#yarun

Because the Yarún live in a difficult place to reach, by the other countries standards, and the ability to survive without an experience desert-dweller on hand is low, the Yarún have a bit of an isolationist worldview.  As such, their technology has flourished without the influence or interference from others.  Despite the differences between the tribes, and their occasional rivalries, the unifying trait between the twelve tribes is their trading.  Through this, the technology level of all the tribes is extremely high, as scientists and inventors combine their personal, often rudimentary skills in math or forging or designing into bigger, better, and more efficient ideas. This has allowed them to build larger, stronger buildings, unique in their curving architecture and their habit of being larger at the top of the building than the base.  They have created means of preserving food and keeping cool indoors.  Due to both the Lunitiri and the Alohmbra tribes claiming relationships to the stars through their religions, astronomy is also quite advanced, albeit more of a religious topic than a scientific one to the Yarún.  Through experimenting with the reflective properties of gold discs and the mathematics behind projectile forces, the Yarún tribes have also created extremely powerful weapons that, while mostly unused, have proved extremely effective against their enemies.

Currently, the most advanced minds in the highly respected “philosopher’s circle” (the name of the social group of inventors and scientists that communicate from within all the Yarún tribes) are working on a way to fly, based on the designs of two brilliant sister mathematicians, Celisije (pr. seh-LIS-eh-ha) and Foreena (pr. foe-REE-nah).  Unfortunately, their studies into the airship structure capabilities of a low-density mineral known as “vinjente” found a reddish rust that forms upon the processed mineral upon contact with oxygen.  When the rust is inhaled via mouth or nose, it produces a strong hallucinogenic reaction that has lead to many deaths, as the one hallucinating cannot distinguish dangers in the real world, and will walk off cliffs thinking they’re on flat land or eat sharp bits of metal mistaking them for sandwiches.  The metal was lightweight enough for the flying machines, but the rust forms quickly, and anyone attempting to fly or maintenance the machines is often affected.  

There exists, somewhere in the Yarún desert, a resort run by a mysterious man named Quieserus. The resort supposedly stands next to an oasis that is said to “glitter with the healing light of the stars” and quite a few people attempt to make the journey out into the sands for the rumored healing waters.

Most are inevitably found collapsed in the desert heat. Others, however, wander into town some days later with elaborate stories of the luxuries held at the Stardust Resort. The resort’s location, however, eludes all of them.

Vikenté Jinari

Vikenté was born to the Lunatiri tribe of Yarún, but when he was fifteen, he ran away with a traveling group of merchants because he wanted to see the world.  Things didn't exactly go as planned, though, and the merchants left him stranded in the Yarúni capital city of Marhelei.  Without any money or friends, he was left to survive in any way he could figure out.

Refusing to beg on the streets or turn to a life of crime, Vikenté decided to join a ship's crew at Marhelei's Golden Harbor, named for its yellowish sandstone docks that glitter in the light of the setting sun.  But very few captains would accept a random young man who knew next to nothing about the languages and cultures that they would be trading with. 

But Vikenté wasn't entirely out of luck– a foreign girl saw him asking around and told him (very slowly, in short phrases) that the captain of her ship, a Dagramiri woman named Etair Olonar, was looking for a Yarúni crew member to help with translating because none of them spoke the language very well.  Knowing he would likely not get any other offers, he accepted.

Ten years later, Captain Vikenté Jinari found himself in charge of his own ship, the Sea-Snake, one of Olonar's now-large fleet of merchant ships.  But during a routine run to pick up Hallinian lumber for trade, a storm struck and dashed the ship against the rocks of the southern tip of Hallin.  Vikenté and just a few other crew members survived, washed up on the warm shore along with the wreckage of their ship.

The Lunatiri make up one of the twelve tribes of Yarun. The Lunatiri are rather the opposite of the Alohmbra, as they prefer the light of the moon rather than the sun. Their society revolves around the moon phases, which dictate when they plant, harvest, marry, attempt to conceive children, and all other manner of things. They build villages in which they live and farm the few crops that can grow in the harsh desert instead of travelling in nomadic groups like most Yaruni people. There are only a few Lunatiri villages, as they tend to stick together, and all of the villages are to the west of the country.

Lunatiri people tend to favour dark colours and, of course, gold. Despite the heat, black clothes are common, along with dark blues, purples, and reds. Body piercings, particularly gold ones, are the norm, particularly nose and navel piercings. Hair is kept shorn short so as to keep heat of the sun off their necks. Tattoos and body-paint are also common, particularly in the colour white, as it contrasts with the black-ish hue of Yaruni skin.