Cienie’s take on Mandalorian Culture: Kad Ha’rangir and mandalorian traditional weapons, p.1
Foreword
Tie-in Legends source materials are in general agreement that Taungs, the alien species that created Mandalorian culture ~7000 BBY, originally worshiped many gods. With passing time their belief system morphed into the concept of War being itself divine and reverential. In the period after the Sith War (3996 BBY) and before the early raids (3976 BBY) leading to start of Mandalorian Wars (3964 BBY), humans and other Aliens who proved themselves in battle and followed Mandalorian Canons of Honor were allowed into warrior ranks on an equal right, however Taungs themselves were already a dying out species.
The last Taung Mandalore, known as the Mandalore the Ultimate, died in the final battle of Mandalorian Wars in 3960 BBY and this military conflict ended both Taung hegemony and their religious beliefs in “holy carnage”. The new brand of Mandalorians kept combat and fighting skills in high regard, sought challenges to improve themselves and gain an honor but a great number of warriors went into mercenary work solely for money or the thrill of the hunt. This mercenary mindset lasted to modern days while the old faith faded away into obscurity although some knowledge and the echo of original religion remained in (human) Mandalorian culture.
Thus to understand forgotten religion better, the original mythology should be analyzed based on Taung and early Mandalorian culture. This is especially important since the knowledge that survived to current times may be greatly distorted as the proper context can be lost due to abrupt social changes that happened to Mandalorian culture, especially in the last seven hundred years, starting with Republic attack in 738 BBY (known also as Mandalorian Excision) that divided society into two opposite faction (pacifists and warriors loyal to Old Ways) and ending with Imperial occupation that brought much destruction to Mandalore and its people. The Mandalorian Excision especially led to devastating social-economic changes, as New Mandalorians rejected the warrior traditions in favor of safe neutrality and in result, those loyal to Old Ways became a (religious?) minority that over time lost its influence on official Mandalore politics, at least up to the Clone Wars and Imperial occupation era.
For those unfamiliar with Mandalorian lore, the three most known gods are:
Kad Ha’rangir - the all-seeing creator of tests and trials
Arasuum - the god of stagnation and sloth
Hod Haran - the trickster, agent of fickle fortune
The first two deities were introduced in an article Mandalorians: People and Culture (Insider #86) while the last was revealed in Death Watch Manifesto (Bounty Hunter Code) and both sources suggest modern (human) Mandalorians do not worship those gods like their forefathers did, if ever at all they pay attention to any religious side of their culture. This raises a question though, how much modern interpretation of those gods - the only one we truly have - is in fact compatible with their original form?
Let's start with Kad Ha'rangir.
My main problem with seeing Kad Ha'rangir as the most important deity worshiped by warriors during Taung!Mandalorian hegemony comes down to his name itself.
”Ha’rangir“ can be easily tie down to words for hell and destruction such like haran and raangir (the command raangir! means literally go to hell! as the original mando’a dictionary states) which makes sense why the god’s epitome is Destructor while "Kad" in the mandalorian language means "sword" or "saber"[1]. However none of those types of blades were associated with the first Mandalorians. The older sources made it clear Taungs held in high regard axes as their traditional and/or ceremonial weapon and still used them (alongside spear-like and other atypical blades) on the battlefield despite access to technologically advanced weaponry.
This can be observed through:
Tales of the Jedi: Sith War, during duel between Mandalore the Indomitable and Ulic Qel-Droma (issue #1)
Mandalore: You fight unfairly Qel-Droma! Put away your blood-thirsty weapon... use this, the simple weapon of my forefathers.
Ulic Qel Droma: "Perhaps I’ll fight with one of your weapons”
when Mandalore the Indomitable fought on Dxun moon against native predators
and with plenty of frames of Mandalorian warriors using axes and spear-like weapons during battles - including air battles - despite the advanced technology.
The period of time covered by comics precedes the Great Adoption that officially opened Mandalorian ranks to non-Taung people, including humans. Even if Knights of the Old Republic tie-in sources are true and during this war humans already took part in the conflict as Mandalore the Indomitable’s supporters - whatever as full-fledged warriors or just vassals - Mandalorians presented in comics clearly favored axes and spear-like weapon and unless I missed some vital details from six issues, there was no weapons resembling typical looking sword or saber.
