The Kaa tribe is a village of viera within the borders of Golmore Jungle. Like most viera, they retreated into the depths of the woods for safety at the threat of Garlean reign and have dutifully made themselves the guardians and shepherds of their land in order to ensure their safety.
The beginning of the Kaa tribe starts with the first White Birch, where history and legend melds together and makes the truth uncertain. The tale told to young viera is one of a desolate land before the forest had taken root and the Green Word was only a whisper.A viera leading her people to a new home could find no safe haven for her family, only the dead husk of an old birch. In her desperation, she called upon the Mist and gave unto it herself until her body was a husk and the dead tree bloomed once more. From this tree, Golmore grew. Since then there has always been a White Birch, offering guidance to the lost and listening to the whispers of the Green Word.While there are other tribes within Golmore, Kaa is the oldest and one of the largest, sustaining a large territory along the borders as one of Golmore’s most ardent defenders against outsiders. Kaa is often considered the first line of defense against the younger, weaker tribes that live deeper in the jungles. To this end, the Kaa tribe takes their duty with utmost dedication.The tribal structure is traditional. Male children leave the village when they come of age -- around age thirteen, or when they begin to hit puberty -- and go with older Wood Wards to learn their duty with other males. Females remain within the village itself. Non-binary children may choose who they wish to be taught by, and often move back and forth until they find a duty that pleases them.Despite this, the duties are not completely defined by gender. Ferocity of arms and intellect is equal and given the division of genders into different physical locations, each equally require individuals to tend to similar duties. They both raise and teach the young, aspire to be hunters or crafters or healers, and defend their people with a fervor. The key difference comes in two places.Kaa males are largely nomadic. The village itself occupies a large border of the forest, but the males travel along routes to ensure other borders are protected as well as aiding in natural threats that occur within it. The females guard the largest, most traveled border and interface with any traders or representatives who seek them -- as infrequent as that is.The other key difference is in status. While both males and females hold similar tasks, like most viera, the Kaa tribe is largely matriarchal in nature. While males’ opinions and thoughts are never wholly discarded in terms of key decisions, males will defer to their female leadership in the village.Unlike some viera, presence of aether sensitivity -- known as the Mist -- varies; kaa viera tend towards weaker aetherial sensitivity, which lends toward the necessity of the White Birch, who usually has the highest sensitivity toward the Mist.In addition to Mist sensitivity, all Kaa viera are capable of hearing the Green Word. The Green Word is often described as the “voice of the forests” to other races incapable of hearing it. At its core, the Green Word is a heightened ability to hear, see, and understand anything within the natural world. Many have theorized that being able to hear the Green Word is a primitive or lesser form of an Echo, caused by the influence of an ancient Warrior of Light.What is known is that unless a Kaa viera shows signs of the Echo in addition to hearing the Green Word, most viera lose this ability the longer and further they are from the forests -- once of the reasons why viera who choose to leave are often banished permanently, deaf to the forest’s needs.Some, but not all, Kaa viera react to the overwhelming presence of Mist by falling into a berserk rage, lending them incredibly enhanced strength of arms at the cost of lost will. This trait is most often seen in those who show higher sensitivity to the Mist itself, but strangely not present at all in those who have the gift of the Echo.One of the other curious and key features of Kaa viera invokes their physiognomy. While some subsets of viera display more “hyur-like” flat feet, all Kaa viera have clawed feet and extended metacarpals that allow them to walk on the tips of their toes, similar to their Dalmascan ancestors.
The Kaa tribe has a rotating council of key leaders within the village, and less official leadership for the male nomadic packs. Male nomads usually defer to whoever is the eldest and most experienced; female leadership is similar, but must be agreed upon by the rest of the existing council. The council consists of four viera, plus the White Birch, who holds no official power but provides counsel and guidance as needed.Children are largely raised communally and separated by chosen gender. Children grow up with many ‘aunts' or ‘fathers' depending on how they are raised and taught, and there are deep bonds of family that keep the tribe closely tied to each other.Every Kaa tribesman, male or female, eventually earns their title. It is not something bestowed, but something they find and comes to them in communing with the Green Mist. Female titles consist of a plant, often a flower, and a color: Blood Holly, Blue Lily, Black Thorn. Males will often take a plant and combine it with a word or concept: Orchid Ward, Oak Bulwark, Ivy Shield. The only exception is White Birch, which is a title that is passed down from one to the next. Finding one's title is a key point in the lifetime of a Kaa tribesperson and is looked upon as a time of celebration.Once they earn their name, they are considered an adult. At this point, both males and females are free to break away from their caretakers, seek mates, and find their life’s ambition.
Males are allowed to return to the village to seek mates and collect young males of age once a season, usually on the equinox. Like most, but not all, viera, female Kaa experience a form of ‘heat’ several times a year. This heat often occurs during the equinoxes, but also outside of them. While officially no trysts are allowed by males and females outside of those set periods, some females in heat may secretly seek out a mate to subdue the wants of the flesh.Some Kaa take lifetime mates who they see upon every equinox; others are polyamorous, but most are non-manogamous to some degree by need of necessity and comfort. It is not uncommon to find females tending to each other's needs within the village, or males doing the same within the deeper woods. Neither is frowned upon, but every relationship and expectation therein is unique.
