Makarae
"The hand that strikes must first learn restraint."
Long ago, when Ma’Kharynthae’s fire raged too fiercely, she led her children into endless battle, their blood staining the very earth she had shaped. In their near-destruction, it was Thal’Kor, the World Forger who intervened—stilling her fury with discipline and breath. He spared the Makarae, but salvation bore a price: in times unknown and ways unseen, he calls for warriors. Sometimes one. Sometimes ten. Sometimes fifty. And when he does, the Makarae offer them—not in grief, but in reverence, for they know the blade must be sharp, and the justice swift.
Hidden Warriors of the West
Capital: Tamar’Kuhl Major Cities: Rhaz Kinai, Ishari, Karuun, Teshuun, Narethun
The Daily Rhythm
In Makarae, time flows in step with breath and blade. The people rise together, eat together, train and craft side by side beneath red skies and mountain winds. Villages form tight-knit rings of timber longhouses and clay rondavels, each hearth a locus of story and spirit.
Morning brings communal meals and silent focus.
Daylight sees the fields worked, warriors trained, game hunted, hides woven, and clay fired.
Evenings are sacred: stories sung in low tones, rites performed for spirits, breath synced in circles of meditation.
“The spirit must be as steady as the blade it guides.”
A Warrior’s Homeland
Makarae is no war state, yet its soul is that of a warrior. To train in Tamar’Kuhl’s sacred halls is the highest honor; its teachings flow into every village like spring-fed streams.
Children are taught to wield, not rage—to balance emotion and motion, to let the weapon be an extension of clarity. The warrior in Makarae is protector, sage, and sometimes judge—but never a conqueror.
Training encompasses:
Weapon mastery
Unarmed forms
Ritualized balance drills
Breath-and-body control under hardship
Modeled after their Goddess
The Makarae bear the red skin and dark markings of Ma’Kharynthae, the Flame-Walker, their divine mother and silent guardian. It is said she danced from the molten deeps in the age before sky, her body marked by sacred fire and patterned shadow. Her image lives not in stone or script, but in the people themselves—every mark a birthright, every breath a tribute. To walk in discipline, to live in balance, is to echo her eternal flame.
The Virema - Breath in Motion
At the core of Makarae’s path is the Virema, a sacred art said to have originated in Maroshil, though no one knows how it came to these mountains. It is not simply combat—it is body-prayer. Each movement, breath, and stance becomes a devotion to Thal’Kor, the god of unyielding focus and inner flame.
Virema unites:
Controlled breathing
Combat katas
Ritualized motion sequences
Deep meditative discipline
Masters of Virema are revered as seers, their minds honed to pierce illusion, their bodies tuned to divine silence. Only the balanced may teach it. Only the steady may pass it on.