Nebia Mesr (neh-bee-a mess-seer)
"Traveler! You look tired. Please, come sit with us by the fire, you must have so many stories to share! I have prepared smoked scorpion meat for just such an occasion!"
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Culture and cultural heritage
Having long since abandoned their homeland of The Drylands, these lizardfolk can be found far and wide. They dislike being associated with the violence and notoriety associated with the other tokage clans, but they are often challenged anywhere they go.
Despite their best efforts, some Nebia Mesr are forced to move to more amiable social climates during times of war or conflict. Their good-natured mannerisms are sometimes characterized as manipulative or deceiptful and so they are accustomed to facing such challenges. Such Nebia Mesr tokage practice open-mindedness, patience, and humility. They often find themselves more comfortable with a close-group of friends as opposed to being integrated into any one culture.
Shared customary codes and values
A nomadic clan of tokage who were known to settle their camps along the rivers of The Drylands early during the Era of Dusk, only to be driven out by competing clans. In ancient times, they worshipped Tamalt the Asundering One, a deity of devastation and destruction.
However these cult leaders would be assassinated, weakening the power of the deity, and scattering his clan to the winds. Nebia Mesr are no longer connected with their patron deity in the ancestral ways, but his iconography still often shows up in their everyday lives.
Nebia Mesr tokage enjoy eating, drinking, and cooking. They are considered amongst the most superb gourmets all across of Ardras, as their highly sensitive tongues can detect various chemical compounds and where they came from.
Common Etiquette rules
The members of this clan are exceedingly polite, kind, and attentive to social mannerisms. They enjoy sharing food with traveling visitors and cooking around a roaring fire. They are incredibly hospitable and nonviolent, unlike most of their kin.
Common Dress code
Nebia Mesr tokage often adopt the dress of whatever region they are traveling through. Nebia women have a penchant for exotic clothing and love trying on new outfits. Their traditional outfits associated with rites and ritual are made out of the bone, leather, and cloth materials of their ancestors.
Art & Architecture
Though Nebia Mesr tokage have no settled establishment, this clan is most often associated with their hand-crafted cookware. Pots, pans, and other cookware made from iron and silver with iconography related to Tamalt the Asundering One can be found all throughout Ardras, and many collectors have such collections displayed proudly in their estates.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
Nebia Mesr often pair up with life-mates, an uncommon tokage practice, often in couples of two, but in some cases three or four. These small groups travel together in a caravans selling their wares and ancestral cooking in stalls, small roadside shops, and mobile carts. They often trade in recipes, ingredients, and prepared dishes. They do of course, trade in gold, but to a Nebia Mesr tokage a more humble approach to the accumulation of gold is prefered as opposed to the violent ambitions and greed of their cousins.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Being among the shortest of the tokage species, often at just a height of 3-4 feet tall, their stout appearance has them typically prefering the company of someone just their size. Often this is a similar Nebia Mesr mate.
Gender Ideals
Hardworking and gentle, Nebia Mesr believe in the equal balance between men and women. As such, typically a couples duties include preparing and cooking food, while the other serves the food and deals with customers. These roles are however, not exclusive.
Courtship Ideals
Between tokage, the instinctual "testing of the skin" ritual is still evident. They enjoy song and dance when performing mating dances and will sometimes erupt in a violent flurry when performing with an attractive mate.
However, in their more human and fervorian circles of friends, this behavior can be misinterpretted, and so excited Nebia Mesr couples often save this ritual for a more private setting.
Relationship Ideals
Nebia Mesr are best known as traveling tokage, and so they enjoy experiencing the full spectrum of life. While some relationships buckle down for the long run, others sometimes do not last as long. When such a relationship has ended, a final meal between both partners is prepared and the halving of gold is transacted. The two partners agree with a handshake and go their seperate ways.
Major organizations
This tokage clan is often mistaken for their more violent cousins, and so they are extra attentive to their mannerisms to avoid conflict.
Encompassed species
Related Organizations