Culture and Customs

I've been looking through the new, shiny wiki layout, and was noticing how bare the Culture and Customs page is, at least, bare for such an expansive topic.

Most species pages don't really discuss their culture, which makes some sense since its not a universally equal thing.

As well, I think there's more cultural topics out there than just Negav.

So, any ideas on Neko, Elven, Dridder, Sagolian, Akaptor Nomad, Jotun or Negavian (any of the groups in Negav, actually - so Negavian, Vishmitali, Motamo culture, etc.) or anyone else you can think of culture can go here.

And I couldn't start this thread without some good ideas already made on dridder culture.

https://felarya.forumotion.com/t2559-thoughts-about-present-dridder-culture

I would like to suggest that part of Nekomura custom is a blend of civilization and tribe mentality. Basically, while they live in a fairly large community, as far as nekos go, they still have some hunter/gatherer culture to them and they even have a hunting ground within their Isolon. However, it's not uncommon for some nekos to brave the wilderness between the two eyes so that they can take some supplies from Negav (one of my nekos do that every once in a while), or partake in some activities there.

Jætte_Troll wrote:

I've been looking through the new, shiny wiki layout, and was noticing how bare the Culture and Customs page is, at least, bare for such an expansive topic.

Yes! This is exactly the reason I gave so many things their own page when I was designing the new layout. It makes people notice that there's nothing there, so they go and try to fill it. The result is utilising the wiki not only as an encyclopaedia Felarya, but also as a means of showing which things need development. This is why species like diamond nagas, mantoids, bolas dridders need their own pages. People will see that there's not a lot there and develop it.

Yes, culture is a piece that never really stops. And we can keep adding.

Well, little has been added here... so I thought I'd get some ideas going by posting some general cultural ideas and information.

This is a cultural primer on the Culture of the Dridder Empire. I will also put up a Primer on Elven Culture as well. Hopefully this will spark more imaginations. This Dridder information can also be found, with other details, in the Dridder subsection of the forum. If enough ideas come up on other subsections I may do other compilations.
Many thanks to everyone who I talked to that gave me some of these ideas. This is all just a rough sketch.

A Primer on the Traditional Culture of the Dridder Empire, Carried on Today by a Few Select Groups

Religion

The primary deity of the Dridders is the Widowed Mother. She is seen as the mother of the entire Dridder species and the direct ancestor of the Dridder Royal Family - thus, the current Dridder Queen can trace her ancestry back directly to the Widowed Mother.

The myths surrounding the Widowed Mother indicates she was a very powerful entity operating on Felarya, akin to a Guardian, most likely actually a Guardian. What form she had exactly is unclear - pictures of her varyingly show a humanoid female, a dridder female or even a large spider. Regardless, in any humanoid or dridder representation of her, her face is concealed by a veil - it is considered blasphemous to attempt to actually draw her features.

The common legend goes that the Widowed Mother existed at a time when there were there were other powerful entities like her. The Widowed Mother fell in love with a Guardian, married him and with him birthed the Dridder Race. However, during the Corrector War, this Guardian was turned against his comrades and his former wife. Horrified, the Widow withdrew from the war - until her former lover threatened her children. With tears in her eyes, she engaged her corrupted husband in combat and slew him, stabbing him with her blade and drawing him close to whisper her love to him one last time.

After this, she became known as the Widowed Mother. She remained with her children, through the first three generations of Dridder Queens. After that, she is said to have vanished, her whereabouts or purpose for leaving a mystery.

The next most important deities to the Dridders are the Weavers. They are maintained to have been the first three Dridder Queens and tend to appear as an old dridder woman, a stately dridder lady and a lovely dridder maiden. They are said to have been whispered the secrets of the future by their Widowed Mother and are said to weave intricate webs all day - they know what the future holds for every Dridder, from birth to death. They spin out a dridder's particular thread in the Great Web until it grows frayed and must be cut out.

The concept of the "Great Web" is less a religious one and more a philosophical. It is an expression of dridder ideals of destiny and duty. Every dridder has their place in the web and are interconnected to all others. Chaos in one part of the web affects those closest to it. Thus, a good society must be disciplined and protect itself from collapse while strengthening any weaknesses. Many dridders saw the concept as only referring to how society in the Dridder Kingdom worked, while others tried to work on a broader theory encapsulating Felarya as a whole.

Architecture, Music, Metalworking and Clothing

Dridder architecture has, of course, varied over the long history of the race. However, certain themes and styles seem to repeat themselves. As a comparison, dridders seemed to have built Supprozad up in a particularly Gothic and Neo-Gothic style, with towering, ornate spires. The dridders are said to have even built an underground capital in this manner. The dridders enjoy details and intricacies - spider webs are a favoured motif. Excavation of Supprozad shows it to have been an amazingly precisely planned city, with public parks and elegant, intricate walkways.

