Elvish Numerology

I mentioned way back when that elves had superstitions regarding numbers. Odds, especially three and nine, were considered to be positively charged numbers, and evens were considered to be negatively charged numbers.

This will interest historians, because it was a major sticking point between the elves and the ancient wizards, because the ancient wizards were quite enamoured with powers of two. The ancient calendar has exactly 512 days in a year (2 to the power of 8), each day is divided into thirty two hours (2 to the power of 5), each hour is 64 minutes (2 to the power of 6) and so on. The elven calendar goes to great length to avoid this, which is difficult, because a solar year is, in fact, exactly 512 days long. This issue between the elves and the ancient wizards was often ignored but never resolved.

For many elves of the default time period, numerology is somewhere between superstition and tradition. Some elves really believe that even numbers will cause the will of nature to be jumbled, despite the fact that mating usually occurs in pairs (if I could explain it, I would, but they don't tell me these things).

A larger proportion of elves would say, if questioned deeply about the subject, that they don't really believe that having two of something will cause any negative effects, but still make sure that their bouquet of flowers has nine and not eight or ten, and they won't even think about it. This reaction to numbers is so ingrained in their psyche that most elves would be confused and surprised when you pointed it out to them, because it's the way they've always done it.

I'm not going to go into great detail about the various specific superstitions regarding some numbers, but I will eventually get down to it on the wiki. These little facts are less important than getting the psychology down.

Centres of Culture V: Mechia

A note on pronunciation: It is not "MECH-ee-uh". It's "Muh-KEY-uh". Please don't think this place is about robots, dear lord, no.

This is the last major human centre of culture, and the most different from the others. If you go east north-east from the Aruan Archipelago, you will eventually reach the shores of Mechia.

This place, once conquered by the expanding Kularian Empire in the East, and then again conquered by the Aruan Empire from the West, is isolationist in nature. I'm sure I'll get many accusations of ripping off Japan, and in a sense I am, but this society has reasons beyond "Dylan needed a new cultural basis" for being the way it is.

Where the cultures of the west are full of passion, Mechia is a very dispassionate place. That's not to say that Mechians do not feel passion, but it is considered to be vulgar to show any more passion than necessary. The cold hierarchic society gets its inspiration from the moon, which is believed by Mechians and those in the eastern part of the former Kularian Empire to be made of ice. It travels around the earth to protect itself from the raging heat of the sun.

The stars themselves move very little, and are believed to be the Moon's court (well, at least they believe it in a figurative sense), all are in their proper place. So too must all people remain in their proper places. Gender does not play a serious role in this society, but social class plays a more intense role than other societies.

War and combat is also important to this society. After they had been conquered by the Aruan Empire, a great being came to their aid. He claimed to be an Avatar of the Moon, and his power was great. He singlehandedly marshalled the Mechians and with them threw the Aruans off Mechian soil. His name was Darius, and he is now referred to as Darius the Undying, as he is still their ruler today. Most people outside of Mechia believe that Darius' sons, grandsons, great-grandsons and the rest have all taken pains to look like Darius in an attempt to consolidate power.

Darius is, in fact, an ancient wizard. Having broken with the society of the ancient wizards, he remained behind, and felt that in rescuing and strengthening Mechia he was doing right. He is slowly attempting to return magic to the world through his "Angels", who are close friends and like-minded followers of his, also ancient wizards.

It is unfortunate that the sins required to turn this society into a haven for the magically inclined are great and dark. Darius claims to still be acting in the interests of the people, but much of this project is now just an extension of his ego. For those of you out there who know me, Darius has another name, but I'll keep that a secret for now.

People in the West view Mechians as sorcerers, devil-worshippers and similar unsavoury characters. As humans cannot do magic themselves (well, most humans who can't do magic believe this), they must be tapping into the powers of unsightly creatures. The moon-worship and dispassionate attitudes certainly don't help. As a result of this negative attention from the West, and the conquests, Mechia is a closed society. The only people allowed in are given leave by "Darius", and the only people allowed out are Darius' representatives.

