[General Information]
The Kucha'ujamaa is a home for those who cannot fit into their normal society for a very big reason: they are capable of murder. Any personality, any quirk or habit, any dark past or dirty secret is accepted within the Dark Brotherhood. There is only one law the Kucha'ujamaa recognize, and that is the law of the Five Tenets. The Tenets are no mere code of honor, but a neccessity to prevent the band of assassins from turning upon each other and destroying the Brotherhood from the inside out. All species are accepted, for all have those they wish dead...and who better to infiltrate them than one of their own kind?
Stealth, discretion, and the ability to seemingly 'fit in' with the outside world are valued qualities among the Brotherhood. Betrayal, however, is a death sentence. While defections happen and are accepted, endangering the existence of the Kucha'ujamaa is punished harshly.
[Ranks and General Terms]
Ranks:
Msikizi: listener (leader) - Considered the mortal representative of the Night Mother, and as such is ranked just below the Night Mother and Dread Father themselves.
Msema: speaker (council) - They oversee the day-to-day running of the Brotherhood, and assign the contracts to individual members.
Kimyaa: silence ('personal' assassin) - Each msema has one of these. They are the msema's personal assassins, responsible for any 'special contracts' that the msema might wish to assign them, and carry out the Mtakaso when neccessary. If a kimyaa should die, their place is filled by whichever mwuaji their msema chooses.
Mwuaji: killer (adult/adol) - The flesh and blood of the Brotherhood. The bulk of contracts are carried out by these trained assassins.
Mzao: child (cub/juve) - Any cubs in the care of the Brotherhood, whether born into it or otherwise, are given this rank and raised in the assassin's arts. However, their training does not begin in earnest until adolesence, when they are given a test to become full members. If they fail, they leave--under oath to never betray the Brotherhood under pain of death.
General Terms:
Weusi Sakramenti: Black Sacrament - The ritual used to show serious intent to the Kucha'ujamaa. An effigy must be formed of a heart, skull, bones, and flesh--the kind does not matter--and stricken repeatedly while speaking their request for murder in front of the msema (or the msikizi) who has agreed to meet with the 'employer.' Upon completion of the ritual, the contract is passed on to a mwuaji.
Mtakaso: Purification - Should a member (or former member) betray the Brotherhood, one of the kimyaa is sent to hunt down and eliminate them. If the damage done is not too great, the Mtakaso ends here. However, should the Brotherhood border on destruction, the msikizi will give the order for the pride to disperse until the Usiku'mzaa, through the msikizi, calls for the pride to gather again.
Usiku'mzaa: Night Mother - The patron Goddess carries this title. She hears the prayers of those wishing for vengeance, and delivers them to the msikizi.
Kicho'abu: Dread Father - Tanaka, god of Conflict, carries this title. Should a member of the Brotherhood break the Five Tenets, he has been known to personally inflict his punishment upon them. Both loved and feared, with good reason.
