Eridian

Finding their origins in the dry lands of southern Eridia, the ancestors of modern Eridians were organized in nomadic tribes who were regularly raided by elven slavers to be brought back to the cities of Numensari, beyond the Eridian Desert. For millennia, they were used as cheap labor by the elves until the fall of the Numensari. From its ashes rose the great kingdom of Myr who, a thousand-year before Artus, became the first human kingdom of recorded history, and whose capital, now renamed Hemetrea, stands to this day.

Description

Eridians are short (Average 165cm for males, 150 for females), with olive or bronze skin and thick, straight black hair. They have big, almond-shaped eyes, commonly hazel or black, and more rarely golden, as well as long and often hooked noses.

Clothing

Eridean clothing is light and breathable, often made of wool or linen, covering all of the body. Cloaks and veils are ubiquitous, being necessary to protect the body and face from the sand, and are worn over long tunics and sometimes trousers. Amulettes are worn on the inside of the cloaks and hanging from the veils, with their number serving as an indicator of status and wealth while their shapes can indicate specific societal functions or honors.

While richer Eridian can afford to be completely covered in silk, a specific kind of veil called a Habsur and made of this material is worn by adults of the tribes, with specific patterns and colors being associated with different meanings, ranging from romantic availability to specific jobs, or even particular moods. Aside from this colorful piece of cloth, Eridian garments are mostly white, with cloaks and veils sometime decorated with elaborated stitchings while the tunic is almost universally plain white.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Eridian feminine names are often short (two or three syllables) and invariably end in a voyelle: Kahina, Tara, Dany, Illi, Jidji, Layla, Mana, Silina, Herru, Sofia, Tyli, Zira

Masculine names

Eridian masculine names are often short (two or three syllables) and end with a -e, followed by a consonant: Setet, Akem, Maewet, Ephren, Wael, Metek, Otep

Family names

Eridian surnames are most often composed of a monosyllabic part and a bisyllabic one, linked by a hyphen:
Mir-Mazin, Arog-Tem, Tel-Akim, Al-Matil, Kol-Kanra, Set-Wael, Kemel-Tar

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

The Eridian language was for a long time a purely oral one, before being transcribed first in elvish and then in artusian script, each time influencing the language into becoming what is known as Modern Eridian. Yet, a purer form of Eridian is still spoken by the tribes of the Eridian desert, and merchant houses are known to use their own jargon to communicate between themeselves.

Shared customary codes and values

Eridian customs are based on the importance of the clan or extended family unit, and material goods as a representation of personal value. Due to their deep belief in the equality of opportunity, the ability of an individual to care for those dear to him was directly correlated with his ability to generate wealth, and as such poverty could only be due to one's laziness or personal failure, which reverberated negatively on the community. This meritocratic view of society is deeply biased against any form of handicap while extolling the ability of an individual to rise through the ranks of the social ladder through talent and effort.

Common Etiquette rules

Every demand or show of gratitude must be accompanied by a material gift, even small. This usually takes the form of a symbolic coin, but a more significant gift can be expected for important occasions.

Raising one's voice or showing excessive emotions is shunned, considered signs of childishness. In the same ay, public display of affection should be kept to a minimum in public.

It is considered incredibly rude to sit at a table without being first designated where to do so. Even ruder is to start eating before the host, or to either remove or add anything to a prepared dish once it is served.

Showing one's feet or pointing them towards another person, especially a child, is considered distasteful.

Directly accusing someone is considered extremely rude, as it threatens harmony. Indirect accusations or even allowing the other to save face is regarded as necessary, especially in public.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Eridians' lives are heavily influenced by the day and night cycle, with the night being associated with work and duty, and the day with relaxation and spiritualism. This nocturnal rythme allows Eridians to limit physical exertion during the warmer hours and keep their body warm during the cold nights of the desert. Of course, this is far more important in the desert than in the cities, but as it is with the majority of Eridian traditions, they find their roots in their original nomadic lifestyle. 

Another consequence of their arid environment is Eridians association of water with life and divinity. Although nowadays, many Eridians follow popular Artusian traditions such as the Penteocles, those are often altered to include water rituals native to Eridian culture. Those rituals are meant to bring good luck or celebrate the cycle of life and death, and often consist in either plunging someone partially or completely in water or more commonly having it dripped slowly over the subject of the ritual. 

