Zecix
The Zecix are the oldest extant zebra tribe and the closet to the original Muro tribe. They live on the mountain Zix'muro where tradition holds life began. They live simple monk-like lifestyles where they grow their own food, tend the village and temple, and practice their traditions. Lives are long and healthy, love is rich and true, homes are small and warm. The population remains around 200 with many marrying outside the village or moving to other villages to marry. There are two neighboring villages on the mountain and one at the base of the mountain that serves as a trade hub. Inhabitants are free to come and go with many choosing to stay and enjoy a simple life.
Structure
The oldest advise but no one has any more power than anyone else.
Public Agenda
Defend those who need it. Uphold the memory of the Muro. Do not start a fight, but be able to end it.
Assets
Rare herbs, martial traditions, innate and unique magic that enhances their combat abilities.
History
In the beginning the world was a great sea filled with monsters and evil spirits. Time meant nothing as there was no day and all life was ageless. This world had no sun, no moon, and no stars there was only the endless night and bitter cold. Deep within the earth something grew, out of the water came a great mountain Zix’muro; mountain of the sun. The heat of the mountain pushed back the cold of the world, the fire at its core brought light to the endless darkness. It was on this mountain that plants first grew and the first zebra walked. This first tribe was named the Muro, for the mountain that gave them a life and home.
On this mountain, they lived and died, sustained by its heat and by the ancient plants that grew upon it. Each day, the greatest warriors descended the mountain to guard it from an evil more ancient than time that desired the power of the mountain for itself. Each day fewer warriors returned, until the day they didn’t. That night the wisecolts and mares prayed to the mountain for an answer, for a solution, for hope... and they were answered.
Deep in the core of the mountain rested a fire hotter than any the tribe had made and more powerful than any spell that would ever be. It showed them how to make blood iron, a powerful metal infused with a beings life force. By mixing blood iron with the fire, a weapon would be born that was powerful enough to slay any creature that threatened the mountain. So the elders ventured into a forgotten cave, following the path revealed until they came to a great cavern with a pit in the center.
It was here the oldest of them gave his life to produce the blood iron needed. From it the others forged a small oval of silver metal and cast it into the fire. The mountain erupted! and for the first time there was day. Above the village now rested the sun whose light burned away the evil below the mountain and freed the tribe to spread across the land.
With the sun above them and the land below now safe to colonize many zebra were eager to leave their mountain home. A great number left, filling the fertile lands with new tribes with new magics unique to each. Those that chose to stay became the first of the new tribes. The Zecix lived as they had before the sun rose into the sky. Safe on their ancestral home they honed their martial craft into one of reflection and self defense. It was here where they found the ring of blood iron, only now there rested within it a large clear gem from which sunlight always shone.
Ruled by the oldest and wisest stallion and mare the Zecix flourished over the coming decades. Their role was one of advice and supervision, things that concerned the tribe were brought before them and their knowledge consulted, and the best course of action decided. The original village remained small with only a few others being established. At the base of the mountain a single town was built that served as their link to the wider world. It was here they would trade, mingle, and hold festivals on holy days.
When the plague came the Zecix were the second to last tribe infected and were nearly eradicated by it. Their small population and village lifestyle caused it to spread quickly, only a few managed to avoid infection and only a handful of those infected were cured. During the war the primary goal of the survivors was to train new warriors who would be able to keep the traditions of the tribe alive. Many of those sent to fight the war quickly dissented, determined to not use their sacred magic and training to kill. The few who did stay and fight were some of the most dangerous individuals, however as ranged weapons and magic evolved their combat value was lost.
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