Upon reaching adulthood, every native savage is initiated into their tribal spirit cult. This normally requires the adolescent to venture into the Spirit World - accompanied by a kahuna - on a long dream-journey introducing them to many of the lesser spirits within the tribal lands; end ing ultimately by meeting their totemic deity with whom they form a kinship bond. In exchange for their oath and a regular supply of mana, the totem spirit grants them per mission to call upon those allies the candidate had revealed to them. Upon return to their body the newly initiated adult is granted the rank of Follower in the cult and taught the skills of Trance and Binding. However, they cannot progress any further in the cult hierarchy until they are crippled, or grow too old to continue as a hunter-warrior. At this time they are indoctrinated to deeper secrets, although it is usual that there remain only one full Shaman per settlement and a single High Shaman per tribe; the ancestral spirits them selves teaching any necessary skills when a kahuna assumes their new rank – usually because of the previous occupant dying. Due to their importance and general superstition, natives are forbidden to spy upon or touch a kahuna (any one of Spirit Worshipper rank or above), including even their shadows. As the savages have reverted to a primitive lifestyle, they build no special temples or shrines to the spirits per se. Rather they leave offerings in the isolated places of natural beauty where particular spirits reside. Locations where bad or enemy spirits congregate are considered taboo to the tribe, much of a kahuna’s time being s pent observing these places to prevent against spiritual incursion. Tikis are lesser spirits, bound and personified in wooden or stone anthropomorphic carvings. They are used to mark sacred spaces, ward off danger and can be found outside villages, at the base of cliffs, next to scummy pools in rain forests, along the coast and even inside caves. Their fearful expressions are made to frighten away evil spirits and enemies. Tikis are honoured by chants, prayers, and offerings, including animal sacrifice; the latter being the only way to recharge the Mana of the spirits bound to them. All tikis are in effect huge fetishes. The spirit bound to each one can range up to a distance of 10m per point of WIS they possess, providing they have been let out to roam. Those tiki lost and abandoned in the depths of the jungle often still contain their spirit, malicious and angry from years of imprisonment, yet unable to seek vengeance until some poor unwitting fool accidentally touches the carving, letting them out. Village tiki are normally con trolled by the resident kahunas who free the spirits in the evening or at times of war to ward against danger.
Secretive recluses, the High Folk of Monster Island maintain a two tiered society based upon an elitist mageocracy supported by a barbarian underclass. These last remnants of the refined civilisation still consider themselves the de-facto rulers of Monster Island, yet they must now tread carefully with the lowland savages who once acted as their servitors. Three High Folk centres of power remain, all of which are located in the upper elevations of the caldera ranges, though numerous of their small tombs or fortifications still exist in remote locations. These are the legendary Mysterious Cities of Gold; each vies for domination over the others whilst still seeking to restore High Folk supremacy over the entire island.
҉Akakor: A lost jungle city, hidden high up in the mountains of Skull Point, where the northern range of the Tane Caldera collapses into the ocean. It is the smallest of the cities, but possesses perhaps the most active populace – stimulated perhaps by the proximity of the human colony located close by on the cliffs of the Hina Caldera. The terraced city lies concealed in a small hidden valley up between the peaks.
҉Agartha: An underground city, reputedly built within a cave system under Mount Colossus, the southern most peak of the island. A near impregnable fortress, it is rumoured to be the home of materialistic, self seeking, powerful ‘demons’ that look over the narrow s traits towards the brooding Ruaumoko volcano.
҉Zerzura: The largest of the cities, reputedly hewn from the spur of rock which pushes upwards from the centre of the Puna Plateau. Despite this precise location, few locate the city unless its denizens wish it to be found. Of all the High Folk settlements the inhabitants of this city are the most dormant, either wrapped up in timeless contemplations or basking in disdainful arrogance.
Race
The High Folk are a race of dimorphic serpent-men, much like those already native to Hyperborea. Although, thousands of years of selective breeding has winnowed the species into two forms, hyper intelligent ‘sports’ and less sophisticated ‘breeders’.
