The Iosi (ee-oh-see)

Known to the people of the Ossended Host as godkeepers or spiritkeepers (and to the people of the Wanderman Assembly as "those weird, spooky forest people"), the Iosi people are a tribe that dwells around and throughout many of the most important spiritual locations of the Shattered Teeth, practicing a religious, traditional reverence for nature, extraplanar beings, and life itself.
An Iosi character gains proficiency in smith's tools and the ability to speak, read, and write Celestial. If the character would gain one of these proficiencies from another source, choose another tool proficiency or language to gain in its place.

Goals

The Iosi people as a whole do not share a consistent, long-term goal in any political or world-scale sense. Survival is a short-term goal, but that's generally handled between the magical abilities of the populace and their aptitude/expertise in farming, hunting, fishing, and gathering, and the villages of the Iosi are friendly enough with one another to help the others out in the case of a bad year. In general, those within the Iosi strive for personal growth as it relates to the world around them: learning self-sufficiency (as much as possible, per an individual's ability), knowledge and respect for the planes and those who dwell within them (especially the material plane and the gods), and service to others both within and outside of their communities. An individual Iosi's growth is measured by the services that they've performed in the name of the Iosi people, shown via a number of tattoos on their body. By their 30th or 40th year, an Iosi has usually completed their first service to their village or to the broader world; by their 100th year, an Iosi is expected to have completed at least five smaller tasks as well as a single, substantially larger task.
Understanding and paying respect to deities and other powerful beings is similarly important to the Iosi, as their connection to the divine and extraplanar is the driving force behind the continuation of their culture. Certain mortal or extraplanar beings who become powerful or significant enough in the area can be considered within the Iosi to have ascended to the role of spirit, a term used loosely to refer to any being. Aspiring to this role is considered taboo within the Iosi society; the granting of this label is considered an obligation rather than an honor. Respect is paid, separation is maintained in terms of role and place in society, and offerings are occasionally provided within a village or a small grouping.

Relationships

The Iosi, for the most part, remain distant from both the Wanderman Assembly and the Ossended Host, interacting willingly only when necessary in order to complete the tasks they believe to be necessary. Occasional conflicts result - especially with the expansionist Assembly - but the Iosi generally avoid retaliation, only acting to directly remedy actions taken against other Iosi at most (such as freeing unjustly-kept prisoners).

Figures of Interest

Stuff

Ancestries and Demographics

Ancestry: 35% Elf (Wood), 21% Goliath, 18% Aasimar, 15% Tiefling, 11% other
The majority of Iosi are of wood elven descent, with a notable goliath population as well. Within those categories, a not-insubstantial portion of Iosi display Celestial or Infernal influence; both aasimar and tieflings are common, often tracing their origin to a particular deity and generally living about 25% longer than their ancestors. Iosi goliaths live almost as long as elves, with a 350-400 year lifespan. Those initiated into the Iosi gain a longer life due to extraplanar influence, but they rarely reach the age of those who are born into the tribe. Those of other ancestries born within the tribe gain a lifespan that, if normally shorter, extends to a similar range to Iosian goliaths.
Celestial is most commonly spoken among the Iosi. Other languages are taught as well, usually varying by village and family.

Architecture and Settlements

The Iosi generally dwell in thatched-roof houses with openings in the roofs for smoke to escape from the firepits dug into one side of the home, settling in small villages (usually 100 people or fewer, occasionally up to 500) near rivers away from the settlements of both the Ossended Host and the Wanderman Assembly. Within these villages, small shrines to a number of different spirits and important beings are maintained with respectful offerings and ceremony, though all villages contain shrines to the 22 deities recognized by the Iosi people. The floors of Iosi homes are generally covered in woven mats and rugs above the raised wooden platform that makes up the home, and meals are eaten while sitting around the fire, generally without a table. A second entrance in each house opposite the main entrance, covered by a tapestry, is reserved for gods or for beings who have earned religious reverence; others are not supposed to pass through this entrance, nor are they supposed to lift the curtain or look through it.
Lavatories are dug and built out of the way due to the lack of running water, usually consisting of a hole in a wooden floor above a deep pit.
Farms - including grains, potatoes, and beans - are communally maintained, supplemented with plants and fruits gathered from the environment. Likewise, animals are bred and caged.

