Guissibari

The Guissibari are an ethnic group of humans long-reviled by most humans of the continent, blamed for calamities great and small. Travelers, mystics, traders and fighters, the horse-clans are a vagabond lot born to the saddle, and their appearance is always cause for concern and speculation.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Ufra, Kashine, Joya, Sagiuli, Opana, Messa

Masculine names

Therro, Contarro, Yvenni, Dondarel, Ufino, Alazza

Family names

Sangral, Utonnen, Massine, Tontren, Balinal, Caposinne

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Guisibarri speak Guisibarri, an evocative tongue with no written language, although their are many runes or symbols that they use to visually express themselves (typically, as a personal symbol). Many Guisibarri (particularly men) are illiterate. Most also speak Common, although somewhat reluctantly.

Culture and cultural heritage

"The Exile" is the central event of recent Guisibarri history. At the end of the last age, Guisibarri mystics had omens of a cataclysmic event occurring -- the Moonfall. For years, the clans (then, a horse-based agrarian society) debated whether to remain in their homelands or leave.
Some elected to remain in their homelands, hundreds of leagues to the north of County Dunnaith. These were never heard from again. Those who left -- the Guisibarri, "the Seekers of Refuge," -- traveled south through the horrific Stormlands when the Moonfall occurred. Through the chaos and sunless days and cascade of golden rain, the Guisibarri endured all manner of attacks by giantkind and servants of the Lower Planes. Only through trickery (and in some cases, treachery) did the Clans survive the journey southward. The Exile and Great Journey, as it is called, is in some ways still ongoing -- for the Guisibarri seek ever to reclaim their homeland or, failing that, to create a new land of their own. Over the ensuing decades, however, their numbers have dwindled and the reality of a permanent nomadic existence has settled in with most of the clans' elders.
Guisibarri culture contains a strong oral tradition built around tales, parables, and performances, many related to the Exile. Most of their magical traditions are built around these rituals. They are a culture of sorcerers, warlocks, and bards, rather than wizardry.
Because of their centuries-old exile from their homeland, the Guisibarri favor forms of wealth that are portable, particularly precious metals, gems, jewelry, and magic items. They wear their wealth for both security and ostentation. Thievery between Guisibarri is highly disfavored.

Shared customary codes and values

The Guisibarri highly value their own personal honor and station. Beyond their own personal pride, they identify strongly with their Clan and extended family unit. They are insular and somewhat xenophobic as to non-Guisibari.

Average technological level

The Guisibarri are familiar with all current technology in the world of Dunlyle, though they themselves do not craft manufactured goods of metal or stone.

Common Etiquette rules

In order to prevent excessive dueling and bloodfeuding, customs have arisen over time to directing their competitive natures to hunting, war, and trading with outsiders. Guisibarri are highly competitive in dealing with outsiders and consider them fair game for theft and other dishonorable conduct.

Common Dress code

Women tend to dress in practical clothing suitable to the occasion, accented with jewelry. Men are popinjays, wearing their best appropriate clothing and accessories whenever possible.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Beyond their elaborate courtship rituals, the Guisibarri are a horse-oriented nomadic culture. As such, the use of horseflesh, leather, horsehair, horsemilk, and other horse-related products permeates the culture. They are renowned for both their horsemanship and husbandry.
Guisibarri clothing is often beaded or accented with bright colors or metals, particularly on men.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

Newborns are birthed in a ritual involving a Clan mystic who is a midwife, spiritual advisor, and performer of the sacrament of horsemilk. Upon receiving this sacrament, the infant is a member of the Guisibarri forever.

Coming of Age Rites

Girls of ten years are given their adult names and welcomed to womanhood by her female Clan peers in a secret ritual; girls of fifteen years are eligible for Courtship.
Boys are given their adult names at fourteen years or upon attaining their first kill in battle or hunt, and are eligible for Courtship at eighteen years. The "Trufar" years between adulthood and courtship are a time of training, hunting, and warring -- and earning their reputation within and without the Clan.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Guisibarri traditionally burn their dead in pyres and scatter their ashes to the wind. If killed in combat, their horses are burned with them. Close family members will often tattoo themselves with a dead loved one's personal symbol.

Common Taboos

Guisibarri do not extend their courtesies and respect to non-Guisibarri. For many clans, intermarriage with non-Guisibarri is taboo.

Common Myths and Legends

Guisibarri engage in ancestor-worship headed upon Zashei the Wise, a crone-like person of legend. Zashei supports the survival of the Guisibarri against the outside world. She is a Neutral Evil deity and her clerics typically uphold her aspects in the Arcane, Death, Trickery and Knowledge domains. Guisibarri warlocks typically have a Fiendish patron, often a powerful yugoloth in Zashei's court.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Hair is worn long by both genders, and the longer and curlier the better. Being fit and able to ride, travel, fight, and move is highly-prized; lameness, obesity, and physical infirmity are despised. Jewelry and ornamentation are favored, particularly by the men.

Gender Ideals

Men are expected to ride, fight, and provide for their immediate family and the clan as a whole; a slur upon any of those abilities is cause for an immediate duel, often to the death. Agile, puissant, and powerful men are highly desired.
Women are valued for their knowledge, preservation of customs, and both mystic and mundane skills. Intelligent, beautiful, and traditional women are desired.
While Guissibari society is somewhat egalitarian (there are female warriors and male mystics), these tendencies and roles have persisted through the generations.

Courtship Ideals

Guissibari try to encourage courtship between folk of different clans, to avoid intermarriage and promote relations between clans. Gatherings twice per year -- in the Spring and Autumn -- are held for this express purpose. As there are six clans, this means each clan meets the other once every three years. During each Gathering, available men, in their finest clothes and jewelry, place ceremonial staffs engraved with family symbols upright in the ground and engage in traditional dancing and feats of martial skill.
Women initiate courtship by wrapping a family scarf around the staves of the men they favor, often accented by a favored scent or magical effect. Each woman may tie only three such scarves; and each man may only have three scarves wrapped about his staff. Competition among the women to be the first to tie their scarves is fierce and highly political, but ultimately decided by the clans' mystics -- who tend to favor those women meeting Guissibari gender ideals, and make suggestions for appropriate matches.
For the three nights that follow, each participating man spends the evening (chaperoned) with one of the respective women showing him favor. At the end of the nights, an elaborate ritual reveals the man's preferences. In the event multiple men choose the same woman, her first choice (dictated in the ceremony of the scarves) dictates the outcome -- although duels have occasionally broken out over the decades.
Not all available men and women end up with a Right of Courtship. Some men's staves go bare; and some women are never chosen.
Once the courting has begun, the man joins the woman's clan for six months (until the next Gathering), and they exclusively court. At the end of this courtship period, she then determines whether they will marry. Courting of the same person without marriage is disfavored.
Men and women reaching the age of 30 without marrying may not participate in formal courtship, but may marry by petitioning the prospective bride's Clan for permission.

Relationship Ideals

Guisibarri that marry or in a formal Courtship are expected to be monogamous. Others are free to be intimate with whomever they choose, although childbirth out of wedlock is disfavored to prevent a burden of child-rearing on the Clan.

Major organizations

There are six major Guisibarri clans, each with its own herd and wagon train. While each clan has their own subculture, each recognizes the other as kin.