These posts aren't supposed to be exhaustive, and I think this gives you an idea of what this culture is like, so I'll cut it there. I'm still deciding on whether or not to do serious posts on the Eastern and Western portions of the former Kularian Empire, as they're fairly similar to Kulari Proper.

Anywho, the next post will probably be about some facet of Elven society.

Centres of Culture III: Kulari (Part i, Kulari Proper) -- Revised!

Edit: I changed my mind about the Sun and the Moon religions. I've reversed them. They'll get their own posts later, but the wording of this post has been changed to reflect it.

"So", I'm sure some of you are thinking after the last couple posts, "What's the big deal about this Kularian Empire anyway?"

Glad you asked.

Kulari is a nation that first grew from the foothills of the northern mountains, much like the Commonwealth, merely further east. Historical records begin with the ascendancy of Kular, a general, to the kingship. Presumably there was some sort of society before Kular, but there are no records of what it might have been like.

Kular was, according to the records, an established general and brilliant tactician who had won battles at many places that no longer exist, or exist under different names. He did not wrest power from the hands of the former ruler, the records insist that he was chosen after the king died an ignoble death, sick in bed.

Under Kular's command, this apparently small kingdom began to expand a great deal, extremely quickly. In a push to forget the previous age of weak rule and stagnancy, Kular decreed, with the support of the religious leaders, that the nation would be renamed Kulari, and all the old records would be burned.

Posts to follow will deal with the growing empire of Kulari, but this post is dedicated to the culture of the Kulari themselves, and their descendants who still live in the area where the empire was born.

There was, in many ways, a cult of personality around Kular. A successful general and apparently charismatic man, he was a natural leader in a society where religious beliefs called for the people to rally around their leader. The old king had been weak, and died sick in bed rather than on his feet with a weapon in his hand. During this king's rule, there had been little expansion or increased wealth.

When Kular became king, all this changed, improving expectations and popular support skyrocketed. After all, everyone likes a winner.

This had a huge effect on the sorts of values and character traits that were considered desirable. Men wanted to be more like Kular, even though this meant a certain level of cold calculation and lack of mercy. Kular's personal beliefs about the inferiority of women began to percolate, and women lost much of their social status.

In the end, Kular turned to mass expansion through a vast army to keep his people under his control. It's not that they wouldn't have followed where he led them, but in inspiring people to be more like him, he grew paranoid that someone even more competent than him would wrest control away.

When he was routed and killed by the Commonwealth at the Hill of the Moon, his empire fragmented and the people of Kulari proper went back to work their farms and mines, and to sell their goods. The legacy it left was one of strong individualism that feared outside influence. Government became weak for a very long time.

The nobles slowly rebuilt public confidence in their rulers, but a popular revolt forced the principles of a parliamentary government on the sovereign and his nobles. Much like England in the medieval period, two houses were established, one made up of the higher nobles and clergy, and the other made up of elected representatives (elected from men with enough property) and lesser nobles.

The religion of Kulari is dualistic, focusing on two opposing viewpoints: That of Order (represented by the moon and stars, all in their proper place) and Chaos and Passion (represented by the sun, a raging flame that is always in motion). Neither is good and right on their own, as there must be order to build stability for growth, and there must be chaos to avoid stagnation.

The Kulari do not tend to identify with one concept more than the other, but rather speak of cycles. "It is a moon cycle," one might say, which means that it is a time of great stability and order. In times of great upheaval, it is said that a sun cycle is occurring. The Gods (Sun and Moon) who constantly fight over the sky are promoting a healthy conflict that is to be admired and imitated. As with the other major cultural areas, there are no major wars of note currently occurring, so this conflict is largely symbolic and ritual in nature.

This dualistic religion had a great effect on both the western and eastern coasts. Interestingly enough, the West has adopted many of the traits of the Sun devotion and the East has adopted many traits of the Moon devotion. It's interesting that neither set of cultural values has adopted the dualism.

