The Makoza Tribe
Last Update: 03/15/2025
Pronunciation: Mah-Ko-Zah
The Makokza are located within the kingdom of Cailean.
((Written by Navnik Resident))
Culture & Society
The Village:
All are welcome to dwell among the Makoza. Other greenskins such as goblins and half-orcs are treated as kin.
The laws for the tribe seem straightforward. No stealing, assault etc. Murder, cannibalism (of their own and other humanoids), rape, and other morally abhorrent crimes are treated a lot more harshly amongst the Makoza. While other civilization will imprison these people, this tribe will strip them of position, even the guilty party’s name and exile them. They do hold trials, overseen by the collective shaman as primary investigators and judges. Chieftains do hold similar sway in this matter, but hand it off to shaman if the task requires more mystical interventions.
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The Gods:
The beliefs of this tribe revolve around spirits of nature and ancestor worship, even referring to deities of other religions as spirits. The majority of their more revered spirits are those of animals named simply as whatever animal they represent. They do have gods in a more familiar sense with distinct names, though in terms of politeness they give a rough translation in common listed below. Concept of the afterlife, is described as a multifaceted plane of existence, warriors rest in a grand lodge and feast and hone their techniques, shaman, resides in a forest amongst the spirits and the regular tribe member including farmers etc rest in a peaceful village area, while separate this afterlife is also said to be connect like a spiritual cityscape a means for relatives to visit and spent time together regardless of occupation.
Bear Mother: The chief deity of the tribe. Typically she depicted as a White bear, holds dominion of aspects of love, healing, protection, fury, and rage.
Old Wolf: God of wisdom, unity and loyalty.
Storm Bird: A god of storms taking a form of a multi colored eagle, he is said to be highly protective of mortals.
Mountain Cat: The god of the hunt, he appears to be a ‘mountain lion’.
Sun Dragon: The sun god, looks like one of the indigenous dragon species roaming around. Some dominion over time, and ‘bears his influence’ during Spring and Summer.
Moon Spider: the opposing moon deity, she seems to signify Autumn and Winter, the night, and seems to also fill the role of a trickster, though not in the malicious extent. Depicted as a black and silver orb weaver.
Horned Snake: a water god in the form of a massive blue and green snake (kinda pretty looking) with a ‘fire opal’ on his forehead and possessing a pair of horns.
Earth Breaker: A ‘war god’ that takes form of a male Tyrannosaur. Thought to be a father of the ‘Thunder Lizards’.
Minor Spirits: These minor spirits literally carry the name of what they represent.
- Eagle
- Bear
- Wolf
- Raven
- Coyote
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Culture:
The Makoza are among the most unusual examples of orcish culture. Hailing from a diverse land of dense forests, open plains, mountain ranges, and arid badlands this tribe’s very culture evolved around their environment. A culture revolving around a closeness with the land they never take more than what they need, living trees are hardly never felled unless in extreme circumstances and is approached with a religious/spiritual viewpoint in both dead trees and living trees are felled, prayers and rituals invoking spirits of the wilds to thank and apologize are performed before taking axe to wood.
Even the hunting of wild game and fishing are treated with the same level of reverence and respect, every part of the animals they catch or hunt are used, from hide to bone.
Their interactions with outsiders and non-orcs however, seem to differ from other orcs which can catch a stranger to them off guard. They speak with a unique dialect while obviously orcish have certain phrases, words and pronunciations that differ from other tribes and clans giving them a distinct accent when speaking common. Their attitude to aforementioned outsiders become apparent quickly, often being taken in to a dwelling and rather generously offered food/drink with no signs of hostility, or any traits most associate with other greenskins, even taking blatant racism towards them in stride, never showing much outside of disappointment.
They also do not actively raid or wage war, this however doesn’t mean they are pacifists. They can and will fight if they have to…with brutal efficiency, but being more reactive in terms of violence/combat.
Another point is their usage of magic, unlike other tribes that often shun magic as ‘weak’ the Makoza embrace it. Their shamans being their most learned among the tribe, utilizing traditional spirit based magic in combination with spells and abilities often found among druids of other areas.