another horde. A horde is a force of pure, unbridled destruction.

- Complexity: Medium to High, but fragile. In a horde, the Warlord's rule is absolute during the Horde's existence but inter-clan/band/pack internal rivalries are constant. Any logistics are primitive, as the horde just moves and consumes. If the objective is met or resources deplete, the horde fractures back into its constituent clans, packs, and bands.

- Purpose: A horde's purpose is to take out a large zu'aan population like a walled city, conquer vast new territory, or engaging in massive, devastating wars for ultimate dominance.

- Threat to Zu'aan: Apocalyptic. The horde is an unstoppable tide of destruction. It is able to raze an entire walled zu'aan city or even over-hunt an area bare. The horde's appearance is the sign of a period of immense suffering for the zu'aan.

- Lair/Habitat: A horde does not have a fixed lair, instead its lair is a vast moving encampment that is a temporarily devastated zone. A horde gathering for an assault may occupy a wide, defensible plain or a large, ruined city district. Such a place becomes a large, chaotic, temporary staging ground. A horde's camp is a scene of utter desolation.

Shelters are made crudely from scavenged materials, there are huge piles of bones and other refuse, and the horrific smell of vast amounts of kin'toni feces and urine. Once the assault is finished, the lair is but a devastated ruin of the territory, picked clean. The horde then soon disperses or moves on.

Lore by Stevie Lambert (Introduction) and LogicalPremise (core biology)

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This work is part of the Taerel setting. All Rights Reserved.

Discord: https://discord.gg/BhXua6AE4K

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CANON NOTICE:

This item of lore is a DRAFT item of lore. It is not canon yet.

Only content on the Official Wiki is considered an canon, official part of the Taerel Worldbuilding Project's lore. Content outside should be considered non-canon and non official.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TAEREL JOB OPENINGS: