Naurorod Culture
May 21, 2013 1:15:44 GMT -5
Post by Kender Bard on May 21, 2013 1:15:44 GMT -5
An In-Depth Look At
Naurorod
Naurorod
Temperment and Trending Traits
The people of Naurorod, Naurites, are a proud and fiercely independent people. Living in their ancestral home of Naurorod, broken up into individual clans, theirs is a harsh life that tolerates no weakness.
Naurites live in groups of nomadic peoples known as clans. Clans can range from quite small (5-20 people) to surprisingly large with upwards of 100 members. The smaller clans tend to live constantly on the move and are often forced to live off the edges of larger clan territories. The larger clans are also nomadic though tend not to move around very frequently, usually only picking up to shift into new territory once their current one begins to run low on resources. These larger clans have established territory with nebulous borders. If two larger clans are near one another, it’s not uncommon for border skirmishes to break out. Similarly, raiding is not uncommon either, by either smaller clans making desperate grabs for needed goods or larger clans establishing their territorial dominance.
Between the hostile environment and the aggressive nature of clan life, death is common and Naurites learn to seize each day and live life to the fullest. Naurites are often full of energy which can come off as restless or agitated.
Most Naurites burn off this energy through the daily work of the clan; each clanmate has his or her role in the clan, but it's perfectly acceptable to help with anything that doesn't require a great amount of skill.
Another is through celebration. While each year during summer the whole of the clans gather together to celebrate the Sun Festival, a time of peace amongst the clans, there are plenty of celebrations within clans themselves. It doesn't require much of an excuse to hold one either--anything from the birth of a new baby to an exceptionally bountiful hunt. The celebrations aren't much to speak of--singing, dancing, feasting, and similar--they're lively times and help the clan stay bonded.
Old Way vs New Way
Most clans will refer to themselves and others as an "Old Way" clan or a "New Way" clan. For most of Naurorod's history, the people were highly misogynist, isolationist, and superstitious. Women were property, not people. One did not leave the clan unless exiled or as part of a marriage agreement (wherein women would be traded like cattle.) The idea of mixing elemental blood was abhorred. Individuals who had a secondary non-Fire sign, through whatever means, were seen as unfit and impure (an echo of the Maelstrom sentiment.) Often they would be forced out of the clan; unwanted in other clans (rarely would a clan take an exile in or the burden of shame would belong to them as well) these misfits generally wound up traveling east and taking up residence in Ilyamen.
At some point, close to the turn of the millennium, a change swept over Naurorod. Tolerance was taught and embraced. Women were raised to the status of full fledged clan members, slowly allowed to adopt the roles that were otherwise denied to them. Slower still, elemental mixing and differing signs came to be embraced and accepted as well. Allied clans freely allowed intermarrying.
What caused this change is something of a mystery. Some clans state that the Forces or Erif sent visions and signs of the need for change. Others maintain that it was just a spontaneous choice of several clans in realization of the error of their ways.
Scholars of Naurite lore and culture are more inclined to believe that it was the presence of outside cultures and ideas; either an individual or several, or possibly even a native who was exiled or sent out into the wider world, returned with more civilized beliefs that caught on and spread.
Regardless, the majority of Naurorod clans are now "New Way" clans. Smaller ones, or those deeper into the desert, have held out and still remain Old Way, but it is clear that the old beliefs are dying out.
Jobs
Every Naurite has a job within their clan. From the time a child is old enough to help stir pots at the family fire to when an elder spends the day in instruction, Naurites are constantly keeping themselves busy with their work.
The most common jobs to a clan are the scouts, the hunters, and the foragers. Technically, so are warriors but that is not a specific duty that one person adheres to as a soldier or a guard might in another land. Every clanmate is taught at least a bit of rudimentary fighting skill, and anyone showing promise, willingness, or skill is given further instruction. Those who excel above others may be selected to focus primarily upon their fighting abilities, but it takes considerable prowess to be given such a prominent position, as a warrior who spends all day training his body and skills is not able to contribute to the clan's whole welfare outside of battle. Needless to say, only larger clans can have such individuals.
