Paruparo

The Paruparo was an empire of Spirit Magic mastering humans.

History

The Paruparo have their roots as an indigenous tribe on Nawala Island dating back thousands of years. Not much is known about their history, as the only evidence of their existence left is the ruins of the once great city they left behind. These ruins, located around what is now Precursor Village host murals created by the tribe describing their history.
According to these murals, the Paruparo were a simple tribe until they discovered Spirit Magic, depicted as a single individual discovering how to use an animal skull to create magic, who then taught the others to use it as well. It then described how the Paruparo used said magic to grow their civilization, aiding in their crops, treating their health, and powering advanced machines far beyond what other civilizations were capable of at the time.
The Paruparo believed that the volcano's energy helped their area in particular become so potent with spirit magic, as volcanos are harbingers of death and rebirth. They would eventually create structures that syphoned magma from the active volcano and infused it with magic, creating a substance experts dubbed Phantite. They used this substance to power their machines and their homes.
Magic allowed the Paruparo to become a prosperous utopia and their people were happy. Always looking to grow, the Paruparo would invite other tribes in the region to partake in their gift, though other sources from the time claim the empire bullied their way into these territories. The empire expanded onto the mainland of what is now known as the Bituin Peninsula. Many neighboring civilizations would get word the Paruparo's magic and come to see it themselves, intermingling and eventually living inside the empire.
For many years, the Paruparo were insistent on the importance of respecting nature and the environment, as the natural cycle of life and death were not only valuable for their magic, but for their culture. Though as generations passed, people in power would become more greedy. The magisters --masters of magic in the empire-- wanted to expand their gift and what it was capable of doing for the empire. They wanted to be able to predict the future to ensure that they always picked the best time to plant crops, and they were always one step ahead of an attack from a warring tribe. However, known of their machines could generate enough magic to perform a spell like that one their own, so they opted to use the island's active volcano and all it's natural energy to power it instead. Machines were built precariously onto the structure, destroying natural landmarks and digging up ancient fossils in order to do so. This upset the balance of the island, a thing that previous generations of Paruparo vowed to never do. The magisters would get their wish of precognition, in the form of a vision of mass destruction to their people.
Immediately the tribe began to prepare for the worst, harnessing all of their artifacts to come up with a spell that would protect them from certain doom. Then the volcano, triggered by the stress of the added machines, would violently erupt. The Paruparo people would sustain a few deaths and some property damage from the explosion, but most people came out unscathed. They initially believed that they would survive the prophecy, but the eruption only caused a butterfly effect in the atmosphere. The air cooled dramatically and interacted with the surrounding hot air of the region, creating a nasty tropical storm. Plus the earthquake caused by the eruption was sending a tsunami straight for them.
With little time to prepare for the impending flood the Paruparo used the Fossil Stones to create a spell circle, one that would give their people the power of insects, the power of flight, and strong bodies. However, this rushed spell backfired, transforming human that was within the spell circle to be transformed into small insectoid creatures, who would later be known as Miinu. While the Miinu were indeed able to escape into the trees and survive the flood, when the waters receded, the empire was in ruins, their city destroyed. But miraculously, the Fossil Stones on their pedestals were protected from the damage, as if their own magical energy formed a protective bubble to block the winds and flood waters.
Though the miinu returned to their old home alive, it came at the cost of their memories, as know one could remember who they were, or how they had come to be.

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In the modern age, those who were ethnically Paruparo who had managed to not be in the region at the time of the disaster would eventually move back to Nawala island to start over. This didn't happen until generations after the disaster, and those who returned had lost most of the knowledge of Spirit Magic tech. As a result, this new tribe opted to go back to the tribes simpler practices, and only use spirit magic for small spells, being wary of the damage such larger spells can cause.
Currently, they are still fighting for their right to live there freely, as the newly formed government of Bituin wishes to develop the island and modernize it, a project that very easily could reignite the unbalance that caused the first disaster.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

The ancient language of the Paruparo has been lost for many centuries, which as made translating their old texts difficult, and archeologists only know as much as they do from translations written in still existing languages. Though the Miinu believe that the writing is an ancient form of what is now Miinuvian.

Art & Architecture

The Paruparu were famous for their intricate stone and clay buildings that had a more industrial style than other tribes in the area. Geometric buildings were accented with curved pillars usually with lines or geometric designed carved into them. Many of the buildings have deep grooves in the walls and floors lined with extremely heat resistant stone that mimic circuitry, where it's believed magma from the volcano was condensed into Phantite.
The buildings also were detailed decorated with murals that described the history of the Paruparo, from their origins as simple tribes people, to the discovery of magic, to the creation of their empire, and it's inevitable failure.
Now most of the ancient city is in ruins and much of these structures have been heavily damaged by nature and time. Many of the buildings have completely collapse many years ago, while the buildings that still stand show clear signs of water damage from the flood the impacted the city. Many of the underground tunnels are still flooded with water to this day. Thankfully, many of the murals that described their history have remained mostly undamaged.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

The Paruparo were a very nature conscious people. They were aware that their magic relied on the natural balance of life and death, and to kill and destroy recklessly would result in the magic becoming unstable. The people had a great respect for the dead and respected the artifacts of the dead they used to cast spells. Ironically, it was when the Paruparo lost this respect for the environment that spelled doom for their people.

Other Names

The Precursors (by Miinu)

Species

Human

Related Myths

• Mariposa the Hive

Related Locations

• Bituin Peninsula
• Nawala Island