Knights of the Old Republic, whose story and characters are greatly influenced by the previous Sith War, mentioned Mandalore the Indomitable’s duel with Ulic Qel-Droma. The same as in original comics, the Fallen Jedi used a traditional mythosaur axe (KotOR #48).
Another example comes from Mandalore the Ultimate (KotOR#20)
“Recognize this axe? It was forged from your so-called Courageous—when we began melting it down for scrap!"
There is a 30 year time interval between Sith Wars (3996 BBY) and Mandalorian Wars (3964 BBY), Taungs were dying out species already yet Mandalore the Ultimate still chose a traditional Mandalorian weapon as his own. Upgraded and made of cortosis[2], but keeping the characteristic shape.
The authors of comics on purpose tied Mandalore the Ultimate’s weapon to those of Taungs from Sith Wars, as was mentioned by J. J. Miller:
The design of Mandalore’s axeblade goes all the way back to Mandalore the Indomitable, many, many comic books ago. Another one of our Tales of the Jedi links... Dario Carrasco’s design, I think. Clearly the main function of the version seen here, with the ceremonial staff, is as a battlefield standard, and the huge blade size serves that purpose well. (Though as we can see, it has other capabilities, yet to be described...)
Star Wars Miniatures too presented Mandalore the Indomitable with a characteristic axe and spear known from original comics.
(Photo and more details on rebelscum.com)
We know only three Taung miniatures, one that may represent even the pre-Mandalorian era?, and two Mandalores. The first uses an unusual weapon (no sword or axe), the Indomitable has mentioned axe and spear while the Ultimate is presented with a blaster. No directly established Taungs, though coming from different times, carry a sword.
Another mention comes from History of the Mandalorians [insider #80]
Named for an extinct, gargantuan monster of the Mandalorian past, the Mythosaur Axe is a traditional Mandalorian weapon. With overlapping blades of calcified mythosaur bone on either side of the handle, this shell-like pattern makes any point on the razor-sharp axe deadly.
or Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide:
Crafte from the calcified bones of the extinct monster for which it is named, the Mythosaur axe is one ceremonial weapon that can be deadly. Mandalore the Ultimate’s Variation, atop a staff, uses modern metals and an energy cell to achieve double the damage.
Additionally, Mandalore the Indomitable and the Ultimate both have mythosaur axes written into their respective character stats data in melee category & possession (and spear, for Indomitable) while other presented Mandalorians are A) in majority described as humans and B) their stats vary and so there are options like: unarmed, dragger, knife, mace, vibroblade, vibrodagger or bayonet but none ax mentioned directly.
Hasbro’s STAR WARS EVOLUTIONS (The Fett Legacy) set presented a figure of Mandalore the Indomitable, again with battle ax and spear:
more photos and details on rebelscum.com
[The Next Part]: There are in theory contradicting sources about Taungs...
SIDENOTES:
[1] As far as I know, there is no official word for ax in the original mando’a dictionary published by Karen Traviss. One could argue that the kad word could include all blades in general yet though mando’a lacks a certain terms such like “hero”, it has many different words for “stab” thus I believe Mandalorian knowledge and dedication to weapons should generated an individual name to each type of melee weapons, the same as the language already differentiate between sword (kad) and knife (kal).
[2] cortosis, metal that may whistand lightsaber
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Dar'Aliit: Chapter Nine - Bad Company (Sneak Peek)
13 BBY ???
The white grain spreads around me on all sides. I’m a child again, dressed in the familiar blue uniform of a cadet.
If I put out my hands, I can’t even touch the top of the grain, but it goes on forever. And the drums. The drums beat in the distance.
Where am I?
I keep walking. Ahead of me move shadows in the form of men. They wear a kit I recognize, right up to the helmets. They walk far ahead of me. I break out into a run, but no matter how far I go, I can’t reach them as they walk toward the horizon.
One by one, they’re gone. Ghosts.
I keep walking, hoping to catch sight of them again. But the terrain grows only rockier. I stumble. My foot catches the divot in the ground. I almost fall, but catch myself and briefly there it is, a deep snare drum sounding loudly. Gasping, I collect myself and walk on as more drums join the chorus. There’s voices amid them.
It’s a song I don’t know.
But the music is familiar. Something old and Mandalorian. Distracted by it, I stumble out onto a footpath and this time, I fall.
