Cobalt Rostran
Though originally of High Rostran extraction, Cobalt Rostrans regard themselves as a separate ethnicity as a result of the mysterious connections to the past they uncovered in the Ventral Tesseract, severing much their previous connection to the other nations of the Manifold Sky in exchange for a new, more ambitious future.
Naming Traditions
Other names
In addition to first and last names, if the last name of a Cobalt Rostran is not the same as one of the founding clan leaders, they will often add "of Clan (name)" to their name upon first meeting someone or in formal contexts.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Like most Rostran ethnicities, Cobalt Rostrans speak Iuxat. Many Cobalt Rostrans also speak Guild Pidgin and understand ba'a as a matter of professional requirements.
Shared customary codes and values
The Cobalt Rostran formulation of the concept of liberty is the union of freedom of civic responsibility. Cobalt Rostrans place a high value on the virtue of courage; taking responsibility for the immediate phyical safety of others is a high virtue, while acting when the situation represents a risk to one's own safety as well is especially lauditory. On the other hand, failing to act when one could have is considered disreputable at best and crime (on par with causing the danger) at worst. This is an attitude born of a nomadic live lived in vehicles, where failing to address an issue with the machinery can lead to stranding, death, or worse.
The Cobalt Rostran desire to become the best one can be - coupled with a cultural inclination towards discipline and stoicism - can sometimes make them appear even more humorless than their High Rostran counterparts. It's less that Cobalt Rostrans lack humor and more the fact that their sense of humor is subtle and dry.
Knappism by BCGR_Wurth
Cobalt Rostran society places a great deal of emphasis on personal excellence and growth, whether in the professional, intellectual, artistic, or military spheres. In this regard, many Cobalt Rostrans find they resonate most with Forgist ideals over doctrinaire Esotericist ideals. At the same time, while the sharp, cunning iloi of the Spirit of the Black Bird is appealing to Cobalt Rostran senisibilites, most Cobalt Rostrans find the grasping, opportunist attitude of the Ixa Ad-Korvidiu themselves to be utterly abhorrent. Isolated by choice rather than circumstance, the Cobalt Rostrans call upon the stalwart iormapu of the Knapper of Spirits in all spheres of daily life.
Common Dress code
Cobalt Rostran dress trends towards the pragmatic and, because they often live far from the Rostran-native Rostral Tesseract, warmly. Fur-lined cloaks or long coats provide insulation in the winter, while even casual clothing tends to have a wide array of pockets and pouches incorporated into it. As the name implies, most Cobalt Rostran fashion embraces various shades of blue.
Cobalt Knights incorporate a large amont of slate blue into their dress uniforms, which are then accented with bands of white and gold. While this color scheme is maintained aboard airships and seagoing vessels, it is replaced with appropriate camouflage when operating in ground environments.
Art & Architecture
Cobalt Rostrans share the High Rostran proclivity towards geometric shapes, tesselations, and woven patterns, but they tend to embrace more muted colors than High Rostrans in their art. Cobalt Rostran art has strong realist overtones, with their scenery sketches and paintings being some of the best of any Rostran culture.
High Rostran architecture, where it exists, typically attempts to blend into the terrain; this is both out of admiration for the beauty of nature and out of a desire to remain bespoke so that other factions will overlook them. Indoors, however, Cobalt Rostran architecture strives to create a warm, rustic vibe through the use of hanging banners, thick rugs, and wood worked only enough to fit the needs of furniture or decorative applications. The hearth keeps a place of honor in all permanent Cobalt Rostran dwellings, as this is a place for families to gather, reminisce, and share traditions under firelight.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Cobalt Rostrans fully embrace recycling as a matter of resource preservation, and funerary practices are no exception. After a deceased Cobalt Rostran is thuroughly eulogized and memorialized in family and public records, their body is often cremated and the ashes used for either fertilizer or fuel biosynthesis.
