Punth: Ka-Punth Generator

Yoon-Suin inspired a certain amount of Punth: A Primer, notably some of the 'deliberate mystery' regarding the Qryth and their nature and motivations. Following my work reviewing the second edition of Yoon-Suin, it occurred to me that I hadn't applied used the structure of tables in the same way. Punth itself would make for a poor subject for something like the Starting Polity tables for the Hundred Kingdoms: the central regularising element of the Codes rather get in the way. But the fringe tribes of the Ka-Punth might benefit from this. 

Leadership Style

1. Paranoid - the leaders of the tribe are constantly on the look-out for foes within and without, as well as more insidious dangers.
2. Acquisitive - the leaders of the tribe seek more: more territory, more resources, more weapons.
3. Vain - the leaders seek acclaim and flattery.
4. Quietist - the leadership are keenly aware of their relative smallness and seek not to disturb their neighbours.
5. Fanatic - be it grudge, whim, passion, mission or djinn's command, the tribe's leadership have a cause in mind and dedicate themselves wholly to it.
6. Opportunist - the tribe's leadership look to enrich themselves at any opportunity, no matter how slight. 
7. Scholarly - the tribe's leadership seek knowledge: of the Fallen Tower, of the Qryth, of the howling powers of the desert. 
8. Indecisive - these leaders are given to putting off decisions and consulting as many relevant parties as possible.
9. Bloody-handed - the leadership maintain power inside (and project power outside) with spectacular examples of cruelty.
10. Unifier - the leadership seek to pool resources among the Ka-Punth.
11. Scrupulous - the leadership are painstaking about details and proprieties.
12. Client Kings - the leadership owe their rule or prosperity to a foreign power, and will act to benefit that power.

Manner of Rule

1. Shamanic College: An Oligarchy tempered by Fits and Visions - and always open to Talent.
2. Warlord and Comitatus: A Charismatic Warrior and their closest comrades, with succession determined by by impromptu democracy, ritual duals and heavy drinking (or a combination of the above.)
3. Mage-Blooded Lineage: The djinn speak clearest to a particular family line, for reasons of their own. The result is hereditary monarchy, of a kind - with competition for right-hand man status.
4. Kritarchy: Rule by makers of law, precedent and tradition and interpreters of law, precedent and tradition. No-one wants to do something unprecedented around a djinn, or for a djinn to do something unprecedented.
5. Merchant Prince: The tribe is led by a master trader and negotiator who maintains their prosperity in the shifting state of the Punth borderlands. Until they don't.
6. Priest and King: spiritual leadership and temporal power are given to two rulers, who each exercise full authority in their own sphere. The conditions for succession are particular to that sphere.
7. Clan Council: the tribe regularly gathers into a Ka-Punth althing to decide on policy, distribute prizes and determine responsibility.  
8. Daimonocracy: a djinn governs the tribe directly, somehow. 

Relation to Djinn

1. No djinn are in this tribe's orbit.
2. Spirits drift in and out of the tribe's awareness.
3. One particular djinn has made this tribe their own.
4. The tribe maintains careful ties to a number of shades and spirits.
5. Several djinn take a special interest in the tribe.
6. The tribe is fully attached to the djinn as a body.

Characteristic Customs

1. This tribe wear ornate woven sashes to identify themselves.
2. This tribe are 'born in the saddle' and form strong bonds with their mounts.
3. This tribe has an excellent knowledge of Punthite Codes, frequently used for parody.
4. This tribe are known as leaping, twisting, remarkable dancers.
5. This tribe practices ritual scarification; whether or not the scars are displayed depends on the reason and placement of the scar.
6. This tribe are known to use bizarre, difficult to master weapons.
7. This tribe has a vivid and fascinating epic poem detailing an episode in their history committed to memory by some of their members (and often quoted by the rest).
8. Many members of this tribe have a photographic memory.
9. This tribe regards a certain animal as not just symbolic, but positively sacred. If domesticated, they will adorn them and their cages; if wild, they will leave offerings by their lairs.
10. This tribe is either: a. Highly matriarchal, b. Highly patriarchal, c. alternate between a. and b. with the generations or d. Suspiciously egalitarian. 
11. Members of this tribe endure physical hardship and other such trials with great forbearance. 
12. This tribe is widely regarded as cursed.
13. This tribe go veiled at all times, as far as anyone on the outside can tell.
14. This tribe are very keen on falconry. This has very little use in war, but everyone thinks it's pretty cool.
15. This tribe regards raiding as not just a pleasant occupation to be practiced when opportunity presents, but as a way of life.
16. This tribe are staunch Chauvinists.
17. Perhaps as a result of living so near to the followers of the Codes, this tribe are terrifyingly literal.
18. This tribe are known to be forthright and dramatic, and are given to monologuing.
19. This tribe really want to hear about your god or gods and add them to their pantheon.
20. Members of this tribe are known as being insatiably curious.

