09-04-2006, 11:42 PM
Pages: 1 2
09-04-2006, 11:57 PM
:lol: I posted these a long time ago onthe old forums...
Kamal ? The Land
The land of the Kamal was not always home to these creatures that are named after it. However long ago, spurned by the Dragons, the creatures that would become the Kamal were driven from all fertile and pleasant lands in the south, west, and east. Instead of living in relative harmony in these lands they ended up being driven into the volcanic lands in the north. However volcanic does not mean hot. Most of these volcanoes are dormant, and the northern lands freezing cold. Low clouds constantly drop snow and hail and block the sun and all moisture is quickly dried up. In this primeval land of fire and ice, it is no wonder that the Kamal have become such aggressive and hardy creatures. However the Kamal, though they dislike the cold, have developed and adapted well to the ice and fire of the Kamal north.
Kamal ? The People
The Kamal are not literally, as some would suggest, ice-demons, nor are they shaggy snow beasts. The truth is, these images from the memories of veterans and elders are actually of the first wave the Kamal unintentionally sends before them. As the Kamal awake and march south, east, and west, any beasts caught in their path are either eaten or driven before them. Thus in desperation, many of these beasts, normally fierce predators, roam ahead of the Kamal forces and cause great destruction even before the Kamal reach their targets. The true Kamal, which has not been seen by many living Ka Po? Tun, Tang Mo, nor Tsaesci for a long time, are actually somewhat insectoid. However the myth of them thawing out in the summer and invading is somewhat true. The insectoid Kamal cannot stand the cold in the open and so make deep burrow-holds to protect themselves. Often times, these are dug into the sides of volcanoes, and so the dormant Kamal sleep warmly in the winter, only their sentries sleep frozen in the outer tunnels and the slightest sound awakes them. These creatures have the carapace of insects and four wings, vestigial organs that help them warm-up but no longer are able to help them fly, though it aids in jumping. The edges of their carapace-plates are fringed with hair, both sensory and for warmth. The Kamal must suck nutrients out of others with their needle-like feeding organ. Thus they are so much the more hated by others as they refuse their enemies proper burials (though it does not offend their culture). The Kamal are actually afraid of the cold, and thus naturally drawn out of hibernation in the spring and summer and naturally head towards the warmer lands in mass-migrations, which in actuality have developed into invasions. Whereas elves and men, began as relatively intelligent beings, or at least were by the time they could be called Aldmer and Men, most beast-folk began as children of Nirn. Thus the Argonians from trees-lizards (particularly Hist), Sload from sea-slugs, and so Kamal from over-sized and intelligent insects. Though originally instinctual, their annual migrations have become planned invasions as their intelligence increased (perhaps due to the need of intelligence to survive in such conditions and to overcome such advanced enemies).
Kamal ? The Culture
The politics, not surprisingly, is a survival-of-the-fittest culture. Those who prove themselves are empowered; those who do not are regular commoners. However to offset this vicious-style of natural selection, there is no social distinction between males and females save that females give birth to young and males must protect them at this time. The society is also dynamic and classless. Kings last only as long as they can hold their reign. Because of this, the kings that have lasted long are the best, most loved, and most powerful Kamal and also great survivors. Every Kamal Fire-hive is its own community made up of a myriad of clans. However there are no true familial ties, every parent cares for every child. Thus the bond is not with the parents, but with the entire hive. This is in fact what gives them strength, they are willing to sacrifice their lives for the greater good, and leaders who would abuse that are normally quickly deposed. Thus, socially, the Kamal are more advanced though others would not see it that way. An interesting aspect of the Kamal is that when one of their leaders grows ancient and powerful (they grow bigger as they age, for those who do live long), they begin to be able to cause fire within their bodies. They can keep warm without fire and can burn enemies with a touch. They also lose their small vestigial wings and grow in their place spines. It seems that Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal, the most ambitious Kamal king yet, believes that sucking the blood out of the god?s heart in a volcano would give him fire, divine blood to give his people, and a chance of conquest. This heart is of course the Heart of Lorkhan, and this land is of course Morrowind.