Dridders considered themselves a cultured race and music was one of many pursuits they found pleasing. Dridders seem to have focused on string instruments, with particular ones comparative to human cellos, violins and guitars. The strings of these instruments seem to have been made of specially treated silk, the making of which was a secret to the dridders.

Besides the strings of instruments, dridders were astonishingly skilled tailors and seamstresses. Their clothing became more and more ornate and detailed overtime as they developed more and more skills in this area.

Metalworking was also a skill that dridders developed, much faster and better than other races who relied more on magic. Dridders, as a whole, generally are not as proficient at magic (Aside from certain noble lineage) as other race and prefer fighting prowess and craftsmanship. At their peak, dridders created amazing clockwork marvels and inventions. Even today, their blacksmiths are among the best on Felarya.

Dridder Royalty

The Dridder Royalty claims direct descent from their patron deity, claiming this grants them special powers. Wether this is true or not, it has been noted that dridders of noble descent seem to have a better grasp on magic than the rest of their magically average race.

Succession of Dridder Monarchs is mainly matriarchal. The eldest daughter of the previous ruler becomes Queen - if there are no daughters, the eldest son becomes King. If the ruler had no children, the eldest niece is sought out - if there is no niece, then a nephew is sought. This continues along more and more distant relatives. There was, and perhaps still is, an entire organization, The Keepers of Blood, who carefully maintained records to make sure that succession was not questioned. Many believe that the Dridder lineage was eradicated with the fall of Supprozad... but there are rumours that the bloodline survived and there is indeed a Dridder Queen to this day...

Today, most dridder tribes have either forgotten about the Royalty, or accept that it is done for. This is not universally true, however. A good many dridders believe that the Royalty can be recovered in some way. Many of these dridders believe that with a new Queen, the Dridders can hope to reclaim some of the glory of their Empire. The exact nature of how this could be done differs among various viewpoints. The well known Seekers of Sineria simply refuse to accept that their last queen actually died permanently. They tend to gloss over her brutality or are ignorant of it, believing she was at least a firm Queen who bettered the Empire. Today their agents, even members of other races, scour Felarya for clues as to what exactly happened to their Queen. Other groups believe that Sineria is dead, but that not all the bloodline could have been destroyed. The Keepers of Blood organization is much smaller than the Seekers of Sineria today, and mostly comprises dridder scholars, but they work tirelessly to try and find a rightful heir living today. Other groups believe that the bloodline is destroyed, but that the religious aspect of the Queens is unimportant - they wish to try and unite the tribes under a single, new Queen. However, the fractious nature of the tribes of the Dridder forest, combined with a feeling by many tribals that Dridders would do better without a Queen makes this a difficult goal to achieve.

Smaller Dridders

Elves and Dridders are the only two species where there was extensive civilized cooperation between both large and small members of their race (not counting fairies, of course.) Supprozad was, in fact, designed to accommodate dridders of all sizes.

Although both large and small dridders worked together in harmony, there was discrepancies in the rights of both. Dridder culture valued military prowess very highly and smaller dridders, as they could simply not cause as much damage as a larger one, were often seen as a lower class. In wars they mainly played only the role of skirmishers, scouts and spies, only fighting similarly sized opponents if at all. In peace, it was very common for dridder nobles to have many small dridders as servants - it was something of a status symbol to have a skittering horde of helpers. In many regards, smaller dridders were only seen as assistants to larger ones. However, this was not always true, smaller dridders often distinguishing themselves in a variety of skills.

This also applied to tiny sized dridders. While many giant dridders never notice that these existed, they still lived in Supprozad and still live across Felarya today. This tiny dridders often helped out human-sized dridders in the same manner that human-sized dridders helped out giant-sized ones and a similar class distinction and relationship existed between them.

Values

Dridder culture placed high importance on the character of a dridder. One was said to be a "True Dridder" if they showed good character. Martial prowess was highly respected, wether it be in fencing, marksmanship or jousting. Dridders would often engage in duels not only to defend their honour but to showcase their skills. Honour was also very important to Dridders - promises were always kept, oaths always followed and insults never let go. Determination and hard work were seen as what separated the dridders from more "primitive" species - the dridders struggled and warred to build a great Empire, while other species were more concerned with chasing around silly little humans. The Dridders also were very proud of their culture - they adored their music, clothes and learning, seeing themselves as more intelligent and refined. At their worst, the Dridders were arrogant, stubborn and snobbish. At their best they were loyal, honourable and cultured.

