Slovan

Slovan Culture

The Slovan are the most populous culture in Mizra'aki, but Slovan land contains a massive diversity of political and economic structures, governments ranging from radically democratic to pseudo-fascistic, and cultural traditions ranging from state-enforced secularism to several thriving religious structures.
So what makes them all Slovan?
Like many things, it's complicated. Slovan culture combines two underlying ideas:

Reysel, an essential individualism that promotes the possibilities open to all people; and

Kanit, a stance towards the evaluation of the material world as proof of success.

Slovan Individualism

Reysel refers to the untapped possibilities that dwell in every living being. It is the root of legend and fables, and in a world where some small percentage of the population develop immense and often supernatural power, there is plenty of evidence for its existence. This bears reflection: Reysel is not American individualism, which is largely mythic; instead, it refers to something that rarely, but regularly, exists in the world of Alemi.
Reysel is a different concept than fate or destiny: those are actions, Reysel is potential.

Slovan Virtue

Kanit refers to the legitimacy of the many paths to worldly success. Again, there is nuance here: far more than an insistence of something as simple as the ends justify the means, Kanit refers to an acceptance--even an insistence--that there are many ways to succeed in the world, as an individual (and here is where Kanit and Reysel combine), as a collective, as a nation.
Kanit does suggest a fluid morality, for sure, for as the Slovan saying goes, If there is food in the hearth and the roof holds water, what else is there?
It is, therefore, a testament to something else, some unnamed and unspoken part of the Slovan world view, that prevents the entire region from collapsing into dictatorship and tyranny.

Slovan Diversity

The history of other Slovan states mirrors the diversity of their cosmology, even down to the names of regions and cities, where more variance and less fealty to a single linguistic and/or cultural group is seen than anywhere else in Mizra'aki.
That said, this same diversity does not extend to all races: many Slovan cities have very few Dwarves. While some claim this is because they are all living in hiding beneath the Vanahrut Mountains, the truth is many Slovans hold very poor opinions of Dwarves, and actively discourage them from remaining in Slovan territory. In related news, many parts of the Slovan world are particularly welcoming to Gnomes.

Related Organizations

• Circle of the Black Swan
• Kobeshek's Dissent