Settlements of the Monkin-ban

Summary

Though they spend their days above ground the Monkin-ban will, wherever possible live in shallow excavations - typically driven into hillsides and rarely venturing more than a single storey below the level of the entrance. Their dwellings often grow into extended, interconnected networks housing an extended family and several of these dwellings may be clustered together forming the closest that the Monkin-ban had to villages before the concept was introduced to them through contact with humans. Nowadays they build above ground for many of their workshops, especially in trades where ventilation is important and in some areas are even found living in houses.

Design and Architecture

Most of their dwellings are build on a single level with a gentle slope towards the main entrance. Passageways are seldom wider than needed for two Monkin-ban to pass comfortably and the ceilings are typically twice as high again as they are. Where possible, they will pave the floors with stone but the walls are usually pannelled in wood, though this may conceal stone walls and vaults to reduce the risk of collapse.
The poorest dwellings will be earthen walled and floored but even these will usually have the ceilings supported by posts and planks, though the ceilings will tend to be rather lower. A consequence of this is that a poor household that prospers will often expand its dwelling by digging downwards to increase the headroom.
On the steeper hillsides rooms will often have windows to the outside and dwellings may be excavated at different levels. These may well be connected by stairways and passages so that within a settlement one can move between the dwellings without going above ground - a particularly useful feature in inclement weather or when snow covers the ground as it often does in the hills and mountains.
Below the ground, temperatures are much more stable than on the surface so, aside from any rooms with external windows they seldom have fires within their dwellings except as required for cooking. These are always connected to networks of flues and assist in ventilation of the dwellings. Lighting is by lamp or candle, but Monkin-ban see well in very low light and are quite at home in the dark and so for most purposes light is seen as an optional extra and status symbol.

On the Larger Scale

Like the monkin-doo , the monkin-ban tend towards matrilocal settlements and many of the settlements show this in the connections between the dwellings, even though they may no longer be occupied by the original inhabitants. Nevertheless the most frequent connections are to be found where a mother's daughters have established their homes around hers and their daughters in turn bring about the further enlargement of the colony. Unlike the monkin-doo however, as they seldom delve deeply most of these complexes are associated with two generations, a few with three and only a tiny handful (where the slope of the ground is just right) ever extend beyond that.
This used to be the nature of the wider monkin-ban settlements, but in recent centuries they have learnt from the human incomers to Tarusia and unrelated groups are often found living in what are more recognisably villages rather than the extended family farmsteads of there forebears.