Culture of Outcast Morilantans

[Kender Bard]

An In-Depth Look At
Outcast Morilantans

Temperament and Trending Traits
The individuals who lived within the realms of the Kingdom of Morilanta but pushed outside of its civilization were known simply as Outcasts. The schism between Outcasts and Morilantans began not long after the actual founding of Morilanta as the ideals of the two groups began to differ greatly. The Morilantans prevailed in majority as well as strength and forced their fellows out into the wilds where, rather than perish, they flourished in a barbaric culture of their own. Since the sinking of Contrasta, the Outcasts no longer are a cohesive whole. The Outcasts suffered the most with the sinking as the nomadic people did not have ships of their own or means off the continent. Those that survived did so by fighting for places on the Morilantan ships that left. When they arrived on Naruta, they spread out.
Many Outcasts find it incredibly difficult to fit into any sort of civilized culture. Theirs was a barbaric lifestyle, not unlike the Beasts and the Fires of Naurorod but with the bitter, loveless philosophies of Morilanta.
Life in the Aeryie and the other “Outcast” territories was a constant struggle. Warfare between tribes was never ending. Violence and strength prevailed and were encouraged. For this reason, most Outcasts are quick to anger and resolve most problems with violence. This does not ingratiate them well into most cultures within Naruta. The most welcoming home an Outcast can find is an Old Ways clan of Naurorod willing to take them on or Beleg.

Jobs
Jobs were not varied and were assigned to members of the tribe based on a mix of their skills and their place in the tribe. Women had no jobs, save for an elite few who were regarded as the teachers and overall caretakers of the tribe. These women would impart basic knowledge to the children of the tribe, see to their needs if their mothers were killed, taken, or fell ill, and would see to the education of the young girls once the girls and the boys were segregated.
Men could be hunters or warriors. Hunters were considered the lesser job, left to the men who were unable to muster their worth in battle. As a result, they were treated cruelly, seen as only one step above women. Hunters provided the food for the tribe as well as sought out necessary plants.
The creams of the crop of manhood were warriors. These individuals protected the tribe from outsiders and joined in raids on other tribes. They often got the choicest anything—dinner, women, homes, and more. A warrior could be resigned to the hunter caste if they run from battle or perform other cowardly acts. The reverse is also true—a hunter able to prove their worth might be elevated to the rank of warriors. This is usually done by sneaking into battle and showing their skills and courage to the satisfaction of the tribe chief.
Other jobs did exist but they were crude roles and often rare. Some tribes boasted a dedicated healer, which was thought to be a middle-ranking job. The healer was vital to the tribe’s health, and so respected and somewhat honored, but they were not warriors, and so some scorn existed for this role as well.
There is also the slave caste. These are filled with men and women stolen on raids; they can be fellow Outcasts taken from other tribes, or city-dwellers who stray too close to Outcast territory during a raid. Slaves lived hard, brutal lives, generally. They were used for whatever whim or desire anyone in the tribe at all might have for them, ultimately to usually wind up scarified to Evil and then devoured, especially during times of lean hunting.

Education
Education served to prepare a child for their role in the tribe. Boys and girls are kept together under the watchful eye of a teacher-mother until they reach the age of six. At this time, the boys are taken from the women and brought into the tutelage of their fathers. For this reason, boys born to hunters tended to take up that caste and boys born to warriors took to that caste. Boy children and young teens are encouraged to fight one another for the approval of their elders. This could be fairly fatal, which was also encouraged to an extent. The fighting allowed a ‘weeding’ of the next generation.
Girls are taught the few skills that women are permitted to know; pleasure, child bearing, cooking, cleaning, and rough healing skills. A woman is never permitted to engage in warrior-like activities. If caught doing so, at any age, they will be tortured (often through mutilation of the breasts) and then killed.

