Human Culture
Mankind's history before the Empire is poorly understood, largely due to the absence of writing prior to it. Legends from time immemorial state that humanity once thrived in the island of Sawaiki, the ancient paradise, where men lived without the fear of disease, old age and other ills, where food was plentiful and the gods always favourable. However, legends say, mankind grew proud and warlike, desecrating the sacred forests until they were nothing but ash, killing off the plentiful birds, waging war on fellow men and giving in to violence, cruelty and cannibalism. It is said that the gods did not even need to lift a finger, as mankind ruined itself, destroying Sawaiki and reducing it to a wasteland. As hunger and disease arrived like the sea mists, mankind wept and begged the gods for help, for at least the soothing embrace of death if nothing else. The gods took pity on mankind and sent five massive Hōkūleʻa, full of food and medicine to last for months. Five gods, one for each Hōkūleʻa, were the captains of these life ships, Lālākea-kupu steering the Hōkūleʻa that carried the Empire’s ancestors. The fate of the other Hōkūleʻa is wrapped in mystery, their final fate unknown to all, but Lālākea-kupu diligently and faultlessly drove his ship to the south, until he found an island with great mysts. It was named “the gray haired woman”, Hinawahine, and was offered by the shark god to mankind, under the promise of careful management and peace.
The colonisers formed many tribes, spreading across the island, domesticating its animals and carefully creating farmlands. After centuries of developing in isolation, tensions began to form, and it is said that the tribe that dominated the Plateau, once ruling where Hiruhāramānia is now, took over Hinawahine “without shedding blood”, unifying the tribes under an Empire, which would afterwards expand into the sorrounding seas, preserving Hinawahine’s resources whilst finding new ones. By about five centuries after the Empire’s birth, all islands of Hinawahine had been conquered, and other archipelagos were found just decades after. A few insular tribes had been found, one of which a minor island-spanning civilisation as well, all assimilated or conquered.
Because of Sawaiki’s tragedy, the concept of
Tapu has become very important to the Empire. Generally speaking, something that is Tapu is considered inviliolable or sacrosant, and it should not be touched, should not be meddled with, and in some cases not even spoken about. A superior’s personal items, for example, are Tapu, and cannot be touched by an inferior; religious relics are Tapu, and should not be touched unless by the Kahuna or the Prince. Many animals are Tapu, and thus cannot be hunted; Tapu applied to areas is distinguished as
Rāhui, and is a very important method of preserving the Empire’s sacred spaces and natural resources, effectively rendering them untoucheable to all but the Kahuna. Tapu can even extend to abstract concepts and actions: not honouring the gods is Tapu, for instance. Tapu is such a strong concept that there is an inherent magic to it: violating Tapu enforces by default anything from a visceral sense of shame to outright death, depending on the gravity. The longer something is Tapu, the more inviolable it will become.
That said, Tapu can be omitted and dissolved, in the form of
Noa. Noa, or blessings, lift Tapu from something, allowing the enforcing magics to be evaporated and the prohibition thus removed. Noa occurs whenever gifts occur, lifting the reservation and prohibition, and in everyday Tapu simply a genuine desire to give that blessing suffices. When it involves the norms of the society, the higher the authorithy, the more effective the Noa is, and even enchantment charged Tapu can be dispelled easily if the thing in question is under his/her authorithy – a general instantly removes the Tapu inherent to his food in regards to lower people if s/he so wishes to offer it to a starving child, for example. Rāhui cannot be so easily dispelled, however, with even the Kahuna normally powerless to remove it.
For obvious, many a person desires to have entire mastery over Noa, or else be able to bypass Tapu in other ways. In some practises, violating Tapu is actually the whole focus, misdirecting the curse to empower instead. This is a very dangerous gamble, especially when violating Tapu usually does not entirely remove it, but those successful in this technique have become excepionally powerful mages. The Kahuna are the most powerful in delivering Noa, their blessings removing Tapu from everything but Rāhui. Removing or blatantly violating Tapu is not always necessary, however: many people try to weasel their way around it, doing things of questionable nature by rationalisations and technicality. So long as the conviction is strong, bending Tapu to one’s will is possible, to the point that the breaking point may never be reached. This is how the Empire’s ancient system caste system has gradually eroded away, the Tapu that kept them distinct gradually being weaseled out as the “lower class” managed to find ways to ascend socially, particularly in regards to the relevance of commerce.
