Happy Aether Tuesday, Voyagers! This week we're going to talk about the most photogenic race in Aether Adrift, the Mikwa!
The Mikwa are an indigenous people of the island of Elisi. Physically Mikwa are considerably shorter than humans and fulgori, standing around 3 feet (~1 meter) in height, with long, floppy ears that give them a distinctive silhouette.
Mikwa society is very peaceful and highly values creativity and individuality. Almost all Mikwa enjoy creating something, whether it be clothing, technology, art or even just strangely specific farming tools; no work is wasted if it goes toward creating something. Their communities tend to be very small and interconnected, and there isn't a clear divide between friends and family. Mikwa communities are most often lead by an elder that acts as a spiritual leader and arbiter for when decisions cannot be made completely democratically.
Mikwa are somewhat spiritual, believing that the spirits of their ancestors watch over and protect them. Because of this, items of significance are passed from generation to generation, either maintained or worked into new items as a sign of reverence. In lieu of grave yards, Mikwa remember their dead by placing their items of significance in a safe, communal place, that they can go to reminisce and remember their dearly departed.
Mikwa are omnivorous, with a diet that mostly consists of fruits, vegetables and roots, supplemented by fish and occasional meat. They are very knowledgeable about what plants can be used for food and medicine and which should be avoided.
Mikwa culture can be broken down into 2 distinct groups that we'll call Nomadic and Settled.
Nomadic mikwa live in smaller groups than settled mikwa, following herds of large mammals around and subsisting off of naturally growing vegetation. They tend to be much more adept at wilderlands survival, and for reasons currently unknown to mankind, their nomadic routes often cross over Precursor sites.
A small mikwa village.
Settled mikwa tend toward larger groups with homes that all offer an outdoor socializing space. They have large communal gardens that serve as both farms and social spaces. They are much more adept with technology than their Nomadic counterparts, often re-purposing found technology into useful tools. Much of their technology is re-purposed Fulgori technology that has been maintained for generations, but some mikwa have shown considerable skill in adapting Precursor artifacts into their works.
Despite, or maybe because of, their peaceful nature and their inclination toward Precursor technology, they have attracted the attention of the Fulgori empire. This attention has lead to them being run out of their homes for being so close to Precursor structures or worse, their peaceful nature and lack of a formal leaving them at the mercy of the fulgori military.
This conflict lead the Mikwa to join with the Humans to form the Voyagers, to stop the Fulgori from disrupting mikwa life and gaining any more technology from the ruins that they could use to cause further harm.
2 Mikwa Voyagers and a nomadic Chief with peculiar ears
That's all for today, Voyagers!
See you again next Aether Tuesday!