Tumerok Lore
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Related topics: Cultures, Tumerok, Category:Tumerok
The Tumerok are a race of warlike humanoid lizard folk, related to Drudges, Banderlings and Mosswarts. Though they aren't the largest of their kin, standing six feet tall on average, they are by far the most dangerous, as they are the only ones to have developed near human intelligence. <ref name=OrigManual64>1999/11 Release - Asheron's Call Manual p. 64 - Tumerok</ref> They fight with weapons, including bows and crossbows, and many can use sorcery. Their priestly caste is particulary adept at weilding magic. Their overlords are a match for the greatest human warriors. <ref name=OrigManual64/>
Though they were largely known as war-like raiders, sacking human towns across the land, this is not the true nature of the Tumerok. <ref name=CharCreationTumerok>2011/10 Cloak of Darkness - Character Creation - Racial Lore: Aun Tumerok</ref> In truth the Tumerok are good-natured<ref name=TheoriesofEzheret>2003/05 Discoveries - Theories of Ezheret</ref> and once enjoyed a peaceful and artistic existence, and the Aun Tumerok have aspired to return to those ways. The Aun Tumerok who have joined with the Isparians have forsaken the Hea Tumerok and the Virindi influence that has set the Hea against the Isparians. Although the name Tumerok is actually a name outsiders have given to the Tumerok, the Aun Tumerok have learned to accept that name. <ref name=CharCreationTumerok/>
History
On Ezheret
The Tumeroks call their home world Ezheret-Hazahtu, although they only live on the body they call Ezheret. This requires some explanation. While a sun does rise and fall in the sky, Ezheret actually orbits another, larger planet called Hazahtu. Hazahtu, or “The Blind Eye,” is an enormous, cloud-shrouded grey-blue orb. Legend holds that when the eye of Hazahtu loses its occlusion, the Tumeroks will be judged for their stewardship of the world.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok>2001/11 Dark Majesty - Bestiary: Tumeroks</ref>
Ezheret is hot, humid, and prone to extended periods of foul weather. Gales and hurricanes are frequent, perhaps due to the unusual sparseness of dry land. The Tumerok tribes are spread across myriad archipelagos, separated by hours or days of journey by boat. <ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/>
The Tumeroks share Ezheret with the scavenger Drudges, as well as the perpetually warring Banderlings and Mosswarts.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/> <ref name=TheoriesofEzheret/> During Asheron's visit to the Moon of Ezheret, he mentions that the Tonk appeared to have seen Empyreans before, several of their structures appeared to be influenced by the architecture once prominent on Ireth Lassel, though certainly more crude and rudimentary. The basis for their art and their understanding of magic as a tribal gift from the gods that sang throughout the cosmos, as they referred to the suns, was also reminiscent of the Empyreans first steps into grasping magical talents. <ref name=TheoriesofEzheret/>
On Dereth
Tribal warmongers by nature, Tumeroks were rejected as slaves by the Olthoi for being too brutish. <ref name=OrigManual64/>
The face of the Tumeroks known to humanity was that of warlike humanoids. In the early years after the retreat of the Olthoi, Tumerok raider bands were a constant threat to human settlements, sacking towns from Holtburg to Yanshi. Humanity rarely came out the better in these engagements; at one point the entire adult population of Holtburg was slaughtered or taken as slaves.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/>
This was not the true nature of the Tumerok. They once enjoyed a peaceful, communal culture, rich in oral tradition, and a unique magic system based on ritual drumming.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/>
But as humans always arrive on this world at one of the nine portal-nexus towns of Osteth, so do the Tumeroks always arrive on the Marescent Plateau of Marae Lassel. This trapped them on a much smaller landmass. They found themselves in a life-or death struggle with the brood of a second Olthoi Queen – not the one slain by Thorsten Cragstone and Elysa Strathelar. The Tumeroks found a way to pen in the Olthoi (which they call “Wharu”) that was as idiosyncratic as their culture.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/> <ref name=PaintingTumerok>2010-/06 Shifting Gears - Tumerok (Town Network Painting) </ref>
Tumeroks and Virindi
Perhaps they could have lived in peace, if the Virindi, known as the "the atual arutoa"<ref name=TahAhurenga>2001/10 Dark Majesty - The Tah of Ahurenga</ref> to the Tumeroks, had not discovered them.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/>
