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Obsidian

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Obsidians are a lowColor in the hierarchy of The Society who serve as elite soldiers known throughout the solar system for their enormous size and titanic strength. Until the founding of the Sons of Ares in 720 PCE, they were the only color to rebel against Gold,[1] with the Dark Revolt in 200 PCE nearly toppling The Society.[2]

After the Dark Revolt, the Obsidian population was forced to live in the polar regions of various planets and moons across the solar system, stripped of all modern technology, and conditioned to worship Golds as their gods.

Physiology[]

Obsidians are typically much larger and bulkier than any other color, with most Obsidians being over six feet tall and Obsidian children being similar in height to a short adult Gold like Sevro au Barca.[3] Obsidians are incredibly hardy, able to withstand injuries and battle wounds completely unfazed.[4]

Most Obsidians have 5 fingers per hand, though some are known to have 4 or 8 per hand.[5][6]

Name Identifier[]

Obsidians are one of the only colors to not use name identifiers at any point during the reign of The Society.

Culture[]

Obsidian culture originally bore a resemblance to Mongolian culture, but following the Dark Revolt, the Board of Quality Control used social engineering to reconfigure it to resemble Nordic culture. Obsidians over the subsequent centuries would bear Nordic or Germanic names such as Ragnar and Sigurd.

Obsidian culture was originally patriarchal before the Dark Revolt, but after the rebellion failed and 90% of the population was exterminated, Gold social engineering reversed it into a matriarchy.

Polygamy is common among Obsidian women, with them typically having multiple children from multiple fathers. Each man is bound to protect and treat the other children of his wife's brood as though they were his own, but is considered the first father of the children he personally sired.[7]

Obsidians will open their hands to only those they respect, not to their superiors.

Tribes[]

Obsidians on each planet are divided into multiple tribes that war with each other for the sparse resource of their polar environments. Each clan is ruled by a chieftain referred to as a Jarl.[8] Multiple clans are united into a single tribe, ruled by a Queen, with the Jarls serving under her as warchiefs.[8][9][10]

Obsidians consider it wrong to criticize a ruler unless one is willing to fight that ruler.[11]

Each tribe appears to be named for the location of their main territory.[11][12] Known tribes include:

  • Tribe of the Blood Ram - Martian antarctic
  • Tribe of the Valkyrie Spires - Martian antarctic

During the Rising, the tribes of the Martian antarctic united under the banner of Queen Sefi Volarus, who eventually established a pan-tribal nation in 754 PCE known as the Alltribe.

Touch[]

Obsidians are averse to physical touch and affection as a result of conditioning by the Board of Quality Control, who sought to destory the sense of kinship the Osbsidians had before the Dark Revolt by bribing tribal shamans to teach that touching one another will weaken their spirit.[13] Due to this teaching, the only times where physical contact is permitted in Obsidian culture are:

  • During sexual intercourse (Touch of Spring)
  • When saving another person's life (Touch of Summer)
  • When killing someone (Touch of Winter).

Tattoos[]

Obsidians frequently have various markings and symbols tattooed on different parts of their body. The color of the ink used varies depending on the planet they live on and the Gold family they serve. For example, clans who serve as gladiators for House Carthii use eel-green ink.

War Chant[]

In battle, Obsidians chant a throaty war-song, intended to send terror into the hearts of their adversaries, as well as inspire courage and kinship among the Obsidians themselves.

Kjrdakan[]

Before important battles, Obsidian tribes hold a war ritual known as the Kjrdakan (Lord Wager), which begins with the lowest ranking wing lords and climbs up through the ranks to the Queen as each commander involved in the coming battle places a wager on their success by casting a symbol of their wager into the rib-cage of a slain Aurochs. Those that wager their honor against the battle's success - represented by dropping strands of their hair into the cage - will have their hair shorn in the event of failure and lose their ranks, while those who bleed into the rib-cage wager their life and will be ritually executed if the battle ends in defeat. The lowest form of wager is to give a single golden torc, representing a fraction of battle honor, and to do so is considered an insult, as it represents lack of belief in the battle plan. Those that place the highest wager have the greatest claim to valor if the battle is a victory.[14]

Religion[]

Following the Dark Revolt, Obsidian worship the Norse pantheon, and have been conditioned by the Board of Quality Control to view Golds as the Aesir, referring to them as Sunborn.

In conjunction with the Obsidians being restricted from all contemporary technology and their igorance of the processes of genetic manipulation and Carving, the Golds encourage belief in other supernatural forces such as demons and spirits through the use of sophisticated technology aboard Asgard station and populating the lands of the Obsidians with unimaginable horrors, including bear-like pack-hunters, man-sized (and larger) marine predators and mythic beasts from Earth's ancient legends such as Griffins and dragons.