Scouts are the next closest thing to a warrior class, as all scouts must have more training in battle than the bare minimum. Most also learn to ride horses, the animals being bred and maintained by all clans and wild horses plentiful on the edges of Naurorod. A scout's duty is to patrol the clan's territory for any dangers to the clan or any visitors. They've also been known to lend help to stragglers and people wandering lost or hurt. They'll also keep an eye out for any important resources--food, plants, water.
Hunters and foragers are just what they sound like; clanmates who provide for the clan's food by killing the edible beasts of the desert or gathering precious herbs and plants. If a clan is not closely located near water (rare, as all Naurites know the importance of a steady water source), their job is to also gather water to bring back to the clan.
Other jobs might be too mundane for dedicated manpower and are simply things all the clanmates do--cooking, cleaning, minding any livestock, and caring for small children. Other jobs are specialized but are not in enough demand to require a great deal of people to apply themselves--healers, priests, blacksmiths or other crafting professions.
Most Naurites have some sort of production skill, provided they have the time to work on it. Beadwork, leather working, glassblowing, pottery making, and similar are all common examples. These individuals make goods for the clan, but also make a considerable excess to be sold or traded when and where possible.
Education
The idea of formal education within Naurorod is a laughable one. Children grow up learning by watching their elders and gradually being given more and more complicated tasks to perform in the course of their daily work. Most children wind up drifting towards areas of interest or duties that they're naturally good at. A great many male children try to emulate their father (or another respected male elder) and often wind up following the same course as they do.
Older children fall into something similar to the master-apprentice relationship seen in other lands, though it's generally nothing so formal. Older children will normally have established a rapport with a few other adult clanmates and will be called upon to assist in tasks, teaching them the necessary skills. If they prove proficient, they'll soon be asked to perform such tasks on their own with more regularity until it becomes an unspoken agreement that it is something that they do from then on.
In the case of work that's less in demand, as detailed in the Jobs section, such as a healer, either there is little desire to follow such a path, in which case a current healer may need to select a young child to take on in a formal apprentice role--or there's too much interest and those who fail to meet the high expectations of their potential mentor must find opportunity elsewhere, as rarely more than two or three such children will be selected.
As a result of such an informal education, most Naurites do not know how to write or sum beyond the most basic and necessary maths unless their position, for some reason, demands it. (Heirs to clans, children born or selected by the clan Elders to someday take over rulership, are usually taught these things so that they may represent their clan to outsiders without further enforcing the 'stupid barbarian' stereotype that still pervades much of civilized Naruta.)
Food
Naurorod's food has a definite taste, and that taste is hot. Naurites adore hot, spicy foods. Not a surprise, given some of the best spices come from their region!
Most of their food comes from hunting and gathering, emphasis on hunting. Wild boar in the far south can sometimes be scrounged, but the primary dishes contain horseflesh and camel meat. Desert hares and other smaller animals are also a primary staple in a Naurite's diet. Those clans who are forced to take less favorable territory closer to the volcano will also eat anything that's not poisonous to consume.
As for what the gatherers bring home, prickly pears, various cactus fruit, dates, cattails in an oasis, amaranth, and even any grasses, stems, and roots that can be scrounged up are the usual fare.
When the Naurites trade with other nations, they generally don't look for foods to bring back though sometimes, if it's been particularly hard to keep the clan fed, they'll invest in any foods that can hold up in the extreme temperatures over a long period of time.
Most meat is preserved with salt (of which there is an abundance, regionally.) And most food is cooked simply over fires and eaten, roasted or baked. If a clan lives near a good source of water, they may have the odd soup, but it's not a common dish.
Fashion
"Fashion" in Naurorod means wearing what you must and little else for most people. Living in the desert, especially during the punishing summer months, means comfort and keeping cool is of great importance. Individuals doing mundane chores in the clan will often do so topless--male or female--while wearing a horse-leather skirt. Swimming is usually done nude, as is sleeping until the nights start to grow cold. Overall, modesty is not a much celebrated concept when at leisure, abandoned for convenience.
Scouts wear full leather outfits, cured and treated for flexibility more than protection. However, clans do try to keep a supply of hard leather armor stocked for warriors during times of conflict and strife. Especially martial-minded scouts sometimes choose to wear the hard leather when on patrol, just to be safe.