I'll go more into detail on these topics in later posts, but next time: The Golden Interior!

Centres of Culture IV: The Golden Interior

This small but important agricultural heartland only requires one cultural post. Called the Golden Interior because of the massive amounts of grain grown in the area, there is not much else to be said about this place. It is the typical "sleepy village" area, protected by a deep and rushing river to the north and a mountain range to the south.

That is not to say that it has not known war, but there are no great leaders here, merely small communities, and isolation removes much of the impact from a regime change. If you only ever see nobles when they ride through your town on the way to war, what does it matter to who you pay your taxes to, as long as they are the ones you must appease? What does it matter who takes the excess grain you grow? It doesn't, really.

Furthermore, the gods of the south are peaceful gods, and the God of Harvest is the most peaceful of all. When the young men go away to war, the harvest is neglected. Therefore the best policy is to advocate peace, and to act peacefully in all ways and at all times.

Sorry this place is kind of boring, we'll have some fun when we get to Mechia.

Centres of Culture II: The Western Coast (Part iii, The Icy Coast)

The Icy Coast marks the north edge of the western coast, beginning in rocky shield in the south and morphing into tall, icy peaks in the north. This dangerous mountain range is a formidable foe, and human society does not go much farther than the foothills.

The south of the Icy Coast is much like the north of the Western Coast, small tribes testing each other and competing for resources. Further north, however in the foothills of the great frozen peaks, is an entirely different story.

Influenced by ancestors who had close interactions with dwarves in the distant past, the Commonwealth of the North is based on a synthesis of dwarven and human ideals.

The Commonwealth is rightly so-called. It is a large group of allied principalities where, in a similar fashion to dwarven tribes, leaders are chosen out of the population to rule by their merits. These leaders are chosen for limited terms, and may only serve once in each of the eligible stages of their life, called "Maturity" (the age at which a person can fight), and "Wisdom" (the age at which a person is old enough to stop fighting).

The Commonwealth has its origins in the expansion of the Kularian Empire. The dwarves, seeing a threat to their safety like human threat before it, allied themselves with the humans who lived in the foothills of their mountains, teaching them principles of government and warfare. Dwarven religion was rejected by the humans, though they have added Dimiourgos to their pantheon and greatly respect him.

As dwarves have no gender to speak of, the government and society of the Commonwealth is similarly egalitarian. This is an excellent society for female PCs to hail from.

The Gods of the Commonwealth are considered to be very harsh, but very fair. "The winter," the people say, "Is harsh, but does not distinguish. Nor do the Gods. The same harshness for all." In much the same way, the society of the Commonwealth is not for the soft-hearted. Justice is retributive, and age is marked by the ability to fight.

The martial nature of the society is largely symbolic, now. There are few wars, and most are against southern tribes foolish enough to try to conquer this defensible area. This does not mean, however, that this symbolic martial focus does not impart real combat skills, and warriors of the Commonwealth are to be respected, if not feared.

There is no longer contact with the dwarves, but the people still long for this interaction. A ruined dwarven temple is a few short days travel into the mountains, and once a year a large quantity of oil is carried to the temple by a group of young persons, to refill the lamp that the Commonwealth rulers keep lit, in case the dwarves return. The dwarves watch this ceremony, but do not intervene.

Next Time: Either a cultural look at the Golden Interior, or the former Kularian Empire.

Centres of Culture II: The Western Coast (Part ii, The Western Coast)

Just north of the Bay Coast, the Western Coast marks the divide between warm, agrarian grasslands and hilly, rocky shield. Summers are warm and winters are cold, with distinct cool periods in between.

The peoples in this area, especially extending to the east, are generally put together in small villages, mostly ignored by larger kingdoms. Most of the area is under the control of the Four Kingdoms, but most people outside a short ride of the capitols have never seen a high noble.

The Four Kingdoms are a usually peaceful alliance comprised of three traditional patrilineal hereditary monarchies and one matrilineal monarchy. The capitol cities are, in fact, one metropolis built on the traditionally defined meeting of borders. The capitol was moved here with the signing of the Four Kingdoms Treaty.

