WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK 0063 0063
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Chapter 3: RACES & REALMS
Brachachon routinely adopt individuals into their
family groups, or allow the same to leave for other
groups. Such exchanges carry with them overtures familiar to humans: increased friendship and cooperation between the family groups, sometimes exchanges
of wealth or material possessions accompany the newcomers, business and political relationships are thusly
created or reinforced. Adoption has on extremely rare
occasions been extended to vidijo, as well, though inclusion of a human into a Brachachon family group is,
by biological necessity, limited to an honorary basis.
Impregnated females gestate for an entire year before
giving birth to a single calf, of which only one in five calves
is male, the rest female. Multiple births are impossible
among the Pachyaur, so the concept of twins or triplets
among humans is both foreign and fascinating to them.
Despite intelligence and cultural sophistication, the
Pachyaur descend from herbivorous herd animals, and
they betray that background idiosyncratically. They
find comfort in groups, and stand quite close together,
even touching, grasping each other’s trunks and tails
absent-mindedly, even reflexively. Despite their innocuous innocence, humans find these displays at the least
overly familiar and, at the worst, a maddening violation
of personal space. Pachyaur are also subject to the stampede group reaction when faced with alarming force or
danger. Unexpected or unidentified trouble can trigger
a group-flight reflex; the group mobilizes to run headlong as one toward safety, trampling beneath them everything in their path. Military commanders train their
soldiers to tap into this instinct and create a formidable
group charge, terrifyingly effective against smaller foes.
Even a solitary pachyaura on his own and away from
others of his kind can tap the stampede impulse as long
as his vidijo companions join in his charge or flight (or
risk being trampled accordingly).
Pachyesh Psychology
Pachyaur thought processes differ from those of humans and other sapient denizens of Khitus. What influence, shape, and move pachyesh thinking the most are
their extended lifespans and eidetic memories. Nearly
every drive within pachyesh society builds from those
factors and affect how Pachyaur embrace life across time.
Time
Pachyaur can live to be 150 years old, a fact that alters
their overall concept of time. They take the long view as
the longest-lived sapient race on Khitus since the loss
of the Dragon Kings. They willingly embrace solutions
that will resolve over generations, rather than quick
Books of the Moons
The KivatuTautu (“Books of the Moons”) present
a philosophy of strength and domination among all
Pachyaur alike. Starting from birth, all Pachyaur calves
are read verses from the KivatuTautu to provide lessons in companionship, leadership, loyalty, and the
conduct of a virtuous life. These texts also become
primers from which they learn to read and eventually reason deeply. Of course, interpretations vary, and
both Watu and Brachachon cultures select passages
that support or deny the ownership of slaves—their primary societal difference—in different lights.
Ordinary mortals did not create the Kivatu Tautu,
according to pachyesh lore, though again, ancient
lore fails to record more than vague suggestions and
hints. To some believers, a god dictated the Books of
the Moons to its ancient, long-vanished clergy, and a
small but fervent group of Shadazim await the return
of Mulngul by constant recitation of “his holy books.”
Others attribute the Kivalu Tautu to the Daragkark
Nyoriim and his disciples who collectively sought to
codify the perfection of pachyesh life.
Unlike some Khitan cultures or factions, the books
have no original tablets or scrolls deemed sacred by
Pachyaur. Many histories record the existence of thakalhide pages bound between stone slabs as the original
Books. These original tomes—sized and weighted so
only two Pachyaur might lift its covers—disappeared
just before the Classic Age, and, to some Pachyaur, this
is the reason for confusion and lost lore regarding the
origins of the KivatuTautu.
Regardless of the true existence or not of such books,
each bwasana holds dear the oldest copy of the books
in her family’s possession. Each bwasana also must
commission a new personal copy of the KivatuTautu
for each female calf she births, though many do so for
each calf, regardless of gender.
Impressive is the vidijo with knowledge of the KivatuTautu; even more impressive to a pachyaura is the
vidijo who truly understands, if not embraces, what
he or she learns from it.
fixes, and value permanence. They consider a new
course of action for a long time before taking any action
at all, ever content to make slow, incremental progress
toward a goal. So long as a goal remains attainable, they
prefer methods to keep working slowly toward it, rather
than speed it up further. And so long as a goal remains
attainable, Pachyaur are loathe to give up once a decision has been made to pursue it.
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