Food
Outcasts live on whatever they can find. As they never raid full cities (too dangerous, as even a small city would be capable of turning aside a full-tribe raid, through sheer numbers and more advanced weaponry) they generally live off the land. They hunted any beast or monster in their territory, learning through many generations which parts of what animals were safe to eat, even if they weren’t terribly tasty. Taste was not important—food is but fuel for the body. Eating the flesh of dangerous animals was considered to also impart some of its strength to the diner.
For this reason, and because hunting could often become very sparse, Outcasts turned to cannibalism. They feast on the flesh of slaves when food is hard to come by, but they will also devour the hearts of their fallen enemies, especially renowned or dangerous ones. It was also common practice for a son of a Warrior to eat his father should his father die in battle and the body could be retrieved, so as to regain some of the strength that the tribe loses through the dead.

Fashion
Like food, fashion was not something that existed for any reason outside of the basic idea. Food was clothing. Armor was difficult to come by, though highly prized where it could be scavenged and often donned by only the finest warriors or the chief.
Women were given just enough clothing to wear to prevent death by exposure. Men wore a bit more, depending on their rank and privilege in the tribe. All wore the skins of animals and beasts, but men could have adorning or extra pieces made of the hides of particularly dangerous animals if they were fortunate enough to have landed the deathblow. Scavenged clothes were used not to wear but torn up and used as cloaks or draping for a dwelling. Jewelry was much admired. Most tribes make do with bone jewelry while the elite wear gold and silver found on bodies.
Men typically wore their hair very short or completely bald, for less purchase for an enemy during combat, though especially skilled warriors would grow their hair out to show that they did not need to deny their enemies any advantage. Women typically wore their hair very long.

Family
Since Love not only was scorned but actively stamped out, rivalry existed between all family members as it does in civilized Morilanta. However, pride as an acceptable emotion and often used in place of love. A man who has powerful sons was free to boast of them and take credit for contributing his seed to their making. Women who grew too attached to a specific child may have had that child killed before them as punishment for showing signs of Love. For this reason, many first-time mothers often lose their first born children to their own emotions. Few repeat the mistake; either they learn from it or their husbands kill them and seek out a more suitable mate.
Men and women were permitted to show some measure of attachment and preference towards one another, though it is discouraged; if a man should incur the wrath of a higher ranking tribe member or acquire a sworn enemy, their preferred mate makes for a tempting target. For that reason, any sense of romance was a smothered, hushed affair, if it arose at all. Most men preferred the company of their fellows. Women were for pleasure and procreating. Likewise, women often preferred the company of one another. Although rivalry existed amongst women as well—primarily competition for prized husbands—their life was not nearly as violent by comparison and they often felt safer amongst one another. It was perfectly acceptable for individuals to pursue same-sex relationships, though only for pleasure, never for love, and only if they were already matched with a different-sexed partner for the purpose of bearing children.
Siblings held no affection for each other. Brothers were taught early on that only one of them could have all of their father’s pride and so it was common for siblings to kill one another unless the age gap was so great as to render this a pointless exercise.

Religion
The Forces held no purpose for an Outcast and so where eschewed from spiritual life. The only Force of importance was Evil. The core belief of the Outcasts, and what separated them from their city-dwelling brethren, was that Evil exists strongest in Morilantans and should be celebrated and embraced. Evil was considered so great a Force as to render the others obsolete and pointless. As a result, Outcasts are not generally religious in any sense of the word. At best, they are apathetic towards the other Forces. At worst, they consider them to only be nebulous enemies of mankind for creating Love to oppose Evil, especially Etaf for her meddling in the War of Love and Evil. Outcasts believe themselves strongly resistant of Love and have a fierce and burning hatred for Anarlinans, who they see as Love incarnate and their sworn cultural nemesis. This hatred is possibly even greater than that held by city-dweller Morilantans.
The Outcasts had no temples. The body was the shrine of Evil and they needed nothing else. They were Evil incarnate. Interestingly, however, the Outcasts also adopted the eclipse as the symbol of Evil and recognize the Anarlinan sun as the symbol of Love.