The Four Kingdoms are Gallus, Poletia, Mercia, and Ferrad. Being easternmost, Ferrad extends further east than the cultural area marked on the map (the maps are coming, I promise), but is considered to be part of the Western Coast.

Gallus and Mercia both border directly on the coast, and are quite similar to Littoria and Calar in the south. Mercia's Queen, however, is anything but standard.

The matrilineal monarchy of Mercia arose as part of their interaction with the culture of the Icy Coast. Northern religion places the power associated with birth in the hands of the women, rather than the men as is the custom in the south. Mercia has officially adopted southern-style religion in the form of Sun-worship, but many people (the further north you go, the more there are) still worship northern gods.

Poletia reaches south in the direction of the Golden Interior (coming soon!), and is the most agrarian of the Kingdoms. Apart from the greater focus on agriculture, Poletia is fairly similar to the other kingdoms.

Ferrad, like Mercia, is torn between two cultures. The largest of the Four Kingdoms, it was originally founded in violent revolution from the former Kularian Empire. There will be more about Kulari in another post (being its own cultural boundary), but Ferrad has taken a language and mindset from being a part of this historical empire.

Where most of the Western Coast believes in formal agreements and formal shows of force, the Kularian Empire was founded on shadowy operations. This is not to say that these operations were evil, merely hidden. It is considered normal for leaders to lie and maneuver, making informal agreements and alliances in the background. It can be very difficult to follow for leaders from outside the former Empire.

North of Mercia is unclaimed lands. These lands are inhabited by small tribes who are no less civilized than those of the Four Kingdoms, but they lack an overarching government. They are, however, distinguished from the Four Kingdoms by their (supposed) propensity for war. Each tribe tests the others' strength, and this war is rarely lethal or absolute, though the Four Kingdoms believe these tribes to be savage.

Next time: The Icy Coast

Centres of Culture II: The Western Coast (part i, the Bay Coast)

This cultural area goes from the north end of the western coast right to the Three-Tooth Mountain range in the south. It's often subdivided into three areas: The Icy Coast in the north, the Western Coast in the middle, and the Bay Coast in the south.

These three areas share in common a significant slice of ocean. Their cultures are not as notably sea-going as the Aruan Archipelago, but the influence of the sea on their cultures is undeniable.

The Bay Coast
Nearest the Aruan Archipelago, this cultural area does a great deal of trade with the Aruan Empire. There are two major kingdoms (and countless minor kingdoms) in the area.

Littoria is a coastal kingdom at the southern end of the Bay Coast. Its capitol (also called Littoria) is protected by a coral reef, forcing most ships to put ashore a day's walk from from the city. Littoria is a standard monarchy, ruled by a kind and just man. It is illegal to swim to the coral reef, which is considered to be the property of the king.

Bordering Littoria to the northeast (still along the coast) is the city of Salmonsford, named after the original reason people settled at the mouth of this river: The salmon. Salmonsford is not a very large city, but it is run by a few lesser noble families who splintered from Calar, to the north. Salmonsford forms a natural border between Littoria and Calar.

Calar and Littoria have a history of war, but are currently at an uneasy peace. Littoria's king is a kindly man, but very dedicated to the protection of his people. Calar, however, has been wronged in the past by more war-like Littorian kings, and the public sentiment is against Littoria.

Culturally, these three places are quite similar. They are governed by monarchies who have the support of their people. Comparatively to other great kingdoms, these kingdoms are relatively middle-sized.

They are mixed agrarian societies, growing a good deal of wheat and cotton, domesticating cows and chickens, and fishing for fish, crabs and clams. There are typical harvest season celebrations.

Religiously, the Aruan Archipelago, Bay Coast and Western Coast all share a similar religion: Sun-Worship. I'll get more into religions later, but the Sun is representative of Passion, Strength, Determination, and Order. Worshippers of the Sun recognize the Moon as well, but do not condone its worship. The Moon is not so much devil as adversary. Religious holidays are typically held during the summer months.

