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Ulkhids

The Tribe of the Emperor

The Ulkhids are one of the 7 tribes of Prabai. Although they mostly live nomadic lives they have also settled cities along the Bing Jiejie River, that divides northern and middle Prabai.

Culture

Common Etiquette rules

Shoes are not worn inside; Prabaiian people don't want the floor to be stained by soil, sand or dust that may be attached to the soles. Instead, shoes are removed before entering the house, either left outside near the doorstep or placed in the shoe cabinet at the entryway, and often replaced with slippers. Just wearing socks is also acceptable in informal situations. There are also separate slippers used when using a bathroom, due to hygienic reasons.

As beliefs regarding bad luck from open umbrellas indoors are taken seriously by some people, close umbrellas before bringing them inside. Some people believe that passing a knife or scissors directly to a person is bad luck as well.

Hosts typically insist that guests keep eating. One needn’t eat much, but should at least taste a bit of everything on the table and express appreciation for the taste and quality.

Food or any small favor in general will generally be offered more than once and it is polite to decline it the first time with an expression implying effort to avoid causing inconvenience.

Avoid hand gestures with which one is unfamiliar, such as making a fist with the thumb placed between the middle and index fingers. Many of these are offensive.

Any comment to a person about the appearance of the latter's female relatives or wife might be seen as rude.

Before starting to eat at the dinner table, one should wait for the elders to start eating first. But, while drinking water the minors have priority.

Blowing one's nose at a table is met with disgust and frowned upon even if one has cold. As sniffing is also considered rude at a table, it is best to clear one's nose at a toilet as often as necessary. These activities are in general regarded distasteful, and are best kept away from social interactions.

It is usually considered disrespectful to sit legs crossed near one's parents, grandparents, possibly other elderly relatives and in front of one's teacher.

When sitting legs crossed, it is offensive to point one's hanging foot at someone, especially someone older or of higher status.

Similarly, it is in general rude to show the bottom of one's shoes or feet.

A couple kissing each other is a faux pas in more conservative regions, since it is not seen as modest.

Common Dress code

Hats:

One of the most colorful and original items of Prabaian national dress is the traditional head wear. The Prabaian head dresses differed in shape and purpose; there were hats for the young and old, summer and winter & men & women, holidays and ceremonies & fashionable and everyday hats. Their fashion and trimmings & colors were amazing varied depending on the sex of the person wearing it his or her social position or to who's tribe or nationality they belonged.

Ber

The Ber is loose calf-length tunic made of one piece of material. It has long sleeves,a high collar and buttons on the right shoulder; The Ber buttons. If they are not produced from decorative stones or silver, they are made from are narrow strips of cloth tied into intricate knots. Each sub-clanc of the Prabaii has its own individual Ber, distinguished by its cut, color and trimming. Live stock breeders for instance, wore yellow Bers with a cape thrown over it. There are basically three types of dels, each worn during a particular season.

Dan Ber

The "Dan Ber" is made of light, thinks bright materials and is worn by women during the late spring and summer.

Terleg

The "terleg" is a slightly more padded version and both men and women. The winter Ber is serious, padded tunic lined with sheep skin, or layers of row cotton. Bers have the same cut whether worn by men or women. Male Ber are just wider and in more somber colors.

Everyday Ber

The Ber for everyday wear is gray, brown or some other dark color, white the holiday Ber is a bright blue, green or claret silk with a silk sash of contrasting color several meters long. The sash is not simply adornment. It also serves as a soft corset facilitating long riders on horse back. A Ber has wide, cup-shaped sleeves nicknamed "hooves".

Shoes

Men

Various kinds of shoes were popular among the men. Common villagers used shoes that came up to the knees and were wrapped around the front with the laces. Shoes shoes for the nobility, on the other hand, were made of high quality leather and had low heels. These shoes were available in various styles.  

Women

Just like men, Prabaiian shoes for women also maintained a distinction between the nobility and the common people. One popular type of shoes for women was turnshoes. These shoes were made of thick and soft leather. Among the peasant women, leather of low quality was used and shoes of wool and fur were also common.

Common Myths and Legends

(more to be added later) The Legend of the White Snake.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Women

The emphasis that Prabaiian notions of female beauty place on the relationship between inner and outer beauty has influenced the creation of the Prabaiian female beauty ideal. Outer beauty was thought to represent virtuousness, talent, and other positive characteristics.

Men

As to men, It seemed to flex over the many years. From first recorde history to 130 AZ, Prabaiian women liked the fitter and stronger ones. Men's physical ability was also paid a special attention during this time. Men who were good at horse riding, archery, swordsmanship and martial arts were highly praised.

Short into the the thousand year long Age of Unification (27 AZ till 1042 AZ) it made a switch towards slim and smart men, men with jobs like counsillor and judge. There also was a time from around 620AZ till around 680 that male exterior beauty was completely unimportant.

After the fall of Prabai at the start of the Third Era of the Man it slowely shifted towards strong and tall men.

Courtship Ideals

Though adolescent Prabaiian children usually play with members of the same sex, boys and girls take part in group games during festivals, offering them the opportunity to begin looking for future mates. Virginity is seen as highly valued in brides, and premarital sex is deplored. A girl who becomes pregnant out of wedlock is seen as bringing shame to her family.

The choice of a spouse is a complex one for the young male, and it may involve not only his parents and his friends, as well as those of the young woman, but also a matchmaker. A young man can decide on a likely spouse on his own and then ask his parents to arrange the marriage negotiations, or the young person's parents may make the choice of spouse, giving the child little to say in the selection. In theory, a girl may veto the spouse her parents have chosen.

Relationship Ideals

Marriages during this time included a number of mandatory steps, of which the most important of them was the presentation of betrothal gifts from the groom and his family to the bride and her family. The bride's family then countered with a dowry. Sometimes the bride's family would buy goods with the betrothal money. Using a betrothal gift for family financial needs rather than saving it for the bride was viewed as dishonorable because it appeared as though the bride has been sold. A marriage without a dowry or a betrothal gifts was also seen as dishonorable. The bride was seen as a concubine instead of a wife. Once all the goods were exchanged the bride was taken to the ancestral home of the groom. There she was expected to obey her husband and his living relatives. Women continued to belong to their husband's families even if they had passed. If the widow's birth family wanted her to marry again, they would often have to ransom her back from her deceased husband's family. If they had any children they stayed with his family.

Major organizations

Parent ethnicities
Languages spoken
Related Locations

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