At some point prior to 0 PY,<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/> <ref name=HistoryofFortWitshire>1999/11 Release - History of Fort Witshire</ref> the Virindi discovered the Tumeroks trapped on Marae Lassel.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/> The cloaked creatures struck a deadly bargain with Aranpuh, an embittered young outcast.<ref name=TahAhurenga>2001/10 Dark Majesty - The Tah of Ahurenga</ref> Aranpuh was taken and altered – perhaps the same alteration chronicled by the Aluvian Candeth Martine and possibly by Aerbax itself <ref name=DestructionsAndBeginnings> 2003/01 The Slumbering Giant - Destructions and Beginnings</ref>) to look more human. So empowered, Aranpuh returned with a host of other angry young Tumeroks, and seized control of the Hea tribe.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/>
After Aran successfully took control of the Hea tribe of Tumeroks and gained the name Hea Arantah <ref name=TahAhurenga/>, all of his new tribesmen were altered in the same way. At some point after the alteration of the Hea, but before the Hea invaded the mainland (though after 0 PY<ref>2001/11 Dark Majesty - Lilitha's Bow</ref><ref>2001/11 Dark Majesty - The Legend of Lilitha</ref>) Lilitha was captured by Hea Temenua on Marae Lassel.<ref name=TheOneNamedLilitha>2001/11 Dark Majesty - The One Named Lilitha</ref> She was given to the Virindi, who told the Hea, "Here are the ones we have gifted you in the image of. Behold! We will open Wind and Light to you, that you may go among their holdings. Bring them to us. We wish to understand them, and the one they are protected by."<ref name=TheOneNamedLilitha/>
In return for doing the bidding of the Virindi, the Hea are granted Virindi weapons and passage to the freedom of mainland Dereth. But there was one last condition of this bargain. In order to serve as “infiltrators,” the Virindi altered the bodies of the Hea from their natural form to something more….human.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/> <ref name=PaintingTumerok/> It is “Hea Arantah's” warriors who have bedeviled humans for so long. <ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/> In the early years after the defeat of the The One Queen<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/><ref name=HistoryofFortWitshire/> (the exact date is unknown, some time between 0 PY<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/><ref name=HistoryofFortWitshire/> and 7 PY <ref name=OrigManual25>1999/11 Release - Asheron's Call Manual p. 25 - Rithwic</ref>) Tumeroks first began to attack human settlements. The loose siege maintained around Dryreach, for example, is used by the tribe as a brutal training ground for new Tumerok warriors. <ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/> <ref name=PaintingTumerok/> It wasn't until Leafcull, 12 PY when Marae Lassel was opened that humans discovered the true nature of the relationship between Tumeroks and Virindi.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/>
Culture
In truth, the word “tumerok” is not their name for themselves. Tumeroks refer to themselves as Tonk, a sound that has spiritual significance to them. It seems to imply the concept of “prime mover.” It is not yet known what “tumerok” actually means, although the revulsion with which they react to it suggests it is an insult.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/>
The Tumeroks transplanted to Dereth prefer to dwell in dry, rocky regions, and have made the Direlands their home. The Hea Tumerok have dug their own redoubts, and built several fortresses. Perhaps due to the influence of the Virindi, they have taken to using other humanoids as slaves and foot soldiers. They sometimes encroach on human settlements, engaging in both quick raids and longer sieges, using numbers to ensure victory.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/> <ref name=OrigManual64/>
Factions
Rulers
Religions and Beliefs
Customs and Traditions
The Tumerok tribes on Ezheret are spread across myriad archipelagos, separated by hours or days of journey by boat. This could explain why drumming is so predominant in their culture; since it is difficult to stay in direct daily contact, friends and relations will stand on shores across from each other and pound their drums to communicate across the water. This “drum talking” is also used to stay in contact while riding out inclement weather.<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/>
Language
Tumeroks have their own language, although they most commonly use Old Roulean on Dereth.
