Post by Azaran the Wanderer on Apr 24, 2021 3:35:14 GMT -5
General/Political Overview
In the old world, before the flood wiped it out of existence, existed an archipelagic duchy, ruled over by the family of Ðyáhmo, who according to myth ruled by blessing of the gods, having been gifted their hook Déshimoh to prove their legitimacy. For many years this family ruled gracefully, however as the generations went on they isolated themselves more and more in their palaces, leaving their people without true leadership. The last duke to reign over them was by far the worst, having never even appeared to the public, and simply leaving them in squalor as he lived lavishly in his extravagant homes. For most of the rest of the country, failing infrastructure and poor defenses were common, as was piracy and general crime. Few were able to get work and fewer made a good enough living to have a decent house. Many communities banded together in a feeling of brotherhood, but many others resorted to backstabbing and double crossing their neighbors. The archipelago, while officially a single duchy, was more along the lines of a series of disjointed states, never larger than a single island and more often then not only a few villages large.
Cultural Overview
Above all else, the sea was the most important part of the nation's life. Almost every family owned a boat, and the primary source of food was fish or other seafood. Islands were small, rarely more than three or four settlements of any real size on any one island, and so boats were as important to common travel through the duchy, if not more so, as compared to any form of land transport. Most buildings sat low and on the shore, with a lot of villages being half-built on docks out into the high tide. As such most houses were made of light materials, and it wasn't too uncommon to see people living out of their boats. One of the most common and most respected professions was the fisher, due to their closeness to the sea. The larger a haul you could bring in, the more your community would respect you. Carpenters were also quite common, due to how much wood was used in the creation of the dock cities.
Geographical Overview
The chain of islands sat in a more moderate climate, with long summers, long rain seasons, and a short winter where, while it was rare to get much or for it to stick, it would still snow some. Most islands sat relatively flat, with no more that a few having any real hills or mountains to speak of, but almost all of them had large forests on the interior, made up mostly of deciduous trees, with the rare evergreen on the few that did have higher elevations. Most settlements sat either on the shore or on a major river leading to cities on the shore, while the interior was mainly used to harvest lumber, stone, and other land materials. There was one island which was significantly larger than any others in the island chain, on which sat the capital, which was seated on and around a large waterfall.
Demographical Overview
Being a relatively isolationist society, most of the population shared the same traits and languages. Most people spoke a language very similar to most common languages, Ðyáhmóþ, deviating really only when it came to proper names, the occasional expletive, or a few other words here or there, but otherwise perfectly understandable to anyone who spoke the common language. Most skin tones varied from a light, pale color to a sun baked tan, with hair colors in a range from brown to black and eye colors anywhere from brown to grey to a rare purple or burgundy. The ability to grow facial hair was common, but people who kept it were rare. The ability to harness magic was not unheard of, yet any one village would be hard pressed to see many who could actively control it at will or without some artifact or conduit for the ability.
Common Mythology
Myths often varied by island, but they had a few in common almost to the letter, chief among which was their creation myth, as transcribed below. Many of the people were quite superstitious, believing the myths to a great extent, and open disregard for them would easily make a person very wary of someone.
Ðyáhmo Creation Myth
Ðyáhmo Creation Myth
In the beginning, there was nothing but the First Sea, the Endless Sea, Primómæré. From this sea was borne many things, including the Land of the Gods, Casúm. On that land lived the three first gods, Cælir, Gírat, and Thámaral, the Three Brothers. They lived there for an uncountable time, at peace on their land. However, one day, Thámaral attempted to do what before, only the First Sea itself had truly done before: create. Hungry, Thámaral created something to catch creatures from the sea, so to eat them. And, as such, with his godly powers, he created Déshimoh, creation’s first fishing hook. He showed the hook to his brothers, and together they decided to fish.
First cast Cælir, who soon caught something. However, he spent hours fighting it, trying to pull it up from the sea. In the end, he pulled back so hard that he threw what he caught up farther than anyone could reach, as Cælir fished the sky out of the Endless Sea.
Next, Gírat cast into Primómæré. He hooked onto something quickly, yet spent more than a day fighting against it to pull it above the shore. After tugging and tugging, Gírat soon brought above the water what we know as the land, barren and lifeless as it exited the sea.
Finally, Thámaral took his turn casting the hook into the waters. He waited for hours for something to catch on his hook, until finally, something took violent hold of it, almost pulling him into the sea. He fought against its pull for weeks, until finally, onto the shore he pulled a great serpent, Fídava. Even on shore, this monster put up a great fight, wounding the Three Brothers as they fought to subdue it, until finally, Thámaral jumped up and used the hook to slash down its stomach, ripping it open and killing it.
From the opened stomach of the serpent spread its guts and its juices, seeping into the barren grounds around them, softening the rock. After that, from Fídava spread life, all the grasses and trees, all the animals of the land and sky, and after that, humanity, borne from the giant serpent. Finally, out of the serpent crawled three goddesses. Fytæí, Goddess of the forest and plantlife, Zóninal, Goddess of animals and the hunt, and Perinía, Goddess of Humanity. Together they thanked the Three Brothers as they were told of what happened, as they all took domain over what they caught, giving Cælir domain of the sky, Gírat domain of the land, and Thámaral domain over not just the monsters, but the sea itself and all the creatures who lived within. The gods would gloat for days as they ate what was left of their catch with their new brides, watching over the world they had together created.
