Murder Island

Murder Island

Official name	Island of Murders and Monsters
Common name	Murder Island
Type	Sealed island world, survival territory, inhabited homeland and selection ground
Setting	Tribal Universe
Population	Chamber survivors, island-born residents, Varukima, warriors, clans, villages, war bands and hidden communities
Political status	Historically divided and contested; never permanently controlled in full by one power
Major powers	Ka’Rukan Empire • The Five • tribal selection systems connected to Nebu, Gia and Terra
Major locations	Khar’Rukan • Six-Flame Palace • Koth’Mara Wilds • Nhem’Rakul • The Arena • The Thirteen Chambers
Supernatural force	Ka’ru
Connected to	The Calling • Varukima • The Five • Rimitorry Ka’ Tora
Ordinary escape	Effectively impossible
Sanctioned exit	The Calling, for eligible survivors selected by one of the major tribes
First appearance	Tribal Bloody Beginnings: The Rise of the Dark Alpha
Major expansion	Rimitorry: Daughter of the Dark Alpha
Created by	Tony James Nelson II, writing as Tribal Brown

Murder Island, formally described as the Island of Murders and Monsters, is a sealed island world and one of the central locations of the Tribal Universe. It is the physical home of the Thirteen Chambers, the ancient Arena, the Calling, generations of Varukima, island-born families and numerous rival societies shaped by survival, warfare and Ka’ru.

Although outsiders frequently describe Murder Island as a prison, cursed territory or proving ground, later canon establishes that it is also a complete inhabited world. It contains forests, rivers, cliffs, villages, cities, hidden settlements, warrior camps, old bloodlines, ruling families and children born on the island who have never known another home.

The island has no single permanent ruler. Different territories have been controlled by clans, independent settlements, war bands and expanding powers such as the Ka’Rukan Empire. Even at the height of Ka’Rukan’s early expansion, large areas of Murder Island remained outside imperial control.

This article contains major plot details from Tribal Bloody Beginnings: The Rise of the Dark Alpha, Rimitorry: Daughter of the Dark Alpha and related Tribal stories.

Overview

Murder Island is both a geographical location and a system of survival.

For children sent through the Thirteen Chambers, the island becomes a prison from which ordinary escape is considered impossible. Chamber survivors may remain there for years or decades after completing the formal trials. Some eventually become Varukima, while others join settlements, form war bands, raise families or die in the island’s wilderness.

For island-born residents, however, Murder Island is not an unfamiliar testing ground. It is their birthplace and homeland. Characters such as Rimitorry Ka’ Tora grow up among its villages, territories, forests and political conflicts rather than arriving only after completing the Chambers.

This distinction makes Murder Island larger than the formal Tribal trial system. The Chambers, the Arena and the Calling operate within the island, but they do not represent everything that exists there.

The island supports:

• permanent cities and defended capitals;
• villages and border settlements;
• hidden communities and old clans;
• conquered and independent territories;
• chamber survivors and former candidates;
• island-born children and multigenerational families;
• Varukima and other trainers;
• warriors without formal tribal allegiance;
• ancient wilderness beyond the control of any empire;
• dangerous animals, unexplained beings and supernatural forces.

Geography and isolation

Murder Island is described as a place that cannot be held by an ordinary map and is rarely searched for by sane outsiders. It contains black-stone ridges, dense forests, cliffs, rivers, ravines, hidden hollows and coastal waters associated with powerful currents and ancient dangers.

The island appears to resist both exploration and escape. Paths may disappear beneath vegetation, hidden settlements can remain unknown for generations, and some regions seem to possess an almost living awareness of the people moving through them.

The waters surrounding Murder Island are considered nearly impossible to cross without authorization. According to the records examined in Tribal Bloody Beginnings, attempts to swim away are defeated by the currents and creatures in the surrounding sea. Boats are also unable to provide a reliable escape, while magical methods are disrupted or consumed by the island’s influence.

As a result, Murder Island is treated as a closed world. Many inhabitants live and die without seeing the societies beyond its waters.

Political divisions

Before the rise of the Ka’Rukan Empire, Murder Island was divided among villages, warrior camps, old bloodlines, hidden clans and territorial families. Authority belonged to those capable of defending land, resources and followers.

There was no island-wide government. Political power changed through:

• conquest;
• alliance;
• bloodline;
• survival reputation;
• control of roads and rivers;
• access to food, medicine and weapons;
• command of warriors;
• strength of Ka’ru;
• fear created through past victories.

The island’s political culture generally rewards power that can be demonstrated and maintained. A person may claim land, status or leadership, but those claims remain meaningful only while the person can protect them.

This principle contributes to the rise of The Five, whose growing Ka’ru and military victories disrupt the island’s existing balance.

