Qijon

"Welcome young master to our house. You have our hospitality for your stay. We Arylyx have been here for time out of mind, far back to the Shadow years. We were once the masters of all these lands, from time after the Tumult, before the Shadow Years. Before the Esererti came from the west. Before the Dragon clans and the Yellow Dragon Himself. We were conquered and civilized, abandoning the ancient Gods we once followed. And in turn reconquered by the Imperial Torga. If you wish, I would be pleased to show you heirlooms of our house. Most of our people have gone. Gone into the ground and we will too go into the ground, in time."

Lord Arylyx of Soojun

"Qijon are a dwindling people of the eastern part of the Esereti frontier provinces, with almost no "commoners" remaining and only a few degenerate noble families in crumbling keeps and castles. Their hair is pale, their skin pale pink,with red around the eyes as if crying. They have large protruding ears and it is not uncommon that they may be able to move them up or down, back or fore, bending forward when in conversation. They have weak chins with high cheekbones. With age the Qijon become increasingly bent and hunched while their eyes enlarge and bulge. Remarkably they remain agile and spry into their last years. They are prone to madness with as many as a quarter of them having various dementia, hallucinations, and phobias. Most peculiar to them is a condition called " The Whispering Madness  ", wherein the sufferer hears whispers speaking secrets great and terrible into their ears. They become easily frightened or driven to frenzy while also having episodes of writhing contorted dance to music only they hear. Bright light disturbs them and pains the eyes, so they prefer shade or drapes drawn. Sages, scholars and shamen say this is a curse of the blood beyond other simple afflictions and is difficult, if not impossible to cure. Most victims die young or wander into the wilds, never to be seen or heard from again."

Imperial Demographic text.

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

In days of old, the Nobles lead village processions to the Standing Stones for rituals and observances when the Moons and Stars were right. They beseeched the blessings of their Gods in bounty, fertility, luck and war. They oversaw weddings and brought the village dead to the Family Crypts beneath the Keeps. The village elders would frequently go to tend the crypts and prepare the graves before passing there in their service to friend and family.

Shared customary codes and values

Qijon value the Old Traditions and place great value on ancestral treasures.  Old clothes are treasures- the older the better as they tie the people to the Old Ways and the Old Blood.  Where other peoples will wear new and costly garments to impress, a Qijon is likely to present themselves in patched and tattered old clothes, much to the amusement of the more advanced Esereti and Imperials.  
The elderly are also respected as becoming closer to the Gods.  Many retire from the world in their final years and days to tend the buried tombs and crypts of ancestors and prepare their own.

Common Dress code

Handed down generation to generation the noble families retain ancient relics of the pale whitish gold which signified their place as rulers and priests of the people. These are crudely formed bulky, chunky tiaras, bracelets and chest pieces with geometric lines and patterns, with lines of distorted blobby humanoid figures seemingly dancing. Clearly the products of primitive makers they are claimed to be of great antiquity and handed to them by their Gods. Only a few have come to the hands of Esereti collectors and Imperial sages.


More than the Esereti, Qijon value antiquities and heirlooms. This goes to the extreme in clothing. Clothes tend to be old, patched and mended though worn or threadbare. New things are given to others to "beak in". If dealing with "outsiders" they will resort to less worn and aged items.

Art & Architecture

Qijon archetecture is typically squat, domed stone of one or two stories with cellars and subcellars leading to crypts below. The underground dwellings protected the ancient Qijon from the cold winters more than the stone buildings. Old villages typically have a maze of tunnels connecting homes and warehouses so that residents could move about even in the deepest snows.

Foods & Cuisine

Qijon cuisine favors meats over breads, fruit and vegetables. Mushrooms and fungi are also favored dishes and enhancements It is considered refined to eat the flesh closest to it's natural condition - bloody, rare or raw. The over cooking is seen as a great failing. As is excessive seasoning. They prefer dried meats to sausages. They will eat and drink the food of other peoples if they must. They prefer the use of bowls for eating and drinking with knife to scrape and scoop, and a spike for skewering or securing meat to be cut.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Qijon show that they are nobles and above labor by keeping nails long, and pointed. In days past it is said that they used these "claws" as poisoned weapons against rivals. Each family was believed to possess a trademark poison they used. Indeed even today the Qijon are remarkably immune to most poisons.


The houses once practiced a warcry used in battle and as a greeting/ challenge. The practice is reserved for the most important occasions now- births, deaths and major celebrations.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

Births are celebrated with a warcry scream/ screech which mothers may use while in labor and fathers and other family join in. This cry is a greeting and warning to the world that a Qijon has joined the world., Mothers and fathers will add umbilical blood as facepaint around the eyes of the infant and themselves or other family members - it is said this sharing of family blood was to ward them from evil.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Families maintain underground tunnels and crypts for the dead. These are sacred and forbidden to outsiders. Likewise the funeral rites themselves are secret, though it is said the warcries shake the homes and castles and can be heard at great distance. Drums have also been heard. Families also hold memorials for ancestors several times a year that seem to be similar to the funerary rites. It is said that Qijon tombs are guarded by monsters or demons placed by the families. Rumor says that many who sought to rob the tombs of abandoned estates have not returned.

Common Taboos

Outsiders are forbidden to enter Qijon secrets. They may not participate in funerals or memorials even if married into a Qijon house. Only those "of the old blood" are allowed.

Common Myths and Legends

The Qijon Gods dwelled in the outer Dark beyond the edge of the world but could be reached with rituals, dance and offerings at the Circles of Standing Stones they would erect on hilltops. Stories and legends say they conducted human sacrifice and foul rituals, but family records show it was animal sacrifices bled and burned to dance, chants and pleas for fertility, abundance or luck and rich harvests. The Gods established that the dead should be buried in crypts to dream eternal dreams. Mortals are not allowed into the realm of the Gods. But it is suggested the Gods have come to the world and have made special places for Qijon.
Family legends say that the Qijon people had traditional enemies, a people called Ktiki who had were said to be normal people at first but when they died, would rise again as grey-green skinned monsters that desired the flesh of the living. The Ktiki were defeated in the Shadow Years period and vanished from the world. Scholars observe this would fit the Ktiki as Dhampyr or some other undead, though they are not called such in Qijon stories.

Historical figures

Jatik was one of the first Qijon.  He climbed a mountain and spoke with the Gods, bringing back their blessings, instructions and the jewelry signifying his role and priest and king. He brought the rituals, laws of offering and worship, and the blessings of the Gods.  He brought the secrets of burial and the Qijon dream of the dead.
Onaga married one of the Gods and had children by that God. Though the Gods could not dwell in the mortal world for long the children brought great power. They spread and conquered much of the region of what is now the eastern Esereti Frontier and never died but went to sleep in the deep crypts. It is said they will rise again when called by the Old Gods.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

The Qijon people are pale pink skinned with light colored hair, straw, blonde or white/ grey.  They say that the old ways are best and use ash and charcoal as cosmetics to paint the face outline they eyes.  Blood may be allowed but other paints and colors are judged as decadent and nontraditional.

Courtship Ideals

One peculiar tradition is the "Dance of Marking" in courtship. Accompanied by drum and pipe, the couple conduct a dance at an arms- distance in which they attempt to score scratches on one another with a special bone claw worn over a finger. The partner who scores more is judged the leader of the family. Several such dances may be held.  Other than this ritual, couples are linked by family agreement or individual interest.  Couples share food, feeding each other and spend time in each other's company. They show family heirlooms.  And engage in other practices as are seen in people in love everywhere.