Muri

 

Overview

  The Muri, meaning "The Free" in the old Kurai language, are a gnome folk on the continent of Garandor. Their name was given by their slave masters and wasn't meant to mock the Muri. The name represents the freedom from the holy mission the Kurai were given by their god Kurami. The mission to bring order to the world. Their only duty was to toil as slaves without any other obligations to the world or anyone else.   After the majority of the slave castes rebelled against their masters they strived a long time through the cave system under the mountain range until they found their way to the surface after several generations had passed.  

Appearance

  With an average hight of 70 cm the gnomes are even shorter than the dwarfes. Men tend to be of a slightly stronger build especially when their profession requires much physical strengh. The vast majority of Muri are tanned with the southern most having the darkest skintones. The exeption are the forest dwellers service of Vagorin. They usually have a pale grey skin because the dense forests they live in shield them from most of the heat and the sunlight. Most of the Bakujin live in forest clearings, so they tend to have als sorts of different colour variations.   The Ichimon and the Amrubushi usually have their skin completely burned in a ritual during which they seek approval by Amrun to become eather the Ichimon or an Amrubushi.  

Religion

  The most common Religion practiced by the Muri is Amrunism. Adopted by the members of the tribal federation after the Battle Of The Scortching Sun, where the Muri got saved by Amruns helping hand. Their religious head is the Ichimon, the first monk.   Another Religion, although their followers are mostly forsest dwelling gnomes of the Muri, is the cult of Vagorin. It's not uncommon to find many Bakujin in their communities since their professions are viewed as unholy in Amrunism even though they provide important goods like fish, meat, leather, pelt and other basic products that are made of animals.  

Magical Abilities

  Since the Muri were created by Kurami with the intend to supply the Kurai with a labour force to enslave so they would not have to do menial tasks that keep them from achieving his goal to save the world by conquering it, he jugded it to be unnecessary and even dangerous to create them with the Mna producing protein. So they were unable to bend any element.   As the battle of of the scorching sun ensued at the foot of the mountain Amrun was afraid that they would loose the battle and that the surviviors will be dragged back down to be slaves once more. So she decided to sacrifice most of her godly power to feed the sun with manyfold the mana as usual and cause the temperature to increase significantly and the light brighten and intensivy. Driven by her compassion for the Muri she burned the Kurai who were not accustomed to the sun and heat and caused their heavy armor to heat up and boil them alive aswell as blind them, but he Kurai were not the only one burned by the sun. The Muri may have grown more resistant to heat and sunlight but even they suffered severe burns all over their body.   But the intesification of the sun light infused the Muri with so much Mana that it settled down in the DNA of the Muri giving them the abillity to bend elements such as fire, air and light. This ability would not decrease in future generations. The Ichimon and the Amrubushi who get their skin burned by the sun during a lenghty ritual that can cost ones life see their survival and the burned skin as a sign of approval by Amrun.  

History

 

Creation

  Kurami realized that the Kurai would not be able to protect the world if the population of the dwarfs would continue to grow as slow as it did. Also, he did not agree with many Kurai being needed to fulfill task like mining, cleaning, transporting and so on. Everyone of his children should know the art of war and be adept in it if his plan should work. So he created the Muri, a fast growing people to compensate for the low population growth of the Kurai and to overtake the non war related occupations except government jobs.   The God of stone and metal call the high priests of the various temples to him and ordered them to come back with all the crude and brittle metal aswell as the impure and badly polished and cutted gems that were unusable. The high priests did as they were told and collected every last piece of it, loaded it onto carts and transported them to the seat of Kurami.   He let them make two piles, one with the metals for the women and the other one with the gems for the men. As Kurami began to chant his priests chimed in. The Hall of the god of stone began to shook like under an earthquake and then Kurami took out the ceremonial dagger, the same he used during the creaton of his firstborn the Kurai, an cut his wrist open. Lava poured from his wound and flew onto the piles until they began to glow from the heat. The chanting intensivied and after Kurami bound his wound with a cloth, put down the dagger and took his hammer, he had hauled on his back, to hew the glowing piles to form the first goblins. Then he shackeled them and ordered them to obey his firstborn children so they may fulfill their holy mission to save the world.  