The immediate proceeds of either action (i.e. fruit from a fertilized tree) are then apportioned to the family of the individual lost or, if the person was unmarried and without issue, to the clan from which the person hailed; this is done in the hopes that, even after death, the individual will remain within the family as a sort of guardian spirit. Such lost family members are the most common subjects of Esotericist ritual worship within the family, with particularly noteworthy deceased entering the public annals of revered ancestors of the clan from which they hailed.
Rostran Esotericism by BCGR_Wurth
Ideals
Gender Ideals
While men and women are considered equals in most spheres of Cobalt Rostran society, the relatively low population of the fledgeling ethnicity requires the society to protect women in the interest of continued growth. As a result, Cobalt Rostran women are not intentionally steered towards professions which represent threats to life or ability to reproduce, though this is framed as a matter of pragmatism rather than any cultural bias against females. For example, though not explicitly barred from becoming members of the New Cobalt Knights, the Knights greatly prefer to employ male members in all combat-related roles, though demonstrated personal merits can sometimesovercome this disparity (i.e. strong piloting skills).
Courtship Ideals
Cobalt Rostrans are strongly xenophilic when it comes to the clan membership of prospective mates. Because the population of Cobalt Rostrans is low relative to that of other factions, and clan membership is partially based on ancestral lineage, Cobalt Rostrans almost always endeavor to marry outside of their own clan to prevent issues with inbreeding. Once married, the wife in a marriage is adopted into the clan of the husband and now falls within the husband's clan jurisdiction (e.g. in terms of laws and social services administrated by the clanhold). Otherwise, Cobalt Rostrans share the slow-burning, discrete romance of their High Rostran forebearers.
Relationship Ideals
Cobalt Rostrans do not embark in frivolous relationships, whether with family, friends, or prospective mates. Because marriages in Cobalt Rostran society have ramifications relating to clan membership, Cobalt Rostrans vet prospective mates very carefully and plan their futures together very carefully. This is especially important because there is no no-fault divorce in Cobalt Rostran culture - a man and woman bound under the rite of marriage are inseparable for life barring extenuating circumstances. Even so, because Cobalt Rostrans are so cautious about how they form relationships and share the unique perceptiveness of other Rostran cultures, they are able to maintain happy, healthy relationships that can last a lifetime in the vast majority of cases. As a result, Cobalt Rostrans are respected among those who know them as the most loyal companions that a person can ask for.
Major organizations
The Cobalt Rostrans primarily live in the New Cobalt Protectorate territories where such a thing is known to exist.
A few Cobalt Rostrans are known to engage in a form of long-term integration and long-term observation withing a host society similar to that of the Voxelia's Bards-Recursant. Unlike the Bards, however, the Cobalt Rostrans do this in Rostran settlements and do so less out of malice than to simply keep abreast of events which might represent a threat to the Protectorate. Cobalt Rostrans have permeated the Navigator's Guild, Burning Hearts Social Club, and Sorority of Solace in this manner, though the unique Rostran morphology makes them less able to pass unnoticed in human and verdial societies.
New Cobalt Protectorate Arms by BCGR_Wurth
Parent ethnicities
Encompassed species
Related Organizations
Related Items
Languages spoken
Related Locations
This is such a fascinating people. You have clearly put a lot of thought into the Cobalt Rostrans, and their culture sounds so unique and beautiful. Out of interest, what would a clan reaction be if a member DID fall for a mate outside of their own people?
Thanks for the kind comments! I've had the Cobalt Protectorate bouncing around in my head for a long time - they were originally going to be a faction in a science fiction story I was writing, but that's on hiatus. For now, I'm finding I like them best as a backstory for this new culture instead! The Cobalt Rostrans are reclusive and circumspect by nature. If one of them did fall in love with someone outside of the society, what they would do would depend on a lot of factors. If they think their new loved one would be willing to join the culture, then they would vet them (as most Rostrans are wont to do) and, if they're trustworthy, would be able to get them into their own clan by way of the new familial connection formed. If the other person couldn't be trusted to keep what they know about the Cobalt Protectorate on the down-low, the Cobalt Rostran would have to make a choice: settle with their beloved's culture (forgoing the life of Cobalt Protectorate society), or move on.