Government
Historically, a caste system seperated nobility, the Kahuna, the “lower class” and war captives/slaves. As the Empire grew, the needs to oversee more and more settlements, the merchants’ increasing importance, the reforms of the military and the progressively more esoteric tendencies of the Kahuna dissolved this caste system into a more pragmatic ruling body:
- “True” nobility has been reduced to the royal line proper. The current royal line is considered to be the descendents of Ākala, sharing his unusual grayish-golden eyes, and in the last two millenia this emphasis has dictated the monarch’s bloodline in particular regard, becoming the focus of conservation on the part of the Kahuna. Because of the absence of more royalty, the monarch was traditionally allowed to marry from within the nobility, but with its dissolution the issue has become more complicated. Generally, an Ariki consort is selected, the marriage ceremony now involving extensive purification rituals to allow for the blood of Ākala to be preserved.
The monarch is the ultimate authorithy, though they are strongly influenced by the subordinate government body. Once seen as the connection between the gods and mankind, this role has largely been usurped by the Kahuna, but the divine blood still grants the monarch authorithy over them under usual circumstances. In the span of the Empire’s history, the Kahuna almost never intervened with the monarch’s rule, until now, where the conflicts with the current “Prince” and the Tohunga Ahurewa have become progressively more severe. The current monarch is “Prince” Whēuriuri, with his cusins Mura and Hatiti being the next in the line for the throne.
- The military, always recruiting members from all walks of life, has had an increasing political influence for the past few centuries, embodying a face of social potential and ascension in the face of previous rigid caste systems. Already frequently the ruling power in external colonies, it entered in vicious competition with the Kahuna in terms of political power, a secular government body against a theocratic one. Now, both groups have utterly displaced other factions/social grades at the position secondary to the royal line, forming the actual government body with the monarch as the figurehead. And “Prince” Whēuriuri came to favour the military out of the two, rendering the Empire almost entirely under martial law.
The military has a well organised system of ranks, on which the members are prommoted or demoted in accordance to performance and honour[s]. The top rank is that of the
Tianara, now held by the man known as Aata, which many consider to be pratically equal to the “Prince” in every way. The patron god of the army is Lālākea-kupu, though several gods are called in the battlefield. Regardless, the military is fundamentally secular, as it is Tapu to cloud strategy with delusions of exacting divine will. Consequently, these same “logical” strategies translated into the battlefield of politics.
- Outside of Hiruhāramānia, individual territories are general ruled by an Ariki. Originally Hinawahine’s non-royal nobility, the Ariki is a position generally elected or prommoted to, usually from the military, the merchant elite and, more rarely, the Kahuna. An Ariki does not usually answer to democratical vote: the population’s favour is usually meaningless to place a person as an Ariki, as it is the government body that does so, though an exceptionally unpopular Ariki will be placed under trial and demoted. More often than not, the Ariki is simply a figurehead, the military, merchants and/or Kahuna being the true power in the individual territories.
- As the Empire has expanded beyond Hinawahine, merchants have also gained relevance. Karatakara, Koronitiwa, Hiriwa and several external islands have developed well established mercantile elites, which compose most of the localised government bodies. They are almost never in an “official”position of power, with an Ariki, the military or the Kahuna serving as the political authorithy, very often puppets for the most influencial of these elites.
- And finally, there are the Kahuna, the Empire’s clergy, that always project immense authorithy whenever they are.
Kahuna
Matahouroa’s most relevant priestly class, the Kahuna were originally the caste secondary to the nobility, concerning themselves not just with religious duties, but working as the carpenters, merchants, medics, entertainers and generally the operators of civilised society, above the farmers, hunters and the rest of the low class workers. Gradually, the population at large began to fill these roles as society shifted from its rustic roots to full blown civilisation, and the Kahuna in turn began to focus on their role as mediators between mankind and the gods, as the self entitled guardians of nature and civilisation alike, as well as supervisers and caretakers of morality, traditions, the populace, and above all magic. The Kahuna are some of Matahouroa’s most powerful mages, said to be blessed by the gods and to have acquired sacred knowledge from them. They are highly esoteric and secretive, and just as easily mistrusted as they are awed and venerated by the populace. Once hereditary as a caste, the Kahuna as priestly orders are welcome to any exceptionally talented mage, whereas they're willing or not.
