Calpii
Naming Traditions
Unisex names
All names in the Calpian laguage are unisex. The affixes -us or -a are appended depending on the gender of the wearer.
Family names
Each person in Calpii culture belongs to a denoba, or tribe. Members of the aristocratic class also have a family name called an ibabiwivum. The two elements are put together, denoba ibabiwivum to form the name that serves as a surname. For example, Cuccinr̂ius comes from denoba Poab and the family Heisanum. His surname, then is Poabus Heisanus. When addressed by his full name, you would call him Cuccinr̂ius Poabus Heisanus.
Like all nouns in the Calpian language, proper names are modified according to the gender of the the person to whom they belong. Livium becomes Livius for a male or Livia for a female, and so on.
Denoba
There are tweny-eight acknowledged denoba in the Calpii culture. They are:
- Peccipulum
- Pempumisum
- Qulum
- Wilum
- Punum
- Cubimpum
- Bobum
- Birulbum
- Pelum
- R̂ilvum
- Obeccum
- Atcomvum
- Avcum
- Agbultum
- Utpum
- Camicum
- Pidicum
- Paum
- Uccopum
- Sebium
- Vudunicum
- Opamvelum
- Debilum
- Pusomatum
- Domabum
- Telvum
- Qeum
- Divonum
Ibabiwivum
There are hundreds of ibabiwivum in use. They are often derivatives of adjectives that described the head of the family in the past.
Other names
Notable individuals, usually but not always aristocrats, add honorific names that denote special accomplishments of the bearer. These names, called, caliwivum, follow the ibabiwivum. A caliwivum is not passed to subsequent generations.
Culture
Average technological level
Advanced bronze age technology.
Common Dress code
Textiles
The Calpii lean heavily on linen as a primary textile. They dye it in saffron and scarlet. When it is used for garments of office (the vuna otumaux, explained below), the linen is left largely undyed, except for a broad stripe of green dye around the edges of the of each given piece of cloth. Similarly, the R̂oldaus wears garments dyed in part or in whole in the traditional purple of royalty. No others may wear such a color. Emroidery is rare, but when it is done, it is always with thread of a golden color.
The Calpii also wear undergarments of wool, when needed to stave off colder temperatures.
Women's Attire
Calpii women wear a descendant garment of the qamasus called the guliwusa. It is almost identical in design to the qamasus, except that it is longer, reaching to the ankle. Like its predecessor, a common variation of the guliwusa is one where the gown is tied at each shoulder to allow easier access for breastfeeding mothers and wetnurses. The guliwusa is worn either belted or unbelted, according to the tastes of the wearer. When belted, it may be fastened by a simple sash, a plaited leather belt, or a cord belt, again depending on the wearer's preferences.
Men's Attire
In day-to-day life, a male apagubum (civilian) wears the corditum, belted at the waist with a broad leather girdle.
Military Attire
Males in military service (and those females who choose to serve) wear a version of the corditum that is dyed a bright scarlet to denote their military station. Stripes of rank are embroidered at the hems of the sleeves and at the bottom hem.
Governmental Attire
People who hold any kind of civic office, who are colleceively called the pangelar̂usaux, wear a garment called the vuna otumaux (VOO-nah OH-toom-owks. This is a single cloth of linen, about twelve to sixteen feet long and four feet wide, cut straight along one long edge, but slightly concave along the other long edge. All four edges feature a broad, green, dyed stripe. The cloth is wrapped from mid-back, over the left shoulder, around the chest and abodmen twice, then over the right shoulder from the back and pinned in the center of the chest with a bronze pin indicating the specific office held by the wearer.
Headwear
Headwear is not common among the Calpii. the leaders among the pangelar̂usaux, who are called the quipin suebola, wear a fitted round cap with a flat top. It is often, though not always, embroidered, though this is a personal choice, not an expectation of office.
Footwear
All strata of society wear leather-soled sandales that lace over the foot several times, then around the ankle, where they are tied in place.
Art & Architecture
Architecture
Homes and Businesses
Urban. In urban settings, within the walls of Calpi, for example, most Calpii live in three to five story clay brick tenements called pigunus. A pigunus features the landlord's large suite on the ground floor, along with shops that open to the street. The building is built around an open atrium called an aturanum. Most aturanum feature a communal kitchen garden where small vegetables and herbs are grown by the residents. Windows face into the aturanum. Additionally, on the second and subsequent floors windows face outward to the streets and alleys. The roofs of pinunus are very slightly pitched and may be planks or thatch. The walls are plastered.
