Kiith

Kiithid (singular: kiith) are the Homeworld series of games equivalent to a family unit or House for the Kushan people. While not specifically vital to the gameplay, the kiithid play an important part in the storytelling of the games and also in the understanding of the game events. Because the kiithid are extended familial units on the planet Kharak; the game's historical context leads one to believe that this is one of the few surviving traits left over from the original empire the Kushan created.

Composition and Structure

A kiith can be a specific nuclear family unit or can extend to hundreds of thousands of members. These kiith can be anything from loose family associations to powerful connections to leaders in the Daiamiid, the ruling council of the kiithid.

A basic hierarchy exists among the kiith, and in a greater system of the kiithid. While originally the kiith were ranked according to seniority or experience, with the advent of technology, kiith members are now ranked by wealth or personal influence. Organization within the kiith is such that there is a primary family that makes important decisions, with a second family that hears disputes and makes recommendations, and also the groups of lesser families that have sworn allegiance to the primary family. The primary member of the most influential family within the kiith is known as the "kiith'sa".

In ancient times, the kiith'sa could direct the entire kiith to war, and demand that all families dedicate their resources to specific projects or purposes. While the kiith'sa still enjoy some of that power, their disputes and decisions now rest on the use of public referendums to resolve internal disputes, and also the Great Daiamiid, the central council for all kiith on Kharak.

While the kiith are not static by nature, it is considered a matter of grave consequence to change kiith ties or relations, especially among warring or adversarial kiith. While this situation changed much with the shift of power from the kiith to the family, it "takes little stress for any Kharakian to think of their family first and Kharak second."

Kiithid

Kiithid tend to dedicate themselves to the pursuit of one goal or purpose, and while these purposes and goals have changed over time (especially during the construction of the Mothership and the journey to Hiigara), kiith still tend to have specific purposes.

Kiith S'jet

In ancient times a group of astronomers, and theorized to be the original astronomers, technicians, and mechanics aboard the Khar-Toba, the S'jet have always been scientific and at the lead of education, information, learning and technology. S’jet supercomputers have worked on the problems of the construction of the Mothership, from the hyperspace core to the command systems. Their most famous member is Karan S'jet, the woman who became Fleet Command by integrating herself with the very computer mind of the Mothership.

Kiith Hraal/LiirHra

Originally a manufacturing kiith, Kiith Hraal combined themselves with Kiith Liir to create Kiith LiirHra, a space technologies manufacturing company. This change came in light of the Mothership construction.
This was the Kiith that the Naabal placed in charge of the construction of the First Mothership that carried the sleepers to Hiigara.

Kiith Somtaaw
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Kiith Somtaaw originated in a mountainous region of Kharak. This kiith was the most potent religious kiithid in early Kharakian history, especially prior to the Heresy Wars and the foundation of the Daiamiid assembly in the capital of Tiir. The Somtaaw families established a series of temples in their mountain strongholds that became a site of pilgrimage in honor of their god, Sajuuk. The path included a series of temples within and without the walls of the cities of Hamelyn and Gydeo, and pilgrims were made to make the entire journey on foot or not at all. The temples of the Somtaaw were rumored to contain ancient relics such as the Burning Spear of Gaalsi and the great sword Calibuurnos. The most treasured of these artifacts were the Star Metal Scrolls, which were said to be written by the hand of Sajuuk himself in a language no living man could read.

The Somtaaws' religious orientation lasted until a period of time just prior to the Heresy Wars, when their Kiith'sa had a vision of Sajuuk driving a great red sword into their mountainous valley. Under orders, that area was excavated and the diggers discovered the purest iron ore ever to be discovered on Kharak. From the discovery of this ore was smelted the cherished metal that would be known throughout the clans as 'Somtaaw Steel'. The Kiith'sa immediately recognized that a mining kiith profits more than a primarily religious kiith, and incorporated mining into their routine. Kiith Somtaaw became the leading producer of steel weapons, and as a result of their outstanding quality and the demand for them, they became very wealthy, but lost that wealth while under siege by one of their fellow kiiths. This kiith remained in near poverty even through the Heresy Wars and up until the construction of The Mothership. By now Kiith Somtaaw had completed their transformation from a primarily religious kiith to a small clan of miners. They were also the most persecuted of all kiithid, they were the majority of the group of Kushan known as 'the sleepers' put under cryogenic suspension during the exodus to Hiigara, they also served as maintenance and crew for the resource equipment,collectors, and controllers during that voyage.

Im Homeworld: Cataclysm you command a small Somtaaw fleet against the Beast. Ascending through that conflict from being one of the most persecuted kiith to one of the most respected and renowned. Somtaaw's children were known by one and all as Beast-Slayers.