Beyond those water rituals, blood sacrifice are also known to be part of Eridian tradition, with the sacred liquid often seen as a more "divine" alternative to water and as such used in more important rituals. While animal blood is the most commonly used, human blood is also sometimes used, though those sacrifices do not involve the death or permanent injury if the blood donor.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

The tradition of collecting amniotic fluid shortly before birth is still widely practiced, and i is common for pregnant women to wear a special vestment meant to capture the fluid upon its breach. The liquid itself is used in many rituals linked to fertility and the wellbeing of infants. The most common of those is the tradition of mixing the fluid with dyes and using the result to paint intricate symbols on the newborn child and its parents as a representation of the link between them. More generally, the breaking of water is seen as almost as important as the birth of the child itself, and the more apart from one another those two events are, the more the child is said to be born unlucky. 

Another important event is the birth of twins, who are considered holy in Eridian culture. In case of twin birth, both children are considered female regardless of gender until the onset of puberty, at which point biological males are allowed at any point henceforth to officially become men. As with normal birth, amniotic fluid is especially valued, and in the case of twin birth is kept for special occasions by priestesses. This extends to the birth for any even number of children, with the increasing rarity of the cases meaning that the birth of quadruplets or sextuplets can be cause for festivals in honor of the blessed parents. An unfortunate consequence of this fixation on an even number of children means that it is common in case of the birth of an odd number of children, for be to be abandoned to "fix" the birth.

Coming of Age Rites

The coming of age in Eridian culture is traditionally linked with the first signs of puberty. Up until that point, children are raised equally by both parents, but this changes to favor the parent of the same gender as the child from there on. They begin wearing more gendered clothing and are allowed to wear the Habsur, the traditional silk veil. The ceremony of choosing their first Habsur, which is meant to represent their matured identity, is the moment of the tradition from childhood to adulthood and is witnessed by the whole tribe. It is the occasion for a feast and celebration from morning to night, with midnight marking the moment of the choice.

Funerary and Memorial customs

While Eridians' traditional funerary rites have now been mostly replaced by Artusians' sea burials, they are still practiced in isolated communities or for special occasions such as the death of a high priestess or someone of godly lineage. The most common of those is sky burials, with bodies of the deceased being carried to a point of high altitude and left to the mercy of the elements and wildlife. The higher the body was carried, the greater the honor after death. This practice was seen as the natural end of the cycle, with the body returning to the dust that saw it born.

Another funerary practice, reserved for priesthood and royals, was mumification. The process was complex and costly, with the body of the deceased being disassembled, cleaned and emptied before being left to dry multiple days. Finally, the skin was removed and replaced by a black clay that covered the body and was sculpted to copy the features of the corpse. The process could be made even more costly by adorning the mummy with talismans and a funeral mask, or even engraving magical sigils into the black clay.

Common Taboos

Eridian culture has many taboos, ranging from what not to wear in certain places to types of food being forbidden to certain social castes. For the most part, those taboos could be separated in three broad categories:

Gender Taboos: Many taboos in Eridian culture emerged from the clear distinction of genders in their societies. Numerous activities are to this day considered either reserved for men or women, and while it is not a problem to practice exclusively activities from the other gender (which basically boils down to being considered as part of said gender), striding the line by practicing activities from both genders will be seen as eccentric or even the sign of mental imbalance.

Caste Taboos: Despite the lack of a rigid caste system induced by their merit-based social mobility, Eridan society is still heavily stratified. Interactions between individuals of different social statuses are heavily codified, down to language and gestures. In particular, touching the head of someone of higher status is considered incredibly rude, and possibly sexual harassment. For the same reason, touching the head of a child is forbidden, and even grabbing a child's arm is considered an intimate gesture reserved for direct family. At the top of this societal hierarchy are twins, especially female, who most people are not even allowed to look in the eye.

Food Taboos: Finally, food is subject to many taboos in Erudian culture. Wasting food or water is incredibly rude, although both milk and alcohols are exempt and regularly used in libations. Meat is considered impure and as such most members of the upper class follow a strictly vegetarian diet. Finaly, eating hot food during the day and cold food during the night is also seen as imbalanced, and said to cause fevers or cold shivers.

Ideals

Gender Ideals

While not as strictly matriarchal as the Artusians, Eridians view on gender roles as in comparison much more defined. Matters of the spiritual for example are deeply linked to feminity and as such women still to this day hold a quasi-monopoly on religious positions amongst the Eridians, with the few male religious authority (often cases of twins or orphans raised by temples) being raised as girls and being considered as such in the context of their held office. This feminine connotation even extends to actions linked more broadly to the spiritual, such as weaving which to this day is seen as a strictly feminine activity due to its link to Orothris. Men meanwhile are linked to more earthly matters such as agriculture, fishing, and other physically demanding activities. Only a few activities were not seen as gendered. Combat and military matters, politics, and the raising of young children.

Diverged ethnicities

• Desert Eridian
• Hemetrean Eridian

Encompassed species

• Humans

Related Organizations

• Kaladean Empire

Related Locations

• Eridia