The Ka’Rukan Empire

The Ka’Rukan Empire, also known as the Empire of Ka’ru-Blood and sometimes called the Five Empire, is one of the most important powers to emerge on Murder Island.

It is founded by the warriors who become known as The Five:

• the future Conri Tora;
• Utrea;
• Kavumo Dlamini;
• Knargz;
• Zuberi Ka’ Nalo.

Nim’Raza is also part of their surviving family and power structure. Although public songs and symbols frequently focus on five figures, the Six-Flame Palace and its six towers acknowledge her place beside them.

The empire begins as defended territory surrounding The Five and their children. It expands after the kidnapping of Rimitorry Ka’ Tora, an event that convinces her father that protecting a small territory will never be enough.

Ka’Rukan gradually claims:

• border forests;
• river crossings;
• hunting paths;
• ridges;
• villages;
• trade and tribute roads;
• farming territory;
• fortified settlements.

The empire’s central city is Khar’Rukan, a capital constructed from black stone and surrounded by defended walls, towers and red banners. At its center stands the Six-Flame Palace, the home of The Five, Nim’Raza and the children raised beneath their protection.

Despite its expansion, Ka’Rukan does not conquer the entire island. Large territories remain beyond imperial authority.

Khar’Rukan

Khar’Rukan is the capital of the Ka’Rukan Empire.

The city is built into the side of a dark ridge and protected by walls carved into the stone. Its gates display the imperial mark of five cuts through a circle. Inside the walls are markets, training yards, smokehouses, weapon halls, gardens, healing rooms, homes and military facilities.

Khar’Rukan represents the transformation of The Five from wandering survivors and territorial warriors into the center of an organized empire.

To Ka’Rukan’s children, the city is simultaneously:

• a home;
• a fortress;
• a school;
• a military center;
• a symbol of family power;
• and, at times, a form of imprisonment.

The Six-Flame Palace

The Six-Flame Palace is the ruling residence at the center of Khar’Rukan.

Its six towers represent the six survivors and powers seated at Ka’Rukan’s high table. Although the empire’s public symbol contains five cuts, the palace preserves Nim’Raza’s place beside the more publicly celebrated Five.

The palace is also the childhood home of several major Tribal Universe characters, including:

• Rimitorry Ka’ Tora;
• Eshari;
• Polezah;
• Sakori;
• Zafira;
• Khalembo;
• other children taken in, rescued or claimed by the ruling family.

The palace is governed by a strong principle of protection. Children accepted into its inner family are treated as belonging to the household and are defended with extreme force.

Koth’Mara Wilds

The Koth’Mara Wilds are among the largest unconquered regions of Murder Island.

They lie beyond the defended walls, tribute roads, guarded farms and watchtowers of Ka’Rukan. The Wilds are inhabited by independent survivors, Varukima, failed champions, hunters, raiders and war bands without recognized banners.

The region is associated with:

• old killing grounds;
• survivors who have lived for decades;
• former trainers;
• people born outside established cities;
• hidden camps;
• kidnappers and raiders;
• groups hostile to Ka’Rukan;
• dangerous inhabitants whose exact numbers are unknown.

The existence of the Koth’Mara Wilds proves that even powerful rulers do not possess complete authority over Murder Island. At the height of Ka’Rukan’s early power, the empire controls cities, roads, villages, rivers and ridges, but not the entire island.

Nhem’Rakul

Nhem’Rakul, meaning the Hollow Where Fire Dies, is a hidden settlement located inside a bowl of black cliffs beneath enormous roots.

Its homes are attached to stone walls, while rope bridges connect raised platforms. Smoke is hidden through underground openings rather than released from exposed fires, allowing the settlement to remain concealed from enemies.

Nhem’Rakul is associated with:

• Zharo Vhun;
• Oshara Venn;
• Ma’rek Zhul;
• Tavu Nhek;
• Eru’Kai;
• Nahla Voss;
• Kovi Renn;
• Sura Keth;
• Veyu Orak.

The settlement becomes important after Zharo Vhun’s group kidnaps four-year-old Rimitorry. The decision is intended to control or redirect The Five but instead brings them directly to Nhem’Rakul.

The Five destroy the settlement’s adult military resistance while rescuing Rimitorry. The surviving children are taken into the expanding Ka’Rukan territory. The attack becomes an important turning point in the creation of the Ka’Rukan Empire.

The Thirteen Chambers

The Thirteen Chambers are a brutal trial system physically located within structures buried on Murder Island.

Children placed into the system endure thirteen major stages of physical, psychological and social conditioning. The Chambers are designed to remove dependence on ordinary identity and replace it with survival behavior, group strategy, obedience and combat ability.

The Thirteen Chambers form the first stage of the formal Murder Island system. Surviving them does not result in freedom. After completing the Chambers, candidates are released into the larger island environment and expected to survive indefinitely.