Kamal ? Architecture
The plains and volcanic mountain ranges of the northern Kamal lands of fire and ice seem to be inhospitable to civilization. Yes beneath the ice, at the feet of the volcanoes, the Kamal make great burrow-holds. These artificial caverns, wells, and lava taps are all made carefully so that even in the event of an earthquake or an eruption, the tunnels will not cave easily. Using volcanic rock as a medium, they create great tunnels, highways of their underground communities. They then cover them back, as they had to clear it before construction, with ice. Overtime the pressure builds and the volcanic rock and the ice harden almost into one. The sides of the tunnels are coated with their feces and this helps for insulation but also attracts fungi (even in these harsh lands), which are essential in Kamal foods and medicine. They are highly advanced in alchemy as they often use fungi to boost their adrenaline, or to keep themselves warm. They also create underground caverns where a type of spunge lives. This spunge, known as the firespunge, appears to be a relative of the Morrowind muckspunge, perhaps they have deviated from a similar stock back when Nirn had one super-continent. The firespunge is a mildly acidic when its contents are eaten, but the stomachs of the Kamal have grown immune and the acid causes a reaction which helps the Kamal warm up. As one reaches the outskirts of the tunnel cities, the volcanic tunnels are less frequent and often passages are made out of the ice. They can afford to do so as the ice is far from the center of the hives which are warm from fires and lava and the movement of thousands of bodies. Where the tunnels lead to the surface, ice-castles are made.
Kamal ? Warfare
Having to contend with much more ?advanced? societies, the kamal have developed ways of countering them. The Tang Mo are lightly armored but very agile and brave. To counter this Kamal steal their boats and use fire to burn their island-forests. Infact it was with Tang Mo boats that the Kamal invaded Morrowind with. The island geography however is not helpful to Kamalese invasions and therefore the Tang Mo usually beat them back easily, the Kamal having no real navy. The Tsaesci until the great wall was made have been a softer target. Though the Tsaesci developed tactics to counter armor, the Kamal have armor in addition to carapaces, thus the tanto may pierce the armor, but fall short when deflected by the hard shells. As there is very little wood in Kamal, the Kamalese folk have become great slingers and slingshot archers. The Kamal, being land-based, force the Tsaesci to fight on land. Thus the great naval prowess of the Tsaesci is negated and the snake-men must fight the Kamal on the ground. The Kamal use wave tactics to counter Tsaesci finesse and skill. This, though a great sacrifice, helps break morale as the Tsaesci?s auxiliaries, men, goblins, and other Akaviri, flee in fear when seeing a million strong Kamal force all charging in one mass. The more loyal Tsaesci are then forced to flee as their populations are smaller than the other nations and rely on auxiliaries to boost their military. The Ka Po? Tun, residing in mountainous regions and having doughty and broad warriors pose a difficulty to the Kamal. The Ka Po? Tun have professional standing armies. While Tsaesci have elite noble-born snake-corps. supported by auxiliaries, and Tang Mo have well armed militia, and Kamal all serve as warriors regardless of rank or sex, none have actually large full-time standing armies. Thus against the professional man and tiger-dragon soldiery of the Ka Po? Tun, the Kamal have to be creative. They tend to raid to weaken the armies? resolve and then decisively strike whenever they are unprepared. However, undoubtedly, since the completion of the Tsaesci wall and the expansion of the Ka Po? Tun armies, the Kamal have been having more difficulties. They now seek to research fire, and hope to construct something that can use fire against their enemies.
The kamal war-time society is somewhat different from their peace-time society. All of their Fire-hives gather and send warriors. Warrior are volunteers, and normally at least half of a fire-hive?s population goes off to war since every Kamal is a parent, every kamal is a warrior, and every Kamal owes alliegance to the Hive and on a larger scale to their oppressed race. The Kamal make armor out of ore found at the base of the mountains and thus has much in the way of resources. In the past their invasions have been hastily planned and poor in strategy. However in more recent times the Kamal have taken advantage of their great amount of resources and made themselves bronze and steel and iron armors, as well as using magical ice and their shamans using fire to armor themselves. Their weapons are not of fine design or quality but rather aim for effectiveness. The weapon may not look nice or be sleek, but their weapons work well and hurt, often having serrated edges or spikes.
