Pureblood Headcanon

[Hazlem]

Pureblooded Diaspora: The Walker Tribes of Jaguada

Overview:
The Walkers are a divergent Sith culture, a product of the interbreeding of a small population of Kissai and Massassi who were stranded on Jaguada in the wake of the Great Hyperspace War with the human populations who were on the planet serving them. This has resulted in a highly collectivist culture of disparate tribes who live a pastoral lifestyle rich in cultural texture and spirituality in the deep deserts of the planet. Despite being generally separate from broader Imperial society, they have an abiding loyalty to the Empire and the Sith, regarding them as their progenitor culture.

Physiology:
The Walker Tribes are in almost every way identical to baseline sithblooded humans, albeit more accustomed to hot and arid conditions than most - living on one of the few truly hot planets in the Sith Core. They also trend slightly larger and heavier on average than baseline humans.

Spoiler: Religion:

The religion of the Sith Purebloods that was originally worshipped by the Walkers has changed significantly over the years since they were isolated by the exile of the Sith. This system of beliefs is a product in large part of the harsh reality of Jaguada, as well as their smaller populations requiring a greater amount of collective action and their society devolving to a tribal level. Ancestor worship has also become critically important amongst the tribes, often around half-remembered lineages dating back to the initial stranded populations.

The pantheon of the old Sith was altered and restructured over time to suit these purposes, and the general properties of their worship has changed in turn; sacrifices rarely involve people on Jaguada, more often being a small amount of water poured out, or a portion of the hunt left aside for a deity. In turn, the role of priest has been folded into that of Speaker, an individual with several roles within the tribe; chieftain, priest, diplomat, war-leader, historian. The Speaker, along with a single trainee under their mentorship are the only force sensitives permitted within a tribe, with overflow sent abroad to train below the Speakers of other tribes or left in the desert to fend for themselves if no opening can be found; though some tribes have begun instead sending their overflow to Korriban or Dromund Kaas to train as Sith.

The Desert Mother: The Mother is the primary deity of the Walkers, taking the role of lead god from the traditional position of Typhojem. She is regarded as the font of life and mother of the Sith species, as well as the one who brought water to the deserts of Jaguada via her tears, falling in the wake of the Great Hyperspace War. The Mother is often regarded as a firm but caring deity, brooking no weakness but elevating those who strive for more to new heights of power. She is seen as presiding over the species as their patron, as well as as the deity of fertility - and as modern technology begins to flow into the deserts, as goddess of agriculture. Her symbol is typically rendered as a pool of water, surrounded by vegetation. Prayers to the Mother occur on a regular basis both in a tribal and family context, often before meals and at key milestones in a life - births, birthdays, coming of age ceremonies and deaths.

The Spear Sister, Zintha: Zintha is the patron goddess of warriors in the Walker’s Pantheon, and the eldest daughter of The Mother. She is regarded as the protector of the tribe, and as the absolute pinnacle of the culture’s martial divinities - all of whom serve her. All members of the Walker Tribes are warriors to some degree, for all must hunt and be prepared to protect their tribe, and so Zintha is an active aspect of their lives from the time they can walk. She is worshipped before hunts, duels and battles, often alongside one of her underlings and typically via ritual combat, albeit rarely ending in death - the desert has enough cause for fatality without the tribe killing their own. Portrayals of Zintha typically display a Jaguadan Jackal with brown fur and long fangs, caked in blood. Zintha, Ketham and Zarkal maintain a conjunctive holy centre - an enormous, ancient starship wreckage deep in the deserts, within which the Walkers convene to decide matters of war and peace amongst themselves.

The Bow Brother, Ketham: One of the subordinate martial deities, Ketham is believed to be the husband and chief warrior of Zintha, an honourable but brutal figure who is worshipped as the deity of offensive warfare and of hunting. He is venerated before hunts and in the course of wars, as well as a totemic deity of the bows, disk-casters and rifles of the tribe, ensuring they do not fail or miss. His worship commonly includes marksmanship contests, and the delivery of trophies from hunts. Portrayals of Ketham typically display a Jaguadan Jackal with sandy-blonde fur, rangy and long-limbed.

The Blade Brother, Zarkal: Zarkal is the patron deity of the Speakers who lead the tribes, and is seen as the protector of tribal authority and structure, the being that underpins the iron-clad tribal values and hierarchies of the Walkers. As the son of Zintha and Ketham, he is also one of the subordinate martial deities of the culture, specifically of martial skill and of the glory won in battle. He is worshipped flexibly across relevant activities - he might be saluted before a spar or training session, offered the head of a foe after battle or venerated with the spilling of some of a warrior’s own blood - though never too much. Portrayals of Zarkal often display a curious sight - a muscular human man, clad in spiked armour and wielding a large straight-edged sword of metal, a weapon almost never seen amongst the tribes. Some historians have remarked on the similarity of the man’s armour to common Massassi physical patterns.

The Cold Night: Less a deity than a spirit of the desert, The Cold Night is regarded as the personification of the terrors of the dark. The envenomed bite, the chill of hypothermia, the dread of losing one's way in a night without stars to guide you home. They are believe to rest beneath the sands in the day, and to emerge to haunt the deep deserts when the sun sets, inflicting disease and murder upon those he comes across, repelled only by a fire constructed using materials blessed by a Speaker. It is believed that one can beseech The Night to bring death upon a foe by spending the night alone in the cold deserts, without fire or light, but to do is usually regarded as dangerous and dishonourable, as likely to bring death upon the petitioner or even their whole tribe as opposed to the intended target. The Night is never represented, and his true name - said to be revealed only to Speakers when they reach maturity in their training and never spoken outside of those contexts, is considered to bring his attention.