Many orders of Kahuna exist across the Empire, but Hinawahine’s Kahuna are divided into five main orders. Unaligned Kahuna exist, but they are exceptionally rare within Hinawahine and Hiriwa, where the orders have a strict policy of adherence or penalty for “treason”, which more often than not includes either forceful conversion or death. The populace is widely warned to act against unaligned Kahuna, being Tapu to accept their services or offer them hospitality. All orders answer to the
Tohunga Ahurewa, the head of the Empire’s clergy. In theory, all orders have the claim to this title, but the Tohunga Ahurewa’s position in Hiruhāramānia has ensured that only the Pūhihi Kahuna have occupied this position for most of the last millenium or so. The other orders for the most part only pay lip service to the Tohunga Ahurewa anyways. The current Tohunga Ahurewa is Raiti of the Pūhihi Kahuna.
While other sapient non-human races have priests and some even work closely with the Kahuna, only humans are considered to be Kahuna.
Pūhihi Kahuna 
The largest and most pretigious order, the Pūhihi Kahuna have their headquarters in Hiruhāramānia, with most of the smaller settlements in the Plateau also being important operation centers, some of which entirely under theocratic rule. They also have large temples and political seats in Karatakara and Hiriwa – though there they are secondary to the Pirita Kahuna and Karetai Kahuna, respectively -, and throught the islands of the Empire, where they are often in charge of healing centers and public religion alike. With their base in Hiruhāramānia and being widespread and popular, they are often considered to be the “official” Kahuna order of the Empire, a claim with Tapu attached. Many feel that the Tohunga Ahurewa has effectively become simply a rank of the Pūhihi Kahuna, unofficially solidifying their dominance, though legally it still remains a title availiable to other Kahuna.
The original distinctive social role of Pūhihi Kahuna was to oversee morality and justice. Their stated purpose is to dictate the laws and supervise their enforcement, as well as to arrest and judge the guilty. The military has taken over these fields, but the Pūhihi Kahuna still have enough authorithy to intervene when corruption or ill judgement is perceived. They may also colaborate with the military, their battle magic a value asset. Aside from this, the Pūhihi Kahuna also work as the main healers, operating medic centers throught the Empire – though this role has often also been taken by the Pirita Kahuna, and by other Kahuna sporadically. More generally, the Pūhihi Kahuna are the Kahuna that most dutifully fullfill the civic cleric duty, being responsible for religious events and public celebrations, both to honour the gods and to unite communities, though other Kahuna, particularly the Pirita Kahuna, also do this. Whenever new conquests are made, at least one Pūhihi Kahuna is among the colonisers, being considered the most imediately useful of the Kahuna with his/her medical and combat skills.
The symbol of the Pūhihi Kahuna is the sunray, which sums up their original philosophy: rather than the solar sphere itself, it is the light that emanates from it that has importance, the divine emanation that nurtures the world and in turn connects mortals to their deities, carrying their prayers and joy in return. In turn, it’s not the Pūhihi Kahuna that matter, and not even their actions, but their souls’ metaphorical radiance. To this end, they spend a lot of their time on purifying the soul in various methods, a practise no other Kahuna does, the Pūhihi Kahuna being among the few people in Matahouroa with an unambiguous concept of spiritual purity. Nonetheless, the Pūhihi Kahuna have gradually taken the symbolism much more literally, and gradually came to herald Rāo, the god of daylight, above the other gods, as their patron and the deity whom their symbol honours, considering Them the source of their power, and the demonstration of their beliefs, a pure being made of beams that connects mankind to the divine realms and to each other.
