Malku Su
Immigrants not from Braided Shore and under the culture of the Malku Su.
The Malkus are tall and dark-skinned.
Their clothing is distinctive: Grey, Marble and Cinnabar cloth with a Sulphur Ribbon.
Beliefs of Death and Rebirth
For the Malku Su, death is a completely foreign concept. Malkus believe their race exists as a finite number of eternal spirits. Should their bodies perish, their spirits are carried by lightning to nest with their goddess until a worthy Malku Su family is rewarded with a child. The goddess then chooses one of the nesting spirits to bestow to the newborn, thus perpetuating the journey of the Malku Su Soul. This mysterious circularity has shaped the mentality of the stoic Malku Su for countless generations and drawn awe and wonder from other species. [1]
A great Malku woman is carved in the middle of the disk. Around the woman are hundreds of smaller Malku Su standing in a lattice pattern. A wavy line is drawn between each of the Malku connecting them with the silhouette of the woman.
Lightning Burial
The Malkus believes in strong will so much, that their priest would honour the unshamed fallen by stabbing a metal rod to their hearts. Accidentally seeing this rite can startle the uninitiated.[2]
Death is a completely foreign concept for Malkus. They believe their race exists as a finite number of eternal spirits. Should their bodies perish, their spirits are carried by lightning to nest with their goddess until a worthy Malku Su family is rewarded with a child. The goddess then chooses one of the nesting spirits to bestow to the newborn, thus perpetuating the journey of the Malku Su Soul. This mysterious circularity has shaped the mentality of the stoic Malku Su for countless generations and drawn awe and wonder from other species.[3]
Mythology
The mythological moth known as the Sediment Eater is part of Malku Su mythology.[4]
Ethics
Malku Su have a strict code of ethics that is distinct from the Asken and not intuitively understood by them. But it allows them to respect not stigmatize peoples whom they have gone to war with.
Asken are as veskat, there are more, then there are fewer, and then there are more once again. The Malku cannot grow more or less than a number. The Oracle knows it so. When we die we do not pass into the winds as the seeds of fidek do Our true selves become once more as we were. Once long ago, I was here on this shore. I was a warrior and I died in kem by Ashken oka. We do not hold grudges, I believe it to have been a fair fight. I came here to learn of my true self and their foes. I hope I do not bring offense when I sasy that the Asken I have seen thus far have not seemed like warriors of the past days. I find this curious. So I watch. I watch to understand.
Immigration
Many Malku Su have moved to the Braided Shore. Malku Su/Asken relationships and children are becoming more common. However, these developments are not without tension or conflict. Some Asken regard their mixed race neighbours with suspicion. [5] Differences in cultures also create awkwardness around social and romantic interactions.[6] However Malku Su are becoming part of Braided Shore society, becoming members of the Growers' Union [7]
I'm not sure if I buy into all that good will and glory about the Milomaks that the others are spouting... Sure, I can enjoy a free cup much as the next fellow... But I feel there is something off about those twins, especially the girl... Why is a woman like that not married yet, for starters? I heard that they have Malku blood running through their veins. Naw... Something isn't right... I just know it.
Food Culture
Malku Su eat similar food to the Asken but their difference in taste is known. They prefer sweeter and spicier foods. They do not prefer sweet flavours mixed with salt and find them confusing. [8] They consider Asken food underseasoned.[9] You can bring sweet food as a courting present,[10] but judging what gift is appropriate at which stage of the courtship is tricky and not intuitive for Asken folk. Malku Su also play a game known as Hahtat, in which people duel by eating feeding the other spicy foods until one person surrenders. [11] However, as more Malku Su live in the Braided Shore, Asken people have started to adjust and like the flavours that they prefer.[12]
Homeland
The Malku Su come from an island which most Asken folk call Malku island or the Malku lands. he Malku Su homeland is colder than the Braided Shore. [13] Garlic and basil grow well there. Unlike Braided Shore, the Malku lands use a currency of alabaster disks[14]. Alabaster appears to be a common material in Malku.
To see the marble cliffs of Malku once more. I would like that
Government
The Malku Su are governed by a ruler known as The Oracle guarded by the Hamsham. [15] According to rumor the Oracle may be the deity that the Malku Su call The One.
This knot seems to be a response message from the Malku oracle herself. When the knot was tied and what it was responding to is unknowable but the response is a simple and effective ""NO."" You don't know if it's the wording or due to the status of the person who wrote it but the knot itself seems to be almost glowing with residual power.
Social Structure
Malku Su are born into castes, not much unlike the unions of Braided shore.
Sports
Malku Su engage in a number of sports including Millkem, a kind of competitive thumb wrestling [16], and a form of wrestling[17] and hahtat, spicy food competition.[18]
Agriculture
Masni roots are cultivated in Malku for oil.[19] Cobalt grain[20], Maca root[21], Buckthorn[22], and Garlic[23] are foodstuffs that grow in the Malku region.[24]
Fig beads are used to mark trees that are not supposed to be cut down.[25]
Fauna
Veskat rabbits [26], wolves [27], and goats[28] live in Malku.
Martial Culture
When you find yourself without a sword, nature will provide.
The Malku Su have gone to war against both the Sah Basir and various Asken entities, such as Manas Halzhaan[29]
This means that activities such as farming may be conceptualized in terms of military strategy by Malku residents of the Braided Shore [30] This has also given rise to rumors that Malku have bested foes with unlikely and impromptu weapons such as baguettes [31]
We cornered three Malku mercenaries. This might have seemed like a foolish plan but we were five of us in total and our confidence was geat. We were winning at first but as the Malku moved closer to one another other they seemed to become more and more fearsome and organized. in the end it was like fighting a single beast with six arms and three heads. We had no choice but to retreat.
Hestu Kesku
A crescent hilt fashioned in the foreign style of a legendary Malku general. Hestu Kesku, or Big Kesku, is said to have been twice the size of most Malku and equally ferocious in battle. It is said that during the Malku-Sah Basir skirmish in the third age, Hestu Kesku was able to swim out to Sah Basiran ships and sink them with his bare hands.
Miscellaneous
In earlier Kickstarter posts and development, it is said that Eskeni was a language originated from the cultures of the Malku and Selka. It became popular in Braided Shore during The Age of Dynasty and is used as the main spoken language for them today. It is unclear if the lore still holds true and is brought over to the language we know today: Vellan.
Reference
- ↑ https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1152340/view/3147453720999809904
- ↑ Rich pouch of Malku weeds
- ↑ Vision for Death in Braided Shore
- ↑ Motheaten backpack
- ↑ Milomak Worker
- ↑ Berry bites, Message knot from someone's sister
- ↑ Bag of ripe okra
- ↑ Salt-and-sweet cakes
- ↑ Heavily spiced loaf
- ↑ Bag of dates,[Package of dried figs]]}
- ↑ Pouch of pepper
- ↑ Package of salt flakes
- ↑ https://lore.bookoftravels.info/people/the-malku-su
- ↑ https://lore.bookoftravels.info/people/the-malku-su
- ↑ Hamsham Malku tunic
- ↑ Huge tombac ring
- ↑ Small portion of alabaster grain, and
- ↑ Pouch of pepper
- ↑ Small sample pouch of Masni roots
- ↑ Package of pale cobalt grain
- ↑ Refreshing Maca root
- ↑ Buckthorn
- ↑ Bunch of garlic roots
- ↑ Buckthorn
- ↑ |Ornate fig beads
- ↑ Ear-covering fur hat
- ↑ Wolf hide
- ↑ Goat leather chinband
- ↑ Thin tombac shoulder cover
- ↑ Bag of ripe okra
- ↑ Spicy baguette