Kamal ? Religion
The faith of the Kamal is in death and rebirth, in the victory of the pariah, and primordial might. Their dens are called Fire-hives since each hive has a fire or lava to help keep warm. They hold fire sacred as it helps them to survive and also destroys, but from the ashes grows life. They are outcasts from the rest of Akavir, even Ka Po? Tun and Tsaesci would ally against them out of necessity if the situation was that bad. Thus they also hold a great belief in the right of the oppressed to victory. The Kamal interestingly also have a belief that the beast-races should rule Nirn. They feel that races that become Elvish or Mannish are getting corrupted and need to reform. They firmly believe that staying to their own ways and being beast-folk, not becoming arrogant and ?cultured?. They cannot be blamed for all the so-called advanced cultures (the three other nations) that they have seen are all oppressive against them. There is no real religion so to speak but these common beliefs as well as belief in spirits. They revere Elemental Daedra or Atronachs as they are the embodiment of raw magicka and show the primeval nature of the world.
Kamal ? The Land
The land of the Kamal was not always home to these creatures that are named after it. However long ago, spurned by the Dragons, the creatures that would become the Kamal were driven from all fertile and pleasant lands in the south, west, and east. Instead of living in relative harmony in these lands they ended up being driven into the volcanic lands in the north. However volcanic does not mean hot. Most of these volcanoes are dormant, and the northern lands freezing cold. Low clouds constantly drop snow and hail and block the sun and all moisture is quickly dried up. In this primeval land of fire and ice, it is no wonder that the Kamal have become such aggressive and hardy creatures. However the Kamal, though they dislike the cold, have developed and adapted well to the ice and fire of the Kamal north.
Kamal ? The People
The Kamal are not literally, as some would suggest, ice-demons, nor are they shaggy snow beasts. The truth is, these images from the memories of veterans and elders are actually of the first wave the Kamal unintentionally sends before them. As the Kamal awake and march south, east, and west, any beasts caught in their path are either eaten or driven before them. Thus in desperation, many of these beasts, normally fierce predators, roam ahead of the Kamal forces and cause great destruction even before the Kamal reach their targets. The true Kamal, which has not been seen by many living Ka Po? Tun, Tang Mo, nor Tsaesci for a long time, are actually somewhat insectoid. However the myth of them thawing out in the summer and invading is somewhat true. The insectoid Kamal cannot stand the cold in the open and so make deep burrow-holds to protect themselves. Often times, these are dug into the sides of volcanoes, and so the dormant Kamal sleep warmly in the winter, only their sentries sleep frozen in the outer tunnels and the slightest sound awakes them. These creatures have the carapace of insects and four wings, vestigial organs that help them warm-up but no longer are able to help them fly, though it aids in jumping. The edges of their carapace-plates are fringed with hair, both sensory and for warmth. The Kamal must suck nutrients out of others with their needle-like feeding organ. Thus they are so much the more hated by others as they refuse their enemies proper burials (though it does not offend their culture). The Kamal are actually afraid of the cold, and thus naturally drawn out of hibernation in the spring and summer and naturally head towards the warmer lands in mass-migrations, which in actuality have developed into invasions. Whereas elves and men, began as relatively intelligent beings, or at least were by the time they could be called Aldmer and Men, most beast-folk began as children of Nirn. Thus the Argonians from trees-lizards (particularly Hist), Sload from sea-slugs, and so Kamal from over-sized and intelligent insects. Though originally instinctual, their annual migrations have become planned invasions as their intelligence increased (perhaps due to the need of intelligence to survive in such conditions and to overcome such advanced enemies).