Social Structure and Practices

The Iosi generally lack a single centralized authority, relying on a council of appointed members of each individual village - a Divine Council, a rare occurrence happening only once every few decades - to make major decisions when absolutely necessary. These are appointed via village consensus. Local decisions are made by consensus or, in larger villages, by a group of appointed representatives from each family.
Those within the Iosi generally stay within the Iosi lands and people unless given good reason. Fairly often, however, individuals will be sent out with particular tasks and expected to return only once those tasks are completed. These tasks range in significance from delivering a simple message - usually a prophecy or warning, occasionally a message of goodwill - to more broad messages. If any of the Iosi returns before their task is completed, they are generally considered to be visiting; attempting to stay for longer than a few nights will generally be met with escorting out of the village, or punishment and appointment of a new person to that task at worst.
Iosi who are sent out on a task receive a tattoo in red ink somewhere on their body; black ink is used to complete the image and mark their service to the tribe and the land when they have completed their task. A completed tattoo is a symbol of maturity among the Iosi; most Iosi complete at least one around the time they'd reach adulthood. By old age, most Iosi are covered from head to toe in tattoos, representing a lifetime of service to the gods and the community. Tattoos vary in complexity and size based on their significance. Should a task prove more difficult or important than initially expected, an Iosi's tattoo will be extended to represent the significance of the accomplishment; certain adult Iosi have the majority of their body covered in a singular, sprawling and intricate tattoo representing a particularly substantial task.
Iosi tasks are often dangerous, even if they only require the delivery of a simple message. The Ossended Host and, more notably, the Wanderman Assembly are often hostile to those delivering messages warning of incoming storms or potential dangers - especially when they're right. Many an Iosi messenger has found themselves locked up - or worse - as a result, usually on charges of disturbing the peace or, in some superstitious cases, on charges of causing the problem they came to warn people about. Some villages are more welcoming, but the Iosi do not generally discriminate in determining to whom they should send messengers, believing the task to be a necessary duty. Pilgrimages into the mountains and other, more complex tasks are almost less dangerous in this regard, though they come with dangers of their own.
The label of Iosi is often thought by outsiders to be reserved for those born into the people. While those born into Iosi families are automatically considered a part of the tribe, outsiders can be and are brought into the fold on an individual basis. Though the requirements for this vary from village to village, an appropriate respect for Iosi religious practices as well as life, deities, and extraplanar beings is always among them.
Oral tradition is the predominant method of transmitting history among the Iosi people, especially effective given the long lives of the population. Writing is not uncommon, however.

Technology and Military

The Iosi lack a formal fighting force, though basic training in weaponry is among the skills taught to the youth of the tribe, especially in regard to hunting. Iron is worked within the Iosi at communal forges, especially in larger villages. Those who require a weapon - especially for a task - are taught to forge it themselves, becoming knowledgeable in smithing and thus able to teach future generations. Weapons created by oneself are of special (not religious) significance within the Iosi; an adult generally bears weapons created by themselves in addition to multiple completed tattoos.

Weapons

The Iosi equivalent to a longsword is the tsurugi, a straight, two-edged sword measuring about 100 cm in length with a small guard and similar to the Chinese jian. Shortswords, called chokutō, are single-edged, with a length of 60 to 70 cm but otherwise similar in form to the tsurugi. The tantō is equivalent to a dagger or knife, measuring between 15 and 30 cm in length; in contrast to the tantō of the Ossended Host, those worn by the Iosi are typically double-edged. Iosi swords are often sheathed in durable leather, unlike those of the Host. Still, like the Host, most swords are worn across the lower back with the blade facing down.
Iosi people generally do not carry firearms, as their construction requires equipment and construction beyond the scope of Iosi villages.

