Wexle (The August Few)

Name: Wexle Title: Voice of the Yolsh Age: unknown (adult) Gender: Female Species: Kivouachian Height: 7 feet Eye colour: pitch black, even her sclera, with white pupils Hair: a small, black mowhawk that sits atop her head like a crest between her many horns. Skin: dark grey, smooth and firm Occupation: Voice of the Yolsh

Personality: very stoic, very strong, soft spoken, sharply observant, efficient, cordially polite unless roused to violence. Secretly likes singing.

Appearance: Wexle’s dark nails scratched along the floor as she moved, a seven-foot display of smooth grey flesh, tight muscle and black thorn. Winifred looked to this one with pride. A hominoid animal with six black tentacles jutting from her back, girthy at their base, tapering off to points of great dexterity.

She wore black trousers and a long black coat, but no shirt to speak of, presenting her naked musculature, the core and pectoral strength of a true warrior. Two dark nipples poked free from the lapel, countering the shade of her skin. The coat had no sleeves, exposing heavy biceps, adorned with three black stripes. Her forearms were coated in shadowy thorns that quivered like the quills of a porcupine.

Her head was like a sculpture hewn from grey stone with black lips, bleeding dark lines down her chin and up her cheeks, like stitches. Her eyes were the deep night with shining white pupils, and from the sockets came black patterns, dripping down her face, ranging up her forehead. A flat snake-like nose twitched, the bridge creasing like the elbow of a reptile.

Wexle boasted a threatening display of ten dark horns; the larger six sprouted from the back of her head, jaw and crown; the four thinner horns decorated her forehead, above thin, needly brows. She had pointed ears, a gladiatorial mohawk of inky bristles and ten stripes of Yolshen gold, five to each shoulder – the highest obtainable rank. This was Winifred’s prized student.

Wexle spoke in a voice surprisingly soft and soothing; possibly the least threatening sound there ever was, yet precious few were deadlier. Her voice carried an Irish lilt, distant, like a lost spirit.

Kivouachian Abilities: Immortality: All Kivouachian's are immortal due to their cellular structure and the ability to control the length of their own telomeres, because of this they cannot die naturally of age. The only way a Kivouachian can die is if their DNA is damaged and left un-mended. Usually the damage directly to the brain or burning them with fire causes true death.

Physiology: All Kivouachians have cross or star shaped pupils. All Kivouachians have three belly buttons. All Kivouachians have three hearts inside their body.

Bodily excretions: Kivouachian's bodies can only produce sweat, tears, drool, blood and/or vilt. Kiv never need to use the bathroom to relieve themselves.

Regeneration: Kivouachian's are capable of regenerating skin, limbs, tissue, and other body parts. Even dismemberment is of little threat to them. Only if the parts missing have been eaten, burned or dissolved do they not heal fully.

Transformation: Kivouachian's have the ability to rewrite their own DNA and density at the flick of the wrist, giving them the freedom to re-create parts of themselves whenever they'd like to whatever they'd like (ex; Wexle's arms turning into blades when she fights, Lucy Lacemaker turning herself into a swarm of flies, etc). However full control over this is hard and only Yolsh go through training to master this ability fully. Most commonly kiv may run the risk of getting stuck in a changed form if their DNA or genetics are too weak to support such drastic changes.

Contortion/Rottulation: Sometimes Kivouachian's were dismembered at the head for whatever reason it may be; sometimes for pleasure and sometimes for play. But all have the ability to stay alive for extremely long periods of time without the head. Of course this becomes invalid once the head is eaten, burned, severely damaged or dissolved, but if not - they are simply unconscious. Those with weak genes will usually die after a couple thousand years without their heads on, and most will need aid when it comes to actually putting it back on. But there are the rare, lucky few (ex; Lucy Lacemaker) who's heads will naturally return to their bodies without help. This being an extension to being called Waking Dead, a being who is conscious even with their head detached. Rotulated bodies are often used as either decoration or as comfortable furniture in various facilities, more often used in Laugh houses and Dollhouses. After all, a nice and warm, soft body can make for a far more comfortable chair than plain wood and linen.

Dollfaced: When a Kivouachian is rendered unconscious (forcefully) or during Rotulation, when the head is severed from the body, the eyes will roll up and the long, Kivouachian tongue will spill from the mouth and hang limp. The dolls and Dollies (performers of Dollhouses), have practiced to mimic this expression at the discretion of their clientele. It is a sign of complete submission when done voluntarily.