Society
As mentioned above, High Folk society is based on a two tier caste system. Sorcerers rule over non-magicians, forming, when the necessity arises, an egalitarian democracy to respond to external stimuli that might threaten their isolated culture. Of course some sorcerers are more equal than others, with arch-mages truly holding the reins of power. Almost all High Folk sorcerers are ‘sports’, throwbacks to their highly intelligent forbearers but unable to reproduce sexually. They make up between 1-2% of the populous, the remainder of the High Folk having no capability with magic and being prone to more instinctual drives. Whilst ‘breeders’ are just as smart as any human, they generally lack the depth of education given to their superiors. Instead they are given an aptitude test during childhood, then shuffled off into a career from which they may never change. The High Folk regard both sexes with equal dispassion, so there are no restrictions to caste or career. This is achieved in part by their reliance upon sorcerous technology and an underclass of enslaved lowland savages who perform most of the laborious work needed to support their sophisticated society. Every profession possesses its own closed brotherhood. Rank is based upon competence, with the occasional act of treachery or assassination employed to ensure upwards mobility. Such Machiavellian politics have led to masters of their profession becoming more reticent to reveal those craft secrets necessary to continue in that role in the worry that it might be used to depose them from their standing in the brotherhood. Unsurprisingly this has resulted in the gradual loss or hoarding of much important knowledge. Although many of their enchantments and automatons built centuries before still function, few remain who know how to replicate such miraculous devices, let alone the metaphysical science behind them. Yet despite this atrophying, the High Folk remain supercilious; arrogant of their own sagacity and power, whilst condescending of the savages. Social standing within the structure of High Folk society is pyramidal in nature. Sorcerers rule over the lower castes, incorporating as many breeders as possible into their own personal retinue. In turn brotherhood members dominate their own underlings, based upon their rank.
Within High Folk society status is used to ask for or demand a favour, depending on the respective status of the personage petitioned. In such situations the status value is treated as a skill and rolled against as a normal skill. The skill check can suffer increased difficulty grades for requests out of proportion to the rank of the petitioner, or those that might place the superior in some danger, whether politically or physically. In cases where the petitioned personage does not wish to fulfil the request, they may oppose with their own status. Such requests are normally formalised with flowery, polite language – in effect an eloquent oration presenting the reasons why the request should be granted, or in the case of refusals, an explanatory list of well founded excuses. Gifts of suitable worth can sometimes negate a level or two of skill penalty, but cannot raise the chance above the base status value. Thus it might be perfectly reasonable for a sorcerer of high status to request that one of its accompanying body guards, say a low ranking member of the Brotherhood of the Fang, to cast itself into the path of a ravening tyrannosaur; whilst the sorcerer and the rest of its party escape with the dinosaur’s egg. It would be a very polite demand, but unless the bodyguard successfully opposed the sor cerer’s roll with its own status check, they would have to perform the duty. Conversely if the bodyguard requested a boon from the sorcerer, say the loan of an ensorcelled weapon to slay a rival in an opposing brotherhood, its status check would be DC15 to 20 to reflect the danger of losing the artefact or the deed being traced back to the sorcerer. Since High Folk society focuses on brotherhood membership and utilises anonymous breeding practices, there is no real way of determining close family connections. Each of the Mysterious Cities of Gold has a population of between two and three thousand adults, a third again are young of various ages and a further fifth are enslaved Savages. All the High Folk speak the High Tongue as their native language, but only the sorcerer caste are permitted to learn the arts of reading and writing. In addition, some are skilled in the Low Tongue also; generally those who venture from their cities as diplomats, spies or scouts.
Law
The High Folk legal system is somewhat alien, in that it comprises only of three criminal acts: treachery, sedition and treason. Treachery is a crime performed for personal gain which places the individual’s brotherhood at risk. Sedition is called for when harm is caused to the individ ual’s home city. Treason is reserved against those who act against the entire High Folk race.