I feel like maybe these people are lacking in cultural and interpersonal depth. I set out to play with certain tropes in ways that amuse me (and I know I got that right), but as a culture they seem rather plain.
I feel like maybe these people are lacking in cultural and interpersonal depth. I set out to play with certain tropes in ways that amuse me (and I know I got that right), but as a culture they seem rather plain.
I enjoyed the write-up, but I see what you mean about the lack of cultural depth (put most assuredly intended for the deep folk). Also liked what you said about the other comment in terms of cultural motivation. But how they need to survive can play directly into those motivations.
Perhaps people are starting to delve too deeply for minerals and ores, and are encountering these folks in even greater numbers? They see the firearms they possess and are starting to pry into their smything. The priests are nervous it could cause conflict if the don’t acquiesce, but would spell ruin if they did.
How they react to such triggers could certainly help broaden their cultural leanings.
I’ll take the pun in stride, and I like the idea of a tension between their necessary secrecy about the guns and a deep yearning for contact with the above ground world of humans. What makes sightings so common is that yearning, but their mystique comes from the fact that if anyone on the outside knows too much, they become an existential threat.
Maybe there’s an MIB parallel in there somewhere.
That MIB parallel makes me think of a religious secret society, keeping the secrets of the surface from the regular pukafolk, and keeping the surface from interacting too much with their underground. Probably more heavily leaning toward repressing interest in going to the surface via fear and such.
You might have done me a huge favor. I was assuming the MIBs would be above grounders suppressing Pukalore, but how much cooler is it if Puka have a sect of MIB-alikes who suppress ABOVE GROUNDER LORE gaaaaasp that’s why they always snoop around creeping people out aaaaa hahaha that’s amazing