The Watepo
"You may treasure things such as wealth, and fame, but to me those mean nothing. The excess of your society makes you forget the simple joys in life, life a warm fire, family, and a good loaf of seal." - Kifeda, Watepo Elder
When one thinks of the far off land of Barakal as a land where no life could survive. However, within the brutal ice sheets of the Baraki Peninsula, the endurant Watepo face the challenges of their home each day to survive. They have rejected the excess of advanced society in favor of this everlasting struggle so that they may grow wise in their hardship.
History
Journey for Wisdom
The history of the Watepo people is told entirely orally, so recording exact dates is nearly impossible. The ancestors of the Watepo people are believed to have originated from the coastal regions of modern-day Yunkubir. However, it remains undetermined which society they departed from without concrete dates and locations this is nothing more than speculation. Based on their Watepo tales, the ancient Watepo willing left Yunkubir and traveled south until they reached Barakal. Beyond the spiritual search for wisdom, the exact reason for choosing to settle in Barakal is unknown. The ancient Watepo landed on the northwestern corner of the Baraki Peninsula and founded the settlement of Safalinda. During their time there, the Watepo developed their techniques to survive in the harsh environment and expanded the makeshift village. The village grew from the people living out of their ships to a community comprised of igloos and tents made of animal skins.The Scattering Years
Watepo tales tell of a time when the storms stopped and the skies were permanently clear. Brave hunters took the opportunity to explore farther south than they usually have. Some of these courageous explorers decided to make their own in these newly available lands, dotting the once barren peninsula with specs of life. With the storms subsiding, trade and travel between villages were easier than ever, allowing some settlements to grow faster than they should've. The tales claim that this period lasted nearly a century before the storms returned with a violent vengeance. Contact between settlements across the peninsula became treacherous for most villages and basically impossible for some. Many villages were wiped from either the storms or famine caused by a lack of game in the area. The Watepo became a scattered people, but the spirit to survive and conquer the land remained strong. Isolation was just one of many challenges for these people who saw hardship as an opportunity to grow.Culture
Society
Life in Watepo society is a neverending struggle to survive in an unforgiving environment at the world's edge. It is by intentional design no place for the weak, the cowardly, or the complacent. The ancestors of the modern-day Watepo people left the comfortable excess of life on Imbelek so that they may grow strong and wise in the frozen frontier of Imbelek.Language
The Watepo people speak an old dialect of the Mzelimi language. The differences between common Mzelimi and the variant spoken by the Watepo are minuscule and hard to notice for those not fluent in the language.Religion
The religious customs of the Watepo date back to when the first of their people arrived in Barakal. The basis of their beliefs revolves around the decree of the primordial god Liodahn to the Watepo people; to discover true wisdom and grow strong, they must abandon the easy life of society on Imbelek and endure the frozen land of Barakal. As with their people's history, their beliefs and folktales are passed down by village elders wisened by their years in Barakal. They teach the young how to survive in the wilderness and share the wisdom they have gained. Liodahn is a passive god in Watepo tales, preferring to silently watch as his chosen people live their lives. The Watepo honor their god by fulfilling their purpose in this land by obtaining the wisdom that comes from survival in Barakal. Rather than performing elaborate rituals or celebrations, the act of imparting wisdom is deeply sacred and treasured. Their people's morals and customs are closely linked with their methods of survival. Such intertwined morals include the forbiddance of resentment and the denial of forgiveness, for they turn man against man and threaten the stability of the community. Watepo folktales were born from their people's daily struggle for survival and their attempts to understand the world around them. Some of these tales are cautionary tales meant to impart important lessons to the listener, such as the tale of the Indsaliti, a cursed individual that has committed the grave crime of cannibalism. Another cautionary tale was the one of the Teyoka, a creature once thought to be nothing more than legend until an Unganna explorer named Elea Ma'Kibibi encountered one while exploring the continent.
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