In Salute to the Brutor

Fiction Portal Intergalactic Summit
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"Their armor tattered, weapons worn. Their muscles aching, clothing torn
They turned to home, their work complete. The long road welcomed by weary feet.

With spirits high they would rebuild, through summers scorched and winters chilled,
Their foes were vanquished, their peace secured. Their clans united, their chiefs matured.

And if again invaders tread, on fields of battle they’d come to dread
One people stronger than words describe. One nation tall. One Brutor Tribe."

~ Partial inscription, Waystone, Innian Plateau, Kulheim

For my Tribe,

Growing up on Ainaille; in a Tribal enclave on a Federal planet, I never dreamed that I’d meet the people of my tribe. Not properly that is. Our clans adhered to the Brutor ways of course; as best we could. But for every tradition we relearned and protected, Federal influence seeped in and tempted our brother and sisters with its ease and accessibility. Protecting who we were was ever a challenge; one my father struggled with more than any other. Still, I learned our songs. I learned out dances. I learned our stories and histories. And more than anything I learned how we were moving forward. At home, we focused on our future.

Of course, it would be our very traditions that would see me expand beyond these limited interactions with my tribe. When a shaman made their yearly visit to perform voluvals for our youth, my life was upended. My move to join Republic Fleet came soon after.

In the fleet I met a different kind of Brutor. Here more bitter. More vengeful. Many had experienced loss. Most has joined up to fight the Amarrians. To them I was foreign. Tainted by Gallentean culture. And in many ways they were right. Many things I took for granted I never even realized were foreign. It took time to reconcile that with myself. To walk the path between the people I’d known, and those I now lived amongst. These Brutor lived in the present. The war. The Amarr. They were defined by their defiance to false masters.

My time in the Fleet was well spent. But I’ve since left and enjoyed the freedom of independent capsuleerdom. In it, perhaps my most insightful adventures have been to the excavations of Kulheim. Here I’ve come to know but a small fraction of the Brutor of the past. Ancestors long forgotten, but for the traces they left for us to find. On Kulheim we’ve found stories lost. Traditions forgotten. Here the Brutor of the past are respected and understood.

And now, as a child of the tribe. As one who never thought I’d truly know my people. To be among those chosen to represent them ranks as the greatest honor I’ve yet been granted. Our people are diverse and our priorities varied. Our clans scattered across a thousand systems, yet united in blood.

To those unaware, Electus Matari has been sponsored by the Brutor to represent them in the Alliance Tournament, myself along with them. The fights ahead will be difficult. Our opponents are skilled and very capable. Against them I will try to maintain the stoicism known amongst our people. Our tribe has shaped me. Made me who I am. I will look to embody all that I’ve been taught. In their name, I hope to honour our tribe and help our team to victory.

Glory to the Brutor!!

Kyra Andile
Brutor Tribe
Independent Capsuleer
Pale Flame

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Ms. Andile,

I’m happy to see you found a greater purpose than just your own pleasure as many parts of the Gallente culture seem to encourage. It is unfortunate that you chose to dedicate it to a backward tradition of tribalism.

Do you think Brutor traditions are superior to say, Amarr traditions or other Matari tribes? And if so, how?

Can anyone join the Brutor tribe, or do you need to some kind of close blood ties?

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Our perspectives on these matters will inherently remain opposed and unmoving, so I won’t spoil the otherwise pleasant discourse with conflict here, other than to note that opposition.

A far more interesting question. I’ll admit, in light of your peoples occupation it is difficult to call to mind very many Brutor wide traditions. But those that have survived among clans are fascinating to me. There’s obvious martial ties to many local traditions, but also a far greater beauty to them than true combat. I respect the focus on the self and personal capability. One is part of the whole, and the whole stronger for the strength of the one. It has a unity to it that I find difficult to find elsewhere.

Your own people of course have many long standing traditions. I confess I’m not abundantly versed in them. Although generally I’d be predisposed to rank traditions as something that can only be judged by the individual; that personal preference and value is the only factor that could judge a tradition; comparing them neutrally being akin to deciding if an apple or orange is the better fruit. In the case of your people I must inherently oppose your sense of superiority over others; to the extent that you remove their freedoms.

Of course conflict and war are common amongst all people; my own tribe moreso than others. But only with the empire could I truly describe subjugation and slavery as a tradition more than a war necessity; something that I must oppose and naturally riles me. Someone who wishes to serve beneath of their own volition is… tolerable… but forcing others into your hierarchy inherently spoils any tradition tied to it.

Of the other tribes, I have unfortunately barely begun to learn more about my own. Of the others I fear I couldn’t provide much insight. Perhaps others could share some tales of their people? I’d be fascinated to hear it.

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Could you perhaps enlighten us more on the martial traditions? Let me be clear: I’m not saying such a tradition is a bad thing, I merely desiring to know the details of the tradition. The details are important. They act as guidelines for people’s decision process, they inform people what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’.

Additionally, I don’t quite understand your second sentence. As far as I understand the Matari culture, they celebrate the freedom of the individual above that of the tribe, the freedom of the tribe above that of the Matari people and the freedom of the Matari people above that of other cultures. Is that not correct?

