Kamis and Zorais

Dès le début, il fut évident pour les Kamis que les Zoraïs étaient la race d'homins la plus apte à intégrer le monde d'Atys tel qu'ils le voyaient. Les Zoraïs et les Kamis se trouvèrent une ressemblance qui allait au-delà de leur inclination naturelle pour l'écologie, une ressemblance qui était presque physique.

Les Zoraïs prouvèrent leur valeur de par leur dégoût naturel pour les actes barbares et destructeurs d'âme. Il devint clair que leurs esprits étaient en quête d'un sens plus profond à leur existence, quelque chose que les envoyés de la Karavan ne pouvaient leur offrir.

Un jour, alors qu'une tribu nomade se reposait après une journée de voyage, Cho, le chef de la tribu, s'éloigna du feu de camp pour trouver la paix intérieure dans l'obscurité de la nuit. Le chef sentit son coeur battre à l'apparition d'un Kami. La puissance de leur attraction mutuelle était presque palpable dans l'air de la nuit, et un lien fut établi entre eux.

Les Kamis avaient enfin trouvé leurs serviteurs naturels qui les aideraient à préserver Atys suite à leur déception face à la futilité des Trykers. Pour les Zoraïs, cette rencontre apporta un nouveau sens à leurs vies, une stabilité spirituelle et physique incarnée par l'édification de la cité de Zoran au lieu même de la rencontre.

L'illumination spirituelle s'étendit à toutes les tribus zoraïs et permit à ces nomades de s'installer dans des cités-temples construites à la gloire des Kamis, disciples de l'Energie vitale, le Kami Suprême, qui baignait toute chose et apportait sagesse et sérénité.

Afin de manifester leur adoration et de se différentier des castes inférieures, les Zoraïs prirent le masque de parenté. Les Kamis prouvèrent pour la première fois leur loyauté lorsqu'ils châtièrent un convoi de la Karavan qui voulait détruire un village zoraï, en punition pour avoir refusé d'obéir à un ordre de la Karavan. Ceci conduisit au premier conflit ouvert entre les Kamis et la Karavan.

Kamis and Fyros

Early on in their history, the Fyros proved suitable subjects for the world which the Kamis had come to protect. These desert peoples were quite simply fearless in the face of one of the major banes of Atys : fire. Years of fearless experimentation allowed them to acquire knowledge on how to master the ravenous flames of destruction and even put them to better use. The Kamis sought to win their hearts to rally them to their ecological cause.

The Fyros for their part, at first cast a wary eye upon the strange creatures. Indeed, their reaction on coming across their first Kami was to hunt it down for its fur! But when the Kami diverted the hostile projectiles with the wave of a hand then vanished to reappear behind its aggressors without anger, without animosity, the Fyros were intrigued.

One day their mutual fascination found a pretext for a meeting when the Fyros emperor, Arispotle, during a shooting party was badly thrown from his mektoub near a varynx haunt. The wild animals were nearly upon the semi-conscious emperor when a Kami appeared to face the three varynx before him. The Kami conjured a circle of light around it and Arispotle to ward off the hungry creatures. The varynx at first checked their step, but on the sight of the emperor’s gushing wound proceeded to the kill. The two largest of the three, on breaching the magic circle, dropped down dead. The remaining varynx turned tail and bolted away. The Kami then gave the guards, who were soon at their emperor’s side, some healing magic to administer to the injured emperor. With this first Kami pact a new friendship and a deep respect was born in Fyros hearts.

At about this time relations with the Karavan were beginning to turn sour. Jena’s disciples, as they called themselves, were against mining and underground exploration and began seriously reprimanding the Fyros by making them pay huge amounts of raw material for their technological magic.

The Fyros gradually turned to the Kamis for virtually all their magic needs. In return the fire fighters guaranteed protection against the ‘dragon fire’ and agreed to fight to gain control of it wherever it raged.

Kamis and Trykers

The Trykers were the first homin race to catch the Kamis’ eye which was at first cast with a benevolent regard. Their mellow manner, their naturally friendly attitude and their love and care of water led the Kamis to consider them as worthy allies in their fight to preserve the environment.

As for the Trykers, the Kamis were not initially esteemed for their spiritual worth but rather taken as funny creatures with an eerie aptitude for magic.

Folklore has it that the first Kami contact was made with a homin named Wiksie. The young Tryker was as much tickled as surprised by the Kami’s presence, and completely misunderstood the Kami’s meaning when it pointed to a goo sodden tree. Instead of understanding the Kami’s warning against the danger of the goo, the Tryker threw him a fish from his keep net which was attached to the tree. Other encounters of this type confirmed the frivolity of the Trykers at large, and made the Kamis realize they could not be counted on for the serious work of preservation.

