Game: Another Civilization Forum Game/Kazarites

The Kazarite tribe is one of the player-controlled tribes in "Another Civilization Forum Game." It is controlled by mitobox.

This tribe inhabits a cold, foggy area of land to the northwest. They are "led" by a mysterious shaman named Kazar, who most followed there out of mere curiosity. Scouts soon discovered that the lake to the south is rich in resources, including rainbow-colored fish, but also an island hosting a dangerous plant. The Gloom, as it is called, lures in victims with its yellow fruits, which disorient any who consume them, allowing them to be ensnared by the Gloom's roots. This island also hosts a dungeon.

The Kazarites have built a village near the lake, but a failed dungeon raid led to the spread of Piercingitis, a vampiric disease originating from a vampire in the dungeon's overgrown second floor. The Kazarites were initially unprepared to deal with this new threat, but gathering the Grawlic plant, whose strong-smelling bulbs have an adverse effect on vampires, gave them a chance to protect themselves. However, the vampires' thralls sabotaged efforts to grow Grawlic outside the forest.

Kirala assembled a group of Kazarites to hunt down the infiltrating vampires, in a bid to free their thralls. However, they only succeeded in killing recently-turned vampires that were of relatively little threat, and the fact that vampire cadavers rapidly decay into ashes made it clear that several innocents had also been killed. To put the deceased to rest, as well as to avert mounting animosity towards Kirala and her group, Kazar ordered for a simple graveyard, with logs as headstones, to be established. The graveyard succeeded in not only appeasing the tribe, but also threw a wrench in the vampires' plans; playing dead was rendered infeasible due to the practice of burial, while graveyard guards prevented the vampires from reanimating the corpses into a fighting force.

Bows were devised as a more sophisticated weapon than sharper sticks, but the resulting bows were fragile. Overconfident Kazarites would find themselves not quite as advantaged against vampires as they had thought. Meanwhile, Kazar himself sought to facilitate advancement in the arcane by teaching a few other Kazarites in the shamanic arts, possibly to balance out further reckless use of technology. With his apprentices, he established a contract with the bugs, allowing magic-adept Kazarites to use them for reconnaissance. Just afterward, the design of the bows was finally improved, stringed with strong, yet flexible Gloom vines.

An expedition of bow-armed scouts was sent to the north. The scouts, led by Merlak, discovered a tower, which they reported upon return to the village. A second expedition used Gadof’s help to ensure that the tower was safe before entering. Inside, the scouts discovered hieroglyphs, and, at the top, the arcane relic responsible for the fog. At the bottom, they discovered a dungeon, and defeated the vampires (some of which were from the main village) occupying the first room, sparing a few for interrogation.

The vampires provided multiple revelations regarding the area. Long ago, a tribe inhabited the land the Kazarites now held. The tribe constructed the relic tower, but also ran into a vampire outbreak of their own. Rather than kill them off, the precursor tribe sealed the vampire’s leader away in the Gloom Island dungeon; the vampire on its second floor was only a guard to its dormant leader. Ever since the initial dungeon raid, the vampires had been unsealed, coordinated by a voice from the dungeon.

In light of this, Kazar urged the tribesmen to translate the tower's ancient writing, but this frustrating, cumbersome endeavor was too much even for Kazar himself, who decided to postpone translation efforts. In a bid to find something else to do, they discovered Strandstalk, a fibrous plant thriving in the mana-rich lakeside soil. The following night, village guards captured suspected vampires near the village. These Spiecine Althio were revealed to be scouts for a foreign tribe.

The Koren scouts were returned without incident, and the Kazarites' hospitality was rewarded with a transfer of knowledge; specifically, knowledge of Demons and the world's many realms.

In other news, Kazar living conditions were improved by more sophisticated clothing held together by Strandstalk fibers. However, an attempt to gather Strandstalk to make into some form of paper led to the supply being burned. Fearing vampire interference, quarreling among the gatherers was only broken by Kirala's intervention, yet paranoia persisted among the entire tribe. The Kazarites were placated by Kirala leading a second purge of vampires and their thralls, only to have their fears reignited by the Korens; in their zeal, these foreign warriors killed more innocents than actual vampires.