One cultural area down, only a few hundred more to go, haha. Slight exaggeration, but it's a big place. Until next time!

Centres of Culture I (Part ii): The Seafaring Peasants

In my last post on the topic, I spoke of the nobles of the Aruan Empire, mostly self-interested quasi-legal businessmen who hold much of the power.

One important part of their culture is that they do not often leave their islands. This is made doubly important when they are compared to their subjects, who may spend their entire childhood without setting foot on land.

There is some farmland on the islands, and some peasants farm for their living, but a much greater proportion are fishers and traders. A great deal of the land between the islands is much like the Grand Banks, shallow enough to allow for massive populations of fish. There is no real winter this close to the equator, and fishing goes on year-round.

The other sort of seafaring peasants are the small traders, usually peddling small necessities like pots, fresh water, and other similar items. Peasants of this sort have mid-sized ships with small crews, usually four or five people, compared to the ten to fifteen required to run a successful fishing vessel. These traders have a common flag, a red circle on a blue field, that is flown constantly so that ships in need of supplies can attempt to find them without returning to an island.

Both sets of seafaring peasants evolved from the people who lived on the edges of the mountains when the seas began to rise. Their land was covered, and their lords provided little assistance. This experience, long ago, has taught these peasants the need to provide for themselves and for each other. Ships sinking, people falling overboard, running out of water; all these things and more happen, and other ships feel duty and honourbound to assist where they can. It's ingrained into their psyche, and only the most cold-hearted of souls ignores this drive.

At times, many ships come together while meeting a trader, or while fishing, and at times they lash together forming a large raft-like structure. These are called shipmoots, and usually last three to five days, and are huge parties. During these shipmoots, goods and services are exchanged, and occasionally personnel.

This is by no means an exhaustive post, but it should give you an idea about how different the peasants are from their nobles.

Centres of Culture I: The Aruan Archipelago

Alright, this is the first of a series of posts on various cultures around the world. Cultures do not exist in a vacuum, and areas near my (admittedly arbitrary) cultural borders will retain elements from all of the bordering major centres of culture.

The Aruan Archipelago

The Aruan Archipelago is a chain of islands that extends from the southwestern-most peninsula on the main continent. The five main islands are large, the smallest the size of one of the islands of Japan, and the largest about the size of England.

(I had a huge long history here, but thankfully for you, I remembered this is a blogpost and have mostly spared you)

The islands were once just great mountains, when the world was in an ice-age, and were settled by five major nomadic tribes from the north-eastern coast. After this initial settling, other peoples from the peninsula came to settle in the area, giving up their sovereignty to the five original clan, who became oligarchs and eventually monarchs.

As the seas rose again when the world was warmed, these formerly interconnected tribes grew apart, and each grew more culturally solidified (ie, the newer settlers and the initial settlers grew together culturally) until each island was generally monocultural. The monarchs took the best land towards the centre of the islands, relegating their subjects to the coast.

Soon, seafaring took hold and the islands began to find one another again. A trading culture grew between the large groups of poor subjects who had no other source of income. Over a few generations, the king of Arua (the largest and centremost island) had solidified the five crowns into his domain, and declared himself Emperor of Arua.

There's more, but those three paragraphs probably set up what I wanted to talk about. The Aruan Empire consists of the five main islands and the other small islands in the area, and a fair section of the peninsula to the south. At one point in time, the Empire also stretched across the southeastern part of the main continent, but they were thrown off during the rise of Mechia (I'll get to Mechia one of these days...).

Okay, the point I'm getting to is coming: There are two cultures in the Aruan Empire. The first is that of the nobles, descendants (well, the really old noble families at least) of the original five settling tribes. More and more, successful merchants and blackmarket operators are joining the ranks of power and moving inland, but we'll get to the underground in awhile.