A Primer on Elven Culture

Cultural Values

Elven culture is one of the oldest upon Felarya, dating far back before the fall of Ur-Sagol. The Elves thrived on the idea of co-existence and flexibility in a world of death and danger. The Elves also believed in simplicity in their art and habitations. Being overly ostentatious or wasteful was seen as asking for misfortune. Elves also believe that their culture is not a racial trait – co-existence and harmony can be learned by any race and every race makes that choice. However, during the extreme height of the Elven Empire, much of this was forgotten in exchange for the power and wealth that the Empire could afford. In general, Elven Culture is diverse, adapted differently from region to region.

Religion

(A better, more in-depth explanation of the Pantheon below)

The Elves worshipped, and still worship to this day, the Elven Pantheon, which is comprised of the Skillful Hunter, the Fearless Witch, the Elegant Queen, the Wise Sorceress and the Lawful Arbitrator. Even within the Elven District in Negav, five shrines to each of these Gods can be found. Exactly how these Gods are worshipped varied from tribe to tribe. Some believe they are literal beings that can affect the lives of mortals. Others consider them more as metaphors of aspects of Elven culture. Yet others see them as real elves, who were paragons to be emulated. Elven tradition encourages a balanced worship of all the Gods – an elf who emulates these virtues and respects them only betters himself. However, there are in existence cults who focus on one God over the others. These elves become masters of particular aspects of culture – while many elves mistrust, or pity them, these cults often offer important services to an Elven community as a whole. Cults are generally open to any elf who is shown to be a master of a particular skill and dedicated. However, the warrior cult of the Witch is open only to females, while the mysterious Lawkeepers of the Arbitrator only accepts men. Ironically, today the best known shrine to the Pantheon on Felarya is the one that exists in the Elven District of the mainly human-owned city of Negav.

Traditionally, the oldest religious leaders would lead and Elven community, their wisdom granting them the foresight and experience to make decisions. However, in certain regions Elves are led by noble families – this is more common in the Oloonde Lakeland region. It was a noble family from this region that eventually started the line of Elven Emperors and Empresses that ruled during the period of the Elven Empire.

The Elven Pantheon

The Hunter

Generally portrayed as a young, handsome and fit elf male, carrying a bow, almost always with some sorts of animal companions. The Hunter is a multi-faceted god - he represents both skill at hunting at skill at avoiding being hunted. He represents the connection of the Elves to their homelands and their interdependence with nature. He is connected to the elements of wood and earth and the colours of silver and green.

The Sorceress

The Sorceress is portrayed as a calm, focused young elf mage, dressed in violet robes and clutching a scroll. She represents Magic as the birthright of Elves and the cultural manipulation and construction of Magic. She also represents study and learning, among magic and other disciplines. She represents logic and calculation and is a patron of the sciences. She is tied to the elements of ice and water and the colours of purple and the whiteness of snow.

The Witch

The Witch is portrayed as a wild elf mage, dressed in wicked looking gleaming armour and wielding a sword. She represented magic as an uncontrollable and powerful force. She is also the Elven goddess of war and soldiers and of chaos, as well as patron of smiths and metalworkers. She is the anti-thesis of the ordered Sorceress. She is tied to the elements of metal and fire and to the colours of crimson blood and chrome.

The Queen

The Queen is portrayed as an elf in a beautiful dress or gown, often holding a wooden scepter. She is seen as a representative of the majesty of Elven culture and customs and of their nobility. She presides over all the arts and the more cultural parts of Elven civilization. She is also seen as a mother figure and a protector of children and the home. She is tied to the element of air and to the jewels of sapphire, ruby, amethyst and diamond.

The Arbitrator

Portrayed as an older elf, clad in a cloak of black, strewn with twinkling stars, often shown holding a mirror. The Arbitrator is stern and without emotion. He represents Death to the Elves as well as the oldest laws. He is the unforgiving nature of Felarya and determines fate and destiny. He exists in the nothingness beyond Felarya and watches and makes judgement. He is represented in the starry robes worn by many Elven elders. The Arbitrator also signifies self-reflectiveness and self-judgement. Due to this, the Arbitrator is often connected with mirrors, which usually feature in shrines built to him, encouraging Elves to study themselves to better understand their emotions, strengths and weaknesses.

--

Magic and Changing

Elves are one of the most magical species on Felarya, either from an innate ability or because they have been practicing magic longer than anyone else. Magic is something common to all areas of Elven culture and is not restricted to a higher hierarchy of society. Elves are so proficient at magic that other races often go to them for advice. A few Elves are even Magiocrats, in a mainly human establishment, who share their knowledge and advice in return for the existence and isolation of the Elven District in Negav.