An attempt to restore the most fearful of the Kazarites through a conference led by Kazar himself failed dramatically as the Korens barged into the hut. While the attendants held the line, their paranoia only grew stronger; fearing that their leaders had become vampires, they began to work in opposition to the rest of the tribe.

Kazar, still confident that reason would win over sensationalism, ordered the construction of a palisade to prevent the Korens from intruding again. However, construction was put to an untimely halt by attacks from wild beasts. Meanwhile, the Kazarites prevented Korens negotiators from entering the village.

After Kazar and his apprentices attempted to sense whatever disturbance provoked the wildlife, a group of Korens arrived at the village outskirts, Fiod's two final sons in tow. The "emissaries," believing the Kazarites had a hand in their tribe's decline, executed the sons and then ambushed several Kazarites before retreating.

An attempt to improve the palisade with an observation platform fell apart (literally), allowing animal attacks to continue. While repairs were made, Kazar and his apprentices, through their magic, discovered that the attacks were driven by the malignant influence of the dungeon vampires.

After a successful, but tedious method of making paper from Strandstalk was finally devised, the shamans began to imprint magic into this paper, creating spell scrolls. Experimenting with only partially inscribing the Kazarites' basic fire and healing spells netted shortened incantations that still held the same effect, allowing more efficient magic use.

At Kirala's urging, the initial efforts to add lookouts to the wall were finally completed, ensuring that the village would not be caught off guard in the event that the vampires recover or the Korens retain hostilities. Meanwhile, another expedition to the relic tower, coupled with renewed attempts to translate its hieroglyphics, revealed that the Kazarites are prophecized to defeat the vampires, and that, although information regarding its identity was sabotaged by the vampires, a true weakness for them exists.

Generation One
Leaders Lesser Shamans Scouts, Warriors, etc. Other Spiecine Althio Vampires
 * Kazar (♂): The tribe's de facto leader, an elderly shaman.
 * Kirala (♀): One of the tribe's scouts, who later participated in the first dungeon raid. Eventually led a group of vampire hunters, and oversaw initial "communications" with the Korens.
 * Nozzik (♂): A young hunter who had sprained his ankle while living on his own, only to have it healed by a passing Kazar in little time. He then followed him out of curiosity, later being recruited as an assistant shaman, even going on to heal injuries himself alongside his colleagues.
 * Gadof (♂): Strong, but usually quiet, he served as one of the Gloom Island scouts. If it weren't for his alerting shout and quick use of a fireball, the whole group would have been ensnared by a Gloom tree. This event made Kazar see his potential, leading to him being recruited as an assistant shaman. Gadof later accompanied the second expedition to the relic tower, and, wiith Kazar‘s teachings on the use of bug familiars, ensured that its interior was safe for the scouts.
 * Nichun (♂): Began as a young, male (unusual) gatherer, with a meek personality due to the death of his mother. Kazar saw promise in him, and recruited him as an assistant shaman.
 * Firoli (♀): An introverted girl with a habit of staring off into space, as if zoning out. Was recruited as an assistant shaman by Kazar.
 * Rorkuk (♂): A young, somewhat brash hunter. Reported Meltem's disappearance and found message to Kazar. Later brainstormed the invention of bows with Merlak.
 * Frich (♂): An experienced hunter, with a good understanding of survival strategies. A participant in the first dungeon raid. Was the (unnamed) warrior to relay Kazar's graveyard suggestion to Nichun, and apprehended the Koren scouts.
 * Merlak (♂): POV of the Gloom Island story. Alongside Rorkuk, one of the minds behind the Kazarites' first bows. Later led the expeditions to the relic tower.
 * Koel (♂): Young and impatient. Was the first Kazarite to eat Gloom fruit. Helped Frich take the Koren scouts into custody.
 * Totek ( ♂): Another young scout that accompanied Merlak to the tower.
 * Gejek (♂): Attempted to translate the precursor tribe's language, only to be infuriated by his peers' faulty translation guidelines leading to repeated failures.
 * Fezeni (♀): Friend of Gejek who urged him to find something else to do.
 * Rokod (♂): Friend of Gejek and Fezeni who thought to find useful plants along the lakeshore.
 * Meltem (♂): Left a crude message in his hut (directed towards "[his] fellow Kazarians") saying dubious claims, such as that vampires are harmless.