Oileanda
The Oileanda were a race of humans that lived on the Isles of Seanachai over 2000 years ago in Cairne's past. Little is known about this culture, as their history was passed down through a rich oral tradition and never written down, and what cultural artifacts that haven’t been lost to decay are unable to be recovered because of the Blight.
Until recently, scholars believed that the Oileanda were the progenitors of the Seanachaisians alone, but increased relations between the Seanachaisians and the Volrishtad have brought to light many similarities between the two peoples that are impossible to ignore. Comparing folktales of their mythological pasts — before a supposed "rift" divided their people — reveal near-identical stories, and phonologists studying their respective languages have found enough commonalities to suggest a shared root language. Now, scholars conclude that both the Seanachaisians and the Volrishtad originate from the Oileanda before their divergent evolutions into new species of humanoid.
This new discovery has been critical in unlocking the mysteries of who the Oileanda were from the mouths of their descendants. What lies ahead is an attempt to paint a picture of the Oileanda, reconstructed from Seanachaisian and Volrishtad folktales, a scant few biased observations from contemporary outside cultures, and what little extant evidence that exists.
Naming Traditions
Family names
Scholars speculate that the Oileanda traced their kinship through the female line; thus, family names were inherited through one's mother. They speculate that this stemmed from Bodist beliefs that revered blood as the essence of life. Children were believed to be formed from the mother's own life essence that she carries in her womb, so it logically follows that all familial connections were be through the mothers whose essence they were created from. Passing on a family name was also done to honor the woman as the life-giver.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
- Stagro language family
- Oileandan
- Seanachaisian
- Volrishtad
Art & Architecture
The diary of a Seanachaisian woman discovered in the year 218 PR gives a glimpse into what the common architectural vernacular was: brick buildings decorated with ornamental brickwork. Another pre-Blight account from a Bechtlarite woman visiting An Gaeta Mór Theas describes her conversation with a Seanachaisian man, who pointed to the damaged stucco of a nearby building that revealed brick underneath and remarked how that had been a practice from before the "bargain." Thus, we can surmise that the Seanachaisian practice of overlaying ornamental stucco over brick to decorate their buildings was practiced in some form during the time of the Oileanda.
Related Organizations
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