Kivouacian genetics: All Kivouacians are functional hermaphrodites.

Reproduction: Gower: Universal reproductive organ—opening ("Mound") or pseudo-phallus ("Front-Tail"). Vilt-sacks ("balls") internal/external. The Gower is always covered in a small patch of fur that matches colour to its owner's fur.

Reproduction requires a Vessel (Rotulated body) infused with Vilt. This is stopped by head reattachment.

Lore and Universe: The Kivouack is a realm of swirling fractal chaos that predates the Big Bang and our current universe. Its inhabitants, the Kivouachians (commonly shortened to "kivvas" or "kivs"), are highly intelligent, monstrous, yet bizarrely sophisticated creatures who built a grand civilization out of absolute objective truth, brutal survival, and complete competence.

Douser: Aquatic based Kivouachians. Their physiology is adapted for under water living. They have their own Inkhouse and libraries, however, their writing is all made by carving into stone tablets that won't wash away with the waters they live in. Few Dowsers ever wear clothing outside of some simple jewellery, but many are able to come up onto land and shift their gills over to lungs and experience the dryer parts of the Underberth.

The Society: Based inside a city known as "The Underbirth," their government completely rejects morality, subjective virtues, and mercy. Instead, they function under total natural, industrial, and cultural selection. All violent crimes are legal, and the concept of family does not exist.

Outside of the city: This space is referred to as the madness frontier. Many wild, drifting flowers, plants and other things make this space their home. Sprawling rivers, lakes, impossible trees, vast mountains and even an entire ocean lay somewhere beyond the first edges of the madness frontier.

Trade: The economy of the Kivouach was based on fair trade, in items, trinkets, consumables and services. Empty currency had been abolished during the trade revolution.

Characters of note within the Kivouachian world: Sombra - Sombra, the Voice of architecture of the Kivouac. Sombra is the eldest sibling to Locket and Winifred, the three of whom share leadership positions in their home world of the Kivouac.

Locket - Lady Locket, the Grand Voice of the Kivouac (grand leader). Locket is the second eldest sibling to Sombra and Winifred, the three of whom share leadership positions in their home world of the Kivouac.

Winifred - Winifred, the grand Whisper, second in command to Locket and the creator of of the Yolsh (the law) of the Kivouac. The golden queen. Winifred is the youngest sibling to Locket and Sombra, the three of whom share leadership positions in their home world of the Kivouac. The most violent of the ruling siblings. Her former Whisper, Wexel, took on the mantle of voice of the Yolsh and answers only to Winifred.

Freyda: A great beast of ancient Kivic legend. Stark white with twenty horns of varying sizes adorning her head. Her horns and claws were used to rip and tear without discrimination, moving about the Kivic wilds and snapping up every creature she could in her hunger. All trembled with fear under the dread empress's reign. Though empress none of them called her. They called Freyda, Monster. The beast that was the forebearer to Locket, Sombra and Winifred.

A creature that the three siblings slew in the war of the ladies and brought about the rise of Lady Locket. And the Kivouach, the Underberth was built apon the body of the fallen titan and civilization was brought about. Few ever speak Freyda's name our loud. Even in modern days it was a name that inspired fear.

Sombra and his siblings work within the Paradigm court. A sprawling building of various architecture that dominates the Thumme. Inside this artificial mechanical and scientific wonder of a structure, lies the court house for the Paradigm court, the sprawling estate for the Grand Whisper (Locket), a separate estate building for Winifred, the Grand voice, and beyond that, a sector dedicated for science, study and architecture with high towers for Sombra, the Grand Architecht. And even further vast sectors for scribes, information storage and workspaces for staff and lower ranking Whispers laid. Along with accomodation for all the staff and some kitchens.

The Thumme is a central, mars sized, man made planetary body that floats/anchors within the centre of the Kivic Underbirth. Three artificially contrasted "rings" orbit the Thumme and each is a separate sector dedicated to the government bodies while also hosting space for gardens, trade etc. The city itself is a sprawling, spherical shell with it's own gravitational gravamassa to keep everyone from falling or floating off.

Connecting this vast city together are Mandosian corridors. Stitches in space time that can shave hundreds of miles off of travel. It's how one can get around the city without it taking literal months.

The Underbirth is perhaps the size of Jupiter, maybe more and built apon the world of the Kivouach. Beyond which sits the Glazze, a pale and almost colourless expanse of peaceful glades, trees, small rivers and such with flicks of moving flowers residing there.

