How to Home World

[Malthe]

Greetings brothers, thanks for stoping by :P

 

I'm in the process of writing up the third draft of my Emperor's Immortals, which can be found here: Emperor's Immortals

 

Since GW decided to add some fluff to the Abyssal Crusade, as a kind liberite warned me they might, the revision will be a bit more thorough than first planned, which is probably not a bad thing ;)

 

I am currently working on nearly all the sections of my article, with special emphasis on origins/history, organization, gene-seed, and home world.

 

The last of these sections, home world, I would like your help with!

 

Right now the section reads like this:

Home World

“This skull I have taken so Amballaya will not end the world, I give it back to your tribe with thanks that you have raised such a warrior and pray that he will be reborn stronger in his new life!”

- Ithakkan prayer of appeasement

 

Always a barren planet, Ithakka is a world of vast deserts, rich in nothing but sand, wind and large poisonous predators. The people that dwell on this world are hardy warriors that wage bloody wars for territory, water and to appease their cruel and vengeful god.

The principal social unit of the Ithakkan people is the tribe; a group consisting of a chief and his extended family, numbering somewhere between thirty and sixty people. More than this and the tribe will have a hard time maintaining a territory big enough to support it, fewer than this and the tribe will be too vulnerable to predators and competing tribes.

If a tribe becomes too large it will usually split up, with the chief’s son or brother setting off in search of new territory. Because of this it is common for the tribes, especially the older ones, to sustain a network of allies and relatives, spread out across the unending desert.

 

When the tribes do come together, it is more often than not for matters of war.

The many tribes of Ithakka all share the worship of a callous but formidable sun god, known by many names, among them Amballaya; 'He burns the rock' and Ngotu; 'No weapon can harm him'.

The tribes believe that in ancient times their forefathers made a pledge to this god, that with each turn of the year, when the great storms of summer subsides and the sun moves closest to Ithakka, they would send their greatest warriors to spill blood under his terrible gaze, satisfying his thirst for destruction and keeping him from ending the world.

 

It is because of this pledge that every year during the warmest month of summer, the tribes of Ithakka meet to make war upon each other.

For thirty days the tribes set aside all hostility; feasting, singing and dancing according to traditions as old as the beginning of the world. Each tribe brings many herd animals to be slaughtered and eaten, as well as valuables to be shown off and exchanged during the long revel.

Then, at night before the thirteenth day, great bonfires are build and the remains of the dead animals burned in great heaps of dried flesh and dusty bone. The warriors paint themselves in frightening patterns of bright colors, clenching their weapons and howling curses at each other.

The next morning, as the sun rises they fall upon each other, hacking, stabbing and tearing at each other to sate their vile god. Inevitably alliances come into play, as brothers avenge their fallen relatives and tribes seek to settle old feuds. Blood-bonds are forged and alliances made and broken between the warring tribes.

 

When night falls the warriors return to their tents, bearing with them the heads of the enemies they have killed. They next day, when the warriors go to fight again, the women of the tribes will cut the flesh from the skulls taken by their husbands and pile them in front of the entrance to their tents. When seven days of war have passed, and the skull piles have grown large and horrifying, the fighting ends. The warriors clean themselves and remove the war-markings on their bodies.

Bringing the skulls they have gathered each warrior go humbly to the tribes of those he has vanquished, at each tribe he returns the cleaned skull of the warrior he has killed and offers a small prayer of gratitude to the family of his slain enemy.

 

After all skulls have been returned the remaining tribes pack up and travel to their homes. Some tribes may have lost so many warriors that they perish shortly after the Skull War, others choose to merge with one of their allies or even, if all it's warriors have been lost, seek out and become a part of the tribe that defeated their own. Such are the tribal bonds of Ithakka constantly renewed and the blood of its people kept strong and pure.

 

From the people of this world the Emperor's Immortals recruit.

Since they first strode the stars, the Immortals have ever kept a secret watch over Ithakka, defending it from all enemies in exchange for a toll of it's children. When the Ithakkans send of their adolescents sons to become men in the desert, the apothecary-chaplains of the Immortals are with them, quietly watching over and evaluating every one of them. To the Ithakkans, the great devils of the desert are merely one more challenge that their sons must overcome in order to cross the threshold to adulthood, and though the tribesmen grieve that the devils take all the best and brightest of their sons, they know that to deny the devils would be to deny their god.

 

Above all things it is this unwavering devotion to their god that the Immortals value in the Ithakkans. For while strength and determination can be broken, the Emperor's Immortals recognize that faith is eternal.

 

Now, much of this I am very happy with. This was the first section written of the original draft and a source of much inspiration :)

 

However, there are a number of thing I would like to change, in accordance with the feedback I've receive so far.

 

First up, it was pointed out to me that a ritual such as the one described would be unlikely to take place in a desert culture, give the huge investment of food, water and energy it would require.

While sacrifice is an important part of the ritual, which should represent a major investment on behalf of the tribespeople, I concede to the point that desert tribes, as it stands, would have a hard time actually performing it.

 

Secondly, I would like to “Africanize” the feel of the home world a bit more. Right now the influences are mostly a mix of Australian and Aztec culture, but I would like to head in a somewhat different (while still quite similar) direction.

Therefore I am considering change the environment of the planet, so it is not merely desert, and maybe also adding some changes to the culture of the natives.

I've also considered changing the name of the planet, but I can't seem to conjure up something better than Ithakka, which while it doesn't really add anything to the home world per say, is a very potent metaphor in reference to the Immortals' relationship to their home. Suggestions are welcome.

 

To sum it up, here is what I want:

 

A home world that adds to the themes duality, divinity, brutality, tribalism and cyclicality.

As well as these more specific points:

1) a home world with a Central African/Aztec feel

2) a culture which could reliably perform the (poorly named) Skull Wars-ritual

3) to preserve Amballaya, the destructive sun god of the Ithakkans (including the Khornate aspects)

 

Therefore I ask you; how should I do this? Any and all pieces of advice are very welcome!

 

Cheers all ;)

[Orlunu]

First off, I would make sure that your new home planet has a new name, Ithakka seems dangerously close to Ithaka, the Iron Snakes's home planet, to me ;)

For culture, I would base it on the Maasai myself, maybe give them slightly fatter livestock, but I think that that is the theme you are trying for. For head hunters you're looking in the wrong place, but few people will realise that you have given them foreign traits.

On the other hand, you may be trying for the Dyak, they are Indonesian rather than African, but are the sterotypical "headhunting natives" with hide shields and all. (Although I think they stopped the head hunting around 2000)