Koze
Caravaneers
In recent centuries, the Koze have become primarily known through the Sotteran and northern Dead Ones Mesa as traders and caravaneers, peddling goods of all sorts. One thing they are known to have, however, are books and scrolls, a cultural legacy of knowledge still imprinted into the old tribe.Bu Jaxtudrang Ig
In most societies, children gather together to play, learn, and grow. In Koze society, the gathering of children is highly ritualized, with gatherings of children starting as clubs to teach them essential skills such as horseback riding, reading and writing, swordplay or arhcery depending on the family, and many other skills. The children one learns with are expected to become as important to an individual as their own family, with those not belonging to a Jaxtudrang effectively being social outcasts. While one can join a Jaxtudrang in adulthood, it is rare.Esteemed Hospitality
The Koze are famous through the Pulva Ark for their hospitality. Old jokes go that a Koze will lay on a bed of nails rather than let their guests sleep on the floor, always offering the best availible to their guests. This reputation is largely true, if exagerated. Many of the Koze rarely interact with those outside of their immediate community due to their nomadic nature, but the few who are lucky enough to experience tribal Koze hospitality return to their fellows telling wild stories and spinning the reputation onward.Beacon of Learning
The Koze once ruled a large empire that stretched underneath the Low Peaks of Zhatar and the High Peaks of Zhattar, coming out the land on the other side of the mountains. The empire is now long dead, its fall pre-dating Mul-Zamain's rise. However, it has still left some cultural traces in the Koze, most notably their fascination by knowledge. In a medieval society, most Koze are able to read and write Koze'ian and Gui Biaozhun, making the few Koze who exist in settled areas extremely valuable employees.Blood Rituals
As with the rest of Laran, none of their subjects and peoples escaped a taste for Blood Sacrifices. Due to most Koze following the Cult of Ninazu, festival days are known to feature blood sacrifices, ranging from a simple heart cut out of one's chest and left in the desert for the jackals, to entire crowds of prisoners being dragged by horses across the steppes, until the grass runs red with blood.Naming Traditions
Unisex names
Names in Koze society are all unisex, usually named after past great figures, both real and religious. Most names come from the old Koze empire and its traditiona nd history, rather than the Empire of Laran, though Larani names are not uncommon in metropolitan areas.
Family names
Most Koze adopt the name of their same-gendered parent as a surname, using the word Ohrd after their own name and before their parent's name. So a man named Mii with a father named Zep would be named Mii Ohrd Zep. If the Koze is nonbinary, they either list both their parents names or pick one. An example of the former would be Zlaejea Ohrd Gohvah Zla Iisr, or Zlaejea of Gohvah and Iisr.
Culture
Shared customary codes and values
The Koze value the pursuit and maintenance of knowledge as a cultural standard. In addition, the bonds of community are incredibly important, as the Jaxtudrang is a key aspect of Koze life. A small nomad band may be entirely composed of an extended, extra large Jaxtudrang (around 20-40 people), while other tribes or settled communities are structured in terms of the Jaxtudrangs that stack on top of each other and form layers of community. Debts are shared amongst a Jaxtudrang, as are responsibilities and rewards.
Common Dress code
Koze dress is unisex, and paints an interesting picture of a settled people that have had to adapt to a nomadic life. The rich colours that became known to the Koze with the trade routes of their massive empire are still commonplace, with most Koze donning a loose flowwy shirt that near always has bright colours painted atop it. Common patterns include suns, moons, stars, leaves, flowers, the like. Durable trousers, often also dyed bright colours are worn below, and riding boots are favoured by all Koze, nomadic or not. Large cloaks made of Asinmi Great Ram wool are the defualt choice as overwear.
Art & Architecture
The old paintings and grand works of the Koze have been left in the dust of millenia. Art made by modern Koze tends to be of a much more quaint nature, though no less skillful. Woven rugs, tapestries, molded jewelery of silver and gold. The expression of Koze culture has been reduced to something accessible to nomadic horsemen.
When they do settle, these days their buildings tend to be sandstone or other yellow ish materials, usually composed of low walls with large merlons, marked with a domed tower. The face of the walls of buildings usually goes unadorned besides the occassional inset carving or extending balcony.
When they do settle, these days their buildings tend to be sandstone or other yellow ish materials, usually composed of low walls with large merlons, marked with a domed tower. The face of the walls of buildings usually goes unadorned besides the occassional inset carving or extending balcony.
Foods & Cuisine
The Koze have many recipes, using ingrediants native to the Sotteran and the Pulva Ark. These include sheep, lamb, cow, thunderhawk, rice, carrots, cabbage, various vegetables, and the milk of the Asinmi Great Ram. Some notabel dishes include...
- Arkaesr Irdasir: A traditional Koze meat stew, made of chopping up Ram meat, coating it in flour, browning it in a pot, then adding a broth to boil it. The broth should be brought to a low simmer then spices such as turmeric, paprika, and Ahostaelasr (A Koze equivilent to Cayenne). After an hour or so over the fire, carrots, cabbage, and onions are added, allowed to simmer for half an hour, then served hot over rise.
- Paq Varkasr: A milk based dish, this one is made by taking balls of fermented milk that have reached an almost cheeselike state and dissolving them in water. Then, cucumbers, onions, and cabbage are chopped into strings and fried in oil. They are arranged on a plate atop traditional Koze bread, then the dissolved milk (which has had spices added to it, the exact spices varying by region) that has been thickened over a fire is poured atop the vegetables. Some Koze tribes add meat as well.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
The Jaxtudrang, or young people's gathering, is a key component of Koze society, as one's entire social group and life is defned around it. A small nomad band may be entirely composed of an extended, extra large Jaxtudrang (around 20-40 people), while other tribes or settled communities are structured in terms of the Jaxtudrangs that stack on top of each other and form layers of community. Debts are shared amongst a Jaxtudrang, as are responsibilities and rewards.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
When a Koze is born, they are bathed in blood, preferably the blood of sapients. This is a Koze interpretation of Nizan ritual rites, their way of pledging fealty to the Blood God.
Coming of Age Rites
A Koze is said to have begun maturity once they join a Jaxtudrang, with all future rites conducted within that group. The one's that the Koze must perform to truly become an adult are to build an abode with the aid of their Jaxtudrang, recite a poem written with the aid of their Jaxtudrang, and successfully hunt a Asinmi Great Hawk along with their Jaxtudrang, though this last one only truly applies to the Koze in the Pulva Ark.
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