Kaa viera often join other tribes within Golmore and are encouraged to do so. They understand the necessity of spreading bloodline and knowledge, and it is not uncommon for males to find mates in other tribes. Occasionally bands of foreign males will visit during an equinox seeking mates, particularly if they come from a smaller tribe that doesn't have many females. Viera that form more permanent unions may seek to join the tribe of their mate.Like most viera, choosing to leave the jungle means a permanent banishment with few exceptions. Rarely are these departures known and accepted; most often they occur quietly and rock the stability of the village. Because of the tight-knit, interdependent nature of viera communities, losing an individual will often cause the whole to suffer.A common question from foreigners is why viera ban their kin from returning if it is so damaging to them in the first place? The answer is born from their culture and history. Viera are ardent defenders first and foremost; choosing to abandon one’s post and duty is the foulest act that can be committed, not just to the tribe, but to the land that they hold dear.However, as the world changes outside the forest, more and more viera are leaving. Some leave to find a different path to defending their homeland, often joining militias set against Garlemald; others leave from pure curiosity, or feel driven out by circumstance.Many viera tribes are now forced to consider their long-held policies and beliefs, questioning their insular existence. For the Kaa viera, losing several prominent figures in their community to the outside world has not yet swayed their beliefs -- at least, on first examination.The current White Birch, Hyasynthe Kaa, has been allowed to leave and return freely in an effort to gather knowledge that may cure her of the aether sickness that brings her death. In doing so, she has agreed to make connections to viera who have left -- both Kaa and other tribes -- to learn more of their paths and how taking them back may be a boon.
Note: All characters listed below are played characters (PCs).
Hyasynthe Kaa, The White Birch: The 36th of her title, Hyasynthe is a Rava viera that was abandoned at a young age when her tribe realized she was ill and would die. Wandering down from the mountains, she came to the jungles where she was discovered by Ashengale Kaa, who then convinced the village council that her coming was a sign, a herald of when the first White Birch came.True to that ‘sign’, Hyasynthe quickly showed a natural inclination toward healing, both medicinal and magical, and became the apprentice of the 35th White Birch before eventually taking the mantle.She is known both for her foreign beauty and her talent as a healer and soothsayer, carrying both a high sensitivity to the Mist as well as the gift of the Echo. Currently she lives in the Shroud, healing the common people there while seeking a cure to her sickness.
Ashengale Kaa, The Blood Holly: Stoic and stalwart, Ashengale comes from a long line of prominent defenders and wards. She quickly excelled at martial abilities and became the highest ranked interior defender, though her willingness to put others before herself often leads her to be disregarded.Years of existing alone and in her sister’s shadow forced a bitter core to bloom within her, developing as a second ‘self’ that she used to bury her feelings into again and again-- Xigadir, the Forest Lord, named after a ‘boogeyman’ used to frighten viera children.She left the forest shortly after Hyasynthe in order to defend her sister in the larger world, and eventually found a mate in an au’ra named Eteru.
**Shelar Kaa, The Orchid Ward: **Having abandoned his clan, he clings to his own title mainly for the sake of remembering his roots and paying tribute to the Jungles he strayed from. A Male Viera who wandered out into the world, he rose from a young age through ambition and will to being one of the more prominent leaders of the Male sect of the Kaa tribe, favoring the way of strategy and dexterity when it came to most circumstances and finding ways to circumvent strengths and weaknesses of enemies and situations alike.One night, however, during a union between Males and Females, he presented Hyasynthe with a tribute taken from a sorcerer who had strayed too deep into the Allagan Ruins, and for a time, became as one of her ‘favored’ consorts, a close friend who in turn adopted her curiosity about the outside world into part of his being until his lust for knowledge outgrew his duties to his tribe. This, combined with his awakening to the Echo, granting him the ability to master any art and weapon at an advanced rate, he left the Kaa Tribe in the year 1472 of the Sixth Astral Era. He wandered the three continents until he settled in Idyllshire, living among the Sharlayan Colonists until they left in 1562, and through Brief contact with Master Matoya, secured access to the Great Gubal Library, further enabling him to study and grow.Plagued with guilt over his inactivity, finally, he has emerged to finally put his knowledge and powers to use to offer aid across the land of Eorzea, and wherever else his travels take him. Be it Sharalayan Soumanoutics, or Abyssal Warding, he now goes to adopt his old title and ward not the Forest, but all he might extend his reach to preserve. Recently, he has partnered in adventuring with a Doman Geomancer named Tsukio Mikoro, and goes to reconnect with those he can find in Eorzea.Perhaps he is foolhardy, or arrogant - but every weapon and tool he might ply for the wealth of the world, he will gladly wield.
**Stryxe Kaa, The Black Thorn: **Bright, strong, and eager, Stryxe is a transgender male viera and the ‘adopted son’ of Shelar Kaa. From a young age, Stryxe showed an insatiable curiosity and a willingness to please those he wished to impress -- mainly his teacher, Shelar, and his ‘aunt’ Ashengale. He quickly developed into a strong ward with his aunt’s strength and his teacher’s quick wit, all with a charming smile.However, having suffered both his teacher and his aunt leaving the jungles, he quickly succumbed to anger at losing those he cared about for reasons he didn't understand. He blamed Hyasynthe, the White Birch, as she was close to both Shelar and Ashengale before they both departed.The disappearance of his role models turned Stryxe from a bright, promising Ward to one who could not stay fixed with responsibility and his rank and prominence quickly deteriorated. Eventually, he chose to leave the forest himself to seek out all three in an attempt at dealing with his own hurt.
Renanthera Kaa, The Viridian Shade: A young ward who, on a whim, simply left and never returned. Remarkably skilled in matters of stone, minerals, and ore, Ren’s main duties were managing the necessary supplies of the wardens and engaging in trade with other tribes. However, Ren also showed extremely promising skill as a healer, one which would have likely lead him down the path of the White Birch had Hyasynthe not joined the Kaa.Upon leaving the jungles, he sought out Shelar Kaa to help adjust to the outside world, where he ended up remaining in Sharlayan and becoming a gleaner. After the colony fell he journeyed to Old Sharlayan, content to live a life of relative solitude and quiet while he worked.