Khipu Armor

Khipu Armor

The art of Khipu is ancient, dating back to the deep history of the Ankhana homeworld, and is one of the few vestiges of their pre-Duende culture that remain relatively intact. Khipu is a method of record keeping that makes use of a combination of color, spacing, and a variety of different types of knots. In keeping with their nature, this tradition is literally woven into the fabric of their lives, right down to their articles of clothing. It was so pervasive that an entire Doma was dedicated to preserving the tradition as the art form became woven into the legal system. It is so important that it became a crime punishable by death to falsify a Khipu record.

When a child is born, the record keeper creates a record consisting of five strands of Khipu representing the Doma the child's parents belonged to, a brief of the fathers lineage, a brief of the mothers lineage, the time of the childs birth, and the name bestowed upon them by their parents. During the childs early years, additional layers would be added describing anything notable in their life. When the child arrives at the citadel, they present this record to the officials who have a collar made for the child composed of their Khipu.Throughout the rest of the person's life, their deeds will be recounted and added to their Khipu, proclaiming their deeds to the world.

While it is illegale to falsify a Khipu, it is perfectly acceptable, and in fact common, to have artisans work a persons Khipu into other articles of clothing or armor. In fact, it is often considered high fashion at formal events to wear jewelry, sashes, belts and other accoutrements bearing either matching Khipu or more detailed depictions of something only mentioned elsewhere. The true brilliance of the system, however, shows up in their armor.

In Khipu armor, the khipu is made from a variety of materials from cloth to metal. Spacing between knots in is condensed considerably and often woven with other stronger materials such as wire to provide the needed protection. For heavy armors, densely packed Khipu wires are braided into platelets that offer shockingly good protection. Rather than leave the unaccomplished warrior unprotected, blank woven platelets fill the areas not occupied by their personal accomplishements.