Scouts also sport cloth wraps for their heads, sometimes with a special band of cloth for their eyes that have only narrow slits to peer out of. This is generally only worn if a scout is caught in a sudden sandstorm. A scout may also wear a loose, long robe that covers most of their body to protect them from the sun. This is only worn during the daytime; morning and evening patrols generally forgo it.
Children wear little to nothing in the early ages and then adopt the adult style as they grow older.
Leisure
While Naurites do give themselves plenty of work, they're also a people who knows how to enjoy themselves during what little free time they have. Mirroring the Rondian culture, Naurites enjoy music and dancing. Most of their instruments are wind and percussion and their music is generally one repeating melody to a steady beat. Individuals will dance by themselves or with others, and often around a central clan fire. The music is actually quite reminiscent of the more ancient religious songs.
Other than song and dance, Naurites, surprisingly, love to swim--or at least those clans privelged enough to have found a steady source of water. During the hottest parts of the day, it's not unusual for a Naurite to go to their oasis or other source of water, if it's large enough, and swim, or at least splash about. While this doesn't make for proficient swimmers, Naurites outside of the desert still take delight in dunking themselves.
Naurite youths, particularly the men, have a love of slightly riskier games that they play amongst themselves. One is to find a wild horse, especially a stallion, and pull several hairs from its tail. These hairs are then braided and worn as a mark of skill and speed.
A second game, sometimes encouraged or discouraged depending on the clan, involves sending a group of young men out to where a known danger lies. This can involve anything from dangerous creatures to enemy clans. The young men then must perform some act of bravery that carries a risk of injury. This can range from robbing an enemy clan to bringing back a trophy of some kind, similar to the horse-hair game. Any young man who participates and succeeds is allowed to paint themselves with ceremonial markings. If they are injured in the attempt, however, they must paint a mark on their face that denotes this (a horizontal slash over their face). This game can also serve as a rite of passage to adulthood in smaller clans.
In the summer gathering of clans, spars and tournaments are popular, mimicking the type of tournaments the northern kingdoms adore. In Naurorod, however, the spars tend to be less organized. Any individual may challenge any individual. All participants who are open to challenge will wear woven bracelets. If they lose, they must give up a bracelet to the winner. You are out of the tournament once you run out of bracelets.
Children have similar games, but most of them are variant, tamer versions of the above.
Family
To Naurorod, family is extremely important for several different reasons. Even their naming conventions follow this pattern, with sons taking the name of their father into their name: Charanth son of Kirron, Bron son of Malak. Girls do not carry this trait, but in New Way clans they're still important members of the clan.
A family's honor is a collective thing. What one person does reflects on the whole--which is the same way that it works for the clan. Therefore, family is raised with the knowledge that they must always act in a way that best reflects their family. If a father has attained the reputation of a sneaky, backstabbing low-life, then his children will have an enormously difficult time being trusted because of the actions of their forebear. Similarly, if a mother or father has shown great bravery, skill, and cunning, their children are expected to live up to that same bar.
Religion
Naurites have a unique approach to religion. In general, they are not a religious people--but they are spiritual. They do not stand on religious ceremony, but they hold a deep love and respect for the Forces. It's exceedingly rare for anyone in a clan, even the large ones, to dedicate all their time and energy towards worship of a Force. As such, there's almost no priests in Naurorod. This does not mean that Naurites are ignorant of faith, however; generally a clan elder or healer or some other more passive role will double as a spiritual leader. The knowledge of the Forces is taught to all clan members by their parents, who in turn seek the wisdom and guidance of the Forces from this specific individual, who might have at some point gotten priestly instruction--either by venturing out of Naurorod or from a visiting priest hoping to proselytize amongst the desert folk. Not every clan has this set up, but many of them do.
Mystics are also held in high regard. A mystic is an individual who is part priest, part seer. They may or may not be dedicated to one Force (most tend to pay equal respects to all of the Forces), and they perform personalized rituals in order to beseech the Forces for guidance through visions. These individuals may be stand-in priests, though they usually have some other role in the clan as well.
There are no temples in the desert, and so worship of the Forces becomes a very personal thing. Most individuals are content to pray in solitude in their huts. There are usually no trappings or adornments involved, though some individuals may have personal statuettes.