Once, the Pūhihi Kahuna paid homage to all the celestial gods equally, but gradually their focus shifted on an utterly exclusive servitude of Rāo. Even while they pay lip service to most of the pantheon in public ceremonies, they try to subtly influence the populace to have similar henotheistic or monotheistic beliefs, a practise that displeases other Kahuna, which see this as superficial favouritism or outright delusion. The Pūhihi Kahuna believe fervently in a prophecy known as the Rāomārama, in which Rāo will not just overwhelm darkness and the night, but will also destroy the physical universe with Their immense light, aside from the ancestral island of Sawaiki, where the pure souls that survived the purge will dwell for eternity without ever fearing another calamity. This belief is held differently amidst the Pūhihi Kahuna, from being a literal sequence of events to a metaphor for the soul’s henosis, but regardless it has made them insanely ambitious, trying to prepare all for the Rāomārama. The Tohunga Ahurewa, Raiti, feels that the Rāomārama is near, and grows progressively more bold, chastising the “Prince” with an open and vicious belligerancy never seen before in the Empire’s history. The more the Pūhihi Kahuna express their desire to see Whēuriuri dead, the more Hiruhāramānia is divided. Tensions are extremely high, very near the point of breaking.
The Pūhihi Kahuna allow any person with talent in

magic to join them, any person desiring to become one simply asking for it. Full initation occurs during sacred occasions, which which a purification ceremony prepares the new member, who is unwittingly mind altered as to make them complacent with the esoteric dogma and ambitions. All Pūhihi Kahuna travel to the Plateau for formal training, usually in the smaller settlements, visiting Hiruhāramānia for ceremonies. All Pūhihi Kahuna stand before the Invoking Moai at least once in their lives, the first moment being considered the moment of the individual’s full realisation within the order. Afterwards, they are relocated anywhere in the Empire, but are free to return to the great city whenever they can afford it.
Karetai Kahuna 
With their headquarters in Hiriwa, the Karetai Kahuna are spread across most of the Empire, but absent from the main island of Hinawahine, under laws enforced by the Pirita Kahuna; their very presence there is considered Tapu, not helped by the general distrust of the main island’s population. Regardless, they’re widespread across the archipelagos under the Empire, second only to the Pūhihi Kahuna, their naval role being of utmost importance.
The Karetai Kahuna oversee knowledge, communication and the development of civilisation. Hiriwa’s great libraries are maintained by them, and they constantly add new information to these libraries. Their temples are not just libraries in themselves, but also laboratories, where experiments of all kinds are conducted. They work closely with the military, providing naval technology and designing ships, crafting protective enchantments and defensive battle spells and investigating methods of making long sea journeys more comfortable. The Karetai Kahuna are also important in regards to communication between islands, shrouding courier birds and ships, as well as being oracles. Finally, the Karetai Kahuna protect and safeguard the sea, rendering bays, entire coastlines and spanses of open water Rāhui. Some with expertise in elemental magic are also used as naval war weapons, while others can be employed as assassins.
Overseeing information and knowledge has predictably made them a double edged sword, controlling the flow of information and erasing it in accordance to not only their agendas, but also of the Empire’s. Controlling the Karetai Kahuna has proved an immense challenge, as not only the Empire sees itself reluctant to dispose of such a useful tool, but also because the Kahuna have mastered techniques to go around Tapu for centuries. As it stands, manipulation by the Karetai Kahuna has been rendered Tapu, continuously strengthened by wards upon wards, to which Noa is applied by the army or the other Kahuna wheen need be. In Hiriwa, the more experienced of the clerics can bypass the Tapu, being able to secretly manipulate information both in the libraries – public or private -, and messages.
The Karetai Kahuna have a close relationship with the Parekareka, which extends all the way to the order’s foundation. Indeed, it may be accurate to say that the Karetai Kahuna are basically the human attempt to respond to Hiriwa’s Aven, previously the most civilised race in Matahouroa. The Parekareka work closely with the Karetai Kahuna, aiding them in research and in their overseeing of the seas and information, many making their homes in the temples and living mutually in a shared community. Many believe that the Karetai Kahuna are more loyal to the Parekareka than to the Empire, a paranoia that appears to become more and more justified, the more the Karetai Kahuna’s elders devote themselves to Purūpī’s project.