Religious Practices

Within the Iosi people, a sort of animism forms the basis for most religious beliefs, a general reverence for life as a whole as it manifests in every living thing (and some non-living). Beings of sufficient power are not followed, but they are respected, paid homage to via offerings to altars present in every village. Locally, spirits, extraplanar beings, and other sufficiently powerful individuals are given lesser but similar reverence, with shrines to locally-revered spirits constructed nearby the 22 shrines to the major deities. Shrines are typically simple in construction, made from treated wood with bowls at the top to collect offerings. Inscriptions marking the shrine's particular deity are written on the sides of the bowl. Deities are generally assumed to be outside of mortals' ability to interact with directly, with only one notable exception.
The Iosi, in general, revere the natural world above all else, living in harmony with what they can while ensuring their civilization doesn't conflict with the needs of the beasts and the plants. Prayers and offerings to the gods are made when an animal is killed, even a fish; these offerings are burnt and crushed the next morning inside the bowls if they are still present in the shrines at dawn.
While hunting only comes with a basic prayer of reverence said in respect for the creature whose life was taken, the slaughter of animals raised within the village has special significance. Generally, the majority of the village is gathered around, and a small ceremony conducted before the creature's life is taken as painlessly as possible. Small pieces of the creature - generally pieces that won't rot, such as bones or feathers - are then offered to each of the 22 deities (and occasionally others).
Music has religious significance to the Iosi people. The tonkori, a local stringed instrument played open-stringed with between two and six strings, is the centerpiece of much local music; the rest is accompanied by complex, multi-part harmonized singing or chanting as well as percussion. Music accompanies most religious ceremonies - especially that of the slaughter of an animal raised in the village - but is also a leisure activity for many Iosi.
Though the names of each deity are known to the Iosi, they do not generally speak their names aloud unless addressing the deity directly. The 22 deities worshipped by the Iosi are as follows:

1. The Wanderer (Avandra)
2. The Ruler Above (Bahamut)
3. The Lifespark (Corellon)
4. The Village-Maker (Erathis)
5. The Storyteller (Ioun)
6. The Thunder Bearer (Kord)
7. The Wild Mother (Melora)
8. The Iron Master (Moradin)
9. The Dawn Father (Pelor)
10. The Everlight (Raei)
11. The Death-Bringer (The Raven Queen)
12. The Moon Weaver (Sehanine)
13. The Pact-Maker (Asmodeus)
14. The Conqueror (Bane)
15. The Devourer (Gruumsh)
16. The Shadow-Spinner (Lolth)
17. The Deep Dreamer (Tharizdun)
18. The Scale-Keeper (Tiamat)
19. The Cave-Crafter (Torog)
20. The Whispered One (Vecna)
21. The Great Serpent (Zehir)
22. The Weeping Lover

Crime

Criminal offenses within the Iosi are somewhat subjective. If an offense has been caused, a group of people is formed to debate on the punishment or atonement for the offense. Capital punishment is never acceptable; the Iosi value life enough for the subject to seem barbaric to them. Banishment and physical injury are the worst punishments one could incur, reserved for the most severe of crimes; religious service and atonement is a common punishment in other crimes. Religious offenses, if severe enough, can be subject to punishment, but outsiders to the Iosi are generally given more leeway than others in this regard.

Cuisine

The majority of meat used in Iosi dishes comes from fishing, with a varied mix of farmed and gathered vegetables, herbs, and fruits supplementing fish, hunted meat, or, rarely, the meat of an animal raised within the village. Fishing is an occupation for many, with most Iosi gathering food from the rivers while those close enough to the ocean to do so set out in canoes to gather the day's catch. Unlike cuisine within the Ossended Host, fish is never served raw among the Iosi.
The most commonly cooked dish is not so much a single dish as it is a style of cooking. Dried fish and animal bones are added to water to create a savory broth, with meat added afterwards to boil in the stock. Vegetables are added later based on cooking time, and fats, seasonings, and the like are added in the later stages of cooking to better flavor the soup. The local word for this is just "soup", but it's a distinctive, exceptionally hearty and flavorful dish of its own, served almost daily in Iosi cultures. The bones are traditionally left in the stock, posing some difficulty for those not expecting to find them inside their soup.
Other dishes: porridge, mashed beans + veggies, pâté mixed with veggies, dried meat/fish jerky.
Alcoholic beverages include grain- and potato-based alcohols, fermented and produced communally. Traditional drinks are similar to kvass and vodka, though they're often sweetened or flavored with gathered herbs or fruits, served warm and around the fire.

Type

Geopolitical, Tribe

Alternative Names

Godkeepers,