Setessan
The populace of Setessa live in a beautiful paradise, and they’re prepared to fight to the death to protect it. The constant training in archery, falconry, riding, and close combat can seem out of place among the idyllic forests and beautiful gardens and orchards, but that is the way of life in Setessa.
Culture
Coming of Age Rites
Children in Setessa are reared by the polis as a whole and treated with the highest respect; their welfare is paramount and their training is a significant part of every warrior’s occupation. Orphans and abandoned children are sacred to Karametra, so they are brought into the city and tended just as Setessa’s own children are.
In contrast to the discipline associated with educating children in other poleis, Setessan youngsters enjoy tremendous freedom. Called arkulli, meaning “little bears,” they are welcome anywhere in the city. They often wander in and out of the temple, training grounds, the hall of the Ruling Council, the market, and anywhere else their paths take them. Such freedom is meant to cultivate a curious spirit and help the children find the path they’re most interested in following later in life.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Gender Ideals
Setessans believe that women become heroes through martial exploits, while men do so by finding their own way in the world. As a result, the polis is populated mostly by women and children.
When young men reach the age of fourteen, their rites of passage culminate in a journey called peregrination, where they wander the world until they find a new place to call home. The few men who reside permanently in Setessa live in the Amatrophon, training and caring for the animals there. Some of these men never peregrinated, but others left and then returned to Setessa.
The women of the polis form a tight-knit community where property is held in common. There is no marriage, and ancestry is traced matrilineally.
Despite the very different roles played by men and women, Setessans are flexible when it comes to any individual’s place in that structure. Some men set out on peregrination after spending a number of years identified as women, and some women return from peregrination (or never undertake it) after a period of realization. Some people move fluidly between roles, and a few choose a special role that Setessans view as standing outside the dichotomy of gender, living in Ophis Tower.
The warriors of Ophis Tower are martially trained as women are but wander the world as men do. They gather information for the Ruling Council, search out routes for peregrination (including identifying sympathetic individuals and households who will mentor young men at the start of their journeys), and rescue lost and abandoned children from other communities, bringing them back to Setessa.
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