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Author Topic: Devanu questions  (Read 6225 times)
GregX999
Donrehleh Mercenary
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« on: April 25, 2011, 10:45:56 pm »

Hello, I just found this game and so far I love it! I've read the rules and a ton of stuff on this forum already. I'm going to have to get some minis ASAP!

But, I have a few questions about the Devanu. They seem the least "fleshed-out" race/faction as far as culture, history and abilities.

1. First, how "intelligent" are they? Can they read/write? How well can they do math or understand science?

2. The fluff talks about their "towers". What did these look like? How large? What were they made of?

3. Did they live in constructed villages or camps? How do they live now? In huts? In caves? Sleep in the open? Do they make fire? (To stay warm? Or are they cold blooded?)

4. Do they only hunt or do they also raise livestock? Do they cook?

5. Do they have art? Or religion? Or music? Or clothes or jewelry?

The figures (which are either nude or clothed in scraps, and not always armed) don't suggest anything too advanced. Yet, they were advanced "enough" to enslave the Fubarnii, who are themselves quite intelligent/cultured.

I hope all this isn't overwhelming! Grin
Just let me know if I missed something somewhere where this is all explained.

Greg
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Carcharoth
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« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2011, 11:57:59 am »

Hello, I just found this game and so far I love it! I've read the rules and a ton of stuff on this forum already. I'm going to have to get some minis ASAP!

But, I have a few questions about the Devanu. They seem the least "fleshed-out" race/faction as far as culture, history and abilities.
The Devanu do tend to get a little bit neglected, but they are certainly not forgotten!

1. First, how "intelligent" are they? Can they read/write? How well can they do math or understand science?

They are probably close to human levels of intelligence, but they certainly don't have any formal education. Maths and science don't have much place when your primary focus is where the next meal is going to come from.

2. The fluff talks about their "towers". What did these look like? How large? What were they made of?

They varied a lot, but they were tall structures so the Devanu could look out over their lands for as far as possible. The fubarnii would live in small villages scattered across the Devanu territories. I should do a sketch at some point!

3. Did they live in constructed villages or camps? How do they live now? In huts? In caves? Sleep in the open? Do they make fire? (To stay warm? Or are they cold blooded?)

They used to live in the towers. They now try to live in large home-trees, sleeping in branches and hanging kills etc from them as well (reverting back to how they used to live before they enslaved the fubarnii). The grishak are kept around the base. They are more often forced to live in better hidden locations. They don't generally make fire. They really don't like the cold (a fact that allowed the Delgon to flourish even while the rest of the Fubarnii were enslaved) and will often keep skins from animals to keep them warm when it is cooler. They are warm blooded (or near enough).

4. Do they only hunt or do they also raise livestock? Do they cook?

They used to keep livestock (the Fubarnii...) but now they are rarely stable enough to keep animals (except as hunting beasts). They rely on hunting and tend to eat meat raw.

5. Do they have art? Or religion? Or music? Or clothes or jewelry?

Yes, but fairly minimalist. I'll go into that at some point when I have more time!

The figures (which are either nude or clothed in scraps, and not always armed) don't suggest anything too advanced. Yet, they were advanced "enough" to enslave the Fubarnii, who are themselves quite intelligent/cultured.

It doesn't take much intelligence to enslave something that is half your size. For a very long time they just hunted the Fubarnii, but then some enterprising Devanu realised that it was more efficient to keep them alive (or possibly it was the Fubarnii that worke dthis out).
They relied on the Fubarnii to make stuff for them - they never mastered metalwork themselves and now scavenge any weapons/armour they need. Some old pre-empire weapons are still carried, but they are rare and thus most weapons/armour aren't really designed for them.
Some Fubarnii would theorise that Fubarnii culture was itself formed by the pressures exerted by the Devanu masters, but that is open to (quite violent) debate.

I hope all this isn't overwhelming! Grin

Certainly not! Feel free to ask for more details etc and I'll do my best to answer.
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GregX999
Donrehleh Mercenary
Jenta
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Posts: 27



« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2011, 01:57:48 pm »

Thanks! That certainly sheds more light on the matter. I was just having such a hard time imagining them. It seems perhaps they're similar to human hunter-gatherer tribes then.

Okay, so here are a couple more for you. A bit more "detailed" than the others:

1. In their relations with one another, are they more cooperative or more competitive? Would they betray one another for the right price? Do they often fight amongst themselves? (If so, is at at the drop of a hat? Much squabbling? Within families? Within "tribes"? Within larger groups?)

2. Do they have a sense of racial identity? Do they feel proud to be Devanu? Do they dream of their race being powerful yet again?

3. Do they pass their history down? Do they know the Fubarnii were once their slaves? Do they hate the Fubarnii or just see them as food/competition?

4. It seems they're well on their way to becoming extinct. Or are there other "groups" of Devanu out there somewhere? (Perhaps more advanced?)
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halfmileduck
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« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2011, 05:47:41 pm »

I also have questions, if you don't mind me chiming in....

Are the groups family based and are they ever formalised into tribes, if so what is the average & largest grouping sizes?

Can you give more detail on their art, what does it look like and how do they tend to express it (carving, drawing,body paint...)?

Just interested - Thanks!
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Megatron0
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« Reply #4 on: April 26, 2011, 06:15:50 pm »

Maybe I can help with some of these.

