Overview of Cultures of Didome

Culture overview

The cultures on Didome are almost as varied and unique as the culture on Earth, thus it is hard to identify commonalities between the numerous cultures. Yet there are a few concepts that are shared by many different cultures on Didome. For example, many of the cultures on Didome are matriarchal with men often time being considered the inferior gender. Additionally, Many culture are very collectivist and focus on the survival of the community rather than the efforts of the individual.

Collectivism

The cultures on Didome are very focused around collectivism with less focus on individualism. Many cultural virtues and stories tell about the sacrifices people make to ensure the survival and success of there community. This focus on the community was strongest in the early Ages when communities were small and survival tenuous. However, these cultural roots still pervade the modern cultures. Many nations have used this idea of sacrifice for the greater good to increase feelings of nationalism and patriotic pride in ones nation. But this feeling of collective success pervades smaller communities and residents of cities and villages have intense pride in their communities. This collective spirit leads to many nations and cities recognizing that they must support the poorest in their communities and many places have service set up to take care of its poorest members.

Class Hierarchy

While the collectivist spirit leads to a strong sense of community and support, it also leds many cultures to have developed a strong caste system with most people expected to take their rightful place in society. Much of the worlds population belongs to caste systems of one kind or another. This means that individuals have very little opportunity for social advancement, but also foster the sense of community and unity.

Gender norms

While huge variation exists between the culture, gender dynamics tend to be much more matriarchal or equalitarian than on Earth. During the Ages of blackness the small villages and tribes of humans focuses on survival and population increase. This lead to the idea that women were the most important for the survival of the community and had the pratice and wisdom to make wise decisions. On the other hand, men were just good at risky reckless job and did not have the foresight to lead a village. Other developing culture saw both genders as equal and had a much more equalitarian society.

Time

While there are many subtlies in how various cultures keep track of time. Most people on Didome use common methods of time keeping. Generally speaking people use the moon moon Ock to keep track of time periods roughly equivalent to an Earth day {16 hour}, anOck Cycle. The second moon Ides is used to keep track of a time period close to a Earth week {5.75 days}, an Ides Cycle . Finally while a day on Diome is only about half an Earth year, people use a day in a similar manner to years on Earth; they keep track of their age in days and history books refer to on what day something happened. Some cultures have gone further and put collection of days into seasons and ages to further keep track of ancient historical events.
There are 280 Ock Cycles in a day. A common way to divide up the day is break each quarter of the day into 70 Ock Cycles and then report the time of day and Ock Cycle. So saying this is the 38th Ock of the Afternoon would mean the sun is at about a 45 degree angle to the horizon. While shortly before Sunrise might be reported as the 67th Ock of the Night.

Cultural roots of the Major Cultures on Didome

Nil Yeni Based Cultures

The Nil Yeni Culture was an ancient culture in the Tresbort Lakes region. The culture was very prevalent as the region was settled as the promethean survivors spread out in the region. Many of the modern culture of Didome are related to this culture and its traditions and values still have a profound impact on the modern people of Didome who live on the eastern side of the Cresshar continent.
The Nil Yeni culture focused on the duty of everyone to ensure the survival of the community. The Nill Yeni had no conception of a individual family. Everyone was focused on the survival of the community. After the fall of Barsamin many of the surviors lived in small groups of 20-150 people and this was the unit that the Nill Yeni considered paramount to survival. Most groups were led by a Himoth, a leader who was responsible for the survival of the community. She was then supported by a Semick council, a council of women tasked with advising the Himoth.
One consequence of the highly matriachal culture and the ideal of self sacrifice for the village, the Nil Yeni men were often admired for their brawn and physical prowess yet had very little say in the direction of the community. Some scholars who study the Nil Yeni tell how Nil Yeni plays would often depict the men as hugly brawny men with ripped muscles, the actors would sometimes where padded muscle suits to exaggerate there brawn. Yet in almost all the plays the men are incompetent bumbling Buffon who would led the village to ruin if not for the moderating influence of the Himoth and Semik. These highly gendered sterotypes still exist in many of the modern cultures descended from the Nil Yeni.

Yurk Tibe based Cultures

Scholars argue about how long the Yurk Tribe existed and whether it truly was just one tribe. But according to Yahlah holy texts the Yurk tribe was led from the Garden of Tehth by Yah Lah  and the tribe only lived and the holy settlement of Yursh  800-1000 days.
While the the descendants of the Nil Yeni would find there customs strange. The Yurk tribe did not have strong gender norms and they traced their linage both patralinally and matrilineally. The Yurk would make a life long commitment to one other Yurk and raise children together. It was not uncommon for two Yurk of the same gender to make a commitment to each other. Although when this happened the expectation was for the couple to raise any children whose parents had been lost.
The Yurk tribe held the The Korning, a ceremony held every 20 days to pick their Urk who would lead them for the next 20 days. They also had a group of lower urks who were called the Ords and would advise the Urk and could over rule him if a majority of them agreed. These democratic traditions still permeate many of the modern culture descended from the Yurk tribe.
The Gra Ather Faiths which the Yurk Tribe followed made it very clear that every human has value and you must treat all humans with respect and dignity. Taking life under any circumstance is wrong. This aversion to killing still is present in many Yurk cultures. However, some have twisted its meaning and believe that only killing other Yurk members is wrong.

Granic Shar and Hiwash Based Cultures

These ancient cultures are less of a united culture and more of a group of cultures with similar beliefs. One reason for this is these cultures developed in the upper Strepslim, and Der River  valleys and is a very large plain connecting the We-Vass Sea, Di Din Subcontienet, and the Tresbort Lakes region. The plains have large flocks of migratory beasts that the first peoples followed to hunt. This created a distinct culture from the surrounding settled people and also allowed them to incorporate some cultural beliefs from the surrounding people.
The Granic Shar and Hiwash people believe that they sprung from seeds  cast down from the heavens by the Great Father.

Cultures of Didome