I have seen too much, heard too much, and lived for too long for my species. However, it isn’t even close to the one that I have met in my journeys. It was just a short conversation at the edge of a lake, and I thought that I was the one with the wisdom. I was incredibly wrong. And now, as I am allowed to live among them for a time, I feel in the obligation to show the world their culture.

About the Blackrock Tribe, or Children of God as they call themselves, and now as I believe, they should indeed be called rather than the name given by the other races. Surprisingly, they are of varied races, from humans, elves and dwarves to dragons.

They, however, consider themselves to be of the same race, as brother and sister, lovers and friends. They show remarkable longevity, their eldest member looking like she is only twenty years old.

They also show the same characteristics. They exhibit similar characteristics, eyes and hair ranging from shades of purple to black and skin ranging from white to shades of purple and black, with pointed ears, even those who were formerly humans. They also display tattoos, generally made on the arms or face, with religious meanings.

They display immense physical strength, agility and magical capabilities, with the strongest ones being as powerful as legendary figures through history. And, in my opinion, the most interesting point in their culture is their religion.

They do believe in the gods that the other religions believe, such as the light goddess and the dark goddess, but they call them other names, and they are lesser characters in their epics. The one that receives their faith is “The Most High”, that now resides in the God’s Blood Tree.

The God’s Blood Tree, know to the outsiders, as they call the other races, as Blackrock Tree, is the origin of the God’s Blood metal, its name coming from the “Tree”. This tree isn’t made of wood, as it its name is just symbolic, as the tree is made of a mysterious substance, similar to a crystal.

And now, it’s a good time to talk about said tree. Nobody outside the Children of God know about it’s origin, and they do not share it with me or anyone that isn’t part of their tribe. Their whole society is created around this tree, it’s “roots” feed the fields, which are made of actual completely black trees that grows dark red fruits, and each branch that falls feed their forges to create their weapons.

Their god resides within the tree, and when a newcomer arrives, he goes to pray to the tree and returns as a new member of the Children of God. The selection process is a weird one. The Properties of the God’s Blood metal is widely known as dangerous and volatile. And, recently, I was allowed to approach the tree.

I also saw their “God”, and felt His presence. It was just pressure, pure and simple, as if someone was pressing me down with his thumb. And, on the base of the tree, I saw a human shape inside the crystal, supposedly, their God. I couldn’t see any details, but I definitely felt that shape staring at me.

It was eye opening, personally. I was also able to see the process of joining their race up close. But first, I must talk about the metal that is processed, the God’s Blood. A thousand years ago, many ingots of this mysterious metal were found all over the world, in every single continent, even among the demon race.

The ingots were extremely good to conduct magic, amplifying at no cost at all, and being extremely hard to forge. However, the black metal with red veins, that pulsate like blood, has another property. It “whispers” to whomever is wounded by the metal. The name is also from the Tree, and the metal is supposedly the God’s blood in a crystalized form.

The whispers only happen when the wounded person is close to the metal, and the contents vary. From unknown languages, to techniques of varied levels, locations where something special awaits the listener… and most often than the other cases, whispers of forbidden knowledge that drives the listeners insane.

And, in the most rare cases of them all, the whispers lead the listener here, to the Children of God to be “adopted”. Not only that, the whole “family” seems to share their thoughts at some degree, and due to that and telepathical abilities, the village is mostly silent all the time, where nobody speaks with their mouths.

So, constantly during the days, the village seems dead for someone observing from outside, as they have the habit of moving silently and stealthily all the time. And that “hivemind” seems what allows them to know when somebody that is approaching is someone that was brought here by the God’s Blood.

When they arrive, they are received warmly, and receive their first tattoo. After a purifying bath with special herbs, they are dressed in white ceremonial clothes, similar to robes, apparently called kimono.

With their purification done, there are escorted to the tree, where they kneel in front of their God, and forsake their previous beliefs, and swearing to serve eternally their now God, as well living for the sake of the tribe.

Essentially, swearing their lives and destinies to the God. And, if the pledge is accepted by the God and is from the bottom of the heart, they are accepted by the Tribe. In the case of the one that I have seen, it was a male dark dwarf, who was a master smith.

His old frame turned young, his old muscles bulging up again. His white hair turning into dark purple, his previous dark brown skin turned dark purple, and his golden eyes turned bright purple, with his previously round ears turning slightly pointed.

This was an amazing experience, and I hope to see something like this again. But for now, I will finish this here, and I hope to understand a bit more of their unique architecture and ceremonies.