The Karetai Kahuna bear as their symbol the reflection. Introspection is a complicated subject for the Karetai Kahuna: while it is considered to be of uttermost importance to understand and master oneself in order to affect the outside world, directly analysing the thoughts and emotions is considered counterproductive and ineffective, leading to false conclusions and veiled self righteousness. The Karetai Kahuna have a tradition of staring at their own reflections for meditation, seeking to improve themselves by looking at their own eyes, the true windows to one’s true self. Karetai Kahuna that have examined themselves in this way gradually learn how to scry by gazing upon their reflected images, being able to understand higher knowledge simply by examining the depths of their mind. This is a process that seems almost impossible to describe in words, being only understood by practioners. Many consider the Karetai Kahuna to be the most secular of the Kahuna, due to the few public religious ceremonies they hold – aside from funerary rites, when a Karetai Kahuna is in charge of preparing the “boat” which the soul uses to return to Sawaiki -, but in reality an individualistic, experimental sort of spirituality is a core concept in their philosophy, most of their spellcraft being exceedingly subtle divine invocations.
In Hiriwa, young mages study and train on the complexes adjacent to the libraries, and talented individuals may be selected to join. Otherwise, the Karetai Kahuna take a more proactive approach, youngsters with qualities considered to be necessary being selected and persuaded to join. Should they refuse, abduction ocurs, leading to a complicated process of indoctrination that involves careful brainwashing. Elsewhere, recruitment is done in a variety of forms, with the Karetai Kahuna being generally being controlling and/or discriminative in practise.
Ataata Kahuna 
The most mistrusted and disliked of the Kahuna, the Ataata Kahuna are ostensibly the smallest of the orders, although this is hard to assess. They are seldomly officially employed, and in some areas outrightly persecuted. Nonetheless, they hold an important role as the appeasers of the dead, preventing the angry spirits from being a menace to the living, as well as the guardians of the world’s shadows and darkness.
Although officially considered an order, the Ataata Kahuna are too individualistic to be an organisation. Each Kahuna has their own agenda, goes wherever and does whatever they want. There are no ranks, there are no headquarters: each Ataata Kahuna fends for themselves. Nonetheless, most Ataata Kahuna feel attached to the Wairepomango, where the power of the Grieving Moai is strongest. This power is attractive to many black mages, but there is a catch: the blessings of the Grieving Moai can only be obtained from its tears, zealously guarded by hordes upon hordes of the spirits of the dead, which are ravenous and malicious, quickly dispatching any unprepared mage and spreading diseases across the swamps. Only a few mages manage to go through the spirit horde, and by using the Moai’s power they officially become Ataata Kahuna. Many of these mages are taught by Pango, the Black Taniwha, and thus owe him an oath of loyalty. Pango can thus be said to be the true master of the Ataata Kahuna. The Ataata Kahuna in turn are officially the rulers of Koronitiwa, and the Wairepomango as a whole, a role which they may choose to withraw from if they so please. The leadership position and thus control over Koronitiwa’s market is frequently and viciously contested among the Ataata Kahuna, centuries upon centuries of former rulers and unsuccessful contestants now lying in the depths. This position is currently held by Pō, a rarely seen woman whose interests seem to lie elsewhere, leaving Koronitiwa to be lead by the puppet-Ariki known as Teone Miritene.
The Ataata Kahuna, as powerful black mages travelling the land, have a role in overseeing the spirits of the dead. Other Kahuna have roles in regards to funerary rites, with the Pūhihi Kahuna purifying the dead, the Karetai Kahuna preparing the vessel for them to travel to Sawaiki and the Pirita Kahuna prommoting and appearently causing reincarnation, but not all spirits depart or are reborn. Many lay restless in the shadows of the world, in the domain of Hine-nui-te-pō, and become shades, pooling wherever it is dark. While not necessariy malevolent, the shades often lash at the living out of anger and resentment for various reasons, causing sickness and more direct deaths, and it is the job of the Ataata Kahuna to prevent this. The activities of the Ataata Kahuna limits and pacifies the shades: their very initiation rite further encourages the restless spirits of the Wairepomango to pool around the Grieving Moai instead of stalking the swamps, and soothes their anguish. Gradually, the Ataata Kahuna connect further with these spirits, even growing attached to the dark spirits, sympathising more readily with them than with the living.
