People of Sun and River
The People of Sun and River claim to be the oldest civilization of Terraneus that still persists, predating even the Old Iron Empire. While none can know for sure, the People have lived along the Great Scar since the Days of Blood and Shadow and the Library of Tagos holds some of the oldest texts ever written, kept protected by their priests, the Kana. The People of Sun and River have strong cultural traditions regarding the purity of soul and much of their culture is built on justifications of who is most pure and how one can achieve a stronger purity of spirit. Though their caste system seems rigid on paper, in practice, there is fluidity to it, though not as much as many of the other cultures around Terraneus. As the jungle they make their home borders the Mistlands, they endure the Wyrdwinds more frequently than most others and the threat of the Mistwalkers is more than just a ghost story to scare their children. They are proud, they are stubborn, but they are also the first line of defense against the monsters from the Mistlands.
Naming Traditions
Other names
The naming for the People of Sun and River is inspired by names from the Indian subcontinent.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
The People speak Scartongue, though each city has its own dialect as well.
Culture and cultural heritage
The culture of the People of Sun and River is built on the concept of the four orders.
The first order is the Kana, the priestly order. The Kana are raised to tend to the temples and preserve the teachings of the People that reach back to the Nightfall, the period at the end of the Days of Blood and Shadow. A priest of the Kana (called a Kani regardless of if they are male or female) is a member of a specific cult, usually the one their family is a part of. They are taught the traditions and customs of their priesthood from a young age. The priests claim they were given their status by the gods when they still walked in the bodies of mortals, and many of the families claim descent from the followers of these demigods. They advise the kings and the warriors, but as they control access to the records and archives going back centuries, they can exert a tremendous amount of 'soft' political power, even if they are forbidden from ruling themselves. A Kani may be a lotusmaster, and in this way, many get around the prohibition that only a Sadhra may be a sorcerer.
The second order is the Sadhra, the ruling order. These are the kings and queens of the Scar as well as the warriors. Unlike the Kani, the Sadhri does not need to devote themselves to a single deity, though many often do. The families of the Sadhra claim their right to rule from their ancestors, some of whom became their gods, others who are cultural heroes. The King or Queen of a city must be Sadhri and many of the positions in their court must be filled by those with this noble blood. Sorcery is only permitted to the Sadhra, though it is said that some among the Kana practice this art in secret. Only the Sadhri has the nobility and the discipline, it is believed, to be able to control the dangerous power of the Mistlands and bargain with demons.
The third order is the Pumat, the artisans, merchants, and the farmers, hunters, and fishermen who provide the food for the cities and villages. This order makes up the majority of the People of Sun and River. They follow the will of their local Sadhra, and ultimately the King or Queen of the city they support and provide sustenance to. Most skilled labor or trades fall under this order. They feed the Sadhra, so that when the Mistwalkers and the Wyrdings come, the Sadhra protect them. However, with the annexation of Scarmouth and the ease of trade, the Pumat are finding themselves with more to offer than ever before. Some Pumat have become so bold as to, while still wearing the colors of their order, openly carry weapons as a sign of their power, a right traditionally only granted to the Sadhra and seen as an honor to bestow upon a member of the Pumat. Pumat may also become lotusmasters, though it is difficult unless they have the backing of a Kani to lend them access to the journals of lotusmasters past.
The Ban (or Bani for a single member) is the fourth order. The word roughly means something akin to "Penitent". The Ban are those whose families are stripped of their traditional order of Kana, Sadhra, or Pumat for one reason or another. Their ancestor might have been found guilty of a crime so severe that the punishment required generations before their family can be forgiven. They might have offended a Kani or Sadhri and been cast into the Ban for a set amount of time. They might have been born to a family of servants from the Days of Blood and Shadow and be Bani for life. The Ban are not exactly slaves, in that they have no specific master, but they are certainly a serving class. They are exempt from many of the requirements that fall on the Pumat or the Sadhra, but they also are allowed to keep far less of what they produce. Only those families who cannot trace the origin of how many generations ago they became Ban are Ban indefinitely. In practice, many of the Ban are almost indistinguishable from those of the third order in profession, but it matters when it comes to things such as marriage, taxes, and their place in the social order of the cities along the Great Scar.
