People of Adyll

"The eagles showed them the way to safety through the crevasses and cracks to the meadows and forests of Adyll. From these people grew the country of Adyll. Mila the Loved became their queen." -Excerpt from The Locust King
The People of Adyll are descendants of The Lady and the nomadic tribes of the desert. Skin color varies from ivory pale to brown. Hair color varies from black to brown or red. Albinism is rare, and those born with the condition are considered to be holy beings, especially blessed by The Lady. Every few generations an Adyllian will be born with lighter hair, but it is uncommon, usually only occurring within the royal family.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Women of Adyll are named after living things in creation that honor the Goddess (Nasreen - "Wild Rose"), or even names or virtues attributed to the Goddess (Aisha - "Life and Hope"; Irinya - "Peace"; Mila "The Loved").

Masculine names

Masculine names also honor the Goddess, but usually are in relation to an action being taken, or a non-living object.  For example the name Fard meaning "to descend" or the name Pitr meaning "stone".

Family names

Family names are usually connected to place of origin, or from an occupation.  For example, the wise man Manah ("Thought") comes from a long line of advisors to the King, all named Manah.  Many commoners do not have surnames, but simply use only their given name, using place of origin as a surname.  An example of this naming convention would be Nasreen of Adyll.

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

Adyllians value mutual love and respect for one another.  This does not always extend to those from outside of Adyll.  Outsiders are treated with suspicion by most Adyllians, with some citizens going as far as considering outsiders to be sub-human.  The nomadic desert dwellers are considered to be "almost" Adyllian by most citizens due to the long shared history of the two peoples, and the long tradition of intermarriage between the two groups.  However, when a male from the nomads marries a female from Adyll, the couple is expected to live in the mountains of Adyll in the Adyllian way of life.  Women of Adyll stay in Adyll always.
Adyllians share the same religious worship of the Goddess, although there are variations in practices between different regions and even between families.  But the heart of the religion is the same - The Lady loves and protects all of Children.

Average technological level

Adyll artisans work with stone, wood, and metals.  Books are written by hand on parchment made from tanned hides.  Adyllian builders and architects have devised ingenious methods of heating and cooling buildings.  City dwellers and some villages have running water that uses the many mountain springs as its source.

Common Dress code

City dwellers in the capital city love to wear bright colors, while country dwellers find darker and more muted tones to be more practical. In summer most residents wear clothing made of lightweight linen. It is fashionable in summer for wealthy women to wear gossamer thin silk woven from the webs of a spider found on the side of the cliffs to the east of Adyll. In winter, woolen garments or furs are worn.
Temple workers, be they clerics, servants, or guards wear white garments emblazoned with the silver hawk sacred to The Lady. Temple prostitutes often work without clothing at all.
Shepherds and goatherds wear clothing somewhere between the clothing of the nomads and the Adyllian farmers, combining leather with colorful rough wool, or natural undyed linen garments.
All Adyllians wear their hair long, except for Temple Acolytes who are going through the [url:Initiation of Acolytes. Often their shorter hair is worn as a sign of special virtue, and women with shorn hair are asked for special blessings.

Art & Architecture

Adyll's Royal Palace and Temple are carved from the living rock of the mountain, their eastern walls part of the cliff face.  Under both buildings run sacred hot springs that provide hot running water to the populace.  Adyllians continue to build upon this base structure for the rest of the city.
Adyllian architects build in a light, almost airy style.  The best example of this is the Temple which is built to let in natural light year round, as well as capture breezes from the summer to cool its residents.  Arches and domed towers dominate the city.  The walls of the city are the only parts of Adyll built outside of this style.  The walls are made for strength and defense, and were built before the first rooms of the Temple were carved from the mountain.  20 feet across and 30 feet tall, the wall is built from large (at least 6 feet across) stones that have been cut from the mountain.  These blocks were fit together through interlocking slots that provide stability without the use of mortar.  This art has since been lost to Adyllian architects.