Wealthier homes are stand-alone structures called popaiccus. These are two to three story structures, often fully or partially enclosed by an eight to ten foot wall. The ground floor includes servants' and slaves' quarters, a small reception/sitting room, a larger dining room, and the kitchen. The upper floors consist of bedrooms, personal studies, and guest rooms. The floorplan of a popaiccus is arranged around two aturanum, usually of unequal size. The smaller of the two will feature a small kitchen garden and is near the kitchen and servants'/slaves' quarters. The larger is an open decorative garden, often featuring a fountain, where the residents can lounge and relax. The lower floors open onto a collonnade surrounding this aturanum, which supports the balconies of the upper floors that over look the garden. The walls are plastered, and interior walls often feature frescoes. The ground floor is usually mosaic tile.
Rural. In more bucolic locales, the typical home is a small two story mud brick house with the kitchen, pantry, cellar, and dining on the lower floor and the living quarters on the second floor. Roofs are nearly always pitched and thatched.
Wealthier urban Calpii, as well as regionally important leaders will have large estates featuring a poppaicus, very similar in plan to those found in urban settings, except that they frequently will also have outbuildings for the larger staff required. Rural poppaicus also always feature a wall that fully encircles the house.
Religious Structures
Temples are build from timber and sandstone, which is plastered featuring brightly painted geometric designes around the trim. A typical temple is a single-story structure with a high, vaulted ceiling. A stone altar is normally located about two-thirds of the way to the back wall. Windows high in the lateral walls allow light to enter. No other structures are built touching temples, and in most cases, they are not even surrounded by alleys, but rather by broad paved streets.
Governmental Structures
Governmental buildings are uncommon outside of urban settings. These structures are long buildings with a central chamber featuring high, vaulted ceiling, and a series of fire pits running along the center line of the chamber. Wooden benches or portable chairs are brought in for attendees' comfort. At the distant end of the long chamber is a wooden dais, upon which will rest one to three wooden chairs called criscivanta, depending on the function of the building. These are analagous to thrones, though they often belong to elected pangelar̂usaux, rather than nobility or royalty of any kind.
The long central chamber, which is called the besemeccus, is flanked by collonnades that run the entire length. Under these colonades, small side rooms are created with portable screens called eibrunr̂eccama. These ad hoc spaces are used for smaller meetings, studies, libraries, and storage, as necessary.
Art
Calpii culture enjoys three primary types of artistic expression: drama, sculpture, and painting. Music is enjoyed, but not considered an art form in Calpii society.
Drama
Drama is a form of art that involves actors performing spoken verse with stylized acting. Props are used to make the action clear, but there are no actual sets. The audience is expected to use their imagination to envision the setting. There are two main types of drama: comedy and tragedy.
Comedy.A comedic drama is a genre that features mythological or fictional characters in humorous situations that are often exaggerated. The writing style of this genre relies heavily on word-play. At the end of a comedy, all of the farcical elements are pulled together to convey a moral lesson.
Tragedy. Tragedies are plays that typically revolve around mythological or historical figures and are written in strict rules of rhyme and meter. The language used in tragedies is chosen to create evocative imagery. Although tragedies often have tragic conclusions, the term "tragedy" is meant to convey that the characters in the play experience significant pathos due to their circumstances or actions.
Sculpture
Sculpture is a significant art form in Calpian society, even in rural communities. Wood is the primary material for simpler sculptures, while more complex sculptures are carved from stone or cast in bronze. Rural sculptures usually depict fey creatures, dragons, and mythological figures, while urban sculptures include those themes along with memorials of important historical figures or even distinguished members of families. All sculptures, except those made of bronze, are brightly painted. Unpainted sculptures are either neglected or unfinished.