There is an unofficial fifth order, named Vash (Vashi), and these are all those who cannot fit into another order. These are those who have become untouchable for one reason or another. Perhaps they have been caught selling a piece of their soul to a sorcerer or a demon, and thus they lack the purity of a whole soul. Perhaps they practiced the art of sorcery. Perhaps they are one who has been afflicted by the Dream. Perhaps the Wyrdwinds have touched them and changed them into a Wyrding. Perhaps they committed a crime so offensive to the Sadhra and Kana that they and their descendants are forever to be Vash. The Vash are the impure. They are permitted only the most menial of jobs or those that are deemed to reduce the purity of a person's soul. There is only one way for a Vash to cease to be a Vash and that is to become "Blessed".
A Blessed, or Nitashi, is someone who, through rigorous training, meditation, faith, or discipline, achieves a level of purity of spirit that they are considered to be 'avatars' of one of the gods. However, being Blessed is not something one achieves and then simply is. The Nitashi must continue to practice that which led to him being Blessed, or he will fall into Night. Any person from any order can become Blessed, but it is not an easy life, and Nitashi are met with a mixture of awe, respect, and fear from the People of Sun and River.
The culture of the People of Sun and River is, as far as they are concerned, the longest persistent culture in Terraneus. Even during the Age of Storms, the People of Sun and River withstood the onslaught and survived, protecting their records and texts so that their culture was not lost. Learning and education is seen as the birthright of the Kana and the Sadhra, though there is the occasional Pumat and Bani who has been taught to read the old texts.
Common Etiquette rules
Meals are to be shared with family. Among the Sadhra, they are expected to permit the Ban in their service and the local Kana to dine with them. The Pumat and the more general Ban have little societal expectations to host, though wealthy Pumat will often invite the Kani and his students to join them or a member of the Sadhra they hope to impress. Pumat and Ban, due to their occupational similarities, will often not dine together as the Pumat do not wish to be mistaken for Ban.
Before a meal, all participants are expected to publicly and ritualistically wash their hands. This is considered a part of living a pure life. The dirty water is then given to a Bani (or in Pumat families without Ban to do it for them, the youngest child) and taken to be dumped into the Great Scar or the nearest moving body of water. For Pumat, this is done after dinner so the child will not be missed. For Sadhra, the Bani carries it out while the meal begins.
As feet touch the earth, they are considered to be a way for the impurity to enter the body, and thus one should never point their feet at another person when sitting. Many a Pumat has risked being cast into the Ban for not instructing their children at a young age how to sit before a Kani or Sadhri guest.
When sitting in a group, it is important to never sit higher than one above you. If it is a group between castes, one does not sit above the person of the highest caste (Sadhra). If it is between family members, one does not sit higher than the oldest member of the family.
Common Dress code
The People of Sun and River live in a very humid and hot rainforest, and so their clothing reflects this. The sarong is a common article of clothing for both men and women. Traditionally, for women, this is then paired with a single long rectangular piece of cloth that they drape over their upper bodies, placing it over their shoulders. For men and women of the priestly caste, they are then expected to wear a shawl as well, and depending on the demands of their cult, a head covering. This is because the head is considered, by the People of Sun and River, to be the seat of the soul, and thus the most 'pure' part of the body.
The colors of clothes are used to indicate the caste of a person within the society as well as many other minor things, such as if they are married or not or if they are considered 'blessed'. Much of their clothing is made from cotton that grows in trees near the river or from silk brought through the Gold Coast from the Southlands, but they have also acquired the silkworms to produce some of their own. They have metallurgy, and so they often use precious metals and gemstones in their jewelry.
