Bamboo Dowo (Opan Bwayu)

the bamboo-infused natives of the Barrier Stands in Dow, many of whom also now live in the Barren Isles.
their skin is green and their limbs are ringed with ridges that resemble the individual compartments of bamboo stems. their hair comes in a wide variety of colours but is always straight.
they are somewhat disliked and abused by their neighbouring populaces, who resent them as interlopers even though they provide a useful service.
culturally they are laid-back, staid, and flexible/accommodating, with a culture of endurance and bending-but-not-breaking formed by their long journey.
They live an uncommonly long time, typically 250-300 years if not killed by accident or illness.
they were forced to flee from the Stands when several were destroyed by powerful factions in the area in order to create breaks in the barrier (possibly with- they carry the memory and identity of their stands to this day. Their own name for themselves, Opan Bwayu, translates as "Lost/Mourned/Commemorated Stands" in Dowo ("Opa" being the singular for stand).

• what factions drove them out?
• what route did they take, and why did they stop where they did?  crossed at Burnished Isles and then traversed Caracar - Bamboo Dowo should be scattered all over, not just moved in 1 direction - perhaps they swore never to deprive others of their homes when settling, so they settled in wildernesses and as minorities mostly. at least 1 enclave in Verdigris Plains, who are not looked on kindly by others as they conquered.
• are there other Bambo Dowo outposts, and if so, where? have some these other locations lost their infusions? almost self-fulfilling, that those that travelled furthest and stuck by their infusions also maintain the most of their original culture.
• did they convert to a House-of-forms faith, or at least the funerary practice? what is their faith? ancestor-based?
• what are the annual remembrance ceremonies like?

Naming Traditions

Masculine names

• Ojil
• Olija

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

• each individual still identifies with one of the ancestral Stands, learns its history, burns incense in its memory, and bears its Notch in their fringe (and often on their houses and other possessions too).
• Land and property are inherited down the male line; personal possessions and Stand identity are matrilineal. they don't have a formal legal framework to enforce this, however.

Stands:

while there are twenty or so Opan, or ancestral Stands, among the ancestors of the Bamboo Dowo, there were 4 major stands that were destroyed and that the majority identify as descending from:

• Sirijo (notch: |/|/): the most populous of the Opan, and the ones with the strongest thread of historical/scholarly records/research.
• Opop (notch: |_--_|): the original creator/domesticator of the Pandorca was an Opop, and they are still considered the best breeders by many.
• Boola (notch: \^/): The most mercantile and outward-looking stand. Ojil the Bamboo-crafter is from this Stand.
• Bohsi Nohg (notch: |_|\/): the most militant of the Opan, this stand led the rearguard action that allowed the Opan to escape, an event they still commemorate - and which is also celebrated by the other Stands.

Shared customary codes and values

cuisine

• prawn and bamboo-shoot stew
• squid on heart-of-palm

Common Etiquette rules

the common greeting for Bamboo Dowo is to touch their left forearms together in a cross-shape.

Common Dress code

• heads virtually always covered with a close-fitting hood of undyed cloth that covers the neck and ears.
• hair cut very short back and sides, elsewhere either a few inches long or tied up into a topknot or ponytail. the fringe is cut into the Notch of the individual's Stand and is left exposed from the hood. to have unkempt hair is seen as disrespectful in the extreme.
• shoulders are covered by a broad woven-bamboo mantle, designed to protect the lower body from the sun.
• clothing otherwise varies, often including tabards with triangular bottoms, terminating mid-thigh and open-sided from armpit to hip.
• there are no taboos about exposed skin below the shoulders.

Art & Architecture

• bamboo posts marked with the Notch of the Stand are often used as motifs in individual buildings, as well as on grave markers and incense pots.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

• remembrance of the lost Stands is carried out in most households on every day by the burning of incense (or just smouldering dried bamboo leaves) in a vessel marked with the relevant Stand's Notch.
• there is also an annual remembrance event for each Stand, mostly attended only by the members of that Opa - the exception being the Bohsi Nohg, which is universally recognised, if a little more lightly, and has become a symbolic unifying event. what do these events involve?
• there is also a once-a-decade competition, the Pinnacle Games, in which various individuals travel to a single island to compete for the glory of their Stand, Family, and themselves. each Stand constructs and obstacle course of bamboo, which are the site of races; a variety of Elephant Tile games offer a more cerebral challenge; and finally, there is the game of Cuol, a dexterity game involving tossing stones into sand in configurations to defeat an opponent.
• With such long lives, marriage is not viewed as a life-long commitment and, indeed, generally includes a reaffirmation every five years where amicable separation is common. marriages typically last 20-30 years, and it is not unknown for the same couple to re-marry after a century or so.

Related Items

• Games and sports

Related Locations

• Barren Isles
• Dow