Ciashra
Fenced in by mountains, Ciashra is Lagahashra’s earthly playground. Bugbears, goblins, goliaths, gnolls, orcs, tieflings, and all manner of destructive creatures call this place home. Gates to the Dark Dimension release devils and demons. Near-constant conflict plagues the bloodthirsty societies residing here, and because of this, technology is simple and the land’s resources remain relatively untapped. The bordering nations take every opportunity they can to spirit those resources away from the native inhabitants.
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Religion
Ciashrae are open-minded about gods and religion: even Lagahashra and Alere can be openly worshiped in Ciashra. Mainstream gods may be worshiped in atypical ways. However, worshippers of devils, demons, and other creatures of the Dark Dimension are at best exiled from society and at worst actively hunted.
Structure
Society in Ciashra is largely nomadic and breaks into “houses”. The “core” members of a house typically hold the status and power; “peripheral” house members are lower status. Houses are usually no more than 1-2 species. Many cultural practices vary by house (i.e., succession, clothing and self-ornamentation, story-telling traditions), but one thing is constant: power is respected.
Warfare is a way of life. As such, Ciashrae are simultaneously very serious and very blasé about fighting and death. On the one hand, everyone is expected to have the ability to defend their tribe, and people who can’t fight usually don’t survive. On the other, Ciashrae are numb to the news of and realities of war. It isn’t practical to take war personally or hold grudges - your enemy today might be your ally in a year. The Last God will sometimes personally attend a battle in Ciashra, and these conflicts are guaranteed to be extra gruesome.
No formal laws govern Ciashra, but there are four generally accepted principles collectively known as Gikator Urdanogan (Orcish for “The Bellowing Word”) that dictate justice. These are:
- Vulnerable and respected members of a house must be protected
- Widows and widowers have the right to marry a sibling of the deceased spouse
- Mutually satisfactory division and use of natural resources like water and land
- The payment of restitution by the house from which an offender originates as compensation for serious crime (murder, assault, theft, defamation of character, etc.) given to the victim or victim's family.
The main exports of Ciashra are war and crime, and neighboring nations keep a close watch on the shared border to make sure as few of those get exported as possible. The economy is based on bartering. Ciashrans may not understand the value or purpose of currency.
Although the violence seems indiscriminate or chaotic to outsiders, there is logic to the madness. What the rest of the world does not realize about the peoples of Ciashra is that some of them choose to stay. They endure a life of hardship and chaos to protect everyone else from the flow of fiends of the Dark Dimension; they hold the Last God's interest to keep him from straying into the rest of the world. Their self-sacrifice keeps the monsters (mostly) at bay.
Culture
- Ciashra is a “house society” - group members that share no ancestry may nonetheless be part of a single house. The “core” members of the house typically hold status and power; “peripheral” house members have little of either. Many cultural practices vary by house (i.e., succession, clothing and self-ornamentation, story-telling traditions).
- Houses that worship Lagahashra almost always own slaves. The treatment, roles, and liberation of slaves vary by house. Houses that don’t own slaves do not find the practice noteworthy.
- Ciashrae typically have a true name and a given name, rather than the three names held by Evarans.
- Core members receive their house name as a surname, but peripheral house members must use the prefix “of” and it does not count as a surname. For example: “Joe of House Immorten” indicates that Joe is a peripheral member of house Immorten, and the name “Furiosa Acuicola” indicates that Furiosa is a core member of house Acuicola.
- Accomplished Ciashrae might gain epithets, such as “Bob of House Groshk, the breaker of chains, mother of dragons, master of the great grass sea”
- No taboo against piercing, tattoos, and ritual scarification, which is present elsewhere in the world.
- Ciashrae tend to be group-minded. Everyone must do their part to sustain the house. A permanently injured or disabled house member is still expected to contribute.
- Chiashrae have little patience for adults who can’t take care of themselves.
- Adults who cannot serve the group in any way may be exiled, and a lone individual in Ciashra has little chance of survival.
- Ciashran art favors sculpture (freestanding and relief) and mural painting.
- Ciashrae have a fierce hatred for all things originating from or associated with the Dark Dimension. They may attack fiends, aberrations, and oozes on sight. Negotiation with such creatures is unthinkable. Creatures resembling or associated with beings from the Dark Dimension (like tieflings) might also receive this dislike.
- Rhosians, Ekrele, and Eridanians are strongly prejudiced against Ciashrans and the feeling is mutual.
"Blood and Victory"
Type
Landmark
Alternative Names
Hell
Demonym
Ciashran (Ciashrae)
Government Type
Ciashra is not a sovereign nation and does not have a centralized government
Common Races
Bugbears, goblins, goliaths, gnolls, orcs, tieflings
Common Gods/Religions
Hemoism, Alere worship, The Resplendent Order
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