Art & Architecture
Most of the buildings that the People of Sun and River build are from wood or stone, as both are quite plentiful in the area around the Great Scar or in the Jungles of Kar'ack. They tend to not build for height, but often build their cities to utilize the existing landscape as much as they are able. Their cities tend to be quite 'noisy' in this regard, as you can walk by a temple built near waterfalls that feed the Great Scar and hear the crashing water all through the day, or be walking in the market and hear the sound of the many bird singing and calling in the trees that still surround it. They prefer this style of architecture and city design due to their proximity to the Mistlands. When the storms came and the Wyrwinds blew strongly, the natural landscape often 'blocked' their paths, like normal windbreakers, and so those who lived in cities with less cleared and flattened land suffered fewer Wyrdings.
For art, the People of Sun and River have many different painting styles that they have developed through the ages. Due to their somewhat cluttered city designs, they tend to prefer murals to statues as a wall can be a mural, whereas a statue requires space to place it. Statues thus are often small and placed in niches of rock and serve as shrines and places of worship. These two are often brightly painted. All castes are permitted to paint, though certain styles are only permitted by the priestly caste, due to their perceived connection to the gods.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
The customs of the People of Sun and River are in a large part dependent on the caste or the cult in which they were raised.
A Sadhri will openly carry a weapon, usually a sword or a bow, but something with which they have trained. It is expected that they are a trained warrior and should be able to defend others at any time. They also have the right, as the administrators and rulers of the cities of the Scar, to enforce justice where they see it, though a Sadhri who is too bloodthirsty may find himself stripped of his title and cast to the Ban.
The Ban and Vash are expected if they are in the streets to bow and avert their eyes when a Kani or a Sadhri passes. They are not to look at them upon them, unless explicitly ordered to. Vash must descend to their knees and place their heads upon the earth should they see a priest or a Sadhri.
Funerary and Memorial customs
It is traditional for the People of Sun and River to burn their dead and let the Great Scar carry the ashes to the Shimmering Sea.
Common Taboos
Sorcery is taboo for all but the Sadhra. Consorting or making pacts with Demons that involve giving a piece of your soul is likewise extremely taboo and anyone found doing so, regardless of their rank, will be immediately named Vash. Any who travel to the Mistlands will also be made Vash, though the Kana may great exemptions to this (though it is very rare).
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
The ideal beauty of the People of Sun and River is a woman with wide hips, slender bodies, round breasts, and lotus petal eyes. Hair should be long dark wavy hair and skin like gold. They will often take coral to redden their lips and place kohl around their eyes. The ideal woman is a head shorter than the ideal man.
For men, the ideal is to be tall (at least a head taller than the ideal woman), with short hair and a well-trimmed beard. Flawless skin is ideal by the standards of the People of Sun and River, with no birthmarks or scars. The jawline should be sharp and eyebrows thick, with a thin, beak-like nose.
Gender Ideals
Traditionally, the People of the Sun and River expect the women to be demure and soft-spoken and men to be aggressive and outspoken, but this is somewhat of an oversimplification of their society. A Sadhri is a Sadhri before she is a woman, just as a Vash is a Vash before he is a man. Though there are expectations, there is freedom in the behavioral restrictions placed upon a Kani or a Sadhri. A Sadhri woman may carry a weapon just as her male counterparts do. A Queen may inherit (so long as she has no brothers) and rule without too much challenge. A Kani's gender matters little to their ability to perform their roles.
Yet the expectation is still always present.
Courtship Ideals
A prospective suitor is to approach the family of the woman he is interested in and negotiate with her father for the permission to marry her. She should be of the same caste as him, though Sadhri will occasionally marry Pumat if they have a family that is respected (and wealthy) enough. Women are married into the husband's family and take on their caste, thus a Sadhri woman is unlikely to ever marry below her standing. It is better to be a second wife to a Sadhri man than to become Pumat. Kana may only marry Kana or Sadhri, or they will lose their caste, even if they are a man. No one wishes to marry a Vash for then you become Vash, regardless of gender.
Relationship Ideals
Similar to the gender ideals, the woman is expected to be demure and the man to be outspoken, regardless of the caste. Women are expected to join their husbands in death if they outlive them. A husband is free to have as many wives as he can reasonably manage, though this is more an official law than something routinely practiced.
Encompassed species
Related Organizations
Related Locations
