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Tumba
"Your life is given by your family, and in your death you give back that gift."
— Tumban saying
The subterranean Tumba, the second youngest race of the six, are often seen as the
horrors of the galaxy. Were they not contrasted so starkly by the Infesting Ke'Ras,
it is the Tumba who may well be the galactic enemy. When the
Ajira landed on the
deserted planet of Tume centuries ago, they were terrified when they first found
Tumba in several caves near the warm equator. A race needing heat, the Tumba are
black skinned, sharp-toothed carnivores whose oily black hair and blue-black eyes
can make a haunting memory. Additionally, this unique race is divided genetically:
there are nobles and slaves. Nobles are humanoid, despite their differences in colouring
and diet. Slaves are shorter, stouter and have four arms. Slaves are obedient, less
intelligent and over history have become completely docile to the rulership of the
Nobles and their families. After some tensions, the
Ajira found the Tumba to be
hospitable and unthreatened by the surface dwelling space travellers. The reason
was that the Tumba are eugenicists: breeding within ancient family lines for strength,
intelligence and beauty. Hence, to the Tumba the Ajira were simply a lesser species
that had wasted its time developing technologies of travel, pleasure, and communication
rather than improving the race. All Tumba are strong, fast and indefatigable, all
live on average a hundred to two hundred years; but the four armed slaves are simply
less intelligent and servile.
The families of the Tumba are vast, with up to a thousand
members bearing the same Blood name. The Advisors, scholars of the history of genetic
development, determine breeding and marriages. The mating rites of the Tumba are
neither savage nor barbaric although they do seem devoid of any true emotional attachment.
They are highly sophisticated and ritualistic. Their wars do not occur on any grand
scale, but in the scheming and politicking done at revels and rituals, in the exotic
dance halls and festivals where strange celebrations are held. When violence occurs,
as the Ajira discoverers found with fear, it is done through quick coups or silent
assassinations. In fact, the first Tumba to leave Tume was the noble Braon Mil of
Mil Blood. A notable assassin, or Tasathi, the Ajira acquired the noble's aid as
security on a political mission that was their next stop. The infamous result of
that meeting began the centuries long fear and trembling brought to political negotiations
whenever a Tumba was brought along for "security".
When Family and Politics Meet...
When the family-based Tumba entered the galactic arena on their own borrowed and
developed technologies, they discovered a contest between family ties and political
leanings. For the bulk of centuries that the Tumba have been a part of the Republic,
families have remained true to single parties. In recent years, however, Tumba have
begun to be divided by some of these universal viewpoints. It was originally the
differing politics of families that instigated the first group of families to leave
Tume and inhabit a new planet. Before a hundred years were out, hundreds of planets
were colonized. A few centuries later, through schisms, feuds and coups, the Tumba
held as many planets as most races and found themselves as divided galactically
as everyone else. Confident in their racial and class superiority, the Tumba gladly
interact and unite with other races, contributing in ways that every political party
finds of great use and value. Skilled scientists, diplomats, socialites and administrators
(i.e., slave masters), not to mention the skills of the Tasathi assassins, only
one's enemies have ever been disadvantaged by the presence of Tumba.
The Night Among
the Stars...
The return of the Ke'Ras has struck terror into all the systems and races;
but strangely, not many Tumba. They have become more curious about the demons than
afraid. Some whisper that the Tumba see the demons perhaps as the further stage
of evolution for all the races. Some believe that if the Shorem
had not rediscovered
the Ke'Ras, the Tumba would have. Both races burn with a sense of destiny for their
future: for the Shorem the quest is spiritual, for the Tumba the mission is evolutionary.
Regardless of all speculations, none in the galaxy would deny the Tumba their value
to all causes where they affiliate. Each of the six political parties has gained
much from the Tumba who rally to them. Every culture has enjoyed at least some of
the Tumban cates, arts, sciences and values. As none surpass the Ajira
for their
advancement of pleasures and lifestyle augmentations, none come close to the Tumba
and their valuing of sophistication, propriety and duty - even when it comes to
trivialities like mating rituals, ceremonial dances, banquet etiquette and inter-family
protocol.
The Caverns of Brilliance...
When the first Ajira met the Tumba in mountain
caves, they mistook a group of outcasts for the norm of Tumban society. Only when
they convinced the outcasts to guide them into the earth to the underground palaces
and cities, made up of massive family compounds and public meeting places, did the
Ajira realize the potential brilliance of the species. The Tumba have one severe
weakness - the cold; they evolved in the hot and humid caverns just above the mantle
of their planet and to this day they have been unable to breed the weakness out
of their gene pool. It is too fundamental to their DNA. This weakness once limited
them to the caverns beneath the surface of their world but now, with the technologies
of the galaxy at their command, they have ascended to the stars.
Love is a large
part of the Tumba. Love in a certain sense; the Tumba are polyamorous and they have
no specific attachments to any but those that they consider friends and family.
The families all maintain harems and supply these harems with females traded, bought
and sold with the other families. The purpose is always breeding, and strengthening
the lines. Results are seen by families who have more aged and healthy members,
who are more beautiful, graceful and strong. At the same time the Tumba respect
the females, and the mating rites are far from abusive, even if they do not involve
affection or love. Not all females are sold: however, it is the best who are. The
harems are not congregations of slaves and females in the harems become a part of
the family, being given when very young. The female nobles have all the freedoms
of the males, all the respect, and to their own minds, far more power. Nevertheless,
this aspect of Tumban society is a feature of criticism by some of the other races.
The Subtle Strength...
When politicians talk about the future of the galaxy, rarely
is the influence of the Tumba considered. Since the families began to divide galactically
among the political parties, and schisms and feuds spread the race among the stars,
they have forever seemed disparate and segmented. Every party courts the Tasathi
nobles, every ambassador wants to have one of these quiet sophisticated killers
at his or her side, and many of each race love the natural exports of Tumban culture.
Whether it is the haunting yet arousing Tashish music with the accompanying incenses
burned during a Listening; whether it is the portrait skills of the artisans who
have mastered the ability to paint someone and reveal their self at every age from
life to death in one perspective; or even the native foods — animals first living
underground on the planet Tume, whose meat needs no spicing and whose sustenance
gives strange strength and endurance. In all of this, it is not seen how the Tumba
may be the species of a secret mettle, with a vision of life and destiny that may
allow them to live... long after others have faded in the coldness of space.
"Body
and soul, blood and mind: I join my body to you in kind."
— Ceremonial Words of
the Tumban Mating Ritualsummary | return to top
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