The nobles are the island-dwellers. While perhaps an exaggeration, it is not ridiculous to say that sometimes these nobles spend great portions of their lifetime without ever setting foot in a boat. Their culture is mainly based on personal wealth and influence (most of which comes from wealth). The role of the noble class varies slightly from island to island, so I will treat them individually.

It is common for nobles on all islands to show their wealth with bright-coloured clothing. Reds and purples are reserved for recognized nobles, and setting foot on an island wearing these colours may subject you to arrest and imprisonment, but likely on a first offense you will be warned to keep these colours out of your wardrobe. This is especially true for foreigners. Another way in which these nobles show their wealth is through piercings with precious metals. The face (eyebrows, ears, nose, etc) is a common place for these piercings.

With the gradual decline of the power of the Emperor, much wealth is generated illegally. This combination has allowed for the ranks of nobles to swell with successful black-market operators, effectively eliminating the rule of law on the islands. It is not unusual to be able to find whatever you like in the Aruan Empire, provided you have the wealth.

Linked to these black-market operators, but not necessarily in cahoots with them, are the shipping tycoons. The sailing skills of Aruan seamen are legendary, and Aruan ships have no peer. If you want something moved quickly, or if you want to move quickly, they are your go-to people, and the owners have become very rich, many of whom joined the ranks of the nobility.

All the nobles owe allegiance to the Aruan Emperor (The King of the Five Crowns), though in practice the Emperor's power is extremely weak. The current Emperor (in the default period) is attempting to curry favour with the common people, but that is a subject for later.

Each major island apart from Arua itself has an Imperial Governor, who is (in all cases except Myra) essentially impotent. The Governor's official position is to ensure the nobles fall into line, but with the weakening of the Empire, the Governor does little more than report on the activities of the nobles (well, the ones he can find out about, at least).

Nobles by Island

Arua: The nobles on Arua tend to fall into two groups: The most powerful and ruthless, that is to say those that the Emperor feels the need to keep an eye on personally; and those most loyal to the Emperor, so as to help keep the most powerful nobles under control. The "Imperial Governor" of Arua is traditionally the Emperor, though this job is often delegated.

Myra: The majority of the nobles on Myra are shipping tycoons, and are kept under the strong thumb of the Imperial Governor. This is probably the island most loyal to the Emperor (This doesn't at all mean that it's particularly loyal...just the most loyal).

Lora: There is no greater hive of scum and villany. This island is the closest to the peninsula, and has the most opportunity to deal in illegalities. The nobles here tend to be nobles by virtue of their ill-gotten wealth, and if the Aruan Navy were a touch smaller, it might try to secede.

Reia: This island is furthest from Arua, and closest to Mechia. It is its own gateway of sorts. The nobles here are often shippers, and oddly enough they are also often successful navigators. This island seems to breed the best navigators, and noble children here learn the art at a young age. Nobles from Reia are often consulted for guidance on issues of any subject, not just the steering of a ship in the correct direction. They share the Mechian mystical styling, keeping quietly to themselves, except to dispense advice. Many Reian nobles misuse this reputation, but this is not universal.

Dara: This island is northernmost (still tropical), and, with the great hurricanes that often pound its shores, produces some of the best sailors, due to their ability to read and adjust to winds. The nobles here are a microcosm of the entire chain, some loyal, some criminal, some shippers, some navigators.

Whew, that was a lot. Next post, I'll touch on the other culture: The Seafaring Peasants.

Culture

No, I'm not talking about what happens when you leave yogurt in the fridge too long. I was getting all ready to post about politics, but it sort of dawned on me that culture probably comes first. According to wikipedia, culture "refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance". I like that definition, it works for me.

Cultures are often regional, but this isn't always true, looking at diasporas (people living outside their cultural homelands, often used to refer specifically to jewish people living outside Israel).

In fantasy, one of the major issues is actually with mono-culture, especially when dealing with non-human races. I'm going to try to avoid this, but my traditional direction may make a mono-culture or two unavoidable.

I also plan to introduce counter-cultures in large centres of culture, of which there will probably be about five human centres, and one centre in each of the other races with significant counter-cultures.