Religious Sculpture. There exists a unique type of sculpture that is specifically created for temples, which serves as a focal point during rituals or as an idol. These sculptures are exclusively made using bronze, and if they depict human-like figures, they are always created in the nude. The temples then prepare garments that are meticulously sewn to perfection and are adorned on these idols with great care.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
The Calpi venerate the following gods (Calpian names in parentheses, if different):
- The Sun: Strone (Stronus)
- The Moon: Wists (Uvistum)
- Home/Hearth/Family: Snoish and Er (Snowisc and Er)
- The Havest: Plange (Plancus)
- The Seasons: Seled
- War: Kiseswa (Quisesus)
- Love: Kibla (Cibla)
- Death: Riglists (Rigelia)
- Commerce: Kisquay (Cisquia)
- Magic: Crorrm (Cror̂m)
- Poetry and Art: Prundged (Prundicus)
- Sailors and the Sea: Threlved (Tirelva)
Coming of Age Rites
Ibbatil Eccowal
In Calpian culture, when a person turns seventeen years of age on the seventeenth day of spring, it's time for them to assume the responsibilities and privileges of adulthood. This transition is marked by a ceremony called "Ibbatil Eccowal" (pronounced EE-bah-tseel EHK-oh-wall), which means "passing through." Before the ceremony, the young person chooses a god to be their patron.
On the day of the ceremony, the young person wears a long, hooded, white robe that symbolizes the purity and innocence of youth. They walk in a procession with their family and friends to the temple or shrine of the god they have chosen. When they arrive, the priest or priestess asks why they have come. The young person declares that they are ready to take their place in the community.
At this point, the robe is removed, and the young person stands in only their undergarments. This represents the stripping away of the innocence of youth. They remain so as a sigil representing their patron is tattooed onto their back between their shoulder blades by the priest or priestess. After the tattoo is complete, the young person kneels, and the priestess or priest says a prayer of invocation and blessing. The young person then stands, and they put on a new garment of their choice, often selected with great care before the ceremony.
A person of significance in the young person's life places a crown made of wheat, bay leaves, and olive twigs, decorated with flowers that complement the new garment. Then, the priest or priestess leads the young person to the steps of the temple and announces their name and that they are now an adult, with all the rights and responsibilities that come with it.
When a family has the means to do so, they often throw a feast in honor of the young person following the ceremony.
Funerary and Memorial customs
The defining difference between the Calpii and their Ditinci forbearers is that the Calpii do not creamate their dead. They construct vast subterrannean catacombs in which they inter embalmed corpes. These remains are buried with funeral goods when their families can spare them.
Common Myths and Legends
Cuncidamus
The Calpian version of this myth changes the name from Cuncedam to Cuncidamus and Gaebqum is not mentioned at all. The the Calpian account, Cuncidamus sailed as an infant from the extreme west in a divine boat placed upon the sea by Stronus. Angered by the sun god's temerity at placing a sailing vessel on the sea, which is her domain, Tirelva tossed the little ship about, hoping to drown the infant, but Cuncidamus took the tiller in his tiny hand and, behold, his strength was equal to the challenge! Tirelva saw the babe's strength and courage and she relented, for she felt a swell of respect for him. He sailed unerringly across the sea where he landed at the mouth of the Atubin.
He traveled upstream until he came to the citadel of a dragon named Raqeq, who saw the infant human walking on two legs with purpose and reason. "What a wonder this is!" though the dragon, who invited Cuncidamus into his home, where the boy grew, learning much from the dragon.
When Cuncidamus was seventeen years old, he took his leave of Raqeq, thanking the drake for his hospitality and instruction. He traveled back down the river near to the place where he had landed years before. Atop a hill, he built a house and around the house, he built up a wall. And people were amazed and came to him and he ruled over them as their king. And he named the place of his house Calpi. In this way the great city was founded by the miraculous son of Stronus.
Ideals
Gender Ideals
Traditional Gender Roles
Calpian society is patriarchal, with men attending to business, governmental, and military matters, while women are expected to attend to domestic duties. Social expectations are geared around these roles.
Despite social norms that suggest otherwise, women enjoy significant legal freedom. They are allowed to own property and can fully participate in business, government, religion, and military service if they choose to do so. The legal system offers robust protection for women in these roles, and the courts defend them aggressively when necessary. The limitations women face are entirely social in nature. In other words, women can participate in society in any way they choose, but if they choose to participate outside of the domestic sphere, they are often perceived as aberrant in some way.
In the last fifty or so years, efforts have been made by women's groups, joined by certain men of egalitarian bent, to change the social norms around gender roles, but progress is slow.
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