Damutamu
The Damutamu is a tribe of mosquito vampires that live in the warmer regions of Vastiaria. They were founded by Dahlia Damutamu, who decided on a whim to found her own lineage of vampires and see if she could do it better than her brother. This sense of whimsy, spontaneity and randomness would characterize the tribe throughout its existence.
The Damutamu consist of vampires, humans and an assortment of other species, though there is no doubt the vampires are on top. The city is well protected and safe, so in this aspect the common people are well taken care of. The price they pay is that at any given moment, a vampire might decide to chase them down for a drink of blood. To the Damutamu, the chase is half the pleasure of the experience and citizens that can regularly give them the slip can often find themselves favored by the vampires.
The disharmony and chaos of the Damutamu have sometimes led the uninformed to think them weak and ripe for conquest, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Damutamu are skilled guerilla warriors, using the terrain, defenses and their own mobility to wear the enemy down. And when they finally strike to win the conflict, it's as a frenzied swarm that quickly tear their foes to bloody shred, usually resulting in a gruesome feeding frenzy, the sight of which can drain the fighting spirit from all but the most stalwart of people.
Structure
Amazon: The greatest warriors of the Damutamu become amazons, who often serve their leader Dahlia as both bodyguards and personal harem. Majority are female, but not all.
Mchawi: Damutamu vampires that specialise in harnessing their inherent magic. They tend to be marginally more disciplined that their fellow Damutamu, a necessity to focus their occult powers, and assist with all matters magical for the tribe.
Mchukua Damu: Skilled operatives whose primary job is ensuring the Damutamu remains steadily supplied with blood.
Mkufunzi: Vampire scholars and sages who use their generations of acquired knowledge to educate members of the tribe, be they vampire or otherwise.
Mtumishi: Humans who wish to be considered for vampirism must bond with and serve under an established vampire for enough time to be considered worthy, the exact definition of which is vague at best. They also serve the tribe by acting on their behalf wherever the vampires themselves would be too inconspicuous.
Wakala: Mercenaries and adventurers who catch the eye of the Damutamu leadership may occasionally gain semi-permanent employment as Wakala. These independent troubleshooters are among the first the tribe calls upon if they need assistance with any matters.
Wanamgambo: Civillian non-vampires trained in the basics of combat. Their roles is usually to plink away at the enemy from afar, serving as snipers, sharpshooters and artillery operators. This is done to keep them out of harms way, both because they are less hardy than the vampires, but also because injuries could prevent their secondary job. Wanamgambo also serve as mobile supplies of blood for the Damutamu vampires if they need a refill during battle and an enemy isn't available.
Culture
The Damutamu believe in enjoying life and seeking out fun wherever they can. Their leader, Dahlia, has instilled in them a hedonistic attitude. However, they also consider themselves predators and believe denying their inherent vampiric nature would be, at best, self-deception. They don't hide it behind fancy titles or bureaucracy. Instead, the non-vampiric population knows that in return for their safety from outside threats, the vampires hunt them whenever they feel like it. The only limitation being that a vampire cannot drain any human citizen to death.
Public Agenda
The Damutamu prefers excitement and adventure to order and calm. Thus, they oppose any large scale attempts at pacifying and civilizing the environment in which they live.
Assets
The Damutamu operate out of Embu, a fortified city situated in the middle of the Swamp of Drowned Dreams. Not only is this morass home to many predatory beings, it is also cursed by Dahlia to suck the life out of invaders and intruders, the land now just as bloodthirsty as its inhabitants.
History
In 2001 AIT, Dahlia founded the Damutamu out of a desire of self-expression, creating a vampiric lineage that would match her personal desires. She herself helped set up the city of Embu and build it according to her specifications and desires.
In 2564, the Utanti attempted an invasion of the region, including trying to take Embu. The Utanti warlord of the attack tried to engage the vampires in a direct battle, but was stymied by the unfavorable terrain and merciless guerilla tactics instead. These defeats only wounded the pride of the invaders, leading them to invest even more ressources into the siege of Embu. It failed and in the meantime, the nations of Basharan, Emkuuki and Idar rallied their forces and prepared a counter attack which eradicated the Utanti forces.
Demography and Population
The majority of citizens are humans, closely followed by mosquito vampires. In the Swamp of Drowned Dreams which covers a lot of Damutamu territory, packs of tsuchigumo, hosts of omukade and groves of jinmenju all swear allegiance to the Damutamu.
Territories
Damutamu territory covers all of the Swamp of Drowned Dreams
Military
The amazons and the mchukua damu make up the majority of the Damutamu fighting force when needed. It is rather haphazardly organized, without much distinction of rank. Squads of mtumishi assist in various battlefield capacities, primarily by serving as walking supplies.
When battle is joined, individual members tend to do whatever they want, resulting in a very chaotic, impulsive fighting style, relying more on individual members' toughness than any overall strategy.
Technological Level
The technological level of the Damutamu is all over the place, as they gather anything that catches their interest. Thus, they have some very modern pieces of equipment, but most is outside their capacity to produce.
Religion
The Damutamu are in general not very religious, though individual members may have faith in whatever deity they desire.
Foreign Relations
The Damutamu have a strained relationship with the nearby nations of Basharan, Emkuuki and Idar. While they have nothing against them per se, all three regions have slowly been expanding into the jungle, taming it as it where. And the Damutamu find the idea of the wilderness being tamed to be boring, so they have been subtly sabotaging attempts at expansion. But a series of misfortunes has done nothing but slow things down so far.
They are on far better terms with the Jophis, a loose alliance of dragons whose territories border each other. The dragons maintain the wildness of the land and are always up for a good scrap, something the Damutamu enjoy.
Agriculture & Industry
The Damutamu maintain a number of orchards within the city that produce a number of different fruits, berries and nuts. Some also grow in the swamp itself, though they tend to be less safe for mortal consumption.
Trade & Transport
Trade is done by what merchants are brave or foolhardy enough to cross the cursed swampland. Those who bring interesting and exotic goods can often earn a grand profit, as most of the vampiric citizens value novelty higher than any other concern.
Education
Education is rather sporadic and unorganized. The Damutamu has gathered much knowledge from across the spheres to fill out their library and the mkufunzi teach all citizens who'll listen, but what each one teach is rather up to them.
Infrastructure
The city's infrastructure was built with an eye towards fun over practicality. As such, it's streets and buildings come equipped with climbing walls, slides, secret doors and whatever else the Damutamu could imagine would make chasing a human fun. Some infrastructure is dedicated to maintaining the health of the non-vampire population, such as sewage pipes redirecting waste into the surrounding swamp or to be collected for fertilizer.
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Founding Date
2001 AIT
Type
Geopolitical, Tribe
Alternative Names
Las Profanadoras(Derogatory, Luz de Guia origin)
Training Level
Semi-trained
Veterancy Level
Veteran
Demonym
Damutamu
Leader
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Tribalism
Economic System
Barter system
Legislative Body
Dahlia, her closest family members and whomever they deign to let counsel them make the few laws that govern the Damutamu.
Judicial Body
While the laws are often very simple and clear cut, the mkufunzi are called in for murkier cases.
Executive Body
The amazons handles enforcement of laws whenever it is deemed necesarry
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