Crisis Cycles

Culture Name: Free Koonibisu Matriarchate

Banner Colour: Pale Green and Red

Government and Leader: The current ruler is indisputably the Matriarch Kotol Ibisu, a descendant of the First Matriarch via Her third daughter. She is terse and outspoken, yet also one of the most skilled musicians of Koon. Leaving most military pursuits to generals appointed by her Councillors, her focus as leader has been inward, maintaining unity and pmatronising what remains of the elven arts.

Despite often calling themselves 'Free', this is more describing Koonese freedom from norms and conventions theybelieve failed to stop the plagues and are holding the elves back from their true destiny. Power on the surface is centralised under House Ibisu while a Conclave of five Councillors (four elves, one dwarf) is assigned various responsibilities underneath the Matriarchate.

Society:

While some elves chose to flee the other tribes, those they left behind inherited empty fields and forced to look after each other. In some cases, men even abandoned their plague-riddled wives, leaving them to rot. And yet, of these people, some survived their sickness via unknown means. Songs and dance were preserved and the elven spirit unbroken, but yet these became twisted. Happy tunes grew mournful and acerbic. Instead of fight the disease, the First Matriarch received extraordinary prescient visions while afflicted by a strain of the mosquitoes and led elves willing to follow her to 'embrace' the plague, forming a coven of followers immune or resistant to the more ghastly symptoms. Ever since, children in the Matriarchate are ritually inoculated with mosquito venom as a rite of passage. A handful of the insectlike beings are kept bound in captivity for this purpose, as well as for experimentation and other perceived medicinal qualities.

While only a few joined her from each tribe, their numbers eventually grew larger than the Matriarch could support. After squabbling over precious resources, her movement armed themselves best they could and congregated on the South bank of the River Ran for a bloody vendetta upon a western settlement of Dwarves that previously denied them precious food, shelter and medical aid. At first, the Matriarch was unsuccessful and unprepared for a stout defence and she was forced to change her approach. By destroying eastward tunnelways to prevent resupply then pouring mud and oil down the shafts to trap and burn through the heavily-armoured dwarves, the elves began to take the upper hand. They overwhelmed the survivors via venom-crazed mass assaults and the dwarves were eventually forced to surrender. However, these tactics shocked some of the Matriarch's less fervent followers into abandoning her cause and returning to their tribes.

Upon a bloody victory, this settlement was christened Koon and has been off-limits to outsiders ever since. Despite skirmishes with neighbours, it has grown both in size and depth, having taken up excavation where the dwarves left off and repopulated/annexed some abandoned elven settlements on the south bank of the Ran. While mostly having a stable food supply by mixing what little they've learned of dwarven underground agriculture with more traditional means, it has proven expensive to maintain.

Koon is stratified due to its shape, with each Councillor controlling a different level within the Undercity. Those at the very bottom are born and live in nothing but glow-worm light, cursed by past shame and failure to loyally serve their kin - or so they are taught. In exchange for their service in the mines and caverns, their children are given the chance to ascend to the Lightrealm. Despite this apparent inequality, tribal boundaries within Koon have been quashed and eroded down to a distant memory of past division.

Species: While dominated by elves, Koon is increasingly referred to as their own people, derogatorily labelled 'low elves' Most appear as any other elves, though their dress and mannerisms have begun to change substantially. The only outsider species is a small minority of dwarves, descending from the original inhabitants of what became Koon. They were initially treated as a caste of indentured servants, Koonian Dwarves gained most of the rights of the elves after helping them avoid famine and disaster while adapting to life underground.

Stances on the three changes: Deny Cosmonaut (while craving technology, they prefer to take what they desire and discard any knowledge that might cause disunity in Koon), Deny Formality (perceived as a crass pursuit of unobtainable perfectionism), Deny Prayer (antithetical to the doctrine of embracing disease and struggle instead of praying to ward it off)

Major cultural influence: Despite hatred of most dwarves, dwarven culture has yet influenced the 'low elves' via the manuscripts, architecture and prisoners taken during the formation of Koon, fusing into the traditions elves brought with them from their various tribes. Contact with orcs is usually pleasant and attempts at establishing trade routes are underway.