Beyond the Glazze lies the Madness frontier. The home of the Kivic wilderness.

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Some basic laws: ‘Lawful Foreign Detainment – Foreign entities do not fall under Locket’s Law and are to be taken to the highest Yolshen authority for examination. Forced detainment is applicable if entity is hostile. Laws of Foreign Policy must be observed at all times.’ – 2nd Law of Article 4, Authored by Salazar, Voice of the Frontier.

‘Yolshen Right to Inspection – The storing of illicit materials andchemicals will be met with Yolshen punishment. Employers found guilty of this practice may be destroyed. Employees are to be removed from site until innocence or guilt can be determined. In situations void of evidence, defer to Right of Assumed Innocence.’ – 11th Law of Article 2, Authored by Winifred, the Grand Whisper.

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Yolsh bases of operations: The Hammerlow Ring of Jast was home to immense structures Yolshen in nature; aside from the great halls of Whitefall, where the higher ranks trained, this was where animals with a talent for violence honed their craft. The refinement process was elegant and ruthless, techniques and principles fashioned by Winifred, and taught by her finest Captains and Generals. The ring boasted thousands of Yolshen academies, each famed, each revered, each a jewel of Jast. Any could venture here, but few would leave alive and fewer would leave as Yolsh.

Dyler Hall was not the oldest Yolshen complex, nor the main head like Whitefall, but it was among the most recognised due to the unusual number of legends it produced. Each academy had their heroes, but Dyler mothered more than most. Perhaps it was the quality of teaching; or perhaps the students fulfilled the expected prophecy of greatness out of a want not to deny tradition, compelled to accomplish by grand lore; or perhaps Dyler’s reputation summoned only the bravest and best to its Winiwardian steps, intimidating lesser beasts with its overwhelming history of excellence.

-Cornell’s Laughhouse, The establishment was a singular respite from the Yolshen world, offering a brief glimpse of comfort to the teachers and students of Dyler. A tough place for tough creatures.

Dyler Hall was fitted to train thousands at a time, boasting a wide array of corridors, arenas, pools and lecture theatres. Like most things in Jast, the architecture was Winiwardian. The white stone mixed with black and golden metals, with every surface polished to a mirror. The light was a mix of silver and sky, hanging upon the ceiling like the leaves of an electric forest. The enormous courtyards offered a spectacular view of the Thumme, hanging at the centre of all things. An inspiration, for within that orb was Whitefall, the height of Yolshen accomplishment, Winifred’s domain.

Dyler had eleven pools, each the size of a sprawling lake, clean, tiled, deep and freezing beyond words. Later on in the day, the lower pools were usually free. Each step down was colder than the last as any pressed deeper. The light was calm, enchanting the staircase with arctic blues and frost overhead. Svanir, the pool was called, a body of water designed to test the limits of all who entered. The surface was still, like a silver dish, holding illusions of light, cool shades swimming throughout, illuminating the deep world beneath. The tiles were silver, sapphire, emerald and gold, forming swirling images of symmetry that splashed across the enormous chamber.

The maximum depth of this pool was five thousand feet of an underwater labyrinth, burrowing deep into the ring, though not to the core as some did. The goal was simply to last, to endure the brutal element and maintain dignity. So easy it was to lose oneself to these waters, to pass from consciousness, or even rottulate, spilling hot shame from a beaten body.

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Song tower - to measure Kivic time: A Songtower was truly the crown of most city wards, tall structures boasting the finest displays of Kivic engineering. The townships of the Underbirth were vast, and due to the sheer size potential of these population centres, each was graced with a family of Songtowers, planted equidistantly across the landscape, above and below. These towers of time would come in many formations, styles and sizes, depending on their geography and Architects.

Some Songtowers were woven together with gilded materials, complex mechanisms hidden behind the flesh of white marbled stonework. Up the body were round windows, teasing an intricate interior, and across the form were carvings of the most exquisite kind. These chiselled hieroglyphs chronicled historical events, the passage of time pushing toward an untold future of blank smooth stone yet to be honed. A Songtower had seven faces, each one displaying the current time through mechanisms of shifting colour and shape.

The rhythmic ticks of a Songtower could be felt and heard by any within close proximity: the Kivic minute. The bells sounded every seventy ticks, their music elegant, each sequence unique to the time: the Kivic hour.