My knees hit the ground, jarring me. Before I can scramble up a pair of boots appear and stop before me. They’re black, except for the dust stuck to them. A cloak hangs to the ground. I lift my gaze and find armored legs, dented beaten armor and a thick shoulder pauldron segmented and strapped together with leather. Above it all rests a helmet carved from bone.
The T-visor is unmistakable, though. This is a man I’ve only read about. Mandalore the Ultimate.
The drums are thudding in my head now, threatening my ear drums. Then they are silent.
I pant, unsure why fear has turned my skin cold, but unable to break its hold. And my eyes flicker off to see another figure far off. I cannot make them out, but they are following my path exactly.
I strain to see them, but the Mandalore moves and his hand emerges from his cloak. He reaches down and offers his hand to me. I take it. He helps me up.
Again from within the cloak, he produces another hand, this time holding a helmet, black, dented, mangled almost. It looks like it’s been through hell.
Silent, he places it in my hands. I stare at the empty visor, reflecting my own childlike face. A face I haven’t seen in years. The face of a cadet.
When I look up, I stand alone. The drums beat louder and crescendo into a flourish. The last beat strikes, hitting a chord in my heart and suddenly I’m falling, starting, and jerking awake.
#
20 BBY Indol Mines
We were wrong. Looking over the edge of the pit that spirals downward into mines I note the ranks of thin necked B1’s completing their drills, marching back and forth under the watch of an orange painted Tank Commander. SBD are stationed around old mining tracks. In the center sits a decommission crane, at least I assume that’s what it once was given the placement, and the fact this was once a mine. All that remains is the scaffolded base, though. The rest has been converted into a fully functional surface to air ion cannon.
That’s what took down our ships. That thing killed Aftermath.
Crouching along the edge it’s clear I’m outnumbered. One clone and a small battalion of droids. No doubt more wait hidden in the mines. This is their base of operations and we never knew it.
Everything before this was a front to destroy us and pick us off so the Seps could steamroll the survivors. I don’t know what they want with this planet and it’s people, but I know they sure as hell aren’t getting it.
Each droid is a blip on my HUD. I creep behind another rock and sit with my back flat to it. I grip the stolen droid blaster. If I was suicidal maybe I’d go in guns blazing. Sadly even I’m not that brave.
But I’m no idiot either. I toggle my scanner, and while it’s rudimentary compared to a real planetary scan, I can see there are in fact more red blips inside. Probably whatever patrols are keeping out predators, and no doubt more droids racked and ready for deployment.
From this vantage point I can make out one clear weakness. The mines are old, which means everythings been dug out of them. All that remains are a few rock pillars holding up the structures and scaffolding left behind by miners. A couple well placed charges and the whole thing will come crumbling down.
Aftermath would approve.
The only problem is I don’t have the ordinance. But the droids do. Among the marching chunk-chunk-chunk of the parading SBD’s are smaller droids clanking along the tracks with carts of weapons. A quick zoom on my HUD and I can make out more than enough ordinance to take down a mine. There’s enough ordinance there to take down another whole city.
They didn’t just kill Aftermath. They killed them all.
I glance back at the horizon. I haven’t seen a trooper since I left. If they are looking for me, they’ll presume me dead eventually. No one else even knows about this place except that kid. If they Jedi can get him to talk and decipher what he meant, or triangulate this position, it’ll take them hours to get through all the decisions needed to mobilize even a few troops. Chain of Command exists for a reason, but sometimes, it only gets people killed.
Whether I succeed or fail here is entirely on me.
But if I do succeed, if I survive, where do I go after?
I remain perched at the edge staring at the pit of hell before me. Surviving is slim, but it seems to be the only thing I have done so far. Every mission, every squad, I’m the survivor. Returning to the 212th will just restart the cycle. More people will die, and I’ll still be here mourning every death. I’m a walking calamity. Maybe I’m death itself.
I shake my head and steel my nerves. I can’t go back. I won’t go back.
Deserting might not be the most honorable thing to do, but if it keeps someone alive then maybe it’s the right thing to do. I’ll stay here, let them think I’m dead and hide out, live among the locals and become a quiet farmer where no one will have to remember who I am, where I come from, or why I exist.
Farming was their dream. I’ll live it for them.
A tinny voice calls out an order. I look back. I can dream later. First I need to take revenge.
Part Two coming tomorrow!
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