This distinction is important:

• the Chambers are structured trials;
• Murder Island is the larger world in which the survivors must continue living;
• the Calling is the selection process that may eventually remove an eligible survivor.

Many candidates survive the Chambers only to die later in the forests, territories and conflicts of the island.

The Varukima

The Varukima are experienced survivors associated with training children inside the Murder Island system.

They are not generally imported instructors. Most are previous survivors who remained on the island and were selected, permitted or forced to train later generations.

Varukima teach:

• weapons;
• hunting;
• tracking;
• endurance;
• tactical thinking;
• pain resistance;
• group combat;
• survival under extreme conditions.

Their position is intentionally dangerous. The children they train may later face them in trials or become part of the generation that replaces them.

Not every Varukima follows the same methods. Some treat training as preparation necessary for survival. Others abuse their authority and inflict suffering beyond what is required.

Many former Varukima also live beyond the formal training grounds, particularly in wilderness regions such as the Koth’Mara Wilds.

The Calling

The Calling is the only widely recognized and sanctioned route by which eligible Murder Island survivors may leave the island.

A Calling occurs when one of the major tribes requires new leadership, champions or warriors. Candidates are summoned to the island’s ancient Arena and must compete under the rules established by the tribe conducting the selection.

Winning does not represent ordinary freedom. The survivor is selected and taken from Murder Island because the tribe has a use for that person.

Most eligible inhabitants never receive a Calling. They may remain on the island for decades or for the rest of their lives.

Under the ordinary rules described in Tribal Bloody Beginnings, children born on Murder Island are not automatically eligible to compete in a Calling. They may watch the tournament and live within island societies but are generally excluded from the selection system unless removed through exceptional family, political or supernatural circumstances.

Nebu Calling

The Nebu Calling emphasizes group power, hierarchy and coordinated combat.

Nebu does not always seek a lone victor. Its selection structure can favor a group of survivors capable of filling the connected positions required by Nebu leadership and military order.

Gia Calling

The Gia Calling follows a more direct elimination structure.

It emphasizes dominance, individual survival and the ability to defeat all remaining opponents. Gia’s Calling is the closest to a traditional single-victor battle structure.

Terra Calling

The Terra Calling tests restraint rather than unrestricted killing.

Candidates must defeat opponents without killing them. The rule requires enough force to win while maintaining enough control to avoid delivering a fatal ending.

Terra’s Calling is therefore a test of whether a survivor shaped by Murder Island can become a weapon capable of being controlled or sheathed.

The Arena

The Arena is the ancient fighting ground where Callings are decided.

Its rules change according to the tribe conducting the Calling. The Arena is therefore both a physical location and a political instrument through which Nebu, Gia and Terra obtain new leaders or champions.

The names of successful candidates are preserved, while the majority of Murder Island’s dead disappear without formal recognition.

Ka’ru on Murder Island

Ka’ru is the internal energy or life-force that shapes much of Murder Island’s power system.

Ka’ru may be developed through:

• training;
• combat;
• pain;
• fear;
• endurance;
• victory;
• emotional bonds;
• survival.

It can enhance speed, strength, healing, endurance, awareness and instinct.

Ka’ru can also be drained, suppressed, shaped or stolen. Under certain conditions, killing another person allows part of the victim’s accumulated Ka’ru to pass into the killer. The amount transferred depends on factors such as strength, age, skill, bloodline, knowledge and the life lived by the person who died.

This creates one of the island’s most important unwritten laws: death is not always the end of power. A dangerous kill may strengthen the survivor who caused it.

The system encourages a culture in which powerful opponents are both threats and potential sources of greater strength.

Magic and the island

Magic exists on Murder Island but does not consistently dominate it.

The island interferes with magical power, making spells unreliable, unstable or ineffective. Both Rimitorry: Daughter of the Dark Alpha and Tribal Bloody Beginnings describe Murder Island as favoring physical survival, blood, breath, will and Ka’ru over conventional magic.

This does not mean supernatural events are absent. The island is associated with:

• prophetic encounters;
• unexplained figures;
• ancient memory;
• unusual creatures;
• paths that appear to change;
• energy transfer through death;
• beings whose age or nature is uncertain.

Characters frequently speak of the island as though it can watch, remember, choose and balance events. Whether these descriptions are literal, spiritual or cultural remains partly unresolved.

Population and society

Murder Island contains several overlapping populations.

Chamber survivors

Chamber survivors are people brought into the trial system as children. After completing the Thirteen Chambers, they remain on the island until death, selection or another exceptional event.

Some become:

• Varukima;
• hunters;
• warriors;
• settlement leaders;
• raiders;
• members of permanent communities;
• candidates for a future Calling.

Island-born residents

Island-born residents are the descendants of people who remained on Murder Island.

They may be born into villages, families, hidden settlements, war bands or political powers. They do not necessarily experience the island as a temporary test. It is the only world many of them know.