After forty bells came the chime, a longer, harmonious performance: the Kivic day. After one-hundred chimes came the next of the seven tones, a far grander sound: the Kivic month. And seven of these tones made the stanza: The Kivic year.

Additional Terms:

"Ooh la": a native term used to express excitement or great appreciation over something or even said in satisfaction.

"Wa la wa": a native colloquial term that roughly can be applied to a few meanings such as: "it is what it is", "what the hell", or even an expletive of no real meaning, sometimes said in outrage or in resignation.

OOH-LA LA-OOH: War and marching chant by Yolshen soldiers and battalions. Only used when large groups are on parade/publick march or chanted to intimidate enemies.

Blackhall: the name for an anonymous private investigator. Sometimes freelancers or Ex Yolsh.

Inker script: a standardised means of writing. This is the first kind of script that Kivouachians learn to read and write. Equivalent to human block text. Mostly used for mass printing or used by inexperienced inkers and interns at Bookburrows who have just started out.

Personal hand: a Kivouachian's personal handwriting style. This is mostly used by professionals. Heads off state, heads of businesses, organisations, highly experienced inkers and their directors.

Erillion: a precious mineral mined from the very mountain ranges outside of the Underbirth. This metal mineral is used for all kinds of trade: jewellery, construction, mechanical mechanisms, instruments, chemical components, cutlery, machinery, steam engines, netting rigs, scaffolding, etc. basically anything that's needs to be made out of metal, it is made from Erillion.

Flower species (kiv flora): Roundheads, squareheads, lightthrashers, blackslashers, and wide-faced halosailors. Each of varying colour, shape, scent and taste.

Fruit (native to the kiv): Bloodfruit (red), Hash fruit (yellow), Bawler berries (blue). (And a variety of more common fruit)

Grit: smoking tobacco, usually made of Kivouachian square head flowers

Gritpipe: smoking pipe

Voice: Term used for the head or leader of a certain sector or organisation.

Whisper: Term used for the second in command, or the right hand to a Voice.

Yolsh: Kivouachian law enforcement and military. Soldiers are called Yolsh or Yolshen. The Yolsh never wear clothes, save our of necessity for pockets for carrying things during meetings in the paradigm court, and they were singles out by the golden strike markings apon their body. The more strikes, the higher the rank.

Inker: term used for the Kivouachian journalists.

Ink house: news house or paper press. Home to journalists/inkers and their managers/directors. Ink houses are also functioning paper mills and many even produce their own ink.

Chop shop: Kivouachian butchery. Functions like restaurants that mostly focus on meat based meals like roasts, broths etc. (Kivouachians are usually obligatory cannibals and most meat comes from Fowlers, immature Kivouachians. Although many kiv eat various other things.)

Laugh houses: Equivalent to a tavern or an inn where both drink, food, entertainment and even lodging can be found. Laugh houses can have their own dollies employed as more as music or singing entertainers and several trade business with chop shops for meat for meals. Laugh houses can also brew their own alcohol and often have signature drinks.

Kivouachian alcohol: The oldest form of alcohol is Grin, a thick and black liquid that's bitter and burns on the way down. Pucker is a sour based alcohol and usually clear or faintly coloured by what it was brewed with, and various other flavours of wines, ciders and whiskeys now exist. Several native flower species are used as cordial ingredients, such as round head flowers for sweetness, square head flowers for bitterness, and triangular head flowers for sours. Honey mead is of the rarer varieties and highly sought after.

Bathhouses: facilities with warmed water, soaps, private pools and incense for relaxation and cleaning.

Bookburrows: Function as central trading hubs and libraries. Materials of varying types and certain services can be bartered through bookburrows for other facilities like jewelers, perfumers, ink houses, laugh houses etc. Some Bookburrows produce paper and ink to supply to smaller ink houses or to be used for their own books and documents. A kiv needs to have their appearance and abilities registered with a Bookburrow in order to be eligible to apply for jobs at other facilities.

Dollhouses: facilities aimed at entertainment and pleasure. Dollies sing, dance, play instruments, put on plays or do numerous things as entertainment for clients. Including pleasure work. These facilities can also offer food and drink and even rooms when a client pays for and takes on the services of a Dollie (can be either male or female).

More standard facilities such as Jewellers, Tailors, Blacksmiths, wood carvers, Masons, and many others exist. Some such extra facilities are tobacconists and perfumers who harvest native Kivouachian flower species for smoking, for incense or for perfume infusions and soaps.