Because people asked and the other thread seems to have died.
Please nitpick the heck out of this. It does have more references to Thundercats, which I’ll explain as they show up.
Okelen is the language of the Okala tribe (plural Okalen), the guardians of the plants. They travel across the galaxy and are accepted (if not usually welcomed) even on Plundarr*. They are renowned for their pride and courtesy.
(Plundarr would be where the mutants were from. Basically Plundarr = mean nasty guys)
Okalen have no domesticated animals and most of their farming is for preservation purposes. It is an ideal to eat as little vegetation as possible (made rather more achievable since, unlike humans, Thunderians were originally purely carnivorous.) Apparently the feeling is that a servant of plants should not eat what he guards. A popular technique is to eat the stomach with contents of animals they know eat the plants they need. It is cooked into a pudding* with the fat and blood. Other Okalen feel that as long as harvesting the plant does not kill it, it may be eaten (thus root crops and many grains are forbidden, but fruits, nuts, flowers, etc are allowed) However, they have no moral qualms against using plants for medicinal purposes, with the same no-killing caveat (and occasionally recreational uses, although that is condemned under a different weakness.)
(*mmm, haggis like.)
A great deal of the plants on Thundera are called by the Okelen name.
Like the rest of Thunderians, the Okalen started as hunters. They are patriarchal, although the women do hold a lot of power, and polytheistic. Most observers would believe them to be agnostic or atheistic, but the Okalen do hold their gods and traditions very close to their hearts. Although they respect Taillo & Tailla like the rest of Thundera, they still hold to their old traditions and revere Osalis and Iraj.
There is archeological and mythological evidence that the Okalen originated on the plains* and were chased into the valley* before it was closed off… The men were hunters and gatherers while the women maintained the homes, made weapons and other tools, and farmed. The men would go on long trips up the mountains and down the cliff to gather food. The valley is lush with many temporary streams during the spring.
- (I’ll be coming up with names for these places at some point)
The Okalen have an unique ability to sense life and it’s flow from one organism to another. This lifesense (sril) is different from any other Thunderian psychic power, such as the Psy clan’s ‘sixth’ sense* or the magic of the Jaguar clan.*
- (Psy clan would be what Cheetara belongs to. The sixth sense is at it’s most powerful basically remote viewing and otherwise just a sense of warning. The Jaguar clan would be what Jaga and Jagara belong to. They do unexplained ‘magic’ things. Like dying and becoming ghosts, ala Obi-wan Kenobi.)
Mirna (usually translated as lifemate or soulmate) is somewhat of an idealistic concept. It is said that each person has another with whom their soul will fit perfectly, however most Okalen do not ever met theirs and there are stories (usually quite romantic and tragic) of two mirna who end up married to other people, or separated by the void of space, or ruining their lives to be together. All told it is a rare and private thing, and more of a dream than a reality for most.
It’s unorganized, incomplete, and rather rambley. And incredibly self-indulgent since it’s based on one character I made up.