Humontis Culture
Mar 5, 2011 21:17:32 GMT -5
Post by Kender Bard on Mar 5, 2011 21:17:32 GMT -5
An In-Depth Look At
Mount Humontis
Mount Humontis
Temperament and Trending Traits
The general perception of Earths is that they are easy going, friendly, and nurturing. All of these are, to some degree, true in most of the populace although this reputation belies a fierce strength that the people are capable of dredging up in times of need or threat.
Most Earth types are accepting and nonjudgmental; this is largely owed to the highly liberal society that they have created for themselves. As a result, Earth types tend to greet strangers as though they’re already warm and welcomed friends until they learn information of the contrary. While some people find this attitude to be endearing and worthy of emulation, others are put off by the quick companionship that Earth types offer.
Humontis can be separated into two distinct realms—the upper and the lower, where the lower pertains to the vast cave and tunnel complex that runs through and underneath the mountain. Everything above this, the “topside” as people put it, is left to the people who tend the farms and the orchards. Those who dwell on the top are known as topsiders to Humontins, though foreigners may refer to them as Florians (as their region is known as the Fields of Flora.) Those who live within the mountain itself are called by natives as insiders. Foreigners may refer to them as Gaians for dwelling in the area known as the Gaia Caves. There is not a great deal of difference between topsiders and insiders; when winter sets in, many topsiders elect to move in with their insider brethren.
Jobs
Agriculture is what makes Humontis run and the economy relies almost exclusively on this venue. Since plant affinity Earths are able to raise multiple crops in the time it would take a non-Earth farmer to raise one, there is always an enormous surplus of grown goods. Humontis sells this surplus through its merchants to all of the nations Naruta-wide. In addition to being able to grow food quickly, Humontis is rivaled only by the Beastlands in terms of variety. Even if the climate of Humontis may not be perfectly suitable to all plants, careful attention by Earth farmers will guarantee their survival anyway.
Because of this, almost all plant-affinity Earths work on the farms or orchards that cover the topside. While they might not own the plot that they work, farmhands are always given a percentage share of their crops to eat or sell as they like. This is often their pay, though generous farm owners will also give a regular stipend to see their workers through between harvests.
Meanwhile, inside of the mountain is the bustling secondary industry of Humontis—gem harvesting. While the northern mountain ranges lay a near monopoly on precious metals, Humontis holds the lion’s share of gem mines. If a natural mine is tapped out, Earths can also work to bring about conditions to create fresh gems from their exhausted mine. The rest of the Humontis workforce centers on this gem trade. Earths become miners, jewelers, polishers, gem-cutters, and more.
Education
Spiritual education is of the highest importance in Humontis, taking precedence over reading, writing, and sums, though these are still important. As a result, most children are lawfully required to be enrolled in a school that is overseen by the temple. Children learn how to read by reading holy books and the scripture for their Earth Mother religion. They learn to write by scribing verses from these same materials or writing down prayers to be recited. Sums, however, are taught with an eye to the likely futures of farming or mining and the questions often pertain to these fields. Education continues until a child is twelve, at which time they are encouraged to begin taking on responsibilities of the family business or farm.
Food
With such an abundant and varied amount of foods available, the dishes of Humontis cuisine range far and wide as well. However, national dishes seem to be favorite “simple” foods—cooked vegetables and a main course of some kind of meat (often beef) followed by a fruit-based dessert is a plain but popular example. Stews are very popular as well. Overall, however, each family tends to create their own unique style and taste, making recipes that are guarded fiercely. Families will compete in fairs and festivals, as these events almost always have cooking or baking contests of some kind and victory, when it comes, is a matter worthy of great pride and celebration for the family.
Fashion
Humontis does not boast much for colorful fashion. Similar to the Crystalanders, Humontis believes in practicality first. Topsiders tend to wear typical farmer attire for most days with tough, sturdy fabrics used and not much thought given to design or color. Long pants of sturdy linen and a dyed cotton shirt are usually all that farmers bother with. Wide-brimmed straw hats are popular for the hot summer days. Many men will even strip their shirts off and work bare chested. Women wear light, breezy cotton dresses made of thin material with a more modest shift and corset beneath this. Unlike the men, women take delight in coloring and patterning their clothing. Humontis boasts some of the best plants for dyes, making colorful clothing cheap and accessible for the people.
Insiders are in a similar position, generally not bothering with anything but very tough, serviceable clothing unless in a more gentle field of work, such as merchant. Their style of clothing does not differ much from the topsiders, though they favor clothing that would be comfortable in the summer all year round, due to the static warm temperatures the inside of the mountain offers.
Topsider or insider, however, all the very finest gets worn on days of spiritual importance. Women wear stiffer dresses with high-neck collars and copious amounts of lace on the cuffs and the hems, generally in one or two solid colors with little design. Men wear their whitest, cleanest shirts with a darker overcoat. It isn’t unusual for even families on the poorer side to save up their money in order to purchase one set of very fine, expensive clothing to wear for holy days and religious services.