Foods & Cuisine

Adyllians eat from the foods provided by their mountain.  There are no imported delicacies due to the isolation of the country.  Most Adyllians eat a wide variety of food including venison, boar, mutton, and goat, as well as local fruits and vegetables.  Some villages are renowned for their sheep and goat cheeses and butter.  Grains are grown and harvested each year.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

Midwives are trained by the Temple and attend births at the mother's home. When a baby is born in Adyll, midwives perform a blessing upon mother and baby. Births are considered an important rite of passage for any woman, a time when she becomes more closely aligned to the Goddess.
Within the Royal Family babies are born in the sanctuary of the Temple, and the midwife in attendance is always the Holy Mother, High Priestess of The Lady.

Coming of Age Rites

First menses is considered a sacred time in a young woman's life.  She is given a special meal of sweetmeats and oranges and honey by her closest female relative, usually her mother in celebration of becoming a woman.  For that week she is allowed to do nothing but lay in her bed and rest while her female relatives and close friends come to visit and offer advice.  Gifts are often given at this time.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Adyllians practice a form of sky burial, leaving their dead on ledges along the cliffs to be eaten by the sacred birds of The Lady.  Anything left once the bones are cleaned is taken into the catacombs under the city and neatly placed in niches in the walls.  The catacombs and connecting cave system house many birds, including a species of cave dwelling owls.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Adyllians love beauty, and they see it everywhere around them.  There are no set "standards" for what qualifies as physical beauty beyond what appeals to an individual.

Gender Ideals

Women are considered to be sacred and closer to The Goddess by virtue of their gender.  While both male and female are considered to be "equal" in Adyll, only women are allowed to fill the highest offices of power: the Holy Mother (High Priestess of the Temple of the Lady), the Queen Mother (Mother is an honorific term as the Queen is "mother" to all of Adyll), and the women who serve as Oracles speaking for the Goddess in times of need or as part of the celebration of the solstices.  In this way, males (although equal) are excluded from positions of power.
Neither gender is excluded from any profession or activity other than the roles stated above.
Women are to emulate the Goddess in daily behavior, and the Goddess had many roles and aspects, from Divine Seductress, to Protective Guardian, to Eternal Mother.  As She loves all Her children, female and male alike, so are women to love and care for their fellow citizens.
Men strive to be caretakers for the women in their life, their mothers, sisters, lovers, and wives.
Some Adyllians do not adhere to their society's gender norm for dress or roles.  In these cases the individual is left to decide how to present themselves.  This comprises a third gender called "twilight walker."  Twilight walkers are uncommon, but have specific ceremonial roles in the Lady's Temple, for She walked the edges between light and dark, and land and water to stay safe from those who would have power over her.
All genders work together to raise children within family units, and multigenerational living arrangements are the norm.

Courtship Ideals

Each person in Adyll is given choice over who they will marry, or if they will marry.  Any of the genders can initiate a relationship with another person.  Most Adyllians are promiscuous at some point in their lives, be that with members of another gender or the same gender.  The only taboo in Adyll as it relates to sex is rape, which is a capital offense.  By law, the definition of rape includes any sexual actions with children.
Often, a person's first sexual encounter in Adyll is with a Temple prostitute.  These women and men are available to anyone who desires them, and consider their role as prostitute a privilege and sacred duty that brings others closer to the Goddess, who they are a vessel for in their service.
Arranged marriages do not happen in Adyll.  However, families are consulted before a marriage is finalized, and some families will work to find matches for their children that will bring the most benefit to their children.

Relationship Ideals

Since all inheritance is through the mother's line, marriage is not a matter of "owning" your spouse sexually, but of partnership in life and the raising of children. Whether or not a marriage is exclusively monogamous or an open relationship is up to the couple involved.  Because the choice of time and person is made willingly and without compulsion, marriages are usually monogamous.
As with all things in Adyll, the ideal is always based on the example of The Lady.  Nothing is taught at the Temple or by the Temple's clerics of The Lady being married to a man.  Most teach that She was able to conceive children on Her own without the help of a man's seed.  It is believed that the first marriage in Adyll was that of Queen Mila I, The Loved, and a tribal leader of the nomadic people of the desert.  This relationship is therefore the pattern on which all marriages in Adyll are based upon.

The Locust King Serial chapter 1 will be released January 2023!