One specific area of Magic that is mostly practiced by the Elves is the broad area of “Changing”. Elves value flexibility – they do not attempt to mold the world by force, but through subtle modification or by changing to meet the challenge. This has a variety of applications. Most apparently, Elves would shape trees and vegetation to create forts, outposts and even towns. This allows a united community of Elves to thrive in a variety of areas.

However, the Elves eventually unlocked the magical ability to shape their own species – to turn Elves giant, give them special abilities or immunities or tailor them to thrive in a certain environment. Elves, being a naturally magical species, found themselves easy to adapt. It was this skill in particular that helped push the Elven Empire to prominence – today it is a lost art, but there a few Elven Mages who claim to know a little of it. This Changing had the effect that today, the Elven tribes are often radically different. In days past they were united by the common cause of Empire, but now many see themselves as inherently different than other tribes, even considering themselves a sub-species of elf. There are even records of Elves adapting to magic in their environment and having it change them unconsciously, though the exact truth and nature of this is contested.

The changing of the size of Elves lead to many communities that had a mix of smaller and giant Elves. These communities used co-operation to thrive and help the Empire as a whole. Today, many giant Elves have founded their own separate tribes, but there still exists examples of cooperation among different sizes of elf. Though not true in all regards, often a giant elf will look kindly upon a smaller cousin and try not to eat them.


Archery and the Arts

While it is a common fact among other species that “Elves are good with bows”, archery has slightly deeper connotations among elves themselves. As a purely fighting tool, Elves have always used bows as a preferred weapon, disliking brutal close combat. Many Elven Mages made bows by taking and shaping wood from a living trees. It is also said a few of the most powerful Mages could make ghostly bows from thin air, that shot bolts of magic. The Hunter’s Cult is said to have the best archers among elves, able to perhaps rival the fabled nemeses. In a philosophical sense, archery became a popular meditative art, used to hone the body, eye and mind. Skill at archery was often used as a measure of an elf’s character – a better archer must have more focus than their opponent. In political arguments, archery contests were often partaken in by opposing contestants to prove themselves.

Elven Musical traditions stretch back thousands of years. Unlike species like dridders who devised systems for writing music, Elven tradition is wholly passed down from teacher to student and tends to focus more on improvisation. Instruments varied from tribe to tribe, though the most popular overall was the Elven voice. While some find Elven music slow and minimalist, Elves believe that good music takes into account the effect of every note. Tied to music was dance, which had a wide variety of different regional traditions.

A popular Elven art was that of poetry. Like music, this was a skill passed down through oral traditions. Elves place as much emphasis on the performance of poetry as the actual words.

Elves enjoy the creative aspects of physical art, although this takes many forms. Elven Changers often considered themselves artists, manipulating nature into different yet still pleasing forms. Elven painters and sculptures often looked to the natural world, or the work of shapers for inspiration. Elven clothing was made to be simple and functional - civilians and leaders tended to wear inscribed robes fastened over one shoulder, while soldiers and rangers wore tough but flexible leather. Often, Elves would go about without clothing (especially giant elves, for whom creating an artistically pleasing outfit was difficult) - it was seen as an artistic accessory, or occasionally armour or religious piece, not a social necessity. However, accoutrements like handmade jewelry was still popular.

Though Elves were not the first species to make extensive use of stonework on Felarya, Elven architecture did emerge as its own unique form, using sweeping lines and rounded shapes, with details varying from region to region. In Elven architecture, the garden spaces are considered very important as well and worked carefully into the design. The Milkadis Temple, thought to be built by a radical sect of the Cult of the Arbitrator, is a good example of Elven Empire architecture. Today, the most accessible examples of Elven architecture can be found in a small scale in the Elven District in Negav.

That's some really interesting and well though of ideas here ^^
I'd like to use some of them in the wiki, if you agree with the disclaimer ?

Looks great overall Jætte, but there are two things that bug me...

Jætte_Troll wrote:

The primary deity of the Dridders is the Widowed Mother. She is seen as the mother of the entire Dridder species and the direct ancestor of the Dridder Royal Family - thus, the current Dridder Queen can trace her ancestry back directly to the Widowed Mother.

The myths surrounding the Widowed Mother indicates she was a very powerful entity operating on Felarya, akin to a Guardian, most likely actually a Guardian. What form she had exactly is unclear - pictures of her varyingly show a humanoid female, a dridder female or even a large spider. Regardless, in any humanoid or dridder representation of her, her face is concealed by a veil - it is considered blasphemous to attempt to actually draw her features.