Size

1. A Company.
2. A Regiment.
3. A Brigade.
4. A Division.

Relationship with the nearest power

(The nearest powers being: Punth, The Nirvanite Empire, the River Kingdoms of the South, the Eight Vales of Marikylo to the east, the Hydraulic Dwarves of the Dividing Mountains and - occasionally - the League of Civic Etiquette from across the sea).

1. The tribe fear and avoid the nearest power.
2. The tribe frequently raid the nearest power.
3. The tribe have been implacable foes of the nearest power for untold generations.
4. The tribe benefit from an unspoken understanding with the nearest power that preserves their lands as a buffer.
5. The tribe are maintain active and profitable relations with the nearest power.
6. The tribe are in a formal alliance with the nearest power.
7. The tribe are being employed as proxies by the nearest power for their own ends.
8. The tribe are being employed as proxies by the nearest power and actively wish to cease this arrangement.
9. The tribe are very eager to gain the protection and resources of the nearest power.
10. The tribe are attempting to draw the nearest power into conflict with their enemies, to maintain their own independence.

Assets

1. A series of concealed cisterns and watering-places.
2. A small stable of successfully tamed and broken Qryth beasts.
3. A number of interpreters who have a well-developed understanding of the speech and script of pre-Qryth Punth.
4. Control of a shady canyon that serves as a meeting-place and trade hub for Ka-Punth tribes.
5. More gold (or other portable wealth) than the tribe knows what to do with, and far more than anyone suspects.
6. A hidden, wondrously fertile valley.
7. Control of an entrance to ruins of the fallen tower.
8. Possession of an ancient Qryth device.
9. A major pilgrimage site (be it for another tribe, many other tribes or a regional power) lies in this tribe's territory.
10. A sect of talented healers and hedge-wizards bolster the tribes capabilities.
11. A group of some of the swiftest and most secret couriers in all Punth.
12. A surprisingly large and extensive library; the tribe's leadership probably know far more about the outside world than they are letting on.

Problems

1. There is broad, popular discontent among the many of the tribe.
2. There is discontent and conspiracy among the tribe's elite.
3. There is strong evidence of a witch among the tribe, cursing them and employing sorcery for their own selfish ends!
4. Disease ravages the tribe (if there are talented healers in the assets above, it's an especially potent plague).
5. Famine or drought ravage the tribe (again, if there is a wondrously fertile valley in the assets above, it is a very bad famine indeed!).
6. A deep-seated feud within the tribe has bubbled into new and fervid life.
7. Infiltration by a regional power or simply another tribe threatens one of the tribe's assets - or the tribe itself.
8. On account of war or depression or disaster, trade through this tribe's territory has slowed.
9. A key resource - arms, mounts, coin, salt, ritual cauldrons - is in dangerously short supply. 
10. There is a power vacuum at the head of this tribe, no obvious successor has yet stood up to direct it and no-one wants to take major decisions until they do.

***

Notes

• Some prompts for this also come from the Khanates and March of Empire tables for The Wicked City.
• As before, Punth has a lot of Near Eastern or Middle Eastern elements that can be whittled down by those using the Primer. This extends to the Ka-Punth. If you want to move away from the obvious Bedouin or Tuareg influences (or, indeed, Fremen - that is, Dagestani...), by all means do. Perhaps Bornu cavalry are an option. Or the Comanche.