Rimitorry Ka’ Tora is one of the most prominent island-born characters. Her early life demonstrates that Murder Island contains family homes, childhood relationships, political inheritance and permanent societies beyond the formal candidate system.

Clans and settlements

Many inhabitants live in organized communities rather than wandering alone.

These include:

• territorial villages;
• hidden hollows;
• fortified cities;
• border settlements;
• warrior camps;
• old bloodline communities;
• farming and hunting settlements;
• imperial territories.

The destruction or conquest of a settlement often results in surviving children being absorbed by another family, tribe or political power.

War bands and independent survivors

Some inhabitants reject permanent settlement or formal rule.

They form war bands, hunting groups or temporary alliances. Their loyalty is based on survival, fear, resources and immediate advantage rather than permanent law.

Laws of survival

Murder Island does not possess one universal written legal code. However, several recurring principles shape life there:

• Power must be defended — authority lasts only while it can be protected.
• Nothing is wasted — food, weapons, knowledge, blood and Ka’ru may all be taken from the dead.
• Survival creates status — old age often indicates exceptional danger because few people survive long without becoming difficult to kill.
• Children learn early — combat, hiding, tracking and threat recognition are taught from a young age.
• Family is protection — biological and chosen families can become the strongest available defense.
• Names carry power — names may represent bloodline, ownership, inheritance, reputation or resistance.
• Ordinary escape is impossible — leaving requires selection, extraordinary intervention or power beyond the normal island rules.
• Safety is territorial — protection usually ends where a family, settlement or empire can no longer enforce it.

Importance to The Five

Murder Island is the location that shapes The Five before their later roles in Nebu, Gia and Terra.

They survive the Chambers, fight together on the island, develop their Ka’ru and establish bonds that continue after the Callings divide them.

The island is also where they become parents, guardians and rulers.

The kidnapping of Rimitorry reveals a vulnerability in their existing territory. Her father concludes that defending one small area cannot guarantee the family’s safety. This belief contributes to his campaign of conquest and the creation of Ka’Rukan.

The island therefore shapes the future Dark Alpha in two different ways:

• it teaches him to survive;
• it teaches him that love can be used against him.

His attempt to remove every possible threat eventually helps transform protection into empire.

Importance to Rimitorry

Murder Island is Rimitorry Ka’ Tora’s birthplace and childhood home.

She learns its laws before she fully understands them. She is trained to hide weapons, track movement, recognize silence, control Ka’ru and defend the children around her.

Her story expands the island beyond the information revealed in Tribal Bloody Beginnings. Through Rimitorry’s childhood, the island is shown as:

• an inhabited homeland;
• the birthplace of royal children;
• the location of the Ka’Rukan Empire;
• a world of rival settlements;
• a place where children form chosen families;
• an environment in which protection and conquest become difficult to separate.

For Rimitorry, Murder Island is both the place that wounds her and the place that creates her identity.

Themes and interpretation

Murder Island represents several recurring themes in the Tribal Universe.

Survival as inheritance

Children inherit more than names and bloodlines. They inherit enemies, unfinished wars, survival habits and methods of violence established by earlier generations.

Protection becoming control

Many island powers begin by attempting to protect a family or community. As their territory expands, protection may become conquest, containment or domination.

Childhood under violence

Children on Murder Island are often forced to become observant, capable and dangerous before they are emotionally prepared. Their strength is usually presented as both an achievement and a wound.

Identity through function

The formal Tribal system frequently reduces people to roles, numbers, weapons or candidates. Chosen names and family relationships become ways of resisting that reduction.

The cost of power

Ka’ru can reward survival and killing, creating a world in which violence may provide literal physical power. Characters must therefore decide whether strength is something they command or something that eventually commands them.

Appearances

Murder Island is featured or discussed in:

• Tribal Bloody Beginnings: The Rise of the Dark Alpha
• Rimitorry: Daughter of the Dark Alpha
• Tribal Comics Issue 2: Murder Island
• other stories and adaptations set within the Tribal Universe

In Tribal Comics

Murder Island lore is visualized in Tribal Comics Issue 2: Murder Island, which adapts elements of the island doctrine and survival system.

External links

• Tribal Comics Issue 2: Murder Island on Google Play Books

See also

• Rimitorry Ka’ Tora
• Rimitorry: Daughter of the Dark Alpha
• Ka’Rukan Empire
• Khar’Rukan
• Six-Flame Palace
• Koth’Mara Wilds
• Nhem’Rakul
• Zharo Vhun
• The Five
• Conri Tora
• Utrea
• Nim’Raza
• Ka’ru
• Varukima
• The Calling
• The Arena
• The Thirteen Chambers
• Tribal Bloody Beginnings: The Rise of the Dark Alpha
• Tribal Universe