The common legend goes that the Widowed Mother existed at a time when there were there were other powerful entities like her. The Widowed Mother fell in love with a Guardian, married him and with him birthed the Dridder Race. However, during the Corrector War, this Guardian was turned against his comrades and his former wife. Horrified, the Widow withdrew from the war - until her former lover threatened her children. With tears in her eyes, she engaged her corrupted husband in combat and slew him, stabbing him with her blade and drawing him close to whisper her love to him one last time.

Ok, I know Divine Right is important to rulers and all, but the "common legend" implies that almost all Dridders can claim they are decendent from the Widowed Mother.

Jætte_Troll wrote:

While it is a common fact among other species that “Elves are good with bows”, archery has slightly deeper connotations among elves themselves. As a purely fighting tool, Elves have always used bows as a preferred weapon, disliking brutal close combat. Many Elven Mages made bows by taking and shaping wood from a living trees. It is also said a few of the most powerful Mages could make ghostly bows from thin air, that shot bolts of magic. The Hunter’s Cult is said to have the best archers among elves, able to perhaps rival the fabled nemeses. In a philosophical sense, archery became a popular meditative art, used to hone the body, eye and mind. Skill at archery was often used as a measure of an elf’s character – a better archer must have more focus than their opponent. In political arguments, archery contests were often partaken in by opposing contestants to prove themselves.

This paragraph kind of contradicts itself...
First you say the bow is a tool used purely for fighting, then you go on about how archery is used as a Meditative art and measure of character.

@BA

About the Dridders.

lt is a legend and is supposed to imply that she created the dridder race, while also starting the noble dynasty herself. It's unsure if she actually literally birthed an entire race - it's more metaphorical.

As for the Elves you're misreading it. I never said it IS a purely fighting tool. I am saying as a weapon it has one connotation, while it also has another in a more philosophical sense. It's both.

@Karbo - Sure. These are just some general ideas to give focus points to different races. Though I don't have many ideas yet, I'd like to eventually do cultural primers for nekos, Sagolians, Negavians, Vishmitals, Chlaenas (though Chlaenas already have some decent stuff on culture in Ryzelm'oire), and maybe more.

Jætte_Troll wrote:

@BA

About the Dridders.

lt is a legend and is supposed to imply that she created the dridder race, while also starting the noble dynasty herself. It's unsure if she actually literally birthed an entire race - it's more metaphorical.

Ah, I figured it might be metaphorical, but I wasn't quite sure...

Probably because she "birthed" them with her mate, which kind of implies the Dridders were an end result of their "relationship".

Jætte_Troll wrote:

As for the Elves you're misreading it. I never said it IS a purely fighting tool. I am saying as a weapon it has one connotation, while it also has another in a more philosophical sense. It's both.

Ok... now I'm just confused...

... how so?

Something can have multiple cultural meanings. Archery is used in warfare and in a philosophical sense.

It's like the expression "the sword is an extension of your body" like the Asian philosophy. The sword is still a purely fighting weapon, but in a spiritual sense, to the Asian, to master the sword, you must master yourself.

It's similar for the elves, only the bow is an extension of the mind, meaning that if used as a philosophical metaphor, it'd go like "to master the bow, you must master your own mind and gain unflinching focus."

These ideas are currently being worked on via Google Doc, simply due to the immensity of the project. If you have an ideas for developing the culture of a particular major civilization or species on Felarya, contact AJ or me.

Hopefully I'll eventually have something bigger and better to present.

I'll try to come up with something tonight

gt500x wrote:

I'll try to come up with something tonight

Cool. Sorry I didn't respond sooner - I've been really sick the past few days and have only posted when I have had enough drugs in me to be coherent. If you want to make an addition, talk to AJ so he can share the link to it.

As my mind was randomly blowing though ideas for this culture and customs thing, I wondered if some kind of olympic games once every 10 years could be feasible. At first I thought about keeping it between civilizations at or around the Shimmering Sea, but then I thought it might be best to include Negav since it's Felarya's focal city.

Think that's even worth exploring?

I'm trying to think of a cultural reason for it to exist but I'm not sure there is one that fits nicely off the top of my head.
I'm not sure the Negavian attitude would embrace such a thing.
The Olympic games are Olympic, the roots are in ancient Greece, a place that wasn't under constant threat and had good reasons to hold such an event.

Alright, maybe just for kicks I'll come up with an idea for my four cities and villages on and around Iracal Island.

Edit: Scratch that. It was a novel idea but even on a small scale it just doesn't make sense .