Time Of Enslavement

  After they were put in chains and brought to the respective cities they were split into occupation related slave castes. Most caste members had to live in slums or stables like cattle, others enjoyed a bed in a warm room in the palace or house of their master. Castes in turn had several clans that had a chieftain at their head.   The most notable Castes were:  

The Kogyou-Caste

  Mainly comprised of those who had to mine ore, stone, coal and precious metals. Aswell as those who had to haul the mining product to the storege and the masons and smithies. Considering the importance of their occupation this was one of the largest castes. Slaves of this caste had to sleep inside the mine shafts or in the mining carts. The latter often died while sleeping in the carts getting crushed by the mining product thrown into it. The physical prowess of the Kogyou slaves was high despite their bad health conditions which made it necessary to deploy guards in the mines and along the transport routes the slaves operated at.  

The Sabanto-Caste

  Masters of the Sabanto Slaves were usally lords and ladies, scientists, administrators, court nobles, councellors and so on. Depending on the wealth of their master they could live a good live. They served as assistants and servants of any kind with many even enjoying better education to serve their master better. Despite cleaning their occupation did not involve any physical hard work, so they were usually of a wirery build. Because they were not held in masses in mines or stables like the members of other castes they were less connected and often clans were reduced to mere last names. Because they had the highest living standards among all slaves they often defended the slaves system as being rightfull and good and said that lower castes like the Kogyou slaves with their often antagnonistic sentiment for the dwarfes are proof for the impurity of the gnomes.   An overwhelming majority of the Sabanto-Caste did not join the uprising of the other castes and the caste is still in existance today.  

The Yajuu-Caste

  Everything related to animal husbandry are the central occupations of this caste. They breed, raise and care for livestock and cattle in paticular. They mostly sleep with the animals inside the stables or on the ranches. They are not allowed to leave the enclosure of the animals which are patroled by Kurai guards. This caste is one of the smallest of all but still one of the more important one since important goods are produced from the animals they care for.   In some cases wealthy lords or ladies buy one or two slaves to take care of their pets that sometimes include exotic pets like cave bears. These lucky individuals are often provided with a furnished shed in the garden. And sometimes even more, especially when their master is an animal lover and holds them who keep their animals strong and healthy in higher regard. Lord Kazami for example, regards his pets as his children and gave his slave a room on the ground floor of his mansion including a soft and confortable bed.  

The Senshi-Caste

  The second most important slave caste was the Senshi-Caste. Due to the low population growth of the Kurai supplimantation was needed even in the military forces of the dwarfes. This cast was mostly comprised of rudimentarily equipped and badly trained auxilliar troops. The low cost of maintanance led to inflationary use of this units. But some regiments rise to prominance during battles by exceptional deeds. So there were quite a number of veteran auxilliar regiments that were gifted cutting edge equipment and given a honorary name by their lord. In contrast to regular auxilliar troops who only carried numbers on their banners.   The structure of Muri auxilliar was the same as any Kurai regiment. Although the unit size was usally larger due to the lack of proper training and sophisticated weapon and armor. The size usually ranged from 90-160 individuals, male and female warriors, with a commander and in larger regiments one to two, in rare cases even three, officers that are responsible for their share of the soldiers. The commander is subordinate to a Kurai Sousui, a Kurai colonel.   The living standards between members of this caste and the Kurai Soldiers are quite similiar, which lead to one of the best interspecies relations. Life long romantic relationships between Kurai and Muri among the troops were quite common, especially when members of a honored veteran regiment were present since they were seldom viewed as beneath Kurai. But the majority of Muri troops did not survive their first battle, which also means that fresh recruits were often met with ignorance or discrimination especially by young Kurai conscripts.   As the slave castes rebelled against the tyranny of the Kurai and their god, the count of non-Muri supporters was by far the highest among the soldiers. Many joined the Muri uprising because they did not buy into the teachings of the priests and scholars that the Muri are impure. They have seen the opposite and endured the same hardships. The most prominent Kurai warrior in the ranks of the Muri rebells was Mariko Kanadzuchi, Sousui of the Yougan-regiment and wife of one of the rebell leader Noburai.  

Rebellion

link full article  

Battle Of The Scorching Sun

Battle of the Scorching Sun full article