Egou'gata Orenindi
The Children of the Sewer
Underneath the streets of the Grand Market of Skala-Tuq there are sewers. These sewers are just as massive as the market. The sewers collect the unwanted waste and wash it into the Outer Ocean. While the first few levels are generally maintained by city workers, the levels below are ignored, and there you will find the domain of the Egou'gata Orenindi.
The Egou are children who have been given to the sewers; forgotten, lost or cast off. In the sewers they are found and taken in by the others who have come before them.
Children come to the Egou through various means. If they are small enough they can be washed down past the High Levels to the Egou, or perhaps a raiding party finds them in the High Levels. If they are older and they have run away, then a raiding party will take them. If they are lost, depending on the Family, the chid may be aided in finding their way back to the Grand Market, or they may be aided to finding their way deeper into the Lower Levels. Not all Egou Families share they same perspectives.
Once found a child is adopted by the Family that found them. The Egou are nomadic hunter-gathers who use the environs of the Sewers to live. The Families follow a complex territorial system that the leaders of Families know. There is trade between Families and through pre-arranged traditions with a select few merchants from the Grand Market. From these trades the Families gain access to goods and news from the Realm.
There are no adults in the Families of the Egou'gata Orenindi. All Families participate in their one shared tradition the - VerdaTe'Whito (The Becoming Old). When you are no longer a child you have the VerdaTe'Whito and are no longer one of the Egou.
Egou Families have an average size of 20 - 40 members. While they have a family structure, with one person who is the Father (regardless of gender) and one person who is the Mother (regardless of gender), they do not have typical traditional family roles. The need to survive in the Lower Levels requires a more practical, brutal and economic perspective around life and membership.
Fathers make decisions about territorial movement, negotiations with other Families, raiding parties, and trading with the Grand Market, in general. Mothers make decisions regarding how the Family is organized, which members are responsible for task, resources, and adoptions. In larger Families these responsibilities are often delegated to trusted experienced members, especially if they are being mentored for succession when the current Mother or Father is close to adulthood.
The Egou are children who have been given to the sewers; forgotten, lost or cast off. In the sewers they are found and taken in by the others who have come before them.
Children come to the Egou through various means. If they are small enough they can be washed down past the High Levels to the Egou, or perhaps a raiding party finds them in the High Levels. If they are older and they have run away, then a raiding party will take them. If they are lost, depending on the Family, the chid may be aided in finding their way back to the Grand Market, or they may be aided to finding their way deeper into the Lower Levels. Not all Egou Families share they same perspectives.
Once found a child is adopted by the Family that found them. The Egou are nomadic hunter-gathers who use the environs of the Sewers to live. The Families follow a complex territorial system that the leaders of Families know. There is trade between Families and through pre-arranged traditions with a select few merchants from the Grand Market. From these trades the Families gain access to goods and news from the Realm.
There are no adults in the Families of the Egou'gata Orenindi. All Families participate in their one shared tradition the - VerdaTe'Whito (The Becoming Old). When you are no longer a child you have the VerdaTe'Whito and are no longer one of the Egou.
Egou Families have an average size of 20 - 40 members. While they have a family structure, with one person who is the Father (regardless of gender) and one person who is the Mother (regardless of gender), they do not have typical traditional family roles. The need to survive in the Lower Levels requires a more practical, brutal and economic perspective around life and membership.
Fathers make decisions about territorial movement, negotiations with other Families, raiding parties, and trading with the Grand Market, in general. Mothers make decisions regarding how the Family is organized, which members are responsible for task, resources, and adoptions. In larger Families these responsibilities are often delegated to trusted experienced members, especially if they are being mentored for succession when the current Mother or Father is close to adulthood.
Naming Traditions
Feminine names
fEgou don't really have Foundlin' feminine names.
Masculine names
See feminine names.
Unisex names
Egou Foundlin' names are not gender based at all.
Family names
Egou families are named after the cross street of the founder. If a child is old enough to know their first name, they may keep it, otherwise first names are given based on a unique trait or behaviour.
Typical Foundlin' names are:
Fat Ven.Rix - A chubby baby claimed by the family of Vennik Street and Rixan Street.
Slug Eater Smith23.Tobble - A child who eats slugs and is a member of the BlackSmit23 Market and Tobble Road family.
Typical Walkin' names:
GrudKiiat Fort.Bril - An orc member of the Fortonu Avenue and Brilla Road Family.
Kaarin Madl.Copper - A human member of the Madletop Street and Copper Down Road Family.
Typical Foundlin' names are:
Fat Ven.Rix - A chubby baby claimed by the family of Vennik Street and Rixan Street.
Slug Eater Smith23.Tobble - A child who eats slugs and is a member of the BlackSmit23 Market and Tobble Road family.
Typical Walkin' names:
GrudKiiat Fort.Bril - An orc member of the Fortonu Avenue and Brilla Road Family.
Kaarin Madl.Copper - A human member of the Madletop Street and Copper Down Road Family.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Korerafra.
All Egou learn Korerafra (Sewerspeak). This language is a strange combination of Realm Common and toddler creole. It combines hand gestures to agument conversation when complex ideas or emotions need to be shared. Or, when the lighting is bad and you can't see people's faces.
All Egou learn Korerafra (Sewerspeak). This language is a strange combination of Realm Common and toddler creole. It combines hand gestures to agument conversation when complex ideas or emotions need to be shared. Or, when the lighting is bad and you can't see people's faces.
Shared customary codes and values
They celebrate all of the holidays. Every one of them. If there is a holiday, festival or party in the city of Skala-Tuq, the Egou celebrate it too. And, why shouldn't they? All celebrations and even a few celebrants end up in the sewers anyway, and anything in the sewers belongs to the Egou; at least according to them.
Common Etiquette rules
Meetings between Families are very structured affairs. When Families are close enough in their territorial migrations Runners make contact first. These Runners negotiate where the meeting will take place and how large the attending parties from the Families can be. If there is a strong history of trust and cooperation between the Families, then these meetings can be very celebratory and the entirety of both Families will attend. However, not all Families trust each other or even like each other, these meetings tend to be smaller and more tense. It is not uncommon for hostilities to erupt during these, more tense, meetings.
Meetings with adults are always negotiated by Runners and never involve the entire Family. History has taught the Egou, that adults will harm, kill or kidnap family members. All Fathers consider meetings with adults as very dangerous and will often use the environs of the Sewers to their advantage. The more 'honest' adults that know of the Families distrust respect their caution and do not challenge their Runners.
Meetings with adults are always negotiated by Runners and never involve the entire Family. History has taught the Egou, that adults will harm, kill or kidnap family members. All Fathers consider meetings with adults as very dangerous and will often use the environs of the Sewers to their advantage. The more 'honest' adults that know of the Families distrust respect their caution and do not challenge their Runners.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Egou have a strange idea of beauty. Much of what they have are cast off items which means they are typically damaged, torn, incomplete or broken. Beauty comes from the combination of the different in a manner that clever and practical.
Courtship Ideals
There are none. Egou do not court.
Relationship Ideals
Egou have loyal friendships. They value cooperation amongst their family and survival. They care little for the ways of civilization, so are not as loyal to Her Will as they should be.
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