The Shrine of Hamaskis. Primitive Races Contact the High Priest.

The following article describes the processes by which those groups known as Primitives are believed to have arisen as well as containing some details on the most numerous of the different Primitives. The High Priest thanks Doug for his work in this area, and for collating the information and developing the theory of Devolution.

Primitives - a species less advanced than humanity in all respects esp. technological, socialogical

There are a number of different varieties of primitives. The majority of this thesis will cover the human ones, although Primitive equivalents of other races do exist.

There are two reasons for the existance of primatives.

They were born with an untreatable condition known as Devolution
Their people were isolated from civilisation for generations

Some Common Primitive Types

These savages are often called cavepeople, neanderthals, barbarians or apemen (if they are exceptionally hairy and have fangs). All these terms are used interchangably by travellers, inaccurately. The first three are the best known general forms of devolution, but it should be noted the distinctions are blurred and there are many shades in between.

Devolution occurs when a child develops oddly. The affected newborn seem normal and healthy, but as they grow older symptoms of devolution soon begin to manifest. The most extreme case of symptoms involves a child essentially turning into an ape, developing coarse hair and fangs, but this only happens to a few victims. However they will all develop wild and destructive animalistic tendencies, which eventually leads to banishment or running away from home.

These young children are regarded as mutants by society. Not just because of their startling appearance (if they have been so unlucky), but because they are simply unable to learn to talk or do anything. Except behave like beserk wild animals who have no recognition nor memory of the adults who have always loved and cared for them.

Even if the parents keep their uncontrollable offspring, the child will eventually run away anyway, preferring isolation or due to feeling uncomfortable around strange beings. Often the parents will have already regarded the child as an "abomination" or "demon's work" so it is not uncommon for the child's name to never be mentioned again.

There are not enough known incidents of Devolution to warrant alarm for expectant parents. But one shudders to think one day perhaps these devolution mutations will be more common and we will all be apes who in turn give birth to mindless apes!

The wandering "mutants" generally find themselves an isolated place where they can settle peacefully e.g. a cave, or caves, or jungle treetops, or forest hills, or mountains. Anywhere away from noisy settlements and usually alone. However it is not unheard of for primitives to band together for protection against the elements.

Devolved people are known to mate and breed if circumstances allow, usually producing children with the same intellect level. However they have been known to produce yet more mentally challenged children whom they expel in turn. These will tend to be more savage and hairy. And so on and so on until we get to apemen, then eventually apes. As far as we are aware, there is no god in the animal court who governs primates (monkeys, apes, gorillas, etc) so there is now some speculation primates could easily have been humans a long long time ago! Possibly the release of Time by Death onto our world caused this gradual side-effect?

Devolution is not a relatively new condition, and experts speculate it could have been in existance since the days of Irritaria. Never the less it has only recently come to the attention of the scholars and priests of civilised races.

Apemen

very primitive ape-like humanoids with fur and fangs. With no known communities or permanent dwellings, they are normally found living in treetops, high above forest and jungle floors, stalking prey high up as well as on ground. People used to believe Apemen were magical crossbreeds like the Catpeople or Ratmen, and others even hypothesized they were an evolutionary item, apes gradually turning into human beings! But modern research now suggests that they are in fact devolved humans.

Cavepeople

human children born without the natural ability to generate intelligence, or descendants of such outcasts, who live in caves or other naturally occurring homes, usually alone. Cave-dwellers can live side by side, in networks of caves for example, yet nevertheless will fight amongst themselves very often, probably not understanding a single abusive word grunted!

Neanderthals

those mutants or descendants of mutants who are more comfortable living in colder regions, whether alone or as part of a group. One is more likely to find a community of Neanderthals than Cavepeople because the former tend to be less primitive. Also they are less hostile and are able to build shelters for themselves and communicate to some extent. Neanderthal villages are usually in icy regions for some reason.

Barbarians

often erroneously believed to be devolved when in fact they only seem primative due to lack of contact with more sophisticated societies.

Throughout history, our world has suffered considerably from no less than three instances of global cataclysm: The First Battle, The Splitting of the Continents and the War of the Wizards.

It is the second instance which is probably the leading origin of all tribes and bands of primitives all over the world. Their ancestors were isolated groups separated from the rest of the world by the geographical changes (or by being taken as slaves and moved far from their home). Those who were not geographically seperated from major human civilisations chose to live further inland to avoid the God-caused tidal waves from Atlantis. As a result, their descendants have fallen behind in the following gradual rise of civilisation. They regressed, because their extra intelligence was of no use to them.

It was recently discovered by my learned colleague Dan Williams, a High Priest of Hamaskis, that some ancient tribes deliberately emigrated to escape the "evils" of technology (like spinning wheels, carts, agriculture). Today their descendants are now referred to as barbarians or tribemen living away from major human populations. These villages may also offer shelter to the wandering "mutants" mentioned previously. However since Barbarians are intelligent enough to be able to speak their own language and civilised languages, the mutants may find it hard to blend in and will leave anyway.

We have outlined the differences between devolved primatives and tribal primitives. But having said this, these different origins are mostly academic in practice because the devolved humans are little more than wild animals who cannot be reasoned with. And though non-devolved primitive tribepeople could be reasoned with because they were born with potential intelligence, chances are good that generations of habitual hostility will make them attack you anyway. So you are advised to avoid those of both origins!

Barbarians

The term Barbarian is often used to refer to primitive tribes, but is also widely used inaccurately to refer to a person considered to be significantly less-civilised than the user of the word. Barbarians are different from devolved cavemen because they are essentially ordinary capable human beings raised in savage environments.

Pygmies

Pygmies and Headhunters are two more terms that are often used loosely. They in fact refer to hostile tribes of humans living in tropical environments, e.g. islands or dense inland jungles, more places of natural isolation. It is important to note not all islanders are necessarily vicious. In fact some have been known for their kind hospitality. Depending on which island you visit.

Headhunters

Headhunters and Pygmies are two more terms that are often used loosely. They in fact refer to hostile tribes of humans living in tropical environments, e.g. islands or dense inland jungles, more places of natural isolation. It is important to note not all islanders are necessarily vicious. In fact some have been known for their kind hospitality. Depending on which island you visit.

Panther People

Tribesmen

Mountain Tribesmen

Island Tribesmen

Wild Hill Men

Klattamen

Flintskins

However there have been reports of some hostile warriors called Wild Elf Women, who menace travellers trekking through the Moonstone Hills. They are probably remnants of a race of elves cut off due to the splitting of the lands, but no one has yet had the courage to ask them.

Also my learned colleague the High Priest is now beginning to investigate the possibility all the giant types are actually throwbacks of Storm Giants. For it is believed that before the destructive First Battle giants lived in flourishing cities high up in the mountains, but today their intelligence makes this extremely unlikely to re-occur. Devolution not only strikes humans.

Furthermore if Devolution did indeed oringate due to Time being released on Titan, it would explain why the average giant intelligence and degree of civilisation has dropped considerably since that era.

But as for other races, the High Priest has also rightly stated on several occasions "I don't think we would recognize a sub-goblin if we saw one, since all goblins look pretty subhuman to human eyes". This in addition to the problem mentioned above means there are no further species to report to you.

The science of primatives is still in its infancy, we humble scholars have so far only researched cavemen etc. Yet we are certain somewhere out there in the sprawling lands of our world there must exist similar situations for other intelligent races, dwarfs, caarth, lizardmen and suchlike.

If you have come across any in your travels we would love to hear from you! By all means come to our headquarters in Salamonis and will be more than eager to hear of your discoveries.

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