Kamis and Zorais

From the outset it became clear to the Kamis that the Zoraïs were the most apt of the homin species to integrate the world of Atys as they saw it. The Zoraïs were found to resemble the Kami as much as in their innate proclivity for ecology as in their biological make-up.

The Zoraïs demonstrated their worthiness in their natural repulsion against barbarous and soul-destroying acts of aggression. It became clear their souls craved a higher sense to their existence, something more than the Karavan orders had to offer.

One day, while a nomadic tribe was unwinding after a day's travel Cho, the tribe chief, withdrew from the campfire to find some inner peace in the still of the night shadows. The chief felt a movement of the heart as a Kami appeared before him. The power of their mutual attraction was almost palpable in the night air, and a covenant was established between them.

The Kamis had found their natural servants to help them in their preservation of Atys after being disappointed by Tryker triviality. For the Zoraïs the encounter brought a new meaning to their lives bringing them spiritual and physical stability embodied by the edification of the city of Zoran on the very spot of the encounter.

This spiritual enlightenment spread to all Zoraï tribes and allowed these nomads to take root and settle in temple cities built to the glory of the Kamis, desciples of the Vital Energy, the Supreme Kami who watched over all and brought wisdom and serenity.

As a manifestation of their adoration and to differentiate themselves from the lower castes, the Zoraïs took the Kami mask of kinship. The first demonstration of Kami loyalty came one day when they castigated a Karavan expedition for attempting to destroy a Zoraï village as punishment for refusing to carry out a Karavan order. This led to the first Kami - Karavan open conflict.

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 Kami versus the Karavan

For many years the Kami had little knowledge of what the Karavan were doing and therefore little means of keeping a check on them. However, through observation and information gathered by their homin followers, over the years the Kami have come to consider the Karavan as a major threat to the environment they cherish. It would seem that the Technlords have no or little respect for the balance of nature as they incite homins to harvest resources for them without moderation. These resources are then mysteriously extracted from the life cycle of Atys so impoverishing the planet.

The Kami endeavor to break this cycle of resource drainage by bringing the homins over to their cause. Indeed, the Zoraï giving themselves to Kami worship brought about the first Kami/Karavan conflict in 2210. The conflict enabled the two sides to measure their strength and thereafter kept their distance, coexisting in a kind of cold war.

In 2481, however, the event of the Great Swarming brought a truce in the cold war. Both Kami and Technolords fought desperately against the kitins in order to bring the situation with homins back to normal as quickly as possible i.e. so that the homins could supply resources to the Karavan and so that pro-Kami homins would once again repel the Goo.

During the kitin war, the Technolords in the newfound lands kept homins hidden in the Prime Roots under the pretext of kitin danger above ground.

This two-year period, which left the Kami bereft of their faithful followers, gave much cause for anxiety. When the homins resurfaced, understanding that the Karavan gained appeal through their goddess, the Kami divulged the existence of Ma-Duk as the Kami superior, to counterbalance Jena and offer homins real promise in the attainment of kamihood.

Since the end of the kitin conflict, the cold war between the Kami and the Karavan has been heating up and the desire to conquer homin faith has never been greater. The Kami feel more than ever that the Karavan presents a menace that Atys can no longer endure. They are foreigners on Atys and have no place in the design of Ma-Duk.

In their struggle the Kami use the magic of Ma-Duk which made 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, and putting their lives in peril, 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 towards the goo and even as go far as to suggest that they too seek to use it to their own ends.