Kamal ? The Culture
The politics, not surprisingly, is a survival-of-the-fittest culture. Those who prove themselves are empowered; those who do not are regular commoners. However to offset this vicious-style of natural selection, there is no social distinction between males and females save that females give birth to young and males must protect them at this time. The society is also dynamic and classless. Kings last only as long as they can hold their reign. Because of this, the kings that have lasted long are the best, most loved, and most powerful Kamal and also great survivors. Every Kamal Fire-hive is its own community made up of a myriad of clans. However there are no true familial ties, every parent cares for every child. Thus the bond is not with the parents, but with the entire hive. This is in fact what gives them strength, they are willing to sacrifice their lives for the greater good, and leaders who would abuse that are normally quickly deposed. Thus, socially, the Kamal are more advanced though others would not see it that way. An interesting aspect of the Kamal is that when one of their leaders grows ancient and powerful (they grow bigger as they age, for those who do live long), they begin to be able to cause fire within their bodies. They can keep warm without fire and can burn enemies with a touch. They also lose their small vestigial wings and grow in their place spines. It seems that Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal, the most ambitious Kamal king yet, believes that sucking the blood out of the god?s heart in a volcano would give him fire, divine blood to give his people, and a chance of conquest. This heart is of course the Heart of Lorkhan, and this land is of course Morrowind.
Kamal ? Architecture
The plains and volcanic mountain ranges of the northern Kamal lands of fire and ice seem to be inhospitable to civilization. Yes beneath the ice, at the feet of the volcanoes, the Kamal make great burrow-holds. These artificial caverns, wells, and lava taps are all made carefully so that even in the event of an earthquake or an eruption, the tunnels will not cave easily. Using volcanic rock as a medium, they create great tunnels, highways of their underground communities. They then cover them back, as they had to clear it before construction, with ice. Overtime the pressure builds and the volcanic rock and the ice harden almost into one. The sides of the tunnels are coated with their feces and this helps for insulation but also attracts fungi (even in these harsh lands), which are essential in Kamal foods and medicine. They are highly advanced in alchemy as they often use fungi to boost their adrenaline, or to keep themselves warm. They also create underground caverns where a type of spunge lives. This spunge, known as the firespunge, appears to be a relative of the Morrowind muckspunge, perhaps they have deviated from a similar stock back when Nirn had one super-continent. The firespunge is a mildly acidic when its contents are eaten, but the stomachs of the Kamal have grown immune and the acid causes a reaction which helps the Kamal warm up. As one reaches the outskirts of the tunnel cities, the volcanic tunnels are less frequent and often passages are made out of the ice. They can afford to do so as the ice is far from the center of the hives which are warm from fires and lava and the movement of thousands of bodies. Where the tunnels lead to the surface, ice-castles are made.
Kamal ? Warfare
Having to contend with much more ?advanced? societies, the kamal have developed ways of countering them. The Tang Mo are lightly armored but very agile and brave. To counter this Kamal steal their boats and use fire to burn their island-forests. Infact it was with Tang Mo boats that the Kamal invaded Morrowind with. The island geography however is not helpful to Kamalese invasions and therefore the Tang Mo usually beat them back easily, the Kamal having no real navy. The Tsaesci until the great wall was made have been a softer target. Though the Tsaesci developed tactics to counter armor, the Kamal have armor in addition to carapaces, thus the tanto may pierce the armor, but fall short when deflected by the hard shells. As there is very little wood in Kamal, the Kamalese folk have become great slingers and slingshot archers. The Kamal, being land-based, force the Tsaesci to fight on land. Thus the great naval prowess of the Tsaesci is negated and the snake-men must fight the Kamal on the ground. The Kamal use wave tactics to counter Tsaesci finesse and skill. This, though a great sacrifice, helps break morale as the Tsaesci?s auxiliaries, men, goblins, and other Akaviri, flee in fear when seeing a million strong Kamal force all charging in one mass. The more loyal Tsaesci are then forced to flee as their populations are smaller than the other nations and rely on auxiliaries to boost their military. The Ka Po? Tun, residing in mountainous regions and having doughty and broad warriors pose a difficulty to the Kamal. The Ka Po? Tun have professional standing armies. While Tsaesci have elite noble-born snake-corps. supported by auxiliaries, and Tang Mo have well armed militia, and Kamal all serve as warriors regardless of rank or sex, none have actually large full-time standing armies. Thus against the professional man and tiger-dragon soldiery of the Ka Po? Tun, the Kamal have to be creative. They tend to raid to weaken the armies? resolve and then decisively strike whenever they are unprepared. However, undoubtedly, since the completion of the Tsaesci wall and the expansion of the Ka Po? Tun armies, the Kamal have been having more difficulties. They now seek to research fire, and hope to construct something that can use fire against their enemies.