As far as I know, a collective can only be stronger than its individual parts if those parts put their desires second. If they are willing to give up their own desires, make sacrifices if it were, for the collective only then would the collective be stronger. How does the focus of the Brutor tribe on the self increase unity if it does not put the need of the collective above its own?

If you do not have direct answers to these questions, that is fine. You are still a student, I don’t expect you to present perfect knowledge of these matters here.

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Then you have failed to take note of many of the discussions on these forums.

I exist to serve the needs of my Clan. My Clan exists to serve the needs of its people, and in so doing, present our collective service to the needs of the Tribe, and through the Tribe, to the Minmatar people. Freedom resides in having the ability to choose whether or not I honor these commitments, or strike out for myself, but it would be a gross mischaracterization to claim that ‘individual freedom’ is more important than the needs of Clan, Tribe, and kin.

I cannot say how things are within the Brutor, but among all of the Brutor I have known, in all of the years that I have known them, I have seen none of the anarchic disarray you seem to think is paramount in who we Minmatar are. They are a strong, proud people who take pride in their traditions and their associations, and who defend one another fiercely.

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Thank you for sharing your experiences. The part where you mention walking the path between two people resonates with me. I have Brutor step-children. It’s difficult as an outsider to understand who they really are and how to balance my desire to be a good parent figure while navigating a perilous cultural divide that they grow more aware of with each passing year. Good luck with the Alliance Tournament.

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Of course,

I’m going to answer this a little out of order because I believe the context is helpful.

To start, there was a period of articles and journals written about my people shortly after the war, when the Gallente were working to help rebuild our government and nation in their image; and Federal observers were the primary reporters on “who the Matari are.” I’m afraid in that time a lot of Federal ideas were attributed to our fight for freedom in projection of the writers own beliefs. Ideas of individual freedoms and liberties notable amongst those. I suspect that era is where many of your previous conceptions originate.

Fortunately our people have taken the reigns in defining themselves, and that era is woefully out of date. To explain my “the whole stronger for the strength of the one” comment, it is an allusion to a widespread belief amongst the Tribe. That being that each individual is expected to pull their own weight. The personal strength of an individual (in ancient times defined by physical strength, but long since morphed to reflect all manner of societal role and gravitas) defines their capabilities, and their discipline and duty defines their ability to contribute that strength to the furtherance of their clan. Through their own capabilities can one improve their clan, and in turn the clan celebrates those who are greatest among its members.

There are of course sub traditions and norms that develop from such a belief. It is generally held to be the responsibility of the leadership of a clan to ensure that every member is given the opportunity to thrive. If a brother or sister finds themselves in a role or job that they are ill suited towards (and therefore being less than themselves) it is the clans responsibility to help guide them to a cause that greater suits their dispositions. And unfortunately, sometimes such individuals don’t find the support they need, or aren’t suited for clan life, and invariably slip through the cracks. Some become wanderers, serving an inter-clan contact niche. Most disappear though, their fate unknown.

To compare such beliefs to others I’ve encountered in the cluster; there seems to be a broad attachment of prestige and rank to profession abroad. We don’t have that; not abundantly at least. Amongst the clans, a skilled Butcher who respects the animal and the customer is of greater dignitas that a lazy Doctor with poor manners. A dutiful laborer more respected than a self-indulgent, unproductive scientist. The strength of the individual drives the strength of the clan. Strong individuals further it; weak ones lessen it. Some exceptions exist concerning leadership and voluvals, and other less common beliefs, but this is by and large the rule.

So to answer your final question, regarding making sacrifices for a collective over your personal interest. I’d argue it is the case for most Brutor that their own self-fulfillment and sense of belonging comes from the satisfaction of being their best and performing their duties well. I think for many, they are at their best when they’ve achieved their best. And so many encourage a focus on the self. A search to improve yourself and be the best you can be; such that you are of greater service to all. It is understood that everyone prospers from the virtue of their dedication, and thus is the clan stronger for their strength. And their self-improvement is of benefit, and therefore interest, to everyone.

I fear in telling you this, that this very attitude towards life is likely what has marked my tribe for more hard labour than any other in your empire. I fear this very attitude may have damned generations of my people. But it is part of who we are. The clan and the self are intrinsically intertwined; and either would struggle without the other for support.

This reply is getting rather long though. And I have yet to address your question on Martial traditions or on the nature of freedom among my people. I fear the second had been far to distorted by Gallente authors, but don’t have the time to properly untangle that particular issue right this moment. I will have to look at completing some other post on those matters at a later time.

For now, thankyou for your questioning. Its a rare thing to engage in relatively civil discourse across borders on this forum. I’ve enjoyed it. If you have further curiosities I’d be happy to entertain them.

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That is a highly insightful and logical argument, thank you.

Much of the same is true for broader Amarr society. Leadership is given an important role, but each member is supposed to do their duty and guide others to an appropriate role.

You mentioned earlier that the Brutor are a martial society. Most martial societies I known develop a subculture build around the concept of honour. This traditions dictated by honour in a martial society help individuals overcome their instinct of self-preservation and self-interest for the betterment of the group. Martyrdom a kind of ultimate expression of this concept.

I thank you for your replies. They have given me much to think about.

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