For a complete list of known words and translations, see Tumerok Lore/Language.
Ranks, Titles, and Honorifics
| Rank | Male Title | Female Title |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Tah | Tah |
| 9 | Sutah | Sutah |
| 8 | Kauh | Kauh |
| 7 | Nurea | Nurea |
| 6 | Rea | Rea |
| 5 | Turea | Turea |
| 4 | Nuona | Nuona |
| 3 | Ona | On a |
| 2 | Tuona | Tuona |
| 1 | Xutua | Xutua |
Names
Tumerok names are composed of three parts in a specific order: xuta (tribe) name, given name, and title/role within the xuta, according to the following set of roles:<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/>
Tumerok names are often short Tumerok words or abbreviations that associate them with some important deed or occasion. As such, most Tumeroks gain a new name when they reach adulthood. Female Tumeroks tend to favor short names. Tumeroks tend to use a tribal prefix only in formal occasions.<ref name=CharNamingTumerok>2011/10 Cloak of Darkness - Character Creation - Naming: Aun Tumerok</ref>
The roles one can within the xuta are as follows:
| Role | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Aua | elder shaman | literally spirit [au] companion [ua]<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/> |
| Aualuan | elder shaman variation | Title held by Aun Aman (Elder Shaman).<ref name=AunAmanaualuan>2003/08 Into the Darkness - Aun Amanaualuan the Elder Shaman</ref> Shoyanen Kenchu and others called Aualuan.<ref name=AunAulakheDialog>2002/02 Fever Dreams - Buadren Quest: Aun Aulakhe dialog</ref><ref name=AunTikakheDialog>2002/02 Fever Dreams - Buadren Quest: Aun Tikakhe dialog</ref> |
| Auri | shaman | literally spirit [au] summoner [ri]<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/> |
| Awa | warrior | |
| Itea | archer | |
| Itealuan | archer variation | Title held by Aun Gunditealuan the Marksman (Master Bowyer)<ref name=AunGunditealuan>2003/08 Into the Darkness - Aun Gunditealuan the Marksman</ref> and the generic Aun Itealuan and Hea Itealuan. |
| Khe | drum-speaker | |
| Nua | veteran warrior | |
| Ona | scout | |
| Puh | outcast or rebel | literally "closed-mouth"<ref name=AC:DMBestiaryTumerok/> |
| Rea | hunter | |
| Tah | chieftain | |
| Ura | merchant |
For a full list of Tumerok names, see Tumerok Lore/Names.
Real World Basis
The Tumeroks as originally presented appear to have been AC's stand in for orcs or other humanoid monsters seen in settings like The Lord of the Rings or Dungeons and Dragons.[Citation Needed]
When Dark Majesty was released, Tumerok culture and backstory was revised. When asked about this later, developer Matt "Scenario" Elliot said:
- The Aun Tumeroks (and the Hea before their deal with the Virindi) are based off of the Maori culture with flavors of Polynesian art in the mix.<ref name=RealWorldBasisForTumeroks>2004/11 Developer Quotes: Real World Basis for Tumeroks</ref>
This is apparent in some words:
- Hoeroa - Hoeroa is a type of traditional hand weapon of the Māori. It is traditionally a whalebone long club (slightly curved baton / long spear).
- Kotiae (club wielded by Hea Kanokeh) - Kotiate is a type of traditional hand weapon of the Māori. A Kotiate is a short club.
- Taiaha - Taiaha is a traditional weapon of the Māori. A Taiaha a close-quarters staff weapon used for short, sharp strikes or stabbing thrusts.
- Tewhate - Tewhatewha is a long-handled Māori club weapon shaped like an axe.
- Timaru - Timaru is a port city in the southern Canterbury region of New Zealand. The origin of the name 'Timaru' is disputed. Some believe that it derives from Māori Te Maru, which can mean a 'place of shelter'.