Richer individuals or upperclassmen tend to wear colorful clothing of simplistic styles, the only thing truly setting them apart from the lower classes being the material used in their clothing.
Leisure
Humontins enjoy a wide range of leisure activities. Singing is commonly enjoyed throughout the culture, from lower class to upper class. Humontins are encouraged to sing devotional hymns during religious services, so having a pleasant voice often garners attention and compliments from neighbors. Individuals who are especially pleasing to listen to sing may even be singled out for solos during masses. In addition to singing, Humontins love games that involve many people. This allows large households and even several families to enjoy activities together. One of the most popular such games is Dark Cave Run. In this game, an individual is blindfolded and led to another room in the house or to a space somewhere outdoors. The goal is for the blindfolded individual to try and return ‘home’ which is a specific area or room. The rest of the participants in the game must endeavor to mislead the blindfolded person to delay the amount of time before they reach ‘home.’ Particularly bold and brave insiders will play this game in the actual caves, though due to the danger that this presents, it is very much frowned upon.
Family
Family is precious to any Humontin. Children are to be raised with strong moral guidance but with an eye to personal freedom. Being one of the most liberal nations in Naruta, Humontis is not known for enforcing strict cultural rules on anyone except in matters religious. To that end, children are free to pursue whatever interests catch their fancy and parents are expected to be supportive of any pursuits their children make, even if it may not be what they hoped for.
Most families consist of the parents and generally three or more children, depending on the occupation of the parents. Topsider farmers tend to have very large families whereas insiders lean more towards just a couple children, two or three on average. Although very patriotic, Humontis does not take the Rondian stance of ‘the nation as family’ and, as such, what is considered a family does not extend much outside of the immediate and the closest distant relatives.
Religion
Humontis holds possibly the most unique religious outlook of all of Naruta, even taking the Contrastans into consideration. Unlike any other nation elsewhere, Humontis pays homage to the Element from which they sprang. Trae, the Element of Earth, is an honored matron in Humontis, though they prefer to refer to her by her title, the Earth Mother. She is given a separate temple for worship. Her priests follow a similar hierarchy to the rest of the priests in the Force temples, except that the High Priestess (for it is always a woman) is referred to as a Scion and is the voice of highest authority in all of Humontis. Though she does not rule most of the Humontis political activities or even the day to day activities, she is the spiritual adviser to the Lord or Lady of Humontis. Any who go against her actions are viewed in the harshest, most negative light, for it is believed that her wisdom is derived from the Earth Mother herself. This has resulted in Humontis being a practical, but not official, theocracy.
The Temple of the Earth Mother stands in the heart of Gaia with the Temple of the Forces attached to it, making one large building. It is here that the bulk of Gaia can gather for events and important announcements.
Humontins prefer to bury their dead, giving their bodies back to the Earth Mother for keeping.
The statues of the Forces, including the most prominent statue of the Earth Mother, are as follows:
The Earth Mother appears to be part woman, part tree. Her long legs taper off into the trunk of a tree with roots that spread far and deep. Her body is lithe and well formed, perfect in every respect. Her arms are outstretched and taper off into branches, one balancing the six-pointed-bronze star-sun symbol of Humontis and the other balancing the Earth sign. Her face is tilted downward to watch over all of her children.
Efil appears as a young woman bearing a strong resemblance to the Earth Mother. Though while the Earth Mother is a grand, mature tree, Efil appears as merely a sapling. She is barely old enough to be considered an adult. She sits on her knees while holding a piece of dead wood from which a tiny sprout has emerged. She gazes at the little plant with a look of unrestrained delight.
Taed is an ancient, almost emaciated looking, man, all wrinkles and gnarled joints. He leans heavily against a tall oaken staff, as though unable to take a single step more. One hand is pointed towards a small sapling which has drooped and twisted, now little more than dead wood. There is a tiny sprout sheltering beneath the dying sapling.
Etaf is shown as a middle aged woman kneeling on the ground with a look of intense concentration. With one hand, she pushes a pile of dirt into a small mound. With the other hand, she smoothes flat another mound of dirt.
Thuoth is shown as a man dressed in farming attire though holding a mining pick in one hand. He has a sack of seeds resting against one leg and holds a glimmering emerald in his other hand, studying it carefully.
Worg is depicted as man standing with one foot on top of a mound of dirt. He pours water from his hand on to the ground beneath him, even as he looks up rapturously with his other hand raised towards whatever sight he sees. His long hair flows into weeping willow branches and both of his feet meld into stone pillars.
Soahc is shown as an older man also in farmer attire. He stands holding a pipe in one hand and a jug of some drink in the other, head tilted back in a great laugh. In front of him is a small fruit bearing tree, though instead of bearing fruit, it seems to have sprouted pies. Recently, Soahc’s Flowers have been laid at his feet or stuck in nooks and crannies in this statue.