The Ataata Kahuna do command the shades to do as they please, most of their magic being based on this spirit control, but instead of simply tools they view the spirits as extensions of themselves. Theirs is a strange form of spirituality, where ambition and desire for power lead to a communion and hollism with the dark forces of nature, just as with all the Kahuna. The Ataata Kahuna generally view or grow to view “normal” necromancy as abhorrent, though far too profitable to outright prevent it.
Many an Ataata Kahuna have left Wairepomango to travel around the word, seeking new opportunities elsewhere. They are rarely employed, though many seek their services as mercenaries and assassins, and many also seek them for services other Kahuna cannot provide. Other Kahuna orders respect the order for their role, with the Tahepuia Kahuna being the most sympathetic and the Pūhihi Kahuna at best paying lip service, but very often they too employ the Ataata Kahuna. The current Tohunga Ahurewa has all but stated to have disowned them as true Kahuna, something that has largely been extensively ridiculed by nearly all orders but the Pūhihi Kahuna.
Tahepuia Kahuna 
The Tahepuia Kahuna have their sit of power within Rinomaunga’s temple, Tīrarae, and indeed Raiti and the Pirita Kahuna consider these to be the only members of the order. However, throught the Empire, many groups of Kahuna have taken the mantle of Tahepuia Kahuna, something extremely encouraged by the “original” order in Rinomaunga, stressing the foundation of the Kahuna orders by listening to nature and the spirits, and that true Kahuna are born from knowing universal truths, not esoteric dogmas. As such, the Tahepuia Kahuna are distributed across the Empire: wherever there is volcanic activity, there is a temple. Regardless, the Tahepuia Kahuna are free to wander off wherever they want, many travelling around the Empire to satisfy their wanderlusts, usually travelling along vaultlines out of comfort and a sense of safety. Travelling Tahepuia Kahuna are afforded a level of protection, though a priest’s destructive potential is often the subject of anxiety and extensive precautions.
The Tahepuia Kahuna on the Plateau are heralded as the greatest smiths of Matahouroa, fulfilling the army’s needs for metallurgical products with powerful and extensively refined blades and armours of various metals, crafted by shaping the liquid ores within the lava in the “pools” of Tīrarae, calling them forth into desired shapes. They are also greatly renowed as artists, and frequently commissioned by the wealthy to produce sculptures, either from materials in the liquid rock or from basalt and other already solidified stone. Many non-commissioned artworks are scattered across Rinomaunga, exhibitting the Tahepuia Kahuna’s sense of pride – or simple lack of concern – in showing even drafts and poorly executed pieces, though most of these statues don’t last for long, being consumed by the rivers of molten rock that flow from the volcanoes sooner or later. What comes from the magma will return to it one day, a “fact” that the Tahepuia Kahuna embrace and cheerish. Outside of Rinomaunga, blades and sculptures are also commissioned, though less so.
The Tahepuia Kahuna are the least politically involved of the Kahuna, generally preffering to avoid the meddling that other Kahuna engage in. They have no sit of power or management over any area, a fact that other Kahuna are more than happy to enforce just in case. Their policy of non-involvement obviously does not exclude them from civilisation, where they are just as easily respected and awed, their embrace of positive emotions and freedom earning them a reputation as wonderful, magnetic individuals… as well as hedonistic, ammoral and unconcerned with the consequences of their freedom by the Pūhihi Kahuna and mainland Pirita Kahuna. The military occasionally attempts to recruit Tahepuia Kahuna as battlemages, an offer more often than not refused, given the focus on positive emotions for the Tahepuia Kahuna, and incapable of being enforced. The extreme rarity of Tahepuia Kahuna in the military is much applauded by the Pūhihi Kahuna, Raiti claiming that “it’s the only form of decency they have, and the only right by which they can call themselves human, let alone Kahuna”.
