Bat

The kukai farmers.

The Bat are farmers, foragers and great chefs. They keep the knowledge of agriculture, handed down by the survivors of the ancient Bata Tribe. They treat each other as family, even when they are not directly related. The Bat live by the farm fields, growing most of the food consumed by the Kukai, cooking and preventing it from spoiling.
"Nature always know how to pay back. Keep your land alive and it will reveal its wonders." -Oath of the Bat-

Career

Qualifications

Being the oldest of all professions, the Bat know a variety of skills related to food. This doesn't mean that they are experts on every single one of them, but they must know enough before specializing in any of the following skills:

• Farming
• Foraging
• Cooking
• Crop planning

Career Progression

Most of the things a Bat does is learned on the go, with no specific times or steps to follow. Many in this profession actually learn from their parents, inheriting their knowledge and thus their job; it is like a family tradition. The following list shows the skills and knowledge a Bat must learn before specializing:

• Plant seedlings
• Harvest crops
• Forage for berries and mushrooms
• Seasonal trees care
• Fertilizer and crops care
• Basic cooking recipes

After learning the basics, the Bat specializations allow these Kukai to perfect their skills and knowledge on one or more of the following areas:

• Farming: They know how to grow food, take care of crops, optimize harvests and choose seeds for future plantations.
• Foraging: Usually learning from the Tat, these Bat know how and where to find berries, wild fruits and specially mushrooms.
• Cooking: Their vast knowledge about food allows them to better preserve food and also offer a great culinary experience to the kukai.
• Crop planning: Great experience in overall agricultural matters, wary of seasonal changes and crop rotation.

Perception

Purpose

This profession is in charge of growing, preserving and cooking food for the entire Kukai society. They take care of crops and seasonal trees in the farming areas of each village. Their ancient knowledge has also helped other kukai develop and discover many things such as cotton planting, survival skills, healing techniques, dyes and seasonal changes, the latter one leading to the creation of the current kukai calendar. In the current time (880 K.P.), the Bat work with anything related to acquiring and consuming food.

Social Status

Some consider the Bat as the most important profession, at least in terms of survival. This actually proves to be true when considering that the Followers of Oal-Mer do not eat any kind of meat and highly depend on their crops and foraged mushrooms. Nevertheless, the Kukai of the Bat profession are generally not regarded as highly as the Nur or the Mer. In fact, the Bat seem to have some sort of sub-culture of their own, as they dedicate most of their time to grow food and take care of the farm fields. This does not mean that they are treated badly or as a lower class, but rather as a more sedentary and isolated part of the population.

Demographics

This is the most popular profession among the Kukai and one of the busiest in general. The Bat represent about 24% of the total population, with presence in all seven villages of Kukai Amut. The most Bat-populated settlements are Oalmer, Pukamut, Amutikali and specially Batayaam. A fun fact about this profession's demographics is that most of its members have tanned skin tone, a result of ancient history and genetics, a similar case to that of the Ker.

History

The history of the Bat starts many generations before the first appearance of the god Oal-Mer, during the Ancient Era of the kukai. It is said that the modern Bat, or at least many of them, are direct descendants of the survivors from the Bata Tribe, the first kukai group to ever leave the nomadic ways and establish a self sufficient village. Knowledge about agriculture and foraging that is currently used in Kukai Amut was passed down by them, which is why the profession's name is almost identical to that of the ancient tribe.

Operations

Tools

In later days, the Kukai have been able to craft metal tools in order to optimize work times and quality. However, some of the Bat still keep and use their old wooden tools, claiming that they "must" make the best use of them before actually updating to metal versions. Most common tools used by the Bat include:

• Plow
• Hoe
• Shovel
• Palm fiber baskets
• Cloth sacks
• Palm fiber hats
• Sickle

Regarding cooking, there are some common utensils and other items that the Bat use. Many of these are traditionally crafted with clay, though wooden or metal variations may exist:

• Hotplates (similar to a pan)
• Mortar and pestle (similar to "molcajete")
• Bowls
• Gourd canteen
• Buckets
• Oven
• Cups and jars
• Knifes

Workplace

When not in the farm lands or foraging in the wild, a Bat will most likely be in a Bata House, which is a kukai version of kitchens and food warehouses. Though these functions are usually assigned to different buildings, traditional (old) bata houses were built from clay and served for both purposes; the oven would be outside while the inside would be used for food storage. Modern structures are usually made from stone and clay, in order to house bigger ovens or store as many goods as possible. There are no strict rules on bata house architecture, which means there's a variety of them according to their purpose and location. A good example of this would be the Skinfruit Storehouse in Pukamut, which is currently the only bata house used to grow mushrooms.

Provided Services

The Bat spend most of their daily lives taking care of the farm lands and food reserves. But there is a tradition, specially in Oalmer, which consists of the Bat filling their baskets with fruits, vegetables and mushrooms, and then walk around the village to distribute food during the early morning. This is how most of the Kukai get their breakfast and also make their first social interaction of the day. In case they wake up late, the kukai may go to a Bata House to get their meal. Generally speaking, services provided by the Bat can be summarized in:

• Food distribution
• Cooking

Dangers & Hazards

Threats to the Bat are usually related to animals, either during foraging or while keeping small creatures away from crops. The latter is very uncommon and may only result in scratches or bites from small species, like monkeys, macaws or raccoons. Such events are occasionally turned into jokes or funny anecdotes to share with friends. The other threat may involve larger number of small animals or sometimes even a random jaguar attack. Though these are not as common as they once were, the Bat either know how to avoid such situations or ask a few Mer to guard them on their journey.

Alternative Names

The kukai farmers, descendants of Bata, the Bata.

Type

Agricultural / Fishing / Forestry

Other Associated professions

• Mer

Used By

• Followers of Oal-Mer