Kiith Gaalsien

Kiith Gaalsien is one of the oldest of the Kiithid, with some of the oldest documents on Kharak bearing the Kiith's emblem. They are also one of the three main religious Kiith (the others being Ferriil and Somtaaw). Early in Kharakid history, the Gaalsien were a powerful spiritual and political force. Fanatically religious, the Gaalsien are the remnants of a great holy war between the Gaalsien, who believed that they were cast down onto Kharak by the gods as punishment, and the Siidim, (who, as well as Kiith Paktu, where persecuted as 'Gritidiim' sand-blooded, and were made to live downriver of the Gaalsi so that no Gaalsien would be soilded by drinking after their filthy enemy,) who believed that the Kharaki were originally from Kharak and it was all they could hope for. The ensuing war, known as the Heresy Wars, nearly wiped out the Siidim and the Gaalsien, as well as most of Kharak's infrastructure. Only the intervention of the technophile Kiith Naabal put an end to the Heresy Wars, and the Gaalsien time of dominance on Kharak. After the war, the Gaalsien leaders destroyed their holy city of Saju-ka (similar in their religion to Jerusaleum) believing it to be the only way to save Kharak. After this madness, the Gaalsien became an outlawed Kiith, and their numbers dwindled. Several acts of sabotage during the Mothership's construction were attributed to Gaalsien (or Gaalsien-inspired) individuals. Though Kharak was destroyed, it is possible that some Gaalsien sympathisers made it aboard the Mothership and carry on the old Gaalsien ways in secret on Hiigara.
It is interesting to note that the Gaalsien technophobia seems to be a faint communal memory of the treaty against developing hyperspace technology, albeit twisted and misinterpreted over the course of their 3000 years of exile

Kiith Manaan

The Manaani are by nature entertainers, nomads, and magicians, much like Gypsies here on Earth. They have a joyous, freewheeling attitude which puts them at odds with the other, more "serious" kiith. They love nothing more than to make others laugh, and are known to be adventurous and daring. Of all the kiith on Kharak, the Manaani are the most likely to produce a diplomat, artist, statesman, performer or magician. They are also noted as being the primary source of volunteers into the Kharaki fleet's Strike Fighter contingent, always ready to fly the fastest and wildest ship put into service. They have been viewed with suspicion and hostility by the other kiithid since ancient times because of their nomadic nature, despite many alleged accounts of killing and looting being proven false.

Kiith Naabal

Kiith Naabal was an almost unknown kiith in the early history of Kharak - their name only rarely appears in the context of tradesmen or heretics. One possible reason for this is that, for centuries, they were met with hostility by many of the other kiithid, especially Kiith Gaalsien. The Naabal began as refugees fleeing the madness of the Heresy Wars. They fled to the northern ice cap of Kharak and formed their capital, Tiir, as a safe haven for all those who wished for peace and safety from the madness of the Siidim and the Gaalsien. The Naabal were the first to develop chemical based explosives and steam power, which they used to intervene in the Heresy Wars and end the conflict, offering peace to all those they liberated. After the Heresy Wars ended, the Naabal returned to their peaceful origins, creating a planetary senate known as the Daiamiid at the new capital of Kharak, Tiir, in an effort to end major conflict on Kharak.
Kiith Naabal established themselves as the most potent of all the Kiithid on Kharak prior to the launch of the Mothership. They are described as the arbiters of the Great Diamiid Assembly and the elders of the Kushan race.

Kiith Paktu

Originally, this kiith was merely a small farming kiith, but they were dispossessed by Kiith Sid and their new dogma, Siidim cosmology. Paktu was the first of many kiith to flee across the Great Banded Desert to the unpopulated, temperate south region of known Kharak in an effort to escape the Heresy Wars. Led by a man named Majiir Paktu, they successfully arrived at a sea on the other side of the desert, and much like the Naabal to the north, they made their lands available to all those who were on the run from the theological persecution of the Gaalsien and the Siidim. The Paktu were able to protect their homes from Gaalsien invasion on no less than three occasions, and were among the first to be invited into the Diamiid Council in Tiir.

Kiith Soban

Kiith Soban is a warrior kiith, composed of the descendants of a small group of families led by a man named Soban the Red, who abandoned their kiith after the kiith-sa (leader) refused to avenge the assault on their homes by a rival kiith. Tearing the kiith colors from his body, Soban and his followers became mercenaries, being the only kiith to be truly landless. They became excellent warriors, and were known for fighting until the exact second their contract expired, be it a thousand miles from home or in the middle of a battle, and dropping their weapons and immediately going home. Their reputation as fierce warriors has continued to this day, and they form a large part of the Kharaki General Staff as the Mothership makes its journey back to Hiigara.

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