Further to this, the Kami came to favor the two entities - the Zoraïs and the Fyros - that were prepared to fight against the major scourges of Atys, i.e. the goo and fire.

It may be said that since those first encounters however the Trykers have endured their fair share of hardships which has given them a more mature outlook on life, straightened their backbone. Today the Kamis would like to win them over to their cause although the Trykers still relate more easily to the authority of the Karavan.

The Kamis versus the Karavan

Pendant des années, les Kamis ne s’inquiétèrent pas vraiment de la Karavan et ne trouvèrent donc pas utile de garder un oeil sur elle. Cependant, les observations et les informations réunies par les disciples homins sur plusieurs années troublèrent les Kamis. Ils commencèrent alors à considérer la Karavan comme une grande menace pour l'environnement. Les Technosages semblent n’avoir que peu de respect pour l'équilibre de la nature car ils encouragent les homins à récolter des ressources pour la Karavan sans modération. Ces ressources sont mystérieusement extraites du cycle de la vie d'Atys, ce qui appauvrit la planète.

Les Kamis tentent de rompre ce cycle d'épuisement des ressources en ralliant les homins à leur cause. C’est ainsi que des Zoraïs, fidèles aux Kamis, déclenchèrent le premier conflit Kami/Karavan en 2210. Les deux parties purent mesurer leur force et gardèrent par la suite leur distance, coexistant dans un climat de guerre froide.

En 2481, le Grand Essaim offrit une trêve tragique à cette guerre froide. Les Kamis et les Technosages luttèrent désespérément contre les kitins afin de ramener l'ordre au plus vite, et ce pour que les homins puissent à nouveau fournir les ressources nécessaires à la Karavan et les homins pro-kamis repousser la goo.

Au cours de la guerre des kitins, les Technosages des nouvelles terres gardèrent cachés les homins dans les Primes Racines sous prétexte du danger des kitins au dehors.

Cette période de deux ans, qui priva les Kamis de leurs fidèles disciples, causa beaucoup d'inquiétudes. Lorsque les homins remontèrent à la surface, comprenant que la Karavan avait obtenu gain de cause grâce à leur déesse, les Kamis divulguèrent l'existence de Ma-Duk, un Kami supérieur, pour équilibrer la balance avec Jena et offrir aux homins un but réel à leur attachement aux Kamis.

Depuis la fin du conflit avec les kitins, la guerre froide entre les Kamis et la Karavan s'est accentuée et le désir de conquérir la foi des homins n'a jamais été aussi grand. Les Kamis pressentent plus que jamais la menace de la Karavan et Atys ne peut plus la tolérer. Ce sont des étrangers sur Atys et ils n'ont pas leur place dans le grand dessein de Ma-Duk.

Dans leur lutte, les Kamis utilisent la magie de Ma-Duk qui a créé Atys.

Kamis vs goo

The goo is the Kami’s primary battle. The goo came about with the creation of Atys as the recycling agent which turns dead matter into fertile matter. But due to overproduction, the goo now acts like a cancer turning living cells into morbid ones.

The goo is easily distinguished by its vaporous aspect and violet color. It is capable of contaminating plants and animals on contact which become deranged, take on an unhealthy violet aspect and become covered with pustules. Goo sources are often guarded by these animals who also act as vectors spreading the goo over the land. If nothing is done to prevent the propagation, Atys will fall into decay.

The Kamis, having been brought into existence to protect Atysian life forms, are powerless to eradicate the goo which too is of Atysian origin. The Kamis were facing certain termination when they came across homins who were found to be able to repel the goo for them. After providing the homins with magic means to combat the bane, the Kamis realized the meaning of their existence : that their part was to put the pieces of the puzzle of the great design together to create harmony.

If Atys was to retain its equilibrium and prosper, the homins must be urged to carry out the vital role of repelling the goo and thus become integrated into the design of Ma-Duk. In this way, the natural balance of nature will be maintained, and Atys will continue to thrive.

For many years, at the peril of their lives, homin followers of the Kamis have been striving to find a better way of repelling the goo using alchemy, purification ceremonies or fire. But there are those too who would like to learn how to use the goo to turn it against their enemies. Tribes especially, try to corrupt the magic learnt from the Kamis to use the goo to increase their own power. In this way, rumors have it that a black magic may be developed and perturb the balance of Atys.

Further to this, the Kamis condemn what they see as the Karavan’s passive attitude over the goo and even as go far as to suggest that they too seek to use it to their own ends.