They do dream of becoming powerful again as Arak-Katain is taking tribes to the north and its also indicated by what he says at the opening of the Devanu section in the second book

They do pass their history down as indicated by the first book at the head of the devanu section. "we once ruled over the weak Faburnii" this statement also shows resentment towards them as well.

I dont know if there are any more Devanu tribes but it seems more then likely but I doubt they would be more advanced IMO devanu culture looks down on tech as it shows how weak they would be by using it.

They are tribe based as Arak-Katain has taken over several from the argoran wastes. No numbers are given.
I dont think Artwork is in their culture though they do understand the need to be recognised via those towers. but theres no published material on it
Hope that helps
« Last Edit: April 26, 2011, 06:18:56 pm by Megatron0 » Logged

Carcharoth
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« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2011, 06:17:09 pm »

1. In their relations with one another, are they more cooperative or more competitive? Would they betray one another for the right price? Do they often fight amongst themselves? (If so, is at at the drop of a hat? Much squabbling? Within families? Within "tribes"? Within larger groups?)

(Almost) entirely competitive, but they will bow to the hierarchy within a pack. They will fight to prove themselves and move up that hierarchy. Packs would fight for territory, but in most cases the territorial boundaries are understood. Within the central empire it is all much more fluid and confused as the Devanu packs are trying to survive and remain unnoticed. Or at least raise as little attention as possible so the knights aren't called in.

2. Do they have a sense of racial identity? Do they feel proud to be Devanu? Do they dream of their race being powerful yet again?

Varies. Many (most) are just scraping for survival. Those that do try to rise up tend to draw the attention of the Emperor very quickly and even a powerful Devanu pack doesn't survive long when faced by a couple of hundred Fubarnii Knights. Arak Katain is a not atypical example of this sort of Devanu, but the Emperor has been distracted and moved his troops to the North so Arak has grown his pack and even gathered other packs together. This has not been seen for generations.
Arak is very proud of being a Devanu and would see the Devanu back in their rightful place. At the moment he is heading North to kill a god - a tale like that would prove his power and gather more Devanu packs around him.

3. Do they pass their history down? Do they know the Fubarnii were once their slaves? Do they hate the Fubarnii or just see them as food/competition?

They do pass their history down through stories.
They are generally scared of the Fubarnii as a whole. They know they can kill them easily, but it tends to be far more trouble than it is worth. They will kill their herds though, or attack traders when they get really hungry.

4. It seems they're well on their way to becoming extinct. Or are there other "groups" of Devanu out there somewhere? (Perhaps more advanced?)

Not in the known world. The largest gathering of them is in the Argoran wastes, where they live in a more traditional lifestyle, but that is only because nobody else would choose to live in that god-forsaken place.
The Devanu/Fubarnii relationship is actually fairly balanced. Or at least it has been for many generations - it is not worth the resources to completely kill all the Devanu, and most Devanu know better than to overstep their bounds. In some regions the same packs of Devanu have maintained their hunting grounds for a long time, leaving the local Fubarnii to get on with their lives and thus not drawing much attention. This is fairly unusual though, as young devanu often try to prove themselves and cause trouble.

Are the groups family based and are they ever formalised into tribes, if so what is the average & largest grouping sizes?

Some details on the Devanu tribes: Devanu are born from eggs. Several 'seeds' are implanted into each egg mass, but generally only one young will be born. The young jenta that hatch will compete for food and be expected to join in hunts from an early age. Once they show signs of turning into Sempa (the female lifestage) they are generally driven from the pack. Those Jenta may join other packs or gather into a new young pack. Most devanu stay in the Sempa lifestage for the rest of their lives. Any Sempa that show signs of maturing into the Kopa lifestage will be killed or driven from the pack as there is only ever one Kopa. If the Kopa is killed or becomes weak then another Sempa will step in to his place and mature into a Kopa. A pack will typically consist of one Kopa, two to six Sempa and up to something like eight Jenta of varying ages. Rogue Jenta packs would have five or six Jenta, generally gathered around one more mature 'alpha jenta'. If the pack survives then that alpha jenta will probably skip the Sempa lifestage entirely.

Can you give more detail on their art, what does it look like and how do they tend to express it (carving, drawing,body paint...)?

Body paint almost certainly, but I've never really figured out what it would look like. Strips and bold lines. I imagine they would carve designs into their home trees, and maybe hang gruesome works of art from the branches (and therefore do similar artwork wherever they are calling home). Expect simple lines and maybe splashes of colour. The Devanu icon in the new book is an example, but I'll have a look for some simple symbols I had been playing with a while back.
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GregX999
Donrehleh Mercenary
Jenta
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Posts: 27



« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2011, 11:50:52 pm »

Thanks! This thread has really filled in a huge gap in my understanding of the Twilight world.

I downloaded the rules, but does the book itself have more of this fluff-type info in it?
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Megatron0
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« Reply #7 on: April 27, 2011, 12:11:03 am »

Yep!
Nearly everything thats stated on this thread is in the first and second book. at the beginning, the end and every model entry has abit of lore in it.
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Carcharoth
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« Reply #8 on: April 27, 2011, 06:57:05 pm »

The first book is the same as the one you can download (at some point I'll replace that with a summary of all the rules so I'd recommend you download and save a copy if you would like to keep it!), but the second book actually contains a lot more material than the first, mainly due to squeezing in more different units and scenarios. There isn't too much more on the Devanu, except a few random bits of info in the new unit descriptions (for example, explaining that only young Devanu would use ranged weapons, and how kosok are raised from young).
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