- Tuatara Plains - Tuatara are reptiles endemic to New Zealand. Their name derives from the Māori language, and means "peaks on the back".
- Waaika - Wahaika is a type of traditional Māori hand weapon. Wahaika are short club-like
Related Pages
Internet Articles
- Asheron's Call Handbook Bestiary: Tumeroks
- Asheron's Call Manual: A Dereth Bestiary
- AC:DM CD Lore Bestiary: Tumeroks
- Blood Brothers
- The Hour of Story
- Fever Dreams Teaser
- Character Creation - Racial Lore: Aun Tumerok
- Character Creation - Naming: Aun Tumerok
Quests
- Overlord's Sword Quest
- Dryreach Rescue
- Tumerok Vanguard Outposts
- Tumerok Banners Quest
- An Aun Hea Romance
- Aun Tanua's War Taiaha Quest
- Elari Wood Bow
- Hunting Aun Ralirea
- Hunt for Hea Tuperea
- Hea Totem Quest
- Olthoi Queen Quest
- Palenqual's Living Weapons
- Raeta's Necklace Quest
- Siraluun Dresses
- Tesserae
- Buadren Quest
- Invoker Quest
- Putiputipuh's Onga
- Renegade Weapons
- Renegade Mace Quest
- First Contact
- Burun Burrow Quest
- Carved Gemstone Lockpicks Quest
- Chorizite Veined Shield Quest
- Coarse Hide Shirt and Distilled Mana Potions
- Ornate Tumerok Breastplate and Horned Lugian Helm
- Renegade Bone Charm Quest
- Renegade Herbal Kits
- Burun History
- Defense of Zaikhal
- Hea Bone and Hide Shirt Quest
- Hea Windreave Kill Task
- Plateau Village Transit
- Tumerok Gladiator Kill Task
- Delving into Claude's Mind
- Aerbax's Prodigal Tumerok
- Dire Champions
- Ithaenc Quiddity Seed Quest
- Guardian of the Deru Trees of Marae Lassel
- Uncovering the Renegades
- Renegade Living Weapons
Locations
Items
Tumerok Fortress Rumor History of Fort Witshire
The Story of Ben Ten and Yanshi
Historical Marker Dryreach Rumor
Theories of Ezheret
Ornate Tumerok Breastplate
Kithless Siraluun Dress
Siraluun Headdress
Aun Tanua's War Taiaha
Awakener
Barbed Crop
Ebon Spine Harpoon
Hoeroa of Palenqual
Kalindan of Palenqual
Invoker
Overlord's Sword
Siraluun Matihao
Stave of Palenqual
Atlatl (Palenqual's Living Weapons)
Buadren (Palenqual's Living Weapons)
Hoeroa
Kalindan
Korua
Okane
Panaq (Palenqual's Living Weapons)
Taiaha
Tewhate
Ukira
Waaika
Tumerok Spear
Vanguard Leader's Morningstar
Vanguard Leader's Crossbow
Virindi Implant (Purple)
Virindi Implant (Red)
Aun Papileona's Amulet
Aun Pendant
Clay Figurine
Dried Meat
Manuaka's Collar
Reshalra's Collar
Sahkurea's Collar
Utelari's Collar
Carenzi Totem
Siraluun Totem
Storm Totem
Tonk Totem
Timaru Totem
Hea Totem
Embroidered Bag
Gold Tumerok Insignia
Northern Tumerok Insignia
Southern Tumerok Insignia
Mark of the Overlord
Nutrient Oil Soaked Totem
Ritual Spear
Totem of Audetaunga
Totem of Tanae
Totem of Volkama
Waaika Talisman
Tewhate Talisman
Taiaha Talisman
Okane Talisman
Hoeroa Talisman
Raeta's Necklace
Tumerok Salted Meat
Vanguard Leader's Amulet
Wooden Tumerok Figurine
Creatures
See:
NPCs
Lore Characters
See: Category:Tumerok Character
Art & Images
Click image for full size version.
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References
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