Ashvar[]

Ashvar is a tradition between Obsidian warriors in which one whose honor has been wronged seeks out their target to restore their honor through a one-on-one duel to the death. Warriors who declare Ashvar use a chunk of coal to paint the mark of the Norse war god Tyr upon their brow and abdicate all worldly concerns except the resolution of their vendetta. An Obsidian who wears the mark of Ashvar is to be given hospitality and immunity by everyone they meet.

The target being challenged determines the terms and conditions of their duel, and is allowed to choose a champion to fight on their behalf. However, if the champion dies, the challenged must be killed immediately by their own people.[11]

Before the beginning of the duel, Shamans paint both parties in ritual bright blue paint and draw runs over the top.[15]

Titles[]

Obsidians will commonly attach titles to their names relating to some aspect of their behavior or referencing notable accomplishments, such as Sefi the Quiet, Valdir the Unshorn, Alia the Snowsparrow, Ramanar the Ice Blood, etc.

Language[]

In addition to Common, Obsidian are the only Color to have their own unique languages. In the early centuries of the Post-Conquering Era, Obsidians spoke a language known as Tetkjr, implied to have Mongolian roots based on the fact that Obsidian culture was influenced by the Mongols prior to the Dark Revolt.

After Gold socially re-engineered Obsidian culture to resemble that of the ancient Norse following the Battle of Peitho and the end of the Dark Revolt, Obsidians shifted to a Nordic-based language known as Nagal. Outside of the Ascomanni who fled to the Kuiper Belt, Tetkjr was not spoken inside Society territory for centuries, and of its written form, only remnants of old prayers have been found in abandoned temples on Mercury.

Society Training[]

After an Obsidian is taken from the ice they are transported to a facility known as the Agoge (named for the Spartan program to train young boys), where they are trained in modern weaponry and space combat. They are given meager rations, and to supplement this are encouraged to loot and steal supplies from the surrounding area in a nightly ritual known as the Nagoge.

While they are permitted to use some martial technology, such as ionBlades, they are not permitted to use technology outside of that intended for military use, and to touch a razor is punishable by death via starvation.[16]

Types of Obsidian[]

Stained[]

Stained are an elite class of Obsidians from Mars considered among the strongest warriors of their caste.

  • For more information, read more at Stained.

Skuggi[]

Skuggi are a sacred order of spirit warriors and assassins.

  • For more information, read more at Skuggi

Berserkers[]

Berserkers are Obsidian warriors known for their savagery induced by a combat drug known as Fever Cloud. Berserkers are also known for fighting naked, as well as their heavy amounts of tattoos.[17]

Shamans[]

Shamans are Obsidians who oversee the religious and spiritual practices of a tribe.[10] They are the traditional emissary through which Obsidian clans commune with the "gods", making them effectively spies for the Board of Quality Control to monitor the Obsidian population and keep them in line.[13][18] They are some of the only Obsidians on the ice of any sphere to know and speak the HighLingo Aureate dialect of Common.[18]

Eaters[]

Eaters are Obsidians who have been shamed and cast out from their clan and have resorted to cannibalism for survival as they wander the ice.[19][7]

Ascomanni[]

Ascomanni are the descendants of Obsidian warlords who fled into the Kuiper Belt after the Dark Revolt and evolved into their own civilization separate from that of the Obsidians of the solar system. They are considered quite ruthless and violent, known for their tendancies for cannibalism and decorating the hulls of their ships with the bodies of their victims.

  • For more information, read more at Ascomanni.

Known Obsidians[]

Notes & References[]

  1. ā†‘ Golden Son, Chapter 51
  2. ā†‘ Dark Age, Chapter 37
  3. ā†‘ Iron Gold, Chapter 02
  4. ā†‘ Golden Son, Chapter 21
  5. ā†‘ Pirece Brown, Twitter; October 16, 2018.
  6. ā†‘ Dark Age, Chapter 23
  7. ā†‘ 7.0 7.1 Morning Star, Chapter 28
  8. ā†‘ 8.0 8.1 Dark Age, Chapter 75
  9. ā†‘ Morning Star, Chapter 34
  10. ā†‘ 10.0 10.1 Dark Age, Chapter 45
  11. ā†‘ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Light Bringer, Chapter 71
  12. ā†‘ Light Bringer, Chapter 56
  13. ā†‘ 13.0 13.1 Golden Son, Chapter 24
  14. ā†‘ Dark Age, Chapter 40
  15. ā†‘ Light Bringer, Chapter 72
  16. ā†‘ Golden Son, Chapter 40
  17. ā†‘ Light Bringer, chapter 09
  18. ā†‘ 18.0 18.1 Morning Star, Chapter 31
  19. ā†‘ Morning Star, Chapter 27

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