The Incense Bearer, Tyro’ga: A minor deity amongst the Walkers, Tyro’ga is commonly regarded as a supplemental demigod who imparts the power of the other gods to ceremonies and rites. They are very rarely worshipped with prominence by any but the Speaker and their trainee, except perhaps intoned alongside another god’s name to invite their attention. The reason for this is that outside of their supplemental role, Tyro’ga is also worshipped as a deity of magic - the guardian of both basic force abilities as well as the extremely devolved and basic remnants of sorcery and alchemy passed down along from Speaker to Speaker on the planet. Outside of this, Tyro’ga is also seen as patron of the Walker’s bustling incense trade, cut from the trunks of fragrant trees clustered on the banks of the salt lakes or ‘chott’ of the deep deserts. Most tribes will have a proprietary incense, from marginally different subspecies of trees often mixed with slightly different reagents to finish their effect. This incense is regarded as key to the process of magic and of deeper communion with the gods and with the ancestors. On the rare occasions Tyro’ga is portrayed, they are typically shown as a bald, gaunt and elderly figure, androgynous and with red-brown skin and glowing crimson eyes, their right arm ending in a bloody stump.

The Chain Bringer, Garvak: Another less often worshipped deity amongst the Walkers, Garvak is the god of dominion and conquest, a matter relatively rarely brought amongst the tribes. Inter-tribal warfare is rare, and when it does happen it will often be carried out in a series of high-speed raids capped by a ceremonial battle in Garvak’s name, followed by terms negotiated in his presence, invoked by the Speaker of the victorious tribe. Curiously, with the return of the Empire and continued contact with their lost kin, the Walkers have attributed Garvak to the Imperials, believing him the patron deity of their culture due to their sedentary lifestyle and the strict rigour of Imperial society. He is worshipped before meetings with Imperial authorities, in order to presage good results. Garvak is typically represented merely by a painted link of chain, rarely anthropomorphised.

The Soft Speaker, Falsir: Scholarly pursuits are not a matter of priority for most of the people of the Walkers, but the Speakers, tribal elders and certain brighter individuals such as healers within the tribes do have time for them, and the Walkers have never had cause to ignore basic plant and beast lore, as well as the study of navigation via the stars and the concoction of venoms. Falsir is the deity of these, as patron of knowledge and healing. He is also the deity of silver tongues and lies, the coercive arts, as the people of the tribes rarely see scholars as particularly trustworthy individuals. Something of a psychopomp amongst the pantheon, the Soft Speaker is believed to be the one who lifts the souls of the departed on mythic smoke, and returns them to the red mountains in the sky of their distant ancestors. When pictured, which is rare, Falsir is typically painted as a figure in deep indigo robes, face hidden by a formless cowl.

The Water-Prince, Themyr: Perhaps the third most important deity within the Walker’s pantheon below only his mother and elder sister, Themyr is the eldest son of the Mother, her favourite child and the one in whom she trusted her sacred waters. He is a deity of freshwater, of life and generosity and hope. Beloved unconditionally by the tribes, Themyr is regarded as the kindest deity of the pantheon, but also the most charismatic and valorous. Portrayed as a handsome man in the spring of his youth, tales of Themyr’s bravery and skill with his signature quarterstaff are told often amongst the oasis camps, and each oasis contains a shrine to him, through which the mother is often also worshipped. No sacrifices are made in Themyr’s name, as it is believed that he should be worshipped through a life of excellence and virtue, this being all he asks of his earthly kin. 

Spoiler: Culture:

The culture of the Walker tribes emphasises several things. Responsibility for oneself, one’s family, and one’s tribe. The strength to survive. Respect for the gods and for the spirits. Failing to embody any of these typically results in extremely harsh treatment - falling down the tribal hierarchy, being shunned and even the death sentence of exile from the tribe and their oases. The tribes have very low technology levels, and typically wield bows and spears, though certain warrior lineages maintain parangs - the curved machetes of ancient Korriban, albeit reduced in utility to that of typical machetes, no longer with a returning function once thrown. Most tribes do maintain very limited firearm supplies - decades old hunting rifles and outdated Imperial army pistols gained mostly when the Empire first made contact with Jaguada once more, battered and held together with twine, hope and grit.

The tribes speak a devolved form of Low Sith, only very slightly intelligible with the baseline language. Commonly known as Walker’s Cant, this language tends to remove some of the hard sounds and plosives of the natural Sith language and shares some grammatical similarities with Galactic Basic - as it is somewhat influenced by that language. The language does have its own script, a massively simplified and slightly ad hoc version of the Kittat script, less runic and more alphabetic to an extent.

Jaguadan food is typically somewhat simple - meat heavy, and often heavily spiced, it appeals fairly well to modern Purebloods. Roasted meats and raw organ meat served alongside desert root vegetables makes up a majority of the diet, supplemented by large amounts of dairy; milk, butter and cheese from the herds of the tribes. Alcohol is not common amongst the tribes, but they do drink an intoxicating, slightly hallucinogenic liquid drawn from the centre of large, hollow-trunked trees that grow nearby the largest oases.

The Walkers wear almost invariably long robes of coloured cloth, embroidered with elaborate patterns of multi-hued thread in patterns specific to tribes and roles within those tribes, and even smaller family units and deeds achieved by the Walker or their kin. Most wear head coverings of varying size, typically adorned with rows of dangling metallic and bone charms believed to protect the wearer. The Walkers often engage in simple tattoos, inscription marks upon their face and hands with significance to the wearer. It is said that a Walker can read another member of their tribe’s life story, as well as the life story of several generations of their family, from the garb they wear and the tattoos they bear.