The Tahepuia Kahuna have an absolutely open membership, any mage interested in their ways being invited to join their temples. They don’t have any stipulations for what they consider a “true member” of their order: as long as a mage listens to and connects with Matahouroa’s liquid rock blood, they are a “true” Tahepuia Kahuna. It goes without saying that Tahepuia Kahuna believe the heart and the earth’s whispers to be the foremost drivers, freedom to act as one pleases being the common right of all, though always with a special emphasis on the positive, more fullfilling emotions. The Tahepuia Kahuna are the only Kahuna that do not act in regards to the dead and the afterlife, believing that life and death alike are marked by the individual’s desires, and fundamentally not that different after all.
Pirita Kahuna 
The Pirita Kahuna are largely restricted to Hinawahine itself; while a few groups on other islands do consider themselves “Pirita Kahuna”, the mainland ones generally regard them as delusional heretics at best. Nonetheless, the Pirita Kahuna are a rather large group, taking domain of Hinawahine’s vast forests. Their sit of power in the civilised world is Karatakara, where their “offficial” headquarters lie, the massive, vine covered temple known as Ponamuhoro. However, their true base is Karemauru, a massive natural fortress located on the montane forests in the highlands west to the Plateau, near the location of the Murmuring Moai. Karemauru is composed of several trees intertwined together, their branches connected together to form chambers and rooms, the center being an enormous Kauri tree. Recruits are found/join in Karatakara, and exact oaths of loyalty to the order and its secrets, before departing to Karemauru for formal training.
The Pirita Kahuna originally started mostly as rustic priests, helping farmers to grow their crops, warding off pests and enemies, prommoting favourable weather and fulfilling the normal duties as healers and overseers of religious events and traditions. While they regionally still fulfill these roles in Hinawahine’s lowland settlements – and indeed, the Kahuna who claim the moniker of Pirita Kahuna outside of Hinawahine still act exactly as this, having no consistent organisation to speak off -, the order as a whole has become a more secretive and esoteric organisation, moving away from civilisation aside from Karatakara, where their political center of power lies. They something of a double faced order: on one side, the Pirita Kahuna are the guardians of the wilds, tending to Hinawahine’s forests and rendering them and many of their flora and fauna Rāhui, while on the other they’re an elitistic political organisation claiming to preserve tradition and help manage the lowland settlements, controlling the “morally bankrupt” tendencies of the local ruling bodies and the integrity of the markets. In Karatakara, they’re more regularly and relevantly responsible for public religious services than the Pūhihi Kahuna, and are widely respected as the city’s moral center, but many suspect them of dark ambitions and conspiracy plots, conclusions that are not that far from the truth.
The Pirita Kahuna originally held a notion of simplicity as their core value, refraining from material goods if they interfere with their duty to the community and nature. They still at least technically subscribe to this ideology, refraining entirely from material possessions beyond instruments to channel their power, but in Hinawahine their duty has transfered to their order and its agendas almost exclusively. They are the overseers of the wilds, Hinawahine’s true voice; they believe themselves to follow the desires of Tāme, god of the forests and inspirer of the very existence of the Pirita Kahuna. The people’s common insterest is served by obeying to the divine will, and that goes without saying for nature’s well being. Kahuna that act in behalf of nature but to not devote themselves to this path are believed to be deaf to the murmurs of Tāme, and thus a mockery to the principles of the order. Renegade Pirita Kahuna, if not dead or defeated by breaking the Tapu of “disloyalty”, are hunted down and killed, their corpses desacrated in horrific ways.
The mainland Pirita Kahuna differ from both most other Kahuna and Hinawahine’s peoples in regards to their views of the afterlife. They believe that Sawaiki is forever out of mankind’s reach, and that Hinawahine, Tāme’s domain, should be mankind’s future residence. To this end, they enforce the reincarnation of the soul into people, animals or other races alike, preventing it from ever leaving to Sawaiki. They do this in a variety of methods, most blatantly by taking charge of funerary rite in many areas just as Karatakara. This rites are disguised as purification-of-the-body rites, but in reality they work to bind the soul to Hinawahine, preventing it from finding solace until reincarnating. Pirita Kahuna elsewhere also believe in reincarnation to be the best option, but generally simply guide and help spirits into this process.
Predictably, the “true” Pirita Kahuna also see any communities outside of Hinawahine as inherently blasphemous, a fact that they don’t bother to hide much…