The Esi
The culture and people who live in the Finndal glacial islands.
There was no Esi country, nor was there ever any Esi towns larger than 2,000 people. Esi towns where usually small and community-focused, due to the harsh nature of the glacial islands.
The Esi people where the victims of the greatest tragedy of the conquests done by Conquertia
Culture
Culture and cultural heritage
The Esi believe in two goddesses, who are often portrayed as lovers, of the night and day. The night, was the mother of the Esi people, having created them from her own bones, and The day, was the creator, who built the world for them to live on. These two goddesses had created a cycle, a time of permanent night, a time of permanent day, and a time of harmony.
It is believed that the Spirit crystal below the ice is the spirits of their ancestors. Crystalized below the ice and giving them light even during the mother's night.
Shared customary codes and values
The idea of using Spirit crystal as nothing more than an important resource is considered wholly alien to the Esi. They do use spirit crystal technology, but believe it must be given a form a reverence, and heavy mining of the substance is esentially forbidden.
Different Esi communities have very different telling of the same story, the night and day may be sisters to some groups, or wives to others.
Art & Architecture
During the long northern winters, the Esi use many different ways of insulating their basic wooden dwellings, the most common ways the Esi insulate is by piling up snow on the sides of a house, using it as the main insulator. Some tribes take this a step further and make snow bricks to stack against the walls of dwellings, or even building temporary shelters out of snow.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
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The "mothers night" as the Esi called the time of permanent night was a time of celebration, the Chanellers of a village would infuse Spirit crystal with large amounts of mana, making them glow bright throughout the whole night. This was accompanied by one large feast that occurred in the middle of the season. During this feast the stories of the mother's sacrifice and the people's sacrifice are told.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Burial is customary in all Esi villages, as it is believed that burial makes it easier for the soul of the buried to join the rest of the dead underground. Members of the community will each shovel at least one piece of dirt over the body, the family doing the most of the burial. While they do this, the people will often sing The Song Of The Soul.
Common Myths and Legends
The two most popular Esi stories, the Mother's sacrifice and the people's sacrifice are told at the peak of the long night.
The Mother's Sacrifice- The story starts with the mother of night creating the people, during this time, there was no day, the Esi lived in a time of complete darkness. Despite their mother night's love for them the people could not live in a time of total darkness, their crops would not grow, and they could not see, so they pleaded to their mother for a time of light. Hearing their pleas Night went to Day, and asked for a time of light for her children. Day told Night that her children cannot have a time of light while Night is present with them, Night was distraught by this, but they came up with a solution, during times of light, Day would look after Night's children, and during times of darkness, Night would look after her children.
The people's Sacrifice- The Sea's pet Merihirvio terrorized the Esi for generations, making fishing in their seas next to impossible, finally, a group of sailors, warriors, and sighted went out to sea with the intention of killing Merihirvo. They succeeded after a tense battle for ten days and ten nights, and at the end, only one healer remained. Distraught, this healer prayed to the mothers for help, and one by one each member of her village joined in as well. Hearing their prayers, Day took the souls of the martyrs and of Merihirvo and scattered them under the ice, having them glow under the ground like stars, so that their sacrifice would always be remembered. Ever since then when someone dies, their souls would join the stars under the ice.
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