The kamal war-time society is somewhat different from their peace-time society. All of their Fire-hives gather and send warriors. Warrior are volunteers, and normally at least half of a fire-hive?s population goes off to war since every Kamal is a parent, every kamal is a warrior, and every Kamal owes alliegance to the Hive and on a larger scale to their oppressed race. The Kamal make armor out of ore found at the base of the mountains and thus has much in the way of resources. In the past their invasions have been hastily planned and poor in strategy. However in more recent times the Kamal have taken advantage of their great amount of resources and made themselves bronze and steel and iron armors, as well as using magical ice and their shamans using fire to armor themselves. Their weapons are not of fine design or quality but rather aim for effectiveness. The weapon may not look nice or be sleek, but their weapons work well and hurt, often having serrated edges or spikes.
Kamal ? Religion
The faith of the Kamal is in death and rebirth, in the victory of the pariah, and primordial might. Their dens are called Fire-hives since each hive has a fire or lava to help keep warm. They hold fire sacred as it helps them to survive and also destroys, but from the ashes grows life. They are outcasts from the rest of Akavir, even Ka Po? Tun and Tsaesci would ally against them out of necessity if the situation was that bad. Thus they also hold a great belief in the right of the oppressed to victory. The Kamal interestingly also have a belief that the beast-races should rule Nirn. They feel that races that become Elvish or Mannish are getting corrupted and need to reform. They firmly believe that staying to their own ways and being beast-folk, not becoming arrogant and ?cultured?. They cannot be blamed for all the so-called advanced cultures (the three other nations) that they have seen are all oppressive against them. There is no real religion so to speak but these common beliefs as well as belief in spirits. They revere Elemental Daedra or Atronachs as they are the embodiment of raw magicka and show the primeval nature of the world.
09-05-2006, 12:38 AM
And thanks for that KuKulzA, i liked your Kamal lore from the start :goodjob:
It's new and better then hairy snow apes :yes:
It's new and better then hairy snow apes :yes:
09-05-2006, 12:51 AM
Hey Kodama, since I sent you my texture in an email, I was wondering if you could test it on NIFskope and send me a pic.
09-05-2006, 12:57 AM
If i only knew how :no:
09-05-2006, 12:58 AM
DA?
09-05-2006, 12:59 AM
Er, yeah?
Just send em and tell me what nif.
Just send em and tell me what nif.
09-05-2006, 01:04 AM
use the land dreugh, and just replace it with my texture that I'm about to send to you.
09-05-2006, 01:12 AM
just... using land Dreugh?
tell me this is just a place-holder...
EDIT: didn't I put up Kamal concept art of mine? or wait... did I accidentally post that on another forum... oh geez... i think might've done that... :bash:
EDIT2:
no worries, I'll find them... by the way I also made new concept too... so yeah
tell me this is just a place-holder...
EDIT: didn't I put up Kamal concept art of mine? or wait... did I accidentally post that on another forum... oh geez... i think might've done that... :bash:
EDIT2:
no worries, I'll find them... by the way I also made new concept too... so yeah
09-05-2006, 01:15 AM
sorry, Kodama told me to use Land Dreugh, I don't recall seeing your concepts.
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