Tawkami

Neigh­bor­ing the Kekun­an is a gent­le, jungle-dwel­ling clan named the Taw­ka­mi. An unre­len­ting curio­si­ty, com­bi­ned with a per­sis­tent quest for know­ledge of the natu­ral world, marks the Taw­ka­mi as both pro­fi­ci­ent and gifted. Their deep bota­ni­cal know­ledge allows them to crea­te a vast array of poti­ons and extra­ct essen­ces from any natu­ral mate­ri­al. Other clans may see a ver­d­ant and beau­tiful forest, but the Taw­ka­mi see a pre­cious coll­ec­tion of ingre­di­ents, each with its own spe­cial powers and virtues.

From a sin­gle seed, they may gain influence over other crea­tures and mani­pu­la­te the world around them with an exper­ti­se that pro­vi­des gre­at advan­ta­ge over pre­da­tors. The Taw­ka­mi also make use of plants for food, clot­hing, and deco­ra­ti­ve items.

A Tawkami’s mis­si­on is to sus­tain the sacred natu­re of Pandora’s beau­tiful eco­sys­tem. Many clan mem­bers take shel­ter insi­de mas­si­ve, bio­lu­mi­ne­s­cent flowers, cal­led heal­ing roses, from which they draw gre­at spi­ri­tu­al insight and comfort.

The heal­ing rose is a gigan­tic plant found pre­do­mi­nant­ly in woo­ded are­as. It has a simi­lar shape and size to the poi­so­no­us and dead­ly pseu­do­cen­ia rosea (yomioang), with the excep­ti­on of a petal that looks like a hook. Mea­su­ring near­ly six meters tall, it pro­du­ces nec­tar with various rege­ne­ra­ti­on and heal­ing powers, both spi­ri­tu­al and phy­si­cal. This par­ti­cu­lar plant plays a lar­ge role in the lives of the Taw­ka­mi. This clan of spi­ri­tu­al alche­mists draws hig­her-power wis­dom from insi­de the heal­ing rose. They climb insi­de the plant to prac­ti­ce a form of medi­ta­ti­on that can last up to four full days.

What is now con­side­red to be a sacred Taw­ka­mi ritu­al was actual­ly born from an acci­den­tal dis­co­very. The sto­ry beg­ins when an unfort­u­na­te pair of Taw­ka­mi crossed paths with a hun­gry pack of viper­wol­ves. A viper­wolf, or nan­t­ang, is a powerful, six-leg­ged beast that tra­vels swift­ly over long distances in search of prey. The Taw­ka­mi clan mates beca­me woun­ded by the razor-sharp tee­th of the fero­cious viper­wol­ves. They ran furious­ly and came upon a field of lar­ge, pit­cher-shaped plants. In a moment of pure despe­ra­ti­on, the duo clim­bed insi­de to hide. The viper­wol­ves mira­cu­lous­ly lost track of their scent and gave up the hunt.
As the clan mates clim­bed out of the enorm­ous plants, they were asto­nis­hed. Their wounds were hea­led. From that day forth, this heal­ing flower has been used to crea­te various soot­hing poti­ons and cures.

The Taw­ka­mi award mul­ti­co­lo­red sas­hes to alche­mi­cal app­ren­ti­ces among their own. They are the only clan capa­ble of pro­du­cing the ple­xi­glass-like mate­ri­al requi­red for ikran rider’s masks, and a vast array of poti­ons and other con­coc­tions. To har­ve­st